Fueling for a Day in the City

The city is exhausting!

New York City in particular has the most draining effect on me. I definitely love the city, and I’m so lucky to be living close to one of the greatest cities in the world.

Besides the walking and heat, there is so much stimulation from the millions of people, cars, lights, sounds, and smells. If you try to slow down, you will either get run over by an automobile or pushed over by busy people. That being said, walking, dodging flying objects/people, and climbing stairs for a few hours requires lots of fuel.

Starting with breakfast!

Actually, starting with pre-breakfast. I woke up hungry at 5 AM. Why.

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spoonful of Nuttzo power fuel

I tried going back to sleep, but then 6 AM came before I could. After dropping off dad at the train station, I was READY for breakfast.

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Greek yogurt with cinnamon, nutmeg, chia, and maple syrup // banana, strawberries, granola, and a giant scoop of peanut butter

A little while later I warmed up a couple of strawberry cornmeal griddle cakes that I had froze, and I snacked on one with some maple syrup as a morning snack. I did get to sleep a little more too!

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I took the day off from my {flexible, volunteer} internship to join up with some good friends from BU who are also NY/NJ locals, health professionals to be, and…Asian 🙂

By the time I had arrived at Grand Central and then walked 19 blocks to Shake Shack, I was a hungry, hungry hippo (<— always wanted that game when I was a kid).

We surprised our friend Dana with cupcakes and horridly off-pitch singing (on my part) for an early birthday celebration before ordering and chowing down on our burgers from Shake Shack.

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My first Shake Shack burger! It was perfect and I miss it already.

Tina and Cassandra were kind enough to pick up Georgetown Cupcakes for Dana, and Dana was kind enough to share with all of us!

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happy early birthday, Dana!

We trekked it over to High Line Park, where we took touristy pictures despite not being actual tourists. Before that though, we stopped by Eataly to use the restrooms, and LOOK WHAT WE FOUND.

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A NUTELLA BAR {inside Eataly, not inside the restroom}

Take deep breaths, I know it’s a lot to take in. We didn’t buy anything, but I need to go back to try it out soon!

Back to High Line… (thanks for the photos, Cassandra!)

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{posed}

After High Line and a quick walk through Chelsea Market, we parted ways and went home. I took a nap on the train because I was dead meat. I think I felt almost as tired as I did after our 7 mile hike in Colorado!

My stomach felt weird when I got home, but I knew I needed a snack. Or two.

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steamed veggies + 34 Degrees poppy seed crackers with hummus

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more Nuttzo (this spoonful + more because this spoon has limited space to hold drippy nut butter)

A couple hours later I ate caprese again as a dinner appetizer, along with the other cornmeal griddle cake from the morning.

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I was kinda full by the time I ate real dinner, but I didn’t stress out about it, ate slowly while conversing with Pop, and finished every last bite enjoyably!

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salad with homemade maple mustard dressing + ginger cilantro lime / pesto turkey meatballs + roasted sweet potatoes + corn on the cob

Huzzah for leftovers!

Night snack was this cinnamon roll Quest bar from the never-ending Blend swag bag.

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I microwaved it for 23 seconds (as suggested by a reader), and the Quest bar morphed into a Quest lava flow.

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I should start making Quest sculptures when they’re hot

And that’s a wrap! ‘Twas a blessed day of eats as always.

I have one more day of my internship this week before I head up to Boooooooston for the weekend! 😀 Hope you all have a wacky Wednesday in the best way possible!

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joining the WIAW party on Peas and Crayons!

So tell me:

Do you ever wake up hungry? It used to happen a lot more when I was depriving myself, but I guess it still happens once in a blue moon!

What is your favorite fast food burger joint?

Something sweet that you ate yesterday!

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The Great NYC Food Tour {A Story}

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.

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Rachel went for Nutella and almond butter

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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

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

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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…

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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…

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Please note the toppings called “Jesus droppings”

Finally at the gelato lab…

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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…

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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…

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

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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…

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

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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.

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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!