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Рецепт Blue Apron and Uplift NYC
by Julie Bream

Blue Apron and Uplift NYC

December 15, 2013 by Julie 32 Comments

My trip to New York City absolutely flew by and I can’t help but wish I had a full week left to explore the city and soak up all of the holiday fun. We really did have the most amazing time and it was so wonderful to have a few days with some of my very best friends.

I am excited to share some of our adventures with you guys!

Blue Apron Dinner

On Thursday evening, after my Physique 57 class, I met up with Merri at her office around 6 p.m. We walked to a local bar with a handful of her coworkers to enjoy a festive happy hour until our stomachs told us it was time for food. I was really excited for our dinner plans because Merri raved about the Blue Apron meals she ordered earlier in the week and saved one for us to prepare and eat together.

We made the udon noodle soup and it was fantastic. I loved the marinated tempeh, flavorful broth and the thick noodles. So delicious!

The whole concept of Blue Apron meals really impressed me. Merri showed me all of the recipes she prepared earlier in the week thanks to the shipment she received from the company and every meal looked fresh, vibrant and completely mouth-watering.

In case you are in the dark about Blue Apron like I was, it’s basically a meal delivery service that sends you all of the ingredients you need to prepare a fresh and delicious meal at home. It includes detailed instructions (with pictures), pre-measured ingredients and costs $9.99 per person per meal. If the soup that we made is any indication, I can vouch for the service and say that the meals are truly restaurant-quality. Our soup tasted gourmet!

Merri signed up because she doesn’t feel very secure in her cooking abilities and wanted to learn how to cook quality meals on her own. She said the instructions were really easy to follow on every meal (though some were quite involved) and she raved about every single dish. (Merri ordered the vegetarian option.)

After dinner, we stayed up until midnight or so chatting with Merri’s husband before it was time for bed. We had an early morning wake up call and wanted to be rested going into a jam-packed weekend!

Uplift

On Friday morning, Merri and I had plans to meet up with my blogging buddy, Theodora, at Uplift, a local fitness studio that I’ve seen Theodora rave about numerous times on her blog. I reached out to her to see if she wanted to join us for the 6:30 a.m. class and the three of us had a great time getting our butts kicked together by Laura.

The class was a total body workout that focused on strength, cardio and core work. The strength portion included lots of reps of light weights and targeted all of our major muscle groups. Cardio bursts in the form of tabatas broke up the strength portion and elevated our heart rates.

Tabata One

20 sec. skaters

10 sec. rest

20 sec. squat jumps

10 sec. rest

Complete 4 total rounds

Tabata Two

20 sec. low jumping jacks with floor touch

10 sec. rest

20 sec. mountain climbers

10 sec. rest

Complete 4 total rounds

I can’t wait to incorporate them into my own workouts and my group exercise classes at the gym! I think they’ll be a hit!

After our class and a nice and sweaty post-workout picture with Theodora, the three of walked to Le Pain for breakfast.

The little restaurant was adorable and I loved the exposed brick, light wood and festive decor.

I ordered an almond milk cappuccino to start and enjoyed the smoke salmon platter for my main meal.

My smoked salmon came with a soft boiled egg – the first soft boiled egg I’ve ever had – and it was delicious. I made sure to take advantage of the fabulous hazelnut spread and sweet jams on the table and topped my bread with a smear of each.

It was a great way to start the day! I’ll be back in the morning with more NYC adventures!