First off, I just want to say, thank you new and long time readers of The Chic Life. You guys keep me going with this little blog. Thank you for your comments and support! 🙂
So, just when you think you’re going to have a day like any other, you find yourself taking 200 photos (yes, in that same one day)! Craziness!
First off, the avocado oatmeal from yesterday has been quite the buzz! Seems like a love it or hate it kind of thing. I think avocado as a sweet flavor is unusual to most, but if you like avocado, why not try it? (Btw, I will be making avocado ice cream once things warm up for any one who’s interested).
Lunch Prep
I made myself a bit late this morning by making egg salad. I should have made it last night, but…well, I didn’t. I was too busy spilling martinis all over myself! 😉 jk
Nevertheless, I whipped up the egg salad pretty quickly and slapped it on some good bread in a tupperware – ready to take to work.
Seedy AB+J Power Toast
Of course, I couldn’t leave for work without breakfast! Nice, hot coffee and…
Power toast!
Today I had a Seedy AB+J Power Toast.
A slice of honey whole wheat Great Harvest toast served as my base.
On top:
- Barney Butter
- Earthfare organic pomegranate jelly
- sunflower seeds
- hemp seeds
- sesame seeds
Nice and crunchy!
Have you tried my Power Toast yet? If yes, let me know how you like it! 🙂
Work Eats
Hot black tea with cream and sugar.
I was so excited to try my egg salad sandwich today!
It was AWESOME! I need to perfect the recipe, but I’ll be posting it soon.
Some honey sesame Kashi crackers on the side.
I had a rough morning so sweet hubby brought me a treat – a doughnut from our fave local bakery.
Tulsi tea – work your magic! Make me well! Still feeling a bit under the weather…mostly like I have a cold now at least, which is an improvement over last week.
Photography Class (AEB)
After work I went to photography class.
We did a photoshoot uptown. Here are some of my fave photos of the night:
Isn’t the reflection neat?
Taaaallllllllllll!
We practiced AEB – Auto Exposure Bracketing (what is AEB? When your camera takes the same photo 3 times with 3 different exposures). Look it up in your manual. It’s great to know about it and how to use it. 😉
Here are some examples…
All 3 taken on AV (aperture priority) and ISO 400 and AEB at +-1:
f3.5, 1/20 shutter
f3.5, 1/80 shutter
f3.5, 1/5 shutter
* * * * *
Here’s another example, still on AV, ISO 400 and AEB at +-1:
f3.5, 1/6 shutter
f3.5, 1/25 shutter
f3.5, 0.6 shutter
* * * * *
Aaand another example, still on AV, ISO 400 and AEB at +-1:
f3.5, 0.3 shutter
f3.5, 1/13 shutter
f3.5, 1.3 shutter
I love how the water looks like it’s glowing in the last photo.
NOTE: Basically I set the aperture at f3.5 and the AEB adjusted my shutter speed as needed.
Let me just add that the whole time we were taking photos, we were FREEZING! Boy was I glad I brought gloves, though they were not quite enough. I was wishing I had some thermal underwear for real!
Luckily, we were all freezing and our class took a pit stop at Starbucks before heading back to wrap up class. I got a tall soy hot chocolate sans whipped cream.
Once we got back, we hooked up our cameras to the TV in the class room to share our photos. I shared mine from tonight, some from our Valentine’s Dinner and some from Chinese New Years.
Then, it was time to head home.
Dinner
Since class ends kind of late, I made a quick dinner using stuff from our freezer, which thankfully only took about 25 minutes.
TJ’s breaded halibut, TJ’s sweet potato fries (baked), and steamed organic broccoli with a drizzle of real butter.
Of course after I took most of my food photos I remembered I had some fresh parsley to sprinkle over the fries. At least I remembered before eating them! 
Lent
Today is Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent. Shannon of The Daily Balance has nice explanation of lent, so I’ll just direct you there (click) if you want to learn more about Lent. Oh and for anyone who missed out on Eat in Month, Shannon is doing something similar for Lent, so maybe you can join in? If you’re willing to wait longer, I think I’m going to repeat it next January!
Anywho…I’ve been trying to figure out what to give up for Lent. I’ve given up lot of tough things before: chocolate, dessert, sweets, and even caffeine!
While giving up sweets again seems like a good idea, I thought I’d try a little something new.
So…
…any guesses what hubby and I are giving up for Lent?
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We’re giving up…
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MEAT!
That’s right…we’re giving up meat. I’ve never tried giving up meat for any period of time, so I’m curious as to how this is going to work out. I’m a little worried for my meat and potatoes hubby but he’s a tough cookie, so I know he can do it!
Here are our guidelines (with some slight exceptions):
- eggs are ok
- seafood is ok
- no chicken
- no pork
- no beef
- no ostrich
- basically, no meat-meat
Basically, we’re going pescatarian for a month-ish. I’m pretty pumped! 😀
If you celebrate it, what are you giving up for Lent?
Heart Yourself Campaign
I’m still accepting heart photos for the Heart Yourself Campaign. I’d love for you to send one in! 🙂 Email me at thechiclife at gmail dot com.
Click here to view some inspirational self-love heart photos.
Good luck on your meatless 40 days!
Thank you! 🙂
I actually thought about giving up meat too! HA! crazy! I should give up sweets…….or Zumba! ack!
I haven’t had egg salad in soooooo long…..mmmmm look forward to the recipe!
avocado…sometimes its yummy sometimes not so much. have you ever had avocado mashed with crushed ice and condensed milk? im sure you’ve had it at least once in your life. all filipinos do 🙂
probably tried it when i was a kid but it sounds like it’s worth re-creating. mmm….
That’s awesome! I think I’m going to jump on the meatless Lent with you. It was my New Year’s Resolution, but since Jan 1, I’ve had meat twice (I made Boeuf Bourgignon for my carnivorous boyfriend for V-Day, and in a hurry today had a turkey sandwich at Subway…)
I’ve found it fairly easy, and I also love eggs and seafood, so I’m starting out as a pescatarian, as well.
Good luck!! Can’t wait to see your meatless meals!
Do it! 🙂
thanks for the shout out!
I think going meatless is a GREAT idea! And I’m so glad you are going to be struggling with me in your Eat-in challenge!
You’re welcome!
I am giving up Diet Cokes for Lent. I have a slight addiction to them but really want to get away from all the chemically bad stuff that is in them. Hope I can make it! : )
Your photos look amazing! I’ve always wanted to take a photography class, and hope to do so when I can afford to buy a better camera!
I also love love love your dishes! That tea cup is just so pretty
thank you, thank you, thank you! 🙂
Holy YUM for all yours eats!
😉
And your photos looked amazing, it´s so cool that you´re having photography classes!
Have a great Thursday!
Brazilian XOXO´s,
Gabriela
Man, I wish I had the willpower to give up meat but I don’t think I can do it! Then again, your egg sandwich looked super tasty and inspires me to make more interesting lunches to take to work–and no meat involved 😉
I don’t know if I have given up anything- I guess added sugar at this point or anything from a package-but nope- those two have been tagged as well-
I’m still on the new years kick I think- have fun going meatless- so much fun finding new recipes- you’ll love it!
You are wonderful, you know that right? Love reading about your day! The photography is great!!
Funny but I too have given up meat for the most part! Looking forward to your meal inspiration!! 🙂
I think you’re pretty wonderful, too, Jennifer! 🙂
You can so do the pescatarian thing. I loved the pictures in this post. So cool. I can’t wait for the avocado ice cream recipe.
Can’t wait for your egg salad recipe. I love egg salad sandwiches and yours looks delish!
Your pics look wonderful!
Yum I love egg salad! Those pictures look awesome. It’s so neat how big of a difference the shutter speed makes. Pictures are gorgeous as always! 🙂
The egg salad sandwich looks good, I’ll have to try that sometime. I make the Tj’s sweet potato fries often and bake them, but yours looked a lot crispier, how’d you do that.
I flipped them half way through baking and cooked them to the longer time (if it was 22-24, then I baked them for 24 minutse) – I forgot the exact timing.
I had an egg salad sandwich today as well. I hadn’t had one in such a long time and it was so tasty!!
Your photos look gorgeous but the shutter and aperture info totally confuses me. 🙂
Best of luck with your meatless challenge!
what gorgeous photos! I might look around for a class up here– good idea! This Lent I am making time to reflect on what I am grateful for, and cutting way back on caffeine. I hope all’s well with you! 🙂
mmm I haven’t had egg salad in ages, my mom used to always make it for me and I loved it 🙂 Great photos! I’ve never tried AEB bracketing but need to. So does it just come up with one photo or 3? Going to have to read the manual for a third time lol I think I am going to give up alcohol 🙂 good luck with no meat!
I think it depends on your camera. On my Rebel, I have to take 3 photos. If use a self-timer, it takes 3 on its own. Otherwise, I have to the button 3 times. 🙂
wow- that egg salad looks AMAZING! I can’t wait for the recipe!! I was a vegetarian for 17 years (out of 23) and it’s really not bad- especially with so many great and delicious meat substitutes for protein!