Making moves

Sunday morning, the “family” and I took a group field trip to the gym first thing. It was lovely to have guests who wanted to be active! When we returned home, I went straight for one of Wife’s homemade farm-inspired blueberry scones (she used this recipe) and topped half with SOTBPPBDCS butter:

Mmmmmmmmmm, this was delicious. Thanks, Wife!

I ate some yogurt and fruit on the side (about three times this amount, actually!):

We puttered around and had some more snacks, and then we were off for more adventures! Ted was in the mood for a light lunch, so I steered us toward Sweet Melissa, an adorable patisserie where I’ve eaten many times before (most recently for dessert).

Wife and Ted split the smoked salmon platter:

(I had a piece of that delicious and crusty seedy bread with some of their dill cream cheese.)

And I ordered the green apple and goat cheese salad with walnuts and cranberries, aka the most enormous salad ever:

There were mountains and mountains and mountains of greens and toppers.

But we all know I ate the whole thing!

After lunch, we made a stop into the grocery store because we needed to pick up something kosher to bring to our friend Kareen’s birthday party. The original plan was chicken, but the world of kosher chicken seemed a little too daunting. We settled on Hebrew National hot dogs and free samples of black and white cookies:

Fully lunched and supplied, we all drove out to Gina’s house (yay for guests with cars!) so that Wife and Ted could get in some solid visiting time with her. While we chatted, we (as in I) snacked on grapes.

And Jelly Bellys:

(Gina suggested that I bring the nearly full box home after we’d snacked on a few, and I did not hesitate!)

Gina had just come back from a baby shower and had received this little box containing candy favors. The box reminded me of myself just a little too much, so I took a picture and took the candies 😛

While the boys were content inside engrossed in the Yankees game (I think), I convinced Wife and Gina to go for a stroll in Marine Park. We had an excellent time chatting about life and Mister Softee imposters. When we got back to the house, Gina (aka Divine Priestess of Chocolate) whipped out some goodies she had hanging around. I had a bite of this amaretto chocolate truffle:

Thanks to Gina, I have several more waiting in my freezer for the perfect moment 😀

Also, I need to apologize for my complete lack of blogging etiquette as of late! I know I’ve been a failure at replying to comments and reading your blogs. Please don’t take it personally. I am having quite the time trying to balance work and the intense grad school summer session schedule, and some things that I was able to do before have joined the realm of physical impossibility. I do, however, like to post about my food adventures and find it kind of therapeutic, so I hope you enjoy my stories even if I seem to disappear for big chunks of time! If you have a question or comment that requires an actual response, it’s probably best to email me directly at talesofexpansion@gmail.com. I love reading your comments, but I can’t pore over them with a fine-toothed comb the way I normally would, so I’ll be able to respond faster if you email.

With my crazy summer schedule, multi-tasking has become an even greater key to surviving each day. How do you combine exercise with social activities?