Lonely Girl Thoughts

Posted on July 9, 2015 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

with the amazing Amanda ♥

1) I didn’t make anything red, white, and blue on Fourth of July in Boston, so I made this blueberry strawberry banana bread in muffin form a few days late to celebrate…

…except I didn’t make them to be patriotic at all, I just had all the ingredients and I wanted muffins.

2) My service as a juror is finally finished (for the next 4-6 years at least)! It lasted three days. I can tell you now that the case was pretty minor: a girl and her mother sued the girl’s middle school for employee negligence, which they claimed caused the girl to get injured in gym class. It happened almost four years ago.

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3) Although the process was long, slow, and not the most exciting thing in the world, I still walked out with a smile on my face because it was such an interesting process. I literally kept saying to myself, “This is so cool.”

(P.S. Solely based on the evidence provided, the jury’s verdict was in favor of the plaintiff— the girl.)

4) Speaking of injustices, I was assaulted by a fly on Tuesday night. I was about to dry my hair after my shower when I heard bzzzzzzzzz.

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I ran away and turned off the light in the bathroom in an attempt to get it to follow the light into the hallway. It did indeed fly out, but then it flew super close to my ear again and I fell to the floor to avoid it. Yes, ladies and gents, the fly knocked me down.

6) My friend told me that I’m at least twice the size of the fly, so I can take it. I replied that I’m also at least twice the size of HIV, rhinovirus, and pollen, but IT DOESN’T MATTER. They’re still evil.

7) I’m craving saucy meatballs. Luckily I’ll be able to get some at the local church’s Festa Italiana tomorrow!

8) Thank God for technology. I know it’s good to “unplug,” and my mind/body knows when it needs to do so, but social media, music, TV and YouTube are currently keeping me company during my lonely hours.

I miss my friends in Boston. Daliza, come be my friend.

9) I need to manage my time better in the morning. I like taking my time to eat breakfast, catch up on blogs, meditate, and pack lunch in the morning, but more often than not, I’m running out the door because I’m a couple minutes behind schedule. I think I just need to prioritize my tasks before going on the computer.

10) Does anyone ever eat regular yogurt anymore? As in, NON-Greek yogurt? I bought a tub of regular full fat yogurt since the store didn’t have plain full fat Greek yogurt (at a cheap price at least…I love Fage, but my wallet does not).

To be honest, Dannon regular is only a little thinner than 0% Chobani, but not that much more. The only real difference is the lower protein content, which I know is a deal breaker for a lot of protein fanatics out there. 8 grams of protein in the regular yogurt does the trick for me though!

Hope you all have a fabulous pre-Friday 🙂

So tell me:

How are you with bugs?

I’m craving ______.

Do you ever eat regular yogurt?

The Great NYC Food Tour {A Story}

Posted on March 11, 2015 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

Once upon a time {yesterday}, three diverse Boston University girls took on NYC…

The first {Asian} girl named Alison rolled out of bed early to prepare two banana bread breakfast bakes for herself and her {White} friend named Rachel, who was still snoozing. Once breakfast was ready, they dabbled and dolloped on the toppings.

Rachel went for Nutella and almond butter

Alison went for Greek yogurt and three different types of nut butter (Nuttzo Power Fuel, peanut butter, almond butter)

After watching the Today Show and thinking about how they were going to be right where the Today Show is filmed in just a couple hours, the two girls took a train down to Grand Central…

Alison attempted to be a good tour guide by leading the way, but she ended up walking around the whole block in a circle. Eventually though, the two friends were on their way to lunch with a pit stop at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Rockefeller…

As they kept walking, their noses were able to follow the smell of THE famous Halal Guys on 53rd and 6th. They waited in line and happily devoured {most of} their chicken and rice bowls…

With very happy bellies, Rachel and Alison meandered over to Times Square, where they were mega tourists, stopping by a couple of stores, M&M World, Hershey World, the Disney Store…

The third {African American} girl named Jordan met up with them at the four-story Forever 21 in Times Square a little later. They shopped around and took another tourist photo before heading to Chobani SoHo…

As a fun afternoon snack, the three ladies each got a special Chobani creation, both sweet and savory…

From top clockwise: {savory for Alison} Red Pepper Harissa, Feta, Mint, Black Pepper, Olive Oil with Simit Chips // {savory for Jordan} Avocado, Mango, Cilantro, Lime, Olive Oil with Blue Corn Tortilla Chips // {sweet for Rachel} Dark Chocolate, Pistachio, Orange, Mint, Honey

The experience was quite delightful for all three of them. With souvenir Chobani cups in tow, the girls walked around and explored SoHo, including the Samsung Galaxy Store, where they virtually traveled the world…

After more walking through minor rainfall and a quest for a bathroom in NYC, the girls trekked to Il Laboratorio di Gelato (aka the cutest and coolest gelato place ever) for dessert before dinner. Oh, but a quick step into Rice to Riches was necessary, just for some sampling…

Please note the toppings called “Jesus droppings”

Finally at the gelato lab…

The flavor choices overwhelmed the three girls (flavors such as avocado, pink peppercorn, earl grey, pumpkin, turkish fig, kaffir lime, passionfruit sorbet, and dark chocolate orange) so they obnoxiously asked for samples of nearly everything before deciding on what to buy…

Alison asked the employees for their flavor recommendations and decided on fresh mint, hazelnut amaretto crunch, and toasted almond. A fine choice indeed.

Jordan led the way to the Economy Candy Store just for nostalgia, since it has every candy you could ever imagine. If you thought we would be too full for dinner at this point, you are mistaken. Jordan continued to lead the way to Vanessa’s Dumplings, which had rave reviews on Yelp…

The girls’ wallets were relieved that everything was $5 and under…

8 handmade, boiled cabbage and pork dumplings dipped in sriracha for $3

Dinner hit the spot, and the girls made their way back to Grand Central, where Rachel and Alison parted ways from Jordan. All the eating, walking, standing, and smiling made Alison dead meat…

But nothing a half-hour nap on the train can’t fix! She even ate more when she got home…

simple salad and some brussels sprouts for some greens

Alison chatted with her family and Rachel for the rest of the evening as she typed up this story. She finished and took a shower, preparing for another adventure far, far away {NYC again}. After ten years of living in New York, she finally realized how amazing the Big Apple really is.

The end.

Sharing this {true} tale on Armans blog!

So tell me:

Once upon a time {yesterday}, I ate ______, and it was _______.

The most fun thing that happened yesterday!

Behind the Scenes #27: I Hurt Myself Doing Yoga

Posted on August 7, 2014 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

Thanks for being the hostess with the mostest, Amanda!

1) Yep. I hurt myself doing yoga. You would think I’ve learned to be more cautious with exercise after that time I hurt myself doing burpees, but nah. I like to live life on the edge (pretty literally). I was in side crow on the left side— my bad side— and I tried to balance myself out by leaning forward more, but I leaned too far forward. It basically looked like this:

{A picture from this post}

Except this time I couldn’t save myself and I hit my cheekbone pretty hard. It’s only slightly red, so it doesn’t look like I got into a fight. Darn.

2) I was doing this yoga video, and HOLA, it is challenging! The lady can stay in downward dog for an eternity. Sometimes I had to just chill back in child’s pose for a bit while she kept going. It’s a good one though!

3) I got half of my lunch at Panera Bread yesterday because my mom and I were about to go shopping for a few hours, but I was on the verge of getting “hangry”, so I grabbed this Thai Chicken flatbread sandwich:

I forgot how good the food can be at Panera! Or maybe my hunger was just the right sauce 😉

(The other half of my lunch/snack/guatever was eaten when I got home.)

4) I also went out to dinner with my dance friend, Susie! She’s a foodie kinda gal as well, so she understands the unnecessary-yet-so-necessary struggle when deciding on what to order.

After some intense deliberations, I decided on this roasted beet and goat cheese sandwich with artichokes and arugula on ciabatta. Mmmmm, good choice.

5) While we’re on the topic of food, can I just say that the goodness of dried figs with Greek yogurt is taken down a notch when the brand of yogurt is not either Fage or Chobani? Well, I just said it. It’s true.

6) I think I’m finally getting psyched for college now! It’s probably because I got a dry erase/cork board yesterday. Once you get one of those, the real excitement starts to kick in, am I right?

7) The number seven reminds me…Today, August 7th, is my very first blog anniversary! Ahh! My introduction post from exactly one year ago makes me laugh and cringe at the same time.

I feel like I should have a more formal blog post dedicated to the special occasion, but I think I’ll have to do that some other day at this point. Anyway, I’ll quickly say right now: Oh my goodness, I love you all and your support for this tiny blog of mine makes me smile like crazy! THANK YOU!

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Minions in honor of Amanda’s love for them.

8) I think I’m just going to end on lucky number 8 today (is 8 even a lucky number in anything?). I hope you all have a wonderful day!

So tell me:

Have you ever hurt yourself doing yoga?

What’s your favorite yogurt brand?

10-15-20 Workout {MIMM #4}

Posted on September 9, 2013 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

Well hello there, Monday! I see you have brought me school today…

Yep, today is my last first day of high school. Wahoo! I’m kind of excited. I mean, I could complain about the whole shebang, but let’s find some marvelous in our Monday, eh? Head on over to Katie’s blog to stuff your hearts with more marvelousness!

Marvelous is…

The first day of teaching Sunday school this year! I’ve been a third grade teacher of religious education at my church for the past two years, and it has been a learning experience for all. I honestly learn as much from my students as they do from me. The first day wen quite smoothly! This year I have TWENTY-TWO students! Gahhh. It’s gonna be interesting. Thankfully, I have a wonderful assistant, and together we’re gonna make the class super duper fantabulous. With God’s help of course. 🙂

Marvelous is…

Not having rabid Chobani. Sorry to those who were less fortunate, like Katie. Foaming yogurt–yummay.

I bought five new-to-me flavors of Chobani not too soon before some of their products were recalled, but I’ve finished all five (delicious) cups, and I am alive.

Marvelous is…

The #slowdownchallenge. It is really awesome. Recap to come!

And to be quite honest, I have sorta fallen off the #100challenge wagon…I do different exercises at different times of the day, and I’m just really inefficient at counting the reps. I still do about 50-100 of the squats and pushups, but for some reason the situps (butterfly-style) just take more time for me so I don’t end up doing as many. Ahh well… Maybe I should just take one challenge at a time.

Marvelous is…

~~Chatting~~ Obsessing about pumpkin recipes with my girl Lilly.

Marvelous is…

Sunday Food Prep inspired by Lindsay at the Lean Green Bean and all the bloggers that share their preparations! I will definitely need to be doing this every weekend from here on out so that I don’t go crazy during the week trying to make lunch and snacks in a pinch.

Turkey, cheese, herb, spinach sandwiches and caprese salad.

Banana muffins adapted from 100 Days of Real Food’s recipe!

Marvelous is…

Sweating it out!

On Saturday I did Lori and Michelle’s quick 16 minute workout at home, and on Sunday I went to the gym for 20 minutes on the elliptical and Julie’s 30 minute circuit workout. They were both great workouts, despite their difference in length and type!

On Friday, I made up my own circuit workout that incorporates strength and cardio exercises back to back. This is by far my favorite way to workout! It was challenging and I was dripping in sweat by the end.

A lot of these exercises may not sound so familiar, so here are the demos:

Burpee with tuck jump

Triple pulse squats (pulse three times and then come up for 1 rep)

Med ball pulls

Lunge hops (try not to lean forward quite as much as the demonstrator)

Strict mountain climbers (right+left= 1 rep)

180 squat jumps

This took me about 35 minutes to complete. I had to take some breaks with those T squat thrusts. Burnin’ quads and lungs. Have fun (hardy har har), and let me know if you try it out!

Happy Monday, and have a fantastic school year everyone!

So tell me: What did you do this weekend? Is your Chobani foaming? Are you excited for pumpkin?! (<–I didn’t even need to ask that.)

Things I Tried and Loved This Week

Posted on September 7, 2013 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

Well. Today officially marks the end of the last week of my summer break. Like I said before, I’m actually a lucky duck, since some of my friends started school this week. The thing is, that only equated to two days for the first week of school for some people and only one day for others (due to Labor Day and Rosh Hashanah). Like, what’s the point? I guess they’ll just have one or two fewer days of school come June when I’ll really just want to get out of high school and get my diploma 😉

In order to fully take advantage of my last week of summer, I decided to try some new things that I may or may not be able to do once school starts. Some foods, fitness things, and reflection things!

Slow Down Challenge

I mentioned this in my Fascinating Friday Links yesterday and you’ve probably seen #slowdownchallenge on my Instagram or Twitter if you follow. I first came across the challenge on Lindsay’s (at Cotter Crunch) blog, and I was immediately interested. I’m the kind of person that tries to go a mile a minute in order to get things done or get to things that I think are more exciting (like reading blogs instead of doing AP Bio…….). I rush when I’m eating sometimes, which ain’t good for my belly or my ability to appreciate the food. Thus, Jeff Goin’s challenge seemed like the perfect opportunity to just “stop and smell the roses.” It’s certainly called a challenge for a reason, but I’m on day 3 and already appreciating the effects. I’ll do a more in-depth recap in another post. Definitely check it out and see if it’s something from which you might benefit!

New Workouts and the 100 Challenge

I tried this burpee workout from Bonnie Lang on Wednesday! Yayforburpees. Muahaha.

Click on the image to see Bonnie demonstrate the variations!

Also mentioned in my links yesterday was Jess’ #100challenge, to which I’ve surprisingly been committed these past few days. For 21 days, you’re supposed to do 100 squats, 100 pushups, and 100 situps every day. Gets the body movin’ and groovin’ so I’m all for it. I kind of procrastinated last night though and did 30 pushups and 30 situps right before bed. Oy.

I also came up with a doozie of a workout yesterday. Sometimes I think I’m some sort of buff Crossfitter and make a workout with a bunch of hard exercises one after the other. Then I try it, think I’m gonna die, and modify it. I’ll share it on Monday!

The Fitnessista’s Cookie Dough Cereal

I FINALLY tried Gina’s famous recipe after seeing so many bloggers rave about it (especially Ashley :)). And since I’m such a mainstreamer, I had to. It was quite delightful!

Topped with banana and peach. Yum 🙂

Original Wheat Thins with Cowboy Caviar

I just tried this out on a whim, and it was good. The sweetness of the Wheat Thin perfectly complimented the sweet, yet hearty flavor of the Cowboy Caviar, which is less spicy than the TJs version, but still tasty!

Blood Orange Chobani

I know, I know, some Chobani products have been re-called, but I’ve been eating these all week and I’m still as happy as a clam. Maybe I’m just lucky. But don’t worry, I wouldn’t eat them if I noticed a funky flava. Like the lemon flavor, I was skeptical about blood orange, but it is tangy and sweet in the best way!

Kylie’s Whole Wheat Deep Dish Pizza Quiche

If you’ve visited my blogroll, you might know that I think all Kylie’s recipes are genius, but I’ve never actually gotten around to making ONE. So today was the day when I saw this recipe, and knew I had all the ingredients. I made it for dinner, and even though I ate about a half hour after the rest of my family (I need to work on my timing for making dinner), it was more than worth it.

Mine is obviously a lot uglier than hers, so if you want to see it in all its true glory, I urge you to check out her page. As you can see, mine even got a little pool of mozzarella water on top since I used fresh mozzarella. But that was discarded and did not affect the utter deliciousness of this baby at all. In honor of the #slowdownchallenge, I savored every single little bite. It took me almost an hour to finish it! What a happy hour it was. I tweeted about this before I made it, I tweeted/Instagrammed it after I made it, and I even emailed Kylie about how much I LOVE the crust. She’s probably a little creeped out.

Baked Salmon with Lime-Dill Yogurt Sauce

Still amazed that my kitchen-clutzy hands made this. Even more amazed that my family loved it (they didn’t just eat it out of sympathy…)! 😉

That’s some of the good stuff that’s been going on here! Starting Monday, ~~clogging~~ blogging will probably be on the back burner as I drown in college applications, homework, dance, and everything in between. I’m kinda bummed because I finally feel like I’ve gotten into a groove with blogging, but I hope to still post at least twice a week. We shall see if that holds up. I am excited that this is SENIOR YEAR of high school though! Woop woop.

So tell me: Did you try anything new this week that you loved? Would you try any of the things above?