Restaurants

The birthday has ended

January 9, 2011 by Marci 5 Comments

Another year, another end to the birthday celebration. We had a great long weekend with my parents. There was a lot of cake, cupcakes, Mexican food and pizza. Then we had a little birthday house party on Saturday night. We ordered pizza and I didn’t cook anything. It was great to celebrate with so many of our Houston friends, and some babies too.

Cupcakes by Crave. Remember when I wrote about how much I love Crave? (here too) The September one was my most read post ever. Anyway, Crave cupcakes are better than the competition in town and I love to share their treats. We had vanilla, chocolate and strawberry (always my favorite flavor). The dozen we got went fast! The staff are also so kind at Crave and the treats so good that I went back on Sunday to get 6 more for a dinner party. If only they gave samples. A+ for them.

Not great pictures from my actual birthday dinner, but here’s the best one. Try to pretend it’s not blurry. We went to Eddie V’s, one of our favorite restaurants from Austin that has its second location in Houston. The food was decadent and fresh as always, but the patrons were, well, cougars. And not attractive ones. Don’t go to Eddie V’s and sit in the walkway from the bar to the bathroom on a Thursday.

Here are the birthday girls before our party.

A fully stocked bar.

Jelly beans and M&Ms were popular. Have you tried peanut butter M&Ms?

My parents and me.

Delicious Strawberries and Cream cake from Dacapo’s Bakery in the Heights. I had never tried their cakes, but it was really, really good. Lick the icing off your fingers good.

Blowing out our candles.

Then on Sunday morning, my parents came back for a little breakfast. We made eggs for the boys and oatmeal for the girls and picked up bagels. Lily got eggs too. And licked her plate clean.

I made oatmeal for my mommy and me.

(Quaker old-fashioned oats, water, almond milk, flax meal, banana, raisins, cinnamon. Topped with coconut and Crofter’s 4 Fruit jam.)

Until next year! Hoping for a great year 27!

Filed Under: Breakfast, Dessert, Houston, Restaurants · Tagged With: Houston, Parties, Restaurants

An Unperfect 10

November 14, 2010 by Marci 15 Comments

Tyler Florence Talks Turkey

On Saturday, I did one of the coolest things I’ve gotten to do as a food blogger/writer. Food Network chef and super cute cookbook author Tyler Florence came to Houston to do a cooking demo and cookbook signing, and I got to do a short interview with him for CultureMap. I asked one question and he talked for five minutes about how to cook a turkey, and then time was up, so that is what my story was about.

My story on him is linked here. I’m really proud of it! It was fun to research, interivew, and write in a very short period of time.

I need your help!

This morning, I went out for 10 miles, my new longest distance! The Dallas White Rock Half Marathon is three weeks away, and I decided to do my longest run today. Before this one, my longest was 9.3 two weeks ago. The goal was 10 miles, the A+ goal if I was feeling great was 10.5 or 11.

First, I started with a usual breakfast of toast with peanut butter and banana. I forgot I had these cute plates, they’re fun, huh?

The morning was chilly and cloudy. I was happy about that because I need some practice in cold weather. I wore leggings on the bottom, and a tank top with long sleeved shirt over it, and a hat. At mile 3, I circled back to my car to drop off the hat and long sleeved shirt. It was still chilly without the long sleeved shirt, but I just didn’t want it anymore.

I also wore my SpiBelt which is very handy, but still dorky, in my opinion. I had 3 Shot Bloks in it, $5 and Kleenex. I also wore my Garmin gear and iPod.

None of the miles felt easy, my legs felt heavy, but not painful…until Mile 9.

Other than the last mile, my pace was actually a tad faster than previous long runs. I was trying to stay faster than 12 min/mile, and besides mile 9, I only slowed below it once. So that’s good. And I’m very happy for going 10.1 miles! It was really hard, but I did it.

Now to the really bad last mile…my outer left knee started hurting, and it was a familiar pain from six months ago. When I felt it before, it was during the Bagel Run 10K and it stayed with me the whole race, but I ran through it. After, I realized it was the bottom of my IT Band where it hits the knee. I started foam rolling more, running outside more (because I trained for that race mostly inside), and the pain stayed away until today. I don’t know why it came back, and I don’t know if it will go away.

That is my sad mile 9 story, but the pace wasn’t too slow for a mix of run, walk, and stretch. Right now I’m icing, foam rolling, and will not run for a few days. I guess I’ll see what happens when I start up again and if it comes back. Say a little prayer that it was a one-time flare up and it will go away.

Here are my splits:

Mile 1: 11:29
Mile 2: 11:48
Mile 3: 11:47
Mile 4: 11:50
Mile 5: 12:07
Mile 6: 11:50
Mile 7: 11:52
Mile 8: 11:45
Mile 9: 11:53
Mile 10:12:19
Mile 10-10.11: 01:21

Total time: 2 hrs, Average heart rate 152, Burned 1060 calories

At the end, I came home, iced and foam rolled, and then got some lunch. Today was a turkey sandwich and fruit from Brown Bag Deli. Anything tastes good after 10 miles, but I really like Brown Bag.

If you have tips or encouragement about my annoying misbehaving stubborn left leg, leave a comment!

I will be really sad if it stays around until the Dallas Half and messes up the race.

Filed Under: Breakfast, Exercise, Half Marathon, Injuries, Lunch, Restaurants, Running · Tagged With: culturemap, Half Marathon, Injuries, Restaurants, Running

9.3 Miles!

October 31, 2010 by Marci 7 Comments

On Saturday, I had a crazy fun day. It was crazy because I ran a new personal distance record (15K/9.3 miles), and fun because the weather was great and we ate lunch outside and shopped around outside.

Let’s start at the beginning…

9.3 Miles:

I had a goal of about 9 miles for the day, and I went to a new route for me to keep things fresh. I started with breakfast of two pieces Ezekiel Cinnamon Raisin toast with peanut butter, blueberries, coffee and water. A never fail win. For the run, I realized that having different routes for long runs is really helpful to not get bored. I drove to Rice University and did a little under one loop around the campus (under 3 miles), and then went into the West University neighborhoods for about 3.5 miles, and then ended up back at the Rice loop and did another 3 mile loop. It ended up around 9 miles and I kept going to make it 9.3. It was also smart to run around restaurants and not only residential so I could refill my water bottle around mile 5.

Here are my stats:

Mile 1--11:26
Mile 2--11:36
Mile 3--11:46
Mile 4--12:24 (traffic crossing streets)
Mile 5--12:01
Mile 6--12:24 (water stop, more traffic)
Mile 7--11:56
Mile 8--11:47
Mile 9--11:45
Mile 9-.3--03:32
 Summary,01:50:42, 978 calories burned, average heart rate: 84

Where did my heart go?

Now here is the strange part–my average heart rate was 84, and it dipped as low as 55. I thought my heart was slowly stopping while running my distance record! When I ran 8.6 miles, it was 153 beats per minute (bpm), and when I ran 8 miles, it was 157 bpm. I noticed the heart rate around Mile 2.5, and started to worry about why my heart rate was dropping and if the monitor was picking up an accurate reading. It never rose about 110 the whole time. I’ll have to see what happens next time, but it was the lowest I have ever seen it during any workout, even my boring spinning class.

Other than that, it was a great run with an average pace of 11:53/mile. It is definitely slower than I have hoped I would be, but I really just want to increase the distance steadily, not hurt my legs, and have a good steady pace the whole time. I took 3 shot bloks with me and had one at miles 5.5, 7, 8.5 and drank about 40 ounces of water and then more when I finished.

Ready for the big times:

After 3 long runs into distances I haven’t attempted before, I definitely feel prepared for increasing distance, proper ways for me to fuel while running, I know better about how much water I need, and I definitely feel more ready for December 5. I am planning one more longer run at 10.5 miles, and then two weeks shorter at 9 and 7 maybe, and then the race.

(after the run, but Jeffrey for the life of him cannot take a steady picture with iPhone. 4 tries)

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Lunch at Tiny Boxwoods:

When I got home, I was really shocked that I ran 9.3 miles. I really can’t believe that I am increasing my distances week after week with little hip pains but no really painful shin pains. I have never been able to do this before! It really amazes me and I’m still crossing my fingers that nothing comes up.

Anyway, after plugging in my Garmin to see how I did and letting my puppy lick sweat off of my face, it was time for lunch! Post run lunch is the best part of a long run. We went to Tiny Boxwoods for a great outdoor lunch of people watching and delicious food. It’s a favorite of ours.

Tiny Boxwoods is the cafe that is part of a gardening store called Thompson Hanson. It is a small space with great outdoor space on a beautifully manicured lawn. I had the Beet It Burger with fruit and we shared a Banana Nutella Scone. It was amaazzing.

Just look at the pictures:

The patio at Tiny Boxwoods

View of the gardening shop

Most amazing Banana Nutella Scone. Crispy outside, chewy and soft inside. Bits of banana like Banana bread. So delicious.

The Beet It Burger with beets, black beans, oats, and I don’t know what else! Served with jalapenos (yuck), pickles and lettuce. Wanted more lettuce or added tomatoes, thought the burger was perfect, bun was good, sauce was spicy. Jalapenos not necessary! And berries are seasonal. In the summer they serve watermelon.

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Happy Halloween:

Then it was time to watch The Rangers (a win!), and The Longhorns (stinkers this year!), and go to a Halloween party.

We went as Night and Day. It was a handmade Halloween this year. See Jeffrey’s sleepshade and pillow? I liked that part.

And on that note, the day ended and it was exhausting!

Filed Under: Exercise, Half Marathon, Houston, Lunch, Restaurants, Running, Vegetarian · Tagged With: Half Marathon, Houston, Restaurants, Running, vegetables

Three Things Thursday

September 2, 2010 by Marci 8 Comments

1. Movie Review “Eat Pray Love”

Recently I saw the movie, but I was prepared to be underwhelmed because of reviews I heard of people leaving the theater. It would take a really boring or violent movie for me to leave, and EPL was none of that. I read the book when it came out, liked Elizabeth Gilbert’s story, (and last name), and was excited for Julia Roberts to play her. Here’s my opinion–

I think the movie was very similar to the book, and if people didn’t like it, they didn’t understand the book. The movie was most fun in Italy, but India and Indonesia were a bit boring. It was the same in the book, and that was the point of her journey too. There was less emphasis than the book of true introspection, but how many monologues could a viewer really take? I think those are best left for a book anyway.

Javier Bardem was lovely, the scenery of Bali was beautiful, and I thought Julia Roberts played Elizabeth Gilbert very well. I hope there is no sequel to her second book “Committed,” because that I would walk out of. That book was an F for showing her whiney indecisiveness. Movie: B+

2. Attention Houston: Free Cupcakes!

Remember when I blogged about how much I liked Crave Cupcakes over the competition in town? Well, Crave’s second Houston store opens on September 13 in the West University area, and they are giving away one dozen cupcakes every day on their Facebook page. Sign up to win, like them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter (@cravecupcakes), and read my review about why I choose Crave when making my Houston cupcake choice. What’s your favorite flavor? Mine is Strawberry. It’s to die for.

3. Why I Love Lululemon:

One thing I have not talked about on the blog is what I wear when I exercise. I am a big proponent of looking good to feel good, and definitely have my brand loyalties to athletic apparel lines. My original favorite is Nike, and I have an array of colors of Nike shorts. They are the best for all exercise in my opinion. However, when Lululemon first came to the United States, one of its first shops was a showroom in Dallas that was only open on Saturdays! I found out about it, and my first purchases were the Groove Crop and the original Power Y Tank. Well, Lululemon exploded and so did my wardrobe of exercise clothes.

Here’s what I love about Lululemon:

1. Most importantly, their clothes are fabulous. They fit perfectly, the luon material is magic (no chafing ever), and it’s so soft and comfortable. It is stylish like no other exercise clothes. I would wear some of the necklines as a party dress if they made them. I really love the necklines and back design that much. Is that weird?

2. The salespeople in the stores are so friendly. They are knowledgeable, help with styles and suggest things, and you can tell they enjoy working there. I like the Lululemon culture because they are all goal-oriented (they have “by when” goals) and fitness-loving people. You want to buy from people who really know their stuff, and embrace the culture too.

3. Their social media people are fun to follow too.

And here are my favorite pieces (note that these are from years of shopping, not all at once!):

The Scoop Neck Top is my current favorite. I have 3. Shh, don’t tell husband. I love everything about them.

I just bought the Push Your Limits Tank because I like the back, among the other reasons above of why I like Lulu.

The 50 Reps Bra is awesome. Stylish, and does what it’s supposed to. That’s all I have to say about that.

I also just bought the Dance Pant. This is unlike me, but I wanted a pant different than the Groove pants (because I have 3), but still good for travel and lounging but not exercise.

And the Groove pants, my all-time favorite pant. I don’t go on an airplane without wearing these.

So who are you wearing when you workout?

Filed Under: Books, Dessert, Houston, Product Reviews, Restaurants · Tagged With: Houston, Product Reviews, Restaurants

Houston Restaurant Week

August 18, 2010 by Marci 6 Comments

Have you heard of the new website that compiles healthy living blogs like mine called Healthy Living Blogs? If you don’t live in Houston and want to find a similar blog where you live, check out HLB for one in your area. The site is just a week old, so keep checking back! There’s a widget button on the bottom right sidebar to click to the website also.

In food related news, Houston is concluding Restaurant Week and we checked out two restaurants. For $35, you get a 3-course meal offered at 130 restaurants in the city, including the swankiest and hottest restaurants in town. $5 from each dinner goes to the Houston Food Bank. You have until Saturday if you still want to check out some places! The nice thing about Restaurant Week is that the restaurants enjoy it too. They fill with people in a typically slow restaurant month and show off their food.

Benjy’s:

First up was Benjy’s on Washington. We have been to Benjy’s before, but this was a good excuse to try some new things. A fun and modern atmosphere is relayed in the food as well. We had a great waitress, Benjy walks around to check on tables and deliver food, and the food was great too.

First up was the pre-appetizer table sampler of rye chips, beet-flavored pickles, and parmesan crackers. More original than rolls! They used to serve popcorn. I liked the parmesan crackers best.

My salad was Farmer’s Market Tomatoes with Basil, Manchego Cheese and Balsamic Vinaigrette. Can’t go too heavy yet–we had a three course dinner. And I will try local and fresh tomatoes any day.

My main course was Grilled Canadian Salmon with watercress salad, Asian pears, and vanilla-kumquat vinaigrette. The portions are big and tasty, and the fruit and vegetables underneath were delicious paired with salmon. There was also some kind of grain on the left that I am not sure of. Maybe a quinoa?

Jeffrey’s main course was an all-star entree–Crunchy Chicken pistachio and pecan crusted, marbled potato gratin, and a sweet corn reduction. It’s delicious.

And my favorite part of going to Benjy’s is Mom’s Chocolate Cake with fudge pecan icing and vanilla bean ice cream. Rumor is that “mom” makes the cake daily and brings it to the restaurant so the recipe stays a secret. Also served with frozen berries and a not-too-crunchy biscotti.

The other dessert on the table (everyone gets their own!) was butterscotch bread pudding with ice cream. Equally delicious, but my heart belongs to classic, dense chocolate cake.

Haven Houston:

Next up for our anniversary, we went to Haven. This restaurant is relatively new to Houston, and focuses on locally grown everything served in creative ways. Like spicy shrimp corn dogs with a lemonade shooter. It is a beautiful space inside with a pretty patio area too. You’d never know you are a block from a major highway. We love hidden Houston restaurants.

I started with the baby arugula salad with peaches, peach vinaigrette, candied pecans and a goat cheese crostini. It is delicious to eat fresh peaches in the summertime.

My main course was the vegetarian option. I usually would order a chicken or fish, but their choice was squash, and I love squash cooked for me. It also had other ingredients that I don’t know how to prepare (like kale).

Summer Squash with quinoa, shelling peas, mire poix, butternut squash, kale

I learned that I like butternut squash best. Can’t wait for Fall!

Jeffrey had the Free range chicken with bacon spaetzle, and crispy onions. What is Spaetzle? I’m still not sure but it looked like mini gnocchi.

And again, our own dessert. I ordered the Ambrosia with blackberries, peaches, blueberries, lemon curd, pecans, coconut, peach sorbet, and fresh mint. It was delicious and light.

Jeffrey got the coconut tres leches bread pudding. Mmmm good too.

And with that, we will roll home and eat salads for the rest of the month. Restaurant week goes on for 21 days–Try somewhere new if you haven’t yet!

Filed Under: Houston, Restaurants · Tagged With: Houston, Restaurants

Book and Restaurant Reviews

August 11, 2010 by Marci Leave a Comment

Remember to enter my giveaway for a free one-year subscription to Everyday with Rachael Ray, the Rachael Ray magazine! Just enter a comment in Monday’s post before tomorrow for a chance to win!

Book Review: Final Exam, A Surgeon’s Reflections on Mortality

My sister suggested this book to me over a year ago. She reads some different books than what I would usually pick up (and probably was attracted to this because she is getting her Master’s in Hospital Administration!), so it took me over a year to read it. I am slowly weening off of traditional chick lit and finding that I like books with a little more thought to them.

Dr. Pauline Chen wrote this book in the middle of her career as a liver surgeon who sees terminally ill patients daily. The book starts with her first days in medical school in the 1980s and tells stories of respecting her team’s cadaver and how working with cadavers impacted the way she practices medicine even today. She tells many patient stories throughout the pages and describes how she as the doctor dealt with death and treating dying patients. The stories were thoughtful and not gruesome, and the book was informative without being depressing.

I really enjoyed reading this quick read and would recommend it if you’re looking for a serious one.

Houston’s Latest Yogurt Shop (or one of the newer ones): Yogurtland

I recently went to Yogurtland in the Briargrove area of Houston with 7 friends (boys included). I can’t find a website to link, but Yogurtland is our new favorite yogurt shop! It got 8 thumbs up. Here’s why we like it and how it compares to the others:

Yogurtland is SO CHEAP. I’m talking 30 cents per ounce. We filled our cup and paid under $2.

SO TASTY. Picture above is Vanilla bean yogurt flavor with cookie dough balls and Butterfinger. Other tasty flavors we tried were peanut butter, oreo, and the usual tart ones. For dessert, I like sweet.

Cute interior with fun spoons and tiles on the walls.

It is in a random strip center, but rumor has it that it’s coming inside the loop soon too. Can’t wait to go back!

The picture above is outside of La Vista restaurant, also in Houston’s Briargrove area. And this might have been Annie’s last prego shot. She had baby Samuel a week later! We also love La Vista because it’s BYOB, a fun outdoor-indoor atmosphere, and good, reasonably priced food. We had pizzas, salads, chicken, salmon, etc. and everyone was happy with what they ordered. Tasty bread to start too. Check out one of our favorite BYOBs but prepare to wait. No reservations unless you book the private room for parties.

California Pizza Kitchen is not new to town, but I love this salad–the Moroccan with Chicken. It has dates, beets, squash, avocado, carrots, chicken, and lettuce. It’s delicious and a little surprising to find this at CPK. I love it everytime.

Filed Under: Books, Houston, Restaurants · Tagged With: Books, Houston, Restaurants

Vegas Vacation!

July 7, 2010 by Marci 2 Comments

Hi friends,

I spent the July 4 weekend in Las Vegas for my dad’s birthday, to get our fix of gambling, and spend time with family! Yes, our family loves to vacation at the poker table or casinos.

We ate some great meals–BLT Burger at The Mirage (falafel burger and milkshake below), Joe’s Stone Crab at Forum Shops, and Fix at Bellagio (lobster tacos below). And a fantastic dessert at Jean Phillippe Patisserie at Bellagio (ice cream cone and beautiful sugar art below). We also spent time shopping–they have two Nanette Lepore shops here, my favorite designer for almost 10 years–and hanging at the pool!

Unfortunately, our table luck was not as good as our eating, except for my uncle and grandfather, who will both be competing in the World Series of Poker starting this week for the upteenth time! Good luck Reagan and Gigi (Gigi is a freqent blog commenter)!

View Reagan’s WSOP blog at www.reagoatwsop.blogspot.com to follow along.

I also got an “Athlete’s Revival” massage which was interesting and very necessary for my legs! The masseuse confirmed that my IT Bands don’t get along with my body, and helped stretch and work them out. She used some “heated ice” which I think it like Icy Hot to cool and heat them. I continued to feel for the “cool” about 30 minutes after it was over. Mental note to look into that.

We took a 50 minute walk in 90ish degree heat, and I thought that would leave me dripping in sweat, but the dry heat in Vegas leaves you, well, dry! Not humid like in Houston, and not as much sweat.

Here are a few pictures and highlights from the weekend!

A special hate letter to Continental Airlines–It is not okay to delay a flight six hours, causing me to go on two standby lists, spend 9 hours at the airport, and only compensate me $12 for food (lunch, snack, dinner necessary). And your President’s Club staff were not so kind.

All was better when I came home and my puppy was waiting and happy to see me.

Filed Under: Restaurants, Travel · Tagged With: Travel

Houston Restaurant Reviews and Gym Triathlon

June 28, 2010 by Marci Leave a Comment

On Friday night, we tried a new (opened in April) Houston restaurant in the Heights called Zelko Bistro with another couple. Zelko is very small–we counted 12 tables inside and 5 outside. We waited about an hour and it was a hot wait! There was an inside bar, but it was very small too. Small is fine and cozy, but Zelko is so popular that people were standing on the grass in front of the restaurant because the place was so packed. We thought the service was very good, the restaurant was had quaint finishes with mason jar light fixtures, water served out of carafes on the table, and minimalist decor. The menu focused on Southern foods at a very affordable price.

First they brought little bread bites that looked like scraps. A little strange, but we were hungry! Then we started with the fried pickles and parmesan french fries. Delicious and crispy! The pickles were spears, not just little bites.

Then I ordered the crabcake as my dinner. It would have been better with a little more salad under the cake, but the crabcake itself was very good and sauce was too. Two others ordered the fried chicken (two large chicken breasts with mashed potatoes and green beans)–excellent and an obvious menu favorite, and one ordered a cheeseburger.

Dessert was a lemon icebox pie and funnel cake. The pie was creamy, pretty, and tasty since we were still hot! And the funnel cake with a side of honey was tasty too.

We will come back on a weeknight or wait until the Fall to dodge the wait and the heat.

Saturday started with a delicious breakfast for me. I had a piece of my Blueberry Orange loaf (this is so good, one of my new favorite recipes) with a two egg white omelet and fruit. The eggs were literally just two egg whites with salt and pepper. A fast and easy way to add protein to any breakfast.

It must have been a good breakfast, because then I did a Treadmill 10K at the gym. I ran 6.2 great miles with varying speeds between 5.2 to 6.0. Ended up taking 1 hr 8 minutes, which is two minutes faster than my race 10K from May. A success in my book! I know treadmill does not equal road, but we’ll work on that later.

On Saturday night we went to Grotto with family for Amy G’s birthday. Grotto is always crowded with friendly service, and consistently good food. A tip about Grotto is that you can order any pasta dish with spinach instead of pasta, and order half instead of the full order. Not on the menu, but they welcome that accomodation. Thanks, Julia, for the tip!

I had the Pasta Grotto with the modification–calamari, shrimp with pesto sauce over spinach. Delicious!

Subbing spinach doesn’t even start to make up for the rest of the carb loading you eat here–great bread basket, pizzas, and desserts. Happy birthday Amy!

On Sunday, I had another gym workout but tried something new. I went to the pool before spin class and swam for about 15 minutes. Since I knew I had a short time, I made it speedy and did front stroke the whole time trying to minimize my breaks. It was very crowded, I shared a lane for the first time, but definitely thought it was a good, fast sprint workout.

Then was an hour of spin. So I did my own little gym triathlon throughout the weekend!

And two more cute pictures from the weekend.

Filed Under: Breakfast, Daily Update, Dinner, Exercise, Houston, Lily, Restaurants, Running, Swimming · Tagged With: Daily Update, Houston, Lily, Restaurants, Running, swimming

The birthday has ended