A rainy Friday always seems like the perfect time to order a comforting, and not-so-healthy meal for lunch. My coworkers suggested Bill’s Bar & Burger in the Meatpacking District so I happily agreed!

Bill’s Burger in the MPD does not deliver so we left work for a few minutes and picked it up. I now know where to go next time I want to meet a business man! Hello! I was very tempted to have a beer while waiting on the food but I don’t think having beer breathe at my meeting just now would have been the smartest idea. Sigh…

I was originally going to order the veggie burger but called to ask about it and found out it was simply deep-fried chickpeas. Why not call it a falafel burger then? I really wanted to order sweet potato fries so I decided to skip the deep fried “veggie” burger. I went with the turkey burger on a multigrain bun instead. Probably not that much healthier but it seemed like the best option at the time.

I made the right choice! The turkey burger was delicious and the sweet potato fries (and steak fries) were both amazing. The burger was juicy, had a ton of flavor, and had some special dressing on it that was to die for!

This $15.00 lunch cannot become a weekly habit but sometimes a juicy burger and greasy fries are completely necessary on a day like today. Happy Friday!

What did you eat for lunch today?

What is your go-to comfort lunch on a rainy day?

It is now time to announce the Trop50 $50 Spa Week Gift Card winner!

17- Dori!!

Congrats friend! Thanks for tweeting!!

Have a great weekend!

Related posts:

1. Veggie Burger Competition
2. The Chocolate Banana Burger
3. Macaroni Grill Winner, Blogger Core Fusion Class, Gobo Dinner!

Last night I discovered an amazing sushi restaurant that all of my New York readers must experience at some point! My roommate has been trying to take me there for months now but it is located in Great Neck so is pretty difficult to get to. Luckily I brought my car to New York recently so we decided to drive there last night. The restaurant is called Sushi Palace and is all-you-can-eat for just $20.00! I usually try to avoid places like this because I immediately think of two things: 1) low-quality sushi 2) eating way too much. I am not good at the whole stopping when full thing, especially when there is delicious sushi on my plate! My roommate assured me that the sushi was fresh and made-to-order so I agreed to try it. Sushi Palace is also BYOB (oh yeah)!

Jackie and I drove there and it was just 20 minutes away from our apartment in Queens.  There was even a free parking lot behind the restaurant (a very rare luxury in New York). We arrived at the restaurant around 7:00 p.m. and did not have to wait for a table. It did get very busy about an hour after that so I would recommend going on the earlier side. We were handed an appetizer list and sushi list and got to check off anything (almost everything for us) from the menu! We took full advantage of the $20.00 all-you-can-eat deal. Evidence pictured below….

Japanese Mushroom Soup

Spring Rolls

Seaweed Salad

Seafood Udon Noodles

Garden Salad

Edamame

Round 2! More Salads and Sweet & Sour Soup

Sushi Part 1: Eel Avocado Roll, Crunchy Shrimp Roll, Sashimi!

Sushi Part 1: Salmon Avocado Roll with Crab, Salmon & Tuna Sashimi

Rock Shrimp (AMAZING)

Aged Tofu

Green Tea and Red Bean Ice Cream

Talk about sushi coma! I’m going to go ahead and say that we got our $20.00 worth! I loved everything that we ordered besides the tofu (just because it was too slimy for me). I can’t even put into words how delicious the rock shrimp was!  All of the sushi was very fresh and the food came out super fast! The service was incredible for such a busy restaurant. If you are able to visit Sushi Palace, do not leave without trying the Red Bean ice cream! If anyone needs a ride to Great Neck, do not hesitate to ask me. I’d be happy to eat at this restaurant again ASAP!

Have a great Friday! Happy 11/11/11!

Do you like all-you-can eat restaurants and buffets? Why?

What are you looking forward to this weekend?

Related posts:

1. Sushi Date and College Memories
2. Sushi Coma!
3. Sake Bombs at Sake Sushi!

Hope everyone had a nice weekend. I was supposed to go to the Phillies game on Friday but it was cancelled because of the rain. Instead, I went out to dinner with my sister and her husband. We decided to check Groupon Now to see if there were any last minute deals before deciding where to eat. We ended up finding a deal for $20 off a $40 purchase to a restaurant called Tom & Toon. The menu looked good and the restaurant was very close to us for such a gross, rainy night.

The restaurant seemed to have mostly Thai food but also had American options such as fried chicken, burgers, and pizza. Usually places like that make me nervous but the environment was really nice and the restaurant had good reviews online. I started off with a Chang beer just because it sounded cool.

Very good choice. It was pretty similar to the taste of Sapporo beer.

We decided to split an appetizer and two entrees. We started off with the Shrimp Summer Rolls.

All three of us agreed that these were the best summer rolls we’ve ever had! They were very fresh and had the most amazing sauces for dipping.

We also split the Beef Pad Thai.

This dish was also amazing! The beef was lean and delicious and I loved that the dish was covered with bean sprouts.

We shared one more delicious dish: Miso Glazed Ahi Tuna.

The tuna was seared to perfection and there was a great corn and bean mix under the fish. Loved it!

The service at Tom and Toon was really great and there was even live music!

We had several glasses of wine before dinner which made the experience that much better…

Excuse the random pear on the table that was found in my purse. We ended up having drunken push up contests. I lost! 

On Saturday, I went to two Phillies games and the Mets won both times. Booo. I also got hit in the shoulder with a foul ball. It really hurt and I didn’t even get a ball out of it. I did get an ice pack. Exciting stuff.

Momma Engel

Hellooooo.

Yesterday I went to Pop Burger and watched football all day. I saw Kelly from the Real Housewives of New York. Pretty cool.

What exciting things did you do this weekend?

On Wednesday, I will be attending a Naturalizer shoes event.  If you have any questions about the brand, let me know below and I will have them answered. Thank you!

Have a good one!

Related posts:

1. Sushi Date and College Memories
2. Macaroni Grill Winner, Blogger Core Fusion Class, Gobo Dinner!
3. Hike and Wine Tasting

This past Friday was an amazing day that I will never forget for the rest of my life. I participated in the Sati LOVE Flash Mob as well as a 2 hour advanced intenSati class led by Patricia Moreno. Both events were a huge success and brought the Sati community even closer together. The flash mob was the most amazing and powerful 5 minutes and really demonstrated our commitment to spreading peace and love in the world.

I started my day off with an intenSati class at 6:30 a.m. in the morning! This was our last opportunity to practice for the flash mob and I knew it would be fun to start the day off with my usual morning Sati crew. There was so much energy in the room because we were all so excited to finally do the flash mob series that we had been practicing for in every class for the last two weeks!

I especially had a great time in class because my good friend Tiff was there! She recently moved to Arizona but took the red-eye in just for the flash mob! Amazing!

After class, we all walked together to Washington Square Park where the flash mob would take place. This walk was also one of the highlights of my day. Imagine walking around NYC with your entire gym class of 30 people in bright colored clothing. I felt like I was on a field trip! People were staring at us in their business clothes wondering how a group of people could look so happy and energetic at 8:00 a.m. in the morning!  I also felt a little mischievous being a block away from my work since I definitely took the day off for this.

We arrived at the park and saw colorful people everywhere chatting with each other. It kind of felt like a dream since I knew almost every single person but had to pretend like I was just relaxing in the park with a friend! It was really cool to see the live drummers and camera crew getting ready!

Some of us paced back and forth and others pretended to read newspapers. It was so exciting waiting for Patricia to begin the flash mob series!

All of the sudden, the drummers began playing and Patricia started dancing around by herself in the middle of the park. She eventually started the series and one by one, we all joined in. Check this video out!

I was in the front and never looked behind me but heard there were about 200 people there! For 5 minutes, we happily yelled:

“I am the change
I want to see
I am done complaining
I set myself free
I choose love, peace, gratitude and faith
I have all that I need
Already within me
May everyone be happy and free”

After the 5 minutes, we sat down in complete silence and meditated. There were a few cheers and whistles but then the people watching seemed to understand the precious moment of silence and the park got completely quiet. Everyone had been instructed to send a blessing to those they know who are suffering and radiate love and peace for 30 seconds.  This moment was so powerful and also really emotional. Sitting in silence with 200 people I love in a park after doing someting we had spent so much time preparing for was just amazing. We all got up and walked away in different directions and went about our day feeling a powerful shift had been made. Success.

The flash mob already made the news! Check out some more videos below:

Flash Mob Brings Fitness Moves to Washington Square Park

Sati LOVE flash mob video

As soon as I found some of my friends, we all started hugging and felt so proud of each other. Some people headed home, other people headed to Patricia’s dance class at Equinox, while a few of us went out to breakfast before our next workout! While I was very tempted to take dance class, I knew that my body would not appreciate me working out for over 4 hours! I chose breakfast instead! We went to a cute little restaurant called Caffe Reggio.

It was very old fashioned and pretty inside!

I enjoyed a delicious iced coffee and a piece of a cheese pastry (I forget the name!)

I also got the spinach and ricotta cheese omelet with whole wheat bread. Perfect breakfast!

My friends are down for the food blogging so I got to take pictures of everything on the table!

Prosciutto, Mozzarella & Fresh Basil Panini

CREPE REGGIO: buttered spinach and ricotta filling under melted european cheeses

The service was pretty awful but we did not mind too much because we needed some relaxation time! While we were at breakfast, a second flash mob happened in Union Square with Patricia’s dance class!

Love it!

Eventually we all headed over to the next Equinox for our 2 hour Advanced Sati Master class! Let me just say that it was the coolest thing ever to see the drummers and the camera crew all set up inside the fitness studio!

I seriously love being filmed while working out. I always work hard in Patricia’s class but the cameras are extra motivation to give it my all!  I felt like I was going to pass out after the first 10 minutes but the whole point was to get us out of our comfort zones and to practice not complaining. If we found ourselves complaining about something, we were instructed to have a sip of water. This is such a great idea because it will definitely make me more aware of my negative thoughts if I actually have to take action and drink water when complaining. I found myself drinking tons of water during the class, and not just because I was dehydrated. It really was so challenging but also amazing. Having live drummers instead of regular music also added so much to the class. Imagine being told to go all out for one minute while doing mountain climbers and confusion punching combinations. The drummers would start drumming super fast and get louder and louder which really helped keep our energy levels up. I loved them!! They may do more of our events and classes in the future!

Jacquie from The Sweetest Things also came to the class and loved it! I love recruiting blog friends from Twitter! So fun!

The entire day was so amazing and filled with joy and love. I am so happy that the flash mob was a success and can’t wait for the next one! Thank you for reading and have a wonderful weekend!

Related posts:

1. NYC Sati Love Flash Mob Video Debut!
2. Join the LOVE Mob!
3. Saturday Sangria and Sati

One of the highlights from Pride Day for me was stopping at Rosa Mexicano for some margaritas and lunch! After watching the parade for at least two hours after doing an intense workout, I desperately needed some good food and strong drinks! I enjoyed watching naked men for quite a while but eventually decided that they would be even more fun to stare at after some tequila! I had never been to Rosa Mexicano before Sunday and it happened to be across the street from the parade! I was a little worried about the steap prices but as soon as I heard about their amazing, pomegranate margaritas, I was in!

I was expecting one drink to be about $20 at a place like Rosa Mexicano but it was only $14! I know…still kind of expensive but the margarita was super strong, delicious and exactly what I needed at 3pm on a Sunday afternoon!

There were five of us at the table so we ordered a large bowl of guacamole and chips to start. It is always a good sign when they make it right in front of you! We got our own little guacamole show.

Hell yeah.

I would go back there just for the guacamole. Amazing! I also loved that they served us chips, along with mini tortillas and two different dipping sauces.

It was time for a second margarita before our meals even arrived! We all thought we weren’t drunk from the first drink but it definitely hit us about five minutes later. Gotta love tequila.

It was one of the toughest decisions of my life deciding what to order from this menu but I eventually went with the Vegetable Tacos: a skillet of market fresh vegetables: portabello mushrooms, roasted beets, asparagus, string beans, Swiss chard, and garlic topped with fresh herbed cheese. Served with flax seed tortillas and red beans.

It was also served with red bean chorizo chili, corn esquites,  and chile de arbol salsa. I need to start studying my Spanish again. Don’t ask me what any of that means.

I really enjoyed every single part of my meal! The vegetables were so fresh and flavorful and I especially loved the cheese on top! It was also super fun making my own tacos while drunk! You can probably tell from the photo that I could not see straight….

It was more than enough food and probably made about six little tacos. Lisa kept ordering more and more tortillas so I don’t even know how many we really had! The service at Rosa Mexicano was also amazing, but probably too good because the Busboys kept trying to steal our food before we were finished!

A little view of the restaurant….

We were a very happy group after two of those pomegranate margaritas!

Who wants to go back to Rosa Mexicano with me? Raise your hand!!

What is your favorite Mexican restaurant? What do you usually order?

Related posts:

1. Pride Day
2. 5 Burro vs. Garcia’s!
3. NYE and Five Burro Cafe!