Category Archives: Food

A Fannetastic Wedding Weekend: Part 1

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Greetings from Virginia! I’m actually spending the next three weekends in the D.C. area (wedding, wedding, Army Ten-Miler, MARATHON), so I might get sick of typing that by the end of the month.

I flew down here to make it to a pre-wedding reception Anne was having because flying was the only logistical way I could work out not taking the day off and still making it down in time.

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I got to LaGuardia, literally walked right through security, and sat myself right down at Bisoux in the Delta Terminal for a glass of wine.

I sat down, all ready to just zone out and enjoy some me time…and I sat down straight across from someone I knew from Junior League and we chatted for two hours. New York is really such a tiny place. Bisoux was really cute, and I loved that they had charging stations right at the high-top table, although my Kindle was beyond dead and didn’t get juiced up quickly enough when I realized I should plug it in.

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You can order everything straight from the iPads they have set up at the table, and you can even have things delivered from the Cibo Market in the terminal to the bar.

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Like a banana. What exquisite banana photography.

After two glasses of wine, I boarded my delayed flight, which then got delayed further. Poor Meghann ended up waiting more than two hours for me, since we’d coordinated flying in at the same time and renting a car together.

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Hello? Theodora? Where are you?

Just kidding, Hertz has this interesting system where you video chat with a customer service rep to rent your car. I was endlessly amused, and waved a few times at Terri, but she never waved back.

FINALLY, FINALLY, FINALLY, we made it to the pre-wedding reception.

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And I proceeded to drink ALL THE WINE.

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Hence why I took such a blurry picture, obviously.

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I hate my hair in a ponytail and that I didn’t have time to change. (We came straight from the airport.) I don’t like being underdressed. Oh well.

Meghann and I hung for a little while and met some of Anne’s friend and family before heading to the hotel to crash HARD.

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Because there was obviously running to be done this morning.

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Excuse my ridiculously high ponytail; I thought I was going to cheerleading tryouts after the run.

We ran 3 miles with the bride and some of her friends, and then Meghann and I planned to do 9 more to get to 12, but my body was just not having it. I’ve been fighting off a cold all week, and I just didn’t have 12 miles in me this morning. We got to 9, and I felt okay with that.

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We went to a cute little bakery called Bon Matin for breakfast, and I got an egg wrap. I know you’re surprised. It had avocado, tomato, spinach, parmesan and deliciousness in it and totally hit the spot.

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Time for a little fun before the wedding festivities!

You Could Make a Barilla Meal in Less Time Than It Takes to Read This Post

(Standard Theodora disclaimer: sponsored post below.)

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If you read more than this blog, and you read other FitFluential Ambassadors’ blogs, maybe you’ve heard of these Barilla microwavable meals.

Maybe you wonder why it’s so hard to boil water that you need something like this to make it easier. It takes soooo long, right?

It’s not that hard to boil water, and it doesn’t take that long, but hey, if I’m getting home at 9pm and waking up early to run, every extra minute I can reclaim helps.

As a marathoner with an Italian mother, pasta is basically a food group in my life, so I relished a chance to get paid to eat pasta.

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The meals come in these plastic containers, with one side for sauce and one side for pasta.

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You microwave it for a minute, and then pour the sauce over the pasta. That’s it!

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They have five different varieties: tomato and basil; marinara; spicy marinara; whole-grain tomato and basil; and whole-grain vegetable marinara.

I obviously prefer the whole-grain varieties, but for nights before long runs, when I eat a little less fiber, the white stuff is okay.

The best part of these meals is obviously the convenience, but the sauces were actually really good. The pasta itself was a bit gummy; I prefer my pasta al dente. I added veggies and protein to them most of the times I made them to make for a more nutritious meal, although each meal has between 9-11g of protein. They’re also made from all natural ingredients and have no preservatives. The sodium level is 29% of the recommended daily value, but given that I’m training for a marathon and have low blood pressure, this didn’t bother me at all–and is pretty in line with some of the healthier microwaveable meals. The portion size was ample, too. All of the meals were around 300 calories, and even when I didn’t add protein or veggies, they were still filling.

I liked the spicy marinara flavor the best, though I wish that it came in a whole-grain variety. Of the whole-grain ones, I really liked the whole grain vegetable marinara.

Would I buy these with my own money? Yes–I’d absolutely buy some of whole-grain varieties to bring to work for an easy lunch.

What about you? Do you ever do microwaveable meals–or do you have a favorite meal you can make in less than five minutes?

FitFluential LLC compensated me for this campaign. All opinions are my own.