Bday Recap

Yesterday I turned 22. 22 is not a milestone by any means, but it’s one step closer to those dreaded mid-20’s and then the (gasp) big 3-0. I’m a 22 years old college graduate, I should be a real adult by now right? When I was 18, if you told me I would go ice skating and eat Airheads on my 22nd birthday, I’d probably think you were trying to pull my leg (please only pull my right leg, since it’s a little shorter than my left…). 22 year olds should celebrate by getting classy mixed drinks in rooftop bars and talking about politics. Well folks, I did eat Airheads on my birthday and I’m proud of it.

My favorite birthday gift was a cupcake apron from Anthropologie! My birthday is only 4 days after Christmas, and I know a lot of other people with birthdays around Christmas get shortchanged, but I truly never did. My parents always made sure to make my birthday super special, I think that’s why I love birthdays so much (everyone’s not just mine). Honestly, tell me your birthday and I’ll never forget it.

I made my cupcakes in the morning and while they were cooling, my ‘rents and I went out for a celebratory lunch. We went to a restaurant called food. in Summit, New Jersey.

It’s a really cool restaurant that’s marketed at foodies, focusing on local, ethical and gourmet American food. There was plenty of vegetarian options available and I was craving sweet potato fries like the Queen craves tea and biscuits so I ordered a veggie burger with sweetp fries.

One sweet potato fry snuck into my dad’s basket of standard (boring) fries, can you see it?

After lunch I frosted the cupcakes and my boyfriend came over to take me out ice skating!

The cupcakes were really good; they were super moist and I loved the pistachio flavor. However, the icing was really weird and kind of separated after I piped it. I’m not sure why, maybe it was a reaction between the oil in the shortening and the rose water? I enjoyed them none the less!

this sign was outside the ice rink!

When Dan and I got to the ice skating rink we were told that is was closing in 10 minutes for an hour. It was super chilly yesterday and we did not want to wait outside…

So we went to a nearby mall where we wandered around, I got my eyebrows threaded (much needed) and Dan used up some Old Navy gift cards he had. When we finally ventured over to the ice skating rink it had reopened. I was tired though and first needed to refuel with Air Heads in the car before I could muster energy to get my skate on.

I “skated” really slowly around the edge a few times (it’s hard and I am challenged when it comes to balance). Despite my lack of skills, I had a great time and by the time we were finished I was famished. Good thing we were going for all you can eat sushi! My birthday was awesome and I am so thankful for my parents and my boyfriend who really made it special!

Now it’s 1pm and I’m still in my PJ’s. Are 22 year olds allowed to do that? I better get started on my day, I have errands to run and more episodes of Glee to watch!

Birthday Eve Breakfast

Guess what crazy kids? ToMoRrOw is my BiRtHdAy!!!!!! I’m going to be 22 😀

I woke up after 9 1/2 glorious hours of sleep at 10 this morning. I was super hungry after sleeping so long and craving oats in a big way. I saw CCK‘s post about Sugar Cookie Oatmeal yesterday using sugar cookie flavored tea bags, so I thought I would try making some oats with some of my holiday inspired nutcracker tea.

In the mix: 1 1/4 cup tea, 1/2 cup oats, 1 scoop vanilla Sun Warrior, cinnamon, half a banana, 1 tbsp chia seeds and a dollop of crunchy PB. It came out like this:

Pretty color (and caffeine) from the tea!

I think this recipe could be really versatile. What about green tea oatmeal with apple slices and a drizzle of honey? Or Earl Grey oatmeal with a splash of orange juice?

The rest of my morning consisted of some thread words:

I’m going to make cupcakes for my birthday tomorrow! I was looking through my copy of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World that I got for Christmas, and decided on making Pistachio Rosewater Cupcakes with pink vegan butter cream frosting! I gotta make a pit stop at Whole Foods later to get ingredients but I think these cupcakes are going to be awesome, girly and pretty (just like me?)!

Hopefully mine will look as pretty as this:

Before I head out I’m going to do a yoga video in my new outfit and with the new yoga mat I purchased yesterday at Lulu! I was going to do an upper body workout at the gym again today but I’m still so sore from Monday so I’m pushing that back until Friday.

Henry likes to initiate any new surface into the house by sitting on it.

As I mentioned earlier, I’m making my own bday cupcakes this year. This is actually going to be my fourth year in a row making my own cake, but I don’t mind since I love baking. I never thought it was an issue but some people seem to think its sad to make your own cake. I would love to hear some of your thoughts on the matter!

Off to ohm I go!

Masked Party Of One

Hey guys! Today was a really good day 🙂 I’m super tired and just doing a facemask before I get ready bed, but I wanted to give you a recap of my day first.

proof

I went for my first swim in years this morning! I was surprised by a couple of things, first how quickly I remembered how to do free stroke, and second, how completely out of cardio shape I am! I only swam for 15 minutes and I kept taking breaks to catch my breath; swimming is hard work! I totally forgot to count how many laps I did… oh well, next time I will. Anyway, I was super pleased with how swimming went; hopefully I can focus on improving my aquatic ability since running is a no-go for me right now (because I have runner’s knee).

After swimming I showered, did some errands and by the time I got home I was STARVED for lunch. I had the last slice of the veggie tofu potpie I made for Christmas dinner (from this recipe). So delicious! I didn’t take a picture of it today, but here is a picture of it when I took it out of the oven on Christmas Day:

I quickly inhaled my lunch and then had to head off to my first physical therapy session! I didn’t do any exercises today; it was more of an evaluation. Physical therapists treat two things: injuries and conditions, I have a condition. Guess which is harder to treat? -_- Apparently, my left leg is slightly longer than my right (caused by minor scoliosis) and I have tight quads, which is good to know. My therapist asked me if I was dancer and said I had a “modern dancer’s body.” I’m not sure what that means but whatever it is, I like it. I’m excited for when I go back on Friday and get started on a routine to hopefully correct some of my muscular imbalances and get back on track for running next year.

Then after PT I went to Lululemon (which is right next door, I can’t decide if this is a good thing or a bad thing…) and did some serious damage to my gift certificate. Then my boyfriend came over and we went for Chinese food and then watched Mean Girls (a classic). Before PT I was in a super cranky mood, but the combination of retail therapy and seeing Dan really helped with that 😉

With that, I am off to wash this crud off my face and get to bed. Goodnight Creeps!

Fi’s Knees

I had an awesome workout at the gym today. I did 15 fast minutes on the elliptical followed by an upper body workout. I already have spaghetti arms! I followed up my workout with a green smoothie:

Half a banana + Sunwarrior protein + chia seeds + spinach + soy milk = YUM!

If you checked out my previous post you know I got a Garmin Forerunner but I can’t use it yet 😦 This is because I have been struggling with Runner’s Knee since March. Runner’s Knee is also known as Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome and is basically an irritation of the kneecap caused by friction with the thigh bone.

I got RK in March when I joined the Lululemon Running Club near my apartment and ran 6 miles with no previous training. If I could go back in time and stop myself I would, since I can’t even run one mile pain-free.

But it’s December, you ask, how are you still feeling pain? Well my dears, I ask the same thing every day and I wish I had the answer. After not being able to run for a few months I finally went to see a sports medicine doctor in June, where I was diagnosed and given a prescription for physical therapy. I was feeling better by the time fall semester in September started (mostly because I wasn’t running, but I didn’t know that then) so I stopped going to physical therapy, but whenever I tried to run for more than a few minutes at a time my knees started aching again. I didn’t get a chance to go back to see my doctor until after graduation since I was so busy with schoolwork and two part-time jobs.

After inconclusive x-rays and an MRI, I had a talk with my doctor last week. He gave me the option of getting a procedure called Lateral Release, where he would go in and surgically move my kneecaps into proper alignment. I would like to avoid surgery if I can, and since my doctor said that there is no harm in waiting (I’m not going to get worse!) I decided to do three more months of intense physical therapy and then reevaluate my options then.

I would be lying if I told you there hadn’t been tears shed over this. I’m only 21 (going to be 22 on Thursday!) and being limited from even running one mile is so hard. I want to do whatever it takes to heal my body so that I can be as physically active as I want without limitation. That being said, I have my first physical therapy appointment at a new office tomorrow! You guys will definitely be updated on the progress of my knees in the next couple of months 🙂

I’m also going to take up swimming! I’m not a very good swimmer but I need to add some low-impact cardio to my life and I like the idea of being a swimmer. Now that Amazon finally delivered my Speedo, I’m planning on giving it a go tomorrow!

I’m off to bed, see you fools later!

Happy Boxing Day

This is my first blog post! I really thought that I would have started a blog by now since I have been reading healthy living blogs religiously for almost a year now! I was so busy this summer with work and this fall with my final semester at college that I haven’t had time until now to get my blog set up.

Well I have since graduated…

And now I’m ready to blog just in time for the New Year!

As I’m sure you know, today is Boxing Day, which is the day that everyone plays with his or her new Christmas presents! Boxing Day is a British tradition that originated as they day when all the help would get to celebrate and exchange gifts since they were too busy working on Christmas Day. My parents are both from Scotland so we used to get together with other British families we know nearby for dinner on Boxing Day but this year we’re just staying home and playing with our new gifts!

My dad and I got my mom a Kindle Touch for Christmas and she has been playing Thread Words since 11am yesterday morning. It’s addicting, I went to bed dreaming about letter combinations.

I was a very lucky girl this Christmas, here are some of the highlights of my gift bounty:

New Marc Jacobs bag – Sooooo lust-worthy! (With new Marc Jacobs Daisy perfume!)

Garmin – I have wanted one of these for months; it’s a pity I can’t use it to run for a while since my knee’s busted (more on that later)

3 Vegan Cookbooks: Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World and Vegan Pie In The Sky – I already have Veganomicon and Appetite for Reduction by the same author, which are like User Manuals for my body, so I am super excited to get started on some of these recipes!

Ohm necklace from my boyfriend!

Lululemon gift certificate! I see some new workout clothes in my future! (Obsessed With Lulu right here.)

I’m off to the gym to work off some of the indulgences from last night, so I’ll see you guys later!

What was the best gift you ever received for Christmas?

-For me it was definitely the Kindle I received last year!