if i were a billionaire...

if i had all the money in the world and was building my dream house there are lots of things i'd like to do. for example, having grown up with three brothers i would like a bathroom that has a separate sound-proof toilet area with a giant air vent at the top (like the hoods in the lab that suck out all the chemicals) and a walk-in shower with two heads and lots of pressure. and, my study would be decorated with dark wood and have floor-to-ceiling bookcases a la beauty and the beast.

here is what i would have in my dream gym to go with my treadmill:

endless pool. counter-current pool that you can adjust the speed

precor 100i. it is touted as "adaptive motion" which pretty much means you can use it as an elliptical or a stairmaster

expresso bike. it is an interactive bike that i am completely in love with. on the screen you can set your scenery, race other riders (or yourself if you've done the route before); the handlebars move side-to-side for more real-life experience/steering; you can shift gears up and down to change your power/resistance; sync your heart rate monitor


on a more practical note... here are two things that i would love to have in my kitchen:

fully automatic espresso machine

kitchenaid mixer

life right now

days like friday make me really like living in boston. although i technically live outside of town, i can totally see myself as a city dweller (minus the fact that i'm not sure i could ever give up my car, i hate winter, and i may have an issue with having to take public transportation to go to the grocery store). i love the hussle and bussle and crowds and the ability to walk everywhere... anyway, the weather was an absolutely gorgeous sunny and seventy with a slight breeze so trupti and i walked to mike's pastry on our lunch break and i had a wonderful espresso cannoli. then on the way back to the office we stopped by the farmer's market and i picked up an eggplant. after work we went over to marilyn's rooftop and hung out. seriously, nothing beats the boston skyline at night. very relaxing. then we went down to the st. anthony's festival going on in the north end and had regina pizzeria for dinner before watching trupti compete in an iron chef competition.

speaking of food, the other day i came across a pasta salad recipe and was immediately drawn back to when my mom used to mix up a huge bowl and leave it on the counter as an every-man-for-himself sort of meal. ever since then i've been dying to make some. i invited some friends over for lunch today and decided it would be the perfect time to try my new recipe. i was a little nervous since i pretty much just put whatever i wanted in there and i made it the night before which i've never done. anyway, i was happy with the way it turned out, so i thought i'd share...

here is my recipe, as much as i can remember (a mix of mom's and smittenkitchen): whole wheat pasta, zucchini (it calls for sliced, but i grated mine), toasted slivered almonds, red onion, black olives, grated pecorino romano cheese, dressing of juice from a lemon mixed with olive oil and pepper.

p.s. this wasn't the only thing on the menu. i also made spicy oven fried chicken and chocolate cake

life is good

the way things are

This story kind of epitomizes the how things work at my job.

To get down into the basement where I work you have to badge in through two sets of double doors. Since there is no way to see through these doors, frequently people get hit by the door when they’re trying to badge in while someone else is coming out. I’ve been hit in the face on numerous occasions and had my coffee knocked out of my hands before. Management acknowledged this was a problem and that someone was going to get hurt. Instead of actually spending a little bit of money and replacing the doors (or cutting a small window for viewing), as a solution, they printed off a piece of paper that says “Please open door slowly, someone may be on the other side” and taped it to the door. Awesome. I love when we acknowledge problems or issues but instead of fixing it the proper way we take the low cost solution and put a band- aid on it.

Spicy Oven Fried Chicken

Megan passed this weight watcher recipe on to me and it is not only easy (and fairly quick if you don't count the 25 minute baking time) it is delicious!

there aren't really any measurements because it all depends on how many servings you're going to make

Spicy Oven Fried Chicken
Preheat oven to 400
Spray broiler pan with Pam

• Sprinkle both sides of chicken with salt, pepper, and Mrs. Dash (we use hot and spicy)
• Mix 1 tbsp Mrs. Dash Spicy Seasoning with bread crumbs or corn meal (I used Italian Style Bread Crumbs)
• Coat chicken in bread crumb mixture
• Dip in Buttermilk (we use the powder kind you keep in the freezer)
• Coat in crushed corn flakes
• Put on baking pan and lightly spray with Pam

Bake for 25 minutes