Life is happening

So much life.  I had the most hectic week back from spring break. But, I also had the best weekend.

This weekend I had spring formal!

We danced till it hurt 

On Friday night I also danced the night away with my bestie Maggie.  And on Saturday I ran an 8 miler outside, so today my feet are taking a rest!

Old Photo

In other news, this week I start my new JOB!  I'm so excited!  I'll be working in patient meal service at a local hospital!  I'm finally going to have an income after almost 2 years of college.  I can't wait.

Food

I start eating gluten again in exactly 5 days. I AM SO SCARED.  I have my endoscopy to test for Celiac Disease on April 28th.  So for those 28 days before I'll be eating a serving of gluten a day.  I'll definitely be blogging about this experience.

Fitness

I'm happy to report that I've been really good about staying on my training schedule.  This week I did:

M- Rest

T- 4 miles

W- 3 mile interval 

Th- Rest

F- 3.5 miles

S- 8 miles

And today I have a 4.5 miler scheduled.  

Over Spring Break I didn't run at all in New York, but when I got back I did:

F- 7 miles

S- 4 miles

Sun- 4 miles

I only missed two 3 mile runs on my training schedule that week!

I'm getting back in the swing of school, but there is only about a month left!  I'm pretty sure I'll be living in Madison this summer working at my new job and taking summer school!  Now to get my life in order before the crazy week begins.

xoxo,

Rachel

NYC NYC NYC

The most amazing trip in the form of pictures.  (In no particular order)

Totally an accident

TVs in every taxi

Random but WOOHOO

BABYCAKES

CARROT CUPCAKE!

Mag loving them gyros

Best salad

Literally the best thing I've ever ate

Bye bye Creamy Polenta made with butter and cream and topped with honey and almonds

The start of the best trip

Veggie burger with portable mushroom

Ryan Seacrest blowing a kiss

Beef and Broccoli in Chinatown 

Holy Canoli

Chocolate mousse

Deli Salad

Stumbled upon "Starry Night" at the Moma

Maggies noms

Free Dessert from SweeteryNYC food truck

Cheesecake pop yumm!

Veggie Soup 

HUGE greek salad from deli

Leftover feta from salad

Maggies all organic breakfast in Greenwich

 The top 5 things I learned about NYC:
1. It is not hard to get around aka there aren't 1 million people walking at you like I assumed from tv
2. Huge buildings like Rockefeller center and Grand Central Station are MALLS they have tons of stores and restaurants in the bottom level of them
3. The subway is quite literally the smartest invention in the world and SO fast
4. The blocks aren't HUGE, the first day Maggie and I walked from 33 to 72 without even realizing we'd gone so far
5. I could and want to live there some day.

xoxo,

Rachel

Leaving on a jet plane....

Do know when I'll be back again, but not for 4 days.  4 days of pure happiness and excitement of NYC!
see you after my amazing trip :)

Byeeee!

xoxo,

Rachel

Home is where the cooking is

I finally got home yesterday after a successful interview and trader joe shopping!  I spent the night cooking whatever I could find.  The main event was chicken stirfry!

Spent seriously 30 minutes chopping

I planned on making chicken lime tacos, but the chicken madre wanted me to use up was already marinated in an Asiany marinade.  First, I sauted some garlic and fresh ginger and then added the chicken.

Wok magic

Madre got this wok in china town in San Francisco and it is literally the best thing ever.  I don't know how we lived without one.  I transfered the chicken to another dish and let the veg cook before adding the chicken back in.

For a family of 3, whoops

As I cooked the stirfry madre put brown rice in our fancy new rice cooker.  It all turned out really well and the chicken was super moist!  I could feed an army with how much I made though, whoops!

I spent the rest of the night finishing my chemistry homework that took literally 2.5 hours.  I have 2 exams the week I get back from spring break so I'm already studying for those, because I GO TO NYC IN TWO DAYS!

This morning I woke up and wanted one thing...Pancakes!  It has probably been at least 6 months since I've had pancakes!

Oat Bran Pancakes with banana and choco chips

Recipe:
1/4 c oat bran
1 T chia seeds
1/2 tsp baking powder
Dash of cinnamon
1 packet of stevia
1 egg white
1/4 c plain yogurt
just a little water to make more liquidy

These were SO good.  I loved the chewy texture.  I obviously made too few, but I hate making big batches of things that I don't know if they'll be good or not.  I'll definitely be making these again though!

Fitness
I've been pretty good about keeping up with my 1/2 marathon schedule.  I have a 6 miler scheduled today and a 3 miler I need to fit in tomorrow.  This will bring my weekly total up to 17 miles.

I'm not sure if I'll run at all in NYC, but I'd love to in central park!  I'm not going to worry about it though.

*****

Now I have a hot skype date with this girl to discuss NYC plans!  Ahhh 2days!

A lot of this will be happening in NY

xoxo,

Rachel

A little salad with your chicken

I'm currently eating lunch in a near empty cafeteria in the business school building.  I have been in this cafeteria once before during the same time, but on a Tuesday.  I couldn't even see it was so crowded and swarming with hungry b-school kids.  Shocking that business school students wouldn't have class on Friday or wouldn't go to there Friday classes before Spring Break.  Seriously, it's creepily quiet in here.  But emptiness means no line to a fresh salad for a reasonable price, surprisingly!

Thai Chicken Salad

This salad was the SMALL and was only $3.80 and an additional $1.50 for chicken.  It was refreshing and delicious, but this is what the end result was.

A little salad with your chicken

WHY WHY WHY would any human need that much chicken.  This is after I ate a bunch of the chicken too!

Udi's is the best.

Rounding out my protein filled meal I added in a slice of Udi's gf bread and strawberry cream cheese.  And since I guess I needed more protein I had 2 unpicutured hard boiled egg whites.  

1 more class and an interview till SPRING BREAK!

xoxo,

Rachel

Lent and a birthday

After reading about so many bloggers giving things up for lent, I really wanted to.  I can't remember if I've ever stuck to giving something up for the full 40 days before.  My family/church doesn't really emphasize it.  So instead of giving up an actual object, I'm giving up NEGATIVITY.  I know, I know this is GRATEFUL girl goes gluten free, but everyone has their negative days.  Lately, I've been having a lot due to stress from school.

More uncontrollable laughter in Indian costume to come

When I see pictures of myself laughing or extremely happy it helps remind me how awesome it feels to be happy and positive rather than negative and down.

I'm a laugher!

He was such a baby!

These pictures along with quotes around my room are what keep me from getting negative.  Every time I'm feeling like being a cranky whiner I'll look to these.

In other more important news its MY DADS BIRTHDAY!

So long 56 year old

He's an old man, 57!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!  LOVE YOU!

xoxo,

Rachel

Girl Talk and Surprise Soup

Last night this happened.

Girl Talk!

And this picture happened too.

Self-timer gone wrong

Maggie got free tickets to Girl Talk!  So why not indulge in a Monday Funday?!  We danced, we tried to get on stage, I took pictures of the mean bouncers that wouldn't let us up. Overall a good night.

Food

Today I got home and found a lovely package left by mother.  She brought me my notebook and phone charger I forgot at home this weekend whoops.  And then I looked further into the bag and found this!

Yum yum yummm!

MY MOM MAKES THE BEST SOUPS.  I'm not sure exactly what every ingredient is in this beauty but this is the gist of it:

-carrots

-KALE!

-ground turkey (maybe?)

-potatoes 

-cauliflower

-beans

-and some glorious spices

I'll have her send me the actual recipe, but she's the type that throws in anything she sees fit.  Thanks ma!

Before my morning class I had the idea to try out my grinder on my one cup blender.  I had a small bag of cinnamon almonds that weren't appealing to me so I made them into almond butter!

Almond Butta

I couldn't believe the power on my little machine!  In probably 1 minute I had cinnamony sweet almond butter.  It is SO good.

Fitness

Last week I ran every other day and finished the week with 16 glorious miles.  This week I start my half marathon training!  3 months till the Madison Marathon!  I'm not too worried about it even though its my first half!  I started out the week awesome by getting in a 4.25 miler before class yesterday morning.  

1st Week of Training Schedule

M- Smooth 4 mile

T- Race Pace 3 mile

W-Rest

T- Smooth 4 mile

F- Rest

S- Long 6 mile

S- Rest

Total: 17

I'm using a training guide called Endurance House.  

If anyone has suggestions on a better one or any helpful half marathon training tips let a girl know!

School

Ahh I have to get so much done before I leave for NYC in SIX days!  I have 2 exams the week we get back to school and I need to get cracking now.  Chem and Zoo why do you hate me?? 

Thanks for all the suggestions on where to go in New York!  I can't wait to go to all these fun places and share my experiences!

xoxo,

Rachel