Perfect Sunday

Yes, I know it is Thursday. Yes, I know we are closer to this Sunday, than the past Sunday. And yes, I am still going to post all about my past Sunday. Sorry I'm not sorry :)

Sunday started off with sleeping in until 10am (first time I've slept that late in awhile!!) Once I awoke I made myself an iced coffee and a vans waffle topped with vanilla greek yogurt and strawberry jam:



Yes, this is a picture from my WIAW post...

I wanted something light that would hold me over until my lunch date with my mom. After eating breakfast, I played with the pup while I waited for my mom to get home from running errands:



Hi Puppy!!

 When my mom returned home, we set out for Harvest Seasonal Grill and Wine Bar. It's a restaurant about 30 minutes from my house that uses farm fresh and local ingredients, AND all of the entrees are under 500 calories. Basically a healthy eater's paradise :) We took the convertible because it was truly a gorgeous afternoon.

They have a vegetarain section on the menu because the owner is a vegetarian, which is so awesome!! I was so excited. It can get tedious having to look through every menu item to figure out what I can and cannot eat, especially since I have so many food allergies (but we will save that for another post). I was torn between the Garden Capellini and the Ratatouille Grinder, both options looked so yummy. Upon the waitresss's suggestion, I ordered the Ratatouille Grinder, and boy was I happy I did.

It was really delicious. Perfect amount of cheese and veggies and bread. AND it came with a fresh side salad. My mom really enjoyed her meal as well. She got the Thai Chicken Wrap with a side of potato salad.

After lunch, we walked over to the Gap because they were having a sale, and my brother needed shorts. Since we were there for my brother, naturally I purchased a ton of clothes for myself. I got these shorts:

 

and another pair of them in a cobalt blue color. I have already worn both pairs this week. I am a sucker for new clothes (I attribute that to my job at a women's fashion company, gorgeous new clothes literally surround me everyday....how could I not buy new clothes each week?...). I purchased a few other items as well including neon running shorts, a light weight navy checkered button down shirt, and just a light weight black and gray tee. Pretttttyyyyy happy with all of my purchases!!! :) ....now the next step is to tackle the disaster that is my closet. I should be embarrassed....but I'm not. Is that wrong?

After our shopping spree my mom and I headed to the brand new Whole Foods that opened up in the same shopping center. I LOVE grocery stores. Especiallyyyy Whole Foods. Needless to say I was like a frickin 5 year old in a candy store maniac, pulling things off shelves and throwing them into my mom's cart, trying samples left and right, "MOM CAN WE GET THIS?" "MOM OMG LOOK! HUMMUS IS ON SALE!!" "MOM! LOOK THEY HAVE INDIVIDUAL PACKS OF CHIA SEEDS! I'M GETTING THEM!" (I was actually legitimately pumped about the chia seeds. EVERYWHERE is sold out of small packages of them, and I am not about to spend a whopping $25 on seeds to add to my oatmeal, that's where I draw the line for food adventures).

45 minutes later, we were checking out with a cart full of awesome new buys which included: spinach artichoke hummus, chia seeds, organic spring mix, feta, whole wheat Mediterranean flat bread, organic hard cider (YUM!), green flash brewing co. beer for dad, bakery cookies, and bakery vegan spice cookies amongst a variety of other purchases.

Vegan Gingerbread Spice Cookie with Raspberry Preserves

Dinner was Hors d'Oeuvres style. We had the new spinach artichoke hummus, roasted red pepper hummus, feta dip, grapes, cheddar cheese slices, carrots, and toasted Mediterranean flat bread cut into dip-able pieces.

Guacamole and salsa with sweet potato tortilla chips and organic multigrain tortilla chips.

And Kashi Mediterranean Pizza cut up into small squares.

It was an awesome dinner. We were able to graze and chat and snack and hang out. I loved it :) Afterwards we watched a movie together and then I headed to bed. Perfect evening!!

What is your favorite way to spend a Sunday?
Do you ever have Hors d'Oeuvres for dinner?

What I Ate Wednesday...

Happy Hump Day!! We are officially half way through the week, and halfway to the weekend! Bloggers across the country have been partaking in "What I Ate Wednesday" each and every week. Each Wednesday, I have always browsed through random blogs in awe of people's creative dinners and exciting breakfasts. Since getting my new camera, I have been snapping pictures left and right of everything under the sun, including what I have been eating!! Soooo I am officially participating in WIAW :) Click the link before to see what other bloggers have brought to the party!

 Since this is my first official WIAW, I am not really going to stick to the theme of "Sensible Snacking" (Sorry Jenn!). This is more of just a random assortment of food and goodies from the past week (read- an exhaustive post of pictures of food because I want to empty my memory card...)

 Iced Coffee!! Every morning MUST start with an iced coffee for the commute to the office and another iced coffee when I get to work (sorry I'm not sorry that I will actually fall asleep on the keyboard if I do not consume AT LEAST this much caffeine in the morning...it may have already happened once or twice when I was an intern...I have since learned better!)  This is Starbucks Blonde Roast with skim milk and two truvia packets.

Overnight Oats

This was my first time making Overnight Oats. These were made with a package of Raw Oats, strawberries, vanilla greek yogurt, skim milk, cinnamon, and all natural strawberry jam, all mixed together in a tupperware and thrown in the fridge overnight. I had read countless blogs raving about this seemingly simple breakfast, but never had the motivation to try it until a friend of mine made it and LOVED it. So obviously, I HAD to try it. Verdict: ...interesting. To be honest not what I was expecting. It was a texture not quite like oatmeal but not quite like yogurt either. Must have liked them enough though because I made them the next day:

These were much better! Same combo as before but I added in blueberries (that I had picked myself the weekend prior) this time around. I knew that this breakfast was definitely going to become a regular occurrence :)

Breakfast Sunday morning: Vans Waffle topped with organic greek vanilla yogurt and all natural strawberry jam. DELICIOUS and held off my hunger perfectly until lunch with my mom at Harvest...but more on that later.

Lunch for work: Organic spring mix, grilled peppers, onions, and squash, corn from the cobb, cottage cheese, and a drizzle of balsamic right before eating.

Another work lunch: Organic spring mix, guacamole from whole foods (AMAZING), salsa, feta, and leftover grilled veggies. I put the veggies and their marinade in the bottom of the tupperware so my lettuce didn't get too soggy.

Snack for work:  Fat free cottage cheese, cinnamon, and organic grapes

Come 3:30 I am always a bit hungry again, so I try to remember to pack a snack to bring to work (this also prevents me from ravaging the cupboards, starved with no sense of what I am consuming, when I get home from work at 6:30 and haven't eaten in 6 hrs.... it's like a prevention snack!) 

 

Another Snack for work: Organic vanilla greek yogurt, cinnamon, grapes, and low fat apple granola from Whole Foods (sooo yummy!)

And lastly I finish just about everyday with frozen greek yogurt, usually topped with strawberries and a handful of Annie's bunnies (gluten free snickerdoodles please!!). My favorite brand of the frozen greek yogurt is Adonia, but Stonyfield is good as well. Not only does frozen greek yogurt taste as good as ice cream, but it has all the added benefits of being greek yogurt..PROTEIN. Adonia Frozen Greek Yogurt has 9 grams of protein per serving...so yes, I will have a second bowl ;)

...great now I am in bed craving ALL of the above, which means BEDTIME!! Have an awesome Wednesdayy!!

Manayunk Arts Festival

On Saturday I went to the Manayunk Arts Festival!




It is located on Main Street in Manayunk. They shut the street down for two days, and over 300,000 collectors, buyers, and designers come from across the country to showcase and sell their work!




It was a gorgeous day, barely any clouds in the sky, but the sun was sooo hot. Unfortunately most of the vendors wouldn't allow photos to be taken, so most of my photos had to be sneaky ;) Nobody sue me!!

When we got there (after taking like 4 wrong highways to get there) we were pretty thirsty and really wanted something sweet and refreshing. Freshly made lemonade was a great treat!



After walking around for a few hours in the heat, my friend and I were tired, hot and HUNGRY. All of the restaurants had rented tent space and pulled tables outside, so we were able to still enjoy the weather while we ate lunch. We were both feeling Mexican food, so we chose Cactus. I ordered the Veggie Burrito, and
my friend ordered the Chipotle Chicken Sandwich.



It was so delicious and definitely hit the spot!

My burrito:


and my friend's sandwich:


and we needed to hydrate A LOT.


After lunch, we explored a bit more. I bought an ADORABLE leash for Bulmer. I have been searching all over for some kind of Irish themed collar and leash, and I finally found one!! I will post pictures of Bulmer in action wearing his new handsome collar and leash later this week. My friend bought a really cute tank top from Duke & Winston, a clothing company inspired by the founder's english bulldog. It's a super cute idea, and the graphics are quirky and creative. Visit their website here!
Finally after a long day of shopping, eating, and walking, we were ready to head home, but not before taking a few more pictures!








All in all a fantastic Saturday afternoon!

A New Beginning

Welcome to A Taste of Bulmer! This is my new puppy, the inspiration for the title of this blog.



His name is Bulmer, and he was born on St. Patrick’s Day. He is a curious little guy and a ball full of energy… just like me! I’m curious about learning how to make healthy meals new and exciting, opposed to Bulmer who is more interested in eating all of my furniture :)

This blog will be devoted to my adventures in food, travel, and just everyday life! I have been an avid blog reader for the past two years and attempted to make my own this past January, here, but I wanted to start anew this summer. I have a brand new camera, Nikon 3100 (SO EXCITED ABOUT IT), and a better outlook on food…. So here goes nothing!



(Bulmer loves food too!)