Author: Lauren @ ihadabiglunch

Waking Up on the Wrong Side of the Bed

Well guys, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

I’m alllll about positivity and seeing the “glass half full,” but….

Remember exactly seven days ago when it hit 71 degrees and I was out and about running in a tshirt and crops?

I woke up to this:

WHAT. IS. HAPPENING.

I seriously woke up and had to check my phone to make sure it really is still March 23rd and, no, I’m not living in some nightmare where we’ve gone back in time to put up with the horrible weather we got here in February. Unbelievable.

Since I’m already complaining, let’s just get a few more things out there and then we can move on to the good stuff. It’s therapeutic, you know?

I sliced my heel open over the weekend, making running and walking pretty painful. I stayed off of it on Sunday and didn’t try to run but I’m so frustrated — between this and the weather I’m pretty sure the big guy doesn’t want me to finish these 100 miles. But I’m determined to prevail, even if I have to spend March 31st running five mile increments all day haha. I would include the gruesome Snapchat that I sent all my friends of my bleeding heel but I know most of you are eating breakfast so I’ll spare ya 😉

Okay, final complaint:

I love when PR people reach out to me. I really do! I feel honored and like I’ve somehow “made it” if someone thinks I’m important enough to trust me with their product and think other people will be influenced by my opinion. But dear god, know your audience. I used to WORK in PR, so I know a generic email when I see one, and I can tell when you actually have no idea who I am. Great example? No, I won’t test out a pair of glasses for you. I DON’T WEAR GLASSES. Has anyone, ever, in the history of IHABL, seen me wearing glasses?

Aaaaaand rant over.

Okay.

Hi! Happy Monday! 🙂 Let’s talk weekend stuff, shall we?

I tried one of the most famous hole-in-the-wall Greek restaurants in Chicago this weekend and it was oh so good. I won’t get the salad next time (because the pita and chicken were killer) but otherwise, loved it. The Greek woman running the front of house was just as terrifying and charming as you’d expect (what, having to run a restaurant full of men), and after a little chatting I invited her out for drinks with us next door afterwards. She said she’d love to but she “might never come back.” Idk if I had unlimited access to Greek fries I’d probably never leave, so….

Luckily I got some great running in pre-heel hack incident. In fact, I set a new personal best for “miles run without actually being in a race” haha. 8.68! And I felt like I could keep going (minus the fact that my legs felt like lead blocks by the end).

I’ve become pretty obsessed with running outside so this whole snow thing is really throwing a monkey wrench into my week. I even came up with a great 8-mile loop around the city so let’s just hope this snow melts in three hours. That’s possible, right?

Saturday night I went out with some girlfriends from work, and we unknowingly all dressed like cowgirls. When you go out with girls from lululemon and not a single person wears leggings, it has to be documented.

But actually. Once you get to wear leggings to work every single day, putting on pants with a button in the front is a mild form of torture.

In other news, I was finally able to try out Amanda’s Banana Oat Greek Yogurt muffins and I’m a fan. I didn’t blend the oats but they still turned out so well and are the perfect sweet treat to have on hand. I LOVE sneaking Greek yogurt into dishes because it ups the chance that I won’t be hungry 30 minutes later by at least 50%.

Finally, I rounded out my Sunday night post-work with some tacos. I was lucky to be in good company with Bethany and Erin. Blogger get-togethers are some of my favorite things to do because who else can you talk with about running, food, and blogging etiquette for over an hour? None of my friends would put up with that nonsense!

Questions:

Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?
What was the best thing you ate all weekend?
Is winter making a comeback by you?

Bea’s Bran Muffins

Bran muffins can be tricky. Well, muffins in general can be tricky. You never know if you’re biting into a healthy, wholesome snack or a oversized sugar bomb. Sadly, bran muffins are often the worst offenders. Most recipes contain healthy ingredients like wheat bran, walnuts, and raisins, but often in way too big of portions.

Luckily, my family still has a recipe from way back in the day when my grandma used to make bran muffins. Original recipecard and all:

How cool is that?!

Besides being incredibly healthy, these muffins are delicious. Topped with a little honey, they’re just the right amount of sweet and filling.

I love that I can continue to show my late grandma love by baking these muffins. They’re perfect for a light breakfast (if you add some protein and fruit on the side) or a quick snack.

Bea’s Bran Muffins

Ingredients

3 cups All-Bran (cereal)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup raisins
2 cups walnuts
1 cup boiling water
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup molasses
2 1/4 cup while wheat flour
4 teaspoons sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)

Combine cereal, oil, and raisins and pour boiling water over them (mixture 1). Set aside to cool.

In a small bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk, molasses. Add that to cooled mixture 1.

Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt: add flour mixture to cereal mixture 1, stirring just enough to moisten dry ingredients. Cover batter with plastic wrap and let stand 15 minutes, preferably an hour.

Preheat oven to 400. Bake in greased muffin tins for 20 minutes, or when a toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs.

Enjoy!

Questions:

What’s your favorite type of muffin? I love lemon poppyseed or fresh blueberry ones!
Any big plans this weekend?

#100milemarch update

Well, it’s halfway through the month! I’m slowly but surely working on my personal goal to run 100 miles this month, and have even recruited some unexpected suckers to join me (how’s it coming for you, Salt?)

So with 50% down and 50% to go, where am I?

40 miles.

“Oy vey, Lauren, you’re 10 miles behind!”

Fear not, doubters! I started out only being able to run 4-5 miles at a time comfortably, and now I’m at 7-8 each run. So the miles will keep chipping away even faster now. Plus, I was only able to run 10 my first week thanks to a new medication kicking the crap out of me, so I’m building momentum each day. For someone who probably ran 40 miles from the months of December-February, this is big stuff. I have no doubt that I’ll be able to hit it!

So, what have I learned so far?

Sometimes you don’t want to run. Run anyway. You’ll be happier for it.
A bag of mixed vegetables is better than any store-bought ice pack.
Hot power yoga is my best friend.
My ears sweat.
When I run, I crave ice cream. Gotta work on that..
I am blessed to live in such a vibrant running city.

Goal-crushing.

How are you doing on your March goals?

Weekend happenings: hello, Spring!

There was a lot of sweating, a lot of pavement-pounding, a lot of celebrating this weekend.

It all started Thursday night with an event at one of my favorite studios, Sweat Chicago. They threw a St. Patrick’s Day workout/happy hour called “Sweat, Sliders and Brews.” The workout started at 7:45 and was followed immediately by food and drinks from Hopsmith Tavern (another place I’ve been keen on ever since I learned they have a giant Twister board in their upstairs bar). I’ve been to a handful of workout/happy hour combo events since I moved to the city, but nothing kicked my butt more than Thursday night’s workout.

What was supposed to be a quick 45 minute workout turned into a hellish three-workout partner combo: A 15-minute AMRAP, an 8-minute AMRAP, and a partner chipper workout. Oh, and the warmup was a burpee contest (which I supposedly “won” but I must have counted wrong because I got 31 in two minutes and I swear to god I’ve never done more than 15 in a minute but hooookay). Needless to say it was a doozy. The chipper was fun because we got to choose how we broke up the exercises, so a lot of teamwork and communication was happening the whole time. We were matched with a partner we didn’t know, and while in typical ice breaker activities this is one of my biggest pet peeves, ever since I’ve become more comfortable in the fitness community in Chicago I think it was a great idea. I was paired with a really nice girl who had never been to Sweat before so I was happy to make her feel more comfortable and have fun with the workout.

After we finally finished, it was time to attack the food. My favorite part about fitness junkies? We know how to EAT. No rabbit food here.

Buffalo chicken sliders, mini chili dogs, sliders, cobb salad chicken wraps, hummus, ranch, and veggies. Plus a post-sweat drink (beer never tasted so good!)

We came. We sweat. We conquered.

Other events the past few days included date night with my one and only (aka my best friend and the only man who will let me dress him up for a lululemon photo shoot and then make him buy me tacos).

I did my duty and exposed yet another friend to the beauty that is Velvet Taco. Spencer is obsessed now too and we have a standing lunch date next Saturday. It’s kind of a big deal.

I’m eating my way through their menu, so I tried two new tacos: the Annatto Shredded Pork (avocado crema, house shred, grilled pineapple, pickled onion, queso fresco, and cilantro) and the Rotisserie Chicken (white queso, roasted corn pico, cilantro, and smoked poblano salsa).

Since I plan on trying everything on the menu (except beef options) AND it’s officially March Madness season, I’m thinking I should start a Taco Bracket for this place. Right now the Tikka Chicken and the Rotisserie Chicken would be leading the pack, but I’ll be sure to go back and do further research.

Of course the weekend wouldn’t be complete without some St. Patrick’s Day shenanigans. It was a bright and sunny day spent outside with friends. And although I almost ate a piece of pizza off the ground (that is not even remotely close to an exaggeration), I was one of the behaved ones. Check out that police blotter!

The rest of the week I was busy chipping away at my #100milemarch challenge (which is going really well, by the way!) Daylight Savings + weather in the mid 50s all week made for perfect running temps. I ran almost every day last week and even though my legs felt like tree trunks through some of those miles, I didn’t regret a single run. I love my city when it starts to come alive this time of year.

Bridge pic – can you tell it’s rush hour?

I even managed to snap a quick video of the beach just after the sunrise on my long run Saturday morning

Spring is in the air and you can feel it. It’s the perfect time to tackle those fitness goals you’ve been putting off since January, and definitely a great time to get creative in the kitchen. I know this is the time of year when my creative juices start flowing!

Questions:

Who wants to come visit me? I’m in the mood to host 🙂 If you visited, what’s the ONE thing you’d want to do in Chicago?
St. Patty’s Day — did you celebrate?
Outdoor running — is your town ready, or are you still buried by winter

Chicken and Peppers with Goat Cheese

Once upon a time I had this little ol’ blog and the only people who read it were mom and dad (thanks guys!) Ironically enough, it was during these first six months that I posted most of my recipes. Since then, I’ve started focusing more on the workout aspect of healthy living, and I leave the recipe development up to the pros like Erin, Arman, and Dannii.

So while I’m sure I’ll come up with new stuff here and there, I think it’s time to share some of the best things I’ve ever made, and hope you like them too. There’s something about spring that makes me want to start creating recipes again, and also start sharing healthy food ideas, not just fitness tips.

Chicken and Peppers with Goat Cheese

Ingredients

3 grilled chicken breasts (precooked)
16 oz bag of quinoa (or brown rice)
4 assorted bell peppers (we used yellow, orange, and green)
1 large yellow onion
1/2 of a 5oz. log of goat cheese–more or less depending on your preference
2 15oz. cans TJ’s Organic Great Northern Beans (or any other kind of white bean)
Cumin (start with 3 tbls. and add according to taste/preference)

Start by cooking the quinoa according to the instructions on the bag. Once it is cooked season it with a tablespoon of cumin and a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Set aside.

Once the quinoa is cooking, chop your peppers and onions. You want these pieces to be bite-sized but not too small.

Sautee the chopped peppers and onions in olive oil until cooked, but still crispy. Season with salt, pepper, and a tablespoon of the cumin.

Once the peppers and onions are cooked, add the chicken breasts (chopped). Finally, stir in the goat cheese! Mix only until the goat cheese is combined throughout. Add your third tablespoon of cumin, along with a few pinches of salt and pepper.

Now that everything is combined, it’s important to keep tasting until the amount of cumin is just right. It’s a very important flavor that really adds a lot to the dish, so make sure you use enough. You can always add more, but you can never take some back!

Serve with the quinoa and a simple side salad. I made one using my dijon mustard dressing and leafy greens.

Currently: Top Five Food Buys

Instead of listing a day’s worth of eats, let’s talk about the products I’ve been eating a lot of lately. I’ve been loving the following for a variety of reasons — whether it be for my health, because my taste buds jump for joy when I eat them, or because they are the lesser of other evils that could be lurking in my pantry. Regardless, these guys have become staples in the IHABL household.

Quaker Steel Cut Oats

In what can only be described as the weirdest turn of events, I’ve started craving oatmeal now that the temps are climbing. Didn’t have a single bowl all winter, no, but these days it’s a different story. I’m pretty high-maintenance about my oatmeal, however. I can make an easy single-serving bowl with quick oats, but for the most part, I don’t really like steel cut oats. I haven’t had any luck with them. I typically make my oatmeal in the microwave, and that doesn’t cut it for the steel cut type. At the beginning of the week I decided to give them one last shot and threw them in the slow cooker. What a WORLD of a difference. It tasted like that oatmeal you get from the hotel buffet because god knows what’s actually in those “egg patties.” I made a big batch of it to have on hand all week and I’ve been loving it — I cooked them in water with chia seeds, millet, cinnamon, and some sea salt, so that each day I have a blank canvas to add whatever toppings I feel like having. Today was brown sugar and banana, and I’m not sure if I’ll be switching it up. Why mess with perfection?

Coconut La Croix

Let me tell you a little story about my water intake — it’s virtually non-existant. I ran seven miles last night before dinner just to walk in the door and realize that I hadn’t had a single drop of water all day. How I manage to run on those fumes is beyond me. So, while I know that pure H2O is what’s best, at the end of the day I rely on La Croix and my good friend Crystal Light to keep me from my inevitable death by dehydration. And none of that phony fruit-flavored stuff. Coconut is where it’s at.

Trader Joe’s Chile Lime Chicken Burgers

They’re thin, they cook in under ten minutes, and they’re just 150 calories with 19 grams of protein. Paired with a whole wheat burger bun, some classic burger fixins’ (including the high fructose corn syrup-laden Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce — sorry there just isn’t any competition there), and a side of veggies that I pull out of my freezer last minute, this has been my go-to healthy dinner option as of late. And I’m not stopping anytime soon.

Chobani Greek Yogurt

I usually only eat plain greek yogurt — but while I know that that’s the better choice for 90% of my snacks, sometimes, at the end of the day, you want something more dessert-like. That’s where these guys come in. The vanilla isn’t even my favorite…it’s, you guessed it, coconut, but I don’t have any left right now. Mixed with some slivered almonds or chocolate chips, sweetened yogurt is a perfectly pre-portioned dessert.

Kodiak Cakes

These hearty little guys are like breakfast gold. They make you feel like you’re indulging in a giant pancake breakfast, when really you’re making a pretty decent choice, as they’re 100% whole grain. The best part is that they’re so easy to make and taste great! I’ve even gotten my family turned on to them, and they usually scoff at my healthy purchases (in their defense, though, I go through phases — so one healthy product can be 75% used up but then the remaining 25% will be left in our pantry for the better half of a decade….) I always add lots of mixins to my pancake batter, usually bananas, cinnamon, millet, nuts, or chia seeds (or all of it!) My brother has made them quite a few times with chocolate chips and I never refuse those either. You really can’t mess this one up: one cup batter, one cup water, mix, cook, done. And they actually keep me full for more than an hour, unlike most pancakes.

Questions:

What’s been your favorite food buy lately?
Do you go through food phases, or do you have a few stand-bys that you’ve loved forever?

I can’t stay away

Guys.

I tried so hard.

I said “I’m going to skip this week. I need a break. I have nothing to say.”

And then I remembered that I actually consider you all my friends and you don’t just “take a week off” from friends, even when you don’t think you’ve done anything particularly interesting recently. Friends in real life are more than happy to sit on the couch and watch shitty Netflix movies with you and not try to fill the silence. I think I just forgot that friends in bloggerland aren’t high maintenance either. So here I am.

Hi!

Just a few random things because it’s Tuesday and I know there’s probably some kind of formula I’m supposed to follow but I’m feeling sassy.

I played this song 400 times yesterday. I’m really glad that people on the CTA or the street can’t tell what song you’re listening to because I had it on repeat ALL DAY. I thought I had my Spotify on private so that I could avoid that embarrassment as well, but surprise surprise that didn’t work out so I’m hoping none of my friends care enough about me that they’ll have noticed that in their newsfeed. Regardless, Tom Hanks is an adorable human. And Carly Rae Jepsen knows how to write a single.

It hovered around 50 degrees yesterday for the first time in god knows how long. I went to Shred415 for a lululemon community workout but the second I got home I changed into my running clothes and jogged around the neighborhood. I never thought I’d be saying that Wrigley Field was my neighborhood. How cool is that?

Chipping away at #100milemarch

I walked everywhere yesterday in a long sleeve shirt and vest and it was glorious. I’m also fortunate enough that my school for Girls On The Run in withing walking distance so yesterday afternoon I headed over there to meet my girls!

As you can imagine, nothing went according to plan, the girls were rambunctious, and we didn’t get to half of what we were supposed to get done. But it was FUN. And my assistant coach and I agreed that that’s the most important thing. The girls ran close to two miles on their first day! I still remember completing an 11 minute mile in 8th grade and feeling like I’d run a marathon. Childhood obesity, who?

This weekend is St. Patrick’s Day. I’m neither Irish nor a huge fan of binge drinking so I don’t care that much, but it’s just another excuse to drink mimosas at 9am on a weekend so I plan on celebrating.

Oh, and I made these chicken enchiladas last night and they rocked my world. So maybe try ’em sometime. I considered doing Whole30 for half an hour but realized that I’m not yet committed to giving up cheese. This girl has no willpower.

Questions:

Favorite Tom Hanks movie — GO!
If you’ve done Whole30, what was the hardest thing to give up? If you haven’t, what WOULD be the hardest?

Friday Favorites: skits, shoes, soup

First thing’s first…Glad we got that out there……

“Say What You Wanna Say” SNL Skit

Please. I beg of you. If you spend 3 minutes and 47 seconds to do anything today, WATCH THIS. I promise you’ve internalized most of the things they say, verbatim. It makes me laugh so hard every time.

“We’re not friends, and we’re never going to hang out. So, I’m going to not do this. I’m going to go away now.” Haha don’t you wish you could say that when you run into that random acquaintance on the street? And how many times do you ask someone to repeat their name because you can’t remember at the end of your conversation…and then you STILL don’t listen?

Finding new coffee shops

On my way to my first Girls On The Run practice, my assistant coach and I decided to meet up at one of her favorite coffee shops in Lakeview. I had never been to Heritage before, but my iced soy latte was truly one of the creamiest, simplest and yet most decadent lattes I’ve ever had. It was unusually sunny on Monday so it was the first time I’ve ordered an iced drink in months.

House of Cards Season Three

Spoiler alert: it’s devilishly addicting, as you would expect. If you’ve never watched this series, the first five episodes are dull as a doornail, but pleeeeease push through because it gets INSANE.

Snapchat: Discover

This new feature of Snapchat has become an awesome source of news and entertainment. Bonus? Food Network has a section and it’s always a random recipe or video featuring one of my favorite chefs. It’s the kind of stuff you don’t know you want to know until you see it — then you wonder how you ever lived a day without that knowledge.Yesterday I watched Bobby Flay grill pizza dough, and there was an awesome recipe for guava juice with chia seeds. It’s all the info I used to get when I forked over the $5 for Food Network magazine once a year for the October issue (autumn errrrythang). But now it’s fo free!

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Sometimes you throw things in a crockpot and magic happens. I’ve been swimming in chicken noodle soup this week and it’s been glorious. No recipe, really, just chicken, chicken broth, zucchini, green peppers, celery, onion and carrots, seasoned with salt, pepper, thyme and a little garlic, all thrown in the hot tub for a few hours and voila.

Vans

So apparently going to that Metro City Soundtrack concert last week has permanently transported me to 2007 because I’m back to wearing Vans. They’re incredible. They’re the perforated black slip-ons and I haven’t taken them off my feet in a few days. Can’t stop won’t stop.

So…shoes, SNL,soup, I think we got all our bases covered for a good pre-weekend “favorites” edition. What were some of your “favorites” this week?

Now seriousy….go watch that first video. Still peeing.

#100milemarch + vulnerability

Let’s talk for a minute about vulnerability.

Webster’s Dictionary defines vulnerability as…..

Just kidding don’t worry. We all know what vulnerability is. It’s letting people see the side of you that sometimes doesn’t shower for three days but instead uses a heck of a lot of baby wipes and dry shampoo. It’s not hiding the fact that you can’t store a box of animal crackers in your cabinet without eating the entire box. It’s apologizing when you’ve done something wrong. And it’s flaunting your flaws (because covering them up all the time is exhausting).

It’s so easy for me to write these posts and not allude to the fact that I’m having a really shitty day. Even though I know that people appreciate and relate to the ups and downs of life, it’s not the most fun thing to write about. So enough words, let’s just jump right in. My skin is the worst it’s been in my entire life. And that’s counting those awkward teen years and the year I decided that peanut butter was its own food group. I don’t know if it’s stress, my diet, or I’m just blessed, but it’s out. of. control. Normally I can cover it up — I’ve become a master of disguise. But today? I woke up and didn’t want to leave the house. I know, I know, that’s dramatic. But I had a dermatologist appointment and wanted to get a run in so I knew I couldn’t put makeup on before I left. So I spent my day in public with the worst acne I’ve had in years, and I was so sad about it. I know appearance doesn’t mean everything but every time I made eye contact with someone I felt ashamed of myself and looked down. I never understood why some people say that certain conditions make them not want to leave the house, but honestly, yesterday, I didn’t. Leaving my dermatologist yesterday I walked up to the CTA stop and had two choices: one, go to a crowded gym and run, like I’d been planning all day, or two, go home and wallow, because I honestly felt like absolute garbage about myself. It took everything I had but I chose option one. I knocked out five miles on the treadmill and, what do you know, the flush from the workout actually made my skin look a little better. It was humiliating but I did it. I let myself be vulnerable. I kept thinking about all the people I could possibly run into, and what on earth would they think if they saw me without makeup, but even though my mind was saying one thing, I forced my body to do another. I just did it. And now, me and my pepperoni pizza face are feeling just a little bit better.

I upload a lot of photos on here. But you can’t just upload the pretty ones and expect people to get to know you. So I’m putting it up on the internet for all the world to see, all in the name of vulnerability. And I’m pretty sure I’ll wake up just fine in the morning and life will go on.

On a different note, let’s talk that FITNESS CHALLENGE I mentioned on Sunday!

For the month of March, I will be participating in a #100milemarch challenge. That means that over the next four weeks I will run 100 miles (shouldn’t be too tricky considering I averaged 30 miles per month through this brutal winter). I’ve been lucky enough to get my fitness in other areas (spin, yoga, sculpt, and Shred), but I really want to focus on running, my true love. So what better way to dive back in than with a challenge?

#100milemarch is a way to hold myself accountable. It’s a lofty goal but I know I can do it, especially if I have all of you to hold me accountable too! I’ll be logging the miles on Instagram as well as Twitter, so feel free to follow along or do it with me!! You know you want to…

It’s still pretty icy out so say hello to my home for the next four weeks:

But hey, they have CABLE! The finest luxury in all the world! So I might even be finding myself there for more reasons than just running….

#100milemarch is going to kick my butt. But it’s going to help me focus on my goals for the upcoming running season: (at least) one half marathon and the Chicago Marathon. Because just being able to bust out six miles doesn’t mean that 20 more are going to be a piece of cake. Right, Suz?

Questions:

Do you have any fitness challenges going right now?
Wanna join me for #100milemarch?!
In what areas of your life are you most vulnerable?

Velvet Taco and The Chopping Block

As usual, there’s only one excuse for not blogging in three+ days (Saturday and Sunday count as one day, by the way): I was too busy living to write about living.

I feel like I didn’t sit still this entire weekend, which is always a welcome feeling (unless, of course, you’re doing things you don’t want to do. I don’t let this happen too often, however, so usually when I’m “busy,” I’m busy doing fun things. It’s a nice problem to have). Ever since I made a conscious decision to be a “yes” person, my days and nights have become filled with one adventure after the other. So what have you guys been up to these last few days? You all feel like strangers to me. Let’s change that.

On Thursday night I met my mom for dinner at Velvet Taco, a new taco joint located just around the corner from where I work. I’ve been wanting to go for awhile now and luckily she agreed to be my date.

YOU GUYS.

This place is the BOMB.

I tried two tacos: The WTF Special (lobster salad, avocado, sea salt and arugula) and the Tikka Chicken. The Lobster was pretty freaking delicious but the Tikka Chicken was out of this world. Crispy chicken smothered in spicy pepper sauce, buttered cilantro basmanti rice, raita crema and thai basil. It took me to the moon and back. I’m in love.

Afterwards I met Colleen for drinks at Havana, a Cuban hot spot located downtown. Margaritas ensued – always a great idea.

Pretty soon we met up with Spencer and a few other friends at the House of Blues to see one of our favorite high school bands. You know the kind. The ones whose songs come on your “Best of the 2000s” Pandora playlist and immediately transport you to that Friday night when you were about to get your first kiss and had a container of Vaseline in your coat pocket (not Chapstick, no, you weren’t cool enough for that) that you kept frantically putting on because you were so nervous (that’s not a true story or anything…..) But yeah. We saw Motion City Soundtrack.

We also clearly got the most sober person in the room to take our photo:

Friday was a pretty chill day and night — I went in to the store and then I got to see my college girlfriends who I realized I hadn’t seen in a month (!!!!). Never letting that happen again. Time can slip away from you if you’re not careful.

Saturday I woke up bright and early for a yoga sculpt class at CorePower. I know I’ve said it before but if you’re in the area and can get into Ariel’s class, do yourself a favor and get there. It makes my weekend.

That afternoon my dad came into town and we headed to The Chopping Block for a knife skills class!

I’ve been trying to go to this class for more than a year. My brother got me tickets for Christmas LAST year and I ended up cancelling at the last minute. Thankfully time flies, and this year I managed to clear my grueling schedule for a few hours to take this fun class with my dad.

It’s no surprise that just being in an ornate kitchen for a few hours was paradise for me. And at the end of the day, even though the class itself wasn’t revolutionary, I learned how to properly chop an onion so I’m calling it a success.

Sunday I somehow convinced more people to go back to Velvet Taco with me because once I get a restaurant stuck in my brain, I go there waaaaaaaay too many times until I’m sick of it and can never go back. Also, you know you’ve been someplace too many times in one week when the manager comes up to your table and when you introduce yourself, he mentions how he recognizes you from the “many” times you’ve been in. Yiiiikes.

It was a blast of a night. I met and chatted with some of the staff and ended up spending the better part of three hours there. It’s such a warm, welcoming spot that I felt so comfortable just hanging out with my friends there after work. This time around I tried the fish taco and buffalo chicken taco and was once again not disappointed. That Tikka Chicken still holds the #1 spot in my heart, though. And because I couldn’t possibly love them more, the kind managers treated us to two orders of their signature tater tots as well as their homemade red velvet cake. Shoutout to Cory and Rory for making it their personal mission to make sure their local lululemon girls won’t fit into their yoga pants come June.

I’m really excited for this week! Tomorrow is the first day of the Girls on the Run season so I’ll be meeting my girls. I’m also starting a new fitness challenge for the month of March that I can’t wait to share with you. Let’s just say, good thing I fueled with those tots. It’s gonna be a burner.

Questions:

Tacos: what’s your favorite kind?
What was your favorite band in high school?

i had a big lunch

Because dreaming about food and fitness was no longer enough

Author: Lauren @ ihadabiglunch

Waking Up on the Wrong Side of the Bed

Bea’s Bran Muffins

#100milemarch update

Weekend happenings: hello, Spring!

Chicken and Peppers with Goat Cheese

Currently: Top Five Food Buys

I can’t stay away

Friday Favorites: skits, shoes, soup

#100milemarch + vulnerability

Velvet Taco and The Chopping Block