Tommy and I also went to the movies on Saturday night. We were set on seeing 21 Jump Street, until we realized it doesn’t come out for two more weeks. Go us. We saw This Means War instead and it was pretty funny.

_______________________

This morning I woke up bright and early because it was the first day of Best Body Bootcamp. If you haven’t heard about it yet, the Bootcamp is run by one of my favorite bloggers Tina Reale, who is also a personal trainer.

This morning’s workout was a strength circuit followed by 20 minutes of cardio. When I first looked at the strength circuit when I received the info yesterday, I thought to myself that it doesn’t look too bad. But, lemme tell you, it kicked my butt this morning, in the best way possible. I am so looking forward to the rest of the workouts.

And if the workouts weren’t enough to get you motivated, there is a spreadsheet where you check in for a change to get entered into some awesome giveaways. Crossing my fingers for that!

Time to get some breakfast before heading out the door. I’m opening up at work again today, wish me luck!

Have a great Monday!

What did  you do this weekend? What’s the last good workout you had?

The post Welcome to BOOTCAMP! appeared first on Frolic Through Life.

Since the weather on Saturday was more like early spring then the middle of winter, Munchkin and I spent a good part of the day outdoors.

We ran up the hill..

and down the hill.

And planted a stick tree.

We had a yummy dinner following a new recipe from the Jan/Feb issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray.

This was called Chicken Parmatouille. It was supposed to be a cross between Chicken Parmesan and Ratatoullie. I liked it, the veggies with a touch of mozzarella cheese were super tasty.

In the evening, Tommy and I enjoyed some time sans Munchkin and went to the movies to see Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. I had read the book over the summer and was very excited to see the movie, ever since I heard it was coming out in theaters.

If you have the chance, go see it. It will confuse you, make you laugh and make you cry. I also bet that you won’t be able to guess the ending, like you can with most movies these days.

Sunday was a lot of lounging around in pajamas and being lazy. It felt real good to do nothing all day.

I also picked up a new obsession. Thanks to the incessant ads that would pop up while I was playing Words With Friends, I decided to download Scramble With Friends. If you like word games, get this one. It’s soo addicting! If you have this game, play with me! My username is xsylvia.

Once we got back to New York, Tommy and I headed over to the supermarket to get some groceries. I picked up a shnazzy new filter bottle. I wanted to get a bobble, but this was on sale for like $6 so it won. As long as it gets the job done! I drink a ton of water during the day and since I have to go from work to school, I needed something to replace plastic bottles.

Okay kids! I have to run. Today is my loooong day, so wish me luck!

Have a great Monday!

What did you do this weekend? What’s the last good movie you saw in theaters?

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I woke up yesterday and got straight to cleaning. I organized all of Munchkin’s new toys and set up his new Cars bedding. I’m also looking for a good toddler bed rail so he can officially be a big boy out of the crib.I still have to go through all his toys and pick out the ones he doesn’t play with to donate. His birthday is coming up in three weeks, and if we get any more toys, we’re not going to have anywhere to put them. Anyone know of any good organizations that accept toy donations?

Since the day after Christmas is one of the busiest days for returns and exchanges, we thought it would a great idea to go to Best Buy to do a return. If you didn’t catch the sarcasm in that statement, we stood in the line for over an hour. We definitely learned our lesson, returns can wait until at least the week after Christmas.

When we got home from our trip to Best Buy, my mom made kopytka. Kopytka are basically the Polish version of gnocchi and they are just as delicious. Kopytka are my favorite way to use up leftover potatoes and they are very simple to make. All you do is take the leftover potatoes, add an egg and some flour and knead until it forms a dough. Then you just roll them into a rope, cut into bite size pieces and throw them into boilng water for a few minutes, until they rise to the top of the pot. Top with some onions and bacon and you’ve got a delicious way to use up leftover potatoes.

After dinner, we settled in on the couch to watch Gnomeo and Juliette. It was in the Netflix Instant new releases and it was a pretty cute movie. I have a special place in my heart for gnomes because they bring back a lot of great memories from my teen years.

Have a great Tuesday! Yay for short weeks!

What was the last good movie you watched?

The post Just Like That appeared first on Frolic Through Life.

On Saturday, Munchkin and I found ourselves at a Tractor Supply store grand opening celebration. You know you’re in the country when the grand opening of a tractor store calls for a festival complete with a petting zoo. We have the best luck for finding the most random events.

We had a blast and I think I want a baby goat for Christmas. I hope you’re listening Santa! I may have grown up in the city, but my summers spent in Poland on a farm have made me a country girl at heart. Don’t tell anyone in New York though, it’ll ruin my nonexistent street cred.

Saturday night was date night. I also learned it’s not date night to Tommy unless I drive, so technically, this was only our third date. Since the Poconos have no movie theater and we were not going back to the creepy one we ended up at last time, we drove out to Easton. I was very highly in favor of making the drive out because the movie theater just happens to be across from the happiest place on earth, Wegman’s. This is the best supermarket I’ve ever been to and my heart aches when I think about the fact that there are none in New York. It’s like a Whole Foods mixed with a regular supermarket, but multiply the awesomeness by about 1,000.

Since we had time to kill, we got our browse on. We picked up a Craft Your Own Pack of beer and I got to try Shock Top Pumpkin Wheat, which is probably the best Pumpkin beer I’ve tried to date.  I still have a few left in my pack to try, so my opinion may change.

We also searched for the elusive Ben and Jerry’s Pumpkin Cheesecake, with no luck. While standing in front of the freezer case, we ran into a group of people searching for the same flavor, to which Tommy responded that he didn’t think there were more weirdos like me out there. He obviously does not read enough blogs!

I got Munchkin a special treat, too!

At the movies, we decided to see Johnny English and it was pretty funny. It stars Mr. Bean, so if you don’t like that type of humor, this won’t be your cup of tea. I usually have a hard time staying awake through movies past 10 PM, so the fact that this kept me awake to the end, after midnight, has to say something about the movie.

Sunday was a relaxing day. Munchkin had a lot of fun running around in the leaves that had already come down. Fall is in full swing in PA, but the leaves in NY are still green and on the trees. The way he runs through the leaves is so funny, dragging his feet to maximize the crunch.

We also stopped at the outlet mall on our way back to New York to pick up some cute baby outfits because my cousin gave birth to her baby girl! I was a little too excited to be shopping on the girl side of the store, but there as so many cute dresses and little outfits that I hope to be able to buy one day for my own baby girl.

Now it’s time to get to some homework because I slept through my study time this weekend.

Have a great Monday!

What did you do this weekend? What’s your favorite supermarket?

The post Weekend Randomness appeared first on Frolic Through Life.

Friday was spent packing, cleaning and running errands before we left.  We also had dinner with Munchkin’s godfather, Paul.  Then we got ourselves some iced coffees and hit the open road. I got a Caramel Almond iced coffee and it really might be my new fav. Dare I say, I liked it better than Pumpkin?!

On Saturday we woke up and hit up RJ’s bagels for breakfast.  We split a Heart Attack wrap and a Honey Oat Bagel with honey butter.  Both were really yummy.  With our bellies full, we hit up the King of Prussia Mall for some shopping.  Since we were going to Tommy’s aunt’s house for a Housewarming/Labor Day party, we had to get her a housewarming gift.

After wracking our brains, we decided to make her a basket with a bunch of kitchen and bath things because she really has everything else we could think of.  We bought a cute basket at Michael’s and hit up Bath and Body Works, Williams Sonoma and other similar stores to fill it up.  We also stopped by Victoria’s Secret and Aerie so I could pick up a few things for myself.

The basket turned out really cute, but I just realized that I didn’t take a picture of it.  Since we got mostly fall themed smells, I decorated the basket with fall leaves to tie it all together. Take my word for it, it looked and smelled really good.

After the mall, Munchkin needed to get moving since he was cooped up in the stroller all day.  We hit up the playground by Tommy’s house and had a blast there.

Munchkin and I had our first ride on a tire swing. Yes, I went almost 24 years without ever swinging on a tire swing. Sad, I know.

While at the park, our bellies began to rumble again and we knew it was time for dinner. A while ago, we purchased a Groupon for Arirang, a hibachi and sushi place.  We actually went there for dinner after Tommy’s graduation and enjoyed the hibachi.  This time, we went for the regular dining part of the restaurant.

As usual, we started off our dinner with some Edamame.

We also split an Angel Kiss Roll as our appetizer. It was really one of the best rolls I’ve tired in my life and it was a lot bigger than the specialty rolls I’m used to having in New York.  The Angel Kiss was yellowtail, salmon, eel, crabmeat, avocado and pickled squash topped with spicy mayo and eel sauce.  To die for!

For dinner, Munchkin and I split some seafood Teriyaki.  This wasn’t your regular seafood Teriyaki, my plate was filled with shrimp, scallops and fresh salmon topped with a delicious sauce and a side of steamed veggies. It was also served with a side of rice.

Tommy had the steak Teriyaki which was also delicious. This was also the first time that a restaurant asked how you want your steak for the steak Teriyaki.

Arirang gets two thumbs up from us, once again.  There is actually a Arirang in Brooklyn which we will be trying shortly.  If it’s anything like the one in Langhorn, then we might have a new favorite restaurant.

After dinner, we hit up the Blockbuster Express box to rent Take Me Home Tonight which we enjoyed after Munchkin hit the sack.  The movie was really funny and I kind of relate to the main character.  Highly recommended.

In the interest of not writing a book here today, I will post about Sunday and Monday manana.  Stay tuned because Sunday includes some delicious cupcakes.

Hope you had a great weekend and enjoy your Monday Tuesday!

What did you do this weekend?
What’s your favorite restaurant?

The post Labor Day Weekend -Un- appeared first on Frolic Through Life.

We started off Friday at the movies.  I read the book The Help last month and have been wanting to see the movie ever since.  It was really good, but I feel like they left out some good parts from the book, but I guess in the interest of time they had to because the movie was already over two hours long.  We were lucky enough to sit next to some older women at the theater who were either falling asleep and snoring loudly [no joke] or telling each other what would happen next.

Since the weather was gorgeous on Friday, we decided to head over to the piers after the movie.

We laid by the water and just enjoyed the gorgeous night. After that we decided to take a drive down Bedford Ave in Brooklyn where we encountered the Luke’s Lobster truck.  At first we were a little taken back about the thought of eating seafood out of a truck, but something in my head clicked and I remembered hearing about it on TV and we decided to give it a shot.

We got a lobster roll and a crab roll and shared.  They were both surprisingly really good, but we both agreed that the lobster roll was better.  The lobster was almost sweet and the sauce on it was really good. If you live in NY, you can follow the truck on twitter and know when it is in your area.

Saturday
 On Saturday we woke up bright and early to go to the McCarren Park Farmer’s market.

After the cocktail hour, we were all invited upstairs to greet the bride and groom and their wedding party.

I’m telling you, in you ever have the chance to go to a Polish wedding, jump on it.  We had a blast and danced our butts off big time.  I think we didn’t sit down for more than a song just to get a drink.  The music was great and everyone was having a really great time.  Congrats again to Lukasz and Mariola!

On the way home, the rains began.  Lukasz doesn’t live to far from our house, so we decided that we would walk home after the wedding.  Too bad that by the time we got off the bus it was pouring and got home without a dry thread on us.

Sunday

We woke up on Sunday to something that sounded like a huge explosion.  Then again, judging my Facebook and Twitter, most of our neighborhood woke up to the sound.  Lightening struck somewhere nearby because the whole house shook.  It was a foreshadowing to what the rest of the day would be like because it poured and poured and poured some more.  It was actually the rainiest day since the weather started being recorded like a 100 years ago.

Tommy and I had planned on making BBQ for dinner and we didn’t let a little lot of rain stop us. After some difficulties with the grill not lighting correctly, we were ready to feast.

We made chicken and Italian sausage with corn, red potatoes and a kale, mushroom salad I made.  We served it along a yummy garlic bread that Tommy made.

After dinner, we headed out to Ikea where Tommy and Munchkin got matching Poang chairs. Well not really matching because Tommy got his in black and the children’s version only comes in white.

This morning we woke up to even more rain and it doesn’t look like it will be going away anytime soon. Rain, rain go away little Munchkin wants to play!

What was the most exciting thing you did this weekend?
Do you frequent Farmer’s Markets?
Do you have your arc ready for the impending flood?

The post A Wonderful Weekend! appeared first on Frolic Through Life.

Yesterday was a pretty laid back day. We ran some errands, did some cooking and baking and relaxed on the couch with a movie and the Bachelorette in the evening. 

My sous chef, baking utensils in hand and foot

Since zucchini is in full bloom and just happens to be one of my favorite veggies, I decided to make zucchini muffins.  I tweaked my zucchini bread recipe just a bit and got a huge batch of muffins.

Excuse my Christmas patterned cake stand

Zucchini Muffins


Ingredients

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
3. Beat eggs, applesauce, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini until combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
4. Spoon into lined muffin pan and bake for 25 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Once again, yesterday was a day where dessert came before dinner.  I can’t help it but if I have fresh baked goodies I have to try em even if I am halfway through making dinner.  I can’t pass up my sweets.

For dinner, I made something that I’ve wanted to make for a long time, but for some reason thought it was a very difficult thing to make.  Kind of like my fear of making cheesecake, once I made it I was like why the heck did I not make this earlier. Dinner was yummy stuffed peppers. Orange and yellow peppers are my favorite veggies (along with a million other) and this recipe was easy peasy.  I followed a recipe that I found in Clean Eating Magazine.

Stuffed Peppers 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup wild rice
• 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 2/3 tomato juice
• 1/2 pint grape tomatoes, halved
• 4 medium sweet bell peppers
• 2 oz part-skim mozzarella 
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Bring rice and 2 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high. Reduce heat to medium, cover and continue to boil for 30 minutes or until all the water has evaporated.
2. Meanwhile, add oil and onions to a large pan over medium-high. Saute onions for 2 minutes, then add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add turkey, juice and seasoning. Cook until turkey is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Add cherry tomatoes and cook covered, for 5 minutes. Preheat oven to 400°F.
3. Fill a large pot half-full with water and bring to a boil. Cut tops from bell peppers and remove all seeds. Add bell peppers and tops to water and return to a boil. Cook, covered, for 4 to 5 minutes or until tender. Remove bell peppers and dry on paper towel.
4. Drain rice and add to turkey mixture. In a glass dish, stand bell peppers and fill with turkey-rice mixture. Sprinkle with mozzarella and add bell pepper top. Bake for 15 minutes. 

After dinner we watched the Source Code which was okay, kind of predictable.  After my boys hit the sack, I watched the Bachelorette and was pretty happy with the result.  I was rooting for JP the whole time and I had read the spoilers and knew he was going to be chosen.  I think they make a cute couple and I hope that they stay together, unlike the vast majority of couples from the show. 

Now I need to hop in the shower because Munchkin has his first dentist appointment today.  Cross your fingers and hope he doesn’t chomp off the dentist’s fingers because he is quite the biter.  Have a great Tuesday!

What’s the last concert you went to?

What’s a recipe that you thought was intimidating but turned out to be super easy?

The post Zucchini and Peppers appeared first on Frolic Through Life.

Since it was opening night, the theater was packed. If we hadn’t bought our tickets online beforehand, we would’ve been out of luck because all the showings were sold out when we got to the theater.  We got there pretty early and scored some good seats, next to the cutest little boy who was probably around 6 years old.  Little boy came with his parents and two young brothers, all under 12.  They found seats and then the mom took two of them to get snacks.  The movie theater started filling up quick and people kept coming over to little boy’s dad and asking if those seats were taken, and he would tell them that they are, and the people would move on to find other seats.  That is, until mean girl came.  She pushed past the father and sat down pulling her boyfriend with her.  When the father said the seats were taken she started yelling saying that you can’t save seats and that she paid her money to see the movie.  Now my question is: Who do you think is right?  Is it okay to save seats at the movies?

While it is annoying to think you found a seat in a packed theater only to find that its being saved, I always respect that and keep looking.  Everyone saves seats, otherwise no one would get snacks or go to the bathroom before the movie.  Eventually mean girl’s boyfriend who was totally embarrassed got up and found other seats, so the family got to watch the movie together.  Yay for happy endings.

Dinner

After the movie, we were both a little hungry and in the mood for Mexican so we headed over to Greenpoint to Calexico, a place that opened a little over a month ago.  I always thought the space where Calexico is located was cursed or something, because everytime a new resaurant would open there it would be out of business within a few months, even though the food was really good.  I was super surprised to see how busy the place was last night. It was packed.  Looks like the curse has been broken.

I had the Chicken Quesadilla and Tommy had a Carne Asada Buritto. My quesadilla was served with a creamy chipotle hot sauce that was soo good.  My mouth was burnin’ so naturally I had to cool it off with a margarita because I’m on some sort of a margarita kick, lately.  It was good too, not too strong, just enough salt. Yum.

Now I get to go study. Again. All I keep telling myself is two more weeks.  TWO MORE WEEKS!

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