Tag Archives: giovanni’s

Marvelous in My Memorial Day Weekend

It may not be Monday because I didn’t think it was worth it to publish a full MIMM post on a holiday, but Memorial Day starts with M and so does Marvelous, so there’s no reason I can’t keep the alliteration train chuggin’ at full speed. My work day went south the second I picked up my cubicle phone this morning to listen to a voicemail, so I really need to focus on marvelous and not mad. Which is how I’m feeling.

Thanks Katie for hosting this party! Pretend the Monday says Memorial Day.

Marvelous is…making it to my gym’s Friday evening step class. I haven’t been able to leave work on time for that class in awhile but I decided it was the Friday before a holiday weekend so if any day I was going to leave early, it’d be that day. The step class was so fun – a routine with both familiar and new moves, a high-energy instructor who demanded cheers from us as we worked out, and fantastic remixes of old favorites like “The Call”. Great way to kick off the holiday weekend.

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How to Save a Weekend + CT GIVEAWAY!

If you have a moment, head on over to the fashion company Free Endearment’s blog, which today is listing out bikini-ready tips for summer. The last one is from yours truly! And while you’re at it, check out my darling friend Jenny’s new blog, Tofu Swag. The fabulous title clues you in to what you can expect – vegan food porn and sassy commentary. Need I say more?

My weekend started out kind of crappy. I was feeling really, really down ever since Wednesday, and despite the fact that I had plenty of fun planned for Friday through Sunday, I was not feeling good. Blame my usual issues. However, I managed to slowly salvage the weekend – and my mood – thanks to family, friends, and the power of positive thinking.

Jenny, me, and Heather – three blonde triplets!

So without further ado, I give you – how to save a weekend:

1. Wear a new shirt that makes you feel fabulous. Express surprise when your best blend wears a brightly colored shirt with an interesting back as well. Proceed to bring sexy back.

2. Don’t be afraid to make a fool of yourself. Otherwise photographic gems like these wouldn’t exist.

Oh HEY cardboard fox!

3. Go with your gut. If your first instinct drink order is a cucumber martini and the ginormous Greek dip platter is calling your name…do it. If you’re dreaming of a Wildflour vegan scone…order it.

Greek dips and Effen Good cucumber martini at Bar Louie in Foxborough, MA.

Still dreaming of this mushroom and spinach scone.

4. Drink wine. Preferably with family friends, your parents, and your best friend by your side. And preferably local wine.

Lidia and I at the gorgeous Chamard Vineyards in Clinton, CT.

BFF

5. Don’t be afraid to ask your mom for a hug if you’re feeling down. Cry on her shoulder. It doesn’t help anyone to feel guilty for putting your worries on her or to hold your sadness inside. Just let it out so you can get to the smiling.

Height diff much?

6. Wear a flowy dress. Spin around. Jump. Channel your inner flower child.

7. Have the best dad in the world. Need I say more?

8. Drink tequila out of a wine glass at the vineyard. It looks like white wine – they’ll never know!

That is NOT Pinot Grigio.

Classy pairing.

9. Go to the beach. Yeah, that’s it. Just go.

I’ve fallen…and I can’t get up!

10. When selecting a restaurant for a Sunday dinner, look no further than the local spot where your sister is a waitress. She’ll pour you LOTS of red wine, give you slow service because she knows she can, and make sure you leave smiling (and not just due to the wine).

Sis and I at Giovanni’s, her place of work, in Glastonbury, CT.

This is NOT one glass.

I ended my weekend feeling WAY better than I had going in. I think I can give credit to every part of the ten steps above for how much better I felt, and am continuing to feel. Oh, and I don’t have work tomorrow. YAY.

And now it’s time for a giveaway for my Connecticut readers. The Hartford Symphony Orchestra is sponsoring an excellent outdoor summer concert series at the Performing Arts Center at Simsbury Meadows. This Friday, July 6, receive a free dance lesson at Dancing Under the Stars. Or next Friday, July 13, listen to Music of Elton John at Rocket Man. Finally, on Friday July 20, get your fill of Big Country. Lawn tickets are only $20 in advance, and table tickets are just $40 (both prices go up $5 if you purchase at the door). Child lawn tickets are always $5!

But you have the chance to go for free by entering a giveaway for two lawn tickets for one lucky winner! The tickets work for any of the 3 shows in July mentioned above. To enter, just comment telling me which show you’d most want to attend (mandatory). Entries close this Thursday 7/5 at 12PM EST!

For extra entries (leave a comment for each) you can:

  1. Follow me on Twitter
  2. Follow Hartford Symphony Orchestra on Twitter
  3. Follow me on Pinterest

Good luck to all who enter!

Career Fangirling

THE BLOG HAS A NEW HEADER! PLEASE CHECK IT OUT! Thanks so much to the lovely and talented Mai for designing it!

Can I just continue my nerd-dom and share how excited I am right now that the newest and youngest member of the Starbucks Board of Executives, Clara Shih, tweeted at me last night?!

I follow Starbucks Blogs because it’s a great source of news about one of my favorite brands, and Phillip (who runs the account) tweeted an article about Clara’s recent promotion to the Board. The article’s link isn’t working, but I found a comparable one here. I re-tweeted the article saying “a girl can dream…” and Clara reached out to me and made me feel completely inspired with just a simple tweet!

She is the CEO and founder of Hearsay Social, a social media startup that helps companies “quickly onboard, train, and successfully enable their local offices to create authentic conversations with their clients and customers in real time on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter”. AKA what I am most interested in using my marketing degree to accomplish!

The book worm in me is also excited to read Clara’s book, The Facebook Era. It may be used as a textbook at universities, but I know I’d enjoy reading it for fun. Sorry I’m not sorry – I’m totally career fangirling right now and I’m fine with it. Any inspiration is a good thing!

Chili with rabbit ears?

On a completely unrelated note, I owe you guys some food photos that have been hanging out in my camera for awhile. Pictured above is my mom’s amazing ground turkey/soy and bean chili, topped with fresh pico de gallo and scooped up with two whole grain taco shells.

Aerial view…

I was having trouble coming up with creative/pretty ways to display the meal, as you can see.

Not my food, but had to take a picture.

My friend Matt and I stopped by Giovanni’s the other night because he was hungry and my sister was working, so we figured we’d kill two birds and visit her while he re-fueled. He selected their “manliest” slice, the Stuffed Meat, but was rendered a bit less “manly” when the last two bites were a struggle. With my coaching, he got the slice down.

Also, I was a featured blogger last week over at fellow FitFluential Ambassador Matt’s blog, The Athlete’s Plate. Check it out! I guess my blog’s name has garnered me the nickname of “Cait” in the blog world, which is what my wonderful padre calls me, so OK by me!

Have you ever had a “fangirl” moment over Twitter?

Wednesday Funk

Oh my goodness. The dreary weather has got me in such a funk. Someone help me! I am in the home stretch of my semester and of the time before my first week-long vacation from work (to FLORIDA). I need to just get through these next couple weeks, and try to enjoy them for the holiday time that they are. Is anyone else feeling winter blues?

A daily lunchtime salad beast.

At least I can say I have no qualms about the food I’ve been eating lately – it’s all been delicious!

Giovanni's veggie pizza, crisped up under the broiler and served on my favorite childhood plate.

Is there anything better than burnt crust pizza loaded with chunky veggies?

Giovanni's marinated chicken salad, and a festive little fork.

How about more veggies, combined with feta and some of the most delicious chicken in the world, to pair with that pizza? Or some good old-fashioned carbs?

Post-dinner snack of satisfying local kalamata olive bread.

My workouts have been going well too. I still need to re-cap the Santa’s Run and tell you guys about my PR (along with about a thousand other posts I’ve been drafting in my mind…), but I’ve been lazy with uploading photos from my iPhone, which is where the race photos are. But I’ve been doing a lot of stepping and a lot of lifting. It feels good to get back into lifting, actually. I did two Group Power classes in one week, for the first time in awhile, and am already excited about trying to continue to keep up with attending those classes. I just love the way I feel when I can lift a heavier weight, or lift the same weight for longer.

I’m outta here…sorry for such a short post, but I’ve got some (real life) work to do – bummer, ha.

Real life work lunch and snack packing.

If you strength train, do you feel more accomplished when you can lift a heavier weight for the first time or when you can lift a weight you’ve done before for a new longer length of time?