Celebratory Quiz

Today is a momentous day for Girl Emerging -- today marks 100 posts!!

Though I should probably impart some words of wisdom or some pithy health factoid, I'm going to share with you a bit more about me in quiz form, borrowed from Parita:

Coke or Pepsi? Neither! I don't do soda hardly ever anymore. Given the rare opportunity, regular Coke is a huge weakness of mine!

Lemonade or Fruit Punch? Mmm freshly-made or -squeezed lemonade any day.

Caramel Apple or Cotton Candy? Cotton candy, hands down. Reminds me of the State Fair of VA.

Butterfinger or Snicker's? Oooh, this is a toughie... I'll have to say Butterfinger. Especially in a Blizzard ;)

Pudding or Jell-O? I've never been much of a pudding person, but I could eat my weight in Jell-O!

Turkey or Chicken? From 2003 until the beginning of 2012, I was strictly a pescetarian with mostly vegetarian tendencies. Pre-2003, I preferred chicken over turkey; I always liked the dark turkey meat at Thanksgiving but light chicken meat. I suppose now my preference is chicken, though I don't know whether I've had turkey since the dietary switch.

American or Provolone Cheese? Neither -- Swiss for me! Gouda, if I'm in the mood for something a little more smokey and flavorful.

Cookies or Crackers? I could answer this question with a paragraph or two, but I think the short answer is cookies.

Pretzels or Chips? Chips, chips, chips!

Mexican food or Japanese food? Ohhh my, Mexican.

Chinese food or Italian food? I literally cannot choose between the two of these. Seriously. I mean, how many times have I mentioned how much I love P.F. Chang's and Olive Garden? Though both are very Americanized...

Pie or Cake? Generally, cake takes the cake.

Ice Cream or Cookies? I scream, you scream, I scream again for ice cream!

Pasta or Pizza? Hmmm... I think I have to go with pizza.

Soda or Juice? Another toughie... though I don't drink soda hardly ever anymore, I still love it. But, I do have a soft spot for fresh pineapple and orange juices.

Chocolate Bars or Chocolate Truffles? The fancier and more decadent, the better!

Apples or Bananas? Bananas are wayyy more versatile. Though they absolutely must still be 50% green.

Salad or Soup? Salad, all day, every day. I eat salad 4+ days a week, topped with lots and lots of veggies!

Cauliflower or Broccoli? Never in my life have I cared for cauliflower. I've always thought of it as "white broccoli," but I'm still not a fan.

Onion Rings or French Fries? Yet another toss-up. I suppose if I could only have one for the rest of my life, I'd choose... both. Okay, I guess fries.

Blizzard or McFlurry? DQ tends to have better toppings than Mickey D's, so I suppose that sways my vote. Honestly, though, the ice cream at McDonald's is better. I'd take Cake Batter froyo from Sweet Frog over either of these any old day ;)

Fried or Poached Eggs? I'm not sure if I've ever had poached eggs before... but I know I love a good fried egg. Don't forget the sauteed onions!

Crepes or Pancakes? I haven't had too many opportunities to try crepes, but they sure are tasty. In my experience, they also tend to be more moist (my apologies to those who despise this word) than pancakes. Crepes for me!

Hashbrowns or Roasted Potatoes? Hashbrowns on top of hashbrowns. How wrong is it if I admit McDonald's are my favorite? A heart attack would be so worth it.

Oatmeal or Cereal? Hands down, my vote is for cereal. I've been on a Kashi kick for months, and there's no end in sight!

Now that you know a bit more about me as a foodie, I hope you'll respond to some of these questions and let me know your preferences :) Enjoy your Thursday!

P.S. A bit of irony for you -- after yesterday's post, it somehow happened that I played all 7 of my WWF tiles in one maneuver three separate times yesterday alone! That's a feat to be reckoned with, if you ask me ;)

A Date is a Date is a Date

Y'all... It doesn't matter how long you've been together -- a day, a month, a year, a decade. It's still entirely lovely when your man asks you out on a date. Ian and I have been together for precisely 2 years, 3 months, and 2 days. Barfy sappy much? Yesterday, he asked me out on an impromptu date as he was passin' through my neck of the woods on his way home today. He's had a craving for Chinese food, which isn't my cup of tea today (pun intended), but I definitely owe him a restaurant choice or five. He always lets me choose where we eat, and it usually ends up being Olive Garden, Red Lobster, or P.F. Chang's (surprise, surprise). If I had it my way, I'd have all my meals catered by these restaurants, and I'd eat out at The Melting Pot at least once a week... Oops, I'm drooling again, and my cholesterol is skyrocketing just by writing about it...

My point is, if your man asks you out on a date, it's a date. I don't know about you, but I love to get all snazzy for a date. Sure, we've seen each other a million times, and no one else will notice my slightly chipped toenail polish or that I have another new black dress. But he will.

Please pardon what appear to be, but I can attest are not, cankles.

We have a couple of date guidelines we implemented a long time ago. They're not rules; they're flexible, and we created them to benefit our relationship as a whole:

(1) I don't expect him to pay for everything just because he's the guy. Going halfsies or dutch has become our style, and we like it. We both like to treat the other every once in awhile, but we're perfectly okay with costs being equal or separate.

(2) The use of coupons and gift certificates on dates is more than acceptable. Ian's parents graciously send him gift cards to restaurants at least once a month, and he almost always saves them for our dates. Once, between a gift certificate, a promotion, and a coupon, we each ate a three-course dinner at Olive Garden for $2.39 total! What's the cents in paying full price? ;)

(3) Because we have a somewhat long-distance relationship, we try to make costs balance out. For instance, whomever drives to visit the other one does not need to use his own car during the stay. That part balances itself anyway -- Ian's Explorer is a gas demon but it's spacious, while he can barely fold his football player frame into my little sporty baby, which gets excellent gas mileage.

(4) We try to consider the other when it comes to making restaurant choices. When I visit him in Farmville, our choices are pretty much limited to B-Dubs, Applebee's, Ruby Tuesday, and for special pay-out-the-ass occasions, Charley's Waterfront Cafe. When he visits me here, the sky is the limit... except for my previous vegetarianism. Guilty as charged when it comes down to actually being the chooser of the location, though.

(5) We determine before we go out whether we'll be drinking so the same person doesn't always end up chauffeuring or paying a high liquor tab. Those babies can really add up!

Today, because neither of us could make a decision, we ended up choosing something middle-of-the-road (literally) and dining at a really nice Friday's. I accidentally gorged myself on crispy green beans, Cajun chicken and shrimp pasta, and vanilla bean cheesecake. You can't beat three delicious courses for $16.99, though my body is vehemently protesting fried food, spicy creamy sauce, and so much richness. It's been 3 hours since lunch, and I'm still bursting. I even have a ready-made dinner! But what a wonderful date it was :) And to top it off, Ian brought me this nerdy gift from the chemistry conference he just returned from attending in Orlando:

Simultaneously the coolest and dorkiest coffee mug I've ever seen!

P.S. Do you have any dating guidelines you and yours use? Do you have any date traditions unique to the two of you?

I Was Sooo Good!

"But... I was doing so well!"

Do you ever find yourself saying those ridiculously useless words? I know I do. I'll be having an excellent, healthy week, and then BUMP right into a caloric Friday night.

Thursday's breakfast consisted of an omelette with sauteed onions and a slice of Swiss (which I recently read is one of the lowest-fat cheeses out there), 3 pieces of veggie bacon, a piece of Whole Foods Sweet & Crunchy bread with orange marmalade, Dunkin with a splash of creamer and fat-free half-and-half, and a pomegranate Chobani. Lunch--because I was a bit off my game yesterday--was a handful of fresh blueberries and a fruit and nut granola bar at 4:00. I sat down for dinner quite late (8:30, to be more precise), and I was certainly glad I had planned and set out my meal: low-sodium Sensibly Seasoned turnip greens with vinegar, and spaghetti with sauteed onions and shiitake mushrooms, fresh organic basil, and Smart Sauce.

What's so bad about Thursday? Well, not much.

All week, I've been unnaturally very, very excited for Girls' Night Out at Olive Garden (my Eden) with Jennifer and Kristin tonight!

Doesn't Kristin look like she got caught doing something she wasn't supposed to be?

I completed day 5 of my 5K training plan this morning, and I felt excellent for two reasons: (1) I worked out 6 consecutive days, which never happens for me, and (2) I was pretty pumped to set an alarm on a Friday and hit the treadmill! Okay, okay, my third reason for being so elated is that I'm almost finished with my first full week of training, and I'm loving it! A celebration was in order ;)

Breakfast this morning was a tough decision between oats with brown sugar, almond slices, flax seeds, and granola, or Kashi with flax seeds and Truvia... I was all out of fresh berries, but that didn't stop this Happy Train.

I ended up going with the Kashi, partially because I need to be using my milk before it expires.

 Now, on to my O.G. overload...

This was how we felt before our scrumptious meal:

A few things to point out -- One, we were on the hunt for the three-course dinner for $12.95 we had seen advertised on TV. Soup or salad and unlimited breadsticks, your choice of entree from a selection of five, and your choice of dessert shooter from a selection of five. Between the 3 of us, I think we did serious damage to 4 bowls of salad. It all sounds like a great deal fiscally, but I may not eat again until next week! Much to my own surprise, I ordered a chicken dish; much to my delight, it was quite tasty!

Oh, and let's not forget the pitcher of wildberry sangria Kristin ordered, and the Quartinos of Roscato Jennifer and I got...

This is a bit more along the lines of how we were feeling after 2.5 hilarious hours at O.G., though truly I have no complaints:

I'm not sure Jennifer knew how to feel, so she went with a combo.

My point in this post is that a less-than-healthy meal doesn't necessarily derail your entire healthy week. However, like my good (real life) friend Colleen says, "Have a cheat MEAL, not a cheat DAY... having a whole DAY of cheats can easily undo a lot of the hard work that I put in earlier in the week."

I see the difference, and I hope this makes sense to you, too. I don't feel derailed, and now I'll be more inspired to purchase tasty, healthy goods when I grocery shop tomorrow :) My meals will include foods that are lean, mean, and definitely green!

I hope your Friday was spent with good company, good food, and a good time. Ta ta!

P.S. What's your favorite indulgent restaurant? I have a really hard time resisting Olive Garden and P.F. Chang's and, in fact, I usually don't resist!

P.P.S. Thanks for your tweets and texts yesterday. I'm glad some of you could empathize with my post. These blog and Twitter communities are so supportive, and for that, I thank you!

Bill-Bill and Jasmine Rice

Those two things actually have nothing in common.

I think people should consider themselves fortunate when they are blessed with godparents.

I consider myself exceptionally blessed, because Mike and Ruth saw fit to bless Caroline and me with not one, but two sets of godparents.

There's Iris and Bill-Bill, long-time friends of my parents from church; Iris passed away when I was still in high school, and Bill-Bill recently turned 90. They are both wonderful, wonderful people.

There's also Dave, my dad's frat bro from University of Richmond, and his wife, Kathy. We get together with them and their kids, our "godsiblings," as we have so fondly dubbed them, all the time. Mallory is 22 and Taylor is 26.

Last night, my parents and Caroline and I made dinner and brought it to eat with Bill-Bill at his house. He lives with his sweet puppy, Lucky.

We had vegetable soup, French bread, tossed salad with Olive Garden dressing (my absolute weakness), a winter berry fruit salad, cheese and whole wheat crackers, sugar-free and fat-free chocolate pie, and iced tea -- a specially prepared low-cal, low-fat, low-sodium meal all around, and quite delicious! I didn't get to snap a pic because everyone's tummies were rumbling, but props to Ruth for such a fantastic and considerate meal.

This is a horrible picture (of me) with Caroline and Bill-Bill last year celebrating my birthday at Brio Tuscan Grille.

I'm thankful to have people like Bill-Bill, Kathy, and Dave in my life. I was getting sleepy in Bill-Bill's very warm house, but I was trying to savor the time we had together, reminiscing and looking at photo albums. After Caroline and I go back to school, we don't know when we'll see him again.

Now, about that jasmine rice...

Tuesday night, my parents decided it would be a prime night for steamed snow king crab legs, yellow corn, spiced turnip greens, rice, and applesauce. I was like, hell yeah! I don't think I've ever turned down crab legs.

Our family typically tries to eat low-sodium, low-fat, low-sugar dishes. Diabetes and high cholesterol run in the family, so we like to aim for dark greens, fresh as opposed to processed foods, and very little red meat (or in my case, none).

I decided I wanted to experiment with jasmine rice. I keep reading about it on Twitter, and I was curious. I wasn't disappointed, but I found it to taste almost exactly like plain white rice. Caroline added a pinch of garlic powder to hers, and she said it was quite good.

If you're a rice connoisseur or if you just happen to know secrets for how to spice up (not necessarily literally) rice dishes, I'd love to pick your brain!

Well, I'm off to Roanoke for the weekend to visit Ian! I'm still new at this whole blogging thing, but I'll do my best from a foreign location :)