Family Day/Friends Night

What’s going on peeps? How’s your week going so far? We are almost at Wednesday which makes me absolutely thrilled that there’s only two and a half more days ’til the weekend. Anyway, I wanted to continue my weekend re-cap post this evening since so much went on.

On Saturday, my sister and I met up with our parents for brunch at Serendipity. Serendipity is a staple in the NYC area known for it’s over-the-top desserts and infamous frozen hot chocolate. My mom has been talking about how much she has wanted this frozen hot chocolate for about a year now and it was time for her to kick the craving! We ordered two – one for my sister and I to share and one for my mom and dad to share. These things aren’t exactly small. Portion control? Not so much.

So I’m not kidding when I say that this was absolutely freakin fantastic. I really enjoyed that the whipped topping was home made and it complimented the chocolate nicely. The chocolate shavings were a nice touch, too 😉 Even though we enjoyed our respective frozen hot chocolate’s to the max, we didn’t enjoy the food at all. Gillian and I each ordered more or less the same egg white omelette and I can truly say I didn’t even find it to be average. The conclusion? Don’t order a meal at Serendipity, order dessert only!

I felt super full after our decadent brunch so it was a good thing we had an afternoon of walking around scheduled. Our first stop was the Highline, which is basically a walking path/park located on the top of a bunch of buildings. I was able to get some pretty great pictures of the views from above!

Following the Highline, it was time to meander around Chelsea Market. Chelsea Market includes a variety of food/beverage/craft vendors which sell local produce/meats/cheeses/beers/sweets/snacks. While it was really crowded since we went on a Saturday, it was nice to be able to look around at some items you don’t tend to see in generic stores. Next up? The West Village where we shopped around for a while before calling it quits for an afternoon cocktail (yes this was my idea). It was soooo hot out and a bellini sounded really nice 😉

Our day was so much fun and it was really nice to be able to spend some quality family time together. My parents live in Cape Cod, Gillian is in Philly for school, and as you know I live in New York City, so spending time together is pretty rare.

The night time called for drinks and dancing with friends! As Nikki mentioned to me, she got a kick out of my Instagram pictures this weekend (if you don’t follow me, my user name is StephSkork). My friends and I are quite the candid group of people and can basically have a good time wherever we go. It’s the best.

And that’s my weekend in a nut shell! I felt so fantastic on Monday to re-start my clean eating and to get in a workout for an hour. This Summer has been filled with many indulgences in the form of alcohol and late night eating. It’s important to balance it all out with sweaty workouts and nutritional meals during the week. I’ve undoubtedly been having a blast this Summer but I don’t want to feel like crap because I’m constantly eating/drinking crap! Staying on track is important when you’re weekends (or mine at least) veer a little off course.

Before signing off, I wanted to shout out a reminder to Kim Whitbeck that you are the winner of my Cascadian Farm giveaway! Please email me at StephSnacks@gmail.com to claim your free granola 🙂

Stanton Social

Hi there! How was your weekend? Mine was so jam-packed that I’ll be re-capping it in a few posts. My parents and sister both came to NYC for the weekend so my days were filled with running around with them and then the evenings consisted of going out until the wee hours of the night with my friends. Safe to say it was a blast. It’s also safe to say that I ate and drank so much. This weekend was basically a constant party and I loved every minute. My ‘clean eating’ started fresh again today, but let’s look at some not so clean eating — ’cause that’s more fun, let’s be honest.

On Friday night, my parents, my sister Gillian, and my former room mate and friend Alyssa all went to a restaurant called The Stanton Social. Alyssa’s parents and my parents have become good friends over the years and it was great for her to be able to us since she feels like family anyway! Gillian and I got dolled up at my apartment first and then we were on our way.

I’ve been wanting to go to Stanton Social for a while now and was so happy to be able to get reservations. The menu is set up for sharing so we ordered ten different dishes which was definitely enough for five people. Unfortunately I didn’t capture every single dish but I was able to get a good amount!

Apple and Brie Quesadillas topped with bacon bits – These were so jam packed with flavor. I loved the combination of the apple and the brie. But then again – brie is brie and I could basically eat it everyday. Do you agree? If not, we can’t be friends — kidding 😉

Chicken and Rice – Again, this dish was chock full of flavors. My dad and I agreed that the rice had almost a risotto consistency which was really nice.

Sea Bass Fish Tacos – I have to say, this may have been my favorite of all the dishes we ordered. Seafood perfection.

French Onion Soup Bread Pops – So basically I don’t need a description for this. The picture says it all.

Meatballs – This was actually my least favorite dish. For some reason the meatballs seemed kind of bland and the sauce was nothing special.

All in all, Stanton Social was fantastic. It’s definitely a loud place, but the food and drinks are totally worth it.

After dinner, Alyssa, Gill, and I met up with my friend John for some drinks.

Such a fun night 🙂 Now I’m off to get my relaxation on – catch ya later!

Question of the Night: What is your favorite Summer time drink?

Weekend Review

Heyyyo! How was your weekend? I hope it was filled with fun and relaxation! I was able to combined fun nights out with friends, errands, and workouts into my glorious two days. Definitely sad to see it come to an end.

On Friday night, my friend Steph (yep, another Steph!) and I went to Good Restaurant in the village for dinner. From the moment I glanced at the cocktail menu and the dinner choices I knew this was the perfect pick. To drink, we both ordered the ‘The Bradford’ which consisted of gin, elderflower liqueur, cucumber, fennel, lime, and a soda splash. It was seriously perfection and I’d go back to ‘Good’ if only for this cocktail!

We also each had a couple slices of the delicious complimentary bread that was served. It was along the lines of a honey wheat and was a great way to start the meal.

Just like we ordered the same drink, Steph and I also both ordered the Market Fish Taco’s which consisted of red onion, cabbage slaw, lime cilantro sauce, grilled tortillas, and basil creamed corn. I loveeeddddd this entree – so fresh and delicious. All of the flavors made for the perfect Summer dinner. Sorry the picture came out a little blurry 😦

After dinner, we met up with my friend Alyssa and a few of Alyssa’s friends for a fun night out:

I actually ordered the above dark beer by accident, but wound up being really glad I did because it was so delicious! Generally speaking, lighter beers are for me but this one took me by surprise.. it was a good mistake 🙂

Saturday was a lot of errands, working out, and relaxing but Saturday night was a lot of friends, dancing, and drinking. The perfect Saturday to me! I also had to take a picture of my makeup because I was pretty pleased with how my smokey eye turned out. It took a little time but was totally worth it!

Now after a weekend filled with nights spent drinking, I’m ready to scale it back a little and start fresh on Monday! I don’t know about you, but at least when I workout over the weekend, I feel slightly better about going out and having drinks. It sort of evens out the playing field a little 😉

Before I sign out, don’t forget to enter my Cascadian Farm Give Away! I will pick a winner on Tuesday evening. Night, all!

Question of the Night: What did you do this weekend? Also, have you ever ordered something by accident but wind up being happy that you did?

Frying Pan

Hey, peeps! Ummm.. for those of you living in NY or along the East Coast–are you ready for this heat wave to end? I certainly am! It is absolutely disgusting here in the city; you can’t walk outside without wanting to run right back inside. I actually saw a couple of people taking a jog outside today and wanted to cry for them–that was totally dramatic, but seriously, running outside in 100-degree weather? No thanks. But what did I do in this incredibly gross heat wave? Meet up with my friends for drinks, of course 😉

Around 6:30, my friends Britt (who is also my room mate, but I’m sure you know that by now), Krystyna, Danielle, and I all met at the Frying Pan. The Frying Pan is a big boat which was turned into a bar/restaurant and is located on the West Side Highway (26th and 12th to be exact). Because we were sitting right along the water, the breeze was perfect and helped us to stay as cool as possible.

What else kept us cool? A little white wine sangria for the win!

We were all pretty hungry, and since it was time for dinner, our orders went in as soon as we decided what sounded good. For me, that meant the hummus veggie wrap.

I absolutely loved the side salad it was served with. The actual wrap itself was pretty good, too. The vegetables were cooked perfectly and there was a nice amount of hummus. I didn’t really eat the wrap itself because it was just so hot out and I didn’t want anything too heavy.

Both Britt and Danielle ordered the crab cake which came with a huge hunk of avocado. It looked so good and the girls confirmed that it was amazing!

Krystyna went with the clam bake which consisted of clams, mussels, corn, and potatoes. This also looked really delicious.

It was such a nice night and I can’t wait to go back 🙂

Question of the Night: What is your favorite cocktail/beverage on a hot Summer evening?

Friend Filled

SUNDAY–AGAIN?! What the heck! It was JUST Friday afternoon 😦 I can’t be too bummed, though, because my weekend was filled with so many friends. After work on Friday, I left the city to go to my hometown and from the moment I stepped off the bus it was go-go-go with late nights out and BBQ’s. Here are some pictures to give you an idea of how my wonderful weekend hours were spent.

On Saturday, all of my girlfriend’s got together for a BBQ where we ate and drank.. and ate and drank.. and ate and drank. It was glorious. Seeing old friends and hearing what’s going on in everyone’s lives makes me so happy to see how far we’ve come 🙂 Corny? Toats McGoats. But I love it!

My friend Lori created such a delicious dessert that consists of three simple ingredients. This will be featured on the blog ASAP.

After the BBQ, a few of us decided to freshen up and head out to a bar for a little while.

I feel like one of the luckiest parts of my life is that I have so many incredible and fantastic friends from college and also have some of the most loyal and caring friends from my childhood. When shit hits the fan I can count on any of them. Okay enough of the cheesiness! Sorry!

As soon as I got back into the city this afternoon, I hit the gym for an hour for a cardio, leg, and ab filled workout prior to food shopping at Trader Joe’s. After all of the crap I ate and drank this weekend (guilt-free) it’s time to get back on track for another week of workouts and healthy eats.

Now it’s time for some Sunday night TV, which is the bessssttttttt. Have a good night!

Question of the Night: Do you have more friends from your childhood or from college? Or do you have a mix of both?

What I’m Loving Lately

Is it just me or is it the little things that kind of add up to meaning everything? Without the smaller things here and there (iced coffee, a quick workout, painting my nails) I’d probably go a bit crazy. Here are some of the ‘little’ (and not so little) things that have made a world of a difference in my life lately..

Trader Joes Roasted Gorgonzola Crackers. These things are incredible. At $1.99 a box, they’re worth every little penny.

(Crackers are in the little baggie on the left. Recycled photo from WIAW!).

The incredibly awesome and large selection of nail polish at Sephora. Heavenly.

Mahhhh new blonde highlights 🙂 Thanks Bumble and Bumble!

Sun Butttttttaaaa:

source.

Summer Dresses:

And last but not least, Summer night’s with my girlfriends. Nothing is much better than that.

Question of the Night: What are some of the little–and not so little–things that have been making a difference in your day?

Last Day

Hi, there! Tonight is our last night in Aruba 😦 we are all seriously sad and can’t believe we have our last dinner in a couple of short hours. Even though I can’t complain, I’m not ready for this trip to be over! My friends and I have been soaking up the sun, enjoying endless happy hour’s, having plenty of girl talk, and loving our nights out. I haven’t really been caring too much what I’ve been eating or drinking, but I’m happy that I’m letting myself enjoy all this vacation has had to offer. The more concious eating and consistent work out’s will start up again once I return to NYC..

I can’t wait to show you all some more pictures (we have taken SO many) but for now, here are a few more..

The above picture is from a couple nights ago when we went on a bar hopping bus around Aruba. It was SO much fun and only cost us $34! Such a great deal.

Maya, Me, and Britt all ready for sushi!

Have a great rest of your weekend and talk to you all when I get back to NY 🙂

Update

Hi, everyone, and happy friday to you! This Friday actually hasn’t been the best for me I had hopefully my last and finally oral surgery early this morning and am just now (almost 4:00 PM) feeling a bit normal. I wanted to do something else besides lie on the couch and take pain medication so I figured a post would lift my spirits. Apparently there were bits of bone debris left in my gums which was causing the irritation. Please, Lordy, let this be over.

Anyway, last night a few of my friends and I went out for a little celebration for Britt’s 25th. It was such a nice night filled with drinks, food, and tons of laughs. It was really just what I needed. I managed to get some cute pics! 🙂

Britt I hope you had a very happy birthday!

Now I’m off to ice my face a bit more and just hang low the rest of my night. Have a great evening and I’ll be checking back in over the weekend 🙂

BACK

Happy Saturday morning, peeps! I know I’ve been a bit absent from the blog world, and I apologize. Life has been a little bit busier than usual lately mainly because I’ve been socializing a lot after work. Summer in the city makes it very difficult to stay in-door’s once the work day is over and I can already feel it is going to be a very fun June, July, and August. Last night I went to a bar called Tonic with my friends Lori and Lex and we didn’t collapse into bed until about 4:45. Don’t know how/why I am awake right now.

The rest of the day is looking busy.. need to hit up the gym, food shop, and clean a little bit. So again, I apologize for my lack of posts’ this past week but I’m going to try to brush up my act a little!

Have a fantastic Saturday 🙂

Question of the Day: Do you have any fun plans this weekend?

Memorial Day Weekend 2012

Hi hi, everyone. I hope you’re all nice and relaxed after a wonderful three (or for some of you lucky peep’s) four day weekend. Mine was spent in Sea Bright, New Jersey with a couple of my best friends. The entire weekend consisted of food, drinks, sun, beach, talking, going out, and doing it all over again. I haven’t had a weekend like this in a while, so I was really sad to see it end.

My friend Rebecca and I went down to Sea Bright very early on Saturday morning to meet up with our friend Eva and by the time we got there we were starving! We all knew we wanted to get brunch at The Turning Point; which has basically become our go-to breakfast/brunch spot. Let’s just say our eyes were bigger than our stomach’s. We ordered so much food and basically finished half of everything.

The above is the Turning Point’s ‘Fruit Bruschetta’ which I cannot not order every single time I eat there. It’s basically toasted pita points baked with cinnamon sugar and topped with a delicious fruit salad. I don’t need to say anything else.

Eva and Rebecca each ordered the Lobster Eggs Benedict:

I went for the ‘Fit and Trim Combo’ which was a honey wheat wrap filled with egg whites, sliced turkey sausage, spinach and tomatoes. It was supposed to come with a cup of oatmeal but I subbed mine for a cup of greek yogurt.

I freakin’ loved my choice for brunch but could only finish half of the wrap and half of the yogurt. Such a shame because it was so good! And yes, we all decided to order pancakes to split… which, surprise surprise, we could only each manage about five bites. Like I said, we felt hungrier than maybe we actually were.

A shot of my lovely friends:

A majority of our Saturday and Sunday were spent doing very stressful things like this:

Happy hour’s on our balcony facing the water wasn’t so bad either:

After some happy hour fun, the girls and I had reservations for a sushi place called Sawa which was right in town. It was definitely an enjoyable experience, as the food was very fresh and the service was fantastic.

We started with edamame (and a bottle of white vino) for the table to split:

Rebecca and I also split the Crispy Ginger Duck Roll, which was excellent:

For my entree, I went with the Wasabi Tuna Salad which was basically seared tuna and avocado over salad with ginger dressing. My picture didn’t come out that great — sorry 😦

But I did get a nice, albeit blurry shot of Rebecca, Eva, and I!

On Sunday night, Rebecca actually had a wedding to go to, so Eva and I decided to check out a popular restaurant called Avenue. While kind of pricey, we had so much good food and a wonderful view of the ocean. I really can’t complain over here.

We started off with a little tin of fresh bread which was basically saving my life since we weren’t able to get reservations until 9:00 PM.

Eva and I decided that Grilled Octopus sounded delicious as a starter, so we agreed to split it — and I am very glad we did. It was so delicious and was the perfect light choice to begin our meal:

For her main course, Eva went with the mussels and french fries while I ordered the Exotic Mushroom and Tempeh Fricassee. The Mushroom and Tempeh Fricasse came with kale, leeks, brussels sprouts, and grilled cippolini onions. To die for.

And of course, no ‘real’ dinner is complete without dessert so we ordered the pistachio and chocolate crepe which was actually the perfect amount. We each had a few bites and our sweet tooth was satisfied:

Monday came and went, as we basically woke up, ate breakfast, and hit the road. I was so sad to leave, but incredibly grateful for such a fun and care-free trip. I think the beach and I are going to be very close friends this Summer.

Once I got back to good old NYC, I hit up the gym for an intense workout and re-stocked my kitchen with the healthy weekly essentials:

It felt amazing to really break a sweat and get back into the swing of things. Last week was virtually impossible to workout because of my wisdom teeth surgery and as you can see from the above pictures, the most working out I did was walking from restaurant to restaurant and pouring myself some Skinny Girl Margarita. This week I plan to eat as healthy as possible and get in some real, solid workouts!

Now I’m off to be lazy and make a salad for dinner. Have a great Monday evening 🙂

Question of the Night: What did you do this Memorial Day Weekend? Did you have good food/drinks?