#20 Be healthy

So #20 Be healthy....Wooo... what an "open ended" item, huh?  Originally I had "Lose 30 pounds...", but let's be real.  30 pounds in 3 months?  Not healthy, and not realistic...

So the challenge with this challenge?  It's so freaking open-ended.  It lacks definition.  It lacks a "do this specific thing by x date or you fail" quality.... a "SMART" goal - Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timebound.  Lesson learned, just in case I ever do another challenge like this one (foreshadowing, maybe???), I will pick more well-defined goals!

So, in May (which was 5 weeks in to the challenge, 8 weeks left), I had made ZERO progress, and tried to come up with some specific goals, like...

1. Get at least 30 minutes of exercise a day for 30 days in a row
2. Do not order take out food for 30 days
3. Give up the booze for 30 days

And then I got distracted by my other, more fun, well-defined challenges and completely forgot about the 3 sub-goals I had created... yeah...

Fast forward to mid June. I STILL had not made progress, so I figured I would take a fresh approach and do some research, like a real writer would! So I went to the internet.com (of course, everything on the internet is true, esPECIALLY if it's laminated!), and found the definition of "healthy" (according to dictionary.com) as:

1. In good health: "feeling fit and healthy".
2. (of a part of the body) Not diseased.

Well, if I go by that definition, then I win.  I do feel fit and healthy, and I definitely don't have a diseased part of the body... so challenge completed, right?

Wrong... for me at least.  It would be too easy if I just accepted that, and if you actually read the list of 30 things to do, it's clear that I don't do easy... I like challenging :)  So I continued my research with wikipedia! And, after several lengthy paragraphs, it gave me the usual advice of "get exercise, sleep and don't eat too much or booze too much, and don't smoke." 

Yeah yeah yeah.  Tell me something I don't know.  I'm a winner with two out of five.  I definitely get enough sleep, and I don't smoke.  I'm a bronze medalist with another two... I try to exercise and try to not eat too much.  But limit booze?  Yeah.  I'm a single lady in one of the most amazing cities in the world.  Not gonna happen, people.  I mean, I have an app on my iPhone that tells me where the closest happy hour location is - really!

So again, I got distracted and stopped working on this challenge...

Now, fast forward to the end of June... and I happen to get an invite to attend a Women's Leadership Conference for women in banking, hosted by American Banker Magazine.  And it turned out to be a freaking amazing conference... it was filled with positive, happy, and phenomenal (female) speakers, who were all dynamic, engaging presenters, and who I REALLY want to invite to a cocktail.

So you might be wondering "what does a Banking conference have to do with being healthy?"  Well, one of the speakers, Jeannie Jones, is the Health & Wellbeing Manager of GSK, and she spoke to us about "Bulletproofing personal resilience".  She told us about the multiple roles we women have in life and work (daughter, sister, aunt, employee, friend, etc...), and how all these roles are important to us, and how we need to have Work-Life Harmony (notice she didn't say Work-Life Balance... as there is really no such thing!).  We also learned how our "energy battery" (i.e. our energy level) can be drained (to where it shuts off and the iPhone dies) or can be fully charged (full green bar!) and ready and raring to go!

We took a moment to reflect on all the things in our emotional, mental and physical lives that drain us... and the things that we do (or can do) to recharge our "energy battery."  With this idea, it dawned on me - being healthy is not just about focusing on what I eat and how much I work out, but also about my mental and emotional health.
 
Now, there were a couple of other moments that just made me go "Wow", and I want to share them with you:

1. You can continue to fan the flames of negativity, or fan the flames of positivity.
2. When at work and someone is yelling at you, Don't take it personal. (We all know this one, but it's good to be reminded)
3. You can either say "I have to go to work, the gym, pay bills, etc...", or you can change your mindframe to say "I CHOOSE to go to work, I GET to go to the gym, I am PRIVILEGED to have a home and pay bills..." -- there are so many that don't have a job, don't have the ability to go to the gym, and don't have a home... BE GRATEFUL. 
4. "I've experienced a lot of negative things in my life, but only a few have actually happened." -  Mark Twain.  Essentially... stop worrying. You can't control the outcome, you can only control yourself and your reaction.
5. Disconnect to Connect.  Spend time with people, sans mobile devices.  Live, laugh, love, and enjoy the moments, as my iPhone, as much as I love it, will not be there to hold me when I'm sad...
6. And finally, my FAVORITE one, courtesy of Betsy Myers. We should all be "freaking out with joy" in our lives.  If we're not "freaking out with joy," we need to find something that makes us "freak out with joy."  I'll tell you the story behind this phrase in person :)

So after all these weeks of trying to figure out what "Being healthy" meant... One hour of one conference re-energized me.  Re-focused me.  And made me reflect.  I'm a relatively positive person, but we all have times in our life when things wear us down and we want to quit and give up but we just trudge along and become bitter and yell and are mean and cranky and have the "Nobody likes me!" syndrome.

I was there, for several years, and my amazing family and friends put up with my crap. And I've been coming out of that funk for about a year now (hopefully!), but this 30by30 challenge has really helped me, as I have taken the time and energy to focus on myself and do things that make me happy.

The things I heard at this conference reaffirmed that for me. It gave me the "time out" to just sit there... and to think about me, and about all the ways that other people and situations can drain me (ahem, WORK) and how I can either choose to LET them drain me, or I can CHOOSE to let them not bother me.  They are not worth my energy. I have plenty of other amazing things to focus my energy on so that my energy battery is recharged.  :)  For example, my family, my friends, and, of course, this blog, which has me "freaking out with joy".

"Me: Freaking out with joy"

Week 11 Update!!!!

I am getting sad to think that my challenge is nearing the end... 11 weeks down, 2 weeks remain...

Here's what I accomplished this week:

• #14 Hung out at the Jersey Shore
• #26 Learned how to poach an egg
• #3 Got certified in spinning
• Participated in one of the most epic bachelorette parties, ever. (not part of my challenge, but in hindsight, it should have been!!! - so Unofficial #31 - Participate in the most epic bachelorette party ever)

Just realized I don't have a pic with the bride :(

As for the rest of my challenge, here's my progress so far...

• #6: Learn how to drive stick shift - I have a date with college buddy Russell for Sunday, July 1!!!
• #9: 30 new recipes. 11 recipes left.  I made two new boozy items... hey, I was at a bachelorette party after all!!!! :)
• Triple Berry Sangria
• Pink grapefruit, strawberry and champagne granita
• #10: Banged out 3 blog posts this week!!!  15 total items done and blogged! Wooo closing the gap!!!
• #12: 27 out of 30 hours of community service done so far... nothing new this week, but have something planned for June 30! 
• #16: Go on a date with a fireman.  I am changing this one to go on a date with "a man in uniform"... c'mon guys, help a single sista out!!!
• #24: Quit something I do a lot of.  Um, yeah.   Oops.
• #29: Read 30 books.  Finished two books this weekend! 
• Sarah's Key was recommended by my friend Linda, and it was fabulous, but sad. 
• Also read The Forgotten Garden, which is a book for my Women's Wine & Book Club... Also a fabulous story!

So, how'd I do this past week?  Pretty awesome, I think :)  These next two weeks will be PACKED with tons of stuff, as well as blogging... so get ready for some whirlwind posting!!!  Who's excited???

#25 Picture a day for 30 days

These challenges that require 30 days of doing something consistently?  Super hard.  I get bored and lose interest, very easily.  So this challenge - #25 Picture a day for 30 days - might seem really easy... But, in actuality, it was hard for me.

As you'll see... I did miss one day... but I made up for it at the end :)  So without further ado, 31 days of photos... 

Day 1: Tuesday, May 22

Three dozen roses!  What a special gift from my brother (in law)'s family :) :) :) (hint hint, boys!)

Day 2: Wednesday May 23

The Carolina Park in Quito is right in the flight path of the airport... and they retired an old plan and turned it in to a piece of playground equipment

Day 3: Thursday May 24

I love checking out grocery stores in foreign countries - so many amazing fruits I've never tried before!!!

Day 4: Friday, May 25

The amazing welcoming committee for my trip to the Galapagos Island :)

Day 5: Saturday, May 26

Me, Terrible Towel and Sea Lion on the beach at the Galapagos Island :)

Day 6: Sunday, May 27

Embracing life.

Day 7: Monday, May 28

Wearing a turtle shell

Day 8: Tuesday, May 29

Attempting to high five a sea lion... I got ignored :)

Day 9: Wednesday, May 30

Swimming with sea lions :)

Day 10: Thursday, May 31

oops!  missed one...


Day 11: Friday, June 1

The view from my morning flight leaving Quito, Ecuador

Day 12: Saturday, June 2

Pickled herring at a real Russian restaurant in Queens... doused in tons of mayonnaise!!!

Day 13: Sunday, June 3

I took a class to learn how to bartend... here was the crazy instructor :)

Day 14: Monday, June 4

Waiting for tacos at "The Taco Truck" - I love the curved mirrored walls, making me look super skinny hahah

Day 15: Tuesday, June 5

I love summer... I get to wear dresses and super high heels to work!

Day 16: Wednesday, June 6

Watching the Enterprise shuttle float down the Hudson River

Day 17: Thursday, June 7

Love these curious fish at my dentists office

Day 18: Friday, June 8

Hanging out with the Tedster

Day 19: Saturday, June 9

Singing "Call me maybe" with Elizabeth on the ride home from Skydiving

Day 20: Sunday, June 10

The beach at the Jersey Shore

Day 21: Monday, June 11

I accidentally destroyed my only plant, but I've been talking to it and it's coming back to life!  As is evidenced by a few green sprouts!!!

 Day 22: Tuesday, June 12

Another cute work dress... I actually got complements from several co-workers on it

Day 23: Wednesday, June 13

Ted begging for some lovin :)

Day 24: Thursday, June 14

Team Captain... I had signs to help co-workers in other buildings/floors find my desk...

Day 25: Friday, June 15 

Powering up my iPad... see, I told you it was sparkly!

Day 26: Saturday, June 16 

Getting certified to teach spin class!

Day 27: Sunday, June 17

Shrimp tacos with shredded cabbage and a yogurt cilantro sauce!

Day 28: Monday, June 18

"In a gentle way, you can shake the world." - Fortune cookie

Day 29: Tuesday, June 19

Super adorable.

Day 30: Wednesday, June 20

Clearly my favorite subject...

Day 31 (to make up for missing one photo): Thursday, June 21

Bachelorette party bling :)

So you might have gathered that I was getting a bit bored towards the end of the challenge... and ended up taking pictures of Ted (my tiny, socially-anxious cat).  Lucky for me, she's a cute subject!! 

Overall, though, it was fun.  I had to keep remembering to find fun things to take photos of... which was challenging during the week when I usually go from work to gym to home to work, etc... not too many interesting things happening, even with this amazing 30by30in3 I'm doing.

Have any of you ever done a 30 pictures in 30 days challenge?  What were your photos of, anything specific or just random like mine?  Did you like mine???  :)

#14 Hang out at the Jersey Shore

The Jersey Shore is a controversial place, thanks to the popular MTV show creatively named "Jersey Shore."  If you google "Jersey Shore", the first five entries are all about the TV series.

But, the reason why I decided to do #14 - Hang out at the Jersey Shore as one of my challenges was to prove to my non-Jersey/NYC friends that the real Jersey Shore is actually nice, and not what you see on MTV. Sure, there are plenty of Snookie, Pauly D and Situation's, but there are also a ton of normal people with families and jobs. They just happen to live near the ocean in Jersey.

One of those normal people is my friend Kim (yup, same name), who hates taking photos, so this post will have few pictures. Kim is gorgeous and kind, one of the nicest people I've ever met, and lives in Brick, New Jersey, which is about an hour drive from Manhattan, and a few minutes away from the shore.

Kim graciously agreed to host me overnight and take me around so that I can satisfy this challenge.  To start the night, we went to the most amazing sushi restaurant ever. It's called Shogun Legend's... And the sushi is the FRESHEST most INCREDIBLY DELICIOUS and ORGASMIC sushi I've ever had in my life.

The bar, where Kim and I have our sushi dinner :)

The most orgasmic plate of sashimi- it was so delicious that we ordered a second round!

So, now you know that the Jersey Shore has some amazing food.  :)

After dinner, we head to Asbury Park to hit up Porta, a pizza place that turns in to a bar and club after hours.

At Porta, we ended up dancing for hours... I got groped by several guys, some at the same time... But it made my Jersey Shore after hours experience authentic, right?

The next morning, Kim and I headed to the beach (I forget which one), and the day turned out to be GORGEOUS.  I was happy as a pig in mud, soaking up several hours of sun, enjoying the sound of waves crashing to shore, and of course, taking a nap :)

The view from my beach chair!!!

So thatbwas my Jersey Shore experience. Food, dancing, beach. Will I go back?  Heck yeah!  It's a beach (I LOVE BEACHES), and it's only a short train ride away.  And... I ate amazing food and had a great time dancing.  But, more importantly, I also have fabulous friends at the Shore... After all, it's the people that make the Jersey Shore :)

#26 Learn how to poach an egg

I like to cook.  Well, I like to eat (reference earlier posts!).  And since I'm trying to be healthy (#20 on my list), cooking allows me to monitor the oil, butter and salt that restaurant food tends to have. Plus, I'm a good cook, so I find that I can cook better tasting food with less calories. 

I started cooking regularly when I moved to NYC after college. Which was eight years ago.  Yeah.  Eight.  And in all that time, I've never once attempted to poach an egg.  I'm good with scrambling, frying, and frittata'ing... but never poached.  Which may be surprising to some of you because I love a good Eggs Benedict.

Which is why one of the things I needed to learn how to do before I turned 30 is #26 Learn how to poach an egg.

Having no idea where to even begin, I of course turn to google.  I found several sites, but since I trust Alton Brown (of the Food Network) much more than a random person, I clicked on his youtube video, where he shows how to poach an egg in a 4 minute tutorial.  I don't know what people did before the internet... (actually I do... they used "The Joy of Cooking")

So before I make my poached eggs, I created something to put the poached eggs on. I've made Crab Cakes Benedict before, but with pan fried eggs, not poached... so this was the perfect opportunity for me to create a REAL crab cake benedict.  My recipe is at the end of this post!!

So now.  How to poach eggs, in the version as I understood it from Alton Brown: 
1. Take a large pan with at least a 2" lip and fill with 1 1/2" of water (seriously, use a ruler to measure this)
2. Bring water to 190 degrees - for my stove, that means boiling.

3. Place entire egg (yolk and white) in a small ramikin.  Do this for each egg you're poaching (each in their own ramikin).
4. Once the water temperature reaches 190 degrees, take slotted spoon and "scrape" bubbles off the bottom of the pan
5. Add 1 T white wine vinegar to water
6. Put 1 ramikin in the water and slowly let the egg "slide out".  It's important that you take your time, otherwise the yolk could separate from the whites, and thus no "pocket" forms for the poached look.  Repeat for each egg, placing the eggs in a clockwise circle to keep track of which eggs to take out first.

7. Set timer to 4 minutes and 30 seconds.  Let eggs cook, drink glass of wine:

8. Once timer goes off, use slotted spoon to take out the first egg, and place on a towel or paper towel to drain.  Repeat with all eggs in the order they were added to the water.

9. Place on dish and ENJOY!

So, that wasn't that hard in the end.  Did I have one egg yolk that separate from one egg white?  Yup I did (see above image), but that's why I made TWO poached eggs, just in case :)

The hardest parts of this exercise were cracking the eggs to not break the yolk, keeping the water temperature at 190 degrees, and sliding the eggs out just right so the yolk was not separated from the white.  Other than that, not sure why I waited so long to learn this technique???

The real test comes, of course, through the tasting. As I mentioned earlier, I needed something to put my poached eggs on.  Since I'm a huge fan of Crab cake benedict, I decided to go for my own recipe (which is adapted from a restaurant dish I tried and LOVED from a local restaurant called The Turning Point).


Kimmy's version of The Turning Point's Crab Cake Benedict
(serves 5-6)

Ingredients
2 medium zucchini
1 bunch grape or cherry tomatoes
15-20 medium sized shrimp (I go for uncooked frozen)
5-6 slices of whole wheat bread or whole wheat English muffins
Paula Deen's crab cakes (modified - instead of ritz crackers, I used bread crumbs and/or steel cut oats, instead of dry mustard, I used dijon mustard, and instead of the flour/peanut oil, I baked on 350 for 25 minutes)
5 eggs
1 T white wine vinegar
Hollandaise sauce (I used a "healthier" version from Dukan - 1/2 cup skim milk, 2 egg yolks, 1 t dijon mustard, 2 T fresh lemon juice)


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Slice zucchinis in half, then using a mandolin, slice into 1/4" strips.  

3. Using a serrated knife, cut tomatoes in half.

4. Line baking sheet with foil, spray with Pam, add slices of zucchini and tomato, season with salt and pepper. Place in oven for 20 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, make Paula Deen's crabcake recipe, with the exceptions (noted above). Form in to 5-6 patties.

6. Remove zucchini and tomatoes from oven, move to separate plate.

7. Place crab cake patties on baking sheet and place in oven for 25 minutes.

8. Next, make Hollandaise sauce (you can use the lighter Dukan recipe or this recipe 

9. Add a tiny bit (1 T max) olive oil to pan, heat, and add shrimp, searing until browned on both sides (~2 mins each side)

10. With 10 minutes left, lightly butter the bread (each side), and pan fry.  If using English muffins, use a toaster or toaster oven to toast according to the package directions.

11. Begin poaching eggs with 5 minutes left (see above instructions).
12. Once eggs are poached, start to plate:

    - Place one piece of bread per plate.

    - On top of bread, add zucchini and tomato halves.

    - Place crab cake on top of zucchini

    - Top with poached egg

    - Add shrimp

    - Drizzle (or douse) with Hollandaise sauce.

    - Sprinkle Old Bay seasoning on top (1-2 Tsp each).

    - ENJOY.

Poaching eggs was MUCH easier than I expected.  And, of course, it always helps to have an amazing recipe to feature the poached eggs on! If you try this recipe, let me know your thoughts!