My little sis is officially a college student! I’ll miss this lil nugget:

Please excuse my super awkward smile.

Here are some photos from her last weekend at home!

My mom who is actually Superwoman makes a feast every night (this is seriously our dinner table almost every single night – no joke).

My dog gets a bandana after every haircut! Cute, right? I guess she’s ok too.

We went to our favorite sushi place, Koo, on Sunday night. My sister had the chicken pad thai with no veggies. Good, but no veg?! Are we related?

Koo Special roll for me. Yum! Loved this, especially the spicy fish.

My mom had the Thai beef with broccoli. Not really my thing, but it was tender and cooked well.

Last but not least, my dear dad had the sushi and sashimi combo. I love that the fish at Koo is always so fresh.

On Monday night, we packed up the car so we could set out bright and early in the morning for Vassar. After a few hours of room-arranging frustration and fervent unpacking, we said bye to Steph and left her at a picnic for new students.

On the way home, we stopped by Woodbury Commons, which is only about an hour or so from Vassar. But we were all starving, so food had to be had before the shopping could start.

I know a lot of people think Applebee’s is low rent and not that great, but it’s a convenient and lowkey favorite of my family. The food’s not the best, but it’s good enough. We’re not snobs or something.

We started with the buffalo chicken wings. I like them spicier but they were good anyway!

My dad ordered the garlic sirloin, which came with a portabello mushroom with spinach on top. I had high hopes for the portabello, but sadly, it was flavorless and limp. The steak itself was well-cooked though.

I actually have really liked Applebee’s salads in the past so I decided to try the fiesta chicken chopped salad. This one was awesome! I loved all the flavors and the dressing was delicious and not too heavy. Not a bad choice at all!

A weeee bit of shopping was done after that.

One more (half)day till the long weekend! Whoohoo! I’ve got plans to go to a wedding on Sunday, but not too much else yet.

I’ve been getting a little behind with blogging lately, but I still wanted to share some photos from my sister’s graduation last Wednesday.

We got there about an hour early and if you remember, Wednesday was hot hot hot! Sitting in the bleachers with the sun beating down on us was absolute hell. Literally everyone around us was sweating buckets! I can’t even imagine what it would have been like to be one of the graduates in their navy robes and right in the middle of the football field. They must have been dying! My dad got this shot of my beautiful sister in the procession.

And we took some more photos on the field afterward.

Then we got in the car to go to Red Lobster for dinner! My sister loves it and we hadn’t been there for a while. Unfortunately, the hostess skipped us at least once when going down her list so we were waiting for a pretty long time. We were all starving by the time we actually sat down to eat! Despite our sweatiness, I still got everyone to pose for some photos.

How cute are my parents?!

Please ignore all of our sweaty shiny foreheads. Ick.

We started with the Cheddar Bay biscuits, my sister’s favorite! She was uncontrollable with them.

Our meals came with soups for my mom and sister and salads for everyone. That was fairly uneventful though, and a good amount of it went uneaten. For her entree, my sister ordered the Cajun Chicken Linguine Alfredo. It was huge!

My mom went with the Garlic-Herb Shrimp and Chicken. It was good, but a little salty for my taste.

I don’t remember exactly what my dad’s dish was called but it had lobster and shrimp scampi. A little heavy on the butter in my opinion, but not bad.

Lastly, I had a half-size portion of the Island BBQ Salmon. It was a topped with a papaya barbecue sauce and pineapple salsa. So good!

My sister and mom’s meals came with dessert, so we also each tried a bite of the apple crostada and key lime pie. Loved them both! The rest of my family could barely get down a bite of each, but I of course saved room. I took quite a chunk out of that key lime pie.

Such a fun day with my family! Congrats again to my baby sister for graduating.

I had an uneventful day today, but yesterday was fun-filled!

My sister and I finally got off our lazy asses yesterday and went on a bike ride on the Henry Hudson trail.

Helmet on and ready to go!

I used Map My Run and it turned out that the ride from our house to the start of the trail was a mile. We ended up riding a mile and a half more to a small abandoned airport and then riding down the short runway. We took this picture on it!

And I snapped this photo of the trail on our way back. I’m so jealous that my parents live so close to it!

My mom planted these flowers in the planters on our front porch while we were gone. So pretty!

Lunch

For lunch, my sister and I split our second to last black bean burger. Lettuce, cheese, ketchup, mustard, and pickles on mine!

My parents also made bruschetta, which looked like the photo on this post. On a somewhat related note, I saw an Olive Garden commercial today where they pronounced bruschetta “bru-sket-ta.” What?! I always thought it was “bru-shet-ta.” Whoops.

Dinner

My parents wanted to go out for dinner so we decided to go to Bonefish Grill in East Brunswick since we hadn’t been in a while.

For our appetizer, we had the Fresh Ceviche with scallops, shrimp, fish, avocado, peppers, and cilantro. It was a total hit! My sister’s normally not a fan of seafood, but even she loved it.

My mom ordered the Bayou Mahi Mahi and Shrimp. It came with a spicy creole sauce and garlic whipped potatoes. The sauce gave the fish the perfect spicy kick!

My dad went for the Fresh Maryland Stuffed Soft Shell Crab Dinner. We thought this might be a miss since soft shell crab is usually a hit or miss, but he loved it! It was seasoned perfectly.

My sister picked one of the restaurant’s popular dishes, Lily’s Chicken, with a side of potatoes au gratin. It was grilled chicken breast with goat cheese, sauteed spinach, artichoke hearts, and a lemon basil sauce. All the flavors really worked together.

I ordered the Bang Bang Tacos. I’d been craving veggies all day, so I chose the spring mix for my side. The tacos had their signature Bang Bang shrimp with their usual creamy sauce. Delicious! I managed to finish one and almost a half.

After dinner, we stopped by Kohl’s next door so my sister could pick up some new workout clothes. Then we walked over to TJ Maxx to browse. I picked up this squeaky toy for Cissie!

When we got home, the raisin swirl rolls my mom had been baking all day were all done and they looked absolutely amazing. Don’t they?! Tasted great too.

Hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

Happy Memorial Day weekend!

After a long and tiring week, it was nice to call it an early day at work today and hop on the 4:20 train to my parents’ house. My boss is the best!

Lunch

Speaking of my awesome boss, not only did he force me to leave work early, but he and I also went out for a nice long lunch in Hoboken. He has a car, so we love going out for lunch once a week or so. Today we tried a place we’ve been wanting to try but haven’t yet: It’s Greek To Me.

It was adorably kitschy with a homey atmosphere. I loved the decorations and colorful walls. It looks like the inside of the postcard! I would’ve never known this place was a chain if my boss hadn’t pointed it out.

Their menu was full of standard Greek fare: dolmades (stuffed grape leaves), tzatziki, spanakopita, and all that good stuff! I went for the gyro (beef and lamb) souvlaki sandwich, which came with a side of Greek fries. It was huge! I loved the tzatziki on it and the meat was well-seasoned and packed in generously.

I only managed to finish about two-thirds of the sandwich, but it was good! My boss (who is Greek) had only one criticism, which was that the Greek fries weren’t smothered in lemon and oregano as they should be. Still, I think we’ll be adding it to our quick and easy lunch rotation. I’d love to go back to try the spanakopita and dishes on the “Traditional” section of the menu too!

Dinner

My mom prepared an absolute feast for dinner tonight! Family style, of course.

Steamed fish

Sprouts and bamboo

Stirfried Chinese veg that I don't know the name of in English

I had a small portion of rice in my bowl, filled up on the fish (perfectly tender) and veggies, and ended up with a little bit of soup. Delicious!

After dinner, I did a quick cardio circuit, which got me sweating, followed by a mile-long run. And I had a tiny bit of Naked Green Machine (about a 1/4 cup) to celebrate! In my favorite mug.

And for dessert, I washed some strawberries and blueberries. My sister and I shared a big bowl topped with half of a lemon Chobani. I haven’t tried the flavor before, but it was good and provided the perfect contrast to the sweet fruit.

So excited for this long weekend! Don’t have much by way of plans, but I’m excited to relax here. So far, my sister and I have plans for Zumba tomorrow and I’ll be hitting the beach if the weather is nice too.

Enjoy your weekends!