Tag Archives: pizza

WIAW: Photo Dump Edition

A very special happy birthday to an inspiring friend, Meg! Happy birthday dear, you make me smile and feel stronger every time I read your blog/tweets!

Can you believe I’ve never done a What I Ate Wednesday (WIAW) post?! I always thought they had to be about a day of eats. In fact, at first I thought it could only be about a Wednesday of eats. But I’ve seen lots of creative ways to do it, including posts in which people just share yummy things they’ve been eating all week, not just from one day. Now that’s more my style!

So now thanks to Jen of Peas & Crayons, I give you the first Cait Plus Ate WIAW: The Photo Dump Edition.

Warm-Roasted Eggplant & Wonton “Napoleon” from Arugula in West Hartford, CT.

Arugula delivered one of the best falafel plates I’ve ever seen!

Duck confit & chorizo sausage flatbread from Arugula. It was to die for!

Brookline Sour at Barcelona Wine Bar in West Hartford, CT

Instagram version! This drink is made with rye whiskey.

Barcelona has amazing bread & olive oil! It was piping hot when it arrived.

Suckling pig with red chimichurri and local radishes with butter and sea salt at Barcelona Wine Bar. Aaaand I just realized that pig has numbers on it!

Rioja wine flight at Barcelona Wine Bar

Left to right: Finca San Martin, Villarica, Cerro Anon

Barcelona Wine Bar tapas: Chorizo with Sweet & Sour Figs (Balsamic-Sherry Glaze) and Coca del Dia (Feta, English Peas, Garlic Scape Pesto)

The Aviation

An at-home dinner (yes they exist): turkey burger with sweet & spicy mustard, bean medley, broc, burnt (on purpose) cornbread.

Another at-home dinner, literally the exact same thing, ha! With a side of Rioja.

For Meg!! The Kill Bill roll from Min Ghung in Glastonbury, CT: spicy tuna on the inside with eel, salmon, and avocado on the outside. Drizzled with Vietnamese Chili.

Min Ghung Sake Sampler: Peach, Snow Maiden, Pear.

Sonoma beer tasting!

Clearly still a beer lover work-in-progress.

Guacamole at Maria Bonitas by West Point.

Bartender there made me the BEST marg I’ve EVER had! Natural style, on the rocks, extra salt.

My mom agreed!

Maria Bonitas black bean soup – tasty but WAY filling!

This hole in the wall style place had the best ceviche I’ve ever had! With crab, shrimp, and octopus.

I’d be lying if I said I had any of this.

Bread from Torches on the Hudson in NY. Pretty good, nothing to write home about.

Bitter-Sweet Citrus Martini: citrus fruits muddled in Stoli, with St. Germaine

BBQ Salmon, Broccoli, Asparagus, Black Bean & Corn Salsa at Torches. HEAVENLY.

One of the most unique drinks ever. Vanilla Sage Crush: vanilla-infused tequila with fresh sage, honey, and lemon.

On the way to my friend’s West Point graduation with Starbucks in hand!

That is far from everything, but at least this Caitlin-style WIAW has given me a way to share many days’ worth of restaurant trips (with some home eats thrown in). Kinda ended up being a Wordess WIAW!

What looks best to you? I won’t make you choose one thing 😉

Wordless Wednesday: Summer Fun Edition

You’ve probably noticed my tendency to write very long, wordy blog posts. I can ramble on and on for hours about fun, food, fitness, and fashion. But today, let’s cut out the words, and let me just show you some photos of what my summer (yes I’m calling it summer right now) has looked like so far. And captions don’t count as words.

Beaching it at Hammonassett with my friends! I win the color prize.

Greg and I hanging out at a baby picnic table at The Burger Co in Glastonbury. I clearly had come from the gym (see my ZigTechs?)

Ladies loving the BYOB with no corkage fee!

Family seeing my little brother off to junior prom! Where’d my face go?

Hey it looks like he kinda likes me!

Siblings <3

Trying to be cool with my sis and her friends.

Isn’t his date so beautiful?

My wonderful dad and I at dinner after we saw my brother off.

Before dinner at Puerto Vallarta, with my sister!

Mom came too 🙂

Skinny margarita!

Kicking of the CT Wine Trail 2012 passport at Chamard Vineyards in Clinton, CT.

Gorgeous day for the vineyard, I love Chamard’s scenery. And it’s conveniently on the way home from Hammonassett!

My first trip to the WeHa Reservoir, thanks for showing me around, Jenny!

At Tullycross Tavern to use a SaveNowCT deal!

My amazing meal from that night, a butternut squash flatbread with arugula, grilled chicken, and goat cheese. Paired with Jacob’s Creek Shiraz.

Just read that and you’ll understand why I’m making that face.

View from my table at Besito’s, after work on a Wednesday.

Margarita angel?

Fellow drinker and judger, Rachel, AKA namer of this blog.

The flower vases were actually empty Patron bottles! 😉

My roasted salmon with fried bananas, black beans, sauteed greens, plantain chips, pineapple salsa, and mole sauce was FANTASTIC.

Rachel’s steak tacos – I liked the steak a lot! She didn’t haha

Ben’s chicken enchiladas. Chicken was average, sauce was amazing.

FREE CHURRO.

Triple fisting Onyx Moonshine at Art After Hours!

Best picture ever, taken by tipsy Hartford corporate men.

Balloons make us happy!

They make wine glasses for camping? Maybe I could handle roughing it…

Art After Hours Block Party at Wadsworth in Hartford.

Blood Orange Marg at Barcelona in WeHa!

And of course I ordered a wine flight.

Tapas!!! Olives, bok choy, swiss chard.

The outdoor-but-not-outdoor seating area is beautiful!

AHHH! It was really hard not to write words here. I wanted to go on and on about all the fun I had during each photo. But I also don’t have enough TIME to share all these photos with you guys if I want to write about them too…so I’m choosing the visuals 😀

If you’re a CT local, have you ever been to any of these spots?

Do any of my summertime festivities look similar to yours? Tell me more!

Busy Blogger

Busy blogger = bad blogger = another blogger cop-out post. Seriously, I have so much fun stuff from this past weekend to share with you guys, as in three post’s worth, and no time to do it. #bloggerproblems!

TK Grand Smash at Trumbull Kitchen last night – Grand Marnier, muddled mint, and lemon. Wonderful!

Hey, I’m busy living life and having fun! Yeah there’s work and class, but there’s also the good times that keep coming, which give me tons of material to blog about – and then proceed to delay said blogging. What can ya do?!

Trumbull Kitchen’s special stone pie of the night – with duck!

So please to enjoy (as the lovely Carla Binberg says) the above random photos from last night, and check out the following:

How do you handle blogging when life gets too busy?

Sweat and Food

Please take a moment to vote for me (up to 10 times…a day…) in round one of the Hartford Courant 2012 Websters for CT’s Best Blogs! I’m nominated for Best Overall Blog, Best Health Blog, Best Food Blog, and Best Social Media Account! Thank you to those who nominated me, and voting for round one closes this Friday 3/30 at 11:59PM EST.

I’m glad that so many of you seemed to enjoy yesterday’s post about my appreciation for the friendships my blog has brought me! Sounds like a lot of you can relate – and that’s a great thing!

My makeshift home yoga "area"…computer booting up to play P90X Yoga this morn! My #PROOF.

I feel like it’s been forever since I just wrote about what was on my mind (instead of recapping the latest and greatest restaurants and events). I love doing that, but I also find it really therapeutic and cleansing, cheesy as that sounds, to just write whatever is on my mind! And based off of comments and feedback from my readers, it seems those posts are often enjoyed MORE than the ones where I share my delectable eats. Perhaps I’m giving you guys too much food porn? Do I need to take it away for awhile? 😉 OBVIOUSLY I’m kidding.

Typical healthy eats food porn…some may drool, some may wrinkle their noses.

I had a great workout yesterday. I have to share it with you guys! I did an hour-long spin class that totally kicked my butt and had me pouring sweat. I just LOVE how sweating makes me feel. It’s more refreshing than jumping into a pool on a hot day. Downside of sweating, just like getting out of a pool sometimes – I was FREEZING after that spin class. Complete icicle. Even 20 minutes of arm-breaking (don’t worry, not literally) weights after the class couldn’t warm me up. Once I got home I realized why – my sports bra, AKA undergarment completely 100% in contact with my skin, was totally drenched through. I don’t remember the last time it was like that after a workout. I TOLD you I sweated like a mad woman!

I came home and after a refreshing, HOT shower, I went upstairs to see what was for dinner. I was craving CARBS like a mad lady. No surprise after 1.5 hours at the gym! Thank goodness, my mom had heated up the last of our free Dr. Oetker’s Organic Veggie Frozen Pizzas that I received through a BzzAgent campaign, thanks to a coupon. She added garlic and leftover steamed broccoli to the pie, and heated it in the oven on a pizza stone. Perfection! After a few more minutes under the broiler, and with a pile of black beans for protein, this really hit the spot.

I also had half of a turkey burger, and later sampled some of my new Love Grown Foods granola (review/giveaway to come once I’ve tried every flavor!) with 0% plain Greek yogurt. I had it while reading the first 18 pages of my latest library find, “The Summer Without Men” by Siri (lol) Hustvedt. I already LOVE this book and am already gonna say that I recommend it to all of you , even though I’m 18 pages in.

I will leave you with this hilarious gem…someone playing a prank on my cubicle neighbor at work!

Do you ever get really cold after a workout, because of how much you sweat?

What did you have for dinner last night?

Have you ever read the book above, or any of Siri’s other books?

Taste of the Nation New Haven: The Savory Food

Another event like the Mohegan Sun Wine Festival has come along that was so awesome, I cannot possibly recap it in one post. Well, I could, but you’d get sick of reading about it halfway through. That’s the beauty of this blog – I can do things my own way, so I will be dividing my recap into a couple of posts – savory food today, and sweets and drinks tomorrow.

Taste of the Nation is an event I have been wanting to attend ever since I started reading blogs. I have seen my favorite bloggers attend their local cities’ Share our Strength food and drink tastings and have been jealous of the eats each and every time! Taste of the Nation holds tastings throughout the country (Connecticut has one in New Haven and Hartford, at different times of the year) to raise money (through ticket sales and silent auctions) that goes toward ending childhood hunger in America. Local food and drink vendors donate their time and resources, and each one sets up its own table and serves unlimited samples to hungry attendees. Event organizer Timothy Cipriano, who is in charge of the food at all New Haven Public Schools, was kind enough to give me the opportunity to go to Taste of the Nation: New Haven and cover the event for this blog! I was even joined by fellow CT blogger Marissa of Style Cusp. Don’t be fooled by her blog’s fashion-focus – she may be a Lucky Magazine blogger, but she’s also a true foodie!

The organizers did a great job creating a visually stunning display in Yale Commons, a Yale dining hall. After the decorators were done with it, it most certainly didn’t look like one.

I felt a little overwhelmed at first! But I’m an experienced tasting-goer, so I adopted my go-to strategy that aids me in trying as many different things as possible – only finish a FULL sample if the item is out-of-this-world. If I take a bite and dislike it, or like it and it’s just OK, ditch the rest to save room for more!

I picked up my press bracelet…

Grabbed a glass…

…and promptly headed into the tasting room. Today’s post is about the savory food though, so let’s save the drinks (and desserts) until tomorrow!

The above eggplant pancakes topped with cilantro yogurt from Barcelona Wine Bar were so good. I’d totally eat these for breakfast.

But Marissa and I both liked their other offering better these cauliflower “tarts” were topped with bacon and crispy onions. Now this tasted just like breakfast! It reminded us of bacon and eggs.

Marissa tried and liked the above scallops from Yale Dining Services. I wonder if students ever actually get these in the dining halls!

They were also serving the above stuffed chicken with risotto  – how pretty is it?! – but I didn’t snag a sample of this for some reason that I do not understand.

Whole Foods Milford served chips and guac (I passed on that) and a spinach and mushroom quesadilla with jalapeno cream sauce. It was really good! We both enjoyed that one.

Ballin’ presentation right? Unfortunately the presentation was the better than the rum-topped carrot ginger soup in these shooters from La Cuisine Cafe. I liked the first sip, and the rum tasted really interesting with the ginger. But the following sips were a bit lackluster.

Their potatoes topped with short rib, though, were super good. I LOVE potatoes!!!

OMG. Caseus – I love them so much. I discovered them on a Taste of New Haven tour of Canal Quarter (seriously, hidden gems EVERYWHERE on those tours). And I had no idea that Marissa was as much of a cheese freak as I am (good thing she’s gluten-free and not dairy-free!) The above Brigid’s Abbey cheese is actually one of the two I’ve tried from Caseus before, but I was sure to grab another bite. Mmmm.

Those are bleu-cheese stuffed dates and I could have eaten them all night long.

This fabulous cheddar was Marissa’s favorite cheese.

I was partial to the Coupole goat cheese (obviously – and doesn’t it look like a brain?!) spread on a cracker with local preserves. Marissa and I agreed we could’ve just stayed at the Caseus table all night long. We even hit it for a second time later on.

We wanted to try the Oysters Rockefeller above, but this one was the only one left, so we decided to double back when there would be two available for us to try. Too bad that when we did, they had run out completely!

This shrimp cous cous was quite satisfying! The herbs used were so strong, maybe even a little too strong.

Certainly the most “exotic” thing I tried was this foie gras – AKA duck liver – from Bella Bella Gourmet. I did not like it, and not just because I knew it was duck liver. Couldn’t stand the texture!

This was one of my favorite things I tried the entire night – their duck pastrami sandwich on buttery, crispy rye bread. Pure heaven.

No pork belly tacos from Oaxaca Kitchen were available when we passed by their table, but I liked the presentation of their guacamole on the above cucumber, with radish and shredded carrot. Guac is whatever to me so I passed on this.

How cool is this cantelope from Thali?!

Box 63 was serving up some amazing eats – just look at that menu!

I sampled bites from a couple different sliders – the Hawaiian and the Coney Island. Both were amazing. The Hawaiian had grilled pineapple and the Coney Island had chili!

These were called Greek salads with grilled chicken, but Melissa and I were just interested in the grilled chicken skewers. We split one of these plates and each had one. Loved the sauce on there!

Marissa was so pumped to try this lobster risotto. I’m not a big risotto person but had a couple bites, quite good!

The above table’s presentation was amazing. This meat was topped with an apple chutney-like sauce. The apple paired so well with the medium to medium-rare meat. I could eat a whole entree’s worth!

Mmmm – bread and olive oil! Nothing better, right? This crusty good stuff from Chabaso Bakery was garlic-flavored – perfect for me!

Oh Plan B. I continue to be not a big fan, but I did like this goat cheese steak crostini (passed on a slider, already had one at the Mohegan Sun WineFest). Gotta love medium rare steak!!! And Plan B’s Glastonbury Twitter has been receptive to my issues with their lack of healthy sides – maybe some grilled veggies will make an appearance there someday!

I was starstruck by both this delicious veggie quinoa dish and its creator – Claire Criscuolo, RN and founder of Claire’s Corner Copia, an amazing healthy restaurant in New Haven that’s been a mainstay by the town green since its opening in 1975. I’ve eaten there before and adored it. It was so amazing to meet Claire and tell her how much I adore her restaurant. I had to “favorite” the below tweet from her a couple days later!

My favorite food is pizza, and I was wondering when I would get to sample some. After all, New Haven is a huge pizza town in America! I didn’t get to try any real New Haven pizza unfortunately (can’t believe there wasn’t any there!) but Skinny Pines Catering satisfied my pizza craving with some delicious brick oven, thin-crust slices. They don’t have an actual brick-and-mortar location, unless you count their truck that travels from event-to-event a brick-and-mortar location – that won’t stand still! I think it’s a really cool concept.

There weren’t a lot of slices available when I stopped by, but I had one that included caramelized onions and it was wonderful. Cater my wedding, please?!

Brownson Country Club of Shelton, CT has a pretty impressive culinary staff. Both of the dishes described above were amazing.

The monkfish with lobster essence mousse, frisse, sea beans, lobster, and truffle salt pictured above was one of the best dishes of the entire Taste of the Nation event – Marissa and I both agreed on that.

The steak tartar above was the last savory dish of the evening that we tried. Very good, but by then our tastebuds were getting worn out, so I don’t know if my review can do this justice!

And to think…I still have to tell you about dessert!

Which savory sensation would you have wanted to try the most?

Wordless Wednesday: Saturday Night Glastonbury Barhop

Note: I don’t count photo captions (or this note) as words 😉 Home sick today and don’t feel much like writing!

Sakura Garden happy hour red + free strawberry daiquiri shot

Another free shot – mango

Joe's happy hour California roll

Rooftop 120 martini menu

Dark n stormier, sparkler, pickle martini

Sourdough grilled cheese + french onion soup

Margherita flatbread

Plan B

Are there any places in your town to bar/restaurant-hop?

The Plaza Food Hall by Todd English

Continuing my ridiculously behind-schedule series of recaps of my holiday season, enjoy this restaurant recap from dinner on 12/23!

I am always in charge of  choosing restaurants on family trips, and our annual Christmas Eve trip to NYC is no different. I went to Twitter and Yelp to seek out a dinner destination, and found great success on the latter when I stumbled upon the menu for The Plaza Food Hall by Todd English. You guessed it, it’s located at the famous Plaza Hotel, and the huge menu told me two things:

  1. My dad, sister, and I were each sure to find something we’d like.
  2. I would NEVER be able to decide what to order.

I was torn between so many options!! And what is pictured above was only one side of the menu. I asked the waitress for some advice, but finally just went with my gut last-minute and decided literally right before I opened my mouth to tell my waitress my order.

The restaurant is set up with “bar-style” seats at various stations (one for each section of the menu). We were seated at the flatbreads station – appropriate since that’s what I ended up ordering!

We also were seated right by what I can only guess was the “grilling station”, which was cool because whenever I turned around, a new tasty order was up on the counter waiting to be picked up by a waiter – and waiting to be photographed by me!

A couple tasty taco options.

To start, I ordered a cocktail called the Green Agave: Patron, agave nectar, fresh lime juice, and basil/mint. It was fantastic – the right amount of tequila (AKA nice and strong), and nice and light.

Even their sodas were served in a fancy manner – check out Hannah’s Diet Coke!

The flatbread chef was kind enough to take a photo of the three of us.

Service was a bit slow, but we were in no real rush. By the time our food came, I was definitely ready to dive in. I ended up going with a flatbread topped with Brussels sprouts, caramelized onions, tomatoes, gorgonzola, and prosciutto. I asked for light cheese, and did not really get it, but I picked some off and still enjoyed my meal!

Hannah selected the hamburger with classic french fries. I had a bite of her burger and it was cooked very well. The fries looked great!

My dad went all out and started with the special soup of the day: mushroom bisque. Two thumbs up from him on this!

For the main course, he ordered the Kobe Pastrami Burger with the special side of the night, Fried Risotto Tots. Unfortunately, the tots didn’t come til the end of the meal, when we were all quite full. I tried to convince my dad to send them back, but he doesn’t like to do that kind of thing. We all agreed that they also weren’t all that great – a yummy crispy fried shell for sure, but the risotto insides were pretty tasteless. The burger and pastrami, however, were both out of this world.

Nice, right? Yes, I got to eat those pickles the burger was topped with.

After we paid the bill, we stopped by the dessert station on the way out and got a piece of chocolate cake to-go. The three of us split it back at the hotel room – it was pretty good, not amazing, but still a tasty end to the night.

Overall, I really loved The Plaza Food Hall. Despite not having one type of food it specializes in, the restaurant produces high-quality dishes almost all across the board. In a crowded NYC dinner spot, service can’t be expected to be perfect, but it could have been a little speedier. Still, we were chillin’, and didn’t mind waiting too much (except for the tots that came at the end of the meal). I definitely would recommend this place to NYC visitors and locals alike. There was simply so much to choose from – I’d be glad to go back!

Take a look at the menu – what would you order? Can you even choose?

A Long Overdue Reunion

I’m still enjoying my Florida vacation, but unfortunately today is our last day here! I’ll eventually be sharing my Florida food adventures with you guys, but for now I still need to share my holiday adventures too! This is definitely a good problem to have 🙂 too many good times!

Back when us “kids” were younger, my family and two other families we are close with, the Andersons and the Gerbers (they hosted us for Thanksgiving), used to get together for what we called Gerber-Anderson-Croswell parties.

Clearly a good time (see my mom at left).

After we started going off to college, these gatherings became sparse. The Andersons decided to take advantage of everyone being home for the holidays and host a long overdue reunion. Good times, food, and wine were aplenty!

The oldest Croswell, Anderson, and Gerber girls.

I honestly have no idea what kind of wine I was drinking. It was red and it was delicious! I had one glass before I got hungry.

My favorite wine partner, the mom.

 My family jokingly calls Mrs. Anderson “Monica Stewart” (her first name is Monica) because no one can keep a home, cook, and host a party like she can! Even as I was walking up the driveway (this shindig also conveniently took place down the street from me), I was greeted by quaint holiday pine, holly, and pine cones arranged in the flower box.

The inside of the house was no less well-decorated.

Molly actually is responsible for this arrangement (props, Molly).

I used to be notorious for going over to the Andersons’ and eating them out of house and home in middle/high school. But really, how could I not when they are always providing so much wonderful food?

Not exactly sure what that dip was, but it was so good. Went to town on those cucumbers.

Swedish meatballs, these were fantastic.

I pretty much died when I saw this cheese spread! And check out the dried fruit!

Amazing sweet and savory flatbread.

We didn’t make Mrs. Anderson do all the cooking, don’t worry! My mom contributed a delicious layered Mexican dip of fat-free refried black beans, guacamole, and pico de gallo, paired with Stop n Shop’s blue corn tortilla chips.

Managed to take this shot before people dug in!

Megan gives us an action shot.

Mrs. Gerber brought what I can only say is the best buffalo chicken dip I’ve ever had. There was so much chunky, fresh pulled chicken in this dip and the sauce was not overwhelming at all. A dip that doesn’t skip on the meat is my kind of dip. I would eat this with a spoon, all day.

We chatted, caught up, and joked as if no time at all had passed.  I love nights like this!

The boys were a little less chatty.

No one could wait very long to dive into dessert. Everyone contributed to an amazing spread.

Hershey Kiss PB cookies, chocolate chip cookie squares, and ginger snaps.

I had one of each of the first two cookies, and then half of a ginger snap. Mrs. Anderson’s cookie squares are a classic. I have been known to eat up to ten at family fiestas back in the day. This time I was able to reel it back a bit, but they were just as good as usual. The Hershey Kiss PB cookies are also one of my favorite cookies of all time!

For the sweet n' salty lovers!

Sugar cookies with icing and sprinkles.

Peppermint bark!

The chocolate covered saltines pictured on top of the photo above were OUT OF THIS WORLD. I nearly died after the first bite –  so so good for a salty n’ sweet junkie like me. I’m honestly not sure what those candies are at the bottom of the photo!

What a fantastic night. I had a great time! I had to pack for my various trips (recaps to come, I swear…) and go to work the next morning, so I headed home around 10 (past my bed time!) But I had a great time and loved reuniting with my old friends. It all felt so cozy and familiar!

Which of the featured foods in this post would you most want to try?

Career Fangirling

THE BLOG HAS A NEW HEADER! PLEASE CHECK IT OUT! Thanks so much to the lovely and talented Mai for designing it!

Can I just continue my nerd-dom and share how excited I am right now that the newest and youngest member of the Starbucks Board of Executives, Clara Shih, tweeted at me last night?!

I follow Starbucks Blogs because it’s a great source of news about one of my favorite brands, and Phillip (who runs the account) tweeted an article about Clara’s recent promotion to the Board. The article’s link isn’t working, but I found a comparable one here. I re-tweeted the article saying “a girl can dream…” and Clara reached out to me and made me feel completely inspired with just a simple tweet!

She is the CEO and founder of Hearsay Social, a social media startup that helps companies “quickly onboard, train, and successfully enable their local offices to create authentic conversations with their clients and customers in real time on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter”. AKA what I am most interested in using my marketing degree to accomplish!

The book worm in me is also excited to read Clara’s book, The Facebook Era. It may be used as a textbook at universities, but I know I’d enjoy reading it for fun. Sorry I’m not sorry – I’m totally career fangirling right now and I’m fine with it. Any inspiration is a good thing!

Chili with rabbit ears?

On a completely unrelated note, I owe you guys some food photos that have been hanging out in my camera for awhile. Pictured above is my mom’s amazing ground turkey/soy and bean chili, topped with fresh pico de gallo and scooped up with two whole grain taco shells.

Aerial view…

I was having trouble coming up with creative/pretty ways to display the meal, as you can see.

Not my food, but had to take a picture.

My friend Matt and I stopped by Giovanni’s the other night because he was hungry and my sister was working, so we figured we’d kill two birds and visit her while he re-fueled. He selected their “manliest” slice, the Stuffed Meat, but was rendered a bit less “manly” when the last two bites were a struggle. With my coaching, he got the slice down.

Also, I was a featured blogger last week over at fellow FitFluential Ambassador Matt’s blog, The Athlete’s Plate. Check it out! I guess my blog’s name has garnered me the nickname of “Cait” in the blog world, which is what my wonderful padre calls me, so OK by me!

Have you ever had a “fangirl” moment over Twitter?

Wednesday Funk

Oh my goodness. The dreary weather has got me in such a funk. Someone help me! I am in the home stretch of my semester and of the time before my first week-long vacation from work (to FLORIDA). I need to just get through these next couple weeks, and try to enjoy them for the holiday time that they are. Is anyone else feeling winter blues?

A daily lunchtime salad beast.

At least I can say I have no qualms about the food I’ve been eating lately – it’s all been delicious!

Giovanni's veggie pizza, crisped up under the broiler and served on my favorite childhood plate.

Is there anything better than burnt crust pizza loaded with chunky veggies?

Giovanni's marinated chicken salad, and a festive little fork.

How about more veggies, combined with feta and some of the most delicious chicken in the world, to pair with that pizza? Or some good old-fashioned carbs?

Post-dinner snack of satisfying local kalamata olive bread.

My workouts have been going well too. I still need to re-cap the Santa’s Run and tell you guys about my PR (along with about a thousand other posts I’ve been drafting in my mind…), but I’ve been lazy with uploading photos from my iPhone, which is where the race photos are. But I’ve been doing a lot of stepping and a lot of lifting. It feels good to get back into lifting, actually. I did two Group Power classes in one week, for the first time in awhile, and am already excited about trying to continue to keep up with attending those classes. I just love the way I feel when I can lift a heavier weight, or lift the same weight for longer.

I’m outta here…sorry for such a short post, but I’ve got some (real life) work to do – bummer, ha.

Real life work lunch and snack packing.

If you strength train, do you feel more accomplished when you can lift a heavier weight for the first time or when you can lift a weight you’ve done before for a new longer length of time?