Just a Little Bit Different

Hello there! How is everyone doing? Honestly, I'm not so good. Every time I've eaten something today, I've gotten a horrible pain in my stomach and nausea! It's not pleasant. It started out with my breakfast, which was delicious, but not so much so about 20 minutes later... 

I started out my day with a 2 mile run on the treadmill (pace: 9:00 min/mile) and then a workout with my trainer! When I got back I showered, started laundry, and made a smoothie! In the mix: 1 fresh peach, 1/2 frozen banana, a couple stray frozen strawberries, 1/2 cup almond milk, 2 cups spinach, 1 tbsp flax, 1 packet of truvia, 1 scoop protein power and 1/4 tsp coconut extract. 

So far I've tried eating some ginger Cat Cookies (didn't work) and some yogurt with blueberries and honey... again, painful. My biggest worry is that I have my KD Alumni dinner tonight! I don't want to sit there in pain! 

So now that I've griped out my stomach issues enough for one day, I actually had some interesting thoughts sparked by my workout this morning with my trainer. We've been getting to know each other a bit and she mentioned today that she doesn't drink much and not really into "going out" anymore. This started a conversation about how we both prefer feeling healthy and not spending all day hungover, over going out and drinking on the weekends. It was so nice to finally talk to someone who had the same perspective that I do! 

This conversation got me thinking on my walk home: that it's okay to be a little bit different. One thing that I've struggled with here in Chicago is making friends, and a big part of that is I don't like heading out at 10pm and drinking until 3 or 4 am. That seems to be everyone's plans on the weekend and I found myself passing on invitations more and more frequently as 1L year went on. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for a serious night out for a special occasion and with the right people, just not all the time. I found that I couldn't focus on any school work the whole next day after going out - and I basically would feel like crap! (HOW did I do this in college??)

I jokingly refer to myself as a self-proclaimed grandma, early to bed and early to rise. Although I try and make it funny, I often feel bad or guilty that I'm not like everyone else. Mostly that I'm not "embracing my youth." People have told me to just go "out of my box" and push myself to go out with people even if I don't want to. I tried doing this for a while, and I just didn't enjoy it. Then when I stopped going out I felt bad about myself, the whole predicament gave me anxiety: either go out and be unhappy, or stay in doing what I like to do and feel guilty.

Source

Then I found blogs. I started reading about other people who put having a healthy lifestyle and their fitness at the top of their priorities. Other "grandmas" were emerging from the woodwork and I couldn't believe it! Reading these blogs has made me realize that I'm not a freak - there are plenty of other women my age who are just like me! The problem: I need to find them in MY life and not all across the country!

The biggest thing I've taken from this realization is that I just need to be me, and hopefully everything else will fall into place. If I keep doing activities that make me happy, hopefully I'll meet other people who like doing the same thing and living the same healthy lifestyle. I've realized that some things are just more important to me than being like everyone else.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? Any ways that you feel "different" from everyone else but are trying to embrace? 

Hunger Games = Addiction

Gooooooood Morning!

Here is my workout schedule for this week:

To start off my day, I headed to the gym for some cardio and a full-body workout. Usually I just do my upper body or lower body on strength training days, but since tomorrow I am working out with my trainer and I know she'll be getting everything, I didn't want one area to be particularly sore!

For my workout, I did my usual strength training routine:

10 min cardio
15-20 min strength
10 min cardio
15-20 min strength
10 min cardio
Stretch + Abs

On days when I have less time, I'll do shorter strength training circuits or cut out some of the last cardio interval, but on days when I have a lot of time I tend to be there forever! I really like strength training and can get a little distracted... Today I ended up spending extra time strength training, so I cut the last cardio to 5 min so I could get out of there on time.

After my workout, I headed home to shower and eat breakfast! Today I made a simple smoothie with 1 cup frozen strawberries, 1/2 frozen banana, 1/2 cup almond milk, 2 cups spinach, 1 packet Truvia, 1 scoop vanilla protein powder and 1 tbsp ground flax.

Today wasn't too chilly, so a smoothie was just perfect!

Now on to my new addiction: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I tend to have issues when it comes to series or similar books - if I like one, I have to read ALL of them. For example: Harry Potter series, Shopoholic series, all books written by Jodi Picoult, Redwall series, and even some from childhood: Boxcar Children, Babysitters Club... You get the idea. I love stories that never end! I guess I get too "involved."

Everyone seems to have heard of the Hunger Games at this point. My book club is discussing it in a couple weeks so I decided to finally buy it and dig in. Starting out, I actually had no idea what the book was about - I didn't even read the back cover! Let's just say I was pleasantly surprised!

I really love that the book is based in a world that is not what we live in - it's not mythical necessarily but seems to refer more to the future than anything, or at least an alternative to how we live, since it's clearly supposed to be in America (references to the Rockies, the coal mining area across the country). I don't want to reveal too much because I really enjoyed getting to read it from a fresh perspective, but the author really made me fall in love with the characters.

Also, I was hooked not just because I was dying to know what happens to everyone, but because the book is written in such an anticipatory manner! The rules of the "game" itself lead you to understand that anything could change at a moment, but the book itself felt that way as well. The author didn't lay out exactly how the games took place until the characters reached each point in the process and that made it much more interesting. This definitely wasn't the kind of book where you know how it's going to end before you even begin.

Ah! I can't even write this review because I'm so excited about it! It was a great look at the reality of human kind and what a person will do for survival, but also what a person will do for someone else. I highly recommend this book and I've already ordered the next two in the series! P.S. It's going to be a movie!!! Haha, okay, okay, I'm getting carried away. But I love reading books that get me so excited and remind me why I love reading in the first place!

What are your favorite books or book series? Do you think reading is a waste of time in another reality, or a great way to stretch your brain and your view of the world you live in? 

Rainy Run and "Grown Up" Cooking

This morning was my long-run, 6 miles on the schedule again! I checked the weather before I left and it said it wasn't supposed to rain until 2 or 3pm. Much to my surprise, it was sprinkling at 7:15am! I figured, oh it must be one cloud, I'll just run and I'm sure it will stop. 

It didn't. 

By the end of my 6 miles I was wet and frozen - so I just kept running home! I slowed down to a jog but I didn't want to walk much because I was cold and wet and just wanted to get home! 

The run was actually very interesting though, because I didn't realize that there was a run happening on my usual path this morning. It was the Newton Ready to Run 20-miler, which is a run used to help marathon trainers get in that long run! I ran against the crowd (it was pretty thinned out) for the first 3.2 miles and then turned around and joined them! The bad part is that I would speed up to pass big pacing groups, so I kinda out did myself at the beginning and my legs were sore and exhausted for the last two. I pushed through though and finished the 6.36 miles in 56:56! 

Here's my mile by mile breakdown (and YES I finally figured out how to do this):

mile 1 - 9:07

mile 2 - 8:46

mile 3 - 8:48

mile 4 - 8:48

mile 5 - 9:05 <-- starting to feel it here

mile 6 - 9:03

last 0.36 miles - 9:13

So happy to be done and heading home! 

Not so pumped about my frozen hands...

When I got back I stretched, rolled and hit the shower! Then it was smoothie time! I figured I'd want some oatmeal since I was so cold, but I'd warmed up a bit by breakfast time and for some reason I feel like my workout is never complete without a smoothie! Today I made a peach banana smoothie. In the mix: 2 big handfuls of spinach, 1/2 cup almond milk, 1/2 frozen banana, 1 frozen peach (from the farmers market!), 1 scoop vanilla protein powder, 1/4 tsp coconut extract and 1 packet truvia!

Mix-ins included the rest of my Multi-Grain Joe's O's, some freeze dried bananas from TJ's, and another great Trader Joe's find: a couple Cat Cookies! My best friend is obsessed with these cookies, so when I saw the ginger ones (she prefers chocolate) I had to get some!

Later on in the day, I decided to go ahead and make something I've been wanting to try and that will be part of my lunches this week: Butternut Squash Fries! I got the recipe from Chelsey on Clean Eating Chelsey. A ton of her recipes look great and I've been dying to try them out! 

First I had to peel the outside of the squash - I thought it looked so pretty with the green lines!

Then I sliced it in half (again - so pretty!) and then into fourths. I scooped out the insides and then cut them up into "fry" sized pieces. This was much more difficult than I anticipated - my arm was working hard to chop through the squash! 

I put them in a baggie with the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, garlic powder and salt. Then I tossed around the bag to let it all mix together... 

CHAOS ENSUED. My bag broke open (okay, I was getting a little crazy) so I had to clean that up. But it was all good. I let it marinade for 20 minutes, and then cooked them on a piece of tin foil on my "grill", which is a mini grill that you plug in. They turned out delicious! Can't wait to eat them this week! 

I also tried a little something new for dinner! I made a salmon quesidilla and some stir-fried veggies! I had some leftover salmon from my lunch last week so I thought I'd throw it into a quesidilla! I used some chopped onions and cheese that I had left as well and put them on the new Ezekial tortillas I decided to try from Whole Foods. I microwaved this for 2 min.

As a side, I was going to just steam my chopped onion, squash and broccoli slaw, but I decided that I would get a little more "grown up" and cook them on the stove top! I added some garlic powder, salt, balsamic vinegar and olive oil and tossed them in a pan. The dinner was really good! I scarfed it right down! 

Have you tried out any new recipes recently? Or started to try and cook more "grown up" for those of you fellow recent college grads? Haha or older...

Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall!

Today was definitely a little mix of saying goodbye to summer and hello to fall! There were warm delicious oats for the fall, and there was a great game of Cubs baseball to send-off the summer! 

This morning I woke up and headed straight to the farmers market. I ended up getting a TON of apples, some bell peppers, sweet potatoes, and plenty of peaches!

When I got home, I decided to make some peach oatmeal:

Ingredients: 

1 peach (cubed)

1/2 cup oats

1/2 cup almond milk

1/2 cup water

1/4 tsp vanilla

1 tsp crumbled walnuts

cinnamon to taste

To make my oats, I started with just the oats, milk and water on the stove top. I added in half the cubed peaches and tried to squish them up a bit. Then I added the cinnamon and vanilla to the oats. While they were cooking, I whisked around the peaches so they broke down and mixed in with the oats. 

Once enough liquid had evaporated, I poured the oats into a bowl and added the walnuts and the second half of the peach to the top! Mixing in the peach definitely added a great texture and taste to the oats! Perfect for a chilly fall morning. 

After my delicious breakfast, I got a little schoolwork done and then headed out to meet my brother and sister-in-law to head up to Wrigleyville for the Cubs game! 

We went to a bar that was supposed to be called Harry Caray's, however, it had apparently been purchased and was re-named Club 162. Either way, it was right next to Wrigley Field and was a bar so it worked for us! Harry Caray was a famous sports broadcaster that covered several teams during his career, but his last two were the White Sox and then the Cubs. He was well known for singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the 7th inning stretch. Thus, we had wanted to go to the Harry Caray bar, since it was a landmark... haha or not. Although there is still another Harry Caray bar further downtown. 

After the bar, we headed over to the field to watch the game! It was a lot colder out than I expected and almost the whole stadium, including us, was in the shade. I'm sure during the summer that's a blessing, but today it made the game freezing!

We had a great view though, thanks Harrison for the tickets! I ended up getting a Vienna hot dog, which is apparently famous here in Chicago. I'm not much into eating hot dogs since I know what's in them... but since it was a Chicago classic I had to have one - and it was great! I was also sure to get it "Chicago Style" with mustard, relish and onions. NO ketchup!

The Cubs ended up beating the Houston Astros, so it was a good game to watch! Although I must say, some members of the crowd near us had a few too many beers and were a bit more entertaining than the game to watch. 

My first Cubs game was the perfect way to send off the summer! Although, my brother argued that September is still a summer month to him, but I feel like with school starting, cool temperatures, and all the great fall produce that it's already fall. 

When do you think Fall starts? Do you stick with the calendar, or go with the weather and the overall feeling of the season? 

Food for Knee Pain??

Happy Friday everyone!! Last night and Tuesday night, I had another great PB Fingers recipe for dinner: Sausage-Stuffed Acorn Squash!

I didn't have sausage, so I used ground turkey instead. Started off by browning by ground turkey:

Then I added in mushrooms, onions, and some kale along with a little olive oil and chopped garlic. 

While that was going, I used the microwave method to cook my acorn squash. I usually cook it in the oven, so I was a bit skeptical. It took mine a lot longer than the 5 minutes that Julie suggested, but it turned out well! I microwaved it for 4 minutes whole, and then flipped it over and did another 4. When I cut it open, I saw it needed a little more time, so I put it back in for another 3 minutes.

I put it all in the fridge (I did this all Tuesday morning when I had some time) and then when it was dinner time I added some cheese to the top and baked it for 8 minutes, per Julie's instructions. However, since mine had been in the fridge for so long, I ended up just sticking it in the microwave for about 3 minutes... Haha you've got to adapt! It was delicious! Perfect for a Fall evening.

Not the best photo - but it was really good! 

This morning was the first morning all week that I didn't have to be up and exercising right away. I decided to make myself some pumpkin oats!

In the mix: 1/3 cup oats, 2/3 cup water (I was out of milk...), 1/3 cup pumpkin (added in at the last min on the stove), cinnamon, and then topped off with some raisins, walnuts and a bit of PB! Perfect for a chilly morning!

I didn't workout right away because I had an 11 o'clock session with my new trainer! My old trainer left a couple weeks ago, so I started training with a new one today. I've always trained with guys so I was interested to see how it would go with a female trainer. I actually really enjoyed working out with her because she also ran and had a lot of great advice for weights that helped with running.

Honestly, I had seen her around the gym and was a little intimidated to workout with her. I thought to myself why and realized that I tend to be intimidated by athletic girls because back when I was younger I was... haha, not so athletic. When playing sports, the girls who were actually good weren't so kind to me. But she really surprised me! Remember, don't judge a book by it's cover! I also find it a little funny because I forget that when people see me now, they probably wouldn't believe that I was the awkward chubby girl growing up! Ok, well the awkward part still stands.

When I got back, it was time for a protein smoothie, and today I tried out a new recipe: my Super Green Protein Smoothie!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup milk
1 frozen banana
huge handfuls of spinach and kale!
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1 packet truvia
1/4 tsp coconut extract (I could really taste it! delicious!)
1 tbsp Chia Seeds

I was going through some old articles that I had saved to read a couple weeks ago, and I came across one that I thought might be helpful to all of you runners out there! I used to have a lot of knee pain, and still have a little, so I was intrigued when I saw that there are certain foods you can eat to help reduce knee pain. Everydayhealth.com had an article called "What To Eat to Beat Knee Pain" (creative title, I know) written by Jan Sheehan, a Denver based freelance writer and editor specializing in health, fitness, nutrition and wellness.

So what foods did she suggest?

Fish: because of their omega-3 fatty acids, fish are a natural inflammatory, which will help calm knee soreness.
Orange Juice: orange juice is such a good source of vitamin C, which guards against knee osteoarthritis (other good sources of vitamin C: green peppers (!! had no idea!), grapefruit, and strawberries).
Spinach: researchers found that getting high amounts of the antioxidants in spinach can help relieve the knee pain caused by osteoarthritis.
Onions: onions are a good source of quercetin, which also has strong anti-inflammatory properties (other good sources of quercetin: apples, red grapes and tea).
Curry: tumeric, a spice used in curry, contains curcumin which is also a powerful anti-inflammatory
Ginger: again, a good anti-inflammatory. also good for relieving an upset stomach! Or just eating plain... Yes, I'm odd, I bought pickled ginger like they have at sushi restaurants at World Market...
Avoid Refined Carbohydrates: we all know to avoid them because they are mostly sugar and empty calories, but research has found diets high in refined carbs can increase inflammation

One of my goals is to eat more fish! Especially salmon since omega-3s are so good for you in so many ways! I should put that on the lunch or dinner list soon...

Questions for YOU!

Sorry for the absence yesterday, it was a long day at school and I had to choose getting reading done over blogging! Haha - School first!

So the past couple days it's started to get chilly, and last night when I was heading home from school, this had to happen:

The gloves have officially come out! It's just too cold!!!

For yesterday's workout, I took a break from running and headed to the gym! I did a lower body strength training workout, with cardio switched in. This is where I do 10 minutes on the elliptical, 15-20 min strength, 10 min elliptical 15-20 min strength, and then end with 10 minutes of cardio. I love these workouts because it makes the time pass quickly and jumping back and forth keeps my heart rate going!

When I'm doing the weight machines, I usually pick two machines that work different parts of my legs and switch back and forth with no break in between, doing 3 sets on each machine, 15 reps each set. For example, I would switch back and forth between hamstring curls and leg extensions.

When I got back it was time for a shower and then a smoothie! It was a little cold for a smoothie - but I was DYING for one! I guess I want to fit them in before it gets too cold! So I made a delicious Berry Protein Smoothie!

This morning I was awake pretty early... Ok so I was laying there since about 3am. So finally at 5:15 I got up and decided to do my run before yoga (I had planned on doing it after since I was going to a 6:30 class rather than an 8:00 class). However, my garmin foiled my plans! I had intended to run 3 miles but I had to stand there waiting for it to "find" a satellite and it took over 8 minutes! It was ridiculous! I could only fit in 2.41 miles and that was running straight back to my front door!

It was about 50 degrees when I headed out and I sure wish I brought gloves. At least I had the good sense not to head down to the lake front - it was pretty windy! I couldn't read my garmin well when I was running since it was so dark, but I felt like I was flying! Perhaps because I was so numb I couldn't feel a thing! However, I was pretty disappointed and confused to get back and see that my pace was 9.02 min/mile. I was pretty confused because I felt like I'd been really moving!

However, I then plugged in my time and my mileage online, and it told me my pace was 8:45 min/mile! I think I must have done something weird with my Garmin because I looked at it again and it told me I had taken 27 minutes... which I know isn't true because I would have been really late then! Frustrating morning!

But I made it to yoga, and back home, and now it's time for breakfast! I decided I wanted a smoothie, but I was out of bananas, so I came up with a new concoction: Creamy Strawberry Milkshake Smoothie! (lol, I already have a strawberry milkshake smoothie - but this one is better!)

Ingredients
1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 cup fat free cottage cheese
approx 1 and 1/2 cups frozen strawberries
1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder (I have a big scooper...)
1 tbsp Chia seeds
1/4 tsp xantham gum
1 packet truvia

It really was like a strawberry milkshake! I think the cottage cheese helped with that - and I didn't add spinach so it had such a pretty pink color!

Okay everyone. Brace yourselves. Now I have some questions for you! Clearly I had a somewhat confusing and frustrating morning, so I would LOVE your comments to help me out!

1. Has anyone else had trouble sleeping in the past? I fall asleep fine but then wake up practically every hour and by about 4 - that's it. I'm awake for good! I've been like this for a week and it's getting exhausting! Suggestions? I tried Melatonin one night but it didn't help at all! 


2. Have any of you had trouble getting your Garmin's GPS to work? Is this a city thing? I bought it because my iPhone's GPS wasn't working and now I'm frustrated that it's just as bad! 


3. How do you feel about blogger? I've been wanting to switch to wordpress because someone told me it's easier for people to comment. Any thoughts from other bloggers (or commenters) out there? Also, I tried switching with instructions to keep my permalinks - but couldn't figure it out! Help! 


4. What exciting plans do you all have for the weekend?!? I'm lucky enough to not have classes Friday, so mine starts tomorrow! 

Please leave comments - I would really appreciate your feedback!

Celebrity Sightings!

This morning, my weekly workout schedule said it was time for a 4 mile run and hot yoga! 

My run was gorgeous - I got out there bright and early and watched the sun rise over the lake! 

My run went pretty well. Since it was my third running day in a row, I decided to try and slow it down a bit. I ended up running 4 miles in just under 36 minutes for a 9:02 min/mile pace. I've decided that the Hal Higdon plan is just not going to work for me. He has me running 5 days a week and since my knees don't really handle that very well and I was recently out on an IT band injury, I've decided to follow the SmartCoach plan, which spreads out my runs better. 

Here is my plan for my 10 mile on November 12th:

Wk	Date	Mon	Tues	Weds	Thurs	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total
1	9/12 9/18	Rest / XT	Easy Run Dist: 2 mi @10:13	Rest / XT	Tempo Run Dist: 5 mi, inc Warm; 3 mi @ 8:39; Cool	Rest / XT	Rest / XT	Long Run Dist: 6 mi @10:13	13 miles
2	9/19 9/25	Rest / XT	Easy Run Dist: 2 mi @10:13	Rest / XT	Speedwork Dist: 5 mi, inc Warm; 2x1600 in 8:10 w/800 jogs; Cool	Rest / XT	Rest / XT	Long Run Dist: 6 mi @10:13	13 miles
3	9/26 10/2	Rest / XT	Easy Run Dist: 2 mi @10:13	Rest / XT	Tempo Run Dist: 5 mi, inc Warm; 3 mi @ 8:39; Cool	Rest / XT	Rest / XT	Long Run Dist: 7 mi @10:13	14 miles
4	10/3 10/9	Rest / XT	Easy Run Dist: 2 mi @10:13	Rest / XT	Tempo Run Dist: 6 mi, inc Warm; 4 mi @ 8:43; Cool	Rest / XT	Rest / XT	Long Run Dist: 7 mi @10:13	15 miles
5	10/10 10/16	Rest / XT	Easy Run Dist: 4 mi @10:06	Rest / XT	Easy Run Dist: 3 mi @10:06	Rest / XT	Rest / XT	Easy Run Dist: 4 mi @10:06	11 miles
6	10/17 10/23	Rest / XT	Easy Run Dist: 2 mi @10:06	Rest / XT	Speedwork Dist: 7 mi, inc Warm; 3x1600 in 8:05 w/800 jogs; Cool	Rest / XT	Rest / XT	Long Run Dist: 8 mi @10:06	17 miles
7	10/24 10/30	Rest / XT	Easy Run Dist: 2 mi @10:06	Rest / XT	Tempo Run Dist: 6 mi, inc Warm; 4 mi @ 8:38; Cool	Easy Run Dist: 2 mi @10:06	Rest / XT	Long Run Dist: 8 mi @10:06	18 miles
8	10/31 11/6	Rest / XT	Easy Run Dist: 2 mi @10:06	Rest / XT	Tempo Run Dist: 7 mi, inc Warm; 5 mi @ 8:43; Cool	Easy Run Dist: 2 mi @10:06	Rest / XT	Long Run Dist: 9 mi @10:06	20 miles
9	11/7 11/13	Rest / XT	Easy Run Dist: 2 mi @10:00	Rest / XT	Speedwork Dist: 8 mi, inc Warm; 4x1600 in 8:00 w/800 jogs; Cool	Easy Run Dist: 2 mi @10:00	Rest / XT	Long Run Dist: 9 mi @10:00	21 miles
10	11/14 11/20	Rest / XT	Easy Run Dist: 2 mi @10:13	Rest / XT	Tempo Run Dist: 5 mi, inc Warm; 3 mi @ 8:39; Cool	Rest / XT	Rest / XT	Race Day Dist: 10 Miles @8:30 Time: 1:25:08	17 miles

It seems to have a lot more cross training and less back-to-back running, which works better for me. After my run I headed to hot yoga, and then home for a smoothie! In the mix: 2 cups spinach, 1 cup frozen strawberries, 1/2 frozen banana, 1 tbsp Chia seeds, 1 truvia packet, 1 scoop vanilla protein powder and 1/2 cup almond milk. I always feel like I'm forgetting something when I list off the ingredients... 

So what about these celebrity sightings??

Yesterday, my law school hosted Justice Breyer from the United States Supreme Court!!! 

Hahaha, okay, I'm sure most of you have never even heard of the man. But when you're a law student and you hear about his opinions, see films of his debates in class and read his written opinions (from trials) in your book, you think this is pretty darn cool.

view from the over flow room...

He gave a great talk (which I had to watch in an "over-flow" room) and there was a reception afterwards! I had two classes cancelled just because of his visit! Granted, this left me with an awkward 5 hour break in the middle of the day... 

My second celebrity sighting was Cate from Good For You! It turns out her sister is my sorority sister! Once I figured out the connection, I had to try and meet up with her! She had recently moved here to Chicago and has loved the city!

We met up at Sultan's Market, which is really close to my apartment, but I'd never been! It's a middle eastern restaurant with very authentic food, and other products that they sell. Honestly, I was a bit scared. I wasn't sure if it was somewhere I could just walk in and pick up, or if it was a sit-down place... But I mentioned it to Cate and we decided to go!

We went to the Lincoln Park location, but their original location is in Wicker Park and, according to Cate, much larger. They are a family-owned restaurant that opened in Chicago past twelve years ago. I decided to get the falafel sandwich. I forgot to take a picture (per usual...) but it was absolutely delicious! I gobbled that thing right up!

Haha, mine didn't look quite this pretty, or big, but you get the idea. Cate also got the falafel sandwich - she'd tried it before and loved it! I had a great time chatting with Cate. It was so nice to get to hang out with someone who has a lot of the same interests and we have a mutual friend/sister! Cate and I are hoping to meet up again to try out some other great places to eat around Chicago - I'm hoping to find a fun food tour, so look forward to that! 

I managed to get one iPhone selfie of us... lol but clearly my eyes were a bit squinty! That's what I get for a photo looking into the sun... I try. 

Have you met or seen any new or interesting people lately? Or tried any new foods? What I love about blogging is that it's a great way to connect with people and meet new friends!