Hi! 
Did you have a good weekend?
Mine was pretty chill. One of my dear friends, Amy, drove down to New York from Amherst this weekend for a conference and stayed with me. We had a great time catching up.
Work on Friday was insane, so afterward I went out to dinner with one of my co-workers to rant about it. We had dinner and a beer at Ulysses’ Folk House by my job. I thought the Financial District was the barren land of good food but I was wrong! This place is great. I’ll be sure to bring my camera with me next time.
On Saturday, I lay in bed and read while eating some pom seeds. Lincoln had some depression issues, let me tell ya. He’s pretty dope, though.
When Amy arrived to my house, we headed to Pho Hoai Restaurant, a pretty decent Vietnamese joint in my neighborhood.
We split an order of their amazing spring rolls. The peanut sauce they come with is divine.
I ordered a seafood & vegetable medley over egg noodles. Their portions are ridiculously gigantic!
While reminiscing with Amy, I realized that I first tried red bean ice cream when I was over her house one night. We decided to split an order to round off the meal. Good times.
Our check was interesting, to say the least. Hhmm…that MXMDB was delicious:
This morning, Amy had to leave the house pretty early, since the conference was all the way over at Columbia. I couldn’t let her take the train alone, so I accompanied her to Union Square, where I got off.
Because really, who can’t use a trip to Trader Joe’s at 8 in the morning on a Sunday?
I’ve been literally dreaming about an egg and cheese bagel for like two weeks now, so I stepped by Au Bon Pain for a quick breakfast.
I had a honey 9-grain toasted bagel with an egg and asiago cheese. Mmmmmmm….That hit the spot.
So then I entered the jungle that is Trader Joe’s on a Sunday morning. It’s a really dangerous place for me. Even though I know that I have to drag all these groceries back to Brooklyn, somehow I think it’s cool to buy two containers of coffee, a jar of almond butter and a jar of peanut butter and salsa…good thing that I have arms of steel
I think I have a problem. Is there like a TJ’s Anonymous support group or something? I have a hard time controlling myself. I can’t tell you how many times I put stuff in my cart, argue with myself, and then take it out again.
…At least my lunches won’t be boring this week!
That’s all the excitement of my life for now.
Tomorrow’s March 1st already, can you believe it? Crazies. This week is deadline week for me so work will be busy but exciting. I promise to make frequent appearances on the blog anyway.
I’m off to prepare for another work week and watch some phenomenal Sunday night HBO before hitting the hay. Hope you have a good Monday!
What store(s) are you addicted to?
Clearly, Trader Joe’s needs to take out a restraining order against me. So does Marshall’s. And maybe even IKEA…
I am SO addicted to Target. I can’t go home without making at least one 2 hour long trip where I literally go up and down EVERY aisle..i just love it all!
I love TJ’s and add another one to join TJ’s anonymous with ya! I live right behind one and whenever I get a hankering for something of theirs, I just walk on over. Not. Cool. And I have gotten spoiled with it being so close!!
That is my problem child along with TJ Maxx, Target and Marshalls…..I only allow myself to go to those stores with cash only now!)
Awesome TJ’s haul! I see lots of my favorites in there–what are you going to do with the tempeh??
I have a healthy appreciation for TJ’s these days too. I just went on Saturday and came home with way more than I intended!
I remember a recipe from Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian for some sort of ground meat crumbles out of tempeh…the book has a bunch of great tempeh recipes!
I am way excited to have finally tried it. It’s a nice switch off from tofu and its mighty nutritious!
Wowsers that stir fry looks sooo amazing! I’m totally craving that!
Sounds like a great weekend! I miss my college friends. How nice of Amy to visit!
Whole Foods, target, and TJ Maxx are my fav stores
Lincoln was dope, eh? I love it!
I’m addicted to TJ’s, Shopbop.com (although I never buy anything), WF…
Look at all that damage! Whole Foods & Target – bring me a natural high.
how the EFF did you lug all that stuff home!?! omg, i am beyond impressed, hahaha. can i take you grocery shopping with me?
ps that TJs is way too intense for me, the line is out of control, so my addiction is tamed because my patience trumps my desire for their goodies. im a WFs girl.
I would go to TJs at any hour of the day… it’s my happy place.
p.s. may I recommend making a portabella pizza with those shrooms?! they’re divine.
Trader Joe’s at 8 in the morning.. Love it! I actually stopped by Trader Joe’s 3 times this past weekend! Once for a grocery shop and twice because I forgot some much needed essentials. I do believe that means that I have a little problem too…. and I have a slight addiction to all things that remind me of Sweden.. this includes IKEA!! Our addictions are one in the same.. So funny!
TJA- sign me up. I am impressed that you managed to lug everything home. I usually end up being there for over an hour trying to decide what I *need* (ahem, all of it) and what can wait until next time. Same thing happens at Fairway- have you been there? Amazing place!
Oh I LOVE Fairway! Especially the PB that you get to grind right then and there…AMAZING! I’d go there more often but there aren’t any that are really close to me or on the way to anything…except IKEA…but that trip would make me lose all my savings!
TJA? Yep, already a member.
Seriously though, I think my top addiction would have to be Target. I swear that there is a Target $50+ curse where you can’t enter that store without dropping massive amounts of cash!
That bagel from ABP is making my mouth water. Must. stop. staring!
I didn’t know that about Lincoln – interesting!
Have a wonderful week!
I actually have a rule against going to Target because of that curse! I’ll tell myself that I ONLY need gum (which is by the register, so I don’t have an excuse to venture further into the store) but then, the shiny aisles just beckon me. It’s a problem
Hey there! OMG Trader JOe’s in NYC is so dangerous on a Weekend morning!! The lines are HUGE!
I’m definatly the worst at food shopping!!!! I’m addicted!!!! I walked into Natures Pantry with my bf one day ( for butternut squash ravioli) and came out with over 100 dollars worth of food, some of which I don’t remember grabbing. I’ve never been to trader joes but after goin to whole foods, I know the only way I’m going in and coming out (not poor) is if someone holds me back or holds my wallet
hahahaha. Hope you have a good day at work tomorrow 
IKEA needs a restraining order against the whole group. And probably for me personally [not so much now because it's so far], but Forever 21 could serve me with a restraining order. I know I was on their website today.
I have to say that with even with like 20 pounds of food from TJs in my hands, I was like “maybe I could just peek into Forever…” Then I wished they had a bag check for a while… hahah
Come home so we can raid it together. And complain about how loud the music is.
i thought you’d be interested to see this: gianna is my little in my fraternity.
(10:06:14 PM) Marina: healthingit.com
(10:06:16 PM) Marina: my friends food blog
(10:06:19 PM) Marina: it changed my life
(10:06:29 PM) Marina: i now base all my meals on this
(10:06:33 PM) Gianna: omg haha
(10:06:52 PM) Gianna: that’s cute
(10:07:08 PM) Gianna: I will look at it but make no promises that it will change my life
(10:07:21 PM) Marina: it changed mine
(10:07:25 PM) Marina: i read the entire thing in one night
(10:07:29 PM) Gianna: the only reason I work out is so I can eat junk food soooo that’s gonna be hard to change
(10:07:30 PM) Marina: and wrote down all the recipes to things
(10:07:35 PM) Marina: threw out all my crappy food
(10:07:42 PM) Marina: and bought brand new food the following morning
(10:07:56 PM) Gianna: hahaha you would
I need to join TJ’s Annonymous with you! I could very very easily have a problem with J.Crew, but being hella poor kind of puts a crimp in that!