vibrance returns

Hi there chickadees! I am now officially home for the holidays without anything to do! Except, of course, all of my responsibilities outside of school like: writing for GoBackpacking.com, interning at Fitness magazine, contributing to the Lost Girls, and blogging for you :). The wonderful thing about being busy? You never have to worry about being bored.

I'm going to pretend like this explanation isn't weeks late and just run with it... two Fridays ago I met Leslie for dinner at Bonobo's. If you're unfamiliar with this spectacular yet casual natural foodie haven, I'll provide an overview: Bonobo's is a raw, organic, and vegan restaurant in the Flatiron district. A sampling of their cult items include the: warm Coconut Chai, Spinach Avocado soup, Gorilla(-sized) salad, and Nori roll. As you can see, I ordered the latter with the their macademia nut paté.

From there, Leslie and I went a few blocks uptown to our inaugural Karaoke Travel Tweet-up. It was quite nerve-wrecking, I was officially the youngest one there, and yet all the while absolutely fantastic. I met so many fellow globetrotters who have had the most amazing of experiences and are still the lovely down-to-earth people that they must have always been. We even mustered up the courage to eventually sing "Don't Stop Believin'" to the talented crowd for which David voted us in Best Song Selection. Thank you to Alisha and Sosauce for all of the fun!

The next day I found myself in Manhattan again to lunch with another favorite friend of mine, my former roommate, C and her girlfriend. We dined at Le Pain Quotidien by Bryant Park,. 'Tis a lovely Belgian chain that I cannot seem to get enough of. Or perhaps my praise should be more directed at the company at my table, an ecclectic mix of New Yorkers and tourists that ducked out the rain for a fresh bite to eat or a warm drink to soothe, and then, of course, the two Queens residents that I'd missed so very much.

I had the Black Bean Hummus Tartine served with Avocado, their Spicy Tahini sauce, and greens. Not gonna lie, I loved it, and just about licked my plate clean. Now, back to the present, I've been thinking a lot about food lately (surprise, surprise) and I'm pretty sure that I have some adjustments to make since my colorful diet before finals. In the past 10 days I've gotten negligent with pilling on vegetables and have been reaching for the salty or sweet snack foods instead.

I will share their beautiful  plates as I explain further. I feel sluggish and bloated and overall gross because of it and so I'm openly admitting to the blogosphere that I am in dire need of a refreshment period. What to I mean by that? I am making a vow to eat more greens, drink more tea, yoga more often, walk more frequently, and primarily live a more raw and vegan lifestyle. My body and I have had enough of all these refined grains and sugars that fueled me through the stressful end of the semester and we are ready to start anew.

I know that I mentioned going completely vegan on my video but I'm not sure if that's actually possible right now. What I am looking forward to is small changes in that direction. Why am I doing this? Because I want 2010 to be the best "me" year it can be and I don't want to have to wait until January 1st for that transformation to begin. Okay, okay, maybe that makes me spoiled but what can I say, I want self-vibrance and I want it now.

At lunch C enjoyed an authentic bowl of hot chocolate. There's no doubt in my mind that I too would have enjoyed it immensely but I know that it wouldn't have made me feel as scrumptiously balanced and energized as my meal and a large glass of water. Not to say that I won't continue to enjoy my two vices of chocolate and alcohol but I am doing so with a clearer mind, one that is not clouded with guilt but with sound decisions, one that likes to have fun as much as it likes to be healthy. Namaste to that.