Did you have a good weekend? Mother nature went psycho over here. Literally, there were trees in the middle of streets, branches crushing cars and roof panels flying all over the place. I’ve never seen anything like it!

My parents are going away to Vermont for vacation, so I made sure to spend some time with them this weekend. Which essentially means there was a lot of smoked and salty fish involved.

Now, I can’t even begin to relay the extent of the fish involvement. Literally, there’s always some in the fridge. Like this smoked one from the store:

That obviously, you have with beer. Beer that came to me all the way from Massachusetts via Amy. It makes me miss it.

And uh, fish that was caught, dried and salted by my dad:

He’s got mad skillz.

But my parents aren’t the only ones who are going somewhere. My bags are packed too.

And my reporting essentials – comfortable heels (rarity), notebook, stack of business cards – are ready to go.

Where the hell am I going? Oh, you know, only on my first business trip!

I’ve never been to Denver before and I’m really excited!

We had a huge dinner today as a family, since we won’t see each other for a week. A colorful and delicious salad:

And my mom’s dinner pie: rice, egg whites and squash. Cleaning out the fridge never tasted so good.

I might be blogging from Denver but it might be difficult, seeing as I have to work for like 12 hours every day! Either way, I’ll be back

What was the last trip you took?

Rachel (11:50:12), who said:

Fact: I’m alive. It’s a true story.

I really miss blogging and commenting but I’ve been ridiculously busy at work. The April issue is hitting the printers soon, which means there are lots of last minute things to do. It’s tiring but exciting!

I go to the gym after work about 4 times a week. As my savior, my mom has been cooking up some magical meals for me for dinner.

It seems like our conversation about my undeniable love for vegetables and indifference to meat really resonated with her. For example:

She made me a vegetable stir-fry and shrimp dish the other night:

Tonight, it was more veggies with whole wheat spaghetti and tilapia:

I’m loving it. Just so my dad doesn’t get jealous of my special treatment, my mom also makes crazy dishes for him. Like these egg whites stuffed with spiced chicken liver and topped with mayo.

I’ve been also doing lots of drinking. Fruit drinking, that is.

I’ve totally been diggin’ some POM Wonderful. What can I say, it’s a 100% natural pomegranate juice. You can’t go wrong. It’s delicious.

I’m also dangerously addicted to this 100 % pure raspberry apple juice:

When I get off the train in the morning, there’s a little farmer’s market on my way to work. Red Jacket Orchards is always there and I can’t resist! This juice is incredible. There are a bunch of flavors I haven’t tried yet.

Also, the cap makes me deliriously happy:

But now that I’ve done a food comparison with my dad, might as well do a drink one. You know where this is going.

Literally, he’s trying to squeeze out the last drops of vodka out of this bottle:

I hope you’re reading, Grey Goose

What made you smile or laugh today?

Me: Did you finally read my first article?

Editor: Yeah. And unfortunately for you, I can’t fire you yet.

I was recently contacted by the company and offered some goodies. But not only for me, but also for one lucky one lucky Healthing It reader.

You know how much I love the company’s collection of holiday teas and now I get to experience some wellness teas too. From the website:

“Celestial Seasonings was founded in 1969 with the belief that our all-natural herbal teas foster everyday wellness as part of a balanced, healthy lifestyle. True to this original vision, our handcrafted Wellness Teas feature traditional ingredients used for centuries to naturally support the body’s defenses.

Consistently effective and always delicious, our Wellness Teas provide soothing relief and help you maintain a healthy balance every day.“

I present you with the Celestial Seasonings Natural Wellness Kit:

It includes:

• Three wellness teas to ease  symptoms associated with the cold and flu including Sleepytime Extra, Echinacea Complete Care and Tummy Mint
• Two green teas to support a healthy immune system year round – Authentic Green Tea and Honey Lemon Ginseng Green Tea
• An awesome mug with a coaster
• Organic soothing lip balm
• A package of honey sticks
• A snugly (and I don’t use that word lightly) Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime bear
• A book called “Herbs for Health and Happiness,” by Celestial Seasonings founder Mo Siegel and Nancy Burke

You have two chances to win all these goods (open to U.S. residents only, sorry internationals!)

If you’re a blogger:

• Leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite kind of tea
• Link back to this post on your blog to let your readers know about it (leave another comment letting me know that you did)

If you’re a reader:

• Leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite kind of tea
• Leave another comment on this post telling me about an herb you enjoy

You have until this Friday, March 12th, to enter the giveaway. I’ll announce the winner that evening. Good luck!

Sorry for dissappearing on you. I ended up going out two days in a row and coming home with only enough energy to crawl into my bed. You know how it goes.

I slept in this morning because being a working girl justifies my laziness But I can’t complain, especially since I got my first paycheck this week:

I still find it hard to believe that someone pays me to write. And I love it.

When I finally got out of bed this morning, I had a bowl of super creamy, vanilla almond oats:

In the bowl:

• 1/3 cup oats
• 1 cup water
• 1 TBS chia seeds
• 1 small banana
• a splash of soy milk
• almond butter
• A sprinkle (or two!) of Galaxy’s Vanilla Almond Granola

This granola is awesome. It contains no oil, corn syrup, processed sugar or artificial ingredients. It has 70% less fat than other granolas, which is incredible. The best part: it’s just as flavorful and crunchy as other granolas I’ve tried.

The secret? It’s baked with fruit, not fat.

This week, Galaxy launched it’s Fruit Not Fat blog, where you can share tips about using fruit as substitute for fat and learn more about the movement.

And guess what? I’m even a VIP Blogger. Cha chingggg. Who else is on the list? Well,

No, I’m kidding. They wish.  This is a baller club, but it’s non-smoking. Sorry, Snoop. Jay-Z, if you bring Beyonce, we can talk about it.

Check out Fruit Not Fat and share your knowledge!

I’ll be back later with some more rambling and food for you. Be sure to check back on Monday for an epic giveaway!

If you could make anything fat-free, what would it be?

I’d say pie crust. Pie crust is probably my favorite part of a pie.

So there I am, approaching the turnstile in the subway station, thinking about this dude’s accent and then suddenly, the turnstile doesn’t turn and I smash right into it, full force. What the hell? What’s going on here? I was pissed.

Then I realized that I forgot to swipe this little buddy:

I then started to laugh at myself because, well, what else do you do? I am sorry to blondes everywhere (except the ones in Playboy, I’m not sorry for any of them).  It happens!

Breakfast was incredible. Stonyfield Farm Vanilla yogurt with 1/4 cup oatmeal, cut up strawberries, some water & a TBS of chia seeds in the fridge overnight. In the morning, I added blackberries, blueberries and almond butter. PRIME.

Lunch was another sandwich creation. What’s better than hummus or cheese? Hummus and cheese.

Laughing Cow Light Herb & Garlic cheese wedge with spinach, cucumber slices and Sabra’s Caramelized Onion hummus (Sabra just won’t stop with the new flavors. I’m waiting for party cake hummus to come out next. That company’s all about innovation, yo).

And here’s the rest of lunch & snacks. That’s some TJ’s trail mix plus some cereals.

When I got home, I found another present on my doorstep! So fun. The kind people at POM Wonderful sent me some pomegranate juice to sample. Can’t wait to try these out!

Tonight was another family fitness night. While waiting around for my mom to find her sneakers for like 3 hours, I got hungry! So I had a small banana topped with PB. Good choice.

After a sweet workout (except during the times I kept seeing my middle school science teacher and I had to pretend that I’m really into the statistics on my treadmill), I got home to dinner.

I kept it simple because I’m lazy I’m tired and so ready for bed.  Stir-fry: broccoli, a small tomato, spinach, tempeh crumbles, a little red onion and spices. Topped with an egg and TJ’s Mild Salsa, which is ridiculously tasty.

I gotta get to bed! The baby is coming on the Office tomorrow. I hope you’re as excited as I am.

When was the last time you laughed at yourself?

Today was a good day for me. Did you have a good day? I had a bunch of interviews and everyone I talked to was really nice and funny. It reminded me of why I fell in love with journalism in the first place: I get to talk to people I probably never would have otherwise, like a purchasing manager at a hospital in Indiana or a medical gloves manufacturer in Indonesia. It’s sweet.

I changed up my oatmeal this morning a little. I topped it with blueberries and almond butter. Rebel, rebel.

While eating my lunch at my desk, I wanted to pat myself on the back and say, “Good job, Olga! What an amazing sandwich combination you’ve created.”

Please, who am I kidding? I was saying that while photographing it for you this morning

THE sandwich: goat cheese, cucumber slices, spinach and dries cranberries (key) on toasted multigrain bread. So good!

The rest of my lunch & snacks are chillin’ in the back:

I enjoy this VerryBerry Chobani flavor. It’s really creamy and not too sweet. This Lite Kettle Corn from TJ’s is pretty awesome too. It’s such a tasty and simple snack. Plus, it’s conveniently portioned out for those of us with no self-control <———

When I got home, I saw a box on my doorstep that said this on the side:

Yeah right, I thought. YEAAAHHHH RIGGHTT.

Impossible. Also, I had no idea what the hell it was. But then I opened the box to discover Galaxy Granola galore:

The wonderful people at Galaxy Granola sent me these treats for a taste test. I don’t say no to granola. Especially the kind that’s baked with fruit, cutting out the oil and thus fat. Formal review to come soon!

Turns out I wasn’t the only one who came home with treats.

My mom walked into the house a few minutes later, ridiculously excited about these enormous strawberries she found:

My dad followed soon after with his own purchases:

Beer, obviously, and dried cranberries + walnuts for his morning oatmeal. Nice.

For dinner, I wanted to have a vegetable party for my body. It was wild:

Stir-fry: red onion, garlic, red cabbage, broccoli, tomato, spinach. Plus, a portobello “burger” drizzled with balsamic vinegar and topped with Parmesan cheese. Baller.

And if you didn’t think that I ate one of those gigantic strawberries for dessert, ya must be crazay.

I totally did. And it was so sweet and delicious. Kinda scary how good it was, actually.

I’m off to the gym with my bro in half an hour. I’ve never done the whole “eat dinner, then go work out” thing so we’ll see how it goes down.

What food product do you come home with most frequently?

I probably purchase spinach most often because it doesn’t last long and I eat like half a bag in one meal

Tomorrow’s already Wednesday, lovelies. Rejoice!

What is that? When do I ever say y’all? It just came out. I’m rollin’ with it.

Today was nice and warm, and the sunlight illuminated my desk all day like the heavens were opening up or something. I enjoyed it.

For breakfast, I had the usual: banana, sliced almonds & PB oats, with a nearly fatal dose of caffeine on the side.

My editor took me and another reporter out to lunch today, since we had such a shitty day on Friday. We went to Variety Cafe, a place that I can only describe as “we got everything you want and things you didn’t even know you wanted.” I had a gigantic salad with goodness of all kinds. Since it was free, it was much more delicious

Found out that my editor loves Kombucha and doesn’t really eat any meat. I like him better already.

I also brought these snacks with me to work. I had the apple around the 3 p.m. slump and the bar right before I was leaving work, since gym was next on the agenda.

My mom signed up for the gym recently, so now my dad, brother, mom and I all go together on some nights. It’s really cool and I’m glad my family’s workin’ on that fitness. Every time my mom gets discouraged, I remind her that she needs to have the energy to run after her grandchildren some day, so she better step it up

Dinner was quick, easy and delicious, a powerful combination! An oven baked sweet potato with Smart Balance Light and steamed broccoli topped with nutritional yeast.

It’s late, I should be in bed already!

Who in your family is workin’ on the fitness?

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…

My grandmother and mom are situated in their usual spots, waiting for the family workforce to arrive one by one. I don’t even make it to my room yet, when I hear my grandma from the kitchen:

“So, what are you going to eat for dinner?” I’m used to this.

I drop my bag on the floor. It’s heavy from my current commute read, Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer. I yell back:

“Let me guess. There’s meat. And potatoes.”

I walk into the kitchen and they both stare at me… Should there be something else?

“Can’t we ever have vegetables for dinner?”

But I already know the answer. No, that doesn’t coincide with Eastern European food philosophy. Vegetables can be a side, sure. But that’s about it.

“Your grass is in the fridge [spinach, kale]. I can cook that grass up in some salt water. And you can eat that.“

I make a face at my grandma in response.

When my dad and I come back from the gym later that night, my mom orders me to sit down and puts a loaded plate in front of me:

Red cabbage stir-fry with bell peppers, red onions, sun dried tomatoes, shredded carrots and beets. Perfectly seasoned. My main feast. Plus, a side salad.

Sure, she threw in shrimp in the stir-fry for good measure. She couldn’t justify feeding her child a mere bunch of vegetables just yet. Someday, it will be okay. I’m hopeful.

But if that’s not love, I don’t know what is.