Will green smoothies help?

Happy December everyone! 

Snow is on the ground and the sun is setting by 5:00! Woohooo Nothing like wearing 3 layers of pants and 5 layers of sweaters to take your dog for a walk....WINTER IS HERE FOLKS! 

So I've noticed in recent days that some of my sweaters no longer fit. I'm 100% positive this has something to do with my increased intake of cookies, cakes, and cupcakes, and my decreased desire to do anything outside of my house (it's cold out there people). 

I've heard a lot about the wonders of green smoothies decreasing appetite because you've got your fill of vitamins and stuff, and hence weight loss. Since I'm not big on taking things out of my diet (just makes me want it more), I thought it wouldn't hurt me to add something healthy and filling instead! 

Here's the first few days...

Day 1. 

Avocado, cucumber, Silk soy milk, kale

As a first green smoothie, I decided to be conservative with my serving size. I didn't want to hate it and have this all fail. 

Luckily, this was DELICIOUS! Unluckily, I was starving about 30 minutes after I had the smoothie, and absolutely needed to inhale some real food.

Day 2. 

Apple, avocado, water, lemon, kale. 

Woke up with lots of energy today! I made a bigger smoothie this time to see if I could fill up for longer...nope... hungry again in 30-40 minutes. 

Day 3. 

Still waking up with lots of energy. 

I made the same recipe as yesterday to simplify things. I think I could really start to like this drink. It's definitely not a meal replacement yet for me, but I could try adding some higher protein things...

Day 4. 

I was nearly late for work, so I had no time to sit and enjoy this smoothie (it was more of a gulp and go kind of morning). 

Again, still waking with lots of energy. I may have to start changing up my ingredients soon. I'm getting tired of this apple-y taste.

Anyone out there tried green smoothies? What's your verdict?

Tacos at Grand Electric

Despite the dark, dank picture (it was a rainy day in Pizzaville), Grand Electric is a lighthearted, laid-back, easy-going kind of place. No uniforms, no (purposefully) dimmed lighting, no fancy table stuff, just friendly service and good food. Because we were a party of three, we even got to share our table with another couple. And I say "got to" because I love this kind of dining--unpretentious, no-nonsense, straight to the point. We've got eating to do, people.

My friends and I were around the corner for some shopping, so we stopped here for some lunch afterwards.

With our small, simple order, food came lightning fast (OK, maybe I'm exaggerating. It came within 10 minutes, which is good for a place as busy as this was).

We split the guac and chips (deep fried chips omgomgomgomgomg). The salsa that came with it was also AMAZING; perfect amount of tomato-y-ness and spicy!

My friends split the fish tacos, which they said were very good (we'll all have to take their word on it).

I had the cauliflower tacos. Now, when I ordered these, we made sure to ask if they were fully vegetarian, and they are not. The sauce has some sort of seafood in it, and they don't have anything vegetarian to replace it with. But I wasn't about to go sauceless with my tacos. No sir, not I.

So I said, "Eh, I'm hungry, whatever." And ordered them.

I'm not exactly a fan of tacos (never really had good ones). But I am a fan of eating with my hands, licking saucy cauliflower bits off my palms, and jalapeno slices. These were very good. The saurkraut-y stuff they top it with is wonderfully sour, which cuts into the heavy deep-fry of the cauliflower. Jalapenos, a warm taco shell, onions and lime...really good flavour combos.

However, would I come here again? Probably not.

The tacos were good, but they were still just tacos. Something about the texture of corn-y taco shells bug me. Sorry Grand Electric (and taco shells in general).

My November so far

November so far has been wonderful (yes, it's only been 3 days). 

The weather is turning cooler, which means mashed potatoes and hot tea and blankets and movies and cuddling. Plus, with all the leaves changing colours, its one of the prettiest seasons in Toronto!

I've fallen in love with this wine (and the dog is awesome too... but not with wine...): 

It needs to breathe before it gets awesomely awesome, so let it sit for a bit. It's delicious (I'm no wine connoisseur so "delicious" is all I can say to describe things) just on it's own while watching Vampire Diaries. Yes, yes it is.

Last night, Steven and I saw a much-anticipated movie:

I read the book a couple of years ago and LOVED it.

I was very happy with the interpretation of the themes in the book. And the actor that portrayed Ender, Asa Butterfield, was excellent. And Harrison Ford. And Ben Kinglsey. And the effects. And basically everything in the movie. WOW.

We waited until the end to see if there would be one of those Marvel movie extra scenes, but there wasn't.

Walking out of the theatre, we kept saying how good the movie was. Then, Steven said, "So much better than stupid Gravity," and the guy behind us snickers in aggreement.

In conclusion, people that stay to the very end of movies like Ender's Game also have a disdain for slow, boring movies like Gravity.

Missed Mysore this morning...Oops

Goblins attacked me on the road this morning, so I didn't make it to Mysore.

I had a dream the yoga gods wanted me to sleep instead of Mysore, so I had no choice but to obey their commands.

My dog ate my alarm clock...and cell phone.

I tripped and fell...back into bed.

Ok, truth is, I turned off the alarm (omg 5:30 AM omgomgomgomg) and went back to sleep. And that is why I have time to show you this picture of my dog in a jacket!

HURRAYY!!

All right, I promise I'll actually get out of bed tomorrow.

Back on the Ashtanga bandwagon

I didn't know if I would...

But I did.

I'm back at the Ashtanga Yoga Centre of Toronto.

We will see how this goes.

:)

Les Miserables was Awesome Sauce x a Million

After work last night, Steven and I (and a bunch of friends) had tickets!! 

TICKETS!!! 

To that thing, that I LOVE! 

Les Mis has been my favourite musical for a very long time. Basically, reading the libretto and listening to the CD on repeat was the highlight of my tweens. I even made Steven watch the movie ("Is it ALL singing?" "Yes") when it came out last year.

It was a 7:30 start, so we had a bite to eat at the Tim Horton's next door like real classy folk. (For you non-Canadians, Tim Hortons is our local cheap, quick coffee shop. There's one at nearly every street corner.)

Because of it's location next to the theatre, this Tim Hortons sold Les Mis donuts!!!! DONUTS!!!

I was sooo happy with the cast and staging. It was a really wonderful first-time Les Mis experience for all of us. If you're in Toronto, I'd definitely recommend putting aside some time to see this musical. 

No news is good news?

Sorry for the radio silence on the blog lately. I've been busy catching up to Breaking Bad (still on Season 2). Otherwise nothing very exciting has been happening lately... just a lot of sitting on floors and lounging with dogs...

We had a few "family"/ "neighbourhood" dinners during Thanksgiving weekend, which were nice. Plus, the awesome weather meant lots of romping around outside.

I've been considering signing up for the Toronto Women's 5K or 8K, as it's been nearly a year since I've run a race of any sort. Maybe this would light the fire under my butt and get me off the couch.

Anyways, I've got work later, then we go directly to see Les Miserables! It will be my first time seeing Les Mis on stage despite memorizing the soundtrack and reading the libretto on the internet when I was 12. It will be awesomesauce, I'm sure.