2010 February 14

I’m home! I’m home! I’m home!!!

I don’t think I have ever been happier to be sitting in MY apartment, watching television on MY tv, drinking tea from MY kitchen, and having MY puppy curled up beside me.

Life is good.

Thankfully my bag finally arrived at noon on the dot and my eyes filled with tears of joy as I pulled out my rainbow flip flops to ear as opposed to the rain boots I had been rockin the past two days.

As soon as the bag was in the trunk, Derek and I were on our way to my parent’s, but not before stopping at Whole Foods for a quick lunch.

We split a grilled veggie sub on whole wheat with dijon mustard and provolone cheese.

I paired my half with a juicy pink lady apple.

We ate on the road and managed to make great timing on getting to my parents. One minute I was listening to the Wicked soundtrack as we’re getting on the interstate and the next minute I’m waking up and we’re less than 30 miles away.

I spent a max of 10 minutes at my parents house before I was hopping in my own car and heading to Orlando. Maddie was so excited to see me! She jumped in the car as we started loading the luggage and refused to get out in fear that I would leave her behind again. I promised her I wasn’t leaving her anywhere. The ride to Orlando was full of non-stop Maddie kisses.

I started my day hoping to get a 16 mile run in, but as the day progressed the run kept getting shorter and shorter in my head. By the time I got home, dressed, and to my favorite running spot it was close to 5:00 and I figured any run would be a good run at this point.

Before I left I had a Luna Cookie Dough Protein Bar.

I’ll admit this bar was better than the peanut butter version, but it was still chalky and not really my style.

I had an hour and a half before the sun was to set and pushed myself to complete 10 miles in the time frame. I finished the run with a warm and tingly feeling deep inside. It may not have been the run I had originally planned, but after all the problems with my bag and being stuck in NYC, I was damn proud of that run!

After a quick trip to the grocery store (hello, vegetables!) I was ready for dinner!

(p.s. the battery to my DSLR is dead, which is why you have been enjoying all the point and shoot photos in this post. DSLR quality will be back tomorrow. I promise!)

Dinner was simple. I roasted half an acorn squash at 420 for 25 minutes in the oven and on the stove top I had a grain mix I picked up from Trader Joe’s simmering in a pot.

When everything was done I stuffed the squash with the grain mix and topped it with some marinara sauce before baking it in the oven for another 5 minutes or so just to heat the sauce up a bit.

The stuffed squash came out great. You can’t go wrong with out squash, grains, and marinara sauce.

I had a few birthday surprises waiting for me in my mailbox when I arrived home this afternoon, including a fresh batch of blondies from one of my favorite bakers.

THANKS AMANDA!!! Peanut Butter and Chocolate?!?!?! My favorite!!!

I had 1/2 a blondie for dessert.

I can not wait to sleep in my own bed tonight! I can hear it calling my name now.

Good Night!!

{ 35 comments }

Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone!

I hope your day is filled with love, happiness, and lots of pink.

Last night Derek and I celebrated a combination of my birthday (which was last Monday), Valentine’s Day, and our one year anniversary by painting the town red with a fancy dinner and Wicked.

We had early dinner reservations at Mise En Place – a modern american cuisine restaurant just outside downtown tampa.

The restaurant was gorgeous inside. It was quaint and romantic; the perfect spot for a candlelit Valentine’s dinner for two.

Derek and I began with a lovely bottle of cabernet sauvignon.

The two of us managed to consume the entire bottle during our two hour dining experience. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little buzzed by the end of the meal.

It took us a while to decide what we wanted to eat. Mise En Place has a very extensive menu and everything looks more delicious than the last.

While we were deciding a basket of bread was delivered to our table.

I had a piece of the onion covered variety.

To start Derek and I shared the L.A. Pizza plate that was topped with roasted mushrooms, rapini, goat cheese, pine nuts, and white truffle oil.

The crust of the pizza was extra thin and basically melted in your mouth.

For my meal I chose the Bluenose, Pistachio Jasmine Rice, Masala Grilled Eggplant, Coconut Chutney, Tomato Cardomon Sauce, & Ginger Papaya Avocado Salad

The plate was beautifully presented with each layer adding a unique touch of color. The flavor was wonderful as well. I always appreciate dishes that incorporate fruit for a touch of sweetness.

I also had a couple of bites of Derek’s Grilled Beef Tenderloin, Butternut Squash Ravioli, Pancetta, Grilled Asparagus, Creamy Fregola, Black Trumpet Madiera Jus.

When his meal was served, Derek looked like a little boy who was just an unlimited bowl of ice cream. He was actually jumping up an down in his chair as he was saying “Babe, you have to take a picture of mine too. This is f-ing amazing.”

I agreed the plate was gorgeous and the couple of bites I had were very tender and bursting with flavor.

We were both very happy with our choices and would love to come back again to try the other amazing meals we were drooling over on the menu.

Of course the night would not be complete without a great dessert to go with our great meal.

We couldn’t decide which dessert we wanted, so when our server suggested the dessert sampler to share we immediately said yes.

The sampler consisted of a Milk Chocolate Brownie with Crunchy Peanut Butter Ice Cream, Croquantine Flourless Cake with Toasted Macadamia Nut Ice Cream, and a Raspberry Shortcake.

Derek and I easily cleaned the plate. Our favorite was the flourless cake with the macadamia nut ice cream.

After our meal we headed to Tampa’s Performing Arts Center for Wicked!!

Derek had actually purchased the Wicked tickets as my Christmas present and it just happened to fall on the same weekend as Valentine’s Day.

I had read Wicked a couple of years ago and loved it, but found the book to be very dark. I’ve always been curious to see how they had transformed the dark book into a broadway musical. I was giddy in my seat counting down the minutes to the opening number.

My opinion? Wow!

I am pretty sure I had a goofy smile on my face throughout the entire performance. The musical stuck with the basic principles of the book, but quite a few details were either left out or reformatted. I actually enjoyed the musical storyline more than the book with the majority of the darker material having been removed.

My favorite change from the book was the rewritten love story between Elphaba and Fiyero. It was a happy love that felt right and had the audience rooting for them. In the book their love was hidden and almost felt wrong at times.

I also enjoyed the happy ending! Who doesn’t like a happy ending?

In closing I give Wicked two big thumbs up! I would happily see it again and again and again!

When we got back to the apartment Derek couldn’t wait to dig in to the GIANT Reese’s I had bought him in NYC for Valentine’s Day.

Each cup weighed half a pound!

I had 1/8 of the cup.

Tasted just like a regular Reeses, but with a whole lot more peanut butter filling.

This morning Derek presented me with my own Valentine’s Day chocolates.

He gave me the exact same box a year ago today!

Derek also got to work in the kitchen making Valentine’s pancakes.

I had three pancakes topped with yogurt, mango, and a sprinkle of random cereal on top.

All the was missing was pink yogurt and to have the pancakes shaped like hearts.

Delta informed me today that my bag is in Tampa and it is suppose to arrive on Derek’s doorstep before noon today. Yay!

As soon as my bag arrive we are going to hightail it to my parents where I need to pick up my car and the beautiful Maddie! I’ve missed my puppy. I’m also going to attempt to get a 16 mile run in sometime this afternoon. With my marathon only 2 weeks away I really, really need to get this run in.

WIsh me luck!

{ 55 comments }