Day 5 without a camera: The Big Fat Greek Kids Birthday Party

Hi everyone! Today was a beautiful day in Chicago! I slept in a bit which was fabulous - it's surprising how little sleep I've been getting this summer. During the working school year I always plan to get a good 8+ hours a night, but once summer rolled around I started slacking in this area, and it has been great to catch up the last couple of days.

I quickly ate a banana while checking my email, made Mike a Green Monster per his request, and then went to the gym for spinning class.

I haven't been to spinning in weeks, and part of me was dreading it - spinning always kicks my butt in a major way! It's always amazing that I can run an easy 10 miles, but will huff and puff my way through an hour-long spin class. However, though it started a bit tough, today's class was great! I felt as if I had an abundance of energy that sustained me through the class, which was noticeably different from the last few times I attended spinning. I can tell that "cleaning up" my diet is definitely helping my workouts!

Then I snacked on another huge, avocado salad, this time made with avocado, carrots, homemade dressing, spinach, and turnip greens. This was my first time buying turnip greens (I got them by accident!) and they worked out ok. They were a bit tougher than spinach, but not as thick as kale. I probably would prefer spinach for its milder flavor, but it's nice to switch things up to get the benefits from different nutrients!

Mike and I hit the road, and our first stop was Sports Authority where I stocked up on Body Glide, and Mike got a new pair of roller blades. This is great news as it means that we can resume going for our run/rollerblade excursions along the lake together! :)

The rest of our day was spent at a Greek fam birthday party for two siblings. Our godson was turning one years old, and his brother turned six. Like all good Greek parties, this one lasted well into the night and involved large quantities of alcohol, about 56 different types of desserts (no galaktabutiko, to Mike's chagrine), and of course,

The wet t-shirt contest!! What, you don't do this at your family parties?!?! And all this time I thought this was normal....

Yes, my adult husband was the unofficial winner of the wet t-shirt contest that he apparently entered into with his toddler-aged cousins. It basically involved a lot of young children trying to attack my husband with water balloons and squirt guns. Clearly, college Greek systems across America stole the wet t-shirt idea from Mike's Greek fam - the nerve. "Hey IU, I want my wet t-shirt contest back!"

Aside from watching my poor husband get pummelled by small children, the other highlight of the night was that my fabulous Greek (and Italian :) ) in-laws told me that they bought me a JUICER!!!! Not just any juicer, but the head honcho of all juicers, the Breville!!!

I haven't seen this marvelous piece of machinery yet, but my understanding is that it is the Brevile Fountain Plus. I was soooo excited to hear about this and I would like to give a shout-out to Yaya, John and Dora!!

The party was stocked with an enormous amount of delicious-looking food, but I stuck to the basics - tons of veggies with guacamole, a HUGE plate of Greek salad, and some fresh watermelon. I also snacked on an Amazing Meal bar and some awesome samples of yummy-flavored walnuts and almonds that I received in the mail this week - once I have my camera back I will write more about the company that sent these.

When Mike and I got home tonight it was late but I of course was still hungry for something to snack on, so I made my version of a Raw Almond Joy.

So simple - In a food processor (although you could probably mix this easily by hand), add 1/2 c. almond meal, 2 T. cocoa powder, 2 1/2 T. agave nectar, a pinch of salt, and a splash of vanilla.

Blend, and this becomes just like a melted, gooey Almond Joy. I was too impatient and dug in immediately, but I would imagine that you could easily make these into cookies - either by baking them "traditional" style, or dehydrating them to make them more "raw-acceptable". Since I don't have a dehydrator, I'm going to start experimenting with using my oven on a low temp and leaving the door cracked - have any of you tried this before?

Tomorrow I don't know what I am more excited about - getting my hair cut, or getting my camera back!! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend :-) and don't forget to enter my Holey Donuts giveaway!