Last night at 8pm we decided to go out to dinner. Nothing
like waiting until the last minute is there?
;-) We decided to go to see Ian
and gang and asked Eric if he wanted to join us since he had not had Ian’s food
yet. I am sure it is a bit overwhelming
to go out to eat with us since we know everyone and I got many birthday wishes
and hugs. Our friend Louis says going out
with us is like being in “Hello Dolly” and Eric agreed. I am sharing this to give you a better feel
of the atmosphere of the evening.
Since it was my birthday we decided to order a bottle of
wine and Alan (one of the owners) happen to have a bottle of Brunello (my
favorite Italian wine) hidden away for us.
Oh my was this wine delicious!
Eric also agreed and now I am worried that we have spoiled his wine
palate for life. Once I had Brunello
that was my new expectation and I saw Eric’s face light up the same way. Sorry
Eric! If I read your reaction correctly
your wine budget will need to be increased significantly going forward. ;-)
The wine last night was the main event for me since it had
been so long since I had a bottle of Brunello.
Dinner was simple but delicious, we had Ian’s marinated mushrooms which
you all know I love, his roasted cauliflower over tomatoes, golden raisins and
pine nuts and a small vegan pizza with red sauce, roasted veggies, topped with
lemon dressed arugula and pine nuts. We
are so lucky to have a place around the corner where we can get delicious vegan
food. Sorry that I didn’t take any
pictures it was late, the lighting wasn’t good and I was busy talking. No one ever accused me of being shy or
quiet. I have included two photos of the very similar dishes that Ian has made for us in the past.
We ended up getting home at 11pm knowing that Dan needed to
be on the 6:45am train to DC for work. I
felt so guilty that he didn’t get enough sleep last night because of my
birthday.
The final birthday present of the day was from my buddy
Louis who totally gets me. We came home
to find a box from Earthy Delights which contained a fiddle head ferns, fresh
morel mushrooms and black garlic. See what I mean about Louis gets me? I love, love, love fiddle head ferns and Dan
feels the same way about fresh morels. Having a pound of black garlic to play
with will be great fun. Louis you did it
again. Thanks sweetie! The picture above is fiddle heads, morels and ramps from a prior year. I sure do love fiddle head ferns which remind me of asparagus in flavor and texture. :-)
Friday morning we were up bright at early, 5:15am to be
specific which is far too early for non-morning people like us. Dan had two big glasses of green smoothie
before he ran out the door to catch the train.
Fortunately he made it to the train station at 6:37, just in time. Dan was in DC all day but made it to the
marina this evening by 6:30pm.
In addition to waking up far too early this morning I also
have a little bit of wine headache today.
My body is clearly not used to my consuming wine like it used to
be. Splitting a bottle of wine with two
other people would have never given me a head ache in the past. It is funny how much things have changed in
my life. However I am not complaining
since I know that I am much healthier living this way. But I can’t deny that the Brunello was delicious
last night. ;-) That treat was worth the slight headache I
had this morning.
The one good thing about getting up uber early is that I was
able to be productive much sooner. By
8am I had posted something to my other site, exercised, had soaked in a hot
bath, texted with my morning friends and sent a few emails. Not bad since normally I wouldn’t have done
any of that by 8am. You do know that I
don’t like mornings right? ;-) Yesterday as I we were driving to Hopkins I
was texting with Lauren (Dan was driving) and mentioned that mornings should start
later. That comment was partly to be funny but also partly true. I don’t usually really get “going” until
10am. Mornings are definitely not my
thing.
After a hectic morning I was able to get a little much
needed downtime to relax. I chatted with
Lauren (who Dan affectionately refers to as Mini Me) during which we solved all
the health problems of the world in case you were curious LOL. The photo above is from the first trip of the
season this year. If you don’t have a
friend with the same health values as you I hope you find one. It is difficult to explain how great it is to
have someone who I can bounce things off of besides my husband. It is also great to have someone just “get me”. I hope to be able to develop the same type of
network of health minded people on the new site so that all of you can connect
with other people with the same values.
I am sure you are getting tired of me saying that we are all better
together than we are alone but I really believe it. Together we can move mountains if we want to.
I found out this afternoon that our new sailing friend Eric
(the human father of Bri) may be moving to the slip directly behind us. This
would be amazing and a lot of fun. Dan and I both enjoy chatting with Eric (who
likes tech stuff which makes Dan’s day) and all of us (Lauren included) love
Bri. She is the most adorable dog and so
friendly. Send good thoughts this way
that the people who have the deposit on the slip behind us actually back out, which
is the rumor, so that Eric can move in.
;-) Eric took the photo of Bri
above with the new camera. I will definitely
be getting some shots of her soon to share.
Lunch for me was very simple; I had leftover curried red
lentil and tomato soup and some hummus and broccoli. Dan was going to try to have lunch at Busboys
and Poets in DC but that didn’t work out.
Hopefully that will work out another time he is in DC. If you have been to Busboys and Poets I would
love to hear your ordering suggestions.
Dinner on the boat was … green smoothies and a bowl of
watermelon. We are really predictable
aren’t we? ;-) Have I mentioned how great it is have a
Vitamix on the boat? Why was I being
cheap last season and not getting a second Vitamix? Will I never learn that having access to a
high powered blender is not a luxury but a requirement? I use mine so much that I am lost without it. The photo above is an old shot of a green
smoothie on the boat because I was being lazy.
I have been making a very simple green tea on the boat that
is really tasty. I brew matcha green
and regular green tea and then chill it. To the cold tea I add slices of
orange, lemon and lime. It has a complex citrus flavor that we both enjoy. In addition to adding nice flavor the vitamin
C in the citrus helps you to absorb more EGCG in the tea. Hello, win-win am I right?
Happy thoughts:
- It was another really nice day in spite of the noticeable lack of good quality sleep last night. Here are my happy thoughts:
- My 50th birthday was a non-event which made me very happy. I was dreading this birthday and it was fine, no stress. Love that!
- It is wonderful to have Lauren in our life. There are days when I don’t know what I would do without her. It is so great to have someone who just “gets you.”
- I had a nice talk with Lisa (at the marina) where we talked about a show she watched recently on health that focused on fatty liver disease that has her and her boyfriend rethinking their dietary habits. Now I will be sharing some DVDs with her as well. When she was telling me about the show she said that she immediately thought of me. Gee, I wonder why? ;-) Can you tell how much I love talking about health? LOL
- I stumbled upon a very cute video of teachers pranking students which made us smile so I wanted to pass it along. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. J
- I found time today to get in some much needed activity which was nice given the amount of time I spent exercising only my jaw muscles (talking). I am not sure if any of you do this but I wanted to share in case the idea is new to you. When I am doing anything sedentary like talking on the phone (which can consume hours of my day) I make certain to add activity to the conversation. I do this a number of ways but here are some ideas you might want to try. 1) Get up and walk around if you are on a cordless phone. This is very easy to do and doesn’t make a lot of noise to distract people on the other end. 2) Do something like squats or lunges which are also quiet but work your largest muscle group your legs. 3) If you are using a hands free device or you are watching a DVD do some arm exercises (pushups, curls, etc.). The idea is to take the opportunity to move in whatever way works for the situation. These little things add up to burn calories.
- Both Dan and I are excited by the prospect of having Eric in the slip behind us. That will definitely mean more walks for Bri and me. I hesitate to say that I walk Bri because it is really more like Bri walks me. However we both enjoy it so does it really matter who is in charge? ;-)
- I have been reading a good book on Buddhism in my spare time. This one is called “Buddha Is as Buddha Does” by Lama Surya Das. If you are at all interested in Buddhism (which I find fascinating) see if your library has the book. The book is very thorough though a little bit of a tough read. However I find reading it to be very calming and it helps me to be more introspective which I think is wonderful. I will try to find time to review this book formally before it goes back to the library.
- The farmers’ market near the marina opens this weekend which is exciting. I am anxious to see how much organic produce is there. J Also Sunday is the first pick up for the summer CSA with Calvert Farms (the organic CSA we belong to). Can you tell there will be lots of kale in our weekend? ;-)
Signing out:
Sorry this post is going up very late in the evening. I was
very busy chatting away most of the time I was at the marina. I enjoy being around people and love to talk
with people and share information. Lisa
made my day when she told me about the health show she watched and how it
impacted her family and that she was open to learning more. There really is nothing better than making
connections with people is there?
Imagine what an impact we could make if we shared the benefits of a
healthy lifestyle with everyone around us.
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