I am excited to share some of our adventures with you guys!
Blue Apron Dinner
On Thursday evening, after my Physique 57 class, I met up with Merri at her office around 6 p.m. We walked to a local bar with a handful of her coworkers to enjoy a festive happy hour until our stomachs told us it was time for food. I was really excited for our dinner plans because Merri raved about the Blue Apron meals she ordered earlier in the week and saved one for us to prepare and eat together.
We made the udon noodle soup and it was fantastic. I loved the marinated tempeh, flavorful broth and the thick noodles. So delicious!
The whole concept of Blue Apron meals really impressed me. Merri showed me all of the recipes she prepared earlier in the week thanks to the shipment she received from the company and every meal looked fresh, vibrant and completely mouth-watering.
In case you are in the dark about Blue Apron like I was, it’s basically a meal delivery service that sends you all of the ingredients you need to prepare a fresh and delicious meal at home. It includes detailed instructions (with pictures), pre-measured ingredients and costs $9.99 per person per meal. If the soup that we made is any indication, I can vouch for the service and say that the meals are truly restaurant-quality. Our soup tasted gourmet!
Merri signed up because she doesn’t feel very secure in her cooking abilities and wanted to learn how to cook quality meals on her own. She said the instructions were really easy to follow on every meal (though some were quite involved) and she raved about every single dish. (Merri ordered the vegetarian option.)
After dinner, we stayed up until midnight or so chatting with Merri’s husband before it was time for bed. We had an early morning wake up call and wanted to be rested going into a jam-packed weekend!
Uplift
On Friday morning, Merri and I had plans to meet up with my blogging buddy, Theodora, at Uplift, a local fitness studio that I’ve seen Theodora rave about numerous times on her blog. I reached out to her to see if she wanted to join us for the 6:30 a.m. class and the three of us had a great time getting our butts kicked together by Laura.
The class was a total body workout that focused on strength, cardio and core work. The strength portion included lots of reps of light weights and targeted all of our major muscle groups. Cardio bursts in the form of tabatas broke up the strength portion and elevated our heart rates.
We did two tabatas during the class that looked like this:
Tabata One
- 20 sec. skaters
- 10 sec. rest
- 20 sec. squat jumps
- 10 sec. rest
- Complete 4 total rounds
Tabata Two
- 20 sec. low jumping jacks with floor touch
- 10 sec. rest
- 20 sec. mountain climbers
- 10 sec. rest
- Complete 4 total rounds
I can’t wait to incorporate them into my own workouts and my group exercise classes at the gym! I think they’ll be a hit!
After our class and a nice and sweaty post-workout picture with Theodora, the three of walked to Le Pain for breakfast.
The little restaurant was adorable and I loved the exposed brick, light wood and festive decor.
I ordered an almond milk cappuccino to start and enjoyed the smoke salmon platter for my main meal.
My smoked salmon came with a soft boiled egg – the first soft boiled egg I’ve ever had – and it was delicious. I made sure to take advantage of the fabulous hazelnut spread and sweet jams on the table and topped my bread with a smear of each.
It was a great way to start the day! I’ll be back in the morning with more NYC adventures!
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Looks like you’ve been having such a great time in New York!
What a great sounding service Blue Apron is and I can’t get over how cheap it is per meal when you compare it to takeaway. As hopefully after a whilst you would either get ideas to make and prep the meals yourself as well as feel more confident in your cooking abilities.
I love tabata workouts and need to start incorporating more into my workouts.
Sounds like a great start to your trip! Can’t wait to hear about the rest of it! 🙂
That looks like such a great workout! I love how you go out and try new fitness classes on vacation. So fun! 🙂
Looks like a blast! I was there a month ago and really wish I could’ve spent more time exploring. It seems like you never have enough time to see everything!
I’ve never heard of Blue Apron but the concept sounds really cool!
I love the looks of everything you posted! That breakfast looks so amazing!!
NYC called. It misses you.
Take me baaaaack!!! <3
I always admire that you take the healthy route when on vacation! “Vacation” for a lot of people means pigging out because hey! You’re on vacay! But I’ve found you can have even more fun when you explore a new area via running/hiking/taking a new-to-you class! Can’t wait to here more about your trip.
I’ve never heard of Uplift before, but I might just want to check it out one day! And that breakfast looks absolutely fantastic. You’re introducing things to me in the city that I haven’t heard of before…and I go the city all the time! 😉
Never heard of Blue Apron, but it sounds interesting. Just another reason I wished I lived in NYC!
Looks like such a fun trip! I love Tabata workouts!
Looks like a great start to your trip in NYC!!
I tried Blue Apron a few weeks ago and loved it!!!
I think the blue apron concept is so great! great way to try new foods and recipes 🙂
I was originally signed up to take that class last friday! I adore uplift, such a great space with amazing trainers/ instructors.
I’ve seen the ads for Blue Apron on Facebook but wasn’t really sure about it. That looks delish! I’ll have to check it out.
Blue Apron is a great concept. Sounds like Plated, but perhaps less expensive which is a thrill.
Do you like tempeh? I’ve been wanting to try it but for some reason am nervous!
I have always wanted to try a soft boiled egg…I have also always wanted to have one of those egg holders, lol!!
Blue Apron sounds like something that needs to come to my front door!!
I love that you try new classes, fitness centers, etc. when you travel or are visiting places. The variety you have in your workouts seems like a great motivator! 🙂
Hey, “le pain” as you call it, is a chain which is called “le pain quotidien” (our Daily bread) in Europe. It is originally from Belgium. Nixe that they have a NYC Location now too!
I love soft boiled eggs adn order them any time they are on the menu 🙂
sounds so fun! NYC is the best– especially in the winter!
Looks like a fun trip. All trips to NYC fly by way too fast. There arecso many places for good eats and a good workout. The rest if the United States should take note.
I’ve seen blue apron popping around everywhere. I think it’s a great concept for someone who is just getting into cooking or for the person looking to expiriment with more adventurous foods.
Sounds like the perfect fun filled, good food fuelled active start to the weekend!!! Can’t believe you’ve never had a soft boiled egg! I’m vegan and I’ve had one! 🙂 Did you like it?
So funny to see all of these places I’ve frequented over the years in NYC! All my friends do Blue Apron in NYC and love it. In fact, I made the exact same recipe that you did with my friend 🙂
Also, love Le Pain!
looks like you had a very fun start to your nyc weekend!
we have a few le pain locations in southern california. i agree, their breakfast/brunch is delicious! soft boiled eggs are the best, but really, i love ANY kind of eggs! 🙂
Looks like you had a great time in NYC! I love the city! Blue Apron, albeit a little expensive, seems like a great idea especially for those in a big city.
Aren’t soft boiled eggs the best? I tried them in Sweden where they are abundant at breakfast time. Actually your whole breakfast was very Scandavian!
I love the scarf you are wearing in some of your workout pics! It makes a workout outfit look so polished. Where did you get it? And do you wear it while you’re working out? Don’t you get hot?!
Le Pain is my favorite breakfast place on earth! Luckily we have one in Manhattan Beach where I live so I can enjoy it all the time!
That’s one of my favorite NYC spots. I love their bread basket and the praline spread is sooooooo good!