“hey la my boyfriend’s back!”

I woke up bright and early and decided to play with my new camera. Here’s some shots of the backyard…

I love the sun beams coming through the trees behind the creek. I definitely miss having a yard (and space in general) in Manhattan, so it’s nice to go home and enjoy nature.

(Unpictured to the left) is the tire swing and the 2 bird feeders. The birds were ALL OVER them the entire time I was home…even the squirrels were having at it when the birds were away. It was pretty amusing watching them try to shimmy down the wire to balance while hanging from the feeder, too.

Back inside I got a nice frothy mug of coffee, although it was practically a latte since I messed up the ratio of coffee to “milk” (half lactaid, half silk plain soy milk)…I think I’ll need more caffeine later because this was tasty, but not the kick in the pants that I’m used to.

I was QUITE productive after the coffee…I dragged my sister off the couch (I gave her Twilight for x-mas and since then she and the book have been inseparable) and we headed out for some sissie bonding.

She was a sweetie and drove me to the DMV so I could get my CA driver’s license replaced (since my wallet got stolen in Europe last month). Stupid california makes you go IN PERSON to get a new ID card (lame)…but fortunately we went early enough that the line wasn’t too bad, and I had all the forms ready, so we were in and out in 30 mins. The down side was I had to take a new photo, which I was NOT prepared for…I’m a little nervous to see how it comes out since I thought they had taken the photo and started walking away, only to then have a flash go off mid-stride…hmmm. Never a good sign. Anyways, after the DMV we went and got mani/pedis. SO much cheaper than in NYC! Love it. Then we headed home for lunch.

I decided on a soup and sando combo (shocking I know).

Alfaro’s Cafe and Bakery is in Santa Cruz, and their bread is pretty amazing. I’ve heard good things about their sun dried tomato loaf before, so I was excited to try the 6 grain. There was even an end piece left for me 🙂 SO thick and hearty with lots of seeds and grains that gave it a great flavor and texture.

I decided on an open faced grilled “cheese” with the cheddar veggie shreds.

Isn’t this snowman plate the cutest? As for my product review, the veggie cheese melted just like normal cheese and it totally tasted like normal cheese!! Granted it’s been years since I’ve had real cheese, but still…def a product I’ll get again.

I also had a can of TJ brand organic (vegan) split pea soup. It was pretty good, but it also tasted healthy. It didn’t have that sodium loaded (progresso) canned soup taste, but it was no Bruno’s soup. I’m spoiled!

I topped it off with some cheddar veggie shreds 🙂

I was in the mood for something warn after, so I made a mug of TJ Spiced Chai Tea.

This was WAY flavorful! My parents are so lucky to have a Trader Joe’s so close to them. Manhattan only has one so the line is always out of control!!

I’m trying to use only x-mas mugs while I’m home. I’m pretty envious of my parents’ coffee mug collection…can’t wait to have an apartment with space.

A little bit later I worked up the energy to get a run in. Gotta take advantage of the warm(er) outside weather while I have it, right? I did a different loop than my last run since (1) I had time and (2) it was the afternoon so I didn’t have to worry about the darkness. It was a GREAT run. I felt so invigorated throughout the entire thing and I was really sweating. It was between 4 and 5 miles – def felt like it was a good work out.

After I showered, I headed to the store for dinner ingreds…I also picked up an apple to snack on before I got things going in the kitchen.

My sister feeding the kitty cat. Think she’s hungry?

Notice the apple sticker I put on her back – hehe.

The wine was flowing as I got dinner under way…Cucao Chardonnay. Nice and light. Then Kyle arrived!!! Hooray! Now the holidays are perfect 🙂

On the menu was stir fry, brown rice and (chicken for the fam) and baked tofu for me.

In the stir fry: snow peas, brocc, red and orange peppers, water chestnuts, edamame, mushrooms, and sprouts (all organic and fresh). I sauteed them in sesame oil and water.

Here’s the baked tofu (I was lazy so I bought it already seasoned). I’ve never seen or heard of this brand before, I love going to new markets and discovering all these new products! It was honey sesame flavored and was GREAT! Not too strong and not overly salty like some prepackaged seasoned tofu can be. I’m going to have to find this in NYC.