Monday, April 5, 2010

Birthday Week 2010


Ah, spring!  Such a glorious time of the year.  I love this month for many reasons….

The start of Farmer's Market Season
The beginning of locally fresh produce being sold in stores
The infancy of delicious fruits and veggies embarking on their prime
The crisp refreshing air turning mildly warm and comforting

But most of all……

My birthday! 

Yay!  My birthday is on Saturday but rather than just wait for one day to celebrate such a fun time of the year, I tend to enjoy every single day of the week leading up. 

Hey, why not?!?!

I definitely started it off on the right feet with a wonderful 5 mile run!  Finally!!!! It felt amazing to be able to run again in the morning.  The brace worked like a charm and my knee felt good the entire time.  I didn't push the speed and kept the nice easy pace throughout to be safe. 

And then I proceeded to make a fantastic breakfast.  This will be fantastic breakfast numero uno of the week.  I have one planned every day of this b-day week obviously! 


1/2 Cup Raisin Bran, 1/2 Cup Multi Grain Flakes, Peach Chobani, Raspberries, Blueberries, 1/2 slice of Peach Bread crumbled, White Chocolate Wonderful PB and flax

So the peach bread was a little added delight.  I picked up a loaf at the Farmer's Market this weekend and it's truly amazing.  Homemade peach crumble bread is one of my favorite treats so this really made my breakfast bowl special this morning. 



And a few strawberries to round it out. 

Work was CRAZY today!!!!!  But good.  

My friend and I went out to lunch to use one of the many birthday coupons I have.  We went to one of my favorite places, Cafe Magnolia. 

And I ordered my usual….

Portobello Wrap with veggies, spinach and goat cheese


And a side of fruit

The coupon was for a free dessert.  Naturally, if you have a chance at a free dessert at an amazing restaurant, you don't pass it up. 

Especially when carrot cake is on the menu! 



Carrot cake and Tiramisu are my favorite desserts so I was very happy to see it on the menu.  Sadly though, this wasn't that great.  It was good, but it honestly tasted kind of stale.  I had a few bites and that was enough.  Good thing about free desserts is that you don't feel bad about not finishing them.  There was also a tiramisu on the menu.  Should have gone that route.  Oh well. 

When I got home from work, I busted out 20 min of intervals on the ET and then did the arms and abs on the Core Body Workouts.  These are killer but I love how just at 10 min a piece, you get an intense workout! 

Then I walked Sammy all by myself. :(  Toly is in DC for the week with work, so I'm on Sammy duty solo.  As much as I missed my walking partner, it was kind of nice to have 30 min to my thoughts in the gorgeous weather. 

I was pretty hungry when I got back and got right on dinner. 

Tonight was a favorite recipe of mine from a favorite cookbook. 




The Sweet and Sour Chipotle Tempeh with Sweet Potatoes from Eat Drink and Be Vegan is awesome and since Toly is not here to turn up his nose at my weird vegan dinners, I was all over it. 

Love this tempeh from Trader Joes! 



I did change just a few things from the original recipe.  I added broccoli, red onion and used a red pepper instead of a green. 


And served it over a bed of wilted spinach with brown rice. 





Topped off with this great little find from the weekend shopping excursions….

Papaya Curry Hot Sauce!  Yum!

I also put together this little beauty….



And enjoyed my dinner with the company of my puppy and my Mac.  It was quite lovely.


I'm exhausted.  I feel like I have been running all day and I still have some work I need to do tonight.  

Tomorrow morning, I am speaking at a conference on financial literacy.  I'm normally not nervous to speak in public (I actually really like public speaking) but this presentation is 80 min long!!!!  Okay, that kind of freaks me out.  Wish me luck! 

Good night guys! 
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10 comments:

  1. good luck at your speech tomorrow!

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  2. HOORAY for birthday week! that is exciting! thank you again for the TJs goodies. you are a babe and a half! glad you are able to run, run, run :) and CARROT CAKE! gah. i am in love with it!! sorry yours was stale, i will make you some ;) tiramisu is marshall's favorite. it is really good. we are having it for his groom's cake! love you!

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  3. AH! Happy Early Birthday!!!! I think you MORE than deserve to celebrate all week long (especially after all the ridiculousness you've gone through with the medical stuff). Glad you got in a nice run and the lunch out looks incredible. I am in love with goat cheese. Hope today goes well ( best of luck!!!). <3 ya

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  4. Birthday girls unite!! Mine is today :-D

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  5. good luck today!!! You'll do great :)

    and yay for birthday weeks! :)

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  6. Yay, happy birthday week! I'm with you... I tend to celebrate the whole week... and it kind of stretches out to the whole month!

    I still have ED&BV checked out from the library, so I might just make that tempeh!

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  7. Happy birthday week! That carrot cake looks divine, I never would have been able to pass it up either!! Love ED&BV, Dreena's recipes are the best!! Hope you're having a great day love :)

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  8. Happy Early Birthday!!! I totally think everyone should celebrate their birthday week.

    My Healthy Tiramisu Cupcake Recipe posts today at 11 am PST :D

    I LOVE Eat, Drink and Be Vegan....everything you ate all day looked delicious!

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  9. whoa...you go with your 80-minute speech! good luck - i hope it goes well my dear!

    yay for your birthday - i totally agree, they should be celebrated all week! i LOVE the look of all your meals today - lots of fruits, veggies and goodness. ED+BV is next on my list of cookbooks to buy. love you girl!

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