How I Spent my February Vacation

I was supposed to travel to Nashville tonight, but I woke up to a message from my friend that all United flights are canceled through Sunday (it's now raining here). Now, $650 later, I am stranded in snowy New Jersey all effing weekend. 

Here are my accommodations:

Each room comes with an unmade bed and a half-full bottle of room temperature water. 

The amenities include a free breakfast...

...of beer and rice, because there is nothing else in the fridge. 

They also offer a wide range of activities, such as 

taking out the garbage,

mopping the filthy kitchen floor,

unloading the dishwasher (bonus: you can load it again),

cleaning out the litter box(es),

and organizing the linen closet.

I hope that everyone else has a vacation weekend that is just as luxurious, tropical, and thrilling!

Many Pictures of Gross Things I Ate

#1: Shout out to my broseph since middle school, Chris, who just read my blog from start to finish. I miss you, buddy!!

As I began writing this last night, I was in bed, stuffing my face with nacho kale chips I purchased for tonight. I finished eating them in the car on my way to the CVS drive thru (CVS is across the street).

Wanna see what I ate this weekend? (I don't).

We went out to Leggett's in Manasaquan because Steve's friends, Matt and Mary (hi guys!), participated in the Valentine Plunge to raise money for ALS. Leggett's was packed for the after party, so after a Bloody Mary, we ended up at O'Neill's, now known as Manasquan Beach House. 

The sliders and the wings are not mine. Well, neither is the pizza, but I ate a slice. The mac and cheese was supposed to be buffalo mac and cheese, so after Briele and I ate this one, we made sure to get the correct order.

In the shadows of my iPhone lies BUFFALO MAC AND CHEESE!

The stuffed avocado with mushrooms and herbed bread crumbs was amazing. 

As were the shrimp egg rolls and sinus-clearing wasabi sauce. 

When we got back to Steve's, Briele and I devoured the vegan cupcakes I had brought from Papa Ganache (can I have a job, please?): another caramel pretzel and a Samoa. 

We each got a half. The Samoa was AMAZAZING. (extra AZ)

Thus began the weekend of Briele's 26th birthday. After a food-coma-induced nap, we went to Connolly Station, my most recent version of Cheers, although I haven't been there in ages. While there, we had mucha tequila and this was the best we were able to look all night:

After sleeping until the wonderful hour of 11 AM, it was clear that we needed brunch so we headed to

This is orange juice. It goes well with champagne on a Sunday morning.

These are delicious potatoes. And challah French toast (chaaaallahhhhh!). And an egg white omelette with BACON and Brie.

After downing all of this and lingering at the table for a bit, we went to get (free) pizza at Johnny Mac's. Like every trip to Asbury Park, we ended at Confections of a Rock Star (cupcaaaaaaaakes!), where Briele paid homage to herself.

We probably ate more after that. Ever since, I've been moody and feeling farty and bloated. I had to buy coffee at work on Monday, and I had to put milk in it because there was no other choice, but I've gone back to eating vegan since then (woopty doo; it's Wednesday). 

Anyway, tonight is traditionally taco night, but because the weather forecast looks like this, 

Courtesy of Mrs. Boyarsky

I opted to stay home. I'm supposed to be leaving for Nashville tomorrow night anyway (provided that my flight will get off the ground in Snowpocalypse 2K14 # 8,0000), so I'm glad I have time to do some more stuff around the house, anyway. However, Solo Dolo Taco Night feels a bit like this:

Courtesy of http://www.amazingsuperpowers.com/

I put on the Taco Cloud playlist. I made my guacamole and assembled my ingredients.

I made some Spanish rice and heated up some vegan refried beans. Then I assembled my vegan burrito...

... and texted Steve and Briele, "I miss you guys."

However, without those two bad influences around, I could only muster 1.5 burritos :)

Pros: That Daiya cheese was good.

Cons: Whole Foods regular fresh salsa is better than their chipotle garlic. 

Well, time for my final preparations for Nashville and (but hopefully not) work tomorrow.

Adios!

Day Nine

Before I begin, happy 30th birthday to my bestie, Kayln. I am posting this link in honor of you and LaToya (see number 9, obvs): 19 Signs You're in a Relationship with Hummus

Why do my days fly by once 3:00 hits? Not cool, man. I'm going to keep this quick because I'm still in a lot of pain, which kept me out of the gym today. I'm starting to feel hungry, but I'm going to try to just drink water for the rest of the night and go to bed soon. Here are today's totals:

Totals	887	153	17	30	1,736	28
Your Daily Goal	1,200	150	40	60	2,300	45
Remaining	313	-3	23	30	564	17
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar

Breakfast was an oatmeal banana bite nuked for 30 seconds, coffee, and almond milk. 

Lunch was Artichoke Heart and Tomato Salad over a bed of arugula

I made this up last night - it serves two and it's super easy. I don't think it would have been substantial enough for a meal without the arugula, though. Just throw all of the following together: 2 large, chopped tomatoes; a little less than a tablespoon of dried parsley (the recipe calls for fresh, but I really just don't like it); 2 tablespoons of fresh, chopped mint (the recipe calls for 3, but this seems like overkill); a tablespoon of capers, and a cup of artichoke hearts. I upped the calories substantially by using the kind that come marinated in oil, but I did drain them. Top this with slivered almonds as a garnish. 

Does anyone care that I'm not really including nutrition facts anymore? I'm not going by the meal plan's information so everything I have is stored on MyFitnessPal. Anyway, I packed this with a side salad of arugula, shredded carrots, and pea shoots. I drizzled some balsamic vinegar on top (not enough to make me cough this time) and dumped the artichoke hearts and tomatoes on top. It was a lot of food and filled me up for most of the day!

Snack: I brought in the last of my homemade hummus and a TJ's Middle Eastern flatbread, cut into triangles. Jen also made an amazing sun-dried tomato hummus, so I had some of that with carrots, too (forgot to log in those carrots. Please add approximately 13 calories to today's total). I still had hummus leftover, so I had 4 whopping water crackers, too.

Dinner: Confetti couscous salad...over a bed of arugula

I'm really trying to use up all of my produce before it goes bad. Plus, the arugula adds food but not many calories. You know what this recipe is missing? Feta cheese. :(

Look at those wine bottles lurking in the background

Time to make white bean hummus, get my stuff together for tomorrow, and continue to listen to this song on repeat until I go to bed: 

P.S. Did I mention that I booked a trip for Nashville today and I leave in exactly 30 days? Something tells me that I won't be able to be vegan in that city (and I won't want to...pass the ribs, please).

Bring on the pig