I've been salivating over Modo Mio for months -- my brother told us about their "best of Philly" Menu Turista and it's in the neighborhood. Last night a combo of irresponsibility and hunger kicked in and despite the fact that we don't have a lot of cash right now, Aaron and I grabbed a bottle of Cab and went over (we called at 8:15 and were seated at 8:30).
Our server rocked. I think she's my favorite in the city. I wish I got her name!! She was mostly hands-off (I don't like servers who hover), but was very knowledgeable and excited about the food...can't blame her!
Everything we had was perfect...the warm house baked bread with lemon and cheese spread, the complimentary starter (some kind of bread with cheese, apple and honey..mmmm...), antipasti, pasta, entree, dessert...
Yum yum -- everyone should go! I think this is a great place for a date, but probably even better with a group of friends and a few bottles of wine. Definitely make a reservation if you're going on the weekend.
The only problem now is that I'm supposed to be writing down everything I eat for 7 days (not on the diet yet, just whatever I normally eat) and I have NO CLUE how many calories I consumed. I guess I could just write down "What I ate: a gluttonous feast. # of calories: MANY!!" because that's the way I felt when I crawled into bed for the night.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Getting ready for the holidays
Things have been pretty busy here in Memphadelphia.
Friday night Aaron and I had dinner at The Nodding Head Brewery on Sansom Street. The baked brie is delish and their own Zephyr was enjoyable, but miserable-ness ensued. I am sad that we had to go home early because so many friends wanted to hang out! Next time...
Work has been pretty nuts lately. One of our hospitals is gearing up for a 3-day strike because the for-profit company who owns the facility is being totally evil (scheduling and not showing up for bargaining sessions, proposing 400% increases in what workers pay out of pocket for healthcare, etc.) So I've been pitching in and making some phone calls to help out my coworkers. I really like these workers - they're pretty strong! I always get super creeped out about any company that's for-profit in health care. It should be for-patients! Yet another example of why we need reform in this country!!
My family's thanksgiving is this Saturday. I'm in charge of the scalloped corn and Aaron is making his world-famous (er, famous to the few people who've tasted it) pumpkin roll, a Central PA holiday favorite.
My fam always does holidays on days that are not the actual holiday so that everyone can hang out with their in-laws on the actual holiday. I think this is a great system that should be replicated in familes all across North America.
Speaking of Thanksgiving, my oldest friend Helga appeared on a Food Network Thanksgiving Special last night. Here she is - I'm so proud!
That's all for now, friends and lovers.
Friday night Aaron and I had dinner at The Nodding Head Brewery on Sansom Street. The baked brie is delish and their own Zephyr was enjoyable, but miserable-ness ensued. I am sad that we had to go home early because so many friends wanted to hang out! Next time...
Work has been pretty nuts lately. One of our hospitals is gearing up for a 3-day strike because the for-profit company who owns the facility is being totally evil (scheduling and not showing up for bargaining sessions, proposing 400% increases in what workers pay out of pocket for healthcare, etc.) So I've been pitching in and making some phone calls to help out my coworkers. I really like these workers - they're pretty strong! I always get super creeped out about any company that's for-profit in health care. It should be for-patients! Yet another example of why we need reform in this country!!
My family's thanksgiving is this Saturday. I'm in charge of the scalloped corn and Aaron is making his world-famous (er, famous to the few people who've tasted it) pumpkin roll, a Central PA holiday favorite.
My fam always does holidays on days that are not the actual holiday so that everyone can hang out with their in-laws on the actual holiday. I think this is a great system that should be replicated in familes all across North America.Speaking of Thanksgiving, my oldest friend Helga appeared on a Food Network Thanksgiving Special last night. Here she is - I'm so proud!
That's all for now, friends and lovers.
Stay at home Dad
Today in Memphadelphia:
"I think I figured out what I want to be."
"Really? What's that?"
"A stay-at-home-dad."
"Oh yeah, how's that going to work?"
"We can be stay-at-home parents and make money off the kids."
"What will we make them do?"
"I don't know, street performing at first and then maybe they'll land a commercial...something on local TV before they move up to the big leagues. If they're good enough, maybe we'll only have to sacrifice one or two of them."
"I think I figured out what I want to be."
"Really? What's that?"
"A stay-at-home-dad."
"Oh yeah, how's that going to work?"
"We can be stay-at-home parents and make money off the kids."
"What will we make them do?"
"I don't know, street performing at first and then maybe they'll land a commercial...something on local TV before they move up to the big leagues. If they're good enough, maybe we'll only have to sacrifice one or two of them."
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Cochabamba en mi casa
I walked into my apartment after a long drive home from beautiful Scranton, Pennsylvania to find what looked like a Bolivian male in my front room.
A couple things tipped me off to the man's ethnicity -- a distinctive woolen hat with tassels on the top and sides and an Andean alpaca poncho. It was startling to find his kind so far from home.
The alleged Bolivian fed me some of his local cuisine -- Ramen noodles and strawberry banana yogurt with Honeycombs.
When Aaron read the beginning of this blog over my shoulder, he offered an explanation (he likes to explain things): It was perfect poncho weather in here when I got home. When questioned about the hat, he replied: It's part of the ensemble.
I love my husband.
A couple things tipped me off to the man's ethnicity -- a distinctive woolen hat with tassels on the top and sides and an Andean alpaca poncho. It was startling to find his kind so far from home.
The alleged Bolivian fed me some of his local cuisine -- Ramen noodles and strawberry banana yogurt with Honeycombs.
When Aaron read the beginning of this blog over my shoulder, he offered an explanation (he likes to explain things): It was perfect poncho weather in here when I got home. When questioned about the hat, he replied: It's part of the ensemble.
I love my husband.
Diet on hold
Soooo... my dear millions of readers, the orientation turned out to be a bit of a let down.. There will be a 7 day period of writing down everything I eat and drink, a medical screening, a series of questionnaires and then in January, I might start losing weight.
There is one huge advantage to this situation, of course: I don't have to diet during the holidays. wooo!
Now, you may be thinking something cliche like "No time like the present" or "Hey fatass, go back to the bulimia!" But my brain just won't allow it. I know that a program with lots of rules is right at the beginning of my new 2010 planner ...so I'll just wait for it.
I will keep you posted.
There is one huge advantage to this situation, of course: I don't have to diet during the holidays. wooo!
Now, you may be thinking something cliche like "No time like the present" or "Hey fatass, go back to the bulimia!" But my brain just won't allow it. I know that a program with lots of rules is right at the beginning of my new 2010 planner ...so I'll just wait for it.
I will keep you posted.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
It's just wrong.
So the DC Sniper is dead... is the world any better or safer today?
I'd say today the world is a worse place than it was yesterday because we murdered a murderer. John Allen Muhammad deserves no sympathy for the horrendous crimes he committed, but he doesn't deserve to be put to death either.
It just feels so wrong in the deepest parts of me.
I'd say today the world is a worse place than it was yesterday because we murdered a murderer. John Allen Muhammad deserves no sympathy for the horrendous crimes he committed, but he doesn't deserve to be put to death either.
It just feels so wrong in the deepest parts of me.
Pathetic Fox News
I got a tweet this morning concerning how utterly ridiculous Fox News is...
Jon Stewart's staff caught Sean Hannity replacing footage of an anti-healthcare reform rally (are they crazy?!) with a much larger protest from a couple months ago.
Sean Hannity FAIL!!!
Jon Stewart's staff caught Sean Hannity replacing footage of an anti-healthcare reform rally (are they crazy?!) with a much larger protest from a couple months ago.
Sean Hannity FAIL!!!
Minding My Health
Today promises to be a big day for me. I'm going to my orientation to Drexel's Behavioral Weight Loss Program.
I'm currently the heaviest I've ever been. I blame myself for not staying in control during a combination of lots of traveling for work, wanting to try out all the restaurants in my new neighborhood, and the newlywed 15. I think there has been a 15 for everything.. the freshman 15, the union 15 (or 40!), the moving back in with mom and dad 15, the falling in love 15 (which of course, my Aaron gained and lost again), the my-sister-is-pregnant-so-I-can-gain-weight-too 15... it goes on and on!
I've experimented with a few different diets-- the latest being Weight Watchers and the earliest I can remember was bulimia. The only thing that ever really worked was when I was living in a church rent-free on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. I lived on the 4th floor and worked in the basement, so I had a very regimented schedule. I was able to make every meal. I didn't follow any diet very strictly. Basically, I stopped eating so much sugar and started eating a lot more green vegetables (kinda LA Weightloss style, but modified). I made rules like everything bagels toasted with veggie cream cheese were only allowed to cure a hangover...and in order to curb my addiction to all things bread-cheese-sauce, I limited pizza to once a week. In the mornings, I walked along the East River. Sometimes I would leave my phone in my bedroom on purpose so I'd have to run back up the 5 flights of stairs to retrieve it. I also played a game if I was venturing to another part of Manhattan. I would walk to a subway stop and when I arrived, I would decide that I should walk to the next and then the next and on and on until a few times I found that I had made it all the way to West 4th from East 74th. When it was all over and I moved back in with my parents after a breakup and the end of my job, I had lost over 70 pounds. I was pretty proud of myself.
Being at my parents' house is like a trigger for me. A how can I get as much food into my body in as short a time as possible? trigger. Why is that?? I mean, I know it's hard to break old habits, but seriously, sometimes my brain is screaming at me, "Mary, don't do it! Your belly is already full from the chicken salad sandwich and bowl of ice cream...DON'T DOOOO ITTTT!" I never listen. And the thing is, I never eat things there that I would eat in my own home...poptarts, Entemanns doughnuts, etc.
So I moved back in for 3 months and started gaining a little. It wasn't too too bad until I started working for the union and went down to Maryland and started my long stint of living in hotels and eating in restaurants or in my car. Fast food joints in Baltimore, DC, Silver Spring, Seattle and Yakima, Houston, Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Chicago, and all over PA became my daily haunts...and every single pound I thought I had left for good in New York City came running back, clinging to my thighs, butt, arms, face, fingers and toes, back, and most of all, belly!
I'd like to mention that I also tried Nutrisystem in 2007. I'll never get over eating "meat products" that were stored in the closet of my Pocono apartment. I felt tricked. You shell out hundreds of dollars for this disgusting food only to have to spend more to supplement the meals with fresh foods. It seriously hampered the quality of my life! I felt run down and sick and lonely because I always had to eat solo in my apartment.
So here I am at a whopping ___ pounds (I'll fill that in after I weigh in at the orientation tonight!). The instruments in my toolbox this time around are the following:
-a desire to be healthier
-a desire for more energy
-a desire to be able to learn to play tennis
-a desire to hike on mountains
-a desire to eat foods that make me feel good
-a desire to love myself more and take better care of my body
-an extremely supportive husband who will love me the same at 150 pounds or 250 pounds
-a new, currently mysterious program at Drexel
So...Here we go!!!
Disclaimer: I'm not totally sure that I'll be accepted into the program (it will depend on how things go today!), so I guess I shouldn't get my hopes up, but damn, I really hope they take me! I'll have to figure out plan B if it doesn't work out.
I'm currently the heaviest I've ever been. I blame myself for not staying in control during a combination of lots of traveling for work, wanting to try out all the restaurants in my new neighborhood, and the newlywed 15. I think there has been a 15 for everything.. the freshman 15, the union 15 (or 40!), the moving back in with mom and dad 15, the falling in love 15 (which of course, my Aaron gained and lost again), the my-sister-is-pregnant-so-I-can-gain-weight-too 15... it goes on and on!
I've experimented with a few different diets-- the latest being Weight Watchers and the earliest I can remember was bulimia. The only thing that ever really worked was when I was living in a church rent-free on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. I lived on the 4th floor and worked in the basement, so I had a very regimented schedule. I was able to make every meal. I didn't follow any diet very strictly. Basically, I stopped eating so much sugar and started eating a lot more green vegetables (kinda LA Weightloss style, but modified). I made rules like everything bagels toasted with veggie cream cheese were only allowed to cure a hangover...and in order to curb my addiction to all things bread-cheese-sauce, I limited pizza to once a week. In the mornings, I walked along the East River. Sometimes I would leave my phone in my bedroom on purpose so I'd have to run back up the 5 flights of stairs to retrieve it. I also played a game if I was venturing to another part of Manhattan. I would walk to a subway stop and when I arrived, I would decide that I should walk to the next and then the next and on and on until a few times I found that I had made it all the way to West 4th from East 74th. When it was all over and I moved back in with my parents after a breakup and the end of my job, I had lost over 70 pounds. I was pretty proud of myself.
Being at my parents' house is like a trigger for me. A how can I get as much food into my body in as short a time as possible? trigger. Why is that?? I mean, I know it's hard to break old habits, but seriously, sometimes my brain is screaming at me, "Mary, don't do it! Your belly is already full from the chicken salad sandwich and bowl of ice cream...DON'T DOOOO ITTTT!" I never listen. And the thing is, I never eat things there that I would eat in my own home...poptarts, Entemanns doughnuts, etc.
So I moved back in for 3 months and started gaining a little. It wasn't too too bad until I started working for the union and went down to Maryland and started my long stint of living in hotels and eating in restaurants or in my car. Fast food joints in Baltimore, DC, Silver Spring, Seattle and Yakima, Houston, Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Chicago, and all over PA became my daily haunts...and every single pound I thought I had left for good in New York City came running back, clinging to my thighs, butt, arms, face, fingers and toes, back, and most of all, belly!
I'd like to mention that I also tried Nutrisystem in 2007. I'll never get over eating "meat products" that were stored in the closet of my Pocono apartment. I felt tricked. You shell out hundreds of dollars for this disgusting food only to have to spend more to supplement the meals with fresh foods. It seriously hampered the quality of my life! I felt run down and sick and lonely because I always had to eat solo in my apartment.
So here I am at a whopping ___ pounds (I'll fill that in after I weigh in at the orientation tonight!). The instruments in my toolbox this time around are the following:
-a desire to be healthier
-a desire for more energy
-a desire to be able to learn to play tennis
-a desire to hike on mountains
-a desire to eat foods that make me feel good
-a desire to love myself more and take better care of my body
-an extremely supportive husband who will love me the same at 150 pounds or 250 pounds
-a new, currently mysterious program at Drexel
So...Here we go!!!
Disclaimer: I'm not totally sure that I'll be accepted into the program (it will depend on how things go today!), so I guess I shouldn't get my hopes up, but damn, I really hope they take me! I'll have to figure out plan B if it doesn't work out.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Aaron of the Day
"What are you doing?"
"I love rubbing my face on your face while you're laughing..."
"I love rubbing my face on your face while you're laughing..."
Change is necessary
Sometimes this country boggles my mind.. In 2008, we took to the streets demanding change. There was no mistake about it. Even people who didn't vote for Barack Obama couldn't deny that they didn't like the direction our country was going or that they wanted change.
Now that we're right on the cusp of the biggest reform our nation has seen in a very long time, some people who were yelling for "change" seem to have developed a case of short-term memory loss and it's freaking me out.
I wish I could say I'm an expert on all the bills floating around out there...or even the one that the House just passed (here's a summary with a link to the full text)... but I'm not. What I know is that being taken care of when you're sick is a basic human right that our country denies people.
Citizens, change is scary! Surprise, surprise! But more important than scary, it is completely necessary.
Now let's take a collective deep breath and figure out how to provide people in this country with basic human rights.
Now that we're right on the cusp of the biggest reform our nation has seen in a very long time, some people who were yelling for "change" seem to have developed a case of short-term memory loss and it's freaking me out.
I wish I could say I'm an expert on all the bills floating around out there...or even the one that the House just passed (here's a summary with a link to the full text)... but I'm not. What I know is that being taken care of when you're sick is a basic human right that our country denies people.
Citizens, change is scary! Surprise, surprise! But more important than scary, it is completely necessary.
Now let's take a collective deep breath and figure out how to provide people in this country with basic human rights.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
This morning I ventured down to South Philly for brunch with my friend Theresa. We took a really nice walk and ended up at the Royal Tavern where I had the tater tot scramble. Ummm..delicious!
Theresa's boyfriend John is drafting curriculum for a drawing class and he needs some people to test it out. I'm hoping I can participate because I loved drawing in high school and would love to start again.
Aaron and I are going to Jersey to have dinner and watch the Eagles game with our closest friends.
Happy Sunday!
Theresa's boyfriend John is drafting curriculum for a drawing class and he needs some people to test it out. I'm hoping I can participate because I loved drawing in high school and would love to start again.
Aaron and I are going to Jersey to have dinner and watch the Eagles game with our closest friends.
Happy Sunday!
Once a time uponce...
Nothing is telling me this won't end up like all my other endeavors at recording my thoughts. Definitely not the 15 journals with 5 entries each discarded in my hope chest! ..but here's another beginning...
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