Canal in Our Backyard

I entered the canal walk in Greece Canal Park and walked with "Fancy" for about a half hour. As you know, we're trying to move from our lazy lifestyle to a more active one, and the best way for me to do that is to check out our local nature spots. 

The views from the canal path are a billion times better than the views from the cardio equipment at the gym and this makes the okapi family less hostile. It's hard to hate exercise when it's fun.

If any of you are thinking of trying out my workout/weight loss plan, just walking along the canal will get you started on your weekly exercise requirement. Oh, and once I complete the program myself I will be putting a separate page on the website with my results, links to exercises, and even a workout tracker template!

So, in closing: get out there, get active, and get why I love living in Rochester so much!

Tiffany Stories Part 7

Tiffany: I have a date with Kyle tonight.

Me: who is Kyle?

T: I went to high school with him and he's had a thing for me ever since. We were in marching band together!!

Me: Oh

T: We dated for a week in high school, you know? We went on a haunted hayride together. He was tin man and I was Dorothy.

Me: Why did you break up?

T: He was a senior and I was a junior. It just didn't work. I went to his graduation, though. He even went to mine and I didn't even know that he would be there! I came out of my house crying and there he was! He came up, put his arms around me and said "its okay, baby. I've got you." It was sooooo romantic.

Me: Why were you crying?

T: High school was over! I wasn't ever going to see my friends again!

Me: I don't get it.

T: ANYWAY, we are going to see "28 dresses" tonight. (Note: did I get that title right? I have no idea and have never heard of this 'dress' movie.) Then we are going back to his place where he will make me veal parm. with goat cheese and champagne. I've never had goat cheese.

(WTF? champagne with veal parm.? That is ridiculous. Clearly Tiffany knows nothing about culinary accompaniment.)

Me: Wow.

Tune in next time to see how the date went!

Okapi Workout Program Phase 1 (update week 1)

*Disclaimer: You should contact your physician before starting any new diet/exercise program*

So, I did my week 1 weigh in this morning and I'm down 5 pounds. That is a great week 1 loss, but that's not what I'm most excited about; I'm excited that I'm still really motivated by the plan. I like the fact that I'm upping the amount of body weight exercises that I'm able to do (two push-ups in a row day 1 was rough, five in a row day 3 was easier), I have more energy, and my muscles are sore in a good way. The soreness is one of the best parts because it makes me feel like I'm actually getting somewhere and encourages me to keep going.

The reason that I lost so much weight week 1 had a lot to do with my lifestyle prior to the workout plan: I did nothing physical and paid no attention to what I was eating. Also, more muscle means more calories burned doing nothing, so there is that.I have been on weight loss programs before where I lost this much weight if not more in the first week, but none that I was excited about after the first week, so I'm making progress.

I love working out at home because I can wear whatever I want, make as much noise as I want, hang out with the dogs on my minute long rest breaks, and break up the work-out if need be. This is great because it makes all of my excuses disappear. I'm also happy to announce that "Fancy" will be joining the program this week :)

It is awesome that I can do this with minimal equipment (laptop, timer (I use Mr. Droid), small dumbbell, exercise ball, long stick, and chin-up bar). I had all of this stuff prior to starting the program, so I spent no money. Even without the exercise ball, chin-up bar, and dumbbell I would still be able to do 75% of this workout plan, so it can be free for pretty much anyone. Oh, and I can move all of it out of the living room once my workout is complete.

Next week starts Phase 2 of my plan, so stay tuned!

The Death of a Wegmans

As many people living in Rochester know, the Britton Road Wegmans (corner of Dewey and Britton) is closing its doors at the end of this month. This store was opened in the early 1980s and before that Wegmans had a location in the next plaza over (Northgate) from the 1950s. Now Walmart is moving into the Northgate Plaza and Wegmans is leaving Dewey Avenue.

What was a bustling store just two  months ago has been clearanced and picked over. It is only a shell of its former self. 

This was one of the last remaining Wegmans locations which had the old school footprint: cheese station at the entrance, beer and soda in the back right hand corner, and frozen meats at back center store.

For many western New Yorkers Wegmans is a symbol of local drive, spirit, and success. Walmart is a sign of lowering property values.

Wegmans is constantly rated on of the Fortune's top 5 companies to work for. Walmart doesn't even make the list. They also hardly ever promote women and forbid unionization.

When people visit Rochester, they specifically seek out state of the art Wegmans stores to experience why people from this area don't hate grocery shopping. Walmart makes people hate grocery shopping. Seriously. Don't grocery shop there, you will be angry.

So, although Wegmans didn't mention the arrival of Walmart as the reason they are closing the Britton Road Wegmans, this okapi feels differently. I know that many shoppers from this store will travel down to the beautiful, amazing, spacious Mt. Read location, but the historic Britton Road location shouldn't have had to die a premature death from the Walmart plague.

Roncone's...a Place Worth Traveling to Lyell Avenue For

(I apologize in advance for the not so stellar pics)

Let me start off by saying that I have never had a negative experience at Roncone's. My father (being a foodie) introduced me to this mom and pop Italian joint several years ago and we have visited several times since. One day I was browsing restaurant.com during an awesome 80% off sale (which you can get in on by joining their e-mail list) and I saw gift certificates offered for Roncone's. I of course bought two $25 off of $35 certificates (for $2 each).

When I told my parents about the gift certificates my father informed me that Roncone's  changed management recently. This did not discourage me because okapis love deals, so $2 for $25 worth of food is something that will get me to try your restaurant every time.

Today the better half and I decided to finally try out the new Roncone's. The prices are fantastic, so we knew that in order to spend the required $35 to use our gift certificate we would be able to order an appetizer and dessert. This really made me happy because one of the only thing that okapis love more than deals is food. We arrived at 3:45, so the place was pretty dead as is to be expected. (Okapis eat like senior citizens if you must know.)

We started off with a fried calamari appetizer which was cooked perfectly and paired with a tasty red pasta sauce. It was crisp and tasty without being rubbery or too salty...something that very few people can do well. Next up was the salad.

This was served with a house Italian dressing and crumbled blue cheese on top. It also boasted salami, croutons, olives, banana pepper, chickpeas, and grape tomatoes. It was very tasty and came included with our meals.

I ordered the Chicken Parmesan and the better half (who has asked me to refer to her as "Fancy" from now on for some ridiculous reason) had the Chicken Marsala. Both were extremely delicious and came in large portions for under $11. My meal was very good  and the sauce was among the best in town. This may not seem like a big compliment, but from someone fed by old Italian recipes for my entire childhood and who knows where to find nearly identical ones here in Rochester, this is a high compliment indeed. "Fancy" reports that the Marsala was excellent. In fact, she even ordered Marsala sauce on her pasta as she's not a fan of red pasta sauce, so if it wasn't terrific her whole meal would have been ruined. We set very high bars in the okapi family.

We finished off the meal with tea and sharing the dessert of the week: cannoli cake (which came with a small cannoli on the side). I forgot to take a picture because it looked so damn good when we got it that we dug right in (oops). The cake was fluffy and the filling was creamy and rich. In a word: perfect!

The decor is classic Italian eatery and although somewhat small, it's cozy without being cramped. Also, the waitstaff was extremely friendly, attentive, and personable. The service was fast and my water glass was constantly refilled which is a big deal because this okapi can easily drink a pitcher of water during dinner. The only thing that would have improved our experience would have been some beers on tap because "Fancy" loves her some dinner beer.

Even though it isn't in the best neighborhood, it is totally worth seeking out. Just be careful about the hours because like many family run Italian eateries, they keep lunch hours during the week and dinner hours on Fri/Sat. They still offer the gift certificates, and even paying $10 for $25 worth of great Italian food is a hell of a deal!  This okapi gives Roncone's 5 stars, so you should go eat there this week.