Happy Easter!!

Hope the Easter Bunny was good to you today!

I heart the Easter Bunny :)

My Easter Basket: (the same basket I’ve had since I can remember)

Those Teenee Beanee jelly beans are THE BEST EVER!! We always buy that kind, and this year I actually had to order some online for my mom because none of the stores had them!! They are similar in size and texture to Jelly Belly, but without the RANDOM flavors…just the classics and perfect.

Surprisingly I haven’t dove into my candy yet…I have however had a few “samples” of stuffing…you know just to make sure it’s seasoned enough ;)

I also did the 30min SHRED this morning because my hopes of a run were squashed when the thermometer read 32* this morning!!!! WTF!!! It was like 60 two days ago :(

For a little breakfast snack I had 1/2 of the heel of Arnold Double Protein bread with Raw Almond butter (TJ’s) and a sliced strawberry…mmm.

Easter Egg Oats

So I have been waiting FOREVER to post this. I made them a while ago…like when Cadbury Eggs first made their appearance (probably right around Valentines Day).

Sometimes I’ll add 2 or 3 choc. chips to my oats…let them melt in and make for a few decadent bites within my bowl of oats. So I could only imagine what a Cadbury Mini Egg could do!!

So I made a standard bowl of oats one morning…topped with:

• Zoe’s Honey Almond Granola
• Unsweetened shredded coconut
• spoon of White Choc. Wonderful PB
• 1 Beautiful Cadbury Egg nested in the middle
  
  

I could tell it was getting melty as the yellow candy coating was looking shiny and melting off into my oats haha

…so I know a little artificial coloring is probably not the best oat topping but it was worth the end result.

I had already brought it back to my desk to eat, and 1 min later I HAD to take my bowl and camera (very discreetly) back into the kitchen for a picture of THIS:

LOOK AT THAT MELTED CHOCOLATE EGG!!!! It was fun “cracking” the egg open into the oats!!

This would make for a Perfect Easter Breakfast in my opinion :)

Well the WHOLE Family is coming over here (to my moms house) this afternoon…along with Brian and his mom and step dad for the FIRST TIME his mom and step dad will meet my WHOLE FAMILY!!! I almost feel nervous for them…my family is big and loud hahah…nothing is held back, but they are also super fun so its okay. Plus better now than at the wedding :)

Hope I win some big money in the egg hunt!! (hey you laugh but 1 egg is even worth $50)…

HAPPY BUNNY DAY!!!!!!!!!!

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder?

I hope so!!

I am such a guilty blogger...I feel so bad about my very sporadic and lack-there-of posts lately. I hate to say it but it's going to be that way for a couple more weeks :( I don't know if you remember but that exam I had to take for work back in October...well I have to take it again :( NOT FUN! So its on the 24th and until then my life is a crazy stress ball between studying, continuing to house hunt...etc, etc.

To try to make it up to you I have some things to Giveaway!!!

First some foooooooooooood

I like my Yogurt from a Cow
I tried Soy yogurt once...hated it...like it made me gag. So I left well enough alone and stuck to my beloved Greek and maybe even a little regular once in a while.

So now I see this Coconut Milk Yogurt all over the place...hmmm, sounds delicious. Coconut? Love it. Yogurt? Love it. So why not?!Well I think I figured it out...the consistency!!!This was WAY too similar to the soy yogurt...too thin and runny. I just can NOT get past the lack of creaminess! Plus the "vanilla" flavor was way too fake to me. I'm bummed because I have another container of the chocolate flavor at home. I think these may find themselves into a baked good REAL soon. Oh well...can't say I never tried!

Back to my originally scheduled breakfast:

• TJ's Cinnamon Raisin Whole Wheat British Muffin
• 1/2 with light butter
• 1/2 with PB
• 1 sliced banana
• little Raspberry fruit spread on the side to dip the muffin in!
  

There's been a whole lot of Whole Foods action lately with these studying/class nights...I made this lovely beast of a mixture Tuesday night and saved half for lunch todayI just love how I can take bites of things I normally wouldn't eat...like pasta salad...or other "heavier" items. I just take 1 or 2 bites worth and that's all I need.

Giveaway(s)

Well 1 new Giveaway and 2 sort of giveaway "leftovers".

First the new Giveaway...So a little while back the wonderful people at Zoe's sent me a box of their bars to try!! I had never seen their bars at the stores so I was psyched!

Welllll...at first I wasn't crazy about them, which is why it's taken me a while to post about it. I didn't know what to say!

There were 3 flavors I received:

• Peanut Butter Paradise
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Bliss
• Chocolate Delight
  

I usually LOVE anything with PB...but those two flavors were not my fav. I don't know what it is either!? I love the texture...dense with a little crisp mixed in. But the PB flavor was almost too savory? or roasted/smoky?

LOVE the Chocolate Delight flavor though...mmm! Chocolaty, not too sweet...perfect!

I've tried the Choc. PB one again recently and it's growing on me :) I want to love these! So I will keep trying!

But I though I'd share 1 of each flavor with a lucky reader :)I'll send 1 reader 3 bars: "Peanut Butter Paradise", "Chocolate Peanut Butter Bliss" and my fav "Chocolate Delight"

Giveaway Leftovers:

Remember when I gave away the Yo-Plait prize pack and the Fiber One Chocolate prize pack!?

Well 1 of the 3 winners in each case never got back to me...SO that means I'll do another contest for new winners!!

Contest Rules:

1.) Leave a comment about...hmmm...maybe, any of the following:

• suggestion on how to use my coconut milk yogurt (aside from eating it of course)
• studying help!
• your thoughts on the Zoe's bars if you've ever had them

2.) Link back if you have a blog

3.) Maybe add me to your blog roll because that would be totally awesome ;)

I'll pick 3 random winners, and in whichever order they come out will be the order that the person can choose which prize they want!

edit:
woops totally forgot to set an end date to this...I'll end this contest Tuesday, April 14 at 10:00pm E.S.T.


Happy Thursday People...weekend is so close!!

2009 Wedding #2; Part 2 - WEDDING DAY

Yesterday was SO MUCH FUN!! And right now I am SO SO TIRED haha!

It all started at the salon where we all got our hair did...

Before: (I am on the far right...the process of straightening naturally curly hair is never pretty, and the joke of it is I then had her put some wavy curl back into it!!)

And After!! Yay for glamour hair...for a while I liked to pretend I had Blake Lively hair...you know, but a lot dark...and yeah, well a girl can dream ;)

Later back at the bride's Dad's house, we finished getting ready with some make-up action and got into our dresses and shoes! The flowers arrived! Nothing says spring better than TULIPS

Clearly we had to wear Brown shoes...can you guess which are mine??Anyone?? If you guessed the second from the right with the big rose on the top...you're right!

Our "latte" colored dresses, which looked REALLY good on everyone!!Obligatory duties: helping bride into shoesThe beautiful bride to be and I!College Roomies!!!More bridesmaids...Now lets get her to the Church on time! (yes that damn David Bowie song was in my head all day!)Look who I found when we got to the Church...He was on photographing duties for the ceremony.

Unknown to us bridesmaids...there was an inpromtu receiving line after the ceremony...outside...in our little dresses. OMG...Freezing!! It was only like 50 degrees and started to drizzle...so if you can see the bridesmaid with the hot pink wrap OVER her head...its me! Hey, rain + my straightened hair = BAD NEWS!!

The reception was at a beautiful country club
Cupcake cake!!mmmm those cupcakes are making me drool even now...they were insanely good!

Salad courseFor my dinner I opted for the fish (can't remember what kind...maybe Haddock?) with a seafood stuffing and Lobster Newburg Sauce!
Candy Buffet!Trying to pretend I am artisticOh and then the cupcakes
OH.MY.GOD. BEST.EVER.!!! The vanilla cupcakes had a lemon filling, the chocolate had a raspberry filling and everything about them were INCREDIBLE!!! I wished I wasn't so full last night I would of had more!!! (maybe that was a blessing in disguise).

It was SUCH a fun night!!This is turning out to be an awesome wedding season so far!!!

2009 Wedding #2; Part 1 - Rehearsal!

My good friend Jen is getting married today!!! She was one of my college roomies Junior and Senior year! This is the wedding that we planned the lovely brunch Shower for a few weeks ago :)

I guess we can start this from Wednesday night when Brian and I went to shop for a wedding present! After a trip to Macy's and Crate & Barrel, we were hungry! Luckily the mall we were at has some great food options (I still can't believe how often I used to eat at the Food Court in high school!).

We opted for Legal Sea Foods! This is one of my FAVORITE restaurants of all time. It's a local company with many locations in Massachusetts...its very delicious fish and seafood and I've been eating here with my family since I was little!

Usually my favorite thing to order is grilled Rainbow Trout, but I wasn't super hungry and was cold so I really wanted Chowder! (this is the chowder they serve at the presidential inaugurations!)

But first...the Rolls. So simple, but so insanely good!They are crisp on the outside, soft inside, and warm...mmm, perfect with a little salted butter!

Then I had a cup of chowder and a small salad :)
I love puting the oyster crackers in my chowder :)

A simple salad, but little extra touches like wide carrot "ribbons", and sesame seeds!! I LOVED the sesame seeds in it...I'll have to remember that!

Last night was the rehearsal...practice makes perfect:

The boys could NOT stand still!! I hope they realize they are going to have to be still a lot longer today :)

We practiced the recession a lot...me and my partner (Jen's little brother!)
The bride-to-be after it was done(that's me in the green coat).

I didn't get any pics from the dinner...it was back at her dad's with food from a GREAT Italian restaurant. I think we were all too starving and I didn't even THINK to take a pic haha!

Well I gotta run...hair appointment is soon :)

I realized this is my FIRST time being a bridesmaid...I am SO excited!!

I'll be back tomorrow with pics!

Have a great weekend :)

Playing Catch Up!

First of all...what happened to March?! Like really? It's seriously April already!!!? I can't believe how fast time is going lately. Weddings (mine and others), work, and now House Hunting is taking over my life! I really hope to be back to a normal blogging schedule soon!

Now I must share with you all some of the amazing food I've had lately! I may not be blogging as often as I'd like, but I still have my camera on me at all times :)

On Sunday, Brian and I were over visiting my mom after hitting up 4 open houses (p.s. looking for a house is getting me frustrated already...we just started!). The 3 of us went for an early dinner to a fantastic neighborhood Italian restaurant in Wayland, MA (a town over from my moms): Luigi's Italian Grille

I didn't know what I was in the mood for...but I wanted something kind of light and I wanted something with Tomato sauce!This was shrimp, scallops, and mussels in a DELICIOUS tomato sauce served over linguine! Perfect! I only ate about 1/5 of the pasta...I love pasta but don't like to eat a lot of it. So Brian had all my leftover pasta for lunch the next day :)
This is my new favorite menu item here!

Mom also went the seafood route with the one of their specials...
LOBSTER RAVIOLI!!!! With shrimp, spinach, tomatoes, maybe some other stuff, in a parmesan cream sauce! Those ravioli were INCREDIBLE!!

We always have a superb meal when we eat there!

Moving along...but keeping with a somewhat Italian theme:My favorite Trader... I call him Joe, has done it again! Seriously, their frozen dishes are always a hit! I sampled this at the actual store one day and immediately put a bag in my cart! In fact I frequently buy whatever they are sampling :)

These are perfect when you come home later than normal, or are SO HUNGRY you can't be bothered to really cook!

This bag had 4 servings at 130 calories each...I figured I'd make 2 meals out of it and bulk it up!

I added 2 chopped up sun dried tomatoes to a pan, then added a large amount of chopped up KALE!Once this cooked down a bit, I added the contents of the bag...it always looks weird when its in frozen clumps
But after 8-10 min or so, the frozen clumps thaw into a lovely sauce and its components.In this case: peas, spinach, and polenta "balls"...in this shape they reminded me of gnocchi! Almost tasted the same too!

My bowl with a little shredded parmesanThe sauce had a great little kick and I loved the addition of the sun dried tomatoes!

Of course there was dessert:
Thank GOD I can stop myself at 1...these things are SO SO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!

There are still more yummy eats AND my third and final Restaurant Week review to come!

Happy Thursday!

Don't forget to check out Meghann's giveaway for Erin Baker's products!!

P.S. I booked my honeymoon (well most of it)...can't wait to share!!!!
Anyone else feel like the days are FLYING by lately??