French Dining with the Family and... JAZZERCISE!!!

Last night I went out to dinner with my grandparents, my mom and dad, and my little brother! We went to a French restaurant called Aixois in Brookside, which is in Kansas City, MO.

Aixois! And my dad.

The chef, Emmanuel Langlade, trained in Marseille before opening his restaurant in Kansas City in 2001. He uses local, organic foods and imports his cheeses, oils and seasonings from France.

To start, I had the house salad, which was bibb lettuce with hearts of palm, some red onions, tomatoes and a few glazed pecans (I think pecans.. could have been walnuts). Either way, it was delicious! Very light and I love hearts of palm so I devoured this!

I wasn't as pleased, however, with my dinner entree. I ordered the salmon, which came with rice and green beans. I have to say the green beans were delicious... but that was all. The salmon was overcooked for my liking and the rice tasted like rice my mom makes from a bag at home.

However, everyone else seemed to love their meals! My dad had skirt steak, my mom had the veal (which she said was wonderful), my grandparents both had the trout (which looked great, should have ordered that!), and my little brother had shrimp pasta. For dessert, we ordered the mini sampler. My favorite was the gelato!

All in all, it was a great night with my family in a beautiful atmosphere! It really was a charming restaurant. I saw they have a great looking coffee bar, maybe I'll get a chance to stop by before I leave to check it out!

Fuzzy picture... Trying to take the picture without getting left behind!

I woke up starving, so breakfast this morning consisted of a bowl of blueberries and strawberries with some almond milk and Truvia sprinkled over them, a cup of non-fat greek yogurt with PB2 Powder mixed in, and then the crumbly bits at the end of the bag of my Dad's Raisin Bran cereal, with a few freeze dried banana chips from Trader Joes!

And, of course, a cup of coffee!

After breakfast, and a little blog work, my mom and I headed off to Jazzercise! You're probably thinking, "Jazzercise? Isn't that some kind of dancing exercise with leotards from the 80s??". Well, you're right. Sort of.

I started taking Jazzercise classes at the beginning of my senior year of college. My sorority "twin", Amy Lee, wanted to try out the classes because her mom is an instructor in North Carolina and so Amy Lee had done Jazzercise growing up.

From their website:'

WHAT IS JAZZERCISE

Burn up to 600 calories in one fun and powerfully effective 60-minute total body workout. Every Jazzercise group fitness class combines dance-based cardio with strength training and stretching to sculpt, tone and lengthen muscles for maximum fat burn. Choreographed to today's hottest music, Jazzercise is a fusion of jazz dance, resistance training, Pilates, yoga, and kickboxing. Start dancing yourself fit and change the shape of your body today!

I loved going in college because it was a fun way to get in some cardio and strength training, but also have fun! I loved the community atmosphere and getting to know all the women there! The Jazzercise instructors are so helpful and such kind and fun women! They keep you laughing and smiling the whole class! (and sweating!). I definitely miss my Jazzercisers at East Cooper Jazzercise (in SC) but loved getting to see everyone at Jazzercise today!

I got my mom to start going over a year ago, and she loves it too! It's for women of all ages and all fitness levels (I've even seen some men!). I HIGHLY recommend looking for a Jazzercise class near you!

What's your favorite exercise class?

Yogurtini!

Good Morning!

So today I "slept in" until about 7:45 and finally got up because my stomach was grumbling! I knew I wanted to workout soon, so I tried to make a lighter breakfast with some protein! I used non-fat plain greek yogurt and mixed in some PB2 powder and stevia (I was feeling something sweet). I topped it with some fresh blueberries and sliced strawberries and a small handful of my Dad's Raisin Bran cereal.

Fresh and delicious! Exactly what I needed.

And some Folgers coffee! Classic in my house. What's with all these Dean and Deluca mugs we have? I don't think I've ever even been to Dean and Deluca!

So my mom just came down in her golfing clothes... I had hoped to go with her to her Jazzercise class this morning, but apparently she isn't going! I guess that means I'm sticking to my running schedule and running 3 miles today! I hope my knees hold up!

Last night I met two of my friends, Bailey and Benny, for some Yogurtini! It's a self-serve frozen yogurt place here in Kansas City that they are constantly raving about and I was dying to try! And let me tell you, they were right!

Not only did they have a ton of great flavors, they had more toppings to offer than I have ever seen before! I also loved their yogurt; it was nice and creamy. Some yogurt places I go to the yogurt is more icy, kind of like a sorbet rather than ice cream. This stuff was just perfect!

I got some of their classic Yogurtini Blueberry and then some Strawberry Banana. I topped it with a little bit of everything (I ended up with too much topping and not enough yogurt!). I definitely got made fun of for getting just one gummy bear, but I just wanted one!

Any one else turn finding the best frozen yogurt place into an art? I think I've tried about 15 different places between KC, Chicago, Charleston and Denver!

First Post! Breakfast Time.

So today was a big day. Last day as an intern and first day as a blogger! Since May, I've been working as a policy intern at a non-profit environmental organization which worked mostly with land preservation and acquisition, water quality, and community greening. Although not a conventional legal internship, it gave me a great insight into how to use my law degree in a different way. However, I am so excited to be done!!! I have two whole weeks until classes start again!

Since my boss (who works from home on Fridays) said she wouldn't be at her desk until 9, I decided to take advantage of the late start and go for an early morning run! I pulled my IT band a few months ago and haven't been able to run until this week! I've been DYING to get back into it, especially with the great weather! So when I got up I threw on my shoes and the AMAZING shirt my friend Maddie gave me and headed out for a 2 mile run, which I finished in just over 18 min.

When I got back I showered, got dressed, and packed up my bag for work. For breakfast I had a bit of a mish-mash: 6 tablespoons of egg-whites scrambled with pepper, a small bowl of Puffins Cinnamon cereal with sliced strawberries, and a little bit of cantaloupe. I hadn't decided to start my blog at this time, so no picture. But here's the cereal!

I like the cinnamon flavor, but the peanut butter that I tried at my friend Maddie's apartment in Denver was amazing!! Sadly they didn't have it at Trader Joe's this week. Cereal is probably one of my favorite foods, and I tend to hear that a lot from people! Perhaps it's the childhood memories? Maybe the ease of pouring a bowl? Or is it just that darn good??? What's you're favorite kind of cereal and why?