I bet all of you are running around doing last minute shopping, prepping, and baking for tomorrow! Or maybe you’ve done everything and are just enjoying the day Ha.

Even though I’m a Chanukah celebrating gal, I feel like I am definitely running around today!

But before we get to today, let’s take [...]]]> Good Afternoon!

I bet all of you are running around doing last minute shopping, prepping, and baking for tomorrow! Or maybe you’ve done everything and are just enjoying the day Ha.

Even though I’m a Chanukah celebrating gal, I feel like I am definitely running around today!

But before we get to today, let’s take a look at yesterday shall we?

Yesterday I had another fabulous NYC adventure… I’ve been pretty lucky in getting to experience what NYC has to offer:

I had VIP seats at the Tree Lighting at Rockefeller Center, I ate at a Chocolate Restaurant, I ran with some lovely ladies in Central Park and saw my share of celebs.

And yesterday… I got to go to a Knicks Game!

As you may know, I’m not the hugest fan of pro sports.
But the BF is… so I graciously accompanied him.

And I actually had a GREAT time. Basketball is fun.

And now I even have a favorite player

Maybe I’ll even go to another game… maybe.

ALSO!!! Guess what I received in the mail ….

GLO BARS!!! from Glo Bakery!

I got two each of the Classic, Empower, Revive, Heaven and Present bars.

I’ve already had THREE and they are REALLY GOOD. The chocolate-y ones are my favorite so far!  I suggest you all order some!

Thanks Angela!

And now, I’m off to pack for my family trip to the *SUNSHINE STATE* tomorrow! (Although… the weather forecast is calling for a whole lot of rain for the week, so it may not be so sunshine-y)
But I’m still SO excited to see my family!

I will be taking some time away from the computer but will still be blogging the fun times in Florida off and on

Good luck with any last minute shopping/baking/gift-wrapping etc!

OH! AND DON’T FORGET TO ENTER MY SUGAR COOKIE SLEIGH RIDE TEA GIVEAWAY. I’m announcing the winners tonight!

********************************
Are you a pro sports fan? Do you ever go to games?

There is a guest post coming up later today but I just wanted to direct your attention to a new tab I made above right between FAQ and Contact Me. It’s the NYC section of my blog!

I love New York and I love exploring the city and everything it has to offer. I especially [...]]]>

There is a guest post coming up later today but I just wanted to direct your attention to a new tab I made above right between FAQ and Contact Me. It’s the NYC section of my blog!

I love New York and I love exploring the city and everything it has to offer. I especially love learning about other people’s favourite NYC places!

So, I figured I would share with you MY favorite places! I’ve compiled a list of my restaurant reviews as well as my favorite food places, fitness places, health stores, sites and places for treats

It’s a work in progress and I will continually be updating it with new places I find and love!

Also, I am always looking for new NYC places to explore so definitely add some of your own favorite places to list!

Janna

Happy Friday!

I finally made it out for an outside run! But, let me tell you, it was not easy.

Before I went: First I celebrated National Pomegranate Month with a bowl of pom-oats. [...]]]>  
(As opposed to How TO run in Manhattan – the BF demonstrates above on the Brooklyn Bridge)

Happy Friday!

I finally made it out for an outside run! But, let me tell you, it was not easy.

Before I went: First I celebrated National Pomegranate Month with a bowl of pom-oats. Yep, I cracked open my other pomegranate just for the occasion

 
1/3 cup oats, 2/3 cup water, 1/2 banana. Topped with pomegranate arils, cinnamon and raw almond butter on the spoon KERF style.

After that, I quickly popped into Best Buy to purchase a new pair of very *pink* headphones.

With my pink ipod:

Too much pink?  NEVER!

Then I bundled up and made a plan to run over the Brooklyn Bridge…which is my usual plan because I know no other running routes in the city and have no sense of direction. But, unfortunately, I just can’t win with that darn bridge!  When I got close, I saw there were police cars, police officers and a large crowd of NY Yankee paraphernalia clad people. No way I was running through that mess! So I reluctantly turned back around.

The next part of my run was seriously a test in anger management. I just couldn’t catch a break; there were large crowds of people everywhere I turned. All I wanted was to run freely without having to weave my way through tourists, Yankee fans and food carts,without having to stop to walk around massive crowds or fold my arms and tap my foot while waiting at a red light for 5 minutes. I longed for the empty streets of Winnipeg; the vacant trails right outside my door…the endless running possibilities that were now so far out of my reach.

Every time I saw a clear path ahead of me, I exploded with speed to take advantage of the lack of people and to make up for all my walking and stopping. Finally I got into a somewhat less crowded area and could truly “run” without weaving through too many people and without stopping. What a relief.

I made it home and took a look at my Garmin:

Not bad!!! 5.08 miles in 41 minutes and 19 seconds. And then I remembered; when I ran my 8K (5 mile) race in April, my chip time was 41:41. So I… beat my race time? Innnteresting. I hope my Garmin’s not broken. That just seems kind of crazy! It was my first race… and I’ve definitely improved since then but…still. Hm, I guess all those bursts of speed when I saw an open path really moved me along!

After the run, I went inside and made myself a post-run smoothie.

1/2 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup water, other half of banana from breakfast, a couple frozen mango pieces, and couple frozen papaya pieces and half a packet of Vega Complete Whole Food Health Optimizer powder.
 

Blennnnded up to make…..THIS!

If those pictures don’t look appetizing, I don’t know what does.

Haha. It looked like a swamp, but tasted like icy cold, healthy, goodness!

I also had a couple more sweet potato fries from last night.

But I wasn’t satisfied. So I decided to celebrate cookie friday with yet another one of my vegan chocolate chip cookies. I still wasn’t satisfied so I had another. Urgh… too much celebrating, now I have a tummy-ache.

Off to hit the books. Have a great start to your weekend!

********
What’s your running route? Do you have to weave through people or do you usually have a pretty clear path?

I have officially lived in NYC for 1 month

I’m one of those people who enjoys celebrating the months as well as the years. So to celebrate this month and to go along with my Happiness Goals I’m throwing this out to the New Yorkers out there…

So:

New Yorkers or [...]]]>  
[Source]

I have officially lived in NYC for 1 month

I’m one of those people who enjoys celebrating the months as well as the years. So to celebrate this month and to go along with my Happiness Goals I’m throwing this out to the New Yorkers out there…

So:

New Yorkers or people who know a lot about New York or people who have been to NYC many times, or just anyone who’s willing to chime in I need your help!

I’ve been in NYC for a month now and it’s been great. However, I feel like I’m not taking full advantage of where I am.

I’ve explored a little, eaten at a couple restaurants… but I haven’t truly experienced all I could have at this point. The truth is, I’m overwhelmed. There are just so many things to do and see I don’t even know where to start!

So, this is where you come in!

I want to know your favourite restaurants, sights, stores, areas, museums, galleries, fun volunteer opportunities, fun activities in general, fitness activities and anything else you can think of! On a cheap-ish budget would be extra nice …
But any and all ideas are welcome!

I am studying a lot of the time and am in class twice a week, but I feel like I want to fill in the spare time I have exploring my amazing surroundings.

Also, if there’s a place in NYC you’ve always wanted to go but haven’t gotten a chance to because you live elsewhere, let me know! I’ll check it out for you and let you know what I think! Or if there’s a restaurant or store you want me to review, fill me in, and I definitely will!

I realize how lucky I am to be living in this amazing city, so I want to do something about it!

This is very much appreciated! Thanks for your help!

You can leave me a comment or send me an email at justflourishing@gmail.com

Janna

I’ve known Avi for 5 years and have attended a quite a few of his  dinners.

The rules:

1) You must bring TWO bottles of wine 2) You cannot sit beside your date (or the people/person you came with) 3) You [...]]]> Last night the bf and I had the pleasure of attending Shabbat dinner at my friend Avi’s place.

I’ve known Avi for 5 years and have attended a quite a few of his  dinners.

The rules:

1) You must bring TWO bottles of wine
2) You cannot sit beside your date (or the people/person you came with)
3) You must go around the table and say a few words about yourself and/or what dinners/occasions like this mean to you.

This time Avi read a beautiful poem called “The Invitation” and asked each if us to say a few words about what it meant to us as well as a little bit about ourselves. It was amazing to hear everyone’s insight and thoughts.
Truly a special moment.

I love his dinners. They really do feel special.  They are a break from everything else in your life, where you get to come together at a dinner table, enjoy great food and great company and feel like family.

His dinners always have the most  amazing assortment of people. Especially this time, we realized we had people from about 8 or 9 different countries, and almost every major religion sitting at  the table! How neat! And I knew only 5 people there out of about 25!

On the Menu was:

Homemade Challah Bread

Salad
(there was also a Caesar salad that looked delish, but I didn’t get a chance to try)

Matzoh ball soup

Sweet Kugel with raisins

Lemon mashed potatoes

Brisket

And many a few glasses of this

Not quite as many vegetarian options for me as I would have liked (aka where were the veggies Avi!) but I made due.

Lots of new friends were made:

And lots of laughs were had:

All in all a wonderful night.

I definitely have a hankering for some eggs this morning Off to find some!

Have a great day!

_____________________________________________

Fun Tidbit of the Day:
NY Eater just listed the “38 Essential New York restaurants”. I haven’t been to any, but you can bet they’ll be a lot harder to get into now!

After unpacking I made a snack of whole wheat hearth bread from whole foods, almond butter and banana slices and a side of chobani with strawberries. So excited to have Greek yogurt! You can’t find it [...]]]> I have so much to do here, I barely scratched the surface today! But it was a productive day nonetheless.

After unpacking I made a snack of whole wheat hearth bread from whole foods, almond butter and banana slices and a side of chobani with strawberries. So excited to have Greek yogurt! You can’t find it anywhere in Canada!

Obviously a big priority here is finding a gym. My first stop was the New York Sports Club on Broadway.

I was greeted with this when I walked in:

Ha! You don’t even have to go to the gym. You can walk up the stairs, swipe your gym card and leave! Very efficient NYSC

I’m not sure if I’ll go to this gym (not because of the stairs) but I’m going to check out a couple more tomorrow.

And I have made no progress on getting a cellphone as of yet!

The bf let me know about a book panel going on at McNally Jackson (a bookstore) called “The Legacy of Julia Child”. So I popped in for a quick listen.

Little did I know the real Julie Powell, who the movie Julie and Julia was based off of was there speaking on the panel! So cool! It was so neat to listen to the panel speak about Julia Child.
Judith Jones, Julia Child’s editor did the most amazing impression of her

Julie is the one in the middle. Judith is on the right in the blue.

Dinner tonight was some delicious and fresh wraps from Rino Ceronte near NYU, which the bf and I enjoyed in Washington Square Park.

 
Hee Hee my thumb is so much smaller than his thumb:)

I’ve been looking forward to moving to NY for a long time now. Me and the bf were in different cities for a whole year. And NY is just the greatest city.

I just have to say…. I am SO HAPPY TO BE HERE! I <3 NY

Night night!

Obviously I still had oats for breakfast. Ever since reading Kath’s blog, banana oats have, like for many of you in foodblogland, become my go to breakfast. They’re just so delicious and comforting!

In the mix was 1/3 cup of Oats,  [...]]]> It’s so hot in New York! That’s the first thing I thought when I got here.

Obviously I still had oats for breakfast. Ever since reading Kath’s blog, banana oats have, like for many of you in foodblogland, become my go to breakfast. They’re just so delicious and comforting!

In the mix was 1/3 cup of Oats,  1/2 small banana, 2/3 cup water, splash of almond milk, sprinkle of cinnamon and a big blob of almond butter on top.

I bought the Blue Diamond brand of crunchy almond butter and it’s…. interesting. There were ALOT of almond pieces in it. It sort of felt like liquidy almonds on my oats, which was good… just different then the AB I’m used to.

The bf and I did a mini Whole Foods shop last night and picked up some staples. It was hilarious actually. He knows I like to eat “healthy” but I don’t think he knew to what extent. And we’ve never really gone grocery shopping together and when he saw all the “weird foods” I was getting (read: almond butter, agave, brown rice pasta, Ezekiel tortillas, ORGANIC food) he was like “you’re insane”. Don’t worry, he’ll get used to it.

I’m slowly but surely settling in. On the agenda today: unpack, get cellphone, and look into gym membership! I might try and fit in a run today… but it’s just so darn HOT!

Have a wonderful day!