Cupcakes and Wine

Need I say more?

I mean what girl doesn't like cupcakes or wine? Yum, cupcake wine. Now I'm getting off track.

This weekend I got to take a little mini vacation and head down to Maryland to visit one of my good friends Claire. She graduated in May and I had only seen her one time after that, for only about 5 minutes as I was cheering her on at the Philadelphia Rock and Roll Half Marathon! We were both Resident Assistants at Arcadia and instantly became friends.

I've never been to visit Claire before so I couldn't wait to find out what we were going to be doing this weekend!

First up, Georgetown.
If you have never been to Georgetown, it is all sorts of wonderful. It reminds me of Manayunk which made me love it even more! M Street was the place to be on Saturday. Beautiful weather and a Georgetown vs Princeton football game. The best part about Georgetown is on the corner of M Street and 33rd Street.

That's right. Georgetown Cupcake. So good I ate two. Vegan Apple Cinnamon. I should have brought some home with me, but lets be honest, they wouldn't have lasted the three hour bus ride home on Sunday.

Other things in Georgetown that weren't as important as cupcakes: Good Stuff Eatery (delicious fried portobello mushroom burger), LUSH (Let the Good Times Roll smells like salted caramel popcorn and everyone should try it), Vineyard Vines Pink Whale Hats (that we didn't get unfortunately), and of course all the drunk college students that were on M Street for the Georgetown v Princeton football game (me and Claire both agreed we were very happy with picking Arcadia).

Last but certainly not least on my wonderful trip to Maryland, Linganore Winery.

If there is one thing that me and Claire have in common (besides our love for Grey's Anatomy), it is our love for wine. We might be complete opposites when it comes to wine (her dry red, me sweet white) but we still love it. This was the third wine tasting that we have done together and I sure hope that it is not the last! Not only did we get to try lots of wine, we got to witness a pregnant lady also wine tasting. I mean, I love my wine but you probably won't see me at a winery when I'm pregnant. But I guess that's just me.

Unfortunately, after a beautiful afternoon of wine drinking, it was time to hop back on the megabus and make my 3 hour trip back to Philadelphia. 

But don't you worry Maryland, I'll be back to visit. 

Hope you all had a great last weekend of September! I can't believe it is October tomorrow!

New Vegan Yum Yums

Holy cow.

I didn't realize how long it had been since I posted. Oops.
I'm finally getting into my weekly routine and man is it busy. Nothing like nannying for 11 hours and then going to class for 3. I wish that we had more like 30 hours in a day just so that I could sleep more than 6 hours. It felt good to sleep in till after 9 this past Saturday!

Since I am a "new" vegan I always tend to eat the same things every week because I know that it is vegan and everything is pretty simple. This week, I decided that I was going to expand my vegan palette and try some new food that wasn't almond milk and cereal, veggie wraps, and Indian food. Yes, that is in fact my daily eating habits. Not too adventurous. But it sure is tasty. I decided to try two new recipes for this week and hopefully another two next week!

First up:
Sweet Potato Soup. AKA Heaven in a bowl.

The weather these days has been amazing. Chilly in the mornings and nights. Perfect during the day. These kind of days make me want fall so badly that I decided I would close my eyes and eat some warm sweet potato soup in my cold kitchen and pretend that it was October. And did I mention that this was probably the easiest soup that I have ever made?

Adapted from Healthy. Happy. Life.

Chili Sweet Potato Soup
1 Medium Size Sweet Potato
1/2 Cup Almond Milk
1/2 Cup No Chicken Broth
Dash of Chili Powder and Salt
Pinch of Cinnamon
1/2 Avocado
Wedge of Lime
Handful of Crushed Tortilla Chips (I used Whole Foods 365 Blue Corn Tortilla Chips)

1. Microwave the sweet potato (Or bake it in the oven, I just don't have time for that!)
2. Once sweet potato is soft, cut in half and scoop out that deliciousness into a blender.
3. Add the almond milk, fake chicken broth, chili powder, salt, and cinnamon
4. Blend all together until creamy. You might need to add more of either the almond milk or broth, just depends on if you want it more creamy or just thinned out.
5. Pour into a bowl and throw it in the microwave for about 1 minute to get it super hot
6. Squeeze lime wedge, drop in the chunks of avocado, and sprinkle with the tortilla chips
7. Close your eyes and enjoy liquid fall.

I really don't think it can get any more easy than that. I will definitely be making this frequently. And by frequently I probably mean weekly.

The next recipe I decided to try was for a vegan breakfast sandwich. Every week I eat the same things for breakfast. Milk and cereal or oatmeal. I haven't gotten sick of it yet, I just thought that I should maybe eat something with a little more nutrition since I have to run around with two boys all day. And I'm usually ready for a snack by 10am. This sandwich is also adapted from Happy. Healthy. Life. They have some awesome vegan recipes so I am sure the majority of my new meals will be coming from them!

Vegan Breakfast Sandwich
1 English Muffin
2 Tbsp soy vegan sausage (I used Lightlife Gimme Lean Sausage)
1/4 Bell pepper (Any color will do), sliced
2 Slices of Tomato
Small handful of spinach
Sprinkle of Daiya Pepper Jack Cheese

1. Form sausage into a patty the same size as the English muffin and fry in pan until crisp on both sides. 5ish minutes.
2. Cut English muffin and pop it in the toaster
3. Once sausage patty is hot sprinkle on some Daiya cheese and cover until melted
4. Put spinach on one side of the English muffin and place sausage patty with melted cheese on top.
5. Add bell pepper slices tomatoes.
6. Top with the other side of the English muffin and devour

There are MANY different ways to make this unique. I think I am going to try some tofu "scrambled eggs" next time to top it off. Yum!

I hope that everyone has a fantastic weekend! Mine will consist of 8 hours of anatomy class for EMT and then hours and hours of studying for my first exam. Wish me luck!

I cheated.

I couldn't resist.
It was calling my name.
I had to.
Call me a bad vegan.
I can take it.

I cheated on my vegan diet with homemade snickers and I'm not even mad. A little guilty but not mad by any means.

If you were to taste them you would understand why I did what I did.

Click on the link below. Just look at the pictures first. Then make them for yourself. And don't share because you won't want to. And then you will finally know why I cheated.

http://www.howsweeteats.com/2012/01/homemade-snickers-bars/

EMT anyone?

After I graduated college I really had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I love chemistry, don't get me wrong, but would I be happy doing it every day? What field would I pursue? Industrial, pharmaceutical, cosmetic? The list goes on and on. A couple weeks before graduating I thought that nursing would be a great career choice! I looked at all the different accelerated programs in the area and even took a nutrition class online last summer to continue finishing the pre-reqs that I would need. Then after a bad experience in the ER, I thought that maybe nursing wouldn't be for me. If I were to become a nurse, the NICU is definitely where I would want to ultimately end up but I know you have to start from the bottom and I'm not sure I was willing to do that. So there went that great idea!

That is when I started to Nanny. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love this job. I get to play with infants and toddlers all day and watch them grow and learn new things every week. However, I'm sitting on a degree that I do not use. A lot of google searches have happened in the last few months to try and find out what the heck I want to do with my life. I'm still young so I figured I still had awhile but I'm not patient and I want to know where my life is taking me. Right now. The google searches finally brought me to something that I thought might actually be an awesome career path and that something was EMT.

The medical field has always sparked an interest in me but becoming a doctor was not something I found myself ever doing. I already have gone through four years of college, that was plenty for me. Then the nursing idea didn't work out. I have always thought that working in an ER would be so awesome. You get to see new patients every day and every case is always unique in its own way. There aren't many opportunities in the ER with a chemistry degree. Which is why I do believe that EMT is the right choice for me.

My first class was Wednesday and although it was all paperwork and registering online for the course, it made me so excited for the next 8 or so months. I haven't been this excited to learn about something new which is why I know that I made the right decision. I might have to wear a polo and cargo pants to class every day but I will get to learn how to take vital signs, splint broken arms, and deliver babies. How awesome is that?! Tomorrow is my first "real" class so hopefully I can let you all know something interesting that you didn't know before!

Since my vacation to Arizona I have been slacking on my crossfit workouts but I got to get one in today and boy did it kick my butt. I was surprised I got 50 burpees in under 5 minutes! And all my weights were 60, a little light but hey it's Sunday!

Cry About It, Saddlebags (Chipper-For Time)
50 Burpees
400 Meter Run
21-15-9
Hang Power Cleans
Pull Ups (I did ring rows)
800 Meter Run
15-12-9
Deadlifts
Wall Balls
Toes to Bars (I did knees to chest)

Completed: 41:42

I hope that every one has a marvelous Monday tomorrow!

Good Ol' Arizona

Before I even start about my trip I just wanna say one thing. If you think that taking an overnight flight is a good idea before you have to nanny for 9 hours, you are mistaken. If you think you are going to just close your eyes and sleep the 5 hours, you are wrong. Never. Again.

Okay. Now onto my trip.
Friday night I was so excited about my 5:25am flight on Saturday that I couldn't even sleep! Luckily for me, my wonderful roommate drove me to the airport at 4 in the morning (that is some love right there!). I got my ticket, took a benedryl and slept my way to Texas. Well, for 3 hours at least. One more 2 hour flight and I was back in Arizona! Of course my flight was super early which meant that my ride was no where in sight. I think the text conversation went a little like this:

Me: I'M HERE!
Ian: Omg. Leaving Now.
Me: Ugh okay

Thank goodness my best friend doesn't live far from the airport so I didn't have to sit around and look like forgotten luggage for very long. I was pleasantly greeted by three lovely faces that I hadn't seen for quite some time. Paige, Tucker, and Ian. I couldn't wait for my three day weekend to start! But first, a necessary nap (which didn't end up lasting that long unfortunately). Then the rest of the afternoon went a little like this:

Buffalo Wild Wings
Wal-Mart
More Naps
Grocery Store (which you can buy alcohol in! Damn you, Pennsylvania)

Saturday night was going to be the only night we all had together so we all put on our fancy pants and headed out.

Side Note: The lovely (even though some may say different. cough Ian cough) floral shirt worn by yours truly has been worn every time I have ever gone to Ra, the sushi place we ended up at. Strange coincidence.

Studs.

Hotties.

If there is one thing that I have fallen in love with in Arizona, it's the Breakfast Buzz smoothie from d'lish. A smoothie? Really Chelsey. Yes. It is chocolate, banana, coffee, and peanut butter goodness. I have had at least one every time I have been out there since Paige allowed for me to taste such magnificence. When everyone was out getting smoothies for everyone I started making breakfast. Pancakes and bacon. Two things that I do not eat. They better have felt honored. It was our friend Ian's birthday so, of course, we had to be obnoxious and sing to him (I don't think he liked it too much, but luckily we didn't care). His birthday present consisted of a 6 pack of Blue Moon and a hand painted Ron Burgundy beer stein. High five to me.

The rest of the day consisted of us watching SNL Clips and episodes of New Girl. We finally decided to leave the house to get some Mexican food because a trip to Arizona without Mexican food is an unsuccessful one to me. We went to Cafe Rio which had yummy homemade tortillas that they made right in front of you. Then we went back home for some more laziness and then decided to go to a place where you get to watch a movie and get to eat dinner at the same time! We saw We're the Millers. Hilarious if you haven't already spent the million dollars it take to go see movies now a days.

Monday was another lazy day.
Best part of the whole thing: Water War.

I had never heard of it before and both Paige and Jon thought that I would chicken out but after watching what it was I couldn't have been more excited. If you don't watch Jimmy Fallon, like me, you wouldn't know what it is. Go watch this, laugh, and then challenge your friends. Unfortunately, I lost. But it was so much fun and a great way to end my stay in Arizona.

Weekends like this make it hard for me to say good bye. I love Philadelphia, but I absolutely love spending all day with my closest friends. Distance sure does make the heart grow fonder. And sometimes it straight up sucks.

Hope everyone else had a great Labor Day Weekend!! Fall here we come!!