Nice to Meet You, Jane Fonda

No, I didn’t really meet Jane Fonda. I know, I know — how mean of me to tease you, right? The title of today’s post was actually inspired by my first aerobics class. Yes, you heard me right. Jane Fonda-style aerobics. With a legit Italian instructor. Woot, woot! I had seen the sign advertised in the lobby, on the stairwells, in front of mensa (to inspire you before you eat your weight in pasta)…and immediately invited Julie along for today’s first class. We laced up our sneaks (best word ever), put up our hair, and stretched it out.

60 minutes later…we were sweatin’. We did NOT expect to work that hard…but we loved every minute of it and plan to return weekly. Plus, the super-fast techno American music was pretty stellar. “If you wanna be my lovaahhh,” by the Spice Girls? Yes, please! We kicked, we stepped, we moved side to side. I’ve really been stuck in the rut of running every time I work out, but for some reason, I decided to check out this class. Perhaps the inspiration was, when in Rome? 🙂 Once I get in a routine, I stick with it, so I was thrilled when I walked out of this class beaming. I tend to not feel like I got a good workout in unless I run my fanny off, but I obtained the same (or better results!) switching up the usual routine. I’ve always read in health and fitness magazines not to do the same thing every day, so switchin’ it up made me feel good. I definitely challenged myself, that’s ‘fo sho!

Mensa (the cafeteria at our school) is typically good, but I’ve had some pretty good meals here the past couple of days, including:

-A dinner that was comprised of scrambled eggs (the pepper comes out really fast — don’t judge, please) with a smattering of a tomato-type sauce…& a lovely salad of mixed greens, shredded carrots, lots of sweet corn, juicy tomato chunks, and a heaping spoonful of chickpeas. I took it up a notch with some drizzles of balsamic vinegar and olive oil. I’m used to dressing my salads in, well, dressings, but I can already tell this will become my new addiction (which, in the health-sense is a better addiction than gelato, right?). Jules is still yearning for her Ranch, but I have a feeling we’ll both get used to the differences over here 🙂 (such as their folders. Yeah…their folders, which really aren’t even folders.)

One thing I truly appreciate about mensa is the uber-fresh pineapple and juicy citrus they offer at every meal. My mom knows I’m not a huge fan of oranges, so she’ll be happy to know I’m eating oranges 2x a day. Gettin’ my vitamin C on, baby!

Plus, I’m not really sure if they’re just a different type of orange or if they’re at a different sort of ripeness, but I’m especially fond of the orange pieces that are slightly red in color. (I usually pick those out first ;))

-Today’s lunch filled me up, and boy did I need it! We are walking around so much here. Besides walking up and down the hills surrounding campus (like I mentioned earlier, our campus is on a hill, so it forever seems like we’re on the incline setting of a treadmill…my dad would be a pro!), I seem to be moving all the time during the school day, too. Since all of our classes are in the same building (unless you have an on-site class), for some parts of the day we have to stick around here. But I usually forget something in my room, or need to grab this or that from this room, or that room, then have to run down to the gym, but forgot something…you get the point. Lots of stairs! To satisify my grumbling tummy, I gratefully welcomed the zucchini frittata offered as one of the choices today.

(Again, I really need to work on this pepper thing. They put a spoon in the pepper, so I normally just try to put a little bit on with the spoon, in short, sweeping motions. It usually doesn’t bode well for me, as you can see…)

Thick ribbons of zucchini mixed with a potato-type mixture. (The one thing I’m trying to get used to is not knowing what’s in all my food! I’m sorry for the sometimes cluelessness of all the ingredients of the photos I’m posting. I guess it’s a good exercise for my brain and tastebuds — trying to pick out the different flavors of the dishes.)

I jumped with excitement (no, not literally; I’m not that geeky) when I saw carrot soup on the menu. I’d never tried it before, but after an awesome experience with butternut squash soup a few weeks ago, I was game-on for this dish.

I brought my soup up to the next level with some crostini and a sprinkling of parmigiano-reggiano (also known as “parmesan”).

Now, I have to go run (not literally, I already got my aerobics workout in, ‘member?!) and do some reading for my poly sci and opera classes. Homework? Are they serious? hehe. It’ll be weird doing schoolwork again, but I think that’ll be the same for every college student after a nice, relaxing, and longggg Christmas break. Ahh, such is life. I’m living in Roma, so I guess it’s not that bad of a deal 🙂 I would go “practice” for my singing class (I’m taking an Intro to Voice class), but for some reason, I don’t think my neighbors want to hear a spiritual song sung out-of-tune. I’ll save that for my classmates 😉

P.S. It was not as scary as I thought to sing in front of other people — perhaps because I prefaced my “audition” with, “I’ve never really sung before…except in the shower.” (And usually when no one’s around. Except one time my sister caught me singing a song from Mulan and, yeah, that was embarrassing….)

And I Ask You: What’s the fruit that makes you jump-outta-your-socks with excitement? And have you ever been “caught” gettin’ your Mariah Carey-on (i.e. singing in the shower)?! Tell me!

Obviously, I’m a fruttavore. Yes, a made-up word. But I liken it to mean that I eat any fruit that’s offered to me. I recently discovered a love for grapefruit, which I thought I detested. But my all-time fave would have to be bananas. I only wish they didn’t bruise so easily!

Caught in the shower singing? Yes, please see Mulan reference above.