Swinnyinthecity: And another one bites the dust...

Hi!

Hrumph. Another weekend comes to a close! Mine was low-key and mostly spent hanging around the apartment in my pajammies :) I hope you all had a great weekend, too! Although my days weren't action packed, I'll share some highlights from the past few days.

I don't know about you, but I definitely consider Thursday evening as a part of the weekend. I think this started in college, however the association has continued on. Things have definitely changed a bit in that I usually head to a nice dinner instead of sipping vodka cranberries at the local bar. This Thursday, my friend Denice and I went to one of my fave restaurants in Jersey City, Madame Claude's. In addition to the amazing cuisine, this french bistro has a charm that I have yet to encounter at any other Jersey City (or NYC) eatery. It is TINY. I mean, you better hope you like the people you're sitting next to as you are essentially dining WITH them. On Thursday nights, the owner of the restaurant and his gypsy jazz band Manouche Bag play at the front of the restaurant. A night spent at Madame Claude's (especially a Thursday!) is guaranteed to be a fab time!

Definitely not my best photo. At least my outfit was cute, right?

This wine rocks. The first time I purchased it was because the label is so pretty. I understand this is not the correct way to choose a wine (judging a book by its cover is never good!), but this time is worked out. I LOVE wine and have tried many different kinds, but I have not had many (if any?) Priorat's. I love this vino! On a side note, the last time I went to Madame Claude's I bought this same wine and it never made it. I fell out of my car ( I am a bona fide clutz) at the restaurant and the wine crashed on the pavement. This Thursday, my baby thankfully made it safely to the table and into my glass!

better pic.

They have amazing escargot! Denice had never had it, but she was a champ and gave it a whirl! She loved it! I wanted to add a photo of her enjoying it, but all the photos came out blurry :(

Denice caught me with escargot sauce dripping down my face. Sexy.

Denice had the mussels which they are well known for.

I had the special which was an amazing monkfish with a side of rockin' rice. I can' t remember exactly what was in it. I know that there was definitely some coconut and curry. You'll have to trust me when I say it was De-li-cious!

Not the best pic of the band, but you get the idea! All in all, a fantabulous Thursday night!

Friday I started they day off with a healthy breakfast!

And lunch... with a big heap of that tofu salad I posted about the other day.

This dressing is amazing.

Friday night, I went to a spin class over at the gym. I have to say, since I have done a few Soul Cycle classes, a regular ol' spin class just isn't the same. Despite the lackluster class, it felt great to get a serious sweat goin'!

PJ and I had planned a make your own pizza night for Friday. Unfortunately, it turned into an order some pizza night as we both had schedule conflicts ( and were frankly to hungry by the time we got home!) to get creative with pizzas.

PJ brought home some wine and cheese for an appy'!

Sausage and pepper za' for him.

Truffled mushroom za' for me!

I whipped us up some spinach salads with pine nuts and a pesto vinaigrette!

Perfect Friday night.

Toby really wanted that pizza! We did let him munch on some crust how could you say no to that face!?

Now, I have talked a lot about how I strive to be mindful and moderate MOST of the time with food. However, PJ and I attacked those pizzas and I will say that I enjoyed every slice (all 4!). We watched "Friends with Kids" while we ate. It's on demand, go rent it right now. It was such a cute flick. The only downside was that due to the movie I had a dream I was giving birth to triplets. YIKES- not ready for that.

Saturday I stayed in my jammies ALL day and doodled around the house. I was going to head to a yoga class, but was enjoying lazing around with my coffee. Later in the day I did a web-based yoga class (I will share deets about these yoga classes this week!) and headed over to my friend Le-La's for what was probably the highlight of my weekend!

Saturday brekkie. Microwave eggs with fresh tomatoes and green onions. I also had half a vegan sausage (I bought them out of curiosity) and also some green monster smoothie (recipe in earlier post!). Even PJ (who loves all things meat) agreed that the vegan sausage was delicious aside from the slightly funky consistency!

Oh, and Toby enjoyed some yoga with mommy.

Ok, back to Saturday night dinner at LL's. Le-La is half Vietnamese and half French. I have had her mom's Vietnamese food a few times and each time it was out of this world. Le-La has grown up cooking the same foods, and she invited me over to teach me how to create a Vietnamese feast!