Life Lately

Dana Ryder May 23, 2017

Morning friends! I hope you're all having a great week and looking forward to the long weekend ahead (I know I am!). Today's post is just a little update on my life and what I've been up to lately. Most of these photos are from Instagram, but since not all of you follow me there, I like to do the occasional update on the blog. This includes health tips, style updates, exercise favorites, recent food discoveries, and more. Enjoy!

I honestly have never found spring time all that amazing, due to the rain and chilly weather it brings, but this is my first spring living by central park, and WOW is the park just incredible this time of year. Everything is so green, lush, and beautiful. Walking around the park during this time - you'd never know you're in NYC.

Loving my golden lattes still, even as the weather warms up, although here in NYC, it's 90 one day, and 50 the next, so hard to figure out what season it is really! I use this golden milk mix for my lattes - simple, easy, and full of amazing ingredients. Makes the process a whole lot easier and faster than mixing it yourself!

Recently (since joining Equinox), I've just fallen in love with heated yoga! Other than Equinox, Y7 is one of my favorites because it uses infrared heat, which has so many health benefits. On a similar note, a CorePower Yoga studio is opening ONE BLOCK from my apartment (the first in NYC - FINALLY)!!! I couldn't be more excited. So excited that I even got a position as part of the Studio Experience Team! I'll keep you guys updated on all the fun happenings there too if you'd like!

I stumbled upon these when wandering through Saks a couple weeks ago, and I am so in love. I'm really into the slides this season - they're simple and beautiful on! This pair is great too and much more in my budget.

The Casual Classic | Carnitas Burrito Bowl

So I did it. I invested in an Instant Pot, and one of the first things on the list to make was CARNITAS!!! I love love love Mexican food more than anything, and carnitas is my favorite type to make. I found some easy recipes here and here, and mixed them a bit to make my own. It turned out wonderfully and took only about an hour max. I'm always looking for new recipes for this amazing appliance, so feel free to send over. I've created an Instant Pot pinterest board for all the great recipes I find.

A recent rainy day in SoHo with Luna and Nick. We love going on adventures on Sunday's - especially anywhere we can take the pup.

A favorite smoothie recipe of mine includes dragon fruit, also known as pitaya. I don't make it every day because it is a bit sweet, but I love making it for the color it makes the smoothie. Isn't it pretty!? I'm working on a post with my favorite smoothie recipes and superfood additions, so keep an eye out for that.

I've gotten so into Yoga this past 6 months (if you haven't noticed), and have huge news: I just paid my deposit for a yoga teacher training program this fall! I'll be traveling to beautiful Costa Rica for 3 weeks to get my 200 hour training. I'm not sure I've been this excited for anything EVER.

I did something bad... but not really that bad. I bought these boots that I've been staring at for at least the past 5 months. Yes, I know it's almost summer time, but this is the best time to grab winter items on sale - these are over 40% off right now! In hindsight, I'm perfectly fine with the fact that I bought them because I think that if you can't stop thinking about something for as long as I've thought about these boots, it's totally justifiable.

The Casual Classic | While We Were Young

I dragged one of my good friends down to While We Were Young on Cinco de Mayo for drinks and apps. I've been wanting to check out this little West Village spot ever since I discovered it. If you want a healthy, yummy cocktail, go here. If you love to Instagram your meal, DEFINITELY go here. The food was amazing and the restaurant is so fun.

A favorite spring outfit of mine: the Canadian tuxedo. I'm wearing head to toe Madewell, which is a company I've really been digging lately. I just discovered their jeans and am just loving this pair. Order a size down if you want them well fitted though! The top is old, but they have a very similar version every single year. I'm loving this one.

I'm having quite a thing recently for mid-heel sandals - I'm loving that they're something I could wear to work and then drinks afterwards. They need to be comfortable though and pretty, which I think is really hard to find in a mid-heel sandal as they tend to look frumpy pretty often. I saw these last year, but they sold out immediately. Luckily, they brought them back again and I added myself to the pre-order list! They come in every neutral color and are so insanely comfortable. I am still on the hunt for a pair or low black sandals though, so if you guys have any recos, let me know!

The Best Healthy Restaurants in NYC

Dana Ryder June 22, 2016

Healthy food is not hard to come by these days in NYC. I feel like a new, amazing, farm to table type restaurant pops up every week, which really is quite incredible. It makes me so happy to be able to walk out my door and 5 minutes later be at a place where I can trust the food, the people that work there, and not worry about where it was sourced from or whether or not it is filled with chemicals and hormones.

I do try to cook, but busy life in NYC (plus an incredibly small kitchen), make it really hard to find time to do so. Below are a few of my absolute favorite healthy places to eat around the city. A lot of them are take-out/to-go type places, which is great for those of us who just don't have time to take a seat and chill (something I've been working on). Pay attention to where your food is coming from people! Trust me, it's worth it for your long term health.

Sweetgreen (various locations)

I go out of my way to get Sweetgreen far too frequently. I love that they source ingredients from local vendors. Plus, everything is organic, non GMO, hormone free, etc. They have a ton of pre-made delicious bowls, but I usually make my own. My go-to is the kale/wild rice base, with avocado, chicken, carrots, whatever other veggies/fruits are in season, and the pesto vinaigrette. It is HEAVENLY.

By Chloe (Greenwich Village)

This is my (somewhat healthy) guilty pleasure, as you can see from the photo. By Chloe is of the best vegan restaurants I have ever tried, and people know it. This place, no matter what time of day, has a line out the door, so you either need to plan for that, or order via Postmates, which is what I usually do. Their pastas are to die for - I get the gluten free mac and cheese (shown above), but the avocado pesto pasta comes in a close second. The air fried sweet potato fries are the next best thing, especially dipped in the chipotle mayo. What I love about this place is that it is "boyfriend approved". My guy ordered the guac burger recently, which is made of sweet potato, quinoa and black beans, and it tasted almost better than an actual burger (but not quite). Still, it was the best vegan burger I've ever tasted, and he loved it!

The Little Beet Table (& The Little Beet) (various locations)

I frequented Little Beet when I used to work in mid-town, but more recently, I finally tried Little Beet Table. Both restaurants are 100% gluten free, but you'd never know this because everything is so delicious! The brunch menu is just to die for, making it extremely hard to choose what to get. I'd recommend their green pea guac (I know - doesn't that sound incredible??), the buttermilk pancakes, and the banana bread is an absolute must. This place is the perfect spot to take mom, your girlfriends, or even do a quick work lunch.

Inday (Flatiron)

Inday has the most unique ingredients out of any of these places. I love how their options change week to week, and my plate always looks like a beautiful rainbow when I go there. Inday is an Indian themed cuisine, but you don't have to like Indian to go there. You can create your own bowl with their shredded cauliflower rice or fermented quinoa, plus a protein and sides. I'm obsessed with their coconut chutney too.

Dig Inn (various locations)

Yet another one of the best to-go restaurants, Dig Inn is very similar to the others I've mentioned. They do the typical market plate, where you choose your main protein and a couple sides. Their chicken and salmon is absolutely delicious though - some of the best I've tried, plus their sides change almost daily, and they always involve avocado, which wins me over every time.

The Butchers Daughter (Nolita & West Village)

The perfect brunch spot to feel like you're treating yourself, and yet, it's super healthy, organic whole food. Grab one of their wellness lattes, cold pressed juices, smoothies, or shots, and have a delicious, yet guilt free meal. They have all the best brunch plates that I always crave, like avocado toast, acai bowl, coconut yogurt and granola, plus pesto/micro kale pizza! My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Plus, it's the cutest outdoor spot to take a few friends on the weekend for a sit down meal.

Dimes (Chinatown)

This is one of the most fun and unique out of them all. It's tucked away on Canal street down in China town, so it's a trek for most people, although totally worth it. They serve all meals, but most importantly, they serve cocktails! I love how fun and different their cocktails are, for example, the kale margarita and dandelion wine. A healthy way to treat yourself? I'll take it.

Hu (Union Square & UES)

Another one of my top favorites! I swing by this spot at least once a week, and never fail to pick up their paleo chocolate chip cookies or the pumpkin parfait. For dinner, I always go for the "make your own bowl" station, where you can choose the base, protein and toppings. Do we see a pattern here? I seem to always pick this option... The thing about Hu though, is that you need to be careful about what you order. I've tried a few things there that I'm just not a fan of, like their "bread" for instance. Their lasagna is pretty good, but you need to actually like eating healthy to enjoy it (it just tastes healthy)... If that makes any sense at all? You can't really go wrong with their desserts, hot drinks, almond crusted chicken tenders, and of course the bowl station. Yum!

A few others that I love or are on my to-do list are below: