A Lesson in Soap

August 22, 2012 by 4 Comments

Have you ever been scammed, knew you were being scammed, and just went along with it because you were too surprised/confused/sleep deprived to do anything about it?

Well, I have. Because I’m an idiot.

This all went down about 6am this morning. We don’t have Internet set up at our new apartment yet, and most likely won’t until we get back from Israel. Since my early morning ways tend to wake up The Fella (read: drive him crazy), I decided to take myself and my laptop to Starbucks and get a little work done.

On the way there, a guy asked me if I would buy him a bar of soap.

Soap!

If someone needs soap, who am I to deprive them?

He started telling me this tall tale about being released from prison this morning and the halfway house he’s staying at not having basic necessities and him not having money to buy soap.

You may be thinking, Kim, why are you talking to a man who was released from prison this morning?

And I would say, because deep down in my heart of cynical hearts there sis a Pollyanna type voice that says that everyone deserves a second chance, everyone makes mistakes, and everyone needs soap.

Yeah. Because I’m an idiot.

As we walk through the aisles of the drug store he picks up more than soap: detergent, toothbrushes (plural), toothpastes (plural), soaps (12 bars), a giant bottle of lotion, all while asking me if I’m pregnant!

At this point I realize I’m being scammed and told that I’m fat, and yet I don’t stop him. We go to the register where I realize this guy knows all the most expensive products in the store. The bill comes out to $75!

I tell him no (Yay), he says he’ll just take some of the things. I ended up spending $40 on toiletries for a conman. But I kept the receipt so he couldn’t return them for cash.

So, the lesson I learned today is that I’m fat and gullible.

Have you ever been conned? Scammed? Swindled?

 

 

Breakfast

Soy Latte

It was early, I felt stupid, and I forgot to take a picture.

Imagine a latte here.

Lunch


Salad with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, onion, kalamata olives, eggs

Half a sandwich with hummus, egg, grilled eggplant, pickles and tomato

Dinner


Tonight was my first solo night in the apartment, as The Fella was out having a boys night. Since we are still waiting for our new refrigerator to be delivered, it looks like I’m still the queen of delivery. I paused my unpacking efforts long enough to have some tofu and broccoli (with a side of free with purchase diet coke)

Exercise: Until further notice, exercise will consist of unpacking and running up and down the stairs all day.

Kim

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Weekend in Review: Wine and Ikea

July 23, 2012 by 2 Comments

In what will most likely be my last non-working weekend until the end of August, I decided to get sh-t done.  That includes drinking wine and touring the vineyards of Long Island’s Northfork.

I grew up on Long Island, and as a kid I couldn’t think of a darn nice thing to say about it. I was basically biding my time waiting for the first opportunity to leave the suburbs for city-living.  Now that I’m an adult I think I’m able to see a bit more of its charm.  For instance, it really is a beautiful bit of land, and no matter where you are you’re never more than 10-minutes from the water. In addition to beautiful beaches, the Island is home to farms of all varieties and in the summer is a great place to buy farmstand produce.     Oh yeah, and there are a bunch of vineyards.  Beautiful spances of grapes for as far as the eye can see.  

My aunt and I signed up for a Long Island Winery tour months ago, and even then I was a little anxious about the timing. But honestly, if there has ever been a time that I needed a drink, it’s now.  So, of we went to sip New York’s finest chardonnays and cabernets and we learned a bit about wine making in the process.

I was particularly impressed with one vineyard, Comtesse Thérèse.  The vineyard was started by Therese Dilworth, an attorney by trade, and two friends, making it Long Island’s first woman owned winery.  We were given a tour by her husband, Sammy Shimura, a former steel executive turned farmer who is also a certified sommelier.  He was really a delight to learn from and he took the time to tell us all about the animals that lived around the vineyard.  A fox he referred to as “his friend” and the birds that are “his enemy” except the “cute ones.”  The cute ones consisted of the birds that built little nests among the vineyards leaves.

It was so obvious that everyone involved in the Comtesse Thérèse vineyard really loved their wine and it was evident in every sip. 

I stocked up on bottles for my new apartment, and when Roy and I went to IKEA on Sunday to pick out furniture, I made sure we got a wine rack!

OH MY IKEA!  I have never loved and hated the same place so much.   The Fella and I bought IKEA, all of it.  There is none left for you.  Sorry.

It took SEVEN hours for us to negotiate our way through each room of our apartment (thank goodness it’s only a one-bedroom apartment, I don’t know what we’ll do if we ever have a house one day).

In between fighting about mattress firmness levels (I won), we debated the calorie burn involved in seven hours of shopping.  According to Livestrong.com, we burned about 1160 calories.  We both agreed that 1160 seemed like an awfully high number for strolling, standing, and sitting on model furniture.  I’m guessing it was more like 400.  Still, not a bad burn, and my wallet feels sooooo much lighter.

Afterward we rewarded ourselves with a romantic dinner on one of Long Island’s beautiful beaches.

I guess my hometown’s not so bad afterall ;)

 

Kim

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Ain’t no Fashionista

September 14, 2010 by 7 Comments

I definitely don’t want that skirt, it ate half her leg!

I have an ex-boyfriend who used to talk about how attracted he was to mannequins.  We used to pass stores and he would say, “That mannequin is really hot.”  I generally try to avoid talking smack about exes, but that’s weird, right?  They don’t even have heads.  And, they’re not real.

I’ve been thinking a lot about style recently, in part thanks to my new writing gig, in part thanks to a recent conversation I had with my friend Sarah.  Sarah is one of those people that has a style.  She rocks vintage wear like it’s still 1952 and always looks hip and darling.  I, on the other hand have always sort have been a mass market kind of girl.  I pretty much wear what Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, and the good folks at H&M tell me I should wear.

Over a drink last week Sarah asked me, “Who is your style icon?”

“My who?”

“Who has a style that you love and aspire to emulate?”

“I don’t know, I don’t really notice peoples’ clothes.”

“Well your homework is to go home and start researching movie stars and come up with an icon.”

I’ve been thinking about it a lot.  I’ve decided that if I have to have a style icon, I’d like to go with Grace Kelly.

Now, I consider myself a reasonably attractive young lady, but I’ll never be a “Grace Kelly.”  Having said that, I love how well coiffed she always is.  She’s conservative, but elegantly beautiful…and girl knew how to rock a dramatic neckline.

Sarah’s suggestion once I determined my style icon was to go through my closet accordingly and find the outfits that most eximplify my icon, and if nothing does go shopping!  Well I can’t afford a new wardrobe; I’m not about to die my hair blond, or most likely even cut it…but I think I may be getting a wee bit too old to be rocking the “Lazy Bohemian” look I’ve become so comfortable with.

Now that we’re halfway through the month, I’m adding a resolution to my list:

Coif.

Do you have a style icon?
Is this a new concept to anyone else?

Breakfast

Oatmeal with banana and almond butter

Green tea

Lunch

Sandwich: Ezekial bread, organic turkey & ham, mustard
apple

Snack

Oooh, I’m totally in love with the chocolate chip peanut butter bar!

Dinner

Trader Joe’s black bean and corn enchiladas over brown rice, w/avocado

Tonight was a running class night: 1.5 mile warm up, 2-mile speed interval, 1.5 mile “cool down.”


Kim

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Adventures in the Suburbs!

August 25, 2010 by 1 Comment

Today is my dad’s birthday!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY-O.  Thank you for being born!

Can you tell we're related?

Since I couldn’t be home today to celebrate with the family (silly being a grown-up with jobs and stuff), I visited the folks over the weekend.  Every year for my dad’s birthday, because he’s really hard to shop for, I take him and my mom out to a baseball game.  The Long Island Ducks are our team of choice.  There’s just something hokey and wholesome about minor league baseball that makes me happy.  While there I treat my dad to concessions and a new baseball hat.  Fun times are had by all.

Handsome guy, right?

Quacker Jack calling a play

While on “the Island” this weekend I went to a grocery store.  Suburban grocery stores never cease to amaze me.  Perhaps it’s the prices (so much lower than New York City), or the sheer size (how many aisles?), or perhaps it’s just the blatantly bizzaro food choices available to the masses in the suburbs.

I will admit that I live in a quasi-Yuppy neighborhood in Brooklyn.  If you were imagining me living a thugtastic inner-city life, I am sorry to disappoint you.  My ‘hood is basically Brownstones and baby-carriages. Our local grocery stores cater to that population.  Which is great for someone who is all sorts of health-centric, but I didn’t realize how sheltered I was when it came to the freezer aisle (blue french fries?).

I was strangely excited to see that Pepsi is now making “throw back” soda with real sugar.  My mom, who is a fan of soda, bought 4-cases.  I feel way better, for some reason, about her drinking soda made with sugar-sugar, as opposed to High Fructose Corn Syrup-sugar.  I did see another soda that caught my eye:

Now, I’m not a parent, but if I were that would be exactly the wrong marketing tactic to take with me.  “Chubby Kids Soda” does not denote the kind of lifestyle I would wish upon my offspring.  Also, since when did kids need their own soda?  Isn’t most soda marketed to kids?  Methinks there’s an advertising exec scratching their head somewhere wondering where things went wrong.

It’s not all cynicism, for the most part when I go grocery shopping in the burbs I’m in a food wonderland. One drawback of city living is limited options, and there are so many options to be had in the great big food-buying world.  Also, wow, there are a lot more flavors of jello than I’d originally thought.

At least my grocery store has Udon noodles, take that megastore! Where are your udon noodles?  Mmm, Udon noodle soup…haven’t had that in a while.

On another note: Luna Bars=AMAZING.  Why didn’t anyone tell me this sooner?  I don’ think I ever need to date again, because these bad boys totally fulfill me.

Breakfast

Scrambled egg whites, whole wheat English Muffin,
apple sauce

Lunch

I’m a little sick of salad.  No more salad for a while.

Snack

Luna bar

Dinner

I haven’t made this in a while, but it’s a total favorite of mine:
Lentils & peas (cooked in vegetable broth, cumin, coriander, and turmeric)
Brown rice
Spiced yogurt

Tonight is a late night gym night.  I slept late and screwed up my fitness schedule, and since I hate working out during rush hour, I’ll head over there for some time on the elliptical and in the weight room post prime-time.

Kim

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Kim vs. Lululemon

July 7, 2010 by 7 Comments

Last night my running coach said something along the lines of:  ”You’re almost done with training, you should start thinking about what you’re going to reward yourself with.  Perhaps some fancy new running gear.”

Well you don’t have to tell me twice!

Seriously, woman, why do you plant these ideas in my head?  It never would have occurred to me that I was deserving of a treat of some sort, but once you told me I was I really wanted my treat.

I have a confession to make: My name is Kim and I am a Lululemonaholic.

I try to keep my distance from their pretty stores, but they’re popping up all over New York City like weeds.  In fact, one popped up right in front of me when I was walking around during my lunch break today looking for it.  It’s crazy how that happens.

Inside it was glorious.  So much spandex, so many running tanks and yoga pants to choose from.  I love it.  I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it.

Oh, right, but that place is like the Gucci of workout gear.  It is so expensive.  The last time I splurged, I promised myself no more Lululemon for a while.  But it’s been a while.  Err, is five months a while?

I bought new stuff!  And it is beautiful and spandexy and made of cotton candy and unicorns…and I will be eating Cheerios for the next month.

Sigh, I think I’m love…

I broke them in today while doing my strength training workout, a 40-minute circuit training DVD.  This morning I wore my other Lulus for a 6am Spin class.

Here’s the food, which is pretty much exactly what I ate yesterday except for breakfast.  I never claimed to be original.

Breakfast

Shredded wheat with strawberries and almond milk

Snack

Almonds and a nectarine

Lunch

Leftover grilled veggies, grilled chicken and brown rice

Snack

Hard boiled egg
Hummus
Celery and baby carrots

Dinner

Garden Salad with oil and vinegar

Turkey chili

To be totally honest, the last couple of days have felt like I’ve been eating too much.  I’m not naturally a snacker, but I keep reading the importance of eating two snacks a day and how they should be balanced in their carbs to protein ratio, so I’ve been trying to master that idea.

I guess I’m not used to eating until I’m physically hungry, and this whole snacking regularly thing has pretty much kept me from ever feeling “hunger”. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but I’m experimenting with it.

Kim

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This is Why You’re an Urban Vegan

June 3, 2010 by 2 Comments

I had a resolution to not buy any books for a while, but the calling of those bound, crisp pages got the better of me and I had a little book buying binge at Borders yesterday.  I bought one as a gift (somehow buying something for someone else counteracts the selfish aspect of shopping, right?), and two for me.

Here are my new BFFs:

I justify this type of purchase as a work expense.  I can review it, and therefore it’s tax deductible, and therefore it’s necessary for life–the government says so in tax law.

I’m about half way through and I have to say it is strikingly similar to Jillian Michaels’ Master Your Metabolism.  The general message is that hormones are making us fat and we need to regulate our hormones.  Oh and sugar is evil.  And, no carbs at night.  Got that?  I just saved you $25.  I actually think the layout of this book is a bit better than Jillian’s counterpart.  There’s more exercise involved, and it doesn’t go quite as overboard on the “stop taking your birth control pills and never wear make-up” mission, but it is relatively the same book.

My next purchase totally supports my June resolution to get more veggie:

I’ve been wanting to buy Veganomicon for a while now, but when I finally sat down to flip through the pages I realized that most of the recipes were almost intimidatingly complex.  Every once and a while I like a really long and drawn out cooking process, but most of the time I want to make dinner and eat it within an hour.

While flipping through the cookbooks this one caught my eye.  The recipes look amazing, but more importantly they look fairly easy to make.

Disclaimer: I have no intention of becoming a vegan, or even a vegetarian, I just like to think of meat as a “sometimes” food.

Breakfast

Whole grain cheerios (or at least the Whole Foods brand knock off), banana, 1% milk

Snack

Carrots, cucumber slices, and Baba Ganouj

Lunch

Salad with lettuce, cabbage, orange pepper, carrots, cucumber, chickpeas, and hard boiled egg
Lemon vinaigrette

Dinner

Kabobs with peppers, mushrooms and tofu over spinach couscous

Kim

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Planning for Perfection

May 4, 2010 by 4 Comments

Do you ever have those days that aren’t necessarily special by any means, but are just sort of perfect?

That’s how I felt about this weekend.  First of all, the weather was beautiful.  Actually it was hot and muggy, but that’s how I like my weather so it worked out pretty well for me.

Friday night I hosted a BBQ for the cast and crew of Colin Hearts Kay, a film I played a supporting role in this summer.  We just got word that we were accepted to the Brooklyn International Film Festival, which was ideal because the entire film focuses on Brooklyn.  It was amazing, not to toot my own horn (and really my horn only tooted for a couple of minutes in the movie), but it was really spectacular.  It’s a real movie!  I can’t wait to see it on the big screen.  Hopefully this is the first of a many festival run for this adorable film.  The Brooklyn International Film Festival runs June 4-13, and I’ll be sure to announce the days the film is showing for all you NYC readers.  You know because you totally want to trek to Brooklyn to watch a food blogger get gothed out.

Saturday I hightailed it to Queens to visit a friend who was hosting a very girly tea party full of delightful finger sandwiches, petifores, mini cupcakes, scones and of course tea.  Then, a gaggle of us, in our finest sundresses (I love sundress weather!) took a walk around Astoria park.  It was beautiful; one of those moments, and there are many, that I sighed and thought “I love New York.”

Sunday, I went shopping. I’m all about nesting these days and I bought a pretty little summer bedspread which gave my room a whole new look.  I keep staring at my bed and smiling.  I’m a dork, and a total secret homebody.  After shopping I met up with my aunt and uncle to go see Hair on Broadway.  I’ve never seen it before, not even the movie.  We had amazing seats and I just thought it was totally amazing.  In fact, right after I called my voice teacher to schedule a lesson.  It feels good to be inspired.  So inspired in fact, that I bought tickets to see it again with a co-worker this Wednesday.  Two Hairs in one week!

I acknowledge that it looks kind of Amishy in this picture, but it looks really nice in person.

Now I’m back to the grind.  I’m experimenting with meal planning.  I haven’t planned my week in advance since college, when I was trying to lose enough weight to feel passable before I moved to Los Angeles.  Sunday night, I sat down and planned the entire weeks worth of meals.  What I remember liking about meal planning was that I felt like I never had to think about eating, that I already knew what was in store for me. I’ve been eating more junk food since starting my office job and I feel like I need a little direction in my digestion.

Breakfast

Scrambled egg whites, 2 slices turkey bacon, whole grain toast

Lunch

Arugala, grilled chicken, kalamata olives, banana peppers, green and red peppers, cucumber and lemon vinaigrette

Snack

Apple with peanut butter

Dinner

Smoothie with 1% Kefir, 1/2 frozen banana, frozen berries, strawberry protein powder

Kim

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Evil Salmon Slows Blogger

April 13, 2010 by 3 Comments

I didn’t blog on Friday because the salmon I had for dinner made me seriously sick and I didn’t think that it justified a special place on the internet…evil, stupid, mean, stomach churning salmon.  Obviously, the salmon was already dead, and I’m not sure it had strong feelings about the internet while it was alive, but I will smite it with whatever little power I have.

While I wasn’t blogging, I went shopping for new at home gym supplies.  I am obviously extremely strong.  I went shopping for new weights, the 8 lb. weights I’ve been using pretty much feel like nothing, and I wanted to stock up on 10s, 12s, and 15s.  Okay, 15 seems a little ambitious for me, but I plan on being super-duper strong one day.  (Kind of like I’m still holding out to be tall, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.)

Unfortunately, I am not exactly mobile, except for the help of my two feet; carrying 64 lbs of deadweight from the sporting goods store to my house seems like an ambition my lower back might want to do without—instead I just bought a set of 10lbers and perhaps I’ll go back for the other two sets on separate occasions.

It’s kind of a cool feeling, feeling like all of a sudden I’m too strong for something.  Of course, I wouldn’t exactly call my ability to now use 10 lb weights a milestone to the Mr. Universe competition, but I have noticed much better form and longevity in my push-ups and pull-up adventures.  Usually strength training is something I do but dread, because well, I’m scared of the big dudes in the super dank and smelly weight room at my gym, but I have to say this whole strength training at home thing has definitely changed my perspective.  I actually look forward to it.  Crazy!

Breakfast

Plain Greek yogurt with granola and strawberries

Lunch

I had one more round of turkey meatballs left in the freezer.  Yup, that’s the end of that craving for a while.
Whole wheat spaghetti, turkey meatballs, organic marinara sauce

Dinner

Avocado topped with black bean burger, egg and hot sauce
Steamed broccoli

Kim

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Valentine’s Day Wicking

February 12, 2010 by 5 Comments

T-15hours till take off.  This will probably be my last post this week.  I leave tomorrow for my not-so-secret Valentine’s getaway!  I’m taking this as an opportunity to completely unplug. There is very rarely a time that I am not tethered to a computer or my crackberry; this weekend, except for a few calls to the folks, I am going completely technology free.

This must be how people lived back in the day…back in the 80s!

For Valentine’s Day I bought myself a present, or at least that’s what I’m using to justify my purchase.

Can we all agree right here and now that Lululemon has the cutest fitness gear on earth at ridiculously high prices?  Yes.  Good.  Well, I only have so much will power (that’s not true, I have no willpower at all, never have) and the bright lights and shiny new gear was too much for me to resist today.

I justified my trip inside the pearly gates of Lululemon because I’m running a race in 5-weeks and from what I’ve heard from past year participants, it’s a friggin cold race.  I need outdoor running gear!  So I bought just about the coolest running jacket known to man.

There’s a flap to pull your ponytail through, thumb holes if your hands are cold, cuffs on the sleeves to hold ID and money, a zipper pouch on the back for keys or a snack, and super wicking material and ventilation in all the right places.  Did I mention it’s PINK!

Yeah, it’s awesome.

Then, because that wasn’t enough, I bought new running pants, that have pink stripes.  I only wear capris when I work out because I never work out outside, so I needed a pair of full length leggings.

I’m having a bit of buyers remorse, but not enough to return it.  Perhaps enough to nix dinners out and drinks with friends for a couple of weeks though.

I took some pictures:

I realized that the obligatory draped shot didn't do them justice

'Member that New Years Resolution to take more pictures of me?

I love the pink butt stripes!

Okay, enough about my stupidly expensive exercise clothing addiction.  Now it’s time for my food addiction.  Breakfast was an adventure of sorts, a piecemeal challenge to make a healthy breakfast from convenience foods.

Breakfast

A few days ago I grabbed a couple of single serve nutbutter packets at Whole Foods for just such emergencies. I stopped at a deli to grab a banana and oatmeal, and Starbucks for a soy latte.

Yum, that’ll do.

Best warning ever!

Lunch

Left over brown rice with black beans and avocado

Dinner

This dinner concoction started out as a way to use up left over food before the trip, but it was really good.  I might make it a staple.  I added a bit of hot sauce post picture, c’est magnifique!

Avocado, grilled tomatoes, egg, veggie burger

I’ll be back with a full vacation recap on Tuesday.  While I’m gone feel free to entire the Kim Challenge Anniversary giveaway, two DVDs for the price of none!

Kim

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If I had a hammer…

December 31, 2009 by 4 Comments

I would like to say ‘What the Crazy!” to the pricing gods at Williams-Sonoma. Sometimes when I’m avoiding productivity at work I think long, hard, and whimsically about what sort of meals I’ll create later in the week.   Yesterday I decided during a prolonged coffee break that for tonight’s dinner I would make stuffed chicken breasts for me and the folks.  So, off to Williams-Sonoma I went to buy a mallet for the flattening of chicken breasts. Forty Bucks! I’m sorry, but  a mallet is just a glorified hammer, and I’m pretty sure I got my hammer in a dollar store.  So, instead I got all Tim the Toolman Taylor on this biznatch…

I have a much more reasonably priced mallet in my Amazon shopping cart, but until delivery I must say the ole hammer your chicken into submission trick worked out pretty well.

Rolled, seared, and baked in my new All-Clad pan.

Voila

And now for the whole day recap:

Breakfast

Egg & Cheddar on a whole wheat English muffin Clementine Coffee w/Soy milk

Snack

Life is like a…

Lunch

Left over Rajmah over brown rice w/plain nonfat yogurt

Snack

Cashew Cookie Larabar

Dinner

Chicken breast stuffed with zucchini, mushrooms and feta Whole wheat spaghetti tossed in olive oil and Asiago cheese

Kim

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