GIRLS WHO EAT 1.8

Karyn's Cooked 

why do i say never to things and end up doing them? 

i mean don't get me wrong. i'm a super open-minded person…especially when it comes to food but there are just some things i truly believe i won't like. 

vegan food is one of those things. (or so i thought)

i've been told there is an age that we all hit were we say no to something and no one fights you on it? is it 30? please be 30. 

now i'm sure from past 'girls who eat' posts; you have gathered…i'm so not vegan. well i'm still not but i'm definitely very very open to having vegan food every now and then after visiting this awesome place…karyn's cooked. my friend lauren came to workout with me one saturday morning at indigo studio. karyn's is literally one block away from the studio; so lauren suggested it. i immediately rolled my eyes (as i do) and of course made some sort of disapproving grunt noise. she quickly told me to suck it up and remember my 2013 resolution of "think outside the box!" (why do i tell my friends these things? it always comes back to bite me in the butt) she quickly pulled me by the arm and dragged me the one block to karyn's. 

we walk in and i'm quickly put in my place; when i see a kid no older than four years old…chowing down on what i can only assume is tofu. at that moment i realized i was being such a baby. i had just thrown an adult temper tantrum over food. lordy!! 

we are shown our seats and handed a one page brunch menu. i start to browse and start spotting out words like "soy textured vegetable protein" and "tofu". i quickly closed my eyes, took a deep breathe and pulled my big girl panties on and under the guidance of my sweet sweet friend; selected the "rainbow mexicana." sounds safe enough right? 

what's in this you ask? why i'll tell you..."taco meat"(cue the textured protein), tofu scramble, onion, red pepper, yellow pepper and jalapeno with a side of tortillas, soy cheese and chipotle sauce. now that i look back…this did not sound good at all. 

minutes later….

the waiter comes back to the table holding two plates of "food" that look oddly similar; even though lauren and i ordered different things. (i quickly learned that all scrambled tofu dishes look the same) i stare at my plate for about a minute and mentally start to organize my plan for tackling this meal. i first seek out the recognizable foods. 

peppers. check.

jalapenos. check.

onions. check. 

(worst come to worse i'll eat these three and order a pizza when i get home. no wait. sushi.) 

mmm….sushi. 

i digress. 

lauren taps her fork on the table to bring me back to attention. clears her throat and says; "get at it!" while pointing to my food. 

i decide to balls it up and start assembling my "taco." i close my eyes and take a bite. 

AND….

of course it was amazing. 

how can this be? there's no meat, cheese or eggs in this dish. well ladies and gents…i was proven wrong. vegans clearly know what they are talking about. it actually tasted like a taco. a really really amazing one. who knew! (clearly millions of people) needless to say i cleared my plate. the only things left on it were a lot of peppers. ha!

sooooo good. 

dear karyn…

i don't know you but…

you are one smart lady. brava!!! 

there is now one less vegan disbeliever out there. 

(i eat my words…never say never)

until next time...

LIFE IS IN SESSION: PART II

and now for more photo dumping…

my best friend chantelle aka: tooty was in town earlier this summer for about 48 hours; so of course we had to jam pack those little hours…and pack we did. 

naturally i completely spaced on taking any pictures and only ended up with a few from this awesome cooking class we took at bespoke cuisine 

have you ever been to a cooking class? well if you haven't i highly recommend this one! oh and did i mention is BYOB. yep. so you know what that meant for me the tooty… lots of bottles of wine. (but don't worry. we shared. a little)

we went from just a nice civilized group of friends to full blown chaos, dancing and smart car amazement (i just can't get over how little these cars are. what happens when a strong wind blows or you pass a semi on the highway? hmm.) 

oh yea. my friends and i are those people.  

now onward…

so i'm not sure if any of you remember but earlier this year i made a pact with my friend becky about being more social. well part of that pact was agreeing to friday evenings spent at millennium park. when i first agreed to this i was thinking in the back of my head…oh this won't last long. no one can meet every friday and just sit and listen to music. FAIL. I WAS WRONG. we have hit up millennium park more times than i can count and i'm not complaining at all. i had no idea that you could go and make a picnic and just sit for hours. there's something i can't quite describe about this amazing park smack dab in the middle of the city. its become one of my favorite places in this city. if you get a chance to come hear a concert or two you totally should. you won't regret it! 

can you see the "Go Hawks!"
(Yep…that's how old this pictures is…sorry)

i'm pretty sure you are rolling your eyes by now so i'll stop.

for now…. 

i actually have so many more pictures but i guess i'll spare you. unless i decide to do a throwback thursday series on here. hmm. there's a thought. 

when does summer officially end? i never thought i would say this but…i'm exhausted. 

stay tuned my fellow tangled bunnies…there will be more social butterflyness (not a word. i know) to come! 

oh and can i just throw out one more thing…

HAPPY BIRTHDAY... OH DAD OF MINE!!! 

yep. i threw it back to 2007. that's what happens when... every other photo we have our eyes closed. 

xoxo till next time

LIFE IS IN SESSION: PART I

hello hello hello...

can we please just talk about how fast time goes. 

as you can see I have been totally slacking and haven't blogged in a bit but i promise it's only due to my life being in full blown session. 

last year this time i was still feeling very new to the city and didn't take advantage of all the amazing things this city has to offer. this year i made a promise to myself and my friends that i would jump in with both feet and do any and everything possible. and as you can see...

I'M KEEPING TO MY WORD!

so buckle up…this is gonna be a doozy of a post!!

(excuse me while i photo dump all over the place)

this summer i got the chance to hit up the festival circuit…totally recommend hitting up mayfest: great bands and food. oh and if you can…check out 16 candles band. AMAZING

nothing feels better than the first day you can wear sandals. am i right or am i right?

who knew… rooftops were all the rage around here! 

yep…i took a photo of beer bottles. (i don't even drink beer…but aren't they pretty?)

oh and clearly…I LOVE MY FRIENDS!!! 

PART II…..COMING SOON!

happy hump day! 

NEVER SAY NEVER…I DID AND LOOK WHAT HAPPENED

its happened. 

and i said it NEVER would.





I HAVE BECOME OBSESSED WITH WORKING OUT

say what? 

uh huh…i said it. 




hell has frozen over.



i. tanyel robinson. have become a workoutaholic. 
(for those of you who know me…insert eye roll and loud hysterical belly laughing now.)

i can't exactly pin point the exact moment this insane brain breakdown happened. but i'm pretty sure it was somewhere close to the moment i split my pants bending over during xmas break while digging for extra marshmallows in my mom's pantry. (yep…the marshmallows that already come in the hot chocolate mix i like weren't enough…i needed more. go figure)

this of course lead to me saying what everyone says that time of the year…"i will start 2013 off right…i'm gonna start working out!" 
(after these two cups of hot chocolate that is…the mugs were filled. no one likes a food waster)
now i have always been the girl who has embraced the jiggle. you know…the little extra fluff you tell yourself is "curves" and "bootylicious." well i don't think splitting my freaking pants is what destiny's child was talking about. hello new years resolution.

so 2013 began. i woke up on jan. 1, dusted off the old tae bo dvds and let billy blanks kick my butt up and down my apartment. 
now this is where my mind starts to blow…
to my surprise...i woke up the next morning and did it again. 
and then the next morning….again….WHO. AM.  I?

fast forward 4 months and here we are….up to 5 days a week of working out. 
22 lbs down & 27 inches lost overall and counting...
(oh what's that? oh yes…that loud noise you hear is me cheering myself on!)


now you are probably wondering why i'm telling you this? 
is she bragging? 
is she trying to promote something? 

nope…this is me holding myself accountable. telling myself…"self! you told the world about this little journey you are taking…so now you gotta keep it up!" and that's just what i'm gonna do. 
(oh and by world... i mean…hi mom!)

now i know there are a lot of people who document their weight loss and fitness routines with pictures. well my fellow loveys…i'm not that person. i'm going to do you all a favor and not subject you to pictures of me in a sports bra and biker shorts that clearly make it look like there are two pigs in a blanket fighting. 

you are welcome. 


but what i will do is share with you a few things i've learned along the way…
just in case there is anyone out there that is reading this and recently had a "pants splitting" moment and needs that extra cheerleader in their corner. (i think i'm an awesome cheerleader! fyi.)

(disclaimer: i'm no health/fitness professional…so what i'm about to say…works for me. i have no freaking clue if or how it will work for you! but hey…motivation is motivation right?)


here goes…

my walk to the zumba…not to shabby

1. don't get bored

if you are like me and get bored just thinking about doing the same workout …then don't. change it up. i literally do something different everyday of the week. 

(clearly i take this literally…that first picture is only some of my dvds)

2. take one day at a time. 

i actually don't even think about my next day work out until it's about to happen. i feel like when I've set certain weight loss goals for myself in the past…i hit that goal and start to slack off because i think i'm done. i have come to the realization that this is a lifestyle change…not just a short term goal. 

I WILL NEVER BE DONE

3. reward yourself. 

for every workout i do... i reward myself with something. right now i'm doing tiny rewards…example: i can't watch any of my tivo'd shows unless i have worked out that day. or another example would be…i'm a huge reader…i won't let myself even look at the current book i'm reading until my work out is done. don't be afraid to plan large rewards as well. i have set a 6 month reward of new workout clothes. this may sound a little crazy but hello… have you see the cuteness that is activewear these days. 

oh let me show you

here , here oh and here

oh and did i mention there are shoes involved?

(i never thought i would get so excited about a sneaker…but who am i kidding. a shoe is still a shoe)

4. don't feel pressure to join a gym. 

i feel like when people start working out…they feel the need to join a gym. i'm not sure why we are programed to think this way but it's cray cray. a gym can be intimidating or nerve racking…for me anyway. what i did was just start out at home in my living room. i could dress the way i wanted, look the way i wanted and just focus on the workout and not who was around me or looking at me. let's all be honest with ourselves…we have all been there…you are on the treadmill or stair master at your local  gym and you spot mr. hot or miss hot looking at you…what happens…you become self conscious. you may begin to not breathe as heavily or grunt (i'm a grunter…this is about me after all).  

 Last but not least

5. find one work out that doesn't feel like a workout. 

wait..does that make sense? what i mean is... find something that feels more like you are having fun then working out. hmm…that still reads weird to me. anywho.…my example is zumba. a friend of mine found a promo online one day for zumba at a studio near my apartment. (not a gym! more of a zen place people gather and sweat. haha) a lot of people i know have taken zumba classes and i was hearing all sorts of buzz and rave reviews. so i figured what the heck…let's do this. i had never been to a group workout class before a day in my life. (wait...does going to step aerobic class with my mom in the 90's count? she stepped…i did homework. ah the life of a single mom. :) those were the days.) 

so i had no idea what to expect and just went on in with an open mind. 

AND MAN WAS IT THE BEST DECISION I EVER MADE. I AM NOW ADDICTED. 

(if you are in chicago and wanna check out the best studio and zumba instructor…check out Indigo)

and for those of you who aren't in chicago or you wanna zumba in the comfort of your own home; check out sue's youtube page. amazing videos to help you lose the jiggle. and who doesn't like a little booty shakin' music while you sweat. 

indigo….cute right? so not intimidating.

view from indigo…this just makes me happy!

so there you have it.

whew….that was a little wordy. 

if you made it down here you didn't fall asleep while reading…

hooray & thanks ;)

here's to staying motivated

now let's go show the jiggle who's boss. 

Throwback Thursday

no this is not a mistake. 

i know what day and month it is. 

this is the result of slacker blogging and using throwback thursday as an excuse to post some of my fav st. patty's day pix. (for those of you who don't know…the urban dictionary defines throwback thursday as 

"when you put a picture from a "while" ago on social media sites"

gosh i love the urban dictionary. it must always be true…right?

adult green eggs and ham

My version of a hipster…why are they so sad 

yep…we look like leprechaun vampires in this take 

this past st. patty's day was my first official as a chicago resident. woo hoo.
my friend becky is somewhat of a martha stewart in her own right and finds any excuse to have a party any chance she gets and i would say this was a reason to party. we all gathered at case de manifesto and partied our little hearts out. naturally i wanted to be the ultimate tourist and see the river being dyed. i have to say…it may be one of the coolest things i have ever seen. chicago is for sure one city that takes its st. patty's day serious. (i mean come on….how much do you think that dying set the city back?)
we then proceeded to act like we were 21 again and decided to do a little west loop bar crawl…no words…I AM NOT 21 ANYMORE!!! eck

oh and for those of you who don't drink "green" beer (me! me! me!)…

i have the perfect recipe for you…

Irish Lady
1oz Midori Melon Liqueur
3oz Champagne
1oz Orange Juice
i could lie and say we measured things exactly but…ain't nobody got time for that. ;)


well happy throwback thursday #tbt everyone…

(i make a pretty cute leprechaun if i don't say so myself.)

Girls Who Eat 1.7

694 Wine & Spirits 

www.694wineandspirits.com

do you love bacon? 

i do. 

for those of you who don't…don't you worry…i'm eating enough for all of us. 

(don't worry. i'm eating turkey bacon as well. gotta have some balance right)

a few weeks ago…on a random tuesday night i met a couple of my gal pals at 694 wine bar. 

i thought it was going to be just another simple tuesday night relaxing with my friends and having a few glasses of wine.  

NOPE. 

this happened to be BACON TUESDAY! 

say what? yep. i said it. 

who knew…there are places that actually dedicate an entire day to bacon. it's about freaking time is all i have to say. i mean my friend nikki and i have been celebrating bacon since college. 

now to what we ate… since it was bacon tuesday we naturally had bacon. duh.

we ordered the Kick-Ass Blt. (yes mom…that is the name. i'm not swearing just to be swearing)

it was hands down the best blt i have ever had in my entire life. i couldn't tell you why but when you get to thinking about it…does it really matter? it's bacon. 

we also had the Butter & Salt: bread with three amazing butters & sea salts from different regions.

lastly, after a couple more glasses of wine (which by the way their wine list is amazing!) we decided to end the night with a side of bacon. now this isn't just any side. nope.  this is a side of bacon with honey and black truffle salt. OMG. I JUST DIED THINKING ABOUT IT AGAIN. 

so there you have it. another adventure for the girl who eats. 

oh and one more thing. 

they have the best menu cover ever. 

pretty darn funny. to me at least. 

happy monday loves

Girls Who Eat 1.6

i've been persuaded. i like deep dish. 

welcome to 

Pequod's

so i'm not sure if any of you remember a few Girls Who Eat posts back…i mentioned that i wasn't a fan of "Chicago Style" pizza. aka: deep dish. ugh…all that bread. who needs it?

well i stand corrected. 

last weekend (you know the one that i needed recovery from) my friends and i were deciding where to have dinner on saturday night. the majority vote was pizza. shock!  

i of course was a little bummed because i was already preparing myself for the collective gasps that would happen the moment i started to fork off all my toppings and leave the bread. 

the blessed chicago deep dish bread. 

FORBIDDEN APPARENTLY. 

and it went like this...

get in cab and my friend had the genius idea to order ahead since deep dish takes so long 

(if you don't want a crazy wait..i suggest you do this)

the place was packed but we were seated instantly 

considering that the Ravens, Broncos, Packers and 49ers were all playing that night. i was shocked

ordered a caesar salad and i'm pretty sure the dressing was made in house. HELLO. YUM

pizza arrived. pepperoni & onions on one and pretty much everything but the kitchen sink on the other

instead of being my insane stubborn self… i decided to give deep dish one more shot

cue foodgasm music.

the sauce…

the cheesy buttery crust…

the toppings...

insane. 

(i'm having a flashback. give me a minute) 

and i'm back

there really isn't much more to say. it really is one of those things you just have to try. 

Pequod's… you officially have a fan

one question. how do you keep the bottom crust so crisp? hmm another wonder of the world

and to you guys…

you know what i'm going to say

GO NOW!!!!

(or at your earliest convenience) 

Moda Friday

the backstory

 sorry simal. these are the only throwback pictures i had. 
clearly this second picture doesn't reflect the story i'm about to tell.
i'm not sure why but we seem to be in a cemetery. don't ask. 

the first time i met simal was my sophomore year at good old indiana state university. 

(yep. we were sycamores. go trees.) 

we weren't instant friends; mostly due to the fact that we had a teacher that was pretty intense and didn't exactly allow chit chat and expected us to keep our eyes on our own sewing machine. 

so yea. there wasn't a lot of "hey, let's socialize and be friends" time. 

simal was "that" girl. and by that i mean..she was the girl who walked into a room and every single person would turn around to see what she was wearing. we are talking designer clothing here people. IN COLLEGE.   

no joke. the boys and girls were staring. i mean come on. we went to school for fashion…for "some" of us…getting ready for class was like getting ready for our own personal Mercedes Fashion Week. We didn't just roll out of bed and go to class in a sweatshirt and jeans. nope. we went in full makeup, full accessories and even heels from time to time. (less heels for me. considering i fall a lot and isu seems to have an obsession with cobblestone sidewalks. that combined with heels and no sense of balance = me face planting a few times.) so naturally we were all jealous. and just like typical girls…we all figured a "designer" attitude came with those designer clothes. 

boy was i wrong. 

so after 6 months of having practically every class together; simal and i were paired together for a class project. and the rest is pretty much history. we ended up bonding over our hatred for ten-gore dresses, 8am sewing classes and me being fascinated over the fact she had never had sushi before. turns out simal may be one of the most laid back, non superficial people i have ever met. u know the kind of person who looks shy and meek but when they open their mouth they kind of remind you of a randy trucker? yep. that's simal. 

so naturally…when i moved to chicago; simal was one of the few lucky friends that got to put up with my non-stop "where should i go and how do i get there" text.

a few months ago we were out for dinner and got to talking about style, fashion and all that…and she told me she had a fashion blog. of course i was super intrigued and looked it up immediately. after a few weeks went by i noticed my blog was coming up on 3000 views and i wanted do a little something special to represent this. i decided to ask simal if she would like to do a guest fashion post. after saying yes…she thought of an even better idea and suggested we start doing a weekly fashion post series. 

of course i said yes.

and here it is……

WELCOME TO MODA FRIDAY. 

from here on out. every friday…

simal & i will be here…sharing our love for fashion and all things style

i hope you enjoy!

TAKE IT AWAY SIMAL! 

Hey everyone!!! My name is Simal (Shamall) and T has asked me to add a little fashion touch to her fabulous blog. I know some of you are thinking... why should we trust what you say is trending? Well, good question! I've worked in the retail industry ever since I was 18 and now...I own my own clothing store called Kiz. Kiz has been open for 2 years and we are still going strong! We've been featured on a few shows; Chicagolicious and Mob Wives. Kind of cool huh? Have I gained your trust yet? Well, hopefully after reading a few of my post I'll turn you into a believer. 

A lot of the clothes I wear are obviously from Kiz. When a customer comes in I can't have them loving my outfit and then sending them out the door to another store. I believe in the clothes I sell and obviously LOVE them, and want to wear them since I picked them out. No.... my post are not going to be shameless plugs for my store, I do shop outside of Kiz. Some may call me a shopaholic. The minute I wake up... I grab my phone and check all my e-mails. Not business e-mails, shopping e-mails. Who is having a sale? Who is ideeli.com and gilt.com featuring today? I'm OBSESSED! My weaknesses are, shoes and pants. I don't have a favorite shoe designer but for pants...Rachel Zoe all the way! Rag&Bone and Jbrand would come in tied for second. As you get to know me you'll understand who I am and what my style is all about. I don't have a specific style, I don't stick with a specific brand other than Kiz :) 

My motto is: wear expensive pants with inexpensive tops. Tops styles change way too much! I can't spend $200 on a top that I'll only wear once! I'm not a baller yet, and even if I was... I don't know if I would do it then.

So there you have it... Tangled in the City's Moda Friday is officially a go. 

btw...

if you would like to know more about Simal or Kiz Chicago

you can catch up with her on instragram or like Kiz on facebook

go now.