Winner

Hope this doesn't crash my site! I'm on a stanky shuttle in Las Vegas
and have to announce the tea winner- #13 Bridget who shared an awesome
sunburn story!! Please email me at onehealthyapple at gmail dot com!

If this is not a huge fail, I will be checking in- can't guarantee
coherant posting but I'll try!

Sent from my iPhone

How I Kick Off Spring Break

Long are the days when I used to kick off spring break with a margarita and a pile of chips and salsa (although I did kick off Wedding Planning Break with some yummy drinks a few months ago).  These days I start off one week away from school by having a workout and refueling, then having a dessert of Greek yogurt, pomegranate arils, cocoa powder, and Better 'n Peanut Butter.  I've had a long week at work and submitting assignments for school, so I've been doing anything I can to keep up with my health.  Lucky for you, I wanted to share some health with you!

 

Celestial Seasonings has busted out a “natural wellness kit” for you lucky girls and guys! I have been the lucky recipient of some of their wellness teas and I'm loving the Sleepytime Vanilla and the Raspberry Garden Green Tea.  

Want to win the following tea swag in the form of a Celestial Seasonings Natural Wellness Kit?

• Four wellness teas to ease  symptoms associated with the cold and flu including Sleepytime Extra, Echinacea Complete Care and Tummy Mint
• Two green teas to support a healthy immune system year round - Authentic Green Tea and Honey Lemon Ginseng Green Tea
• Mug, soothing lip balm, honey sticks and Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime Bear and the book “Herbs for Health and Happiness” by Celestial Seasonings founder Mo Siegel and Nancy Burke

Here's how:
1. Leave me a comment telling me your favorite Spring Break memory (tattoo stories, drinking stories, and family vacations are all welcome)!
2. Post this giveaway on Twitter and comment back!
3. Add me to your blogroll and comment back!

Easy as pie!  I'll pick a winner on Sunday night, so please enter by 9:00 PM Eastern Time!

Now spill some Spring Break dirt and let's get ya'll some tea!

Got My Goods

Hope you are all having a wonderful Tuesday!  It's crackin over here with work, work, work!  I can't wait for this week to be over because that means that I'll have ahem, finished my papers and completed another quarter at school!

Last night was all about running errands, cranking out some laundry, and catching up with my papers while watching Dancing With the Stars.  Hope that doesn't ruin my street cred.  By the way, was Pam drunk?

Moving on- I made a random deconstructed burrito salad:

Spinach mix and kale topped with carrots, cauli, broc, avocado, sugar snap peas, peach salsa, black refried beans, and pickles..because they made sense at the time.  It felt like I crashed a salad bar but didn't pay $10 like I usually do.

To go along with my salad, I had a snack plate of cheese, small apple, crackers, and my new flax almond butter:

All of the components of my dessert came from my favorite store- Trader Joe's.  You guys know by now that I'm obsessed- completely obsessed with that place because they offer delicious, healthy, non-junky foods.  Rest assured you can still find Pound Plus bars of dark chocolate (I buy them for the hubby once a week) and lots of treats, but I love the simplicity and customer service the store offers.  I also try to tell people that eating healthy should not cost too much, as long as you choose what to splurge and save on.  I have been trying to come up with a list on my favorite products, but there are too many, so I'm starting with a few of my favorite items:

• Trader Joe's Brand Vanilla Greek Yogurt- roughly $2.79 for 2 full servings of delicious yogurt goodness- cheap and a perfect sweet treat
• Organic Plain Yogurt- perfect for smoothies or yogurt messes, all under $3
• Peach Salsa- spicy, smokey, and has real chunks of peach
• Ok-Mak crackers- Under 150 cals for 5 of them, super filling, and perfectly sturdy for lots of dips, cheese, toppings. I love that they are whole grains too!
• Trader Joe's Almond Butter with Flax- holy crap this is good.  It's about $4 and the crunchy, nutty goodness is perfectly filling and satisfying.  I love almond butter and this is one of the best I've tasted.
• Cilantro Jalapeno Hummus Dip- tangy, perfectly spicy, and reasonably priced for under $3
• Eggs- they are in the background, but a hot item- organic and cage free is my preference and worth a couple of extra bucks!

Hope you guys give these items a try.  I obviously am not paid to talk about any of these products, and if I were, I would be one happy girl!

That's all I've got.  By the way, I was kindly told that my green monster was brown on my last post.  Yep, I'm green-monster challenged.  I think the blueberries and cocoa powder messed me up!

Have a great day all!

Oh Yeah, I Have a Blog

Hey Guys!  So sorry to love you and leave you.  I kept wanting to update ya'll and then things like the two papers that I am working on for school got in the way among other things like work, the gym, and the sunshine.  It's been absolutely gorgeous here and apparently good weather makes me too hyper to blog!
First- you are absolutely fabulous and eat the same stuff several times a day.  Here is the da list:

• coffee (me too!)
• bananas 
• apples
• peanut butter
• greek yogurt
• almonds 
• strawberries
• almond butter
• hummus 
• cheese
• granola

I also thought it was cool to hear what your family eats:

• Doritos, granola bars, yogurt, clif bars, meat, ice cream, and cheese

I see a little bit of a difference between the two lists, but sometimes I could totally get down with all the snacks our roomies/significant others eat!

In an effort to not bore you to death with a plethora of apples/yogurt/almond butter/chocolate food recaps, I am going to run you through a quick highlights reel:
Best breakfast- Orowheat thins french toast with frozen pomegranate arils on top and a homemade frothy latte outside.  Love.

True story- hubby had the same thing, but more and with less fruit.


Best post-workout meal: Green monster in a humongous beer glass/vase:

True story- our florist gave these to us- she used these to hold the bridal party bouquets to recognize my hubby's love of beer.

Best workout: Several nights ago I was at the gym running on the revolving apparatus of boredom when I saw how gorgeous it was outside.  I decided to take off and ran home instead.  Look at the trail I ran on- better than being inside!

True story- Mari inspired me to get out there and conquer my fear of running outside.  I ran for 20 minutes and walked the rest and it was fabulous.

Best weekend errand: In an effort to keep me from having my typical panic attack at Home Depot (what?! they have no shoes or chocolate for me to look at) my hubby put me in charge of picking two new mini cacti plants.  It kept me amused for the ten minutes it took him to buy many pounds of animal manure for our garden.

True story: We got the yellow one and a bright orange one.  I named them because they were so cute.

I've cooked, baked, and packed up some lunches.  I've been wavering a little from my health and need a little more structure in my life, so I'm reinstating the power to say no to myself every once in a while this week in an effort to feel better and more energetic.  Sometimes chocolate for dinner is not the best option and I recognize that!  I'm off to catch some zzzzz's and get ready for the excitement that awaits me this week (insert fake corporate smile here)!!

Questions for you:
1. What is your favorite weeekend errand to run? I actually love weekend errands, but of course I love grocery shopping and the farmer's market best.  Also anything that involves Target!
2. What's your favorite strategy to feel your best when it comes to health? Mine is lots of water, green tea, and trying lots of new veggies and fruits!

Calling it Lunch

Hi Guys!  I hope your week is going well and you're getting excited for another weekend.  Yep, I begin my weekend countdown on Monday.  That's the life of an office drone.  Speaking of working in an office, I have the luxury of using the kitchen and throwing together whatever food I bring with me and calling it 'lunch'.
Today I had sprouted grain bread, 2 hardboiled eggs, a laughing cow wedge, and mustard.  I got this:

Voila!  An egg salad sandwich, open-faced because that always gives you two sandwiches. 
If you can't already tell, I get looks, comments, and other gestures when I make lunch in the kitchen.  I think it's kinda funny.  I fully embrace my role as the smelly kid at work.

I learned how to do a new project that was supposed to take me 4 hours at about 2:00 PM. I had another apple and peanut butter thinking of the task and trying not to panic (apple count = 1). I thought I would be doomed for another night at work, but to my delight and sudden strike of genius, I was able to complete the whole thing in 90 minutes, so I was off!  I hit up the gym with hubby for chest and tris and an interval run:


Cardio: 25 minutes alternating 6.0, 6.3, and 5.5- it was heart pumping good!
Chest and tris: 3 different chest machines (don't know or care what they are called) and pushups that I could barely complete.  I did skullcrushers for tris as well as cables.

When we got home, I hit up the pickle jar and had two while my veggies heated up.  It's also important to note that I had not had a single vegetable until this point. Don't judge me.  Dinner made up for it:

3 cups spinach wilted in the microwave topped with asparagus, marinara sauce, sugar snap peas, kale chips with nooch.
I can't show you the size of the bowl, but it's huge.  I believe this would be my first opportunity for a 'That's What She Said' joke.  I'll restrain myself (TWSS).

I also worked on my apple quota (apple count = 2):

And my sugar quota:

Thank you Katie for the mini eggs- they are delightful!

Oh, and I'm not the only one who eats around here.  I worked on a salad for the hubby's lunch tomorrow.  It's got a little of everything and is made for a manly appetite:

Spinach, a hardboiled egg, BBQ baked chicken, roasted asparagus, cheese, roasted red peppers, cucumbers, almonds and I can't remember what else.  It's dressed with some vinaigarette. 
There may be other ingredients, but I can't remember.

I should do some stuff like shower and get to bed so I can try to fall asleep for two hours.  I still can't adjust to the new time.  Is anyone else staying up late?

Questions for you: 
1.) What same food do you eat multiple times a day?  Apples, almond butter, spinach, yogurt and um...chocolate sometimes.
2.) If you have a significant other/roomie/bestie/pet that lives with you, what foods are they obsessed with? Chocolate, cheese (almost any kind will do, but laughing cow and whatever I am eating at the moment are the favorites), hummus, and yoplait yogurt.

See you soon!

A Story For You

Mondays are pretty fantabulous, especially when they are over.  I was pretty tired all day because being a night owl and the time change don't mix.  How about you guys? 
Thanks for the comments on my last post!  You girls are so sweet that if I told you I was throwing giant tires and pulling monster trucks in my backyard for a workout, I bet I would still get some positive feedback out of you!  In addition to the workout comments, you also mentioned that 'everything I ate today' is not your preferred style.  Me neither!  I love to read the stories and highlights behind the food, but sometimes I'm curious.  Today I hope to give you a story along with the food. 

Wake up at 7:30.  Correction.  Alarm goes off, I send hubby to get ready first and then I'm dragged out of bed at 7:45.

Consume breakfast cookie and coffee at 8:05

This bad boy had 1/2 cup oats, 1 scoop vanilla protein powder, almond milk, acai juice, 1/2 banana, and 1/4 cup whole almonds.  I frosted it with plain greek yogurt, vanilla stevia drops, and cocoa powder.

Commute to work from 8:15 - 9:05 I answered work email, personal email, and read some blogs!  Once I got to work, I did some work stuff and worked on my second cup of coffee.


11:15- my stomach started to growl.  Only slightly disturbed that I was hungry for lunch at what was 10:15 only a few days ago, I went with it!  I enjoyed a massaged kale salad.

This is a huge vat of kale massaged with a drizzle of olive oil, soy sauce, some rice vinegar, and black and white sesame seeds.  There are also some cucumbers hiding in there.

By 12:15, it was time for my second course of lunch, because I'm into fine dining.  It also take me forever to eat my lunch because I'm constantly interrupted by this thing called work.

 Pink lady apple slices on the side, sprouted grain toast topped with natural peanut butter and apple slices; extra to dip.

It was so good, I had to do it twice...and did at 2ish

Same thing, but no bread.  Twas delightful.. Pink lady apple count for the day = 2!

By 4:30 I thought it was time to go home soon!  I grabbed my pre-workout snack!

This is about 1 cup of Barbara's Shredded Spoonfulls.  Love. 

The clock struck 5:00, 5:30, 6:00, and 6:30.  I was still working away on a deadline.  I grabbed a couple of cashews, another few pieces of cereal, and an oreo to get me through my evening. THIS is why I don't picture everything I eat.  It would drive me bats*it crazy!

6:45- run to the train.  Several people who don't understand escalator politics slow me down (is it conventional knowledge that if you are slower, you stand to the right, and if you need to book it, you walk to the left?).  I find out that the next train is 22 minutes away.  No problemo!  My phone has the internets and I can reeeeaaad!

7:15- transfer trains.  Apparently there are mechanical problems and the new train doors don't open.  No worries.


7:20- the train I'm on powers down and it's dark in the train for a few creepy minutes.

7:45- the train reaches the next station and we are evacuated because the train is literally smoking.  And no, it wasn't just my presence!

8:15 I'm home!  Monday chest and tris day is trumped with feeding my belly and getting to an assignment I was helping my hubby with.  I made a gigantor salad.

Spinach, cucumbers, asparagus, sugar snap peas, pinto beans, mango salsa, and spicy peanut dressing.  Holy crap this was good!

8:25 Salad is demolished while tinkering with our DVD player and turning on Julie and Julia.  All the fine dining on TV inspires my dessert only in the way that I must have dessert!


8:30 I meet my increasing apple quota.  Why do you think I name the blog the name it has?

Pink lady apple #3.  I mixed up 1/2 cup greek yogurt with unsweetened cocoa powder, liquid vanilla stevia, and chia seeds.  Fantastic and as gourmet as I get after 10 hours at work!


Thoughts
My thoughts on blogging everything that crosses my lips is that it's a lot of work and not my style.  Also, my days vary widely;  today I wanted to defy the fiber limits of my stomach and ate my weight in produce.  Tomorrow, I'll eat crazy combos like cheese and apples and cookies.  I don't think any given day is completely representative of my nutrition needs or habits, but it was kinda fun to see it all.  I didn't do anything differently today (except had a lot of adventures at work and getting home and missed a workout) and I'm sure tomorrow will bring more randomness and perhaps a completely different nutritional profile.  I like to be flexible in my days and there's always tomorrow or the next meal to make new choices. 

10:00 Hubby came home and I'm drinking my peppermint tea and finishing my post.  I'm running off to watch How I Met Your Mother and to date my husband for a little bit before we go to bed!

Have a good day/night amigos!

Working on My Fitness

Oh weekend!  I love weekends.  How about you?  It didn't help that the weather was absolutely gorgeous!  It makes me want summer to be here already.  My hubby and I dated each other all weekend.  We called it one giant date since we hung out together the whole time minus an hour or so when we separated do do our own thing at the gym!  Some may call us sick, but I think it's fun always having a buddy to hang out with!

Workouts
While I'm waiting for my pictures to load with the food, I realize that I haven't talked about my new workout schedule too much around here.  Yep, I've been working it out and it's been about two weeks into my new badass lifting routine.  As I mentioned earlier, I have been a cardio queen for much of my life, including the last year.  I was trying to get all toned and stuff for my wedding and now that I don't have the pressure of 1,000 pictures and being the center of attention of 100 of my closest friends, I decided to shift my focus and work on getting totally yoked.  As a disclaimer, I don't build muscle very easily.  In fact, it's taken me about four years to get any tone on my arms.  My goal has always been fat loss, but I'm experimenting to see what happens!  As another disclaimer, I'm no expert (duh) and am not under the guidance of any fitness professional.

Anyhoo, here is a sample week:
Sunday: Legs day- around 4 exercises including lunges, squats, leg press, donkey kicks, and various machines.  I try to use my own body weight mostly because I store most of my mass in my lower body.  I hate legs because I usually can't walk up the stairs for the next 3 days.  Legs day is also coupled with about 30 minutes of cardio.

Monday: Chest and Triceps- I do 4 exercises for chest including different kinds of press and do a combo of machines/bar/dumbells/cables.  Sometimes I burn out with pushups.  For tris I do 3-4 exercises including dips and also combine machines and cables.  I love doing chest.  I hate doing tris because they hurt!  I mix this with 30-35 minutes of intervals on the treadmill/stairmill/elliptical.


Tuesday/Wednesday: Back and Biceps- Again, 4 exercises for back (my favorite!!) including lat pulls, upright rows, assisted pullups, and a combo of another machine.  I follow this up with 3 bi exercises, again doing a combo of dumbell curls, machines, and cables.  One of these days is usually a rest day and I also throw in 30-35 minutes of cardio intervals


Thursday: Cardio I usually do about 45 or 50 minutes of steady cardio.  Last week I did walk/run intervals on the dreadmill and it was fun!

Friday: Now that I don't have class on Friday nights, it's either shoulders by themselves (4 exercises), shoulders and abs, or more cardio.  Sometimes I work out by eating chocolate at home.

Saturday: Rest day!  Weekend rest days almost always include walks or bike rides when it's warm out

Thoughts: So far I've been having a fairly good time adding lifting to my routine.  I usually do it by myself because hubby is usually on his own schedule and I get too impatient waiting for machines.  I can almost always find a substitute and since I have a loose idea of the muscle group I want to work that day, I don't throw a roid rage if I can't get to my machine.  I was a little anxious about cutting the cardio and have an impulse to do it longer, but I have found my heart rate to be high enough while I lift.  I also don't take breaks to speak to my buddies about protein powder or pick up on unsuspecting gym folks, so I feel like I'm still working hard.  I also try to do as heavy as I can and have been able to increase weights so far.  Whether related to lifting weights, or lifting cookies (I am still having about one treat per day), I am up about two pounds.  I have not noticed a large increase in appetite, but I will give my routine another couple of weeks before I change it up!

Now that I'm pooped and all of a sudden tired from the time change, I leave you with a couple of highlights:
Sunshine filled latte and OIAJ!

Leftover whole wheat pasta with chicken, veggies and extra spicy pickles:

New favorite snack:  Cheese, apple and crackers:

Questions for you: Have you tried anything new in your workout routine?  Fitness divas, feel free to give me constructive ideas!
A couple of fabulous bloggers have recently posted every single food they ate...Is this something you would want to see from me?

Buzzed

Happy Weekend ladies and gents!  I hope you are in the full swing of relaxation, errand running, or anything but work!  I've been reading along with you and doing my thing in the last few days!  Today greeted us with more gorgeous sunshine and I couldn't be more thrilled.  A couple of days ago I walked over to the Ferry Building.  If you attended the Foodbuzz Food Festival, you may recognize this as the meeting spot and the fabulous market.  I work 10 minutes away from it and it's kinda sad to say this was only the second time I had walked there.  Feel free to slap my forehead for me!

Another genius move?  I left my wallet at the office.  It may be a good thing since I walked by displays of almonds and fresh almond butter like this:

Next time!

Speaking of Foodbuzz, I was sent some sauce from their Tastemaker Program. (I received this product for free but was not paid to talk about it).  I present the Bertoli Sauces:

I was intrigued by the Four Cheese Rosa Sauce and by the Arrabiata sauce.  I added some of the Four Cheese Rosa Sauce to hubby's lunch prep the other night.

This is whole wheat pasta with broccoli and mushrooms.  I topped it with organic chicken and cheese and cilantro since it needed to be bulked up a bit for a growing boy. Here is the final product:

My official taste tester really liked the sauce and said it was light and flavorful.  I only used about 2 Tbsp of it because I didn't want all the fat in there and because the meal was substantial enough as is.  I can't wait to try the other sauce.  Thanks Foodbuzz and Bertoli!

Other things that have been stuffing my stomach?  Overnight blueberry chia oats:

Delicious and filling!  Speaking of which, I've just fed myself and I am off the the most magical place on earth- Costco to buy mounds of produce for juicing and eating!


Since the last post was about foods that you love, what are foods you don't like? I have made an educated decision and I have decided that Kombucha is not for me!  I also detest black licorice and artificial flavored cherry candy.

Enjoy your day loves!

Craving Veggies

Hi guys!  I'm so glad you share my love of chocolate covered fruit.  Also, because there is fruit and dark chocolate involved, I feel good for bringing you a new health food. You're welcome.

Now let's get to today's post because I ain't getting any younger here.  It's a rare occasion when I don't get my daily recommended veggies.  I often eat a freakish amount of produce at the amazement of my coworkers and the dismay of my husband because this habit takes me grocery shopping about 5 times a week.  I realized that Monday and Tuesday were very veggie light, so today was my veggie catch up day- I was actually craving fresh veggies.

I conveniently forgot my lunch and hit up the salad bar near my building at work:

• Spinach, green peppers, salsa, black beans, baby corn, hummus, scoop of 2 pasta salads and celery slices

It was delightful!  I doubled up on more veggies for dinner with an eggwhite, zucchini, and boatload of green bean scramble:

I demolished this after work, post hitting up el gym where I focused on chest and tris after 35 minutes of cardio intervals.  I feel like Jell-O so all is well in my world!

Don't worry- I made sure to get in my snack of the day.  May I present the Starbucks cookie:

Don't worry- I'm still good with vegetables here.  Chocolate is made from the cacao plant. Are you following my logic?

I think I'm good and balanced for now.  Just in case, I've packed my lunch wrap (wild salmon, spinach, broccoli slaw, peanut sauce, thai spice mix) for tomorrow and made sure to include enough green stuff.  Here is your preview:

Questions for you: Do you balance your veggies throughout the day?  Or are you like me and make sure to get a good balance throughout the week? I clearly don't worry too much about getting all the right nutrients on the daily but look at it on a weekly basis.  For example, I think I fulfilled my bread requirement on Tuesday so I'm good for a couple of days!

PSA: Dark Chocolate Covered Pomegranate Seeds

Before I get to the real purpose of this post (life changing!) I thought I would run you through the madness that usually takes place a few nights a week when I try to prepare for the next day.  On Tuesday night I had class and got home at 10:00 PM, so I moved quickly.  I like to prep the hubby's dinner, my breakfast and/or lunch, and get my stuff together as much as possible so I can get dragged out of bed at the latest moment possible.

First up is lunch prep:

I don't feed my hubby anything that I wouldn't theoretically feed myself.  Tomorrow's lunch is organic chicken, sweet potatoes (pre-roasted in my weekend prep), zucchini and green beans sauteed in garam masala and other random spices for an Indian-inspired stirfry.

Next I made my superfood breakfast cookie:

Superfood Breakfast Cookie:
-1/2 cup oats, 1 tbsp hemp protein powder, frozen pomegranate arils, chia seeds, and Odwalla Superfood juice all mixed up and refrigerated overnight for my morning chowing pleasure.

Gina is a genius!

Finally, I danced around the kitchen with my new love:

Um, yes.  I'm delightfully awkward both in pictures and in real life!  And I still have no shame.
What I'm holding is this stuff:

Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Covered Pomegranate Seeds
I'm warning you that once you get them and try them, your life will change.  I am also pretending that I don't remember where I hid these guys until next time!

Question for you: What food has changed your life lately? 
The product above, chia seeds, and always almond butter!

My Dang Quesadilla

Hi Beauties!  How are you doing?  I am so glad you girls (and guys?!) enjoy being a kid!  You guys are fun and I loved the highlights of the activities you love to do:

• Circus
• Rollerskating/iceskating
• Chuck E Cheese & the McDonald's playground
• Waterparks, beach, sand, picnics
• Trampolines, rollercoasters, swings
• Games: hide and seek
• Museums and the zoo
• Disneyland
• Baths- (although there is wine involved, so I'm considering that a more European childhood perhaps)

I think we've gotta plan a bloggie field trip!  Anyone with me?

Back to my adult life, I cooked up a little fancy Oscar party for two on Sunday night:

• Spinach, broccoli slaw, green apple, tomato salad with spicy peanut dressing
• Baked mussels with marinara and garlic (not my  bag, but my male counterpart LOVES them)
• Organic chicken, almond, sesame, onion, and green bean stirfry.  Twice baked sweet potatoes with cheese
• Mixed olives and cheese on the side

Dessert was personalized for our calorie needs:

Hubby had the dulce de leche and I enjoyed this Cefiore fro yo.  This is hands down the best store bought fro yo I have ever had.  It's tart and creamy and I'm in love!

I topped it with frozen pom seeds and dark chocolate covered pom seeds.  LOVE.  I still have 3 more servings left and I'm spreading them out for my desserts this week!

I've also been enjoying this dang quesadilla for lunch and dinner throughout the week.  Just enjoy three of these and you'll get my meals for the week in a summary:

• Pink lady apple and gouda cheese on a sprouted grain tortilla with extra crunch-age on the side

Questions for you:
1. What's your favorite lower body exercise?  I like squats assisted with a balance ball
2. What's your favorite ice cream?  I love fro yo best, but real ice cream is mint chocolate chip!

Never Too Old for a Field Trip

Last week was one tornado of a week and this weekend has followed in its tracks!  I must be getting old, but time seems to be traveling so quickly- not a bad thing when it's the bad stuff, but I wish it would slow down for weekends and weeks that I have work and school deadlines breathing down my back!  Enough of that- let's get to what we did on Saturday.

One of the great things about living in the San Francisco Bay Area are the cultural amenities.  We live about 30 minutes away from the city and we really love mixing things up and coming to play tourist for the day.  Yesterday we went to the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park.  We have both gone there for field trips back in the day and this was a great time to explore the newly pimped out museum.

The website describes it as "the only place on the planet with an aquarium, a planetarium, a natural history museum, and a 4-story rainforest all under one roof" and hubby and I spent 5 hours exploring.  It seems like we were the only adults there without rugrats, but hey- it's still only 6 months into our marriage and I made sure to make all the requisite bathroom stops, so I perfectly replicated the child-like experience for my date that day.

We started with a beautiful drive into San Francisco.  The weather was gorgeous.

We explored the rainforest

 Stopped to see an albino gator (he's in the back)

Learned about the carbon footprint of a fruit plate:

(Thumbs up to fruit plates, as long as they are local!)
I stopped for about 15 minutes to watch the Penguins in the Africa exhibit.  I wanted to take a couple home with me.  Who doesn't love penguins?

We also went up to look at the roof- this building has a living roof, making it one of the most sustainable buildings ever.  It is stunning from the inside too!

We were starving by about 3:30 and stopped for a late lunch while waiting for the planetarium show.  All the food here is local and organic and it was no PB&J sandwich!  We shared both dishes.

First up, shrimp spring rolls with peanut sauce:

Next up- curry chicken salad with almonds and mandarin slices:

Both were ridiculously good and restaurant quality!
I would love to go back and visit when they update their new prehistoric mammal exhibit or to spend the day exploring.  It was so nice to get away and pretend to be a kid!

Now I'm back to adult-land with homework, gym, housework, and other shtuff to do!

What are your favorite kid-like activities?  Mine include field trips, random playground equipment explorations, any type of museum, and trampolines or jump houses!

Yo Yo Yo

Hi Dolls!  I'm crazy busy and chasing my tail, but I just couldn't stay away!  I've been digging on some good food and I would like to feature the snack of the week!

Plain tart and dark chocolate fro yo with kiwi, blueberries, and a sprinkle of coconut and dark chocolate shavings.  Heaven in the middle of a cu-razy day!

I've got some nutty projects at work, nutty projects at school, a busy home, and time with my hubby!  All good things- no complaints!

Take care lovelies! I'll be back with regular programming soon!  XOXO <3
What's been keeping you busy lately?