Tag Archives: trader joes

Labor Day Feativities

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Happy Labor Day to everyone in the states and a Happy Monday to everyone else! 

No labor day festivities for me…

Does an awesome early morning workout and an almond butter (justin’s nut butter packets are so convenient!) + banana whole-wheat bagel count?

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Other than that I’ve spent all of today in the car.

We’re making our way back to Texas after a couple days in Rhode Island/Massachusetts.

So far we’ve driven through Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and and made a slight dent into Ohio.

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That’s not the exact route we took, but pretty close. We stopped in White Plains, NY and somehow got re-routed. Our navigator has a mind of its own…

We’re now sitting at a Bob Evan’s somewhere near Akron, Ohio.

I’m a Bob Evans first timer and am actually surprised at the healthier options they offer.

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Spinach and tomato omelette with a side of broccoli.

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Next up! Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas. Then we enter into Texas!

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I’ve been switching off driving with my dad and hopefully between the two of us, we’ll be able to drive non-stop, except for gas, food, & restroom breaks, and make it to our destination by tomorrow early afternoon.

We made a stop in Connecticut at Trader Joes to pick up some snacks for the road. Some dried fruits and cat cookies made their way into my shopping cart, along with a couple – ok, ok – a lot(!) of other items.

Like these dark chocolate covered edamame:

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And these chocolate cat cookies:

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I’ve also decided these are a sleepy drivers best friend.

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They have a nice firm chew to them and they keep me alert! 

Especially during these intense rain showers we’ve been driving through.

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Let’s see if I can set a new record for most hours I’ve driven at once. Current record: 7 hrs, on a trip to California.

What’s the longest you’ve ever driven?

Running around RI

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We finally made it to Rhode Island yesterday!

Estimated arrival time: 1pm
ACTUAL arrival time 6pm

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The traffic from New York to Rhode Island was horrendous. Particularly New York. I’m not really sure how people commute from Pennsylvania or
New Jersey to New York. I’d be so irritated by the traffic.

The first thing we did once we arrived in RI was high tail it to the nearest Bed Bath and Beyond to finish shopping for my sisters dorm stuff.

I was kinda hoping to high tail it to the gym after having endlessly sat in the car 3 straight days and doing nothing but snacking, but no such luck.

Btw, these dried peach slices from trader joes are ahhmaze-balls. Seriously.

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And so is their vacuum-fried pineapple chips!

We didn’t finish shopping until 8:30pm and didn’t get to dinner til 9pm.

Was anyone else aware that Providence was such an up and coming foodie city? Because i definitely was not. They actually held their first food and wine festival this year and there are so many fun restaurants in this little vibrant town.

We had dinner at the highly recommended restaurant Gracie’s, a super cute restaurant that specializes in new american food.

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They cook mainly locally sourced foods and even have their own roof top garden where they grow their own fruits and veggies.

Finishing dinner at 10:30pm meant no gym time for me, but I did jump rope for a couple minutes in my hotel room thanks to the ultra high ceilings.

A jump rope is something I always pack with me whenever I go out of town. So functional and so portable.

This morning I did a quick run outside. I can’t get over how nice the weather is here! I was actually cold during the beginning of my run around 6:30am, but by the end it just felt amazing out.

I ran around the capital a couple times since it is right across the street from our hotel. I love the hills here!

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Running is such a great way to explore a new city! Then I went indoors to do some weights at the gym.

Breakfast was quick and easy – an egg white whole wheat bagel from Panera Bread down the street.

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Then we were off to move my sister into her dorm room. I still remember the day I moved into my dorm room and how excited I was. I’m glad my dorm room days are behind me – no more communal bathrooms for me, thank you :)

After walking up and down the stairs to her room many times, we worked up quite the appetite and headed to lunch. We ended up at a pita place where I had a dolma pita pocket – lettuce, tomatoes, jalapeños, hummhs, tzitziki, tahini, pickles, herbs, and stuffed grape leaves.

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I’m hoping to explore Providence a bit more and I’d love to see Newport – I hear it’s beautiful!

Favorite road-trip snacks? – I like to keep it on the healthier side and usually bring easy and portable finger foods like dried fruits and baked chips or crackers :)

One of Those Days

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Yesterday was just one of those days.

You know…the kind where things don’t exactly start out the way you were planning and then you just have this feeling in you that its going to be an interesting day. But not in a good way…

I woke up at exactly 7:15 am yesterday (Saturday), which was exactly 15 mins before I needed to be out the door on my way to the airport. I have myself to thank for that since I waited until 11:55pm the night before to do my workout. I didn’t finish until almost 12:45am when I finally showered off and then eventually got to bed at who knows when.

I had even set two alarms – one at 6am and one at 6:15am so that I could get a couple things done before heading to Cali for the day. But of course, I missed both of them and somehow bolted up at 7:15am when I heard a noise outside my room. I washed up, threw on my clothes, printed out some papers, and was out the door by 7:35am.

About half way to the airport I realized I had forgotten my breakfast that I had packed. My mom had even specially bought me a fresh wheat bagel from Panera that morning and I had packed a small tub of almond butter along with some watermelon and cherries. I was looking forward to eating it on the plane. Needless to say, I was super bummed.

But whatever, I got over it and figured I’d just have a better rest of the day. But for some reason I just had this odd feeling in the pit of my stomach. And it wasn’t hunger. For once.

A couple hours later we arrived at LAX and headed to pick up our rental car.

 After waiting a good 30 mins or so (the guy at the counter was highly interested in golf and had a long conversation with my brother about his clubs and such…) we got in our car and headed towards Mission Viejo.

Not even a few blocks in, I hear a screeching noise and a loud crash. We basically got slammed by another car that was speeding and full on rammed our car – right next to where I was sitting.

I guess that solved the matter as to what that weird feeling was I had in the pit of my stomach.

After exchanging information and all that hubbub, we were on our way once again. This time we actually made it onto the freeway ;)

We made a quick pit stop at Trader Joes (!) where I picked up a few snacks before heading to my grandpa’s place.

Those ‘cats cookies for people’ are ADDICTING.

Finally we made it to see my grandpa – the sole purpose of my trip to Cali!

It’s been a while since I’ve seen him and it was nice to spend an afternoon with him. I think that’s his favorite beanie because every time I see him he’s wearing it ;) I guess he’s where I got my love of hats from!

Before I knew it we were headed back to the airport. I guess I was just shaken up from our earlier accident, or I just never paid attention before, but there are some crazy drivers out there!

Our flight home was an interesting one. We flew by some massive clouds that were constantly lighting up with lightning.

It was so constant that I could take photos with my camera phone. We were actually flying so close to it, it was making me super nervous. Plus all that lightning and the winds was making the airplane shake.

Eventually we flew into a massive cloud where all the flight attendants had to take their seats in anticipation of some further turbulence. I’m never excited to hear that because it basically freaks me out. I hate turbulence. With a passion.

We landed smoothly around midnight and headed home. Let’s just say I was glad to call it a day!

Do you ever have those days where you feel like somethings a little off?