Unfortunate Events Remind Us How Fortunate We Are

If we're friends on Facebook or you follow me on Twitter, you already know that on Tuesday, 150 Blackbaud employees were laid off. One of those employees was yours truly. I can't say that I was totally shocked, as there had been some changes over the past few months. Blackbaud acquired Convio and there was a lot of restructuring. Apparently they got in over their heads and restructuring meant layoffs. I just can't believe 150 people were affected -- around 50 of us being from headquarters.

While yes, this is frightening, because I will have to find a new job, I'm not scared enough to let it get me down. I know these things happen for a reason, one of which is so that I can find something that is better suited to my passions and skill sets. I did enjoy my position at Blackbaud, but I wasn't working to my full potential or in a place to grow. And I know that I can do that. Something so much better is right around the corner, and during this transition I will stay positive that it will come my way very soon. 

My good friend and her fiancé also worked at headquarters -- she made the cut, but he did not. Soon after leaving the office, she asked if I wanted to come drink some champagne with them. That was an obvious yes. I think we all needed some bubbly to chill out. The irony? We drank out of Blackbaud glasses. ;) Gotta stay humorous.

That evening, Danielle came right over with presents. She is an angel. She brought me wine, a pickle-shaped wine stopper, hot sauce, candy, movies, magazines, books, and the biggest wine glass I've ever seen. It's so huge that it can be filled with an entire bottle of wine. 

This afternoon, Eric was kind enough to take me to lunch at Puree. He had the Deep South Sandwich and I had the Jalapeño Cheddar Burger. Good food is a great distraction!

The outpouring of support I have already received from family, friends, and even strangers has been downright amazing. Those of you who have reached out to me are truly special people and I am so grateful that you're in my life, however that may be. Nobody likes difficult situations; it's human nature to reject change. But when you know in your heart that the change will bring you to a better place, you have to sit back and watch it happen with a smile.

The Friday Five 11.30.12

1. What I’m Reading: Oh, you know, cookbooks. This new one, Jerusalem, has beautiful photos.

2. What I’m Eating: As much as Danielle and I eat together, restaurant owners must think we are dating.  We went to Mi Xao for the third time in a week so we could try more of the menu. Give us a month, I bet we’ll have covered the whole thing. The owners are just so nice and they’re now blog readers. Hey guys!

Last night Dani had the red curry stir-fry…

…and I had the green curry. Mine was so spicy my lips were burning. Loved it.

We also got to sample duck crepes and sweet potato & shrimp fritters that are part of their catering menu.

On our way out, Anh showed us that Mi Xao is BYOB. Good to know!

PS: HI JOY! It was nice to meet you. :)

3. What I’m Listening to:  Lykke Li – Possibility.

4. Recipes I’m Bookmarking:  Black Beans with Sweet Potatoes and Kale.

5. GIFs I’m Loving:

ONE HOUR INTO MY DIET

ALL DAY EVERY DAY

WHEN I GO FOR A RUN

I hope you all have a wonderful, blessed weekend! 

What I’m Loving Wednesday

1. I introduced Danielle to Mi Xao on Monday. We split the London Broil pho…

…and the Lemongrass Chicken Stir Fry. We enjoyed both, but the London Broil was the clear winner. I squirted about half a cup of Sriracha in it (no joke) and I left with clear sinuses and a warm tummy.

2. Are you one of those people who very regularly gets their hair cut? I am. After 6-8 weeks I start to freak out a little because my hair is so thick and heavy. As we’re nearing winter, I want to embrace my naturally dark golden blonde hair. Don’t worry, the bob isn’t going anywhere, just getting a little longer.

Cut:

Color:

3. I love these wine bags from World Market.

                            

4. I want to make this button craft I saw on Pinterest.

5. The last time I went to Starbucks, a Christmas miracle happened. They correctly spelled my name.

Christina is not hard to spell, but trust me, people mess it up. Or they just write Christie or Kristina. I’ll just tell them Xtina from now on. Imagine the spellings they’ll come up with for that…

6. Town Centre does a wonderful job of decorating for the holidays, and damn they started early this year. I love this blanket of lights!

7. So many of you have signed up for the Ornament Swap I’m hosting!! There’s still time to sign up! If you’re interested, please send me an email by tonight. Thanks!

Who’s ready for Thanksgiving?! What are you guys making?

Highlights From My Weekend

To say this weekend was low key would be an understatement. But don’t you worry, I had plenty of fun.

Friday: I picked up my little brother after school so we could hang out for the weekend. He’s 16 and all he does is EAT. I’m jealous of how much he can get away with eating!

I ate my delicious leftovers from Mi Xao, a new Vietnamese restaurant in Mt. Pleasant. Eric and I went on Thursday night and it was everything I hoped it would be. I ask for a combination of two types of pho. My bowl had shrimp, rice noodles, ginger broth, bean sprouts, basil, lime, jalapeno slices, cilantro, onion, and scallions.

Eric had the wonton pho. We also had the spring rolls, pot stickers, and a can of coconut juice. Okay, I had the coconut juice. I wish you had seen Eric’s face when he tried it. He was not a fan. I happily drank it.

I’m fond of any restaurant that keeps a gigantic bottle of Sriracha on the table. Please look at my broth in the above picture. Now look at this picture, after I had clearly added a ton of the magical sauce. I left with teary eyes and a watery nose.

Saturday: I woke up and made my new favorite breakfast: a pretzel Flatout wrap + scrambled eggs (1 egg, 2 whites) + avocado + Sriracha.

I signed Amanda and myself up for the Charleston 1/2 Marathon. Eeehh, it’s real!

I browsed Hobby Lobby for some craft ideas and ended up finding a birthday present for Rachel…and a majorly sassy glue gun.

I went for an easy 4-mile run around I’On then proceeded to get LOST in the DARK for 30 minutes. I couldn’t find my car and had to map myself with my phone. Typical!

The little brother and I made dinner, watched movies, and ate too much candy and frozen yogurt. Later I suffered from some serious FOMO when I received this text from Danielle:

Sunday: I made crackers. Yes, crackers. I’ve made these twice now and feel the recipe is ready for the blog! Stay tuned. If you’re my friend on instagram, you already know that they contain rosemary, raisins, and walnuts. It’s a fantastic combo, trust me.

Amanda and I started Week 3 of our 1/2 marathon training.

I love having a workout schedule mapped out for the next 10 weeks. I’ll share it with you soon! Hope you all had a lovely weekend!

What were the highlights of your weekend?

What was the best thing you ate?

What I’m Loving Wednesday 10.24.12

1. I ate at Purée four times this weekend: Friday dinner, Saturday brunch, a juice, and Sunday lunch. What is wrong with me? Nothing.

Friday: I had the Asian Bowl: pan fried tofu in a chili garlic sauce w/ brown rice over a bed of greens, shaved cucumbers, carrots, ginger.

Boding had the Pad Thai: rice noodles with crushed peanuts, red pepper, snap peas, coriander, lime.

Saturday:  Danielle and I split two wraps: Grilled Chimichurri Seitan Wrap (protein marinated in homemade herb cilantro lime dressing then grilled) and Mo Mo’s Homemade Rosemary BBQ Wrap.

2. I’m not the most organized person when it comes to my belongings. My shoes are all over my apartment and my purse is always a mess. I’ve learned to embrace it and work well amidst the chaos. Check out my k-cup madness. What’s your favorite k-cup flavor?

3. On Sunday evening, Boding and I went to Trader Joe’s for dinner stuff. There was one pumpkin Greek yogurt left. Obviously I grabbed it out of principle.

I was just there for the bare essentials: Greek yogurt and wine.

4. I enjoyed said wine in my favorite Pier 1 chalk note wine glass and pajamas. Christmas pajamas…two months early.

5. Speaking of Christmas, the seasonal Clif bars are back! Peppermint Stick is the real winner of this trio. What do you think of them?

6. Now rewind back. Halloween is my favorite holiday and I’m excited for this weekend’s festivities. I went from wanting to be Cat Woman, to a cat, to something very different than either of those animals. Here’s one hint :I will be carrying these around all evening.  (Annabel/Hannah/Amanda --  shhh!)

7. Amanda and I are still on a running kick. We never plan how far we’ll run and kind of just see how we’re feeling at each mile. On Monday’s run, at 7 miles in we felt great so we continued. At 8 we still felt good. Neither of us wanted to stop at 9 because, well, why would you when 10 is right around the corner? ;)

Nope, we’re not training for anything…other than world domination.

Feeling Hungry and Healthy? Purée Café Is Your Place.

For the past few weeks, I’ve been head over heels in love. But no, not for a boy. For a restaurant! Purée Café in Mt. Pleasant is a new gem that you must check out. Purée caters to those health-conscious individuals like myself, but will surely please the appetites of anyone smart enough to eat there. The menu is vegetarian, with many vegan and gluten-free options. Fillers, preservatives, artificial colors, and GMOs are no no’s at this joint. Go in hungry and leave feeling happy and healthy!

My first visit to Puree was with my friend Eric, a meat-loving man, who worried the vegetarian menu wouldn’t satisfy him. While we glanced over the menu, we ordered two juices: the Green Clean (spinach, kale, cucumber, celery, parsley, apple, and lemon)  and The Vitality (kale, beet, carrot, and peach).

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We also couldn’t pass up the White Bean Dip with pita chips as an appetizer. I could not stop eating the dip!

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We shared a salad too. Hey, we saw a lot of things we liked…The arugula, goat cheese, & roasted beet salad with toasted nuts & berries was another great starter -- sweet, savory, and summery. Pretty, isn’t it?

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The meat-eater immediately spotted two items that intrigued him:  the Blackened Jalapeno Cheddar Burger and the BBQ Tempeh Sausage Burger. Jenan, the owner, stopped at our table and convinced him to go with the latter. Wise choice – the burger was huge and topped with sautéed onions, avocado, and melted cashew cheese

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I chose the Mediterranean platter:  falafel  & hummus, served with mixed green tahini salad & toasted pita. I loved this dish because I got to try a little bit of everything. The falafel is a family recipe and the roasted red pepper hummus is better than anything you could buy in a store.

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After my visit with Eric, I was hooked. Thankfully, so is my good friend Danielle, and we’ve been going pretty often. One day we didn’t tell each other we were going for lunch and happened to go at the exact same time. I’m not sure if we were more embarrassed or amused that we caught each other. :)

On more than one occasion (like four, sue me), I’ve had the Black Bean Burrito. I can’t stop! Jenan urges me to try new things, but I keep going back to it. The whole wheat wrap is filled with black beans, greens, pico de gallo, and avocado.

One afternoon, Danielle and I decided a cocktail with lunch was necessary. She got a margarita with organic tequila and I got a mixed drink with organic vodka, beet juice, strawberries, and lime. These were probably the healthiest cocktails we’ve ever encountered, ha!

My most recent visit (when I spilled the beet juice everywhere) was for brunch. I had the The scrambler: tofu with cheese, tomatoes, kale, sweet & Yukon gold potatoes wrapped up in a whole wheat tortilla and a side of pesto. The tofu tasted pretty darn similar to eggs and I loved that there were two kinds of potato.

Locals, please check out this adorable café! Vegetarian or not, I know you’ll find something delicious. Stop in for a juice, eat one of the awesome entrees, chat w/ the sweet owner, and leave with a freshly-baked dessert. The vegan chocolate chip cookies are ridiculously good. Trust me, I’ve had a couple. ;)

Check out Purée on their website, facebook, or twitter. Tell Jenan I sent you!!

Do you often find yourself ordering the same thing over and over because it’s so good or do you like to always try new things?

What’s your favorite vegetarian dish?