Last night, I had the pleasure of attending the Annual Press Party at The Charles Hotel. I was actually invited to this same event last year, but I couldn’t make it, so I was especially excited to go this time. The event also featured an exclusive look at the new Corbu Spa & Salon and, of course, I love spas, so I was psyched to see what it was all about.

With the spa as the focus of the event, I decided to invite my friend Jen to the event. She recently got engaged (and asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding!), so I figured it would be the perfect opportunity to catch up and talk wedding details. Plus, Jen is fun.

The event featured appetizer selections from Chef Peter Davis of Henrietta’s Table as well as seasonal cocktails from Noir. (Both restaurants are located in The Charles Hotel.)

I drank a couple of glasses of white wine and pretty much snacked all night long.

Everything was delicious, especially the desserts. Duh. 

The event, of course, featured mini spa treatments, including bang trims and hair straightening in the salon as well as hand massages in the spa.

I totally took advantage of the hand massage and it felt soooo good. I didn’t realize how tense my hands were from typing and mouse-ing at a computer all day long. The masseuse also used a seasonal hydrating Orange & Marigold lotion on my hands, which smelled incredible (citrus-y + sweet).

FYI: The seasonal spa treatments at Corbu are inspired by Chef Peter Davis and Chef Jody Adams of Rialto,  who are both industry leaders in the farm-to-table movement. Basically, Corbu is bringing this movement from the restaurant world into the spa by using the freshest locally sourced ingredients to create seasonal scrubs and lotions. Neat, right?

Speaking of Jody Adams, I saw her at the event last night. I’m not sure if she recognized me from my behind-the-scenes Food Network video at Rialto, so I awkwardly said hello to her, but didn’t come up with anything else to say. Derp. I wish I wasn’t such a turd in those situations. Oh, well. Next time, right?

Jen and I also had the opportunity to make our own salt scrubs with essentials oils at the spa to take home with us.

The one I picked was called “Sore Muscles,” and it has a fresh, pepperminty smell. I love it!

Then, Jen and I got our skin analyzed. Corbu offers a special skincare system called mySkin, which was developed by two Harvard Business School grads to analyze the skin to determine the prefect products to treat each unique skin type. I was surprised by my results!

Here’s the report that the esthetician emailed to me:

As you can see, my pores are “optimal” (aka clear) and my oiliness is “low,” which are good, but my propensity to aging “needs action.” Gah! That’s not good!

I panicked for a second, but the esthetician assured me that I can get my skin back on track, no problem. Of course, she suggested a few of the treatments and products at Corbu, but she also gave me a few easy things I can do on my own to improve the quality of my skin, including daily exfoliation, drinking lots of water, and using a thick night cream (she suggested Olay) to add some hydration back into my skin. I guess I need to step it up with my skin care routine!

Then, it was Jen’s turn for the skin analysis. It was actually kind of humorous to watch because Jen doesn’t use anything on her skin. No makeup, no moisturizer, no daily sunscreen, no face wash. She told the esthetician she only uses water to clean her skin. That’s it. For real.

Surprisingly, Jen’s mySkin report was similar to mine with regard to pore health and oiliness, but her propensity to aging was quite a bit better. Interesting, right? Even the esthetician was surprised by the results. 

Once the event ended, Jen and I took the elevator home! As part of the Annual Press Party, The Charles Hotel treated us to a complimentary overnight stay. So fun! They hooked us up with an adorable room on the 10th floor with beautiful views of the courtyard and Harvard Square. (I took these photos of our room in the morning since the lighting was better then.)

Adorable, right?

There was complimentary Wi-Fi!

Check out the “in mirror” bathroom television! Cooooool!

I love EO Products!

Jen and I ended up chatting for awhile before heading to bed. She had to work this morning, so we decided not to make it a super late night. As always, it was awesome to spend some time with her.

Stay tuned! More to come!

Attention: Pug people!

This is one of the most exciting projects I have ever encountered.

Introducing 1000 Pugs!!!

1000 Pugs is the ultimate expression of pug love by San Francisco pet photographer, Amanda Bradshaw. Her goal is equal parts genius, ridiculous, and insane: to photograph 1000 pugs in a single year.

Amanda’s goal is three-fold:

• Use 1000 Pugs as a vehicle to raise money for pug rescue ($10k, to be exact)
• Create the ultimate celebration of all things pug!
• Showcase the largest single collection of  pug cuteness this world has ever seen (in both online and printed form)

Each pug photographed will be featured in the 1000 Pugs online gallery as well as 1000 Pugs the book, which is planned for release in 2013 and will feature all 1000 pugs.

So cool!! Sign me Murphy up!

If you/your pug would like to participate, check out the 1000 Pugs tour schedule and register your pug for a photoshoot. The sitting fee is $50, and $10 of it will be donated to pug rescue. Winter and Spring dates are already booking up, and Fall dates (Boston!) will open on April 1, which, of course, is already on my calendar… with a reminder.

Lunch

After breakfast this morning, I headed out to NuVal. On my drive there, I swung by Bruegger’s to get my three free bagels. Yay! (Oh, it’s the little things in life.) I picked two Everything bagels (so Mal and I don’t fight) and one Sesame bagel.

At Bruegger’s, I also ordered a bagel sandwich to take with me to NuVal for lunch. On it was turkey, sundried tomato spread, green bell pepper, lettuce, and tomato.

I ordered my sandwich on a toasted Parmesan-Asiago bagel. I <3 cheese.

I finished off lunch with a cup of pumpkin spice coffee with cream and sugar from the office Keurig machine.

Snack

At home, I snacked on a Van’s Power Grains Waffle with Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Peanut Butter spread on top. I had a serious craving for a big cookie, but we didn’t have any in the house and I didn’t feel like baking, so I figured this was a good substitution. It actually tasted so delicious, I ate two of them.

Workout

Somehow, I forgot to blog about last night’s CrossFit workout in this morning’s post, so here’s a recap!

Skill: Rope Climbs & Knees to Elbows

WOD: “Multiplier”

5 rounds for time of:

4 Dead Lifts

8 Burpee Box Jumps

16 Knees to Elbow

24 Double Unders

Rope Climbs were fun (obviously), and I made some great progress on Knees to Elbows last night. During the WOD, I actually did a whole bunch of real ones. Ok, I didn’t touch my knees to my elbows every time, but I kipped and got my knees pretty close to my elbows, which is some serious progress and so much harder than the Knee Raises I’ve been doing for the past several weeks now. All of a sudden Knees to Elbows just clicked, and it was awesome.

Knees to Elbows? Say what? Here’s a video to show ya what they’re all about:

For the rest of the WOD, I managed Level 1 exercises: Deadlifts (95 pounds), Box Jumps (20″) and 2 x Single Unders for the Double Unders. Hey, I’ll take it. I’m just happy about my (nearly legit) Knees to Elbows!

Fun event tonight! Need to get ready.

Enjoy the evening, friends!

Almost two years ago, I wrote a post called I Bet You Didn’t Know where I told you guy some things about myself that I didn’t think you knew. It was a fun post, so I decided to bring in back this morning.

I bet you didn’t know…

I’m weirdly obsessed with having cleans sheets on our bed. This, of course, is somewhat problematic when a dog sleeps in it almost every night. I just don’t sleep well if I think the sheets are dirty, so I’m constantly changing them. Usually, twice a week.

I use Old Spice deodorant. A few years ago, I borrowed Mal’s Old Spice deodorant, and I’ve used it ever since. Obviously, it works well and keeps me dry, but what got me hooked is that it actually “goes on clear” unlike those women’s antiperspirants that claim they do. You can wear a black tank top and apply this stuff liberally!

I won’t do a triathlon. I’m always looking for a new fitness challenge, but it won’t be a triathlon. I’m afraid of open water and can’t swim very well, so I have no desire to do one anytime soon.

I’ve seen over twenty Dave Matthews Band concerts. My friends and I were sort of obsessed with DMB in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, so we went to a lot of shows. During my freshman year of college, we even traveled all over the East coast following the band around on tour. I actually met Dave Matthews after a show in Philly.

I was in a sorority. I wasn’t planning to rush a sorority at all (come on, me in a sorority… um, no thanks), but my freshman year roommate wanted to, so she paid for my registration so I’d go with her. It turns out sorority girls are actually nice and down-to-earth and not big bitches like I thought they’d be! Haha! FYI: I’m a Gamma Phi Beta.

Breakfast

For breakfast, I rocked the “Oatmeal” Minus the Oats, but instead of using a ripe banana, I added 1/2 cup of fresh blueberries. It turned out pretty well, but the banana definitely makes it more creamy. I also added two scoops of almond butter to the mix.

And drank a glass of  iced coffee with soy milk.

Question of the Day

What are some of your “I Bet You Didn’t Knows”?

P.S. Remember that cool BOSU Ballast Ball giveaway that I hosted last week? Well, OpenSky is offering a deal on them today!

Another reason why I love CrossFit: You never know what to expect!

Last night’s workout involved sandbags. That’s right, 35-pound bags filled with sand. And what did we do with them, you ask? Ran with them on our shoulders. Obviously.

It’s never a dull day at CrossFit!

WOD:

“G.I. JOE”

400 meter Sandbag Run 35#

20 Toes to Bar

20 Overhead Squats (95, 65)

200 meter Sandbag Run

100 Double Unders

200 meter Sandbag Run

20 Overhead Squats

20 Toes to Bar

400 Meter Sandbag Run

This workout looks a lot harder than it actually was. I also wussed-out on the Overhead Squats and only did 35-pounds. My shoulders and upper back were still super sore from the previous day’s workout (damn Wall-Climbs!), so I didn’t want to wobble all over the place trying to do the Overhead Squats. I’d much rather have good form than try to muscle through a weight that my body just can’t handle, especially if it puts me at risk for injury.

The WOD flew by (so fun!), and I finished in 14:45. I also finished totally covered in sand! Apparently, my bag was leaking a little bit. Ha!

Dinner

Last night’s dinner was really something special. Holy yum. The recipe is part of a special project with Whole Foods, so I can’t reveal the exact details quite yet, but I will soon!

After dinner, I enjoyed a couple of chocolate chip cookies from the frozen stash in our freezer. Mal ate three; I ate two.

Last night, while watching TV, I randomly stumbled upon an episode of Wipeout. If you’ve never seen the show, it’s basically an obstacle course competition, but the obstacles are crazy!

Clearly, Wipeout looks like a lot of fun, but, of course, it’s also a potentially dangerous (and even deadly) game. Even still, I found myself on the Wipeout casting website last night checking out how to get onto the show. (FYI: There’s an open casting at the ESPN Zone Anaheim in Downtown Disney on February 11th!) I never actually filled out the Wipeout form to apply online. As much as I love crazy stuff like this and know I’d probably have a blast if I got on the show, I can’t help but think there’s still a chance I might get hurt.

Question of the Day

If the opportunity presented itself, would you do Wipeout?

I want to keep track of my favorites posts from the year, so here are my top 12 from January. Enjoy!  

How I Chose My Protein Powder

I swear there are some mornings that my iced coffee tastes better than others. Today was one of those days. Holy yum! Cold, creamy goodness in a glass. Hey, sometimes, it’s the little things in life… Breakfast Along with my iced coffee, I enjoyed a Coconut Protein Pancake.

Apple Crisp Light

Remember my mom’s recipe for Apple Crisp? It’s seriously delicious and one of my favorite desserts ever, but, sadly, it’s not at all healthy. I mean, there’s a cup of sugar and a full stick of butter in it.

“Oatmeal” Minus the Oats

Last night, within minutes, I received two emails from readers asking very similar questions about breakfast and protein: I’m so sorry to say that I just don’t like oatmeal. You’re so creative with it and i know it is a great source of protein but I just can’t get into it.

Running + CrossFit: A Match Made In Heaven?

Now that I’ve been doing CrossFit for almost a month, I’ve noticed that it really interferes with my running— not really my motivation to run, but my physical ability to actually do it. Typically, I’m too exhausted to run after a CrossFit workout, so I try to run before, but, sometimes, my body is just too exhausted.

Bob Harper on CrossFit, The Biggest Loser & His Last Meal on Earth

Awhile back, Quaker Oats invited me to participate in a conference call with Bob Harper along with a few other bloggers. The call was scheduled on the same day as the NASM Live Workshop, so I wasn’t able to attend, but Quaker folks kindly offered to coordinate a one-on-one email interview with Bob.

NASM Certified Personal Trainer Q & A

Hi, guys! Look what arrived in the mail this afternoon! My NASM Certified Personal Trainer certificate! Woohoo! I figured receiving my certificate in the mail today was a sign that I should probably reply to your questions about NASM, so here’s a little Q & A.

Lunch with Ellie Krieger

Hi, guys! I just got back from having lunch with Ellie Krieger. No big deal. Lunch This afternoon, Kris, Karen, and I met Ellie at Cookshop for lunch. (Kris and Karen are the PR folks from the California Grapes Commission.) Cookshop was a great spot for lunch.

How I Started Running

Good morning! Check out last night’s Workout of the Day: Hmm… Surprise WOD? I should have known then that it was going to be a killer workout! (Our coaches didn’t post the WOD because they thought people wouldn’t come if they saw it ahead of time! Ha!)

How Much Exercise Is Too Much?

Yowsahs. Last night’s WOD was another killer CrossFit workout! Two days in a row of tough workouts, and I’m spent. Today is most definitely a rest day. Check out last night’s WOD: Strength: Overhead Squat 5-5-5 WOD: “Helen’s Ugly Cousin” 15 Minutes As Many Rounds As Possible of: 400 meter run 21 Sumo Dead Lift High.

Mostly We Don’t Remember The Days; We Remember The Moments

It’s never a dull day in the Haupert house! I live with the two biggest clowns ever. So, I haven’t been totally truthful with you guys about my life lately. Not because I have something to hide, but after my ex passed away last summer, I’ve been hesitant to share the really personal details of my life.

Mohegan Sun WineFest ’12

Wow! What an event! I’ve attended all sorts of wine tastings over the years, but nothing like Mohegan’s Sun WineFest! Featuring beer, wine, specialty spirits and delectable dishes this weekend extravaganza has something for everyone. Wine and beer enthusiasts can select from over 1,000 brands or enjoy tastings of specialty sponsor spirits.

At-Home and Budget-Friendly CrossFit Ideas

In the past several weeks, I’ve received a ton of questions from you guys asking for cheaper and at-home ideas for CrossFit. It seems that quite a few of you want to try it, but don’t live near a CrossFit location and/or don’t have the funds to afford a membership.

What a weekend! I still can’t believe how quickly it fly by. Hey, time flies when you’re having fun! In cased you missed my adventures, here are my Mohegan Sun recaps from the weekend.

After all of that boozing on Saturday, the four of us woke up on Sunday morning ready for a healthy start. We grabbed breakfast at the Seasons Buffet and then drove to nearby Mystic, Connecticut to walk around, explore, and enjoy lunch.

Breakfast

Anne and I were starving when we woke up, so, as soon as we arrived at the buffet, we loaded up our plates with fresh fruit and chowed down while we waited in the omelet line. Check out this fruit rind carnage!

For breakfast, I went with a veggie + bacon omelet with a side of smoked salmon (hooray for omega-3’s) and some more fresh fruit.

On my way out of the buffet, I grabbed a waffle stick because they just looked so darn delicious—and it really was! It sort of reminded me a churro. Mmm!

After breakfast, we packed up our things, checked out of the hotel, and drove about 20 minutes away to The Museum of America and the Sea at the Mystic Seaport. It’s the first touristy thing we saw in Mystic (and it had a big parking lot), so we went to explore.

Sadly, the museum was closed, so we used the opportunity to snap some photos and check out the nearby gift shop.

Before leaving the gift shop, we asked the woman working there for some recommendations for coffee and lunch. She suggested two great places: Lis Bake Shop and Oyster Club.

The museum and gift shop were about a 15-minute walk from downtown Mystic, so we decided to hoof it and get a little exercise in for the day. First stop: Lis Bake Shop, an adorable little bakery with all sorts of delicious-looking pastries, cupcakes, bagels, muffins, and other goodies as well as a variety of espresso drinks, coffee, and tea.

It was so cute inside!

So true.

I ordered a hot coffee with a shot of pumpkin syrup. The first several sips were absolutely amazing, but the intense sweetness eventually started to upset my stomach, so I only drank about half of it.

In downtown Mystic, we did a little window shopping and then stopped by the famous Mystic Pizza that the popular 80’s movie is based off. Cool!

Lunch

We enjoyed lunch at Oyster Club, a “casual fine dining restaurant” that just screams New England. The restaurant has a warm and fuzzy country-chic feel with beautiful dark wood and lots of sunshine from its large windows. It was adorable both inside and out.

The menu features local and seasonal farm- (and sea) -to-table foods, which determine the day’s dishes.

We started with freshly baked bread, warm from the oven, with salted butter.

I ordered the turkey burger with roasted apples, cheddar, honey mustard aioli and house made turkey bacon. It was served with a green salad. It was so tasty and the combination of toppings knocked my socks off. I actually couldn’t stop talking about the honey mustard aioli. Holy yum!

After lunch, I dropped Ashley and Theodora off at the train station and then brought Anne to the airport in Boston. I’m not going to lie, it was a little sad saying goodbye to my friends after such a fun-filled weekend. Perhaps we’ll have to do it again sooner than later!

Wow! What an event! I’ve attended all sorts of wine tastings over the years, but nothing like Mohegan’s Sun WineFest!

Featuring beer, wine, specialty spirits and delectable dishes this weekend extravaganza has something for everyone. Wine and beer enthusiasts can select from over 1,000 brands or enjoy tastings of specialty sponsor spirits. Foodies can sample signature dishes from the region’s most highly rated restaurants. The Main Culinary Stage is the backdrop for two days of celebrity chef demonstrations, including Food Network stars Bobby Flay, Iron Chef Marc Forgione, Donatella Arpaia and Robert Irvine, along with fun-filled contests – Mohegan Sun WineFest Grape Stomp presented by Ciroc Ultra Premium Vodka and Oyster Open presented by Bud Light Lime. Throughout the weekend there is an impressive lineup of wine and beer experts hosting seminars intimate private-dining restaurant settings throughout Mohegan Sun.

The Grand Tasting was held at Mohegan’s Convention Center, so we didn’t need to travel far.

We walked right into the event, grabbed a wine glass, and we were off!

The Grand Tasting was really crowded (shoulder to shoulder crowds in certain places), but we never waited more than a minute or two for a sample. There were THAT many wine exhibitors!

The afternoon started off innocently enough.

Lots of tastes and sips.

There were so many amazing wines to try, I knew I needed to pace myself if I wanted to survive the afternoon. My game plan: only drink the wines that I really enjoyed. If I didn’t like a wine after taking a couple of sips, I poured it out and went to find another one to try. This strategy is also known as “alcohol abuse” ended up working really well because I tried a ton of new wines, but I didn’t up totally hammered. I also drank a ridiculous amount of water throughout the afternoon, which helped too.

I discovered a bunch of new favorites (Valley of the Moon, Rombauer, and White Wedding from Sip & Give) and rediscovered some old favorites (Chateau Ste Michelle, La Crema, and Entwine), and I made sure to snap pictures of the bottles for future reference. The Chateau Ste Michelle Sauvignon Blanc is a MUST BUY ASAP for me. I loved it!

As the afternoon progressed, wine tasting got more and more fun!

After a few hours of tasting wine, it was time to try some beer! (Yep, this Winefest had plenty of beer too!)

Touchdown! Hooray for beer!

Clearly, some of us were super psyched about the beer part of the Grand Tasting. Beer me!

Beer highlights for me:

Blue Point Brewing Company. I love their Toasted Lager and Winter Ale.

Harpoon Brewery. Their Vermont Spruce Tip Ale (100 Barrel Series) was so delicious. FYI: One of the Harpoon reps told me that Catamount Maple Wheat is back in March! YESSSS!

Lagunitas Brewing Company. Duh. Best brewery ever. This brewery only makes good beer.

Hey, Theodora, nice Lagunitas Maximus.

The folks at the beer tasting were a lot of fun (I think everyone was feeling pretty good at this point in the afternoon), so we chatted with a bunch of random people.

Let’s just say, some were more fun than others! Haha!

Once the Grand Tasting ended, we did some drunk shopping (I bought $23 mascara from Sephora. WHY?!?) and then headed back to our hotel room for an epic game of “Never Have I Ever” and some more cocktails.

We had a dinner reservation for 10:00 PM at Bar Americain, but we were so famished, we ended up ordering a pizza to the room. (Quick tip: If you plan to dine at Mohegan after the WineFest, be sure to make a reservation well ahead of time. I called the week of the event and had trouble finding a table for four.)

I only ate a couple of snacks during the afternoon, so I housed four pieces of pizza and then passed out hard. Theodora and Anne rallied and hit the casino again, but Ashley and I called it a night. Sadly, I can’t party like I used to. #iamold

Many thanks to Mohegan for inviting us to Sun Winefest and comping our tickets and hotel stay. And, of course, a HUGE thanks to Anne, Ashley, and Theodora for a fabulous girls’ weekend! I already miss you guys!

A girls’ weekend with four runners = morning run! Yay!

The four of us set our alarms and woke up bright and early to get our run on around the Mohegan Sun grounds this morning.

Unfortunately, there weren’t any actual trails around Mohegan, so we stuck to the roads as well as a few random large parking lots and a landfill.

The weather was beautiful (cool, but sunny) and we enjoyed a really nice 5.6 mile run.

Hello, my name is Tina. I wear my Spibelt extra high. I also do CrossFit, so check out my huge muscles. Did you know I can climb ropes?

Snack

Before our run, I snacked on some Fig Newtons that I bought at a convenience store at Mohegan. I needed a little something in my stomach before running.

Breakfast

After our run, we headed straight to breakfast at the Seasons Buffet. (A complimentary breakfast is included with our media passes.)

I was in the mood for eggs, so I hit up the omelet station.

I got all sorts of veggies and bacon in my omelet. The bacon was a GREAT decision. I also grabbed some fresh fruit to add to my plate.

As well as a side of oatmeal with a few raisins on top.

Now, we’re having a quick blogging session before the grand wine tasting. Ooooh, boy!! I can’t wait!

Hi, guys!

Say hello to my special visitor: Anne!! I picked her up from the airport yesterday afternoon and, of course, we needed to make at stop at Marylou’s for delicious, dessert-like iced coffees. I got Anne hooked on Marylou’s the last time she visited me.

Before we hit up Marylou’s, Anne and I headed to Whole Foods for lunch. It was way past both of our lunchtimes, so we were starving! On the menu: salad + hot bar + club soda.

After lunch and a quick pit stop at Marylou’s, we hit the road to drive down to Mohegan Sun to meet Theodora and Ashley for the weekend. Our friends at Mohegan invited us to enjoy complimentary hotel stay and tickets to their Sun Winefest. Hello, girls’ weekend! Naturally, it started with champagne.

Dinner

For dinner, the four of us headed to BALLO for dinner. I loved it so much the last time I dined there, I wanted to take the my friends to see what its awesomeness was all about.

To start, we ordered a bottle of Pio Cesare Arneis, which was the same bottle of wine that Mal and I liked so much when we dined at BALLO.

The four of us also shared a bunch of dishes: meatballs.

Fried artichokes.

BRUSSELS SPROUTS!

OMG, love these!

And a sausage pizza.

I was so hungry, everything tasted especially amazing last night.

More adventures to come! Stay tuned!

Hi, guys!

I just got back from having lunch with Ellie Krieger. No big deal.

Lunch

This afternoon, Kris, Karen, and I met Ellie at Cookshop for lunch. (Kris and Karen are the PR folks from the California Grapes Commission.)

Cookshop was a great spot for lunch. The restaurant itself was open and bright with clean lines and simple, colorful décor. The menu was creative, interesting, and featured many seasonal and sustainable ingredients.

When Ellie arrived, the four of us chatted for awhile before we placed our orders for lunch. Ellie was so friendly, well-spoken, and down-to-earth. She seemed like a regular person—not a famous television host and cookbook author. As cheesy as this may sound, chatting with her was like talking to a friend. She’s also really pretty in person!

Fun facts about Ellie:

• She’s an optimist.
• She once witnessed a wildebeest birth in the wild.
• There’s a photo of her NYC kitchen in this month’s issue of Better Homes & Gardens.
• Her newest cookbook was published in October.
• She read my blog this morning and said she liked it!

For lunch, I ordered the Chicken Breast Salad, which was served with green and red cabbage, carrots, celery root, toasted walnuts, and dried cranberries with a sherry vinaigrette. I didn’t totally love the salad part of my meal (it was a little bland), but the chicken was absolutely amazing. So yum! I’m actually really picky about chicken, so I was happy that this piece was cooked so well. It was incredibly tender and flavorful. It was actually the best chicken breast I can remember eating in a long time. 

After lunch, I enjoyed a salted caramel (from Kris).

And a soy cappuccino. (Two espresso drinks in four hours = I’m buzzing!)

Breakfast

For breakfast, Kris, Karen, and I headed down to Chelsea Market. It’s been years since I’ve been there, so I was excited to visit this morning. A lot has changed!

First stop: Ninth Street Espresso!

I ordered a soy latte, which was outstanding! It was so creamy, so bold, and, oh, so delicious. I was actually sort of sad when I took my final sip. I didn’t want it to end!

With lattes in hand, we headed to Amy’s Bread to find some eats.

We ended up sharing a smorgasborg of pastries among the three of us. We had a croissant, Applesauce Doughnut, Almond Brioche Toast, and an Oat Scone with raisins and walnuts. I liked all of them, but my favorite by far was the Almond Brioche Toast. Holy yum! It was thick and sweet with crunchy slivered almonds on top. I actually wish I had another piece to eat right now. I wonder if I could make it at home? I need to Google it!

I have a little downtime before dinner, so I’m going to get ready and pack up my things to head back to Boston in the morning. I can’t believe how quickly this trip flew by! You know what they say!