May 31, 2016

Scenes from my iPhone

May 31, 2016/ sherri d'alessandro

Hi Friends! I hope you all had a fantastic Memorial Day weekend! Mine was jam packed with activities including a wedding! I know I've been the most inconsistent blogger on the planet over the last few weeks but, outside of wedding planning, work, and health certifications... there have been a few additional things going on that I cannot speak to quite yet on this blog.

Anyway, my goal right now is to post at least once a week. I think that's a more manageable goal at this point. So today, I was scrolling through my iPhone photos and thought it would be fun to share some snapshots from the last few weeks. There has been a lot of fun and/or healthy things that I've captured so let's get to it, shall we?!

A beautiful day for a Sox game a couple of weekends ago!

Food shopping for my Bridesmaid brunch... a nice mix of healthy and not-so-healthy choices.

From the left... Janet, Kim, Kathryn, Suzanne, Becca, Rae, me, Stacy, Jenn, & Kerri! :)

Don't diss a fish stick taco with homemade sriracha mayo before you try it. So freaking good for some reason. (Note: Always use Ian's fish sticks)

Bridesmaid dress shopping and the nice ladies let Juliet try on a bunch of flower girl dresses. She's just sooooo cute!

I remember these little worry dolls from childhood. I seriously considered buying one for myself and about 10 other people. I might need to go back to Francescas to get them!

The most gorgeous sunset over the City taken from Castle Island.

My favorite date.

First lobster roll of the season and it was a GOOD one!

The only pic of us from the Wedding over the weekend. haha

What do your iPhone photos consist of from the last few weeks?! xo

May 18, 2016

Review: Juice Press Grand Opening

May 18, 2016/ sherri d'alessandro

Hi friends! For those of you following along with my snapchat (username: funfitflavor), you may have noticed I attended a fun little VIP event last week in celebration of the Grand Opening of Juice Press at The Street in Chestnut Hill.

I must say, I instantly fell in love with this place. They use only the highest quality USDA organic ingredients and never use preservatives, refined sugars, or salts. What's more though is that this isn't just a juice bar. I was pleasantly surprised to see salads, soups, chia and granola puddings, chocolate covered mangos (aka one of my favorite foods), strawberries and other fruits. They have these delicious chocolate truffle-like treats that taste sinfully good. It's almost hard to believe that all of the items are filled with health benefits and are without refined sugars... but it's true!

The event kicked off with a plethora of sampling and mingling with a bunch of fellow Boston Bloggers that you can see in this pic (Hi Eliza, Sarah, & Nicole!). Then, the owners spoke about the brand and how they've grown it from a small shop in NY to 35 locations currently with the goal of getting to 50 total.
The man in the white jacket above is the mentor of one of the owners. He's been eating raw foods for over 60 years. WHAAT? Talk about amazing.

There were at least 5 or 6 of these tables with their juice samples.

This... THIS chia pudding is the best chia pudding I have ever tasted. I could have had 3 of these.

I have a slight obsession with dried mangos so when I saw this little dried fruit station, you know I filled up on my favs. Then, one of the owners came over to me and gave me a chocolate covered mango which I would be happy to have in my life on a daily basis!

I didn't try these arugula salads with quinoa but, Janet did and she said it was good! (Guess I was too busy eating the sweet stuff - whoops!)

Chocolate covered dried pineapple? Yes, and I'll take 10.

Janet and I closed out the night at the DIY acai bowl station. (You guys KNOW I love my acai bowls). They started us with the frozen acai and had a zillion or so toppings to choose from.

I don't know why Janet and I look so serious in this picture. Acai-bowl-making is super fun!

And my final favorite perk of the event? The fact that they setup an instagram station at the end of the DIY acai bowl bar. Marble, colored paper, gold straws, white tulips, marble platform, and perfect lighting... a blogger's dream!

If you are near the Chestnut Hill area, I would definitely recommend checking out this place. There are so many flavorful and healthy options to choose from and you can feel good about what this company stands for...

"At Juice Press, we are committed to providing a premium plant-based product that tastes great and is free of all processed ingredients."

For more photos of the space and offerings, view THIS ALBUM.

Have a great Thursday! xo

May 12, 2016

Weekly Bites #18

May 12, 2016/ sherri d'alessandro

Hello, my friends! I have some fun and exciting news to share before I get to Weekly Bites today! Ready? I finished my Nutrition Certification which means I'm officially "Nutritious Life" certified (which means), I can officially start Health Coaching if I'd like (yay!). I will be dedicating an entire blog post to this certification, but, in a nutshell it basically means that I have enough nutrition knowledge to Health Coach. This does NOT make me a Registered Dietitian or Nutritionist and I'm not about to start calling myself one because frankly, it's not true and would be completely unfair to my friends that went to school for 4-8 years to become Nutritionists and RDs. It does, however, better qualify me to provide some factual nutrition advice to those that are interested. It also gives me a more well-rounded approach to my current fitness certifications. The more knowledge, the better. Right? Right!

It's been a few weeks since I've shared a Weekly Bites post but today, we are back in action. Let's get to it, shall we?

Weekday lunch: My love for b.good salads knows no bounds. This Kale/Brussels/Acorn squash mash-up is divine.

Dinner: My "Gamechanger Salmon" with roasted sweets and asparagus.

Saturday lunch: Quickie salad with lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, feta, balsamic and evoo. Simple, but so good.

Breakfast: Homemade acai bowl.

Lunch: Simple salad with roasted chicken.

Dinner: Quinoa with grilled buffalo chicken and avocado.

Weekday lunch: Citrus and avocado salad from b.good.

Friday night dinner: Steak tips with asparagus and baked sweet corn.

Weekday lunch: Ahi Crunchy salad from Yard House.

Breakfast: Ezekial bread with pb on one half, ab on the other and topped with half a banana and cinnamon.

Celebration: Egg salad sandwiches that I made for Mother's Day.

Dinner: DIY Acai bowl from Juice Press at The Street in Chestnut Hill.

Breakfast: Protein pancakes topped with fresh strawberries and coconut butter.

That about wraps it up. Obviously, I have been eating out at lunch more often than usual. Part of that is because my Sundays and Mondays have been too jam packed to food prep. The other reason is that I've actually had a lot of working lunches. The thing is, I haven't felt uncomfortable or unhealthy because I aim to get the healthiest thing on the menu during these lunch meetings. My rule is to always eat as healthy as possible during the week. The weekends are where I PREFER to indulge.

Have an awesome Friday! xo