Recently, it was suggested to Metts that he go gluten free.. When he BB’d me this, I cackled out loud. I couldn’t believe it.. I then told him if he went gluten free, I’d follow suite… So, since Feb 15th, I’ve been trying to be gluten free.. It’s not easy nor is it that much fun however I do have more energy and am feeling good in the neighborhood..
Now, Metts, are you really being gluten free? That is the question.
Monday – The red-eye should only be utilized when going someplace fun.. If you take it to come back from an amazingly WARM weekend in San Fran to cold NYC and work, it’s a major stinker. It also didn’t help with my San Francisco withdrawal. I was in a dark dark dark place all day and to be honesty, it took a good ten days to get it out of my system.
BREAKFAST: Fage with Strawberry and raw nuts
LUNCH: Pizza and Wings (my office threw an early birthday lunch for me).
DINNER: Frozen pot-stickers, from Trader Joe’s and Brown Rice
Tuesday – The best thing about Facebook is all the birthday messages. Every single time my phone blew up and there was a Facebook notification, I had a huge smile on my face….
BREAKFAST: Fage with Strawberry and raw nuts
LUNCH: Taco Truck… Papas y Chorizo taco.. Thank goodness these tacos are gluten free…
PRE-DINNER DRINK: Martini at Angel Share.. GDubbs knows me well and knows my affinity for Martini’s. He wanted to make sure I had a good one on my birthday so we started the night off at Angel Share, one of my favorite East Village bars….
I love how Angel Share gives you a side of olive juice, just in case the martini isn't dirty enough for you.
DINNER: I had a list of restaurants to pick from for my birthday dinner. While I really wanted to go to ABC Kitchen, I knew Cholula would murder us for going without her.. So, I went with Hearth.. Wait, before I forget, can I tell you how thoughtful GDubbs is? All the restaurants he suggested to Lala (who then forwarded the email to me to choose one) were conveniently located to my apartment. How sweet?
Hearth - Shot of Beet Soup..
Hearth -HOUSE-MADE CHARCUTERIE
Hearth - ARUGULA AND FENNEL SALD with White Anchovies, Bread Crumbs and Pickled Cipollini Onion
Hearth - VEAL AND RICOTTA MEATBALLS
Hearth - MARSCAPONE CHEESECAKE
Wednesday – You know when you can feel “sick” coming on? You start to feel a little bit rundown, your throat hurts when you wake up…etc. Well, I woke up on Wednesday and started to feel sick. I don’t have time to be sick.. so this means I need to eat lots of garlic and have soup and rice…
BREAKFAST: A slice of cold pizza.. Yes, I was a little birthday hungover.
LUNCH: Crunchy Spicy Tuna Roll and Salmon and Avocado Roll.
DINNER: Miso Soup, Brown Rice and Bin Dae Duk
Thursday – There is a reason why girls like LP are dead svelte… They eat skinny. I, do not eat skinny.. However, I did tonight… and I sorta liked it… Originally, LP, Lambo and I were meant to have dinner but Lambo was on cooking duty. As she was hosting a Ladies Valentine Luncheon on Saturday for over 20 girls AND she was cooking everything herself, she needed to sit-out dinner. Rather than cancelling the entire evening, I went over to wine and eat skinny with LP and then we popped over to Lambo and McNally’s (they live in the same building as LP) and helped deshell the eggs for the amazing deviled eggs that Lambo made for the luncheon.
BREAKFAST: Fage with Strawberry
LUNCH: Salad and Frozen Chicken Pot Pie (gluten free.. it had polenta crust)
DINNER: Skinny person’s dinner with LP… Cucumber and Sausage and Carrots and Celery Sticks with Hummus.
Skinny Girl Diet at LP's... Saucisson, Cucumbers (instead of crackers) and Olives
Skinny Girl Diet at LP's... Carrots, Celery and Hummus
Friday
BREAKFAST: Fage with Strawberry and raw nuts
LUNCH: Miso Soup and Brown Rice
DINNER: Pot-stickers and Salad
Saturday – Sometimes Saturday’s are marathons not sprints.. This particular Saturday was one of those…I had Lambo’s first annual Ladies Valentine’s Luncheon (which was beyond yummy and fun), drinks with GI Joe and then dinner with my fave Georgetown crew… It’s funny, when I started hanging out with this Georgetown group of friends everyone was single, living on the UES, drinking car bombs at Phoenix Park and living for weekend lunch’s at Melon’s… Now, people are married, prego and melon’s is a rarity.. It’s sad but nice to see that everyone has evolved yet still have fun with each other.
BREAKFAST: Miso Soup and Brown Rice
LUNCH: The most amazing medley of food at Lambo’s. I can’t believe she made EVERYTHING
Valentine's Luncheon - Pesto Pasta Salad
Valentine's Luncheon - Beet Salad
Valentine's Luncheon - Potato Salad
Valentine's Luncheon - GLUTEN FREE Chicken Crepe's... These were AMAZING.. Lambo also made regular chicken crepe's too.. How amazing is she?
Valentine's Luncheon Cupcakes... While I ate the gluten free Chicken Crepe's, I totes molested a Red Velvet Cupcake. I get weak in the knees for red velvet....
Valentine's Luncheon - Cookies
Barolo - Birthday Tiramisu.. Again, heart how thoughtful Scobu is...
Pre-Dinner DRINKS: Martini’s at Gramercy Tavern with GI Joe and Miss E…
DINNER: Barolo with G’town crew… Bullanah and I shared the Burrata… and then I had the Rigatoni with Sausage and Peas and darling Scobu ordered me a Tiramisu Birthday dessert. Btw: did you know that Barolo has a roving magician on Saturday night’s? If you are at a table with Chuckels and GI Joe, you are bound to enjoy the magician.. These two were enthralled by him.
Barolo - Burrata Con Prosciutto... Bullanah and I split this. It was like butta...
Barolo - RIGATONI ALLA BUTTERA
Sunday – What happens after a big Saturday? A day spent resting at home.. Oh, I lied.. I went to see “No Strings Attached” with Lala and I went to the gym… The people that work out on Sunday afternoons are aggro and scary.
BREAKFAST: Nothing
LUNCH: Salad and Pot Stickers
DINNER: Salad and two pot stickers and a bin dae duck
Salad with Bin Dae Duk and Two Trader Joe Pot-Stickers
DESSERT: Haagen Daaz
Monday – Valentine’s Day… Love Cholula for venturing in the kitchen and making GDubbs and I dinner. She CAN cook however is new to the kitchen so can have a few tremedations when it comes to her meals.. She shouldn’t.. Her pasta was beyond PHENOM and I’m glad I pushed off my gluten free for a day so I could try it.
BREAKFAST: Fage with Strawberry and Raw Nuts
LUNCH: Taco Truck
DINNER: First GDubbs and I had crudite and hummus.. And then we dined on Cholula’s amazing salad and pasta…..
Cholulua's Valentine's Dinner
Tuesday – First day GLUTEN FREE…I don’t know if Metts is really going gluten free but I am and it sucks.. There I said it, gluten free kinda sucks.
BREAKFAST: Yogurt and nuts
LUNCH: Salad with a bunless hot dog.. IT WAS NOT GOOD.
SNACK: Some White Cheddar Popcorn snack on Jet Blue. It was good.
DINNER: Vietnamese Summer Rolls.. They are made with rice-paper therefore are gluten free
Wednesday –
BREAKFAST: Hard-Boiled Egg
LUNCH: Soup and Rice
There is no place like home.. My mom's homemade kogi gook and rice...
DINNER: Food fest USA.. My mom made a five-course dinner for some friends. Most of it was gluten free…All of it was delicious.. I love my mom’s cooking….
Tuna Tartare with Crispy Won-Ton Skins (not gluten free so I didn't eat) and seaweed salad
Bok Choy with Pork belly and Peking Duck
My mom made this duk gook with these special pearl size duk.. They were amazing. Coco, I need to find them in K-town for us.
Duk Gook
Dol Sot Bi Bim Bop... My Mom makes all the veggies herself.
Persimmon Dessert
Thursday.. For some reason, I get the best sleep ever when I’m in Florida. It’s a deep sleep that I don’t have when in NYC.. It’s absolutely delightful.
BREAKFAST: Gluten Free Muffin and Scrambled Eggs
LUNCH: Soup and Brown Rice
DINNER: Peking Duck and Salad
Friday My mom hasn’t gone to the doctor in twenty years. She sorta doesn’t believe in going, which is ironic considering my dad is a doctor… On Friday, she finally went. It wasn’t without urging or a lot of guilt trips on my part.
Since October she’s been complaining that her arm hurts and ever since her pre-Christmas trip to Korea, she’s been feeling rundown. My mother is the kind of woman that is up at 5am and doesn’t stop until she goes to bed around midnight. These days, she’s still up at 5am but tires quickly. I understand that she is getting older but it doesn’t make sense… I told her that she needs to go to the doctor.. She, in return, jokingly told me “I’ve had a nice life. I’m okay to die”… Granted, she said this in jest however I had no time for it. If anything were to happen to her, I’d have to come down to Florida and take care of my dad. When I told my mom this and that as a result of having to take care of dad, “I’d probably never get married or I’d commit murder suicide”, she decided to go to the doctor.
It’s hard to see your parents get older.. On Friday, my mom was filled with nervous energy and even admitted that she had nightmares about going to the doctor.. It’s not so much seeing a doctor that she was afraid of, it’s hearing what they’ll say.
When my mom told me this, my heart ached for her..
Luckily, after she saw how nice the doctor’s office that I found for her was, her nerves subsided and she felt much better. Now she’s even going in for blood tests and an MRI.. She’s like a whole new woman…
BREAKFAST: Hard-boiled Egg and Gluten Free Muffin
LUNCH: Oh, I totally ate Gluten for lunch.. I went to Brio with my mom and had some bread (as we didn’t eat until quite late and I was starving), my mom and I split the Crispy Calamari and I had the Beef Carpaccio.
DINNER: Sashimi
You can’t leave us hanging! I hope your mom is a-ok!!!