>Nice to be back

Posted on November 11, 2010 by sethlapierre

>As much of a blast as the Foodbuzz Festival was it’s also nice coming home. I must say I missed someone quite a bit.

But with a face like this, how can you not???

Yesterday I woke up a little errr ridiculously late. With not much time to relax before work, I threw on my running gear and headed out for a 6-mile run on the gorgeous sunny day.

Here are a few pics captured along the way...

Perdy, eh???

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Having only about 30 mins to get ready for work and make breakfast and lunch, I quickly inhaled a chocolate covered cherry smoothie then packed a tuna & dill salad for dinner:

Tuna, 1 T dill, yellow onion, kosher dill pickles, chickpeas, dash sea salt, black pepper.

Tossed in fat-free Greek yogurt and a splash of pickle juice (for flavor)

And topped over a fresh salad dressed with a 1:1 mixture of Goddess dressing & balsamic vinegar

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Alright I’m off to Spinning then to work! Have a great day!

Lauren

>Foodbuzz Festival recap!

Posted on November 10, 2010 by sethlapierre

I’m back in DC after a fantastic weekend in San Francisco for the annual Foodbuzz Festival! I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking for this post 🙂

Peace out Washington!

I arrived at 3pm on Friday had had only a couple of hours to settle into our fabulous hotel, The Sir Frances Drake. Of course I managed to snap a few pics for y’all along the way:

We quickly got ready then headed down to the hotel bar for a cocktail (au natural margaritas) then were shuttled to a welcome reception at the herbst pavilion.

We were greeted with lots of wine and some of the best food I’ve ever tasted..

Oh, and the klutz I am obviously spilled wine on my name card. haha.

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Day 2 started with a fantastic ~5mi run with some lovely blogger friends!

It’s crazy how fast 5 miles flies with a good gab sesh!

A quick shower and Starbucks later, we attended 3 morning breakout sessions/seminars where I learned more about video blogging, cooking seafood, and whipping together quick and creative salads!

We relaxed for about 2 mins after the seminars before anxiously rushing walking to the amazing farmer’s market!

But could you blame us?????

honey tasting!

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We did our best to only sample the goodies because we were off to a 4 hour tasting pavilion with a fabulous city view!

Before I show you some more foodie pics, here’s a funny one for you:

We made a flip book!!!! hahaha.

The most mouth watering, sweet and fantastic pears from Frog Hollow Farms:

Arugula and quinoa salad by Fresh Express:

Infused olive oils and balsamic vinegar by Olive:

Ghirardelli s’mores!

Cupcakes galore by Mission mini:

Salmon and halibut fish tacos by Alaskan seafood:

Shrimp cocktail in a mango gazpacho dipping sauce:

And check out the VIEW!

source

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After glowing with food babies, we walked back to the hotel, rested then got ready for the main event: A 5 course Gala Dinner sponsored by the Cooking Channel!

source

We tasted lots and lots of California’s best wine..

Yes, ALL of these glasses were eventually filled. For 9 people…..

And then came the food…

Crimson Beet, Feta and currants, wild arugula and basil puree

Paired with 2009 Bonny Doon Vineyard Ca’ del solo Albarino

Seared scallops, braised fennel, garnished with fried fennel fonds

served with 2007 Bonny Doon Vineyard Le Cigare Blanc

Rosemary & Garlic Lamb served with pinot noir sauce and butternut squash puree

Paired with 2006 Bonny Doon Vineyard Le Cigare Volant

Seared cod with basil puree, local mushrooms topped over butternut squash

Buttery almond cake with oranges and Spanish cherry sabayon

2008 Vinferno Bonny Doon Vineyard Vin de Paille Dessert Wine

It. was. amazing.

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The next morning we enjoyed a delightful goodbye breakfast sponsored by Nature’s Pride then I set off to spend an extra night with my best friend Brandy in San Jose, CA.

In short, I WILL be attending next year. And you should too 🙂

>Peace out marathon, Hello San Fran!

Posted on November 5, 2010 by sethlapierre

>Hey guys,

How was your week? Did you check out Bo’s Letter? It’s incredible. My week was great on the work front. I am learning so much! Running on the other hand, not so much. More on that in a sec…

This morning I woke craving chocolate but wanted something substantial. Clearly, I went for a Chocolate Protein Cupcake!

In a bowl, combine:

1.5 scoops Chocolate protein powder (I love SunWarrior)

1 egg white

1/4 t baking powder

1 T Greek Yogurt

2 T peanut flour

pinch sea salt

stevia

H20 to moisten

Directions:

Spray mug with cooking spray

Spoon in mixture

Microwave ~1.5 mins

Top with almond/peanut butter

After digesting and caffeinating, I attempted a 6 mile run to assess whether I am able to run the Richmond Marathon next weekend. If your new to the blog you can read about my recent injury here. In a nut shell, my hip hurt the entire run and I have come to the heartbreaking decision that I won’t be running the marathon. I have been holding back tears all day… 😦

In happier news, the Manfriend 1) Has a new baby nephew, Tanner Patrick! He’s such a cutie. I can’t wait to meet the lil guy. He looks just like his big sis, Portia. And 2) He brought home my favorite kind of wine, Petite Syrah:

Oh, and he nicely had the bottle autographed by the maker!

It was pretty delish!

Well I’m off to bed. Tomorrow I’m off to San Francisco for the Foodbuzz Food Blogger Festival! Don’t worry, I plan to take tons of pictures 🙂

Have a great weekend,

Lauren

>Dear Bo

Posted on November 4, 2010 by sethlapierre

>I received a letter a few days ago for the “Letters to Me” Campaign that literally brought me to tears. Bo, you are an amazing woman and I thank you for having the courage to share your story.

If you’re new to the site, you can read about the campaign here.

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To my 14-year-old self:

Today something terrible will happen, you will feel like you may never stop crying and that your family will never be the same or to able to laugh again. That you will only have pain and sorrow. Today your big Brother will die in a car accident and your body will go numb, you will not believe it at first you will tell everyone it was the other guy that died, it cant be him he was your big brother, he was your only brother you idolized him, he was your hero. He was your Mom and Dad’s only son , he was only 18.

You will make a lot of bad choices in the next 3 years and do a lot of stupid things trying to find something to make you feel happy and not miss your brother so much, you will try to take his place and become the life of every party! You will wish you had not done most of these things and be very ashamed about many more, you will date guys that only care about drinking and doing drugs and that do not respect you.

Your family will make it through the heartbreak they will smile and laugh and enjoy life again, you and your sister will become closer than ever before. And you will learn to never take loved ones for granted.

When you are 17 you will meet an amazing man who loves you so much you can see it and feel it every time he looks at you. And you will be so in love with him that your heart speeds up and you will feel weak in the knees when he enters the room . He will tell you how beautiful you are and will be completely devoted to you and you to him. You will elope after 1 year of dating. Your life will be full of joy and happiness. He will give you 3 beautiful children a great son with too little girls then 3 additional little sisters that you will welcome into your family.

After 21 years of marriage he will continue to treat you like a princess he will buy you a wedding dress, rent a tux and take you to the beach with a professional photographer for the wedding pictures you never got. On this day your world will fall apart but with God’s help you will put it back together, you will be happy, successful and enjoy every day to its fullest.

You will survive,

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To read more about the campaign and see how you can help, click here.

>Work-a-holic

Posted on November 3, 2010 by sethlapierre

>First off, thank you SO MUCH for your kind words after I told ya about my recent running injury. Ugh, I’m such a klutz! I wish I had better news, but the marathon is still up in the air. Per approval of my PT, I ran 7 miles on Monday and my hip felt okay, but still not ready for the 26.2. I’ll keep you posted in the next few days….

In the meantime I’ve been working like a madwoman. And I can’t say I’m too upset. In case you’re new to the blog, I work as a nursing assistant on a transplant floor where I’m gaining clinical experience to prepare myself for a career as a physician assistant. You can read about my big career change here and here. I absolutely love my job. I’m learning so much!

Almost every morning lately, I’ve eaten this bowl of easy deliciousness:

Night before, combine & store in fridge:

1/3 cup oats

3 T egg whites

1 t chia seeds

1 t flax seeds

3/4 cup H20

apple pie spice

stevia

pinch sea salt

Next morning:

Microwave until oatmeal rises

Mix in 1/2 scoop your favorite vanilla protein (I loooove SunWarrior)

Drizzle with organic maple syrup

Sadly, lunches have been eaten in .25 seconds so this is all I could snap for you:

This was Amy’s Organic Minestrone Soup

I’ve been working several 12-hour shifts so you can bet my feet thanked me with the purchase of these shiny new shoes:

Dansko’s! If you’re on your feet for a long time these shoes make all the difference in the world.

Despite the week’s craziness, the Manfriend and I did sneak out for a nice date night at Dino’s yesterday. Considering I’m allergic to cheese (well the strong, delicious ones) an authentic Italian restaurant probably wasn’t the best choice. But I ordered what I could, and the waiter was nice enough to substitute the cheese with a dairy-free version.

I went with the scallops and sauteed greens: