Hi all,

So glad you enjoyed the pasta recipe!

I don’t have much time to post today, but I did want to wish you a very happy Earth Day! I’ll have more to say about this special occasion in tomorrow’s post, but I hope everyone is doing something special to commemorate it.

If my last post was all about reflecting on the importance of friendship in maintaining health (and sanity), today was all about experiencing it. I like to think that Melissa and I make each other healthier in many ways. We make each other laugh, we help each other to unwind, we challenge each other through conversation, and, most importantly, we inspire each other to be our personal best: she helped me to quit smoking last year, and now I’m helping her cut back on diet coke; she inspires me to push my workout routine to the next level; I inspire her to eat more raw. Finally, we help each other stay sane amidst hectic times in our lives. Melissa’s in the middle of finals right now, but she took a break to meet me for lunch today, and I, in turn, was happy to get out of the office, if briefly, to see her.

We met at One Lucky Duck, which was uncharacteristically crowded today. I had one of my favorite salads there: mixed greens with pea shoots, tomato, avocado, and a big side of guacamole (you can see a bit of it on my plate; the rest was to the side):

I was too rushed to get photos of us together, but you can expect that after our next get-together. It was so fun to see Melissa, and I’m sending her lots of good luck wishes for the end of her semester—not to mention my pride and support as she cuts down on Diet Coke!!

After lunch, I stopped by the new kid on the raw block: Adelina. This sweet, reasonably priced vegan and raw café features an accessible menu, a friendly staff, and, best of all, really good raw chocolate. I stopped in to get some of the maca chocolate (raw chocolate mixed with maca powder, a superfood that is known to increase energy and stamina) and took some shots of the staff while I was there. If you’re in the Flatiron neighborhood, I highly recommend stopping in to check it out.

Raw chocolate:

And now it’s back to a busy day. Hope you’re all having a good one. I’ll be back tomorrow with a special post for Earth Day and a recap of an event I’m attending tonight, so stay tuned.

xo