the weekend of 9 miles.

this weekend was filled with friends + fun {ok, and some schoolwork too}. the perfect mix, no?

Saturday:

This Saturday started off early with a trip to the annual sale at Sunrift Adventures in little ol’ Travelers Rest, SC. Isn’t that the cutest name for a town? It literally got its name from being a rest for travelers before they went on a bit north where you come to the mountains. It’s also because travelers would have to wait here during the winter before the snow cleared and they could pass over the mountains into North Carolina. Pretty cool.

At the sale, I planned to look for a bike. My apartment {on campus} is pretty far from main campus this year {about 1.2 miles. which sounds close, but it’s the farthest you can be from academic buildings for my lil’ school. the backyard of our building is the gate to leave hah}, so I was looking for a bike to make the morning commute a little less painful. Unfortunately, all the bikes were considerably more than I was looking for. Oh. Guess I’ll be looking at Walmart or some garage sales.

After breakfast we headed over to The Forest Coffeehouse for some coffee to wake up. My treat to thank the boys for waking up before 9 on a Saturday! A feat in itself.

  

A little later in the day, we drove to Whole Foods + Trader Joe’s for some groceries and some lunch! Yummmmmm. I’m a total sucker for the Whole Foods prepared foods sections. Can y’all resist? This plate is a total mish mash- strawberries, lettuce, roasted peppers, buffalo tofu {legitimately delicious, probably the best tofu I’ve ever had. My meat-eating boy was actually the one who suggested it. So, that’s a good sign} quinoa salad, and a little apple crisp because either A) I have no self control or B) I hadn’t eaten yet and had no discretion in loading my plate up. {answer is actually A and B}. Everything was delicious. I felt so spoiled, enjoying a classy meal, on a beautiful day, with a bunch of great friends.

We stopped to see some puppies…these were 5 days old. My heart melted into mush for these little guys!

Workout happened later in the day, as a study break. Some biking, elliptical, arc and then a barbell circuit with the boy.

Saturday night, we headed out to support our Furman Paladins Men’s Soccer team against College of Charleston. The game turned out to be SUPER suspenseful, tied at 0-0 at the end of both halves. We went into overtime, and within 4 minutes, a freshman scored the winning goal. It was even more awesome considering they had just put him in for OT and it was his first appearance of the season. Woo! Go ‘dins!

Sunday:

   

A full breakfast…oats with a little granola for crunch, mini apple, apple cider vinegar, and my  beloved coffee.

 

Then I headed downtown for some church time with the boy. We’re currently in the process of figuring out which church we’d like to belong to in Greenville. So far Christ Church, and Renewal have been great, but we’re going to try a few more out settling on our final decision.

 

After heading back to school, I made myself a little lunch in the apartment. Veggies, black bean burger, and plenty of hummus. Those cherry tomatoes have my heart.

 

Afternoon snack- greek yogurt for some protein and granola for some carbs.. I was fueling up ….

Because I was about to go run 9 miles! My farthest distance yet. I still can’t really believe it happened… but I am so so happy I did it!

 

Mid run photos never turn out too well….

The run was a LOT harder than my 8 miler last week. For almost the entire run, my legs felt tired and I really had to drag them along. Maybe it’s from a bit too much activity this week? Maybe I was dehydrated? I’ll have to reassess for my next long run!

Anywho- I finished it! And felt like a champ!

After my run, I quickly showered and dress {a challenge when my legs felt like collapsing} and headed over to the Vista House {an intentional Christian community} for their Sunday night $4 dinner. It was amazing {and mostly local/seasonal :)} as expected. Rice and beans, salad, homemade bread, and some avocado.

When I got back from dinner, I did a little {we’re talking MINIMAL} more homework, then got up to some tomfoolery. Mostly taking selfies, eating some cookie dough {hey I ran 9 miles! I got to reward my bod a little!}, wearing my compression socks, and cuddling with the roommate and boy. It was the perfect end to the weekend!

Can’t wait to see what this week brings!

lately.

shots and summaries of the last few days:

Saturday-

^my amazing twin brother (who is a US Marine!) was home for the past week, so the weekend was spent focusing on him. We only get to see him ~2 times a year so we have to take advantage when we can! On Saturday morning we were supposed to go skydiving (at Skydive Long Island) but unfortunately the weather prevented us! The staff was extremely nice and helpful, but weather can’t be changed.

Since we were already there (about ~1 hour from our house) we went out for a family breakfast and then went to the Riverhead Tanger Outlets for some shoppinggggggggg 🙂 (can you tell I like to shop?!). I love the outlets because the deals are so great that I don’t end up having post-shopping guilt ha!^

Sunday-

 

^On Sunday our old piano teacher (Jack Licitra- check out his music at artspharmacy.com) came over with his adorable son Brian! We played around and then gave him some old toys- Playmobile anyone? We have soooooo many toys in this house, and it makes me so happy when we’re able to give them to a child who wants them!

The rest of the day was spent family-ing and enjoying the brother on his last night home. Great times with him, can’t wait till we’re reunited!^

Monday-

^Monday was off to my second week of class… and  my enthusiasm was definitely lacking. Sigh. I guess that’s what happens when you take Organic Chemistry over the summer. At least it will be over in 30 days – for better or for worse!^

^my snacks/eats from the school day. I have to take things that are portable and easy to pack so here I have veggie burger sandwich, apple, kombucha, and coconut water. I usually workout while I’m over at school (in addition to biking back and forth) so I need that coconut water to restore my energy and fuel me, especially in the middle of this heat wave!^

^dinner last night, a classic mish mosh. Veggie meatballs, bell pepper, kale, onions, nutritional yeast and hummus. yummy vegan goodness!^

^a sneak peak of a little recipe I made last night! Check in tonight for the details!^

a new take on the hummus plate.

One of the main reasons I started this blog, was to share my passion for healthy living. As long as I can remember, I have been interested in the idea of eating healthy, but it wasn’t really until my senior year of high school that I began to learn what “healthy living” actually meant. NOT “low fat” “diet” foods, but real, whole, unprocessed foods; lean protein, and plenty of carbs!

I have also been a vegetarian for 6 years, and am now a vegan. My focus is eating a plant-based whole foods diet, and I believe it’s the best way there is to eat! I’m sure I’ll rant more in the future about veganism and my reasons…but for now I just wanted to share a delicious snack I put together this afternoon.

Hummus and veggies (or any other vehicle that can be used to give me hummus) are a big staple in my diet. Not to mess with the classics, but I thought I’d try a different take on it today.

Recipe: Roasted Vegetables and Hummus

I’m not sure if this can really be justified as a recipe, but I enjoyed it so much I wanted to share!

Ingredients:

1-2 cups of any vegetables you like- I used bell peppers and romaine but almost anything would work!

1/2 TBS olive oil (or sunflower/safflower/coconut- whatever you like!)

1/4 cup hummus

optional: cayenne pepper, basil, cumin..anything you like to mix it up!

I started by chopping all the veggies and tossing them into a griddle pan (is that what it’s called? a grill pan?..) with a little bit of olive oil

I threw the peppers in first, because they take a little longer to cook

From the start to finish they cooked for 10 minutes, and were perfectly soft!

About 5 minutes in, I added the romaine.

It gave it just enough time to get some grill action and heat, but not all burned up!

Before I grabbed the veggies out of the pan, I sprinkled some cayenne pepper on top for an extra spark!

Add some hummus and and a plate…and.. the finished product! I enjoyed this so much- a mix up on a classic snack. The romaine was especially delicious, I’ll have to do this more often!