I made some “berry” yummy oats with the last of my bag of stove top oats:

• 1 cup of water
• 1/2 cup of oatmeal
• 1 tablespoon of blueberry flax seed
• 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
• 1 cup of frozen mixed berries
• sprinkle of dark chocolate chips

I also completed by taste test of my last bag of Boston Common Coffee, Nicaragua Segovia.  I drank it hot yesterday and it was AWESOME.  My iced version this morning was equally good.  Boston Common has the best roasts.  The Nicaragua Segovia roast has “wonderful body, acidity, and exquisite aroma.”  I can’t wait to get more.  And it doesn’t hurt that I love supporting a local company!

Now I’m taking a break from vegetarian info to tell you about one of my fashion obsessions:

House of Harlow 1960 (photos courtesy of ShopBop)

I’ve been loving the jewelry from Nicole Richie’s line for months, but now that it features shoes, I’m an even bigger fan of her line.

Such old school Hollywood glam.  I love it!  And surprisingly well priced.  I may not be buying any shoes in the near future, but a lot of the jewelry is affordable.  Most pieces are under $100.

Really lusting for this peacock necklace.  And some of the big-ass cocktail rings are so cute, but come in sizes that are too big for my fingers.  The collection also features quite a few pieces featuring keys or horseshoes, two items that I love to see in jewelry form.

I scarfed down a quick bowl of Annie’s macaroni and cheese before heading to Babson College to watch my brother play hockey.

My little bro plays for Skidmore College (green team).  He’s #12.  My mom caught this shot of his pass for an assist.  Skidmore beat Babson College 4-3.

We waited around for Matt to get out of the locker room so we could congratulate him.

Jared and I were starving when we got home so we ordered Chinese food.  I had a craving!  Haha.  I had a little bit of lo mein and some chicken with broccoli.  Just enough that I wouldn’t go to bed hungry.

This is the first time I’ve had coffee since I chipped my tooth.  I’ve been afraid of getting a stain around the seam where it was fixed.  But for a delicious cup of Boston Common Coffee’s Celebs Kalossi Toraja, I took the risk.

I’m still planning to tour Boston Common’s roasting facility and learn more about the entire process.  So stay tuned for that…it’s been a long time coming.

I had a giant bowl of Peanut Butter Puffins.  I even added a spoonful of peanut butter after the photo was taken.  It ended up being an incredibly filling breakfast!

Yesterday I had blueberry pancakes for breakfast.  I don’t normally eat bacon, but it looked so good so I had one strip.

Jared, Bryan, Jenna, and I went to see Avatar in 3D.  I loved the movie and thought the animation was amazing.  The plot held my attention the whole time, even though it was a loooong movie.  Then I did a little bit of shopping.  I bought 2 calendars for 2010, a wall calendar and a Page-a-Day calendar for my office.

We had a delicious dinner last night:  ham, apple sauce, macaroni and cheese, peas, salad, and homemade bread.

I didn’t photograph dessert.  There was apple pie and a vanilla cake from Wegman’s.

I had leftover blueberry pancakes for breakfast this morning.  Plus a cup of Boston Common coffee.  I need to post a review of this blend because it’s AWESOME.

I love the holiday table setting in Jared’s parents’ dining room.

Rochester has been getting snow since we arrived on Sunday night.  Miles loves it and wants to be outside all the time.  Unfortunately it’s ruined my running plans.  I’m looking forward to exercising once I’m back in Boston on Wednesday night.

We’re supposed to go to the museum this afternoon and check out a Titanic exhibit.  After the movie came out, I was fascinated with the disaster and I read several books about it.  I’m really excited to tour this exhibit!

I drank a cup of Costa Rica LaMinita coffee from Boston Common Coffee on the way to work.  God I love that stuff!  I have a few more Boston Common brews to sample and I can’t wait!

I spent the morning chatting with coworkers and snacking on a Blueberry Crisp Clif Bar.

Model shot of my rain boots with fleece liners.  Very attractive, huh?  Plus my red sweatshirt is really festive!  I’ve gotta rock something red and/or green during these last few days of work.

I’m not like Charlie Brown; I’ve gotten a few Christmas cards this year!  My mom sent a copy of our family Christmas card.  We send photo cards every year and this year’s card features a picture of my family on the London Eye while we were on vacation in June.  Miles got a Christmas card from his best dog-friend Nastasha!

• Roast profile: A central American single-origin varietal from Bill McAlpin’s LaMinita estate.  Considered a premium coffee, it is meant to be roasted light to light-medium to accentuate its characteristics, which are a pleasant acidity, sweetness, and nice body.  A very clean coffee with a smooth finish!

To properly test these beans, they were ground in a separate grinder, just prior to brewing.  The beans were VERY aromatic!  The first pot of coffee to test these beans was brewed using 6 oz. of filtered water.

I sweetened my cup of coffee with 2% milk and 1 packet of Splenda.  To my undignified palate, I thought the Costa Rica LaMinita tasted awesome.  I couldn’t pick out any specific flavors, but I was quite happy with each sip.  I tend to steer clear of coffee once it reaches room temperature, but this brew was even good when it was luke warm.  Because of the nice body, I wasn’t left with a funky coffee after taste.

Jared’s dad Bob, a true coffee afficienado, helped taste test and drank his first few sips black.  He noticed the very pleasant acidity and the mellow, but full-bodied flavor.  Bob even put the coffee to his own personal test:  He added Swiss Miss hot chocolate mix, and found that it still tasted fantastic!

Here are some important facts to make sure you’re getting the most out of each and every pot of coffee you brew:

• Use 6 fl. oz of water for every 2 tablespoons of ground coffee.
• It is CRUCIAL to use filtered water or spring water to brew your coffee.  All it takes is one bad mineral or contaminant in your water supply to ruin coffee.
• At brewing, water should be between 195 and 205 degrees.
• Use coarser grinds for French presses, electric perk brewers, etc.
• Use medium grinds for drip and auto drip brewers.
• Use finer grinds for espresso, Turkish brews, etc.
• Buy whole beans and grind at home if possible.  Pre-ground coffee becomes stale very quickly.
• Only grind the amount of beans you need for brewing.
• Store your coffee in an air-tight container.

I’ve been hanging on to Jared’s empty jar of Skippy Peanut Butter for a while so I could use it to make some Oats in a Jar.  My oatmeal creation included:

• 1 cup of water
• 1/2 cup of oatmeal
• 1 tablespoon of blueberry flax seed
• 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
• 1 heaping tablespoon of blackberry jam

These oats were amazing for two reasons.  #1, I actually left myself enough time to sit at the table and enjoy eating them.  I took slow bites and scraped as much PB off the sides of the jar as I possibly could.  #2, Umm, peanut butter and jelly?  Obviously I don’t need to say anything else!

More Boston Common Coffee’s Costa Rica LaMinita in a to-go mug.  Oh my God how I love this coffee!

I ate an early lunch; it was only 11:30 am.  I had an Amy’s burrito and lots of crunchy baby carrots.

I just realized I forgot to pack socks.  Oops!  When I hit the gym later this afternoon, I’ll probably use the Elliptical or the Cybex.  Don’t need to run on the treadmill and get sweaty feet.

Boston Common Coffee (fun review to come) in an awesome Arrested Development mug and a cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese.

My Lunch…

No, no really!  Haha.  I forgot to take a photo, but my lunch was 1/2 the size of my Thanksgiving platter of food.  Just as delicious as yesterday!

We relaxed ALL afternoon.  Watched TV, napped, used the computer.  It was so lazy and very necessary.

Jared’s parents took us the see A Christmas Carol in 3-D.  It was awesome!  I was in the play when I was younger…this version was pretty close to that script.  I could quote almost every line.  The 3-D was great.  Plus I love that style of animation; it was similar to The Polar Express.

We went out to dinner after the movie.  I was SO hungry.  I ordered grilled chicken with grilled asparagus and zucchini and angel hair pasta.

It was delicious, but I went into food overload and started getting the “pasta sweats.”  Haha.  I’m glad I have leftovers to bring to Blackstone!

It’s time to get my stuff together and get on the road to Blackstone, MA.  The drive should be a bit shorter than the drive down was…plus we shouldn’t hit any traffic.  I’m already thinking of a post-car ride workout.  Maybe jumping rope?!?

When I got home from work, there was a letter addressed to me sitting in the mail slot.  Nasoya sent some coupons to me so I can sample more of their products.  Hmm, I’m going to go online and check out what to buy when I get groceries later tonight.

I was in a down and out sorta mood so I decided to relax and sip on a glass of wine.  I watched a bunch of “my shows” that were on the DVR: 18 Kids and Counting, Little People Big World, etc.

Since I was too lazy to make dinner, Jared got things started when he came home from the gym.  I got really nosy and kept trying to take pictures or make suggestions.  I took this look as a sign that I should get out of the kitchen!

Dinner was baked chicken with mozzarella cheese, garlic linguine, and artichokes.  Mmm.  Jared has no concept of portion sizes and always throws way too much on my plate.  I didn’t finish all of my chicken.  I think I’m going to shred the leftover chicken pieces and use them for pizza toppings as part of my dinner.

I didn’t blog last night because we didn’t eat dinner until 9 pm.  Glee was on so I gave my full attention to the TV.

This morning I had a cup of Boston Common Coffee’s Breakfast Blend with only 1 packet of Splenda.  I thought the brew tasted better after cutting back on the artificial sweetness.  A for effort for trying to become a more natural eater!  I also had a mini whole grain bagel with cream cheese and jelly.  I used to LOVE cream cheese and jelly sandwiches.  I’d bring them for lunch in elementary school.

I snacked on an orange while sitting at my desk.  Cutting the orange into bit size pieces really cut down on the mess.  I didn’t have any orange juice squirting anywhere this time!