Sushi & The Symphony

Evenin’ everyone, I’m blogging a bit later than usual today because I just got in from a fun evening out with Angie & Jaime. A few days ago I mentioned that Jaime and I won tickets from Symphony Nova Scotia, well tonight was the show.

In true Haliblogger fashion we made it a night out and met up for dinner beforehand. After hearing Jaime’s review of Doraku, I knew where I wanted to go…
But the inside was just lovely. The first place we hit was the bathroom. There were candles and all kinds of yummy smells throughout the building. :) After powdering our noses our waitress took us to our seats - we actually had to take our shoes off and walk up the table. It was so neat!


While we waited for Jaime to arrive we browsed the menu and decided on a bunch of rolls to split.


I like to have green tea when I’m having sushi, ours came in a beautiful teapot.

We decided to start of with a cup of miso soup and a few bowls of edamame for the table. The miso soup really hit the spot on this cold, damp day.



And of course, the best part, the rolls. We ordered a few different ones to share including - Sweet Potato Tempura , Philadelphia Roll, Spicy Tuna and a Spicy Scallop. It was the best sushi I’ve had in the city. I’m definitely not an expert but better than the other 2 places I’ve been. :) (Excuse my poor quality pictures.)




After dinner, we made a dash for the Cohn and arrived just in time to get a few ticket issues sorted out (the staff were great and very accommodating!) and got to meet two other Halifax Twitters - @TammiHayne and @AliceinParis. So cool to meet other local twitters! I may have snuck a few pics once we got inside…




We enjoyed the sounds of “Brushstrokes and Bows.” Over all I liked it. I just wish I hadn’t have been up since 5am because I was pretty tired. It was my first time going to a Symphony though and it was pretty amazing! Thanks again to Symphony Nova Scotia for the tickets! I can’t wait to go back in December to see the Nutcracker!

Dinner and a Movie

Anyways, regardless of my silly throat, Mom and I had a great time on our date last night. I met her after work and we headed over to the Ramada for dinner at the Peppermill. The lighting in the restaurant was horrible and my pictures reflect that.

We got there before they officially started serving dinner so we had to sit in the bar. No prob, I did find it chilly though. Turns out they were having issues with their water systems and didn’t have any coffee. Won’t lie, I was disappointed, had been looking forward to an afternoon pick-me up.

We ended up splitting a glass of wine, a local white - Grand Pre L’Acadie Blanc. Although I wasted it by only having a sip or two.



They brought us over a small loaf of seedy bread and garlic butter to munch on while we browsed the menu. I had 2.5 little slices with a bit of the fantastic garlicky butter. Counted as 3 Points.


I stuck to my original plan and ordered the entrée-sized Spinach Salad w/ a Grilled Chicken Breast.


In true WW-style I immediately got rid of one of the cups of dressing. The menu indicated that there was supposed to be apple and almonds in the dish but I didn’t see/taste any. The Jarlsburg cheese did give it a nice flavour though.



I counted this salad as 10 Points - spinach, tomato & mushrooms 0, egg 2, cheese 3, dressing 2 and chicken breast 3. Over all it was good, give it a 6/7 out of 10. Honestly though, nothing spectacular. I think I could’ve found a better way to spend 13 points (half of my daily points) at home. I am proud of my healthy choices though, lots of veggies, protein and dairy! That is how you stay OP at a restaurant. Really simple if you’re focused.

Going to point out the obvious here too, and admit that I’ve become quite the food snob, especially when dining out. If I’m going to pay a decent amount of money for something then I expect it to taste exceptional. :)

My body was craving caffeine so we made a quick detour to the Starbucks drive-thru. My Mom nearly died from laughter when she heard me order a “tall, non-fat pumpkin spice latte, no whip.” Yup, turns outs I’m finally down with some of the ‘bucks lingo that all the cool kids use. ;) Totally hit the spot AND it’s my first red cup of the season!


We made it to the movie with plenty of time to settle in. Does anyone else find all the advertising annoying? I know it’s the same thing as commercials on TV, but I really disagree since you’re paying money to see the film. Ok, well tonight I wasn’t paying, I scored some tickets to see Coco Avant Chanel from the wonderful folks at The Coast but still. Thanks again by the way!

Here’s a summary of the film from IMDB:
Several years after leaving the orphanage to which her father never returned for her, Gabrielle Chanel finds herself working in a provincial bar both. She's both a seamstress for the performers and a singer, earning the nickname Coco from the song she sings nightly with her sister. A liaison with Baron Balsan gives her an entree into French society and a chance to develop her gift for designing increasingly popular hats. When she falls in love with English businessman Arthur Capel further opportunities open up, though life becomes ever more complicated.

I really enjoyed the movie. It was my first time experiencing a film with sub-titles. So neat, I do a have a bit of a background in the French language so it was quite interesting to see what I could understand. The sub-titles were great too, by the end of the movie you didn’t even realize that you were reading them and watching at the same time. What a life Coco had before becoming a famous designer! I knew she was the genius behind the LBD and woman’s suits but I had no idea that she originally started out making hats. Did you guys?

Yup, was a great Mother/Daughter night for sure!

So plans for my day off include trying out my new French press compliments of Things To Do For Two, with a full review to come. Getting in 2 cardio sessions, checking out my newly dug-up yard (septic issues) and cooking.

I kind of thought I might head up to the cenotaph too, I always went to Remembrance Day services when I was younger, it was a nice tradition and a great way to remember all those who fought for our country/freedom. This will depend on how I feel though.

Alright, off to check up on all my lovely bloggies now!

Hubby’s B-day – Part One

Morning bloggies, happy weekend!

Yesterday was hubby’s b-day so I thought it would be nice for him to wake up to a yummy breaky. I made one of his favs, my mom’s Potato Boats. I had to get up a little early to make em, but I did take the easy way out by microwaving instead of using the oven. Stuffed with old cheddar & real bacon bits. Mmm mmm.

Fresh sliced mango on the side. It was perfectly ripe; very sweet & juicy.

Plus his cute card,

It reads -

Your keys on the table,
Your shoes at the door,
Your pillow on the bed,
Your clothes on the floor,
Your arm around my neck,
Your laugh in my ear,
Your body leaning close,
Our hearts beating near,
It's the little things that combine
To make one big love.

One of my fav snack combos of late is a rice cake with peanut butter.

While I was having my snack, I snapped a few shots of my desk. I’ve basically got a collage of all the important people/events in my life. J & I on our wedding day, a couple from Holly & Dean’s wedding, my stagette dinner, a few different family ones including one from my 10K and a couple shots of the Halibloggers :) It always brightens my day to look up and be reminded of all the fun times.






And this is the where the food blogging ended for the day. :) After work my main mission was to bake J’s B-day cake. He’s a chocolate peanut butter kind of guy and after seeing the cake that Angie made for her hubby I knew that I was going to make something similar. I googled for a recipe and decided to go the easy route and bought mixes instead of making the cake from scratch.

Somehow I ended up buying a chocolate brownie mix instead of a cake mix though. Opps. I mean really, the only words I can see on the box are organic and chocolate… :)


I followed the directions but then also added 1/2 cup of milk and 1 tsp of baking powder to the mix. 2 hours later….I think it turned out pretty well!

This is a double layer, double chocolate fudge cake with peanut butter cream frosting topped with tooooo many mini Reese’s! I’m scared to do the calorie count on this. ;)




Needless to say I need to get in quite the workout this morning so that I can indulge ce soir. Speaking of, I weighed in this morning and am down 2.8 lbs, which is quite a relief :)

I’m off to get prepped for the gathering tonight – we’re having friends over for dinner/cake/drinks.

Local Love

Good Evening Bloggies, long time no chat! What a busy week for this household. Thankfully, it’s wrapping up quite nicely and I’m looking forward to the weekend.

I’ve got some exciting news – Life, Health & Fitness is now being streamed in the “Life” section of Haligonia.ca.

It was a big decision to make because being published on a local site kind of takes always from my anonymity. However, the whole point of my blog is to share my experiences with others, so why not locals as well? Thanks again to the Haligonia.ca, I really appreciate this opportunity!
_______

This evening the Halibloggers were supposed to go for our first group run. You know in preparation of the Santa Shuffle 5K that is a mere 2 weeks away. Yup, sometimes the schedules just don’t work out the away we want them to.

In anticipation of the run, I had a bite before I left work. For some reason I’ve been craving egg salad lately, so……


Bodywise WW Bagel with organic baby spinach, spread with the egg mixture – 1 egg, 1 tbsp of the best light mayo ever, diced chives and various seasonings. YUM and the perfect amount of carbs and protein to fuel my workout.


We agreed to met up at Starbucks beforehand and as usual I was a tad early. Not to worry, I managed to snag a comfy chair and had the crackberry and a short dark roast to pass the time. :)


In the end it was just me, Jaime and Tash who hit the pavement. Ang had planned to go but got held up at work. Lex and Farm Girl had previous commitments. We started off with a brisk walk down Spring Garden, then ran intervals for the next 45 mins or so, throughout the South End. It was a beautiful crisp evening, hard to believe it’s almost December. I haven’t done a lot of group running and have to say that I really enjoyed it. It’s nice to be out working up a decent sweat while spending time with good friends. Thanks for tonight girlies :)

On the WW’s front I’m doing okay, this week as been really busy which has resulted in a lack of “me” time. Read: lack of work out time. I’ve stayed within my points, used all of my WAP and most of my APs so we’ll see what the scale says on Saturday. I have a feeling that I won’t have much of a loss but I’m okay with that because the last 2 weeks I’ve had great results. I am finally back to where I want to be in terms of focus/motivation AND I’m back to running on a regular basis. Really don’t have much to complain about.

I will be checking in with everyone shortly, sorry for the lack of comments this week.

Focusing On Me – Day 1

One day down, the rest of my life to go! :) Happy to report that I stayed within the calories, got in a bit of exercise plus the house is tidy, lunches are made and I’m thoroughly enjoying my newly installed DVR. Yup, after 8 years I can finally watch my fav guilty pleasure ever, Days of our Lives. We bite the bullet and joined the 21st century this past Saturday. Hehe. Oh and I got to watch Jillian on The Doctors this afternoon! How excited was I? LOL

I’ve unplugged quite a bit over the past 2 weeks and it’s been a great break. But I feel like blogging helps me stay more accountable so I’m back to posting my daily eats now. Plus I missed checking in with my fellow bloggies!

Was definitely an oats kind of morning – a rainy, dreary Monday. I whipped us up a pot of organic oats, unsweetened vanilla almond breeze, organic banana, peanut butter & mini chocolate chips. There was also a huge mug of coffee too but it disappeared before I could snap a pic.

We don’t have any homemade snacks made so I grabbed a handful of Simple Pleasures Spice Snaps for a snack. These a great dippers too!


The rain made me crave a steamy mug of yumminess, so I had a minty hot chocolate. Used half this packet of Nestle Noir Dark Chocolate mix and a bag of Stash Peppermint tea. Mmmm



Lunch was 1/2c organic brown rice and 2 homemade veggie eggrolls. What a boring pic, the food just blends right in with the plate.


I did have a nectarine and then some air popped popcorn when I got home but was relaxing and opted not to take a pic. Supper was left over BBQ chicken breast, mashed taters & green beans. Had to use my ugly plates, the nice ones were all in the dishwasher.


Exercise was 30 mins of brisk walking.

So, someone of you are probably wondering how my Marilyn Manson concert experience went. To be honest, it wasn’t that bad. The show itself was pretty cool with all the lights, props, effects etc. There was a potential situation with a few people beside us but thankfully security handled it well. In regards to my “look” I showed up to J’s friend’s place in my work clothes and she proceeded to give me a make over. I LOVED my straightened hair but in general wasn’t comfortable with the rest, especially after we got out in public and by then I had no choice but to just go with it…eye make-up and all. I look so silly! :-P There, hope you all had a great laugh!

Back in Business

I’ve had a seriously great 2 days! I AM BACK 1000% and does it ever feel good. I am happy, happy, happy! :) From previous experience, I know exactly what I need to do in order to have a successful week staying OP.

GET ORGANIZED!

So that is what I spent the day doing. I am ready to take on this week, full speed ahead! I can’t wait to kick butt on the scale this coming Saturday!

I`m getting back into the habit of making all our lunches for the week on Sunday. This makes my mornings much easier and staying on track easy peasy!

I decided to added some veggies to the Mac `N Cheese casserole by creating a Roasted Red Pepper version. I`ve never roasted red peppers before; its so simple and they tasted amazing. Click here for directions.

I also experimented a bit more and made a fantastic batch of muffins. Orange POM Muffins to be exact. Yum


I want to thank everyone for their positive feedback and supportive comments on yesterday`s post. I am in this for the long haul and you will see me get there, promise! :) I took some pictures before heading off the WW Meeting, forgot all about them. So here are my official `fresh start`before pics. Excuse the tight running pants ;)

Time of my Life!

Well the G2G is just about over. I am tired, a bit hung over and sick as a dog but am still smiling because this whole week has been just amazing! I never thought a group of 16-18 people could get along as well as we all did, but apparently it can happen. FYI: I’m trying to put only flattering pics of everyone in this post but it might be a little tricky because we were all having quite a “good” time. :)

Our Thanksgiving dinner was yummy, we had a huge 21lb free range, organic turkey complete with all the trimmings – Cat & Jen made the yummy garlic mashed taters, Amy made her famous sweet potatos, Lesley and I both made different stuffing, there was sweet potato casserole and corn, Jaime made awesome roasted brussel spouts, plus mashed carrots & turnip, and Tash brought over yummy pumpkin & apple pies from Pete’s. It was a huge feast! I only have one pic from the actual meal and it’s of the bird. :)


To be honest I can barely remember the rest of the evening. I’m not a big drinker by any means but this was certainly a night of indulgence. hehe. I know I started off with wine but then Jen brought out her the jello shooters and it all kinda went fuzzy from there! Of course you end up with lots of cameras when bloggers unite.





Meanwhile, the men were getting to know each other the usual way – with beer, video games & sports, hehe!


Oh and Lex’s b/f Dave is a rubix cube genius and he spent part of the evening sharing his tricks of the trade!

Saturday we had a yummy brunch – bacon, scrambled eggs, hash & toast then J & I snuck out to attend a memorial service. J was really hurting so I took him home after the service and then headed back into the city to meet up with everyone at the Halifax Feast Dinner Theatre for a hilarious evening of entertainment. We saw High School Reunion - The Musical. I had a blast and can’t wait to go back for another show! After that we wandered up to Maxwell’s for a few drinks (and so the guys could watch the hockey game.) Ang & I got this crazy idea that we needed something to commemorate the G2G. We snuck out and after a bit of running around (there’s not that much open at 1145pm on Saturday night) we got a group shot printed and had everyone write on each other's.

It was another late night with some yummy butterscotch shots and a game of “What.” I think I finally hit the sack around 4am. Eck.

Yesterday we packed up and Jen & hubby were off to the airport, they got their flight info wrong so they made it just in time. It was a short but sad good bye. Miss you already chickie. I headed home sick and in desperate need of sleep.

One finally gathering this morning at Cora’s for brunch where I said my goodbye’s to Amy & Cat. Really can’t believe it’s over already. Can’t wait to see what we come up with next though.


I’m not even sure how I managed to drive there to be honest. My body is simply going through the motions and I plan to spend the rest of the day on the couch getting some much needed rest.

Once again ladies, this was truly one of those experiences that I will never ever forget. I’m just in awe of it all. I love you all from the bottom of my heart, thanks for some wonderful memories! xoxo

PS. DETOX STARTS TOMORROW!

Zumba Fail

So, as many of you know I was quite excited to try Zumba with a few of the other Halibloggers last night. Over the past several years I’ve really tried to broaden my whole fitness experiences and have mixed things up with spinning, warm yoga, pilates, shred and running.


What is Zumba you ask?
The Zumba® program fuses hypnotic Latin rhythms and easy-to-follow moves to create a one-of-a-kind fitness program that will blow you away. The routines feature interval training sessions where fast and slow rhythms and resistance training are combined to tone and sculpt your body while burning fat. Add some Latin flavor and international zest into the mix and you've got a Zumba® class! [All info taken from their official website - http://www.zumba.com]

So Angie,Lesley, Lex, Tammi and I all met up to go to the Zumba class at Good Life Fitness. There were a lot of people hoping to get a spot. The room only holds 30 people, so luckily we managed to get in line early enough that we were all able to make the cut. :)

I had no expectations for the class at all. The girls who went last week raved about it so I thought why not?

The class was packed, the music was fun and the instructor was very enthusiastic. I forget her name but she did a really great job of demonstrating the moves and it was quite obvious that she loves it.

Unfortunately, I'm not coordinated at all. I'll be honest, after 5 minutes in I knew that it wasn't for me. Of course, I stuck out the class but I was all over the place and always seemed to be several moves behind everyone. Plus I was facing wall to wall mirrors, so half the time I was looking at myself and the other half the instructor, but she was facing us so I ended up doing the moves opposite of what they were supposed to be.

It was a fairly decent sweat. Couldn't tell ya the exact number, roughly between 300-400 cals in the 45 mins class. (I had doubled up on the sports bras and Mr. Polar kept riding up underneath the band so I ended up resetting 3 times, not really great when I'm trying to track calories.)

Anyways, I'm thinking that group fitness classes aren't for me.... Group runs, definitely!

Overall I'm glad that I tried it and stuck it out.

Have you tried Zumba? Did you enjoy it? Let me know!

POM Marinated Pork Tenderloin

Pork tenderloin was on sale this week so I picked up a package. I was trying to find a good marinade recipe when I stumbled up on this one - POM Marinated Pork Roast from POM Wonderful.

As luck would have, I actually had all the ingredients in my cupboards! Whoot, this rarely happens! Please Note: I only used the actual marinade portion of the recipe and not the whole meal.

Combine POM Juice and white wine.

Mix in mustard, (I didn't have dijon, just honey) Worcestershire sauce, fresh chives, rosemary and bay leaves.

Use a knife to perforate the meat.

Place meat in bowl with marinade mixture and then cover. I let mine marinate over night and then all day. Probably close to 24 hours.

Bake at 400 for approx 25-30 mins... and voila! This was SOOO good.

Most definitely a recipe I will be using again. :)


Quick Update:
I've been EXTREMELY busy so far this week. We've solved the mystery of the missing septic tank and that problem is being dealt with today. AND we're finally getting a second vehicle, which is going to make life soooo much easier! I should have her by next week! I'm so excited/releaved! :)

Exercise hasn't really happened since Saturday. I've worked the spin class in tomorrow night and we have a group run planned for Thursday evening, so overall it's not so bad. I've also used up all my WAP and 4 AP. I' don't plan to eat any more APs and will work with the 26 daily points I have for the rest of the week.

I've got a bit of work to do this evening but I'm going to try and catch up on all your blogs too. :) Hope everyone is having a wonderful week!