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We don’t mess around with salads.
Two of my best friends and I had a group text going on about where we wanted to go for dinner. Why are girls so indecisive? Especially with food!
Three very different tastes (they are pro-Mexican food…I am not), but we all agreed on one thing: we wanted something super healthy. After throwing out restaurant ideas we decided to just put together our own dinner at my place. Which I prefer anyways because we get to talk and hang out in the kitchen before eating, where we can be sillier than in public ;)
Easiest thing EVER to make: a colorful salad bar. We don’t mess around when it comes to salad-building.
The base was spinach leaves.
Diced carrots, bell peppers, tomato, and avocado.
Olives and black beans (I skipped those.)
Apple chunks and strawberry slices.
Feta cheese & dried cranberries.
Raspberry vinagrette.
With a side of (unpictured) baked sweet potato crisps.
5 stars for the most un-boring salad. :)
Allllllll the nutrients and vitamins in this beautiful salad were counterbalanced with a couple cocktails later when we explored downtown. We experimented with fizzy and flavored waters for homemade cocktails at home first, and discovered the super simple blend: Sparkling Peach Water with Malibu Rum. 100 calories for 2 ounces of rum in 8 ounces of water, with ice.
All these veggies are good for the brain, which I NEED right now becauuuse……
I’ll be taking the GRE in 24 days. I have no general direction for my life after May, but I figured I best keep Graduate School in the realm of possibilities. Application deadlines are quickly approaching, so I secured my spot in one of next month’s examinations. An hour after registering, I was sitting in Barnes & Noble deciding which test prep book looked the prettiest most helpful. I got good ole’ vocabulary flashcards to go with it…
WHAT THE PHONICS!? Who made these up. “Diurnal.” “Xenophobia.” “Vituperate.” I don’t know these words! When was the last time you heard anyone say “polyglot” in a sentence? My roommate is studying with me, and we decided to do “Words of the Day.” Therefore…I think I will fall asleep early tonight because this studying is soporific. ;)
Sam Hunt is killin’ it with the playlists on Youtube….he’s like country meets coffee shop. Pure perfection for my study session. So I’m trading Monday Night Football in the clubhouse gym for Monday Night Flashcards (plus pumpkin coffee/Sam Hunt covers/big sweatshirt/Sprout’s snacks/roomie bonding/lemon candles/intermittant dance breaks / Sports Center app updates.)
More brain food to come!
Tempo Run Tuesdays & Fueling the Future
Tempo Run Tuesday:
Last week I reintroduced “Tempo Tuesdays” into my weekly running schedule. The morning starts like this: wake up at 4:36am, down a half a cup of coffee with almond milk, lace up the tennies, turn on the Garmin and jog a warm up mile. It’s dark for the first 20 minutes which I love.
Lucky for me, my daddy/pacer/crossing guard rides along on his bike. It seriously helps to have someone out there with me! He rides a few meters ahead, which gives me someone to chase!
My pace for the first 3-mile tempo of the summer was a good starting point. 18:39 for three miles (average 6:13 mile). By end of August I will be in the mid-17’s which will put me in good cross country racing shape :)
As for now, I will take it one Tuesday at a time and keep shaving off a few seconds each week!
BUT waking up at 4:30am and evening gym sessions are wearing me out. Time to listen to the body and give it a little break tomorrow!
Which is perfect timing because I have a very exciting day ahead.
I’M MOVING INTO MY NEW APARTMENT!
Well….I’m moving my stuff in. I have a great full-time job at home for the rest of the summer so the celebration in the new digs will be short-lived. But still……it means picking up keys, buying furniture, setting up my space and getting everything cleaned. Very grown up, no? ;)
My past week has been FULL of grown-up” (i.e. NOT FUN) chores like signing a lease, paying rent, setting up insurance, gas and electricity. Exciting stuff. Very exciting. I would like to eat some skittles for breakfast and relive my youth again now please.
Fueling the Future:
To me, thinking about the future is so……exhilerating. I can’t stop researching graduate schools, Masters programs, sports marketing internships, potential jobs, and new cities like Boise and Charlotte.
Everything in my life through senior year of college was part of a plan. I knew in advance what city I would be in, where I would be living, who I would be living with, what I would be doing, how I would earn money. It had a feeling of safety knowing that I was guaranteed 4 years in college with the support of my parents being a full-time student.
The day I graduate college (10 months and counting!), all of that “safety” goes away. But for some reason I am not scared at all. I am thrilled. Not knowing if I’ll have a job, where I’ll have a job, where I will live. This is the first time in my life when I don’t have a plan to tell me what the future looks like.
At the same time…that just means so many POSSIBILITIES.
A few things are certain:
Wherever I am, I will always be a runner (so the city better be pretty!).
My plan is still to race 1 marathon each year. :)
I will adopt a dog. A new running buddy, roommate, best friend.
My passion for health, fitness, exercise, nutrition, exploring, and enjoying scenic beauties will only grow.
A far-off goal is to become a personal trainer or fitness class instructor as a hobby because I love sharing all of the POSITIVE aspects of working out.
It’s funny because my family watches House Hunters…a lot. I remember going on a recruiting visit to Chico State during senior year of high school. The coach had me stay with some seniors on the cross country team, who had a “pasta party” and meet-n-greet. After everyone left, I made up my bed on the couch and watched a couple hours of House Hunters with my hosts. Scandelous first college experience right? ;)
The show has me excited to do my own search for a home (well, apartment but same difference) and I’m loving the East Coast right now thanks to several amazing posts by Julie at PBFingers.com and Taralynn at Simplytaralynn.com!
I think all of this anxiousness and urgency is natural for such a transitional period in our lives.
From dependent to independent. From student to worker. From a plan to the unknown.
And now I will stop day dreaming about my future, refill my mug with some Vienna Cinnamon brew from Sprout’s and get back to some important projects.
:)
What are you daydreaming about today?
