Let me start by saying that I LOVE blogger meet ups!
I hung out with the fabulous Mae all day yesterday! She is the sweetest girl in the world!! More on that in a bit.
First, I need to tell you about this pizza:
This pizza was the highlight of Friday’s eats and I ate it all myself…
JUST KIDDING! It was so good though. I seriously could have! Jeff and I decided to order out on Friday night for dinner. My half was topped with fresh tomatoes and garlic. I had two slices. The pizza place by my apartment makes the best pizza. The tomato and garlic combination is my favorite.
On Saturday Morning, I woke up at 4:50 a.m. without an alarm. I decided to be crazy and stood on my balcony for almost two hours watching dark turn into light. Then, I went inside and wrote a paper about it for one of my classes. I love the quiet of morning.
I walked to the gym and spent some time on the elliptical, crossramp, and treadmill. I only ran a little over a mile on the treadmill because I’m still not feeling great.
I’m going to skip over most of Saturday’s eats and get to the good part. My parents came up to visit and we went to Buca di Beppo for dinner.
I love this picture on the wall:
And the wine bottles on the ceiling:
We ordered the Apple Gorgonzola Salad to start.
From the menu: Tart Granny Smith Apples, Spiced Walnuts, Dried Cranberries and Gorgonzola Cheese tossed with our Fresh Lettuce blend in our Signature Italian Vinaigrette.
Buca di Beppo is a family-style restaurant which means you order a couple things and everybody shares. The salad above was a small. I can’t even imagine what a large looks like! We shared it between the four of us and still had some leftover!
Jeff and I shared a small order of the Eggplant Parmigiana for our entree.
(I forgot to take a picture of the whole plate before I dug in..oops! I was excited!)
Breaded and Fried Eggplant Slices topped with Marinara, Fresh Tomatoes, Basil and Mozzarella, then baked to golden perfection.
It was delicious! My parents ordered the Quattro al Forno: Four of our favorite baked pastas. Enjoy generous portions of Cheese Manicotti, Chicken Cannelloni, Baked Ravioli and Stuffed Shells. I tried the cheese ravioli and it was awesome!
For dessert, I had half of a Chocolate Chip Cannoli.
Am I crazy? Doesn’t that look like Snoopy?
Overall, it was a fabulous dinner and Jeff and I had lots of eggplant to take home!
Sunday morning started with level 2 of the 30 day shred and 30 minutes of yoga. I had a bowl of banana oats early in the morning for breakfast
I had big plans to meet Mae at Uncommon Grounds at 1 pm for lunch.
I ordered a sundried tomato bagel with veggies and hummus.
tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, lettuce, and sprouts
And, of course, iced coffee with vanilla and soy milk in my fabulous Uncommon Grounds travel mug!
Twas a fabulous lunch!
Afterward, I took Mae to the Honest Weight Food Co-op where she died a little. While there, Mae educated me on the usefulness of toasted wheat germ and the difference between Grade A and B Maple Syrup. We both failed at getting sunflower seed butter into containers and got it all over the place instead. Mae failed a little more when she dropped her container into the tub of sunflower butter. I bought a big container of plain yogurt and a bag of wheat bran to make BRANana Bread; a recipe my mom gave me that I’m very excited to make.
Mae and I had an awesome Sunday together and I can’t wait to hang out with her again!!
Last night, I had leftover eggplant parmigiana. I’ll spare you the repeat picture.
How long do you spend grocery shopping?
I like to stare at everything. Mae and I easily spent 2 hours at the co-op.
Have a great Monday!
Yesterday, I think we spent 2 1/2 hours between Trader Joe’s, Stop & Shop, and WF. And I thought that was quick!
I can’t thank you enough for introducing me to the wonders of Honest Weight!! Have you tried your sunflower seed butter yet? I had it on oats and I’m officially obsessed!
I totally see Snoppy in the cannoli. You’re not crazy! Bucca cracks me up. That picture is hilarious and I die every time I see the fountain by the bathroom. Haha and the pope head on the table!! It’s a good time!
I can’t wait to do it again ASAP!
While talking to Aunt Francine over the weekend, I mentioned we went to Buca De Beppo and she said “Oh, yeah, did they walk you through the kitchen?” They love their California branch.
Blogger meetups are the best! It’s like finding a best friend instantly
Love all that wine on the ceiling.
Depends where I am … the smaller the grocery store, usually the longer I spend in it because it typically has more specialty items. I spend as little time as possible in the box stores, and then about 45 minutes in very small specialty stores looking at EVERYTHING!
WHen I have the time I love to meander the stores for hours. If I’m in a hurry I take a list and don’t go anywhere but directly to the items.
I loved the co-op because it was the first place I tried carob chips. Delicious!
Wowww you got up early…. but I bet it was such a beautiful experience!
Oh, the joy that is food shopping! Glad you girls had a fun time!
I love that photo hanging on Buca di Beppo’s wall. So lady-like. That sundried tomato bagel looks AWESOME. I can’t believe you have all these amazing places to eat in Albany. (This was in Albany, right?)