Coffee Craze

I was really excited this morning when I logged into Twitter and saw that I've converted both Stephanie and Cassie to DiBruno's iced coffee.



Seriously though! It's the best iced coffee in this part of Center City. If you disagree, I'd love to hear it - especially if you know of a place where the iced coffee is just as good, but comes in anything larger than a 16 ounce size.

Breakfast this morning (in addition to my delicious iced coffee) was yet another yogurt-berries-granola conglomeration.



Still not quite in season, but we're getting closer. This round was much better than the craptacular raspberries I bought a couple of weeks ago - they were on sale at Target, I think, or maybe Wegmans, two for $5. One package was completely underripe, terrible almost-crunchy texture and zero flavor, and the other was very overripe - mushy and completely mold-covered by the next day. Sad face.

My dog is not right. Exhibit A:



Not only has she taken the cushion out of the dog bed, but she is facing the (completely blank) wall. Not watching TV, not paying attention to her humans, just staring at the wall. Until I called her name.



This only lasted a split second, and then I guess she realized that she was sitting on an uncushioned dog bed with no source of entertainment, because she immediately ran away.

On tap for today: lots of relatively uninteresting (read: blessedly not complicated) work, followed by a much-needed sweat session. I usually take Mondays as a rest day, which is always amazing at the time, but it leaves me feeling a little stir-crazy by this time Tuesday morning. I'm hoping PhillyGuy can make it to the gym with me tonight - he's been super busy at work and we haven't been able to work out together in months, save one or two sessions here and there. I miss my gym buddy!

Bitter, Party of One

Most mornings I make my first cup of coffee at home and drink it on my way to work. Within 30 minutes of getting to the office, I'm ready for cup number two, so I head down to DiBruno's for the most delicious iced coffee I know of. I get at least one cup a day, sometimes a second one mid-afternoon, so the baristas know me and get my large iced coffee ready while I'm in line, so it's sitting there for me when I get up to the register.

I've lamented before the fact that DiBruno's hasn't jumped onto the bucket-o-beverage bandwagon with most American chains. The largest size they offer is a (very reasonable) sixteen ounces. Some days, that's plenty. Most days, I suck it down instantly and wish I had four more waiting for me. I could get an extra-large 20 (or 30 or 40 or whatever) ounce iced coffee from Dunkin Donuts, but...it's just gross. It's weak, kind of flavorless and sort of reminds me of dishwater.

Well, this morning, I didn't make my coffee at home. I figured I'd head straight to DiBruno's instead. And much to my disappointment, they were out of large cold cups...so I was stuck with twelve measly ounces.

Let's say it didn't last long. And that I'm glad Starbucks is on the bucket-o-beverage bandwagon.


DiBruno's may as well have given me a shot of coffee.

It's no secret that work has been pretty stressful for me recently. Lots of hours, but also a huge sense of urgency where everything has to be done NOWNOWNOWNOWNOW - which does great things to my blood pressure, I'm sure. I've been trying to force myself to the gym, even if it's only for a half hour or so just to get a good sweat, because it really does help.

Yesterday, all I wanted was to run. Work and related obligations had kept me out of the gym for three days, so I was starting to get a little stir-crazy. But naturally, my knee was bugging me for most of the day.

And I just start to get bitter. I see people on the treadmill and I get consumed with jealousy, and let me tell you, it ain't pretty. "OH, it must be NICE to be able to RUN WITHOUT KNEE PAIN. You're not so great. I could do that too if my knees didn't hurt." I even get bitter towards people who DON'T have knee pain but choose not to run, like they're somehow obligated to engage in that particular high-impact activity just because their patellas are in the right place all the time.

Most of the time, that bitterness subsides once I get moving doing whatever it is I end up doing instead of running - whether it's yoga or hill intervals on the bike or just lots of [relatively] heavy lifting. I recognize that it's not rational, but I just can't help it sometimes.

Lucky for me, last night my knees actually behaved just fine while I was running. I ran about 1.2 miles in ten minutes, increasing my speed from 6.5 to 7.0 to 7.5 as I went. I probably could have gone farther, but given the pain I'd been having earlier in the day, I didn't want to push my luck. And happily for me, that was all I needed - it was enough to get me started on sweating, enough to get my heartrate up, and enough of a start that I didn't have any trouble keeping my heartrate up when I moved over to the bike for another 20 minutes. I wrapped it up with P90X chest, shoulders & triceps (I don't really care for this workout - too many weird moves), and returned home a much happier Chrissey.

I love endorphins. I also love that it's Friday. Plans for the weekend?

I Have Been MIA

yeah. I've been MIA.

This week was full of...stuff. Lots of stuff.

Like this, which greeted me at my desk at 6:22 am on Thursday morning.

I hadn't started my day with a Starbucks latte and bagel in forever. This used to be my daily breakfast - until I moved from center city to G-Ho, where there is no Starbucks. At the time, I was actually concerned about that - I truly did not know where I was going to get my coffee. Answer: if I don't make it at home (see: copious amounts of Via and a reusable cold cup)...



...then I go to Good Karma, on 22nd between Pine and Delancey, or LaVa, at 21st and South. Or any of the other fun, neighborhood-y coffee shops all over this city. How, in god's name, did I manage to live in Philly for so long (like two or three years!) without realizing it? I guess that's what happens when you live in CC proper.

Anyway. That stack of documents is a third of what I had to review this week in time for my 10am meeting Thursday morning. I also had four filings, a bunch of agreements to finish up, and a lunch with new clients out in the 'burbs. It was a nutty week, and left me feeling like something just punched me in the face.



I still managed to hit the gym a few times, for some short speedwork and a bunch of time on the recumbent bike. The entire week, I was just counting the seconds for this:



I'm a casual snowboarder - I've gone a few times a year since college. I'm not anywhere near good, but I'm comfortable on green terrain and easier blues. PhillyGuy has never so much as touched a mountain, but I finally managed to drag him up to Camelback for some lessons and a weekend of fun, easy snowboarding.

We had some much-needed beers at a local brewery right by the mountain.



Why did the bar I worked at in college not do this?

Chopped

Yesterday was a big day.

It started out pretty normal - just about every weekend morning, I wake up around 7 or 7:30, take the dogs out, and make a cup of iced coffee (FYI, the regular starbucks VIA dissolves perfectly well in cold water - you don't have to buy the special "iced" kind). I bring the coffee, the dogs and my laptop back up to bed, where PhillyGuy is still sleeping, and we all hang out while I catch up on my google reader, twitter, and all the other stuff that the internets have been up to while I slept.

But see - I had an appointment to get my hair cut. As I mentioned on twitter earlier in the week, I got it in my head that it was time for another big change. I spend most of my time "growing out my hair." I gravitate towards the same long, layered cut constantly. But then every few years, I very suddenly and very intensely decide that I am "OVER" long hair. And I get it chopped. A few months later I decide to grow it out again. Repeat every two to three years.

I was thinking about it all morning. We started out with breakfast at Rachael's, a little deli at 19th & Sansom. Normally I get lox and bagel there, but I was feeling eggs yesterday.

Ham, onions, green peppers and cheddar. Coffee:

I don't know what kind of coffee they use there, but this was really good - almost chocolatey.

So I had a little talk with my stylist. I warned my husband what might be coming. And yes, I went with the chop. Here's what my hair looked like Friday night:

You can't see it THAT well, but the longest layers were down to my bra strap in the back. And now:

I LOVE IT!

It's been a good ten years since I've had it THIS short, but I'm in love. Now I need to invest in some better headbands for the gym...

Dusting it Off

...the Keurig, that is.



It's been a hot, HOT summer. Lots and lots of iced coffee. For the past three months or so, the LAST thing I wanted was hot coffee.

But now the humidity's dropping, the temperature's falling (at least in the mornings), and, of course, advertising is in full swing, making my yearn for all things fall. Including my secret weapon:



couple of shakes of pumpkin pie spice in the bottom of my cup, and I have an instant ticket to fall. The only problem is that the spice doesn't dissolve - which means a wet, soggy pile at the bottom of my cup. That has a tendency to slide down and kind of plop on my lips when I, um, hold the cup vertical to drain as much as possible out of it when it's empty. (Classy.)

If I made coffee by the pot, I'd put the spice directly into the grounds, but alas, I am the only coffee drinker in the house, and I don't want to waste so much (delicious) coffee. So, Keurig pods it is.

Another decidedly UN-fall, but delicious breakfast:



Fage 0, banana, peach, granola. I haven't had granola in about six months - it was one of my staples that got tossed when PhillyGuy and I started following the P90X nutrition plan back in March. When you're limiting yourself to a serving or so of carbs a day, you don't want to blow it on 1/3 of a cup of granola, you know? At least, I didn't.

But who am I kidding? I started replacing that daily sweet potato with a daily bagel anyway. Pretty sure this is better.

PhillyGuy and I ended our long weekend with a great dinner on Monday night. We headed out to Whole Foods to pick up some fresh fish to grill.



Big ol' halibut filet. Look at that pretty skin!

PhillyGuy grilled it simply, with salt, pepper, lime juice and paprika. I did my usual roasted veggies with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Locatelli and rosemary.





While everything was cooking, I may or may not have had a little appetizer of Stacy's pita chips with Bobbi's honey chipotle white bean hummus. (In case you were wondering, SO FREAKING GOOD.)





All finished:





I love grilling.

Oh Monday

about five hours of sleep plus lots of this



requires lots of this



That's my second cup of coffee so far. First bottle of water.

I should be telling you all about the nine-miler that I ran yesterday. But I won't be. Because I didn't.

I stayed out JUST a touch later than I intended to on Saturday night. And drank JUST a touch more alcohol. And I stayed up just a TOUCH later, to drink plenty of water on top of the bottle of Gatorade I chugged on my walk home. (and, while we're at it, I left just a TOUCH more Facebook messages for people than I intended to leave.)

So while I didn't have a hangover yesterday, I DID sleep really late. I think it was after 9 by the time I finally woke up. By the time I walked the dogs, it was nearly 10, I had no coffee in the house, and it was already 80 degrees. No chance was I running nine miles at that point. Instead, I hightailed it to Ants Pants for an iced coffee, followed by a quick trip to the grocery store. I feasted on a bagel with cream cheese, lox and tomato from the comfort of my couch while putting together a game plan for the day.

The good? That game plan involved some MUCH NEEDED home maintenance. I scrubbed my downstairs hallway, recaulked the seal of our door that my innocent lil' puppy managed to dig out, did laundry, replaced light bulbs in a ceiling fixture, vaccuumed three flights of stairs, de-dog-furred the hardwood floors, and cleaned the bathrooms.

The bad? That game plan DID NOT involve any running or, in fact, any gym-going at all.

I think I'll try to cover the nine miles tonight. I cannot believe it's less than three weeks until the Distance Run. I still haven't decided whether to run it or not, but I'm leaning towards running it...if only for the free t-shirt.

How was your weekend? Also, Distance Run roll call? Anyone else running it?

Philly Foodies Take 2

Last night the Philly Foodies (as I think we have un-officially dubbed ourselves) had a great meetup at Farmicia.



What happens when you leave PhillyGirl in charge of the reservations? Um, I obviously make sure to book a table early enough for us to take advantage of half price drinks for happy hour.



And yes, we took advantage. In fact, the receipt helpfully advised us that we saved just over $87 by ordering our drinks at happy hour. Honestly, there were 9 of us - so that's not QUITE as bad as it sounds...right??



It was great to see some familiar faces again, and to make some new friends. There's nothing quite like bonding over discussions of cameras, other bloggers (many of whom we've never met), the merits of CSAs and the perils of training for long distance races during the absurd heat wave we've been having. Honestly, it's very refreshing to have someone be able to relate to the fact that you know the intimate details of the lives of people whom you've never met, and may never meet -- without sounding like a complete and total creeper.



Delicious bread, served in an adorable dim sum basket with an herbed butter:



Farmicia's menu.is.amazing. I had a ton of trouble deciding what to get. I wavered between the idea of getting a salad and an appetizer vs. an entree, vs. two salads (yes, that would indeed make me a freak), vs. two appetizers...etc, etc, etc. As I always tend to do, I made a snap decision when it (finally) came time to order, and went with the salmon.



I was inspired by the fact that came with swiss chard. PhillyGuy picked some swiss chard up at the market this weekend and tried his hand at making it. The verdict? It was "ok," but nothing we'd make again -- so I wanted to try it as prepared by someone who knew what they were doing.



It was definitely tastier this way -- reminded me of spinach, in that it's nothing mind-blowing, but certainly a nice standby veggie.

I also knocked out three -- THREE! -- cocktails. I almost always stick with either a glass of funky red wine, or an extra-dirty martini. When I'm out with girls, I feel like it's okay to venture into the cocktail menu a little bit. Farmicia definitely didn't disappoint, and I'm pretty sure between us we managed to try one of everything...including the intriguing PB&J martini.



Food bloggers in their natural habitat:



All in all, it was a VERY fun night. We need to make this more regular!

Of course, those three cocktails left me ready for bed by the time I got home. After a quick walk with the pups, PhillyGuy and I crashed out immediately -- we were in bed by 9:30 and I was knocked out so quickly that I can't even tell you what the challenge was on Top Chef.

I sucked down my first iced coffee before I even made it to work, so I stopped at Manhattan Bagel a few blocks from my office. They don't mess around with their sizes. When I order a "large iced coffee," that is precisely what I get:



Cameo by my (very favorite type of) pen for comparison purposes.

Ladies, it was awesome hanging out last night -- thanks for such a fun evening!

Struggling

Today is not the happiest of days.

It should be, you know? It's a gorgeous, sunny, low-humidity morning. I listened to my iPod on the walk to work -- lots of Glee mixed with my old stand-by punk and pop-punk favorites. I'm having a good hair day (no doubt assisted by aforementioned low humidity). I'm wearing an awesome bright teal scarf that cooperated when I tied it, so it's arranged beautifully and falls perfectly.

But I'm really struggling today, guys. I've got some immense...I don't even know. I'd call it "guilt," but it's really not guilt. It's more like self-loathing, I guess.

It's not completely out of nowhere. I know what triggered it. Around 5:15 or so yesterday, I started to get hungry -- so I had the other half of my Clif Builder's bar, so I'd be ready to hit the gym after I got home. PhillyGuy offered to pick me up from work, and he got there just before 6.
Right after I hopped in the car, he looked at me. "I have a proposition. Can we get rotisserie chicken for dinner?" And I knew he meant "now, on our way home, and eat it immediately."

I told him I'd just had a clif bar, wasn't really hungry and wanted to go to the gym. And he told me he was really tired, he'd had a long day and was hungry...and that I could go to the gym, but he wasn't going to come with me. And he wanted dinner.

I could have gone anyway. I REALLY WANTED to go anyway. But instead, I decided that it would be OK to skip it, and that I'd have dinner with my husband, who's been traveling a bunch lately and who I haven't really seen much at all in the past few weeks.

So I skipped it. We stopped at Healthy Bites and got some random stuff -- I had a piece of lemon sole with capers and a chicken breast stuffed with roasted peppers, tomato and a goat cheese/pesto combination. I ate most of the sole and half of the chicken. That was it.

And then PhillyGuy had to get some work done. And I sat on the couch. That's when I started feeling guilty, and feeling like I'd made the wrong choice by not working out. It carried throughout the night -- watching Top Chef, heading up to bed. It carried through to this morning, when I realized at 6:15 that, even though I'd set my alarm for 5am so I could get up and run, I had turned it off and gone back to sleep. It carried through to picking out my outfit for the day -- I picked one out and changed because the pants were still too snug. It carried through to the rest of my morning routine -- taking out the trash, making my breakfast/lunch, watering the plants on the balcony. It carried through to my walk to work -- I beat myself up for not taking advantage of the fabulous low humidity and perfect running weather. When a favorite running song came onto my iPod, I mentally kicked myself because I should have been listening to it hours ago, when the streets were emptier and the sun lower in the sky.

This is SO NOT PRODUCTIVE.

And here's the really cheese part: I got to work and put my lunch down on my desk. When I take a smaller handbag to work -- one that doesn't fit my little tupperware -- I pack my food in a Lululemon bag. You guys probably all know how their bags have all kinds of great pictures and inspirational statements on them. This one caught my eye:



That works in reverse, too -- how much you like yourself is going to directly affect your outlook on life. If I spend the rest of the day killing myself for skipping the gym yesterday and eating "extra" dinner, I'm going to be an enormously miserable bitch and my day is going to suck. It's going to be reflected in the work that I do, and how I handle the inevitable bajillion phone calls with clients. And it's just not necessary and definitely not productive.

So, here goes nothing. Berries and yogurt for breakfast. I'm on my second cup of iced coffee, which, thanks to Starbucks VIA and my fabulous travel cold cup, I didn't even need to go downstairs to get.



(seriously - how adorable is that red and white straw?)

In general, I intend to combat my obnoxious self-loathing and negativity by being obnoxiously positive and happy. I figure it'll average out and make me a normal person at some point.

Quick Blogging Break

GAH.

Last night, I had a swanky wine pairing event to attend for the firm. Sometimes, being in this business ain't so bad, right?

Six glasses of wine (a rose, a white, three reds and a sparkling dessert wine) plus six courses (THREE of them were red meat -- lamb chop, veal, and strip steak...be still my beating heart) plus a drive home starting at 11pm -- all of that equals one sleepy PhillyGirl today.

I figured I'd have a better chance of actually being bright and cheery if I dressed the part, so I threw on a new skirt I picked up at the J.Crew outlet over my stay-cation.



Problem: in my closet, I saw the print as black and navy. Once I got to work under the super-flattering flourescent office lights? Clearly two shades of navy. So my black handback and black sunglasses just make it look like I got dressed in the dark. Which I apparently sort of did.

My first cup of iced coffee was completely unhelpful, so by 9:15 I found myself in line at Starbucks waiting to re-up.



That isn't what woke me up, though. What really snapped me into reality was getting a couple of totally frivolous "emergency" motions tossed into my lap. That I now need to spend my weekend responding to. (I just typed out a long rant about what I think constitutes an "emergency" (hint: this isn't it), but thought better and deleted it. I don't know why, but this particular case really gets under my skin. It's definitely up there with the top three contributing factors to the ulcer I'm sure I have. Costco on a weekend, produce section at Wegman's on a weekend, and this case.)

It's Friday! And PhillyGuy and I are going to grill pork chops for dinner...preferably eat them outside on our balcony. I didn't mention it on here (um, okay, I actually didn't mention much of ANYTHING on here since I haven't posted all week), but he was away for the week. My bookend pups kept me company, but it's nice to have him back.



My plans for the weekend (besides responding to these stupid motions) involve a pedicure, plenty of weights and hopefully a long run -- assuming my hip cooperates. How about you?