A Phew Phun Hours in Philly

A four-mile run started the day.  So hot!  A cold smoothie was needed afterwards - a frozen banana, blueberries, a scoop of chocolate protein powder, some ground flaxseed, and coconut milk.

Then, I went BACK OUTSIDE for 1:15 of bike riding.  Yeah, I'm not sure what I was thinking.  By the end of the bike ride, I was pretty done....and maybe a bit sun stupid.

Breakfast/lunch was a scrambled egg and avocado on a whole wheat English muffin, with a nectarine.  And I made the tea before the bike ride but put it in the fridge, so it was cold tea.  Much better on such a hot day!

In the afternoon, I took the train down to Philly.  I had to pick up my race bib for the Color Run on Sunday, and I figured I could also have a bit of fun (or "phun", as you have to spell it when you're talking about Philly).  I took the R6 (oh sorry, the Norristown/Manayunk line) to Market East because I didn't want to have to drive in rush hour and then pay for parking.  Going to the Reading Terminal Market for dinner was a no-brainer.

I always love walking around and just looking at everything.  It makes me want to live in the city just so I can go shopping here.  There were several counter shops dedicated to just cheese!

now that's my kind of store

One of the markets had an entire shelf of just Red Mill products (flours, seeds, etc.)

better selection than Wegmans

Dinner had to be a reuben from Hershel's East Side Deli.  It was even better than I remembered.

oh yes

Dessert had to be Bassett's ice cream - Preston and Steve's Gadzooks (chocolate with brownies, chocolate pieces and caramel) is on the bottom and The WHYY Experience (vanilla with butterscotch swirls and chocolate covered pretzels) is on the top.  I had to eat it fast because it was melting!

July is National Ice Cream Month

Then I walked out to the Art Museum.  Yes, it was hot.  Really hot.  Really, really hot.  Like 95+ degrees hot.  But I played tourist and took a lot of pictures of my city.

I love these signs

I hate this building.  It's the dumbest looking building.

I took off my shoes and splashed in the Logan Square fountain.  Who knows when the next time I might get to splash around in a fountain will be?

the frog is vomiting water!

does anyone else see the Dalek attachments on top?!

I stopped for a humongous Sprite on the walk back to Market East.  It was just too hot!  Granted, a sugary beverage probably did absolutely nothing to slake my thirst, but at the time it tasted so good.

my favorite building (even with the Dalek technology)

Back home (in air conditioning) I watched a bit of the Phillies game, but went to bed as soon as Bastardo walked a run and then pitched to a grand slam home run.  Oh well.  Everything else about Philly today was good!

Let's see if I can remember the train stops:  Norristown Transportation Center, Conshohocken, Spring Mill, Miquon, Ivy Ridge, Manayunk, Wissahickon, East Falls, Allegheny, North Broad, Temple, and Market East.  I think I got them all!  I miss the Monday night conductor...he had a great way of announcing each stop, "Allegheny nex" (and no, there's no "t" when he says it; I typed it right).

Good Swim

Apparently the light in my kitchen is absolutely terrible, so I apologize for the picture quality.  I began my morning, not with a run, but with a scrambled egg/avocado/wholewheat English muffin sandwich, a nectarine, and tea.

my breakfast for this whole week basically

After a long morning of cleaning through stacks of papers and magazines in my apartment, I had some wholewheat rotini with cherry tomatoes and shredded mozzarella cheese (just like yesterday).

I braved the heat to head over to the gym in the afternoon to knock out a swim workout (WU 500, 8x100- 50 sprint 50 easy, 8x50- 25 sprint 25 easy, CD 200), and it turned out to be a very good swim!  The pool was not crowded (for ONCE), so I got to have my own lane.  During my cooldown swim, I was the only one in the pool!  

I felt a bit nauseous once I got home, so I had a snack.  Blackberries, graham crackers, and, since I can't often eat straight out peanut butter (I seem to be mildly allergic), PB2 (powdered peanut butter with a lot less fat) mixed into greek yogurt.  

The PB2/Greek yogurt was very tangy.  There was a slight peanut butter taste though, so I may continue to tweak these proportions.

Dinner was sauteed mushrooms, chicken with some leftover chocolate bbq sauce from Hersheypark, and some bubbly water - flavored with lemongrass, mint, and vanilla.  A very refreshing beverage!

mushrooms cook down a lot!

I heard tonight is actually going to get down to 70 degrees!  Woo!

Happy Fourth!

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!


I ate two graham crackers before heading out for a 6 mile run.  This heat and humidity is brutal.  And it's not letting up!  Oh well, more sweat is more calories burned, right??

Breakfast was a smoothie (1frozen banana, a couple of frozen peach slices, handful of blueberries, scoop of vanilla protein powder, maybe a teaspoon or a bit more of ground flaxseed, and coconut milk)

you can't really tell, but it was actually a very pretty light purple color

A while later, lunch was whole-wheat rotini with cherry tomatoes, a bit of avocado, and shredded mozzarella cheese.  With a nectarine.  So good!

I spent most of the afternoon reading a Jackie Warner (the trainer from that Bravo show) book, "This Is Why You're Fat".  A lot of it was stuff I already know I should do, but I did gain some useful tips (ex: check nutrition labels on everything - don't buy it if it has more than 5g of sugar per serving).  Dinner was grilling at the parents' house.  We grilled some lettuce to make a salad (it gave the salad a bit of a charcoal flavor, but it wasn't bad!).

Then bison burgers (yes, made from bison - or buffalo!) and corn, with grilled pineapple.

And, naturally, s'mores.  It wouldn't be a grill dinner if there weren't s'mores!

I headed over to the high school to bike around the back roads of Worcester a little bit, since the roads weren't too busy with the holiday.  It was still really hot though, and I'd just finished a pretty big dinner, so I'm hoping that's why it felt so tough!  The night ended with another American tradition - beer!

Made in Philadelphia, just like the Declaration of Independence!

Brian and Shelley get married!

June 30, 2012 - Brian and Shelley get married!

their signature wedding drink - a Jackhattan - Jack is their dog

first dance awwwww

the newlyweds!

me and the groom.  we *used* to work together....wow...can't believe I'm saying that!

rockin' groom's cake!  (can you tell what his favorite drink is?  remember the dog...)

Beautiful day for beautiful people!

Beach Day

The day after my birthday my dad and I took a day trip to Ocean City NJ.  We went early because we wanted to try breakfast at Oves.

yes, I started with fresh fruit

then there were scrapple fries (I only ate half of them!)

and apple cider donuts! (again, only half)

I love the beach!

I didn't eat any lunch, so by the time we stopped for dinner at Obadiah's on our way home, I was pretty hungry.

Jersey cantaloupe drink

lobster bisque and lobster ravioli with a lobster tail.  I love lobster!

Tiki Birthday

MY BIRTHDAY

My awesome sister got me AppleTV and an awesome cake.  Then we went to the tiki bar.  Awesome!

me and Cyndi!

Hurricanes!!!

You better believe I got the shiraz-marinated steak

grill your own meat....what an excellent idea

A bit later, some friends joined us after their rehearsal, and one of them got the alligator skewers.  I call it buffagator, because it tastes like buffalo chicken.

The weather was perfect, the hurricanes were flowing, and good times with good friends and my sister!