nyc + a birthday

...continuing with the previous post...
When we arrived at LaGuardia, we grabbed a cab to the city, had brunch, checked into the room, then I crashed for the rest of the day while Chris went to a work meeting. Finally, for dinner we met up again and ate at one of NYC most famous vegan restaurants Candle Cafe (the more casual counterpart to the upscale Candle 79, both located in the Upper East Side). I'm still having dreams about the particular dish I had there...it was a m a z i n g. Plus, we topped it off with the famous "Frrrozen Hot Chocolate" from Serendipity 3 (or at least 5 sips of it, because we were so full from dinner).


The next day, while Chris was at a work conference all day, I met up with some friends at Eataly. Seriously, the perfect place for Italophiles and foodies. One of the owners of this branch is the amazing chef, Mario Batali, and it seems that New York City was the perfect place to bring the Italian gourmet chain to the States, as it was bustling the entire time I was there. Each section of the store also has an open-dining restaurant area. We ate in the Le Vedure section (all vegetarian), which was outstanding. There is also dining in the fish, meat, pizza, pasta, coffee, chocolate sections as well as a few more.


A few hours after I let my lunch settle, I attended an Anti-Gravity yoga class at a studio in Midtown. I'd heard of suspension yoga classes before, and really looked forward to trying it out. It seriously was like getting a 75-min massage! It felt perfect for my body after a week of standing all day at tradeshows and sitting on cramped plane seats. Such a good way to realign and alleviate pressure - especially on the spine. It was so fun hanging upside down, flipping around, and enjoying the window view (17 floors up over the city) from my spot in class.


The rest of the weekend was spent visiting friends, celebrating another friends' birthday, checking out the dinosaurs at the American Museum of Natural History, eating at so many good restaurants (one included a surprise birthday dessert + candle for me), and staying bundled up. (We were really lucky for the first two days, as it was an unusual high of 60º, but the last two days were back to winter).


Finally, after exploring a bit in Brooklyn and going to brunch on Sunday morning, we walked to the promenade under the Brooklyn Bridge in Dumbo and then made our way back to the airport. So long NYC. We'll be back.

a few days here. a few days there.

I recently returned from about 10 days scattered over the country. A bit for work, a bit for fun, a bit for friends, and a bit for a birthday.


First stop was the ever-lovely city of San Diego. The warm, sunny weather was a wonderful welcome to the foggy cloud I left back in Florida the previous week. I seem to like this city more and more every time I visit because I get to see a little more of it each time. The Little Italy section of town is amazing and one of my favorites compared to other US cities.


I spent the weekend with my friend Katie and we ate at some good restaurants, walked around Encinitas (so I could stop in some of the many yoga studios there to drop off flyers for the Eat.Pray.Move Yoga Retreat), and then ended up in Balboa Park soaking in the sun, reading a book, and people-watching. Early morning on Sunday it was off to the office, then a carpool...

...through the desert...


...to LAS VEGAS for the bi-annual fashion tradeshows.


The next few days were spent manning booths, showing the new collections, checking out new designs, hanging with friends, and of course, in proper Vegas style: attending some parties, and kareoke!


A few minutes past midnight on my birthday I caught the red-eye out of Vegas, and landed in the Big Apple in early morning, with about 26-hrs of being awake. Chris took the early flight from Florida to meet me up there, and we walked out of our gates (which happened to be next to each other) at the same time. Perfect timing.

There were several more days to go...but I'll save it for the next post.

world nutella day '11

Happy World Nutella Day!



Today is the 5th anniversary of this tasty tradition started by my friends Sara and Michelle over at Ms Adventures in Italy and Bleeding Espresso, respectively.

Sadly, I have failed to participate for the past 2 years although I did come up with Nutella Sand Dollars in '07 and Italian Nutella Toasts & Pear Compote in '08 when we were living in Italy.

This year, it was a family affair as we're visiting my parents this weekend, and we all helped in baking this "FARMERS MARKET NUTELLA LAYER CAKE".


Inspired by fruits & veggies from the market, this cakes mixes zucchini, pears, coconut, almonds, cherries, and orange juice...along with white chocolate chips and the star of the show: NUTELLA!

"FARMERS MARKET NUTELLA LAYER CAKE"

CAKE
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 T cinnamon
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
2 c shredded zucchini
1/2 c unsalted butter
1/2 c vegetable oil
2 c sugar
3 eggs
1 t vanilla

FILLING
1/2 c pitted, quartered fresh cherries
Nutella
1/3 c white chocolate chips

FROSTING
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 T orange juice
1/2 diced pear
1/2 cup coconut flakes
powered sugar (enough for good consistency)

TOPPING
sliced almonds


Mix all cake ingredients together until well blended. Pour into 2 greased 8x8 cake pans. Bake 30 min, 350º or until knife comes out clean and browned on top. COOL.


Whip frosting ingredients together. When cake is cooled, spread Nutella generously on one cake square, sprinkle white chocolate chips and cherries over the nutella. Stack other cake square on top. Spread frosting over entire cake, sprinkle with almonds ENJOY.

Buon Appetito!

a walk around the villa

Thanks to all of you spreading the word about the EAT.PRAY.MOVE yoga retreat in Italy this summer! I've already had a sign up in the first week and am talking to several more people who are seriously interested! All the support is really appreciated - and don't stop telling people about it!

I've started a blog specifically for the retreat as well, which you can find and follow here: blog.eatpraymove.com. I'll still post periodically on Olive Notes about the yoga retreat, but wanted to keep this more of my personal blog as normal, so I'll definitely post most EPM-related subjects on the other blog. For a transition, though - here's a bit of one of the first posts over at Eat.Pray.Move...

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I know I've written multiple times over the past few years about our friends' villa in Umbria and the lovely art retreats they host.


Well, since I just announced the upcoming yoga retreat I'll be leading there this summer, I thought I'd give you a few more reasons to why I can't wait to get back there. (Plus, I'm thinking that maybe, just maybe, you'll read this and picture yourself there with me this summer as well. *hint*)


There are so many reasons really, but let's start with the little ones. The small pleasures...Let's take a walk around the estate where the EAT.PRAY.MOVE yoga retreat will be held, shall we?


Heading out the villa, past the olive tree in front, and down the pebbly road we're greeted by Tartufo & Tiddly Feet, the resident pets ready to take an afternoon stroll as well. Tartufo is aptly named as, you see, he's of the specific breed of dogs trained to sniff out those Italian treasures in the Umbrian earth, tartufi (truffles). Funny enough, those types of dogs even look like truffles with their brown, uneven surfaces.


As we continue up the road the pebbles change to packed clay and on either side of us are sweeping hills of winter wheat and depending on the season, there are endless rows of sunflowers or red poppies, or even a freshly plowed field revealing orange earth. The layers of colors and textures are always changing, always beautiful.


Stroll past the lines of cypress towering over us, guiding us long the paths of the estate. Cypresses, which so iconically invoke images of Italian landscapes, are often seen lining the edges of drives and seem to welcome a traveler forward. As we head back over the last hill, the villa comes into view once more and the afternoon is topped off with a glass of wine on the terrace.

Won't you JOIN ME?!