DIY Hair: Aparna

I LOVE to braid (and I think I do a darn good job at it)!

* Part hair in the middle
* Start a french braid on one side, but instead of grabbing hair each time you braid, only add hair on the outside of the braid (away from the center part)
* Keep braiding until you reach the nape of the neck, then stick a large bobby pin to hold it in place (or ask the person whose hair you are braiding to hold it in place)
* Braid the other side
* Then start braiding the 2 together in a normal braid

The End

Paleo Challenge: Last Week

It's the last week of our 3-week Paleo Challenge, and how am I doing? Well....let's just say I've done my fair share of cheating. However, I've eaten MUCH better than I used to. I haven't had any rice, pasta, quinoa, couscous, cereal, etc in almost 3 weeks. I've had bread once. My main fails are tortilla chips, popcorn, dark chocolate, and alcohol. Oh...I had one slice of pizza and some french fries over the weekend. Oops!

Being that it's the last week, I need to make an effort to work hard at this diet. Today, I made a paleo-friendly taco consisting of romaine lettuce leaves (as the tortilla), ground turkey, and homemade not-cho cheese (made from cashews/garlic/roasted red peppers - cashews are not paleo because they are processed, but if raw foodist eat it, so can I). I will definitely keep these on my menu.

Business Trippin'

I had my first business trip with AE today. My team's senior production coordinator, head of the design teams, and I went to Pittsburgh for the day to try and finalize our Holiday 2011 women's line. We took an 8AM flight from New York to Pittsburgh. The AE "campus" is pretty cool, equipped with its own gym and food court. We worked all day, had our meeting with the execs, and then got on our flight out at 7:30PM. I'm back and feel more knowledgeable about our business. Can't wait to report back to the bosses :)

Paleo Challenge: Day 6

I've actually begun to lose some weight. It's only a pound or so, but at least it's something! Tonight I made rosemary flax seed crackers. I looked around on the web for an easy recipe, and found a few that I liked. I made my own Frankenstein hybrid of a few recipes, so basically came up with my own version. I don't own a measuring cup, so I just eyeballed everything. I must have a good eye because everything turned out great.

Ingredients:

• Flax meal (ground up flax seeds)
• Sunflower seeds
• Sesame seeds
• Garlic powder
• Dried rosemary
  
• Sea salt
• Agave nectar
• Water

I mixed all of the ingredients together, trying to incorporate the wet ingredients in a good ratio to the dry (making sure it wasn't too wet). I sprayed a baking sheet with olive oil then spooned the mixture into 6 big flat circles and stuck it into a 375 degree oven. After about 15 minutes, I turned the crackers over, cut them in half to make it easier to bake, then I baked another 15 minutes. I then sprinkled some pecorino that I chopped up (because I also do not own a cheese grater). Stuck it back in the oven for 5 minutes, took them out, let them cool.

According to WebMD, flaxseed is a super food and has many health benefits:

• Omega-3 essential fatty acids, "good" fats that have been shown to have heart-healthy effects. Each tablespoon of ground flaxseed contains about 1.8 grams of plant omega-3s.
• Lignans, which have both plant estrogen and antioxidant qualities. Flaxseed contains 75- 800 times more lignans than other plant foods
• Fiber. Flaxseed contains both the soluble and insoluble types.
  
  

These were sooo good! I'm excited to have found such an easy way to get my cracker fix without ruining my diet (except for the cheese).

Paleo Challenge: Day 4

I was good all day until they brought in Pinkberry to work. So I had a little cup with some fresh strawberries and raspberries. It was cheating, but at least it was yummy!!

For dinner I made Italian chicken sausage, mashed cauliflower, and haricot vert. For a late night snack, I made kale chips. Mmmm kale chips (Homer voice).

Obsessed!

Cute, comfy, and for a good cause...gotta love Tom's!

Paleo Challenge: Day 3

I'm on my third day of non-processed high protein and low carbs. So far so good! I thought I would be really tired, but not the case at all. Of course I miss my carbs, but not as much as I thought. I regularly keep track of my calorie intake, so to see how often I've been eating now, but with way less calories, I realized how many unnecessary carbs I was eating. So instead of eating a lot of fillers (bread, rice, pasta, etc) I've been eating loads of veggies, fruits, nut, meats, and fish.

For breakfast, I've been eating eggs and fruit. For lunch, I made a stirfry that lasted me 2 days and today I had a salad. For dinner, I made a coconut milk-tomato-beef stew with eggplant and mushrooms. That will be a keeper in my monthly menu.

I walked 2 miles after work today, did some pilates, and can't wait to see this diet (and hopefully lifestyle) begin to work.

Roberta's

I am obsessed with pizza (which will be missed while I'm on this Paleo diet), and I have had my fair share of pizza all over this city. Last Friday, Megan suggested we go to, not just her favorite pizza place, but one of her fav restaurants in all of NYC..Roberta's. Roberta's is tucked away in Bushwick, Brooklyn in an old garage with graffiti covering the outside. You would never know that the doors would open to pizza heaven. This would be my last meal before my diet, and it was the perfect last supper.

We had to wait for a table, so we went out to the backyard bar where there was a wedding shower going on (What a great idea!). So we drank, chatted, and peeked into wedding shower.
Our name was called, we were seated and handed menus. It's a pretty simple menu, pizzas, salads, and a few entrees (not just blah entrees, but foie gras and such things). We decided to start with 2 orders of the Snap Pea Salad and 2 orders of the Bibb Salad, then we ordered 2 Cheesus Christs (a 4 cheese delight), a Porta-baller (portabellas), a Beastmaster (supreme), and a White and Green with an egg cracked on top (a blend of cheeses, arugula, and lemon).

The salads came and were AMAZING! If I knew how to make those salads, this Paleo diet would be a breeze! Anywho, then the pizzas came and we all ate until we wanted to puke. They were awesome! The dough was crunchy on the outside, slightly chewy in the middle, with delicious fresh toppings. Definitely not your typical pizza (even for New York standards).

We didn't stop there! We ended up ordering dessert - Sweet Tea gelato, Banana Marshmallow gelato, Panna Cota with Rhubarb, and a Mint gelato-peanut butter crumble sundae. Ummm YUMMM!! All of the gelato was home made and tasted exactly as they should.

At the end of the night, we ended up spending about $40 each for all of that food, a drink, tax, and tip. I will definitely be coming back this summer.

Goodbye Dear Friend!

This past weekend was one of my dearest friend's last, and boy will I miss her. Her and I had many random days together just walking around Manhattan and Brooklyn, hitting up thrift stores and flea markets, eating donuts and brunch. I will see you soon Coxy!!

(Above photo was candidly taken as Megan read a Goodbye card at her last supper last Friday.
Love it!)

Paleo Challenge: Day 1

Today marks my first day of the Paleo Challenge. What is that you ask? Well, it's a diet in which you eliminate any foods that are processed. This includes breads, pastas, oatmeal, legumes, dairy, tofu, etc. You mainly eat meats, fish, non-starchy vegetables, fruit (in moderation), and nuts and seeds (no peanuts because they are a legume). They say you can't eat cashews because they cannot be eaten raw without being processed when harvested; however, I will be eating these. Why? Since I cannot eat cheese, I have decided to experiment with cashew cheese, which is what vegans and/or raw foodist use. If they can eat it, so can I!

This Paleo Challenge is something a few of my co-workers and I decided to do. We all put in $10 and are giving ourselves 3 weeks to try it out. Whomever loses the most body weight percentage wins the money!

I'm going to the grocery today, so here is my shopping list:

* Iceberg lettuce (for lettuce wraps)
* Pine nuts
* Raw almonds
* Avocado
* Cauliflower (for mashed cauliflower)
* Coconut milk
* Eggs
* Portabellas
* Almond butter
* Kale
* Ground Turkey
* Beef (for making a stew)

What will I eat today? Well, you can eat eggs on this, so I plan on having an omelet with veggies for breakfast. Not sure what I will have for lunch and din, but I'll fill you in on my progress.

DIY Hair: Alexis

I'm not typically one to brag, but I am pretty darn good with hair. To prove it, I am finally going to post hairdo's. Of course I can do better hairstyles on others than myself, so unfortunately I am mostly my own hair model. So if anyone knows anyone who wants their hair "did", let me know!

Hair DIY Numero Uno: Alexis
* I parted her hair to the side
* Started doing a normal french braid on the larger side of the part, braiding around the shape of her head
* When I started to come to full circle, I pulled out a few of her layers and pulled those into the braid
* Then I stuck in a few bobby pins to hold it in place

THE END (all in 5 minutes or less)

Happy Mother's Day!

Even my mom wanted to try Photobooth....the keyword is TRY. Miss my mom already.

Photobooth

Love the Photobooth app for iPhone!

Btown Reunion

Just got back from a trip back down memory lane AKA Bloomington, Indiana where my brother just graduated from IU. This was my first time back since my own graduation there in 2007. I was expecting it to feel unfamiliar, but instead, it felt like I was home again.

Rob and I didn't get in until midnight, but we went out to Sports and partied until last call. My bestest Lesa came down to party like the old days and that we did. Of course I also got to see my parents, aunt and uncle, as well as my cousins and my cousin's brand new baby. Oh what a great weekend it was....Back to reality.