Shopping and Eating Out Yet Again “Oye Vey”

Friday:

As I mentioned in the last post Dan took Friday off from work. Woo hoo! You know I was happy about that on a number of levels. First I think he works too hard and should relax more often and second I love spending time with him.

We got up like usual and went to the gym at 0 dark 30. Unlike the prior day I got in a really good workout. I didn’t reach my 700 calorie burn goal but I got over 600 so that was a great morning for me.

As a side note I have to tell how OCD I am. The display on my body bugg was not functioning on Thursday and it was driving me crazy. I NEEDED to know how many calories I was burning. I swear I was ready to have a melt down. When we got home I figured out we needed to change the battery in the display and now everything is fine. As you can see I am a bit neurotic, but harmless to others as my buddy Louis says.

We came home from the gym and had wild blueberry oatmeal because we are now switching off between kale smoothies and oatmeal. It is too hard to get excited about an ice cold smoothie when it is below freezing outside. However the raw kale is good for us so I like to have it at least every day morning. ;-)

Since it is Dan and me we opted to do a little shopping. We had expected it wouldn’t be crowded because it was a Friday. Wrong! You would have thought the stores were giving stuff away they were so packed. Who are all these people and where are they normally on a Friday late morning?

I couldn’t decide where I wanted to shop so Dan made the executive decision and he headed to Marshall’s in Towson. There I found a really cute Carole Little Sweater/Jacket in a Boucle knit that is mostly black with some white. It is adorable and I wore it on Saturday. I also found three very cheap $4, $5 and $7 dollar men’s T-shirts to work out in. Hello, sign me up, LOL. The funny thing is that one of them has Hopkins Lacrosse on it which I thought was fine. Dan is teasing me that they are going to throw me out of the gym (we belong to Loyola University in Maryland) since Loyola and Hopkins are big lacrosse rivals and about a mile about. Whatever…..  *rolls eyes*  ;-) 

Next I found a few Christmas things because you know I really NEED them. Do you believe me? Well ... you shouldn’t. But that didn’t stop me from buying them. LOL

This ornament about cats having staff was so perfect I had to bring it home. Even Dan thought it was funny and true.  LOL

I also loved this sixties inspired table top Christmas tree. However Massimo (aka Masi) thinks it is a chew toy so it probably won’t last long I fear.

We were running low on loose tea. This probably isn’t a big surprise given how much we drink. On the way to lunch we stopped at the Baltimore Coffee and Tea Company to get tea. I picked out this Red Bush (Rooibos) with Blood Orange because it sounded too good to pass up.  I am not thrilled with the "blood orange flavoring" but I won't be drinking this everyday only once a week or so.  Dan picked three flavors of green and white tea to take to his office.

I was shocked that within seconds of walking into the door the coffee shop had tweeted me. How do they do this? It all felt a little big brother’ish to me but I am a little paranoid.

Next Dan wanted to surprise me for lunch. He wouldn’t say where we were going. When a friend I was texting with asked if lunch were a surprise Dan’s response was, “not to me.” This is what Dan is like all the time. He thinks he is very funny. LOL

We ended up at Hunt Valley Mall.

Then we went to Jesse Wong’s for veggie sushi and Hunan faux duck. Can you tell we are addicted to the faux duck?

I took this picture of the orchid arrangement because I thought it was so pretty. I need to get some clear glass “rocks” for my glass vase so I can do something similar at home.

Dan picked Jesse Wong’s because he knew I really wanted the flamingo ornament that I had seen earlier in the week but didn’t buy. Darn I should not have tweeted about that because they were sold out. *ugh* With a little luck they will get more in before Christmas. I will be checking with the store every chance I get.

While in Greetings and Readings I happen to see this Santa (in a bathing suit) being pulled by blue crabs. Only in Maryland I swear, LOL. This store has the most unusual stuff. It really is fun to walk in there to see what they have. For those that haven’t been they also sell greeting cards, books, and collectibles.

I loved that the mall decorated the topiary bears for Christmas. Aren’t they adorable? Maybe I should start topiary in my yard. Nah that would be too much work. ;-) But they are cute.

Since we were there we went to Wegman’s because I always need to see what they have. I love that grocery store! We needed, okay wanted, oranges so at least I had an excuse for going in. While in Wegman’s (or Weggies as I call it) I had to check out all the produce since they carry things other stores don’t have.

Hello Mr. Truffle! How many stores have fresh truffles? I didn’t buy any because my friend Louis sometimes gets them for us for the holidays and you really can have too many I suppose. ;-) Louis, this is absolutely not a hint I was just explaining what I was thinking. Love you!

They also carry other unusual produce like these tomatoes.

Here is another of my favorite areas the bulk food in the “natural market” section of the store.
Once home we had a big bowl of lentil soup from the other night for dinner. Then we turned it reasonably early because I knew we were going to the gym in the morning when they opened at 9 am.

Influenza:

If you are in Georgia this is an interesting article. For some reason the outbreak of the flu in Georgia is double the rest of the country. I wonder why that is. :-/ Normally I pass on things like the flu vaccine. However when you are around people with compromised immune systems (elder Americans, children or cancer patients) it is a good idea. That is probably why all hospital employees (included administrators) had to get the vaccine when I worked in health care.

Prostate Cancer Watchful Waiting vs. Conventional Medicine:

I thought this article was interesting in that it looked at the quality-adjusted life expectancy in low risk/early prostate cancer patients following watchful waiting (aka active surveillance) versus conventional treatment.  When allopathic medicine is discussing something like this you know there must be more to it. The article did not discuss the lifestyle changes this approach recommends but it is still interesting. If you are interested in this approach you can read more about it here. In essence it comes down to a healthy vegan diet, moderate exercise and stress reduction. We follow the general principles of this plan ourselves only you know me we have taken things to the next level because I can’t do things half way. ;-)

Happy Thoughts:

Friday was a great day. I have so many things to be thankful for and here are the ones that come to mind now:

• It was another great day with the hubby. I adore my husband and we always have fun when we are together. Friday was no exception.

• I love the Hunan faux duck at Jesse Wong’s. If you live in the area you need to try that stuff. I swear it is the best faux meat I have ever had. Give me time I am going to figure that out.

• Procuring more Christmas decor always makes me happy.

• The felines didn’t destroy anything while we were gone. This is always a bonus with my four-footed crew.

• Thank you all for your kind words on yesterday’s post. It makes me happy that so many of you are as interested in health as I am.

Signing out:

Tomorrow is Sunday which means we are back to the farmers’ market. They are open for a few more Sunday’s and then they will be closed until April 1. I am going to miss having local organic produce. :-(

I hope everyone is having a great weekend. Talk to you again tomorrow.