Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Fall in Madison

Jon and I were able to spend this past weekend in Madison, WI. It still feels like summer here in Richmond and down in New Orleans, but Madison in September has the perfect feeling of fall.

On Saturday, we got to tailgate for the Wisconsin Badger game! I know all the conferences and schools think their tailgates are the best, but tailgating for the Badger games is one of my favorite things in fall. They don't just use one gigantic parking lot or one area of campus; an entire section of the city is devoted to tailgating! Every business on Regent street gets into the spirit, which includes several bars, but it also inclues some medical office buildings where you can tailgate, the bicycle stores, and even the Indie Coffee store sells beer!
On Regent Street, near Camp Randall

In the Stadium Bar, just across the street from Camp Randall

Then yesterday, I went to one of my favorite markets, Brennans. They have a great selection of local, fresh produce and the BEST selection of Wisconsin cheese.


Wisconsin aged cheddar
 
What would a Wisconsin market be without a fantastic beer selection where you can make your own 6-pack!?


Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Describe your perfect date...

"Well, I'd have to say April 23. It's not too hot, but it's not too cold. You just need a light sweater!"
- ??? Who knows this movie reference?

If I had to describe my perfect date, it might very well be September 14 in Richmond. :)  It's absolutely gorgeous outside with so much sunshine and a little breeze in the shade.  Perfect!

New Orleans this past weekend was excellent, but it was not very healthy. Although I did bring a vegetable tray to our friends' house during football on Saturday. It's just that we also brough many beers, brats, and chips too. So it evens out?

We went to a great restaurant by John Besh on Friday evening - Lüke on St. Charles (across the street from the Intercontinental.)  It's a franco-german brasserie that specializes in lots of seafood. We had delicious gulf oysters and I also had drum from the gulf! (I am, of course, still eating the seafood. I figure people are probably checking the seafood more than they normally do anyways.)



I especially loved the wood floors that they had throughout the restaurant.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Detox officially over

Well, it's official. We went out to dinner last night, where I ate pork and had a glass of wine. The detox is officially over. Even though we didn't make it 2 weeks, we did make it through 7 days, and I felt great! We went to Kuba Kuba, this great cuban restaurant in Richmond, and I couldn't resist.

In other news, today I found the cutest little store in Carytown - Roan. I have been wanting to see the fall/winter collection from Céline, and I thought I was going to have to go to New York. Lo and behold - Roan, just 10 minutes away from my apartment! Well, they don't have entire collections, but they have a great selection of current pieces from so many designers!  Today I got a camel cashmere short-sleeve sweater by Brunello Cucinelli for 70% off (because I think it was part of the summer collection), but it will be fabulous for fall in the south! I'm so excited about it, I'm going to wear it with my Saints gear for tonight!!!

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Day 7 - Oops...

Day 7 started out great, toast and coffee for breakfast, fruit for lunch, but then... one of our good friends was in town for a few days, so we went out to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in Richmond - Bouchon.
http://www.bistrobouchon.com/

And it was there that I had an assorted meat and cheese plate, monkfish, and a couple glasses of red wine. Not exactly part of the detox, but totally worth it!

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Day 6 - Pasta & The Conclusion of P90X!

We are the champions, We are the champions...
It's true! I finished 90 days of P90X (lean program) yesterday! Let's see, I can now do 2 chin-ups and almost one pull-up, I can complete the entire Ab Ripper X video, and, most importantly, I proved to myself that I can finish something! :)

Yesterday we ate breakfast of toast and a hardboiled egg. Then for lunch and dinner we had pasta. Jon made a great sauce with fresh tomatoes and onions.

We also decided that we will only be doing a 9.5 day detox, not a full 2 weeks.  We decided this for a couple reasons:
1. We feel really good already! We are sleeping better, have more energy, and workouts are easier. For example, hot yoga this morning was not great after eating the pasta. But after a day of eating fruits and veggies, it's awesome!
2. We're going to New Orleans on Thursday, and it's the Saints home opening game that night, so it will literally be impossible to not drink beer during the game. Who Dat?!

For days 7, 8, and 9.5, we're going to continue abstaining from meat, processed foods, alcohol, and soda, have a limited amount of sugar and fat, but otherwise eat normally. I'm so excited!

Monday, September 6, 2010

Day 5 - Fruit and Dairy

Day 5 was pretty tough. We had a great breakfast with toast, cheese, and coffee, but the cheese actually felt a little too heavy and gross. Then the rest of the day was only fruit and dairy, but that at least allowed us to make smoothies!

We got a TriBest smoothie blender a couple weeks ago, and we love it! I'll post a picture later, so you can see it.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Day 4 - Rice

One full day of eating nothing but rice.... wow.  It wasn't difficult, except for the fact that it was the first Saturday of college football season, and we couldn't eat brats or drink beer!  We made it through the day, eating mainly brown rice cooked in our rice maker (thanks Pete!). 

Tomorrow morning we get to have a feast for breakfast - toast with butter, an apple, 3 oz. of cheese, and coffee!

Also we decided last weekend with our friends Brian and Pavlov that we will be running the Mardi Gras 1/2 Marathon!  At least that's the plan. So that's in February, and since neither Jon or I enjoy running or do it frequently, we're going to start getting in running shape a.s.a.p.

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Day 3 - Potatoes

The consesus of Day 3 was that it was pretty easy! We had fruit juice for snacks, and then otherwise we ate sweet potatoes, had a potato salad made with potatoes, onions, green peppers and lemon juice, mashed potatoes with hot milk, dill, and parsley, and hashbrowns (thanks Danny!).  I don't know if I feel very 'cleansed' eating all of those potatoes, but it wasn't too hard to do.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Day 3 - a.m.

Okay, so it's the morning of Day 3, and I have decided to break down and have a coffee. I am just too tired without a cup in the morning!

Day 2

Yesterday was the second day of our detox. It was definitely better than the first day, but I think part of that had to do with us eating dinner at 6:00 pm instead of 7:30! I had grapes for breakfast, a berry juice and an apple for lunch, and then guacamole with carrots, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and mango for dinner.  I have to admit that I wanted to quit around 3:30 pm and just have some carbs, but I took a nap instead of thinking about eating.

Tomorrow is potato day, so we will see how that goes...

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Day 1

Yesterday was the first day of the detox, and I have to say that it was better than expected! Definitely not pleasant, since I was hungry all afternoon and evening, but it was okay. Except that I reminded Jon that this Saturday is the first day of college football season, and that would be the day where we can only eat rice... AND aren't supposed to be drinking. So we will see what happens on Saturday.

But back to day 1! I had some tomato juice for breakfast, and then I had carrots as a mid-morning snack. For lunch, I had carrot juice and spinach with lemon as a "salad dressing". (This is what Jon had too, since I made him his lunch.)  Then for dinner, we had spaghetti squash with tomatoes and green onions, steamed broccoli and squash, and sweet potatoes. I think I might have fudged it a bit on the sweet potatoes, because I baked them, but everything else was legit!  However, the spaghetti squash without olive oil was disgusting, so we added some Crystal sauce to that. Also, not sure if that is within the rules, but it's just cayenne pepper, vinegar, and salt, so I think it's okay.  So we made it through, but it wasn't easy.

I think tomorrow will be better since we can eat fruit!