Hope everyone had a nice weekend. I want to start off by congratulating everyone who ran in the NYC Marathon yesterday! It was really special to watch friends, fello bloggers, and athletes from all over the world run such an amazing and inspirational race. I went last year with Mari so we decided to continue with the tradition this year.

Nothing like waiting until the last minute…

My poor attempt to make a poster on the subway got me lots of attention and laughs.  I was quite pleased with the way my Dori poster turned out.

Mari and I arrived at the marathon and headed our separate ways. I found Dori’s boyfriend and roommate at mile 18 and we anxiously waited to see a cute girl wearing a Dori shirt with lots of hot pink run by!

We got plenty of updates on Twitter from other bloggers who were able to track her progress.

She ran by looking so happy and amazing after 18 miles! So proud of you Dori!! I spotted a few other familiar faces such as Melissa Z, Ashey, Theodora, and Rebecca. You all are amazing!

Eventually I found Mari again and we decided to head back to Queens for some food. We went to Corfu Grill, a Greek restaurant on Austin Street. I was freezing from standing outside so I decided to warm up with some tequila!

Skinny Margarita!

I ordered the Grilled Chicken Skewers plate which came with a Greek salad to start.

It also came with whole wheat pita and tzatziki sauce.

The chicken was delicious and was enough food for both lunch and dinner! It came with lima beans, rice and lemon potatoes.

I highly recommend going to Corfu Grill for happy hour if you are ever in Queens. They have 2-for-1 drinks and $2.00 appetizers! Can’t beat that.

I am off to go do some work! Have a great day and don’t forget to enter my Hydroxatone giveaway! I will be choosing a winner this Wednesday.

Related posts:

1. ING 2010 NYC Marathon Weekend!
2. Macaroni Grill Winner, Blogger Core Fusion Class, Gobo Dinner!
3. Blogger Housewarming Meetup!

Hello friends! I know July 4th is old news by now but I will just give a little rundown of my holiday weekend! It went a little something like this….

Saturday

-Wake up and run my butt to Port Authority to catch the 11:00 a.m. ghetto Greyhound casino bus.

-Get to the station at 10:50 a.m. but can’t get a ticket until the 11:30 a.m. bus.

-Feel secretly happy that I miss my bus because I desperately need coffee and food.

-Head to the only decent looking food place I see (Dean & Deluca) and blow $15 on an omelet and iced coffee.

-Make my 11:30 a.m. bus but get stuck next to a smelly guy. Hard to eat my omelet.

-Arrive in Atlantic City and get jipped out of my $25 casino credit since I purchased my ticket from a self-service ticket machine. Really?

-Head inside Hilton Casino, gamble my money away on Video Poker, and find my parents.

-Go to the beach and hang out with my mom’s friends. They had Jello shots.

-Eat sushi (not sure where my food photos are), drink a Lychee Martini, and call it a night.

Sunday

-Wake up from the loud thunder and feel depressed that it is storming while finally at a beach.

-Wait for the rain to stop and decide to ride bikes.

-Consider just going for a walk instead of bike riding when I see the helmet my dad brings out of his car for me.

Hello 80's Child!

-End up wearing a helmet all day…just not that one.

-Ride bikes and decide to cross over a giant bridge to get to Ocean City.

-Arrive to the Ocean City boardwalk 9.5 miles later. Totally worth it for the banana soft serve sundae from Bashful Banana.

-Ride bikes all the way back to Atlantic City. Can’t believe I rode a bike for 20 miles.

-Stop in the Pink Bunny Boutique to get my mom a sexy costume for her sparkle party at the Zumba Convention this week. Can’t believe I am in a sex shop with my mom.

-Head to dinner at the same sushi place, drink another lychee martini, watch the storm, and take the Greyhound back to NYC.

-Get back to NYC, walk outside, watch the cabs fight over me, get inside one, and direct him to my apartment.

-Make it home thanks to a handy, dandy GPS. Wonder what the point of being a cab driver is if you don’t know directions. 3:00 a.m = goodnight.

Monday, July 4

-Wake up an hour too late for Darbi’s bootcamp in Washington Square Park. Damn.

-Decide to do the Core Fusion Bootcamp DVD instead. Love it and realize how much I need Core Fusion in my life.

-Get kicked off my yoga mat. Decide it is time to drink.

-Head to Lisa’s apartment in the city and feel extremely jealous of her amazing backyard.

-Enjoy a Skinnygirl Margarita (or five).

-Eat an awesome piece of vegetable hummus pizza and blue corn chips.

-Try to be somewhat healthy so I eat a burger minus the bun.

-Try a grilled cheese corner. Amazing.

-Contemplate jumping in the pool so I can hog all of the beer.

-Meet Snookie.

-Try on really cool glasses.

-Head down the street to the fireworks.

-And enjoy the rest of my Independence Day with good friends, laughs and Sangria.

What did you do for the holiday weekend? Have a good day!

Related posts:

1. City Harvest Winner and Weekend!
2. Weekend in Atlantic City
3. My Birthday Weekend!

It is finally Friday! I am not going to say happy Friday because Melissa made a good point today-we are all still at work! Maybe at 7:00 tonight when I have a drink in my hand, I will shout, “Happy Friday!” For now I will just continue on with my blogging and tell you about the party I went to last night!

Dori and I went to the launch party of a new fitness studio called Refine. Dori knows Brynn, the founder of the studio since she used to be a Core Fusion instructor! Brynn taught Lotte Burke Method style classes for 5 years and eventually decided to open her own studio.

About Refine (from the website):

Imagine shapely muscles without the bulk. Fat stripped away without hours on the treadmill. Protected joints, an ache-free back. Imagine all of this plus the intensity to challenge your body and variety to challenge your mind. Welcome to Refine.

Not simply a class, Refine is a complete fitness framework—a unique method of exercise selection and sequencing designed to dramatically change the way your body looks, and feels. It’s not just about working out hard, but working out smart; using the most up-to-date exercise science research to achieve a strong, lean physique.

The foundation of Refine is Metabolic Resistance Training, a seamless circuit-style technique using our proprietary Refine equipment system. Expect a cardio burn while building metabolically-active lean muscle. Correct common postural problems and activate the full potential of every exercise with mobility drills and deep stretches. It’s re-defining the way you think about fitness. It’s Refine.

The class sounds like it is very intense! We walked in the studio and saw pulleys all around the room.

I decided to try one out for myself! Nothing wrong with a little strength training in a skirt!

Dori’s turn…

Brynn showed us some more ways to use the pulleys.

They seem very challenging! The classes only hold 12 people so each student is guaranteed individualized attention. The students also have the option of keeping a food diary and getting measured during the program. This is great for people who really want to see results and stay on track with their eating. I plan on trying the class in the next couple of weeks so I will report back with a more detailed review!

Next we went upstairs to see the rest of the studio.

There was a beautiful food spread and a ton of wine!

I had 2 glasses of Riesling.

I had some chips and hummus as well (I forgot to take a picture of the giant tub of hummus). Dori and I both agreed that they were the best chips ever.

I love Edible Arrangements! So pretty!

Cheese!

I told you they had an amazing spread of food!

I stuck with a few chips because I knew we were going out for a Mexican after! Had to save room for the margaritas (and the food).

I am really excited to try a class at Refine! Dori and I both plan on hosting a free blogger class so that you can try it out too! Stay tuned for more details!

After the party, we met our friend Melissa and headed to Cilantro for some dinner! We all got giant margaritas!

I love the chips at Cilantro! They are a mix of veggie chips and tortilla chips!

I got the Veggie Fajitas! I tried them once before at Cilantro and loved them! Look at those veggies!!

I also got whole wheat tortillas and extra guacamole instead of sour cream.

Deliciousssssss!

I have lots of leftovers to eat for lunch soon! Can’t wait! The only thing missing will be the margarita. That will have to wait till later…

Last but not least, the Body by Bethenny DVD winner!

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

41
Timestamp: 2010-09-24 14:20:27 UTC

41- Katie, “My favorite pose is the Tree pose. I feel like it puts me in that place of serenity!”

Congrats Katie! Please e-mail me your address so I can ship out your DVD.

What are you guys doing this weekend? The only thing I have planned is a hike and wine tasting! It feels nice to have nothing else planned for once. Relaxation time is much needed. Have a good one!

Related posts:

1. A New Goal: Refine Method
2. Birthday Margaritas!
3. Exhale at the Gansevoort Park Launch Party!

Happy Friday! Thank you so much for your amazing comments yesterday. I was pretty nervous to hit publish but it felt great to put it all out there. I will try to do that more often from now on! Today I am going to announce the winner of the Tropical Traditions Coconut Peanut Butter! I also need to talk about my (awful) experience at Outback a few nights ago! First…the winner!

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

85

Timestamp: 2010-08-27 13:56:26 UTC

85- Lynn from The Actor’s Diet!

Congrats Lynn! Please email me your address and phone number so we can ship out your jar!

OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE

A few nights ago I decided to go to Outback for dinner. I was really craving their bread and butter! The last time I went there (December of 2009) it was a disaster but my friend and I decided to give it another chance! I started off with their house margarita since it was only $4.95! It also happened to be one of the lower calorie cocktails on the menu. Can’t beat that.

source

The drinks took pretty long to come out but maybe I was just very thirsty for some tequila. The server took our order and 10 minutes later we still had no bread. I was dreaming about the bread all day so 10 minutes seemed more like a decade to me. We finally found him and had to practically beg for a loaf. What happened to the old days when they would bring out a warm loaf as soon as you sat down?

The bread and butter was wonderful. I probably ate a whole loaf by the end of the meal but that’s okay because it practically ended up being my dinner. I’ll explain later.

I ordered a house salad to start with Tangy Tomato dressing on the side. My salad came out covered in dressing.

I don’t like to be picky but I really don’t enjoy salad when it is drenched in dressing. I sent it back and got a new one with the dressing on the side.

Much better.

Our food took forever to come out. I downed my margarita and decided it was not as strong as I would have liked. I went with a giant Blue Moon next.

About 20 minutes later, the food finally arrives.  I rarely eat steak but I was at Outback so I felt as though it was necessary. I ordered the Filet with Wild Mushroom Sauce:

Sliced filet topped with our rich Marsala and wild mushroom sauce served with garlic mashed potatoes and fresh seasonal veggies.

I asked for all vegetables instead of mashed potatoes. They have a new option on the menu where you can ask for the lighter version of certain dishes. I asked for this version and the server had no idea what I was talking about.  I pointed to it and he told me the steak would be roasted. I was confused but just agreed.  My vegetables came out covered in butter. I really don’t think he brought me a lighter version. I was also expecting a nice, firm piece of filet mignon. I thought it was a little weird when the server did not ask how I wanted my steak cooked.

The pretty piece of filet mignon I was expecting turned out to be chunks of fat. I sliced my knife into a chunk and it was rubbery and fatty.

I decided to send it back. I was already really full from the bread, salad, margarita, and giant beer. I did not need anything else; especially something that grossed me out. The server took it back and asked if I wanted chicken instead. Um no. He brought us the bill and my steak was still on there. I did not even make a dent in it. I was not about to pay for food I was not happy with. We sat there for about 10 minutes waiting for the server to return. I think he noticed that we put no money on the table because I saw him chatting with a manager. Next thing you know he brings us a new check without the steak. Why did he not do that in the first place? Oh well, at least my bread was good. I don’t think I will be going back there for a while!

1) What are your thoughts on Outback? What do you order from there?

2) Do you send back food you don’t like or just deal with it?

Hope everyone has a great weekend! I am going on another hike on Sunday! It is supposed to be 90 degrees and sunny! Yay!

Related posts:

1. Outback Disaster!
2. Coconut Peanut Butter Giveaway!
3. Outback, Coldstone, and Blue Moon Complete Me

Since it is already the middle of August (insert sad face here), I am trying my best to take full advantage of summer. This past weekend I did just that.  I think a great summer consists of outdoor sangria, baseball games, friends, and backyard parties. I’d say I covered most of the bases (haha).

Friday

My lovely friend that works for the Mets got me tickets to the Mets/Phillies game. I am a huge Phillies fan so she always goes out of her way to get me tickets when they play in New York. I found Mari and friends at the subway stop and we rode to the stadium. Mari thinks I am nuts for rockin my Phillies gear in New York. I have to show my pride!

We were 13 seats away from the field! Hello!

We also had a waitress for our section! So cool! I ordered a Blue Moon.

Excuse my nail polish. Getting a manicure in a few days.  

I brought my own turkey and cheese wrap to be on the safe side.

I was kind of upset that I brought food after I saw a Subway right where we were sitting! There was also sushi on our menu! Oh well, at least I saved a few dollars.

Mari ordered a Kahlua iced coffee from the menu but we swore there was no alcohol in there. Our server told us they only use one shot so Mari begged her for a little more. Still no luck.

The Phillies lost but it’s okay because we beat the Mets the next 2 nights!

Saturday

I woke up and went to the wonderful Tower Diner for brunch. I got an egg white omelet with feta cheese, mushrooms, onions, and peppers.

We also split some pudding for dessert. Never too early for chocolate pudding! 

Later that night I went to Dori’s apartment for her first ever backyard party! It was so nice back there! I can’t believe we don’t play out there more!

Dori, Angela, Me!

Dori made delicious sangria….

She also made amazing Magnolia banana pudding! YUM!

I was happy…

Sunday

Dori and I woke up bright and early for some Core Fusion! It was another great class! We had plans to go to Angela’s rooftop for sangria but first we went to Dos Caminos for brunch. They had a very reasonable brunch special, $13.00 for a drink and meal. I started with a margarita of course!

We split some guacamole and chips. The guacamole there is amazing!

I got an omelet with goat cheese, mushrooms, and some corn thing. I forget the word. We had to google it to see what it was in English. Dori will remember.

The omelet was pretty good but nothing special. I want to go back there for dinner next time. We headed over to Angela’s afterwards for more drinks! We were supposed to go in her kiddy pool again but it ended up raining. We still had a great time inside her apartment. Angela made her own spinach dip!

We drank sangria alllll day long!

Angela also made coconut truffle brownie bites with cashew frosting! Check out her recipe here!

Great weekend! It is always great to hang out with fitness and food bloggers since it is almost always a given that the food and drinks will be on the healthier side. We also always make sure to fit in an exercise class to balance out all of the alcohol. I wish summer would never end! Or maybe I just need to move somewhere warm. One day…

1) If you could live anywhere, where would it be?

2) What is one thing you want to do before summer ends?

Related posts:

1. Saturday Sangria and Sati
2. I Love Summer
3. Summer Spirit