Long posting ahead!

I'm so impressed with all of the bloggers out there who many to post upwards of two and three times per day! Although I did post earlier today, it was a late posting about yesterday... so I really wanted to make sure that I actually posted about today, today!!!

This morning I got up with just a few minutes to spare before heading off to the gym, where I was planning to go to the morning spinning class. I quickly made some coffee with a splash of soy milk, and sat down to check email/my blog while I downed my caffeine. I was sooo pleasantly surprised and excited to find that I had gotten a lot of great responses to my blog! I'm not sure how soon bloggers typically develop a solid reader base, but I have a feeling it takes quite a while. So, when I received some emails about my blog I was quite pleased :)

Unfortunately, I was so excited about all of this that I left for the gym much later than I should have. By the time I got to the gym, although I was only about 3 minutes late, the class was already full :( Now, for the longest time I have hate a "hateful" relationship with spinning! I would go to class just because I knew it was good for me - basically it was a less injury-prone exercise that was good for cross-training on my non-running days. But recently, after finding some awesome, exuberant spinning instructors that make class a lot of fun, I have changed the status of my relationship with spinning to "love/hate". Hey, baby steps right?

But regardless of my newfound appreciation for spinning, I was secretly a bit happy that the class was full! I inwardly breathed a sigh of relief, and then went to do the hip abductor machine. I continued to do a few other weight machines, and relished in the fact that I had escaped an hour of long, torturous spinning class. However, I happened to look up only to see that an older couple was leaving the spinning room!!! I actually struck up a conversation with them and found out that it was their first class and that they enjoyed it, but that it was harder than they thought and also that they "had to leave to get ready for a party in a few hours". Haha, yeah, that's what we all say!! I am constantly inviting reasons in my head why I need to leave spinning class early ;)

I went back and forth for a few seconds, and then decided that I may as well suck it up and go back to the class - since there was finally a seat for me - and therefore there were no excuses not to! I typically go to the Tuesday and Satuday classes but had never been on a Sunday morning, and I found that I really liked the instructor today. In the end, although it is always a pretty intense workout, I was definitely glad that I stuck it out!

After spinning class was over, I hopped onto one of the reclining bikes and did 20 minutes. Then, a few more minutes doing weight machines and some crunches, and then called my dad from the gym...

A bit of background info: my grandmother, as of yesterday, has been in the hospital for a heart arrythmia, pneumonia, kidney problems, and possibly some other issues, and once my dad had to go back to work tonight he called to see if I could go to stay with my grandpa while my grandma stayed in the hospital. The plan was for me to stay a couple days - until my grandma got back from the hospital - so after I left the gym I went to the grocery store to get a couple vegetarian staples to bring with me, since my grandparents are GREAT people - but definitely not the healthiest eaters!! I went back to the condo to get packed up and to say goodbye to Mike for a couple days, only to find out that the plans had changed and that my dad was going to be staying with my grandpa for another couple days, so I didn't have to make the trek to Mishawaka, IN (which is a few hours by train and car).

Since I was then free to follow my original plan for the day, I made us a quick breakfast before Mike and I left to go to his parents' house for the day. Now, I should mention that when I came back from the gym, Mike SPECIFICALLY requested this particular breakfast. That is how good it is... despite the fact that I'm sure there will be many skeptics out there when I tell you what the "secret" ingredient is!!!

All of you food bloggers out there are very familiar with the Green Monster smoothie, but for my friends and fam who aren't, this is how I make it:

Morning mix: 1 cup vanilla soy milk, a few handfuls of spinach, half a scoop of Jay Robb's chocolate whey protein powder, 2 T. of PB2, and some ice - blend until ALL of the spinach is completely blended.

When I have it later in the day, I usually make a similar smoothie but since I don't always need to protein powder at that time, I make it instead with soy milk, spinach, and a banana, forgoing the PB2 and protein powder. But, I've tried many combos and it turns out great every time!

I have been making these GM's for a while now and I am so proud to have hooked Mike on them too. Even better, one of our friends from IU, Matt, crashed at our place last night after a late night, and he was fortunate enough to sample my GM for breakfast too :) I'm happy to report that he liked it! For those of you who have never had the joy of slurping down an ice-cold Green Monster, you CANNOT taste the spinach AT ALL if you do it right!! Just blend, blend, blend away.

Off to the in-laws house: when we got there, Yaya (my Greek grandmother-in-law) had prepared some vegetarian dolmades for me, which typically are stuffed grape leaves, but she used cabbage instead of the grape leaves. I don't have the picture of her version, but here is a pic off the internet:



I also had some of Yaya's pizza - and here is the delightful Yaya posing with me, sporting her "Anthony L" apron:

We spent most of the afternoon outside on the patio - it was a gorgeous day!! - and getting very excited for our upcoming weekend in LAS VEGAS!! We will be staying at the Monte Carlo. I am of course incredibly psyched for the unlimited, endless buffets, and you will be sure that I will be taking pix for you all to drool over! ;)

Later that night, I had some salad - compliments of Yaya - and some delicious BBQ shrimp that my father-in-law put on the grill for me. A little while after dinner, I wanted to weird out :) the family by making them Green Monsters. Suprisingly, they all seemed to love it!!!! It could be a charade - but I'm pretty sure they actually really liked it. Most everyone asked for seconds, which is always a good sign ;) I forgot to take a picture of this GM, however. I also enjoyed a bowl full of cherries and blueberries.

Once Mike and I returned to the South Loop later that evening, I cut us a couple pears, which were juicy, cold and delicious. A bit later I was of course craving another GM (the banana kind this time), which hit the spot, but I wasn't quite satisfied until I completed the day's snacking by having a Chocolate Raspberry Luna Bar which is VERY YUM!! Alright, I am going to go post this and cross my fingers that I do a better job posting the pictures this time - although I already know that one of them will be sideways and not right-side-up - I'm learning! :)