ashleyd /

Up and Moving and some morning EYE CANDY!

Good morning and Happy Thursday! Only one more day until the weekend! I am already excited for this weekend as I have a long run planned with Dori and Melissa which will also include the NYRR Run for Haiti 4 miler, a housewarming party for my cousin Meredith, and hopefully more Olympics watching! Did you see the half pipe competition last night? Amazing! Bo is especially fond of him due to his flaming red hair!
This morning I had speed work planned and some ab work Fitnessista style. My legs are still sore from Sunday and Monday’s long runs and 3 days of Core Fusion DVD. Therefore, this morning’s speed work was not my best. I did the following:
5 mins warmup 6.0
5 mins 6.2
2 mins 7.2
5 mins 6.2
2 mins 7.2
5 mins 6.2
2 mins 7.4
5 mins 6.2
1 min 7.8
Due to a late dinner last night I didn’t half my normal piece of toast and jam before the gym. I wonder if my body was missing that extra burst of food and nutrients?

Before moving over to breakfast, I wanted to make sure everyone knows about the awesome website Groupon. This site sends out a daily deal for over 50 different cities which is normally a 50%-75% discount. The discounts range which is what I love. My friend Elizabeth has benefitted from the Bikram discount last week, my girlfriend snagged Pole Dancing lessons/workout, and I’m thinking about taking advantage of today’s discount for Pilates on Fifth! Here is the link to todays!
If you want to join Groupon today for FREE click here!

This mornings breakfast was exactly what I was craving- Green Tea (Thanks Tea and Honey Store), 1/2 my Jolly green juice from One Lucky Duck, and pumpkin oats.

I hope that Power Vinyasa tonight with Lauren at Equinox will work some of this soreness out of my body. Also, either today or tomorrow I need to buy a new gym bag. Do you all have recommendations? Right now a Lululemon bag is my first choice but i’m open to ideas. My old school Vera Bradley bag from college is just not cutting it anymore. It’s a little akward when I walk into meetings with it up here in NYC.
And now, I leave you with some morning eye candy! I had the great opportunity to meet and hang out with Ryan Reynolds last week at a work event. He is funnier in person than you could ever imagine. This is definitely the worst picture of me (why was I on the end?!) in a while but regardless it was still a fun time!

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ashleyd /

Bears love fish on Valentine’s Day

I just realized that I never shared pictures from our first Valentine’s Day together doing what we love most, exploring Chelsea Market for inspiration and ingredients and then cooking together over wonderful wine. After seeing the fresh seafood we knew that we had to take advantage of the incredible selection. We purchased a dozen oysters across various types:
 
 After that we moved down to their fresh fish and decided that grouper looked absolutely amazing! We can rarely find quality grouper at our grocery store downstairs so were delighted by Chelsea Market’s selection. We used this grouper in our favorite Savannah recipe, Almond Crusted Grouper. This is influenced by the famous favorite at Elizabeth’s on 37th, one of Savannah’s top restaurants for over 15 years. I highly suggest this recipe as it’s very simple, delicious, and can be used on different fish.
Bo’s Almond Crusted Grouper
Ingredients:
6 6oz grouper filets
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp water
1 egg beaten
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp hot chili sauce
1 c Wheat Thins (crushed)
1/2 c grated asiago
1/4 c chopped toasted almonds
2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
1/4 c minced italian parsley
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp evoo
2 tbsp minced tarragon
Heat oven to 425
Butter a shallow baking pan
In bowl combine sesame oil through hot chili sauce.
In a food processor combine Wheat thins through tarragon- transfer to shallow dish.
Dip fish in marinade then in crumb mix
Place on baking pan (do not let them touch each other)
Drizzle fish with evoo and butter
Roast for 20 minutes.
ENJOY!

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ashleyd /

Better Late than Never!

Last week, I received an email from Equinox advertising their latest member/guest event, The Breakfast Club.
Jump start your day and enjoy a complimentary workout, heart healthy breakfast and blood pressure testing.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16TH


EQUINOX FITNESS CLUBS


6:00AM-10:00AM


Fitness is more fun with a partner, so bring a friend along.


Sponsored by: Pom Wonderful, MixmyGranola

I was immediately excited as I’m probably the last health and fitness blogger to sample Pom Juice and MixmyGranola. I’ve seen these brands multiple time on other sites and even in store but haven’t sampled them. In addition, I was hoping to bring a friend to the event to enjoy a morning spin class.

Yesterday’s event did not disappoint! After a fabulous spin class and shower I headed out to the lobby to investigate the goods. There were multiple brands represented: Pom Wonderful, MixmyGranola, and Tea & Honey Store.

Mix My Granola:

For those of you who haven’t sampled this amazing idea before, Mix My Granola prides themselves on allowing consumers to design their own granola from more than 75 healthy and delicious ingredients. In addition, you can also choose from their pre-mixed formulas such as the Equinox mix. Most granolas range from $7-$10 per container. While this is expensive, I think it’s important to keep in mind that you are able to customize it exactly to your palate! I love this site and plan to order something very soon! In addition, their site is VERY user friendly
This brand was giving out small single serving portions of their Equinox braneded “Heart Healthy Granola” mix. This blend included whole rolled oats, crisp rice, honey, cranberries, almond, coconut, and more. I was only able to grab one pack since they were handing them out but it was absolutely delicious! It was the perfect mix-in yesterday when blended with my afternoon snack: Fage 0% and sugar free apricot preserves.
Even better, MixMyGranola has been so kind as to offer Healthy, Happier readers 10% off their order by entering the code: GRANOLA10 at checkout!

The Tea and Honey Store carries a unique assortment of robust and flavorful teas and honeys. Our intimate and vibrant shop in New York City’s Grand Central Terminal strives to provide exotic and delicious teas from across the globe alongside a selection of gourmet, unprocessed honeys.
Along with our own The Tea & Honey Store line of carefully selected organic teas and locally produced honey from the Hamptons Honey Company, we offer a variety of exclusive tea lines from the best tea houses and apiaries in the United States and France.
Yesterday they were handing out different Le Palais Des Thes tea bags. I was able to snag one chai and one The des Sables, a green tea. This green tea was absolutely divine yesterday morning and quickly warmed me up after the 10 block walk in the snow and cold. The flavor is softer than your average green tea due to the citrus infusion. In addition, I highly recommend their honey selection as every Equinox member who sampled it immediately broke out in “ooohs, yumms, and this is amazing” They have a great online shop as well which features their offerings!
For the local NYC readers, I will continue to post events such as this on the blog so you can have the opportunity to try Equinox for free! Until then, I highly suggest trying some of these great brands!
Also, hop on over to www.shapeupnyc.com to join me for a free kettlebell class next week!
 

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