Hey readers, Merry Christmas to all of you! My gift to you this season is a quick recap of the days leading up to Christmas Eve for me! I’ve been spending a lot of time with family, some friends, and resting and relaxing with myself so I took a little hiatus from the blogosphere. Saturday morning I attempted to sleep in before I got started with my day, but I didn’t want to miss my chance to go grocery shopping with my mom and pick up a couple things I would need to stay on track with healthy eating while I’m home. I rolled out of bed, ate a small breakfastand went out to Whole Foods and Costco with my Mom for some samples galore!
Then ate a lunch
before I met up with my cousin Lauren and went shopping with her for some last minute christmas gifts for my mom and dad. I finally got the coat I’ve been eyeing on a good deal too!
After all that shopping I was one tired girl. I had dinner with my family then went out to Ashley’s Ice Cream in New Haven with my dad and brother (I had Strawberry since they make it fresh daily it was delicious! And had chunks of fresh strawberries in it 🙂 )
Sunday morning I was up early to go to the Bronx in New York with my family for all the Italian food shopping. I packed a Sweet Breakfast Scramble with Cinnamon Raisin PB to start my day. We wait online for about 3 hours, in 30 degree weather (I wore 6 layers) for our cheese and pasta – we’re a little crazy. After still having to wait for my dad to eat lunch, I snagged some tea and a raisin bran muffin to hold me over.
After spotting Kevin Jonas out and about a couple times, it was time for our other tradition, Dominick’s! It’s a locally owned restaurant that has been there since my dad went to college at Fordham and we still see the same waiters every time. You sit next to people you don’t know which is always fun and very much the neighborhood feel. I ordered Eggplant Parm but only ate a small part of the colossal portion.
I laid in bed for awhile when we got home because I was so exhausted, ate some cereal for dinner, then headed over to my friend Jackson’s where Eric him and Dan were working on music.
Monday morning was Christmas Eve! I was able to sleep in, luckily, and woke up to a good start to my day with a solid breakfast. Then a couple hours later, my mom brother and I went for a run and afterwards I made a smoothie then I hit the gym for some strength training and circuit training to try and work on my butt 🙂 (so. many. squats.)
Ater the gym, it was chocolate milk time!
After a quick glass I went upstairs and got ready, realxed until it was snack time around 6 o’clock.
I enjoyed some of the crab dip, some veggies, a little bit of cheese, and then realized we weren’t going to eat dinner until after 10pm. (so typical for our family, but always leaves me with a headache and not feeling well). So I went into the fridge and whipped up a snack (cottage cheese, raisins, banana) to tide me over while we decorated the tree.
Upon realizing it was snowing, it was time to eat dinner. Zucchini, Veal Parmesan, Fresh Egg Noodle Pasta and Homemade Tomato Sauce.
After dinner my family whipped out this huge Chocolate Souffle cake my mom always makes, but it was close to midnight and I was full in addition to being exhausted so I opted for my chocolate covered strawberry instead. While my mom got the cake ready, there was some dog snuggling action goin on. He, Oliver, was my Christmas Present 6 Christmas Eve’s ago! 🙂
Then my brother and I exchanged gifts with each other. I got him a couple movies on Blu-Ray and a Timex Ironman Sports Watch while he got me the Lululemon Power Y Tank in my favorite color, blue!
It was a great evening for sure! Hope all of you had a wonderful holiday and are enjoying the time with your family and friends! My Christmas Day post will be up shortly 🙂
Until next time,
Natasha