Good evening!
I got up this morning after sleeping in and decided to have a restful morning. No work, no housework, no heavy workouts…was great!
I was feeling a bit tired so I just did some stretching and a little bit of yoga for about 20 minutes, followed by about 5 minutes of meditation. Yes, you heard me right- I meditated! I am not good at meditating because my mind is always spinning.
I find that meditating is easiest for me in the morning. I am much more peaceful and it is a bit easier to zone out. I just put some slow music on (Enya– love her) and laid down and closed my eyes. No better way to kick off the weekend.
Today I went into the city to meet up with girlfriends. It has been a while since I have gone into Toronto so it was a nice change of pace. While I love our new life out of the city, I will always love going into the city for entertainment.
This morning I did some baking.
I made the Banana Apricot Spelt Oatmeal Cookies from the other day. I didn’t have any banana though- well, it was all in the freezer for Banana Soft Serve and Green Monsters!
I subbed out the banana for 1/2 cup applesauce. It worked like a charm. They tasted great, but I still prefer the banana chunks.
I made the girls each a baggie. Apparently I AM an 80 yr old! :mrgreen:
[Fast forward: Happy customer #1]
Today was a very cloudy, yet mild, day in Toronto…
But my company was a ray of sunshine!
I met up with Krissy, Alex, and Laura today.
We passed by Much Music so I took a picture like a tourist. ;)
And also a random puppet show…
Things I’m afraid of:
- Spiders
- Clowns
- Puppets (newly added to the list today)
Then, we went to Fresh of course.
I snagged a table and ordered a lemon tea as I waited.
Then I ordered a ‘Create Your Own Juice’ when the ladies arrived:
I ordered:
- Pure Coconut Water
- Kale
- Ginger
- Ginseng
- Beet
A pretty scary mix!
But it arrived and it didn’t come with kale or beets- maybe the server didn’t think I could handle it? I didn’t feel like returning it though so I just drank it anyways. It was quite tasty with the coconut water!
Alex and Krissy:
Laura and I:
Laura was one of the first friends that I made in my new high school when I moved from NB to Ontario in grade 12! She is such a sweetie. Laura and Eric grew up together too!!! They lived in the same town and went to school together from PRESCHOOL until high school graduation!
Krissy had the soup of the day with cornbread (she said the cornbread is to die for!)
Alex had the Middle Eastern plate- falafel balls, hummus, tahini, pita:
Laura asked me what I recommended for her and I suggested the Energy Bowl. It is still my favourite bowl at Fresh to this day!
It has marinated tofu, rich coconut curry sauce, chick pea and vegetable stew, cukes, tomato, red onion, sunflower sprouts, and tahini sauce. The coconut curry sauce is INCREDIBLE.
I decided to try a new bowl, so I ordered the Jerusalem bowl today. It is made up of: grilled spinach, tomato, cukes, parsley, red onion, sunflower sprouts, olive oil, tamari, mixed herbs, lemon and chili powder, and a HUGE mammoth scoop of hummus in the middle.
I swear they must have known about my addiction to hummus!!!
This bowl was really good. It is probably my second favourite.
A peek inside after I demolished two thirds of it…
My ONLY complaint about Fresh is that their three locations are very very cramped. There is no room to move at all. The tables are about 6 inches apart so we felt like we were invading other’s space if we had to walk by. I’m sure the rent is not cheap in Toronto though so I can see why they would not have a large space!
Then Laura and I went to see Valentine’s Day!
My sad attempt at taking a picture…I’m not sure why the screen is white in my pic!? A ghost screen perhaps. ;) I swear we saw an actual movie!
I thought the movie was really cute, but it wasn’t as funny as I was building it up to be. Laura said the same.
We also spotted this clever advertisement on Queen Street West:
It is an advertisement by the National Eating Disorder Information Centre (NEDIC). You can drop your magazines into the slot to support ‘shedding your weight problem’. I have never seen an ad like this before and I thought it made quite a bold statement.
What do you think about this ad- effective or not? Does it make weight preoccupation seem too simplistic? Are there any magazines in here you WOULDN’T include?
~~~
I am currently enjoying some Banana Soft Serve and cacao nibs and preparing for what could be a very exciting morning!
Size Healthy Contest winners will be announced on Monday. There are so many entries! I think I am going to have to post the pictures over the course of next week so I don’t crash my blog. ;) If you still want to get in your entry, fire it off to angela [at] ohsheglows.com with the subject line Size Healthy Contest.
Have a great night! :)
I loooooove Fresh! I went for the first time a few months ago on my last visit to Toronto, and walked out with the cookbook! I had a soup & salad with their DELICIOUS corn bread.
As for the campaign…very cool! I think it’s an original idea that DEFINITELY gets at the heart of what everyone seems to talk about but nobody seems to DO anything about. Thanks for posting on it.
LOVE that ad campaign!! SO sick of magazines having a new diet program in every issue. If they worked, why would you need a different one every time?
I love the soup and cornbread combo, it is definitely one of my favorites. This post makes me miss Toronto! The “Ontario: Yours to Discover” people should get you on board :D
I really like the campaign. It’s a pretty cool idea. Thanks for showing it to everyone :)
I’m going to have to try making the banana soft serve, I wonder if other fruits would work also. Or doing banana and another fruit.
I love that campaign idea, they should have that in every city.
Toronto looks like such a fun city! I would love to visit someday. I think the ad campaign is clever, but also know that eating disorders stem from FAR more than magazine articles. I just wonder if such an ad sort of simplifies them in a way, if that makes any sense?
My dad uses bananas in his oatmeal cookies and I love the flavor it adds. Speaking of ads, I LOVE that.
Hey Angela!
1. I often use frozen bananas to bake with, I just pop a few banana chunks out of my freezer bag onto a plate and thaw them in the microwave first. Works like a charm!
2. I LOVE that campaign, it’s so creative and I think it sends the right message across… hopefully the media will get a clue! Thanks for sharing with us!
I think that campaign is FABULOUS! Insanely creative and thought provoking! It’s great to spread the word to women that the models and other famous people in magazines are photoshopped to no end to be “perfect”. No one can ever look that perfect. We need to love our bodies the way they are!
I think that is SO cute that your brought your friends each a bag of homemade cookies!! I love the bags – where did you get them?
That banana soft serve looks SO good!! You just gave me an idea for my snack tonight :-)
That is the most amazing advertisement campaign – LOVE IT! What a cool thing for you to have had the opportunity to see and share with everyone. That was kismet! :)
Sounds and looks like a fun day! I want to go to Fresh someday!
That ad by NEDIC is AWESOME (strange coincidence, considering that idea is just what I ranted about in my most recent blog post)!
I just saw the V-day movie too, and I thought the same thing. I had heard it was laugh-out-loud funny, and I didn’t think it measured up. Though I did realize that Jessica Biel has some killer arms. It makes me want to do push-ups (err…push-up…since I can probably only do one…haha). I had banana soft-serve too, except I added some left-over frozen no-bake choc/peanut butter cookies. Very sweet and tasty.
What a fun day as a city girl! I wish we had a restaurant like Fresh in my area.
LOVE NEDIC’s campaign idea!
That’s an interesting campaign.
I hate to say it but I love magazines! They provide endless entertainment for me at the gym. I think eating disorders also vary from person to person. So while Self Magazine (or any other magazine) might be a trigger for someone, it could be helpful for someone else.
SO glad to hear you took a day OFF and hung with your girlies. I’m glad even you, Superwoman, does it every now ‘n’ then.
I think that ad is really creative. I don’t believe it immediately “cures” anyone from their weight issues, but I like that’s it’s interactive with its audience.
Banana soft serve looks uh-mazing!
Anxious to here what tomorrow may bring.
Love,
Hillary
I went to Fresh today too! It was such a gorgeous day in Toronto that I went for a long run outside, then followed it up with a mega life salad + grilled sweet potato and a detoxifier. What a wonderful, beautiful way to celebrate this weird fake spring we’re having ^~ There’s something to be said for taking yourself on dates, too – the boyfriend is wonderful company of course, but when I’m alone it’s almost meditative.
Sometime I’d love to run into you at a fresh!! I’m already such a fan of your blogs -and- I’m really looking forward to putting in my first ever globar order :D
I live just around the corner from one of the Fresh locations in Toronto but I haven’t been in awhile – your post and photos are making me wonder if I may drop by tomorrow!
that is a great ad!