Ten on Tuesday

Chelsea's 10 on Tuesday questions are ones that I came up with!! So answer all or a few in your comment!

1. If you work, do you drive to work or take public transportation?

Both. I drive to a park & ride, and then take a bus downtown to work. I love taking public transportation since I hate driving!

2. How often do you get your haircut? Do you go to the same person every time?

I get it cut about 3-4 x's per year and I always go to the same person. I've been going to her for about 2 years now and I just love her. It's like catching up with a good friend when I get my hair cut.

3. Do you read the newspaper? If so, a hardcopy or the online version?

I read the news, but not a physical newspaper. I pretty much only read the news through Bloomberg at work (it pulls in economic/headline stories from a bunch of news sources so makes it easy to keep up on what's going on).

4. What is the best book you have read this year?

Probably "The Invisible Bridge" by Julie Orringer. Great novel about WWII.

5. What is the best movie you have seen this year?

The King's Speech.

6. Do you tend to crave sweet or salty foods?

Definitely salty. I am not really a sweets person... They are fine, but I don't really crave them. But chips or pickles? Yes please!

7. Do you eat breakfast every day? If so, what do you have? Hells, yes. I would probably collapse if I didn't eat breakfast. No joke. I have eggs nearly every day - over easy w/ GF toast these days. I heart eggs.

8. If you celebrate Easter, what Easter treat/candy are you most looking forward to? I know I just said I am not a huge sweets person, but I have a weakness for those big egg-shaped peanut butter cups. Mmm...

9. How late is “sleeping in” to you? 7:30-8. My mom's jaw probably dropped when she read that as I have never been an early riser... But now that I get up at 5:15 for work, my concept of sleeping in has changed... and I don't think I could possibly sleep past 9 unless I was on tranquilizers or something...

10. Where are you going on your next vacation? I don't have anything specifically planned... I will start to travel for work this fall, though, so am hoping to fly in early/stay longer and make a vacation out of my trips to Boston and Charlotte since I have blogging friends that live in those cities!

Trip Recap: DC!

A week after getting back from DC, I am finally getting around to my recap post!

I had an absolute blast in DC. I think it is a beautiful city and I couldn't have picked a better time to visit as the Cherry Blossoms were simply break taking. Becky has some great photos, but I think you have to see it in person. So yes, you will probably fight massive crowds, but I think it's worth checking out! So throw it on your travel list if you haven't been to DC during Cherry Blossom season!

I have some of Becky's photos to share, but thought I'd do a 5 faves list to start things off:

1. Finally meeting Becky after reading each others' blogs for, gosh, years I think? And meeting her husband - who is awesome, by the way. I never felt like the 3rd wheel around these two!

2. Meeting Charbelle after reading each others' blogs for over a year. She really helped me when I was going through my break-up with the Barrister and was always so encouraging so it was great to finally see her in person. I know I'll be seeing her again this year as I will likely be heading to Charlotte this fall for work. Can't wait for another rendezvous. Hopefully next time around I'll feel well enough to share a bottle of wine with her (my stomach was NOT up for any alcohol on this trip)!

3. Introducing Becky & her husband to some new gluten free foods (quinoa pasta - mmm) - and then having them love them! :)

4. A blogger meet-up dinner w/ Charbelle & Jess on Sunday night. I felt well enough by this point to eat a meal - and the restaurant had a gluten free menu. And mashed potatoes. I was in heaven.

5. The weather was so nice on Monday - I was warm in my t-shirt when we went to Mt. Vernon! It felt fantastic. I did not want to go home!!

So there you have it. Now for some pictures!

Becky & I

Standing on the steps of the Lincoln Monument with Washington Monument in the background. I am so bummed that the reflecting pool was under construction - this would have been a great Christmas card pic otherwise!

Standing in front of the WWII Monument, which was my favorite monument!

Charbelle & I on race morning.

WWII Monument at night!

Standing in front of Mount Vernon - such a beautiful estate!!

I got to thinking last week... In the past 6 months, I have been to Vancouver/Seattle/Portland, Tucson, St. Louis, Paris, and DC. Holy moley that is a lot of traveling! The trips have all been amazing, but truth be told, I am a bit worn out. Also, I think it's pretty cool that 3 out of 5 trips were to visit other bloggers. Technically, I could say 4 out of 5 because my sister is a blogger, too.

I will be home every weekend between now and the CFA on June 4th. We'll see what the 2nd half of 2011 holds for me as I will likely start to do sales office visits. But this summer? I need a break from plane rides.

Have a great week everyone! It will be a busy one for me as I take the Series 7 on Wednesday... I can't wait to have it behind me!

Dairy Free Friday

Greetings, readers. My this has been a long week. I owe you a recap of my trip to DC, but this week has sort of kicked my butt, so maybe I will get around to that next week? In the mean time, hop over to Becky's blog and check out the video of photos that she put together!! I watch it when I need a little pick-me-up.

I have spent all week in a prep class for the series 7 test, which I take on Wednesday. Please God, let me pass this test on my first attempt. I will lose my mind if I have to study for this for another month. I added up the # of pages read/quizzes I have taken? Oh, it's somewhere in the range of 950 pages. Add in the # of pages I am reading for my CFA and that = overwhelmed/cranky/not-so-fun-to-be-around-Lisa. I am basically the human equivalent of Eeyore.

Anyways. Enough about that. This week I thought I would talk about some of the dairy replacements I've been using since going dairy free last month.

Do you see what I see? Yep, I found dairy free sour cream! Oh vey that was exciting. Note to self: You know your life is a bit lame when you get excited over finding dairy free products... I tried this on a baked potato (total comfort food for me) and it was GREAT!! I swear you could do a blind taste test with earth balance and the average person would NOT be able to tell that it wasn't butter/margarine. It comes in a tub, as pictured above, or in stick form, which is great for recipes as it's tricky to scrape out a tablespoon from a tub, you know? I love this stuff!! Definitely my favorite dairy free alternative out of all the products I am talking about today! This is the dairy free cheese that I used when I made that quinoa lasagna last month. I was really impressed with how it melted and tasted. No, it does not melt as well as regular cheese - it more so melts like reduced fat cheese I would say? But still, it's a great alternative. I had in on salads and that was great, too. Would I eat this stuff from the bag? No, it's not THAT good. And it's not something I really crave like I would crave cheese... But - it's a good alternative!

Last but not least, a milk alternative. I am not a milk person and I never drank milk when I was eating dairy, so I don't drink it now. However, I do use milk in the occasional recipe. Out of soy, rice, and almond milk, I prefer almond milk.

So there you have it!! Lots of great alternatives available for you if you are trying to cut back on dairy! What are you up to this weekend? I have my last series 7 class tomorrow and then will spend the rest of the weekend doing practice exams. I have about 8 to do between now and Wednesday. Thrilling, right?

Ten on Tuesday

Ufda, Chelsea's questions are all date related... I am not dating right now. As I have told friends/family - I am so not dateable right now because of my study schedule... And truth be told, even when my schedule does clear up, I am a bit pessimistic about my dating life because in Minnesota, Minnesota 30 = OLD. Trust me on this. Every single college girlfriend is married. And has been for years. So believe me when I say that 30 is old.

1. What is your idea best date? A date when the conversation is so good, you don't want the date to end. As far as location goes, I think it would be fun to go to this local place called "Chatterbox" where you can play board games.

2. How long does it take you to get ready to go on a date? Hmm... maybe 30 minutes? Depends on whether it's a weekend night date or week night date. If it's a week night date, I usually go straight from work so I don't really spend any time getting ready.

3. What would you wear on the date? If it's a weekend, probably jeans and heels - unless it's summer, then I wear a sundress usually. Week night - I try to select an outfit that is work appropriate but also date appropriate.

4. If you are married, how often do you go on dates? If you are single, when was your last date? I am single. I haven't gone on any date sinces my break-up in late December.

5. What was your worst date? The one where the guy wanted to argue about religion. He asked what religion I practiced, I said Catholic, and then he tried to convince me that Catholicism was not a Christian religion??? Weird. Awkward. Awful.

6. Do you/Did you kiss on your first date? It really depends. I'd say in general, no.

7. If married, how long before you knew he/she was the one? If single, how long before you know if the person is marriage material? I know pretty quickly. I might not know if the guy is 'the one' right away, but I definitely know if he isn't.

8. Do you prefer day dates or night dates? Night. I prefer low lighting. It's much more flattering.

9. How old were you when you first were allowed to date? I think 16 maybe?

10. What is the most embarassing moment you have had on a date? When I was in college, my date dropped me off and I decided to walk across the snow covered yard instead of taking the side walk, I slipped and pretty much superman dove and fell on top of my to go box. My date was watching to make sure I made it to the door, so he saw it. Lovely.

Music, Books, Miles, and Looks of March

Music:

7 Years by Cedar Avenue - This is actually a local band! This song was featured on the Cities 97 Sampler, which is a local acoustic album that is put out each year. I love this song so much, I bought the album (which is great).

Without You by Keith Urban - I am not usually a huge country fan, but I really like Keith Urban - especially his ballads.

Books:

Slow reading month... Studying for the CFA and the Series 7 has consumed my life so I have a hard time finding time to read for pleasure! I'll make up for it this summer when I am done with these dang exams!

The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer - I really, really liked this book. It's definitely one of the better books that I've read in the last 6 months. It tells the story of 3 Jewish brothers living in Paris, Budapest, and Italy during WWII. It's a harrowing story and some parts are very difficult to read, but I really enjoyed it. Plus, part of the book is set in Paris. :)

You Don't Love This Man by Dan DeWeese - You can read my review here.

Miles:

Last month when I did this, I set a goal of 50 miles for March. I ended up running 60! Woo hoo - 20% more than planned! My mileage goals for the next couple of months are going to be modest because with the CFA exam, I just don't have as much time to spend running. I want to keep running 3-4 days/week, but most of those runs will be short 3-4 milers so my mileage will remain pretty low until this test is behind me.

Looks:

Hmmm.... I really did not have a social life this month, so I don't have any fabulous outfits to share with you... But I did get this fun new top at Ann Taylor Loft a couple of weekends ago!

A Race I'd Like To Erase

Well, I did the 10 miler... It was a pretty horrible race experience. I jokingly told Becky and her husband that I feel like I left my dignity in DC on that dang race course.

I am not even going to mention my time because it was THAT awful, I can't bear to write it down. I felt nauseated pretty early on and then I got sick twice on the race course - briefly at mile 7 and then again at mile 9.5. It was horrible. Especially when I got sick at 9.5 as there were SO many spectators. Talk about embarrassing.

But I finished. So I am giving myself credit for that because I know that not everyone would keep going and finish a race when they felt so terrible. But I do not give up. I even ran that last 1/2 mile as I just wanted it to be over with so bad. Becky was at the finish line and shouted my name, but I was so in the zone, I did not see or hear her. She got some good shots of me, though - and you can't tell how miserable I am (or that I got sick) since they were side profile shots.


I don't really know what went wrong. My training runs all went pretty well and while I certainly didn't feel super prepared, I was prepared enough that it shouldn't have gone that badly...

So it's over and done with. I had a good cry - while I was on the metro, talking to my brother - classy, right? I was a train wreck, on a train.

Anyways, I need to let to it go and probably delete that run from my Garmin so I don't have to see the stats. There will be other races and I will redeem myself. I am trying to cut myself a break and not be so hard on myself as this spring has been SO incredibly stressful between studying for all of the exams.

I've got another race on the schedule for July - I'll be running a 10k with Nora & her boyfriend, which I am really looking forward to.

Onwards & upwards from here, I guess. I don't think. I mean, I couldn't possibly have a worse race, so the worst is behind me.

Off to our blogger dinner! I hope everyone had a great weekend! Tomorrow we are heading to Mt. Vernon to tour George Washington's estate and then I fly out in the evening!

Dairy Free Friday

First off - today is an especially happy Friday because I am flying to DC this afternoon!!! I will finally get to see Becky & Charbelle in person! I won't say "meet" because after reading their blogs, emailing, chatting on the phone, and texting, I've already met these girls! But seeing them in person? It's going to be fabulous! And I've never been to DC so it will be fun to check out another city. And then there's that 10 mile race... which I feel a bit unprepared for, but oh well! I'll schlep through those 10 miles.

I've officially been dairy free for a month now. I can really tell the difference in my complexion and have had a good amount of people comment on it as well. I should have taken before and after pictures, but I didn't think to do that. These 2 pictures give you an idea though. The first was in mid-January. It's not super close up, but it gives you an idea of how bad my skin was, especially down my my jaw line (oh, and I am holding my beautiful faux-niece Elle).

And here is a horrible self-photo.

Is my skin perfect? No, but it's significantly better. I still have some redness from previous breakouts, but that's starting to heal as well. I have a follow up with my dermatologist in 2 weeks and I think I'll be able to go off one of the 3 medications I am currently on! Fingers crossed!

And this whole dairy free thing? It actually has not been that hard. There are so many great recipes out there! I never felt like I was depriving myself. What I miss the most is sour cream (I love baked potatoes with sour cream) and real cheese on my salads.

What I don't like is that being gluten free and dairy free makes me, well, a bit of a high maintenance dinner guest... But I think I will allow myself to have dairy occasionally so if someone invites me to dinner, that will just be my day for dairy, I guess!

So, now for this week's dairy free recipe! I made Mushroom risotto on Saturday night. I had previously made risotto for the Barrister back in December *shakes head in an attempt to erase memory* but that version was cheesy (and delicious) so I was worried this wouldn't compare.

Well, there was nothing to be worried about. This is probably the best recipe I've made all year - dairy or no dairy! So if you like mushrooms - I HIGHLY recommend it! It's a time intensive little recipe, but so worth every stir of your spoon!

Click over to Angela's lovely blog for the recipe! Here it is in photos!

All chopped up & ready to go! Look at all those mushrooms!

Saute the onions, then add the mushrooms! It looks like A LOT of mushrooms, but don't worry...

It totally cooks down!


Add a sprig of rosemary, salt & pepper, balsamic vinegar. Slowly add arborio rice and vegetable broth.

Cover and continue to stir every couple of minutes. Add more vegetable broth if need be. I used about 3 cups, I think? When it's done, stir in 1 T. of earth balance (or butter for the dairy eaters)

Serve up (preferably in a pretty bowl) and enjoy!

So there you have it! I think the crucial ingredient was balsamic vinegar! Or maybe the fresh rosemary? Mmm, it was so good! It's one of those recipes that makes me wish I had a dinner guest because it would have been nice to comment about it with someone. Instead I bbm'd about it with Amber - which was a good substitute!

Alright this blog is epically long! Time to wrap it up!! Question for you: Should I continue the dairy free posts? You won't hurt my feelings if you tell me to move on and talk about something more interesting/relevant/etc!

Happy weekend, everyone!