Hi and happy Friday to you! I just arrived home from Florida. I’m definitely super excited to see Isaac and Olive, but I’m also going to miss this…

It really doesn’t get much better than being poolside, in 80° weather in November. Yes I was wearing pants by the pool, but that’s only because I was a break from the conference. As soon as I conference ended, I broke out the flip-flops!

I was actually here on a work trip for my full-time job but it worked out that I was able to sneak in a little fun as well. As part of the conference I received a pass to attend Epcot last night for the International Food and Wine Festival. I had asked Meghann if she wanted to join me for dinner and she has an annual pass to Disney so we were able to attend the food festival together. It was a blast! We both decided it would be best to put our funds together for a shared festival passport gift card. It worked out great because we got to try so many different items.

Meghann is a pro and did a much better job than I did documenting the whole process. I only had my point and shoot camera and the night time photos just didn’t turn out very well so I’ll spare you the bad photos. My favorites dishes of the night were the tuna poke from Hawaii, which was served over seaweed salad and the Belgium waffle with a berry compote and whipped cream. Check out Meghann’s post to see everything we ate!

I did capture our desserts for the evening – a strawberry tart and chocolate mousse from Boulangerie Paitisseri, a pastry shop in France. The tart was delicious with cold berries, cream and a flakey crust. The chocolate mousee was okay. I was really craving ice cream but alas there wasn’t any ice cream at the pastry shop so I settled with chocolate mousse. After eating our way through all the different countries and sitting down for dessert, we watched the IllumiNations fireworks show. It was one of the best fireworks shows I’ve ever seen and a fabulous end to a fun evening hanging out with Meghann.

My company was only required to have our exhibit booth set up for a couple hours this morning so I planned to eat lunch and then do a little outlet shopping before my flight. It turned out that one of my twitter friends, Jenny, saw a picture I tweeted and realized that I was staying at the hotel she works at. She was free today so she came to have lunch with me and then we went shopping. Totally unexpected, but so fun!

Jenny is a fellow ToneItUp girl and super sweet. She and I had so much to chat about – eating healthy, working out and life in general. It was a lovely.

We at the Cabana Bar at the Sawn/Dolphin Hotel. Since Jenny works at the hotel she knew exactly what to order so we split a lobster summer roll and ordered crab salads for our meal.

I love summer rolls but I’ve never had one with lobster. It was fresh and tasty.

The crab salad was lump crab meat served on top of pressed watermelon with a lemon vinaigrette and it was amazing. I can’t say that I’ve ever had crab with watermelon before but the flavors worked really well together. It was probably the best thing I ate during my stay in Florida!

After lunch, Jenny and I headed to the outlets. We got in a good amount of walking and did a little shopping as well. I snagged a cute skirt from J CREW, Jenny got a new pair of running shoes for her first 5K tomorrow (woo-hoo!) and we both got a super cute pair of gray Lululemon crops for 40% off. Seeing the prices at the Lululemon outlet made me so sad that there’s not one closer to Richmond. :/ Although the size selection is limited, the deals are great! I’d definitely recommend checking the store out if you’re ever in the Orlando area.

Another fun coincidence happened when Ryan (the former author of the blog Greens for Good, now manager of the Lululemon in Orlando) rang up my purchase at the store. I feel like I’ve “known” her for several years through her blog so it was awesome to get to meet her in person.

Once we were back at the hotel, Jenny and I parted ways and I headed to the airport.

These two experiences are great examples of why I love blogging and social media so much! They’ve both connected me to so many amazing, like-minded people I would have never had the chance to meet otherwise. I feel very lucky to be part of the healthy living blogging community!!

Have you had the chance to meet up with bloggers or people you’ve met through the internet?

When we arrived yesterday, the weather was overcast, cool and rainy but I still fell in the love with Boston. It’s such a beautiful and historic place!

My co-worker and I played tourists for a few hours and took a trolley tour of the city. The trolley has over 16 stops and goes everywhere from the spot of the Boston Tea Party to Fenway Park to Quicy Market.

Quincy Market is the craziest food court I’ve ever been to. There were so many different types of foods! Unfortunately we had already grabbed lunch prior to the tour so we just took in all the sights and smells.

I learned so many random and fun facts about Boston while on the tour. I wish I had had a piece of paper and pen to write them all down because I can’t remember them all!

One fact I do remember is that the Old State Building (pictured below) was built in 1713 and it is the oldest surviving public building in Boston. It is now a history museum.

And it has a golden unicorn and lion on top, both of which are symbols of the British monarchy.

Do you recognize this bar?

After exploring, I came back to the hotel to check email and freshen up and then walked in the rain from my hotel over to Legal Sea Foods Harborside where met up with Tina and Sarah for dinner.

The restaurant is located right on the harbor with an amazing view and modern decor.

I was exited to see that there was a boat docked right outside the restaurant window representing VA.

It was fun dining here on a rainy evening, but I bet sitting out on the patio on a nice night would be absolutely amazing. Especially if you had one of these bad boys in hand…

This, my friends, is a Skinny Piña colada made with coconut run, coconut water and pineapple juice. Basically the best summer cocktail ever. I’ll definitely be recreating this recipe at home!

To start, we all split an order of the grilled pita chips with Kalamata & Fig and Roasted Sweet Pepper spreads.

Both were pretty tasty, but I was partial to the fig spread. Not surprising, considering my love for dried fruit spreads.

For dinner I had the Grilled Swordfish Salad with cucumber, tomato, chickpeas, fennel, basil, and lemon olive oil dressing.

It was delicious and the perfect portion size!

Sarah, Tina and I had a blast chatting all throughout the meal.

I LOVE being able to meet up with blog friends while traveling!!

Today is the first day of the conference so I’ll be busy doing the work thing today, but first I’m going to go for a run around the Seaport area and then find breakfast. I hope your week is off to a great start.

As you’ve probably noticed, I’ve started to stray away from posting my meals. Mainly because they’re usually just normal things I throw together without much thought or a recipe. It’s been pretty similar lately but some of my last few meals have been somewhat interesting for one reason or another:

Exhibit A: Today’s lunch

Two tortillas – one with leftover black bean dip and veggies, the other with honey goat cheese and asparagus. And the last of the kale chips. (Those didn’t last long.) Just in case you were wondering, the goat cheese and asparagus tortilla is the interesting part.

Exhibit B: Dinner last night

Doctored up salad – spring mix topped with a grilled Dr. Praegaer’s California burger and roasted asparagus. I don’t know what it is with me and California but I tend to LOVE veggies burgers with California in the title. <–Amy’s California burger is my fav as well! I think it’s a sign.

Exhibit C: Dinner a few nights ago

Fresh spring rolls with spicy Thai tofu, avocado, rice noodles, cucumbers and carrots with a peanut and sweet chili sauce. I paired the rolls with some of Trader Joe’s new edamame (red chile and garlic flavored – yum!) and apple slices. Fresh spring rolls mean that warm weather is around the corner right? The more I eat them, the faster spring will arrive.

Exhibit D: Tonight’s dinner

A Roasted Vegetable Salad from California Pizza Kitchen with shrimp. It was large and tasted fresh, but CPK is definitely more pricey than I remember it being. This salad cost $19.00!!!

The company I had for dinner made the pricey salad 100% worth it…

Stephanie from Cookin’ Fanatic and Yvette from Chobani.

Stephanie and I see each other quite often, but it was my first time meeting Yvette, who is here on a business trip. Yvette is a total sweetheart and knows her stuff when it comes to Greek yogurt. The three of us had plenty to chat about over dinner and the evening was a total blast!

Now it’s time for me to get some much needed beauty rest. I’ll be back soon with an update on my back issues/plan of action.

Happy Saturday friends – I hope you are enjoying your day thus far! Thank you for the sweet comments on Olive’s video. I can’t wait to start teaching her some of the tricks you all recommended.

Yesterday was all around a good day. I started things off by meeting a friend at the gym before work. I’ve found that making plans with a work-out buddy can be quite beneficial- especially on Friday mornings when all you want to do is sleep in.

I packed a bowl of berry overnight oats to take with me to work. This combo not only looked pretty (hello tie-dye oats), but tasted delicious:

• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 scoop brown rice vanilla protein powder
• 1/4 cup frozen mixed berries
• dash of cinnamon, vanilla, and chia seeds

Lunch was courtesy of parents as Isaac’s school. This week is parent-teacher conference week and to help the teachers out during this busy time, parents bring meals for the teachers. We received a spinach lasagna and a lovely salad with a ton of fresh veggies. I topped the salad with some roasted butternut squash chunks and enjoyed a hearty lunch.

And, here comes the fun part! Last night, we were invited over to the lovely Lauren’s house for a Cuban inspired POM Dinner Party! Lauren and I live only 5 blocks from another and both have food blogs, yet we hadn’t met one another until last night!

The party got started with Cuban music and pomegranate mojitos, which by the way, were dangerously good.

Lauren did an amazing job with the decorating and tablescape.

I’m telling ya – Sandra Lee better watch out!

Of course, being the hostess with the mostess, Lauren was in the kitchen for most of the evening. But luckily, I did get a few minutes to chat with her and find out more about her life outside of blogging. It was so great to finally meet in person!

Bloggers always have so much in common and seem to connect really well!

As an appetizer we had plantain fritters with pomegranate salsa.

Ah-MA-zing! I had to refrain from eating more than just two of these. They were good, but I kept reminding myself we had three more courses to go.

All the guests made an assembly line from the kitchen to the dining room to help serve the dishes. Teamwork!

Although, some guest were more into drinking their mojitos than helping with the line… notice Isaac isn’t in the photo.

To start, we had a nice salad with tomatoes, avocado, and a pomegranate vinaigrette.

The main course for the evening was vegetable paella. I’ve never had paella prior to last night so I don’t have much to compare it to, but this dish was great. I loved the addition of artichokes, cherry tomatoes, and peppers.

Before dessert, Lauren showed us how to open a pomegranate and then we played a little game were all the guests guessed how many seeds were inside.

Don’t you love her apron?

I guessed 244 seeds and as it turns out almost all of us guessed WAY too low – there were over 800 seeds inside the pomegranate that Lauren opened. Crazy huh?

Lauren saved the best for last and after the short intermission we were all presented with a heavenly slice of Tres Leche Cake (Three Milks Cake) with pomegranate whipped cream.

Again, I must be a Cuban food deprived because I hadn’t had Tres Leches cake before either! Despite never having it before, I’m pretty certain that Lauren makes the best Tres Lechees Cake in Richmond. Seriously!

Who knew, sweetened condensed milk, heavy cream and evaporated milk could be so delicious!

Isaac and I enjoyed every bite.

And, I got all excited about Lauren’s tiny forks. They were super cute and it made me slow down and take smaller bites.

All the guests were given a POM swag for attending the party and Lauren included a few of these little guys for me. Thanks lady!

Overall, the evening was such a blast! Everyone at the party was so friendly and Lauren is an incredible chef and hostess. Thank you again to Lauren and Kyle for having us over!

Today, Isaac and I are going shopping for home stuff (hopefully we’ll find some blinds and dining room table that we like), then we’re headed to celebrate my cousin’s 25th birthday over dinner and bowling. I’m excited!

What are you doing this weekend?

Happy weekend friends. I hope you all enjoyed your two days of freedom as much as I did. Yesterday (after struggling with ecto all morning) Isaac and I went to the farmers market for some flowers, salad greens, and chicken feet (a treat for Olive – I’ll spare you the photo). I went to the gym for a quick sweat sess and then prepped for a little road trip to Charlottesville for Kath’s birthday celebration.

I made Kale Waldorf Salad for the potluck.

I used this Whole Food’s recipe with a few modifications – I used Asian pears rather than apples, my favorite white mustard instead of dijon and 4 tablespoons of water.

Kale Waldorf Salad with Asian Pears

Ingredients

• 4 cups packed finely chopped raw kale, preferably dinosaur kale
• 2 medium Asian pears
• 1 cup thinly sliced celery
• 1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped, divided
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons raisins, divided
• 2 tablespoons white mustard
• 4 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt

Method
Wash, dry and chop kale – then place it in a large bowl. Chop one pear and add to kale along with celery, 1/4 cup walnuts and 1/4 cup raisins. Chop remaining pear and put in a blender along with remaining 1/4 cup walnuts, remaining 2 tablespoons raisins, mustard, water, vinegar and salt. Purée until well combined and slightly thick. Pour dressing over kale salad and toss to combine.

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I’m not a fan of traditional waldorf salad, but this version used kale and didn’t include mayo so I thought I’d give it a try. Turns out it’s quite delicious and I’d definitely make it again.

The drive to c-ville was amazing – the leaves are all changing colors and I was surrounded by pretty views the entire ride. Once I got into the town things got a little hairy- first, I got lost finding Cara’s house, then I realized my phone was dead. FAIL. Thank goodness for Panera – I was able to charge my phone and have Cara meet me there.

Once I was settled at Cara’s she and I headed to Kath’s for the potluck and soon enough it was time to EAT.

The curried butternut squash soup was once again so delicious, as were Andrea’s empanadas.

Here’s my plate minus a boatload of Matt Cracks and pumpkin goat cheese.

This cheese was so good it quickly became my dessert of choice. Had I been at home I probably would have licked the container clean.

Post dinner the real fun started. We pushed aside all the food and started an impromptu pumpkin beer tasting.

Remember when I asked if anyone wanted to do a pumpkin beer tasting with me? Well, my dream came true!

From left to right Buffalo Bill’s Pumpkin Ale, Cottonwood’s Pumpkin, Schlafly’s Pumpkin Ale. I didn’t care for Buffalo Bill’s at all. It’s way too light and there’s not enough pumpkin flavor. The Cottonwood and Schafly’s were both good in different ways, but I preferred the sweetness of Schafly’s the most. Although, Southern Tier’s Pumking holds a special spot in my heart as the best pumpkin beer. I have two in the pantry for a special occasion – maybe Halloween.

Post party I headed back to my host’s home! Thanks again Cara for letting Heather and I take over your living room. And major thanks to Joe for traveling late at night to get the air mattress pump – otherwise I would have been sleeping on the floor!

This morning we went back to Kath and Matt’s for breakfast and were greeted by Kath, in the kitchen over a big pot of whipped banana oats.

Her specialty.

Choosing a bowl was hard.

But, choosing toppings was even harder.

.

Kath has quite the stash….

AllieBars, Heather’s carmel filled cookies and gingersnap cookies were also set out. I’ve heard plenty of bloggers talk up AllieBars but now I know for myself that they are delicious! Her recipe is top secret, but she did give me one to take home. If I were smart I would have saved it for a treat this week, but it’s already been devoured.

Meghann was the first in line for the oatmeal!

My bowl started with whipped banana chia oats (with pumpkin) and was topped with crumbled AllieBar, buckwheat granola, coconut, NuttZo PF and a blob of pumpkin butter right in the middle. I was so super excited to use Kath’s little spoon for my oats. It’s the small things in life right?

Knowing that Kath is the queen of oatmeal I was pretty pumped to try her oats for myself and they totally lived up to my grand expectations. They were super creamy and tasted perfect. If I could have her cook me oats every morning, I’d be one happy camper.

Sadly, the one topping I was pretty psyched to try, the NuttZo nut butter, didn’t really wow me. I’m actually happy about that because now I won’t be tempted to spend $20 for a jar of nut butter.

All and all, the KERF b-day celebration was a total blast and I spent all weekend with a huge smile on my face!

It was so much getting to catch up with friends and meet bloggers and blog readers I hadn’t had the chance to meet before. Sadly, I didn’t get a group shot of everyone. :/ Happy birthday Kath – enjoy the rest of your festivities!

In other news, EBF was down all day because of a plugin issue and I spend most of my evening getting that little mishap fixed… now it’s time to hang out with Isaac and get ready for the work week. Oh yes and the recipe I posted a photo for yesterday is definitely coming soon – get excited!!

And last but not least, how was YOUR weekend?