Boston University is Making Things Complicated

Posted on April 21, 2014 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

Good morning!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and a beautiful Easter if you celebrated! We spent our weekend in Boston for some last college visits, so we also got to spend time with Ben for Easter! There was a ton of sunshine, family time, and food…of course.

Thanks for hosting all the marvelousness, Katie!

Friday

We got to Boston pretty late on Friday night, so we went to a hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant that I found via Yelp. Even though it was a tiny restaurant, the food hit. the. spot. It was called Clay Pot Cafe, and I ordered their specialty Yellow Eel Clay Pot since eel is actually one of my favorite proteins EVER.

Obligatory to get the crispy burnt rice at the bottom.

After our hot, filling meals, we checked into the hotel and crashed for the night. Apparently, traveling and eating is pretty darn draining.

Saturday

This day called for another early wake-up call for breakfast and the Boston University open house!

It’s a lot easier to wake up when this is your view though.

The hotel included an awesome breakfast, so I helped myself to some scrambled eggs with salsa, potatoes with peppers and onions, and PB&J oats. I ♥ breakfastttttt.

The BU open house I attended was actually specifically for Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences since I want to go into physical therapy. This was the only college that offered such a specific open house for one school within the university.

The PT/AT lab in the Sargent school is very impressive!

A super entertaining and informative nutrition lecture by Joan Salge Blake, MS, RD, LDN. This definitely piqued my interest!

The campus food at BU rocks (or at least for the open house it rocked). The quinoa dish with organic tempeh on the top left was fancy fresh.

“Sargent Choice” cookies. Sargent’s choice is some sort of nutrition program run by Sargent college to promote healthier foods throughout the campus.

Heart of BU.

I have concluded that if I say “never” to something, it is sure to happen. Example #1: I never thought visiting Boston University would make the slightest impact on my final college decision, but lo and behold, it sorta blew me away. I actually told my dad on Friday: “I REALLY don’t think Boston University is going to make a difference in my decision at this point. I think UMD is going to be the one.”

Well, University of Maryland has some major competition now, and I have 9 days to decide where I want to go. I might just flip a coin.

Why BU is making me go insane:

Hands down— best BS/DPT program (I would be able to get my doctorate of physical therapy in 6 years instead of 7 years, and the PT program is highly accredited at BU)
6 years instead of 7 would mean a better financial deal over all
great food with tons of healthy choices
close to the bro, who’s at Northeastern (easier for the parents to visit us as well)
Boston is a pretty hoppin’ town
Diversity
Dance minor (in case I want to do that)

Just like Maryland, I can’t seem to find any outstanding cons, but I’m still very stuck between the two. I think it’s partially because I’m so stunned that BU came into the picture when I thought I was set on UMD. Pray for me, friends.

Moves on Saturday: Walking around Boston, a one mile run on the treadmill, and some lower body exercises in the hotel room. Guess what! I got my first unassisted pistol squats this weekend! The only thing that I still need to do is wear my sneakers since the slight elevation in the heel helps out my super short achilles tendons.

Then it was out to eat. Again. Ben joined us for another delicious Asian dinner at a Thai restaurant called Bangkok City.

I ordered the steamed catfish with veggies and garlic ginger sauce. Yum!

After dinner, Victoria and Wendy took the T (subway) to Harvard Square while our family went to Easter Vigil Mass at the Northeastern Catholic Center’s church. It was an absolutely beautiful and glorious Mass—a joyful way to start off the Easter celebration indeed!

Ben was a reader!

Easter Sunday!

Jesus Christ is risen today, Aaaaaaalleluia!

Hotel breakfast day two: scrambled eggs with salsa + oatmeal with honey, sliced banana, and peanut butter

After breakfast, we drove home to beat the Boston traffic. Four hours later, Victoria and I ate a light lunch at home while watching funny videos from Ellen Degeneres. That woman never fails to crack me up.

Spinach/kale salad with balsamic + avocado smoked salmon toast

And a white chocolate egg, courtesy of Wendy and Victoria 🙂

Moves: After digesting for a bit, Victoria and I headed outdoors for a run/walk since we were tight from sitting in the car all morning and the weather was just gorgeous yesterday. We had such a great time chatting and taking in the fresh air on Easter day. It was definitely the highlight of my whole spring break!

The only problem during our run was the presence of millions of gnats. We suspect that some flew into our mouths because we kept squealing and swatting them away like freaks.

Example #2 of why I should never say never (like Justin Bieber): I never thought I would like running, but I think I could get used to it. I’ve only been running one mile at most, but I feel like I could definitely go further if I wasn’t trying to keep it easy with my workouts. Seeing the hundreds of runners in Boston—especially on the weekend before marathon Monday— also gave me a little itch to get out there.

Dinner was courtesy of Groupon at an Indian restaurant called Chana Masala. The Groupon came with SO MUCH food, so we brought home enough leftovers for another hefty meal or two. It was all incredible though.

Once we got home and got comfy, I made the famous peanut butter banana soft serve for Victoria and myself. We ate it while watching that 7th grader movie, The Clique, just because we wanted to make fun of it.

She was a fan 🙂 I made her some overnight oats for this morning too, so we’ll see how she likes those!

It was an absolutely marvelous weekend for sure. Victoria is leaving us today… *tear* And I have school today… *sob* I’m actually a little behind on work, so I’m gonna have to kick my butt in gear. Have a great week, everyone!

So tell me:

What did you do for Easter weekend?

What have you done that you never thought you would do?

Do you like to run?

Do you like Indian food?

Weekend in Charlottesville

Posted on April 14, 2014 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

The second stop of my final college tour is Charlottesville, and this town has been treating us quite wonderfully so far!

Saturday

We took the 2.5 hour drive down to Cville from Maryland on Saturday morning. UVA con #1: Distance. It’s a total of 7+ hours away from my NY home, and the road from College Park, MD to Charlottesville is basically a two-lane highway with traffic lights. At least the farm lands on the way were pretty??

After we checked into our hotel, Mom and I searched for food around the UVA campus, naturally. We found a place called Marco and Luca Dumplings, and it had a tiny menu that highlighted their specialty fried pork + scallion dumplings.

Dumplings to share, my order of the sesame peanut noodles, and mom’s order of the sweet and spicy noodles

A pork bun to share as well

The noodles were my favorite! They were cold and refreshing for the hot day, and they had the perfect texture. Also, peanut sauce=’nough said.

Next up was lots and lots o’ walking around the UVA campus. The weather has been absolutely gorgeous here— 80s and sunny! (Today it’s supposed to be rainy and blah though.) However, the heat is literally a warm welcome to BUGS. The bumble bees here are the size of baby birds. I kid you not.

After soaking up all the preppy-ness and loveliness of the campus and the Cville-ians, we headed over to the UVA Catholic center/church.

We ended up hanging out there for a while and then attending the evening Mass for Palm Sunday there.

After walking back to our car, we drove to downtown Charlottesville for dinner at Revolutionary Soup. Kath has recommended it on her blog before, so I was excited to try it!

To share: asparagus shiitake soup, half size local tofu wrap (local tofu, arugula, tomato, red onion, and fig dijon dressing), half Athens spinach salad (spinach, feta, artichokes, roasted peppers)

It was super tasty! My favorite thing on the tray was the salad. Love me some artichokes and cheeeeese.

Then we walked some more around the Downtown Mall.

Hm. K.

Stopped for dessert of course. More gelato 😀

Mine on the left: cookies and cream and ‘chi0 (pistachio). Mom’s on the right: coconut and mango.

I nearly licked my cup clean and then I helped mom finish hers. No gelato left behind. I also love how the spoons were like baby paddles, because that means the gelato disappears less quickly 😉 It’s also safe to say that cookies and cream is my favorite ice cream flavor. I always forget how good it is!

As we were walking back to our car, I spotted a cute crepe shop called The Flat… And we got sucked in.

We only had about half, don’t worry. 😉

Mom wanted to try a savory crepe, and I told her she would be mostly on her own since I was stuffed with gelato. We ordered the “Greene Eggs” crepe with eggs, feta, and veggies. I had a few bites and it was fantastic! Mom only had a few bites too, so we took the rest back to the hotel for me to have for breakfast yesterday morning 🙂 (We have a fridge and microwave in our hotel room.)

Yeah, I was full that night.

Moves for Saturday: walking and walking and walking. My feet were hurtin’ for sure. I need to whip ’em into shape just to walk around campus. Can someone give me a foot massage first though?

Sunday

Moves for Sunday: this Travel WOD-ish. I say “ish” because I did the whole thing, but I didn’t do the rounds and exercises immediately one after another. I would do a round, take a break, do some burpees, take a break…It was just something to get moving! Plus a little bit of walking to and fro.

Lunch yesterday was at a place called Fig Bistro and Bar.

My order: Blackened crab cake with a poached egg and cheddar grits

Mom’s order: Eggs in avocado

We shared half and half with each other, and it was decent. Our items sounded really delicious when we read them on the menu, but the actual taste and texture of everything was meh.

After chilling out in the hotel room and putting a tiny dent into my homework, I left to meet up with two of my favorite bloggers!

Kath

Clare

I may or may not have been fan-girling on the inside. We met at Kath’s soccer game to chat for a little bit, and it was lovely. These two ladies have been so inspirational to me in my blogging journey, and they are just as sweet and cool in person as they are on their blogs.

All of my oatmeal? Inspiration from Kath.

My motivation to cut down on exercise and recover from my ED? Inspiration from Clare.

Thanks so much for meeting with me, Kath and Clare!

Following the blogger meet-up, I drove back to the hotel to procrastinate for an hour or so and then actually do homework for a bit. Mom and I weren’t very hungry by 7:30, but we decided to just take the 20 minute walk to the Downtown Mall for dinner. Bizou looked pretty good, so we grabbed a table al fresco. We ordered the two specials of the evening and shared half and half again.

Mom’s: Panko-crusted trout with cauliflower au gratin and arugula salad

Mine: Crab cakes (that’s right— I had crab cakes twice yesterday) with cheesy polenta and arugula salad

{I smell like fish right now}

Everything was tasty, but these crab cakes weren’t the best either. Too salty and mayonnaise-y. I’m a picky crab cake eater. My favorite things were the salad and the cheesy polenta! Cheeeeeese.

As fun as eating out can be, I miss my oats, avocado toast, and Greek yogurt. I have had a perpetual food baby on this trip.

Travesty.

Wow, Charlottesville. I haven’t even gone to the admitted students’ day yet (it’s today), but we’re getting along pretty darn well. I can’t wait to see how I feel about UVA after Days on the Lawn today!

So tell me:

What was the best thing you ate this weekend?

Have you ever met bloggers in person?

What’s on your agenda this Monday?

Behind the Scenes #16: Little Italy to Maryland

Posted on April 11, 2014 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

Hello hello!

I did not mean to abandon you yesterday without notice, but on Wednesday night, I had jazz class, ate dinner, had a deep, teary (but good!) conversation with my dad for no particular reason, and then I went to bed. Thus, I’m here now to tell you what’s been up the past couple of days!

I’ll do this Thinking Out Loud style, even though I missed the linkup yesterday. Meep.

1. As I mentioned on Wednesday, my Italian class went on a field trip to Little Italy, and it was great! We went to the Italian American museum, we ate, and then…..we ate some more. It was also a gorgeous day for walking around. Who could complain about that?

This isn’t even close to showing all the food. Heh heh.

Hey, Arman, I can get my hands on some awesome gelato too! Salted caramel and pistachio. So dreamy.

2. I have officially kicked off my final search for the place I will be for the next four years. AKA college. I am currently typing up this post from College Park, Maryland since UMD is the first stop of the trip. Mom and I drove down here yesterday so we could attend the accepted students’ day today.

This is my third time visiting UMD, so we’ll see if I love it as much as I did the other two times! I’m just excited to be visiting my top three colleges this spring break so that I can make a decision. Eee!

3. This hotel has great lotion. I appreciate some nice-smelling, quality lotion, ya know?

4. Dinner last night was the bomb. We went to a restaurant super close to campus called Pho D’Lite, and I ordered the pork vermicelli bowl. The flavor of the pork was fantastic, and the crushed peanuts added such a great texture! The appetizer was lame though. “Asian Poppers” were more like greasy mystery meat nuggets.

Yuck.

YUM.

5. My butt hurts from sitting in the car all day. Just thought I’d throw that out there. My school friends would understand that completely.

6. We may or may not have brought peanut butter for breakfasts during our trip…

Which means there is a possibility I’ll have some this morning since I need to eat up those English muffins and bananas we also brought along. So much for my personal nut-butter-less Fridays during Lent rule.

7. We’re headed for Virginia tomorrow so that I can check out UVA’s accepted students’ day on Monday, which they call “Days on the Lawn.” That kinda makes me want to dress up and have a tea party there. Do you think they would like me if I tried to organize that?

8. I’m gonna hit the hay now (typing this at night)— it’s been a long day! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. 🙂

IT’S SPRING BREAK FINALLY!

So tell me:

What is your favorite gelato flavor?

Do you ever bring nut butter with you on vacation?

What are you doing this weekend?