Bend Me Like A Pretzel…And Then Feed Me Wine

Hi guys!

I LOVED hearing about your healthy adaptations! Keep ‘em coming–you have a few more hours to go! I will pick the winner randomly at 10 pm eastern time tonight.

I hope you also enjoyed the “Red Wine For Newbies ” post. I had a lot of fun writing it! I do love me some red wine….I can’t believe I actually used to HATE it! Paris changed my life

This morning before lunch I did Dave Farmar’s latest 75 minute power vinyasa podcast. It was truly a wonderful experience. I find when I am anxious or stressed out, I NEED yoga. Not running, not weights….yoga. Only yoga has the capability to force me to quiet my mind and just concentrate at the posture at hand. Today I felt myself stretched from the inside out and afterwards I was like a bowl of jello! I think last week I sort of over-ran myself by running four times. This week I am paying for it with my right shin a little sore. I’m laying low and only running twice. I did a short run on Sunday and I’ll do a long run Friday morning. The rest of the time I’m going to focus on yoga to calm myself and prepare for the weekend.

After yoga was lunch!

I made myself a little meze platter with some leftover Middle Eastern salad, hummus, whole wheat pita and shrimp! I mixed everything together and the combo was perfect.

While I ate, I chatted on the phone with the Tampa Tribune! Looks like my little Murphy-Goode story will be in the Sunday paper! Eek!

Got a bunch done this afternoon and mid-afternoon took a snack break. Am I ever happy I did! I FINALLY got around to making Miss Gena’s raw banana soft serve, which has totally taken the blog world by storm and apparently I’m a little late in the game. Gena, you DID change my life–thank you!!! It was so easy too— all I did was combine 2 frozen bananas in the VitaMix and after only about 30 seconds, I had soft serve! I divided my “ice cream” into two so I could have some to enjoy later and then I topped my portion with raw almond butter. Now if this ain’t a sundae, I don’t know what is!

Now THAT was good!!!

Speaking of GOODE, I headed to my parent’s house to say hi around 4:30. They surprised me with a bottle of good luckMurphy-GoodeChardonnay-nay!!!

Even though apparently it was aged in French oak barrels, this wine to me was anything BUT oaky! How weird! Rather, it had a more buttery/butterscotch taste to it with lots of vanilla. Very light and easy to drink….we all loved it! Especially my dad, who said it was “his new favorite wine” (they ALWAYS drink Mondavi but tonight decided to totally make the switch to the goode stuff). This wine was about $15 I believe, making it a great and and affordable option. Between the three of us we killed the bottle (I had one glass and my parents each had 1.5 glasses) and decided it was definitely our new “go-to” Chard, whether I get the job or not!

Ryan is working late and dinner was simple and Parisian inspired

In France, its typical to get a salad with poached eggs on top. You break the eggs with your fork and the runny yolk permeates every leaf of lettuce, creating, so to speak, a party in your mouth. Unfortunately I goofed up and overcooked my eggs but it was still really good. I made a homemade vinegarette dressing to go with my salad using a tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, a splash of organic balsamic vinegar, a pinch of sea salt, a smear of spicy mustard and a teeny tiny bit of minced garlic. My Parisian salad also featured the ripest, juiciest plum tomato yet as well as a piece of Ezekiel toast with earth balance.

If you haven’t tried poached eggs on salad yet, do so! Let me know what you think!

Dessert was the obvious…..

Oh no she didn’t….oh YES she did! Lindt Fleur de Sel dark chocolate with banana soft serve = bliss. Enough said.

Time to hit the bath and my book! Eagerly awaiting The Time Traveler’s Wife but I vowed to safe it for the airplane!!!! Soon enough…..! Tomorrow morning I will announce the winner of the Eating Well Cookbook and also announce ANOTHER aaaaamazing giveaway!!! I have a ton of giveaways this week…is that okay with y’all?!