Reality Check // Week 3

Reality check is my weekly confessional. The good, bad, and ugly will go here so that I can just... be. Be real. Be authentic.

Wow I made it to week 3, guys! I thought I'd take this opportunity to keep it light and give you a few lists of my current (sometimes guilty) favorites happening around here.

Favorite stuff on TV:

+ Homeland. After finishing off The Affair, we didn't opt for a light funny comedy series to binge, noooo. We went straight for another suspenseful drama to keep the angst running super high. In 3 weeks we have gone through 3 seasons and are currently on 4. No spoilers please!

+ The Bachelor. Everyone deserves some mindless brain numbing TV time and this is it for me. I find conflict to be draining, not entertaining, so it's surprising that I can watch anything in the reality space. But truly the best part of watching is listening to the Here To Make Friends podcast the day after. These girls say all the sarcastic things I was thinking while watching, make fun of all of the awkwardness, and provide great insight into the personalities and interactions of these people. It's like social and emotional bootcamp for me. Yes, I am learning from the crazies.

+ My Les Mills New Release Videos. Oops. This is a big confession... typically I am trying to learn my new releases for the classes that I teach (RPM, BodyAttack, BodyPump, and GRIT) at least two to three weeks ahead of the launch. With the holidays and having lots of free time, I really had no excuse but it just didn't get done this round. So cramming is seriously an understatement. I haven't delivered the best most polished versions of these releases to my classes, and for that I do feel bad. But, I'm doing my best, and still have the better part of 2 formats to learn before Sunday... unless it snows 2 feet. Should I gamble?

Favorite stuff in my Kitchen:

+ Ginger snaps. Even though I love them, I tend to forget all about these amazing little nuggets, and am always so delighted when I remember they exist and buy some. They've been one of my favorite treats since childhood. My favorites have traditionally been the triple ginger snaps from Trader Joe's, but more recently, I've become a fan of Pamela's Mini Ginger Snapz because they are gluten and dairy free.

+ Route 11 Sweet Potato Chips. OMGggggggggggg. We first discovered these chips at Costco (of course, right??) and then they ceased to carry them for awhile so we had to buy the completely inadequate normal sized bags at Whole Foods for one million dollars each. Then, they started carrying them at Costco again and all was right in the world! They're made right here in VA, and have 3 ingredients: Sweet Potatoes, sunflower oil, and salt. Amazingness.

+The Toasted Oat Blueberry and Flax Granola. Whole Foods was sampling this crazy good granola a few weeks ago and I was in love at first taste. It's not a dry brittle crunchy kind of granola, it's more of a chewy moist crumbled cookie version of granola. Plus totally natural, gluten free, and high in fiber!

Favorite stuff outside the Kitchen, but still food related:

+South Block Juicery's Cashew Mylk Latte. Holy coffee, batman. Not only do I love dairy-free lattes, but this ranks as one of the best I've ever had. South Block makes their own cashew milk, called "caveman mylk" which is sold as part of their juice cleanse. They also use this home made milk in their lattes if requested, and I always do. It is cashew milk infused with dates, vanilla, and cinnamon. Go on, try to even imagine how amazing that would taste with coffee... then go get yourself one.

+Iron Chef House. Basically everyhing on the menu. Everything. I've been twice this week for various reasons, but it's a great go-to here in the Merrifield area (Mosaic District). I love sushi, as I detailed in my fish post on Wednesday. Iron Chef House has the best sushi I've ever had. This includes the chi-chi sushi places like Nobu in Miami Beach I've been to. No contest. They also have a wide variety of non-sushi dishes including plenty of other seafood, chicken, beef, etc. I've never been disappointed.

Hope you've enjoyed my first installment of //Favorites// Let there be many more to come!

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