My healthy happier life

ashleyd / January 24, 2012

Monday Musings

After a weekend of indulgent, delicious dinners and more than one cupcake taste, it felt wonderful to enjoy some whole, natural foods today. I packed my breakfast and lunch today which meant I was able to enjoy healthy food without much thought or temptation at the office.

Breakfast was a bowl of banana oats topped with chia seeds.

Lunch was a homemade spinach salad and a bowl of soup. While my mom and I made last night’s salad I grabbed a Tupperware and made my lunch salad at the same time with the leftover ingredients. Today’s salad contained baby spinach, cherry tomatoes, walnuts, 1/4 cup blue cheese, and Whole Food’s all natural honey mustard dressing. I loved the fresh addition of walnuts and baby spinach.

The soup was definitely not a winner. This very photogenic soup was my last can of Healthy Choice vegetable soup I bought on sale a few weeks ago. Luckily, I ordered a case of Progresso Light soups from Amazon tonight. I realized a few weeks ago that my soup habit, while healthy and filling, cost at least $4 per day and didn’t allow me to control the sodium content. Therefore, ordering a case of soup from Amazon is far less expensive and healthier!

My afternoon snack was a yogurt bowl, which has quickly become a daily staple. Over 20 grams of protein, a serving of fruit, and lots of crunch keep me full for at least 3 hours.

Dinner on the other hand was a bit more random due to this evening’s Junior League meeting. I didn’t eat the yogurt bowl until 4:30 which meant that at 7:30 I still wasn’t very hungry. I had a dish of crunchy vegetables, hummus, and some cheese cubes while we discussed the month’s agenda.

During my cab ride home tonight, while brainstorming my post, I came up with some Monday Musings.

After reading Theodora’s post about her session with a stylist, I realized that I couldn’t stand the shirt I wore to work today. Therefore, it immediately went in my donate pile this evening.

In case you’ve never taken advantage of Origin’s free mini facials, they are the perfect treat for you and a friend, or parent! Last night my mom, dad, and I stopped by the Flatiron Origins and enjoyed being pampered by Augustine. While we both left with new skin care regimens, no purchase is necessary to enjoy this relaxing treat.

This product works better than you’d ever imagine! For $11.00 everyone deserves one of these for their desk drawer or bedside table.
Each week, I’ve tried to cleanse and purge a different part of my life. Last week my focus was my daily food through a one day cleanse and cleaner eating. This week, my goal is to clean under my bed and get rid of anything I don’t need or use. I tend to get lots of beauty samples through my job but never use everything. It’s time to get rid of clutter and excess products.
This weekend’s weather reminded me how much I love my Hunter Boots. While the $125 price point is hard to stomach, they’ve shown up on RueLala and Gilt before. If you already have a pair of Hunter Boots, or something similar, upgrade them for winter $30 with a fun bright liner sock!
One of my favorite Valentine’s Day traditions is buying a 6 or 8 pack of Hallmark cards and sending a random note to my college girlfriends. While we don’t talk weekly or even monthly at this point, it’s still a nice way to remind them how important they are. In addition, a random note brightens anyone’s day!

Do you send Valentine’s Day cards?

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ashleyd / January 23, 2012

Travel Guide #1: Two Days in NYC

Many people have asked for me to share a more detailed outline of suggestions for a New York City weekend. I am going to do this over a few posts, with tonight’s being the first. Each will address a different type of guest, the first being parents who are experienced New York City travelers. This agenda can work with anyone who has been to the city over the past couple of years and wants to see some fresh sites.

Day 1

Morning walk through your favorite part of the city
A New York City breakfast at Murray’s Bagels
Check out the new American Wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Walk a few blocks over to Luke’s Lobsters for a delicious and inexpensive lunch, where each roll is filled with a full 1/4 pound of lobster meat.
Walk north Two Little Red Hens for a delicious, off the radar, bakery visit
Head south a few blocks and burn some calories shopping in the neighborhood, heading down to your choice of Saks, Bloomingdales, or one of the Park Avenue boutiques.
If shopping isn’t your thing, reserve tickets in advance for the World Trade Center memorial which has now opened down at Ground Zero. It takes each family and person a different amount of time, but an hour should be plenty.
Hydrate with an evening cocktail at Tipsy Parsons before enjoying one of their Southern blue plate specials for dinner

Day 2

Venture outside of Manhattan to Williamsburg where you can explore the quaint streets before a delicious brunch at Egg
Hail a cab over to downtown Brooklyn’s TKTS booth where the lines are always shorter than either Manhattan locations even though they offer the same tickets.
Head back over the bridge to the Lower East Side for 1-2 hours of history at the Tennement Museum
Subdue your hunger at either the Essex Market’s taco stand or deli sandwich stand
With full bellies, walk North to SoHo and explore some of their recent additions including a 3 store REI and multiple shops and boutiques. If shopping isn’t your thing, head up to the Highline and check out the newest extension.
If you were able to plan your trip in advance, hopefully you booked pre-theatre table at either ABC Kitchen or Gramercy Tavern, two amazing restaurants in the city which serve seasonal, farm to table meals with wonderful service.
Finish your evening with your Broadway show for which you bought tickets earlier in Brooklyn. Our favorites right now are Anything Goes, Wicked, Jersey Boys, or Phantom.

I’ll be doing more installments over the next few weeks and adding them to the travel section of this blog. As always, feel free to email with any New York City questions if you’re planning a trip to the Big Apple!