"So you eat healthy, huh?"

Hi everyone!
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I hope you all had a fun and relaxing weekend - I definitely did!
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This morning I woke up feeling a bit nauseous from snacking so late at night (past midnight!), which I rectified by making a refreshing juice from celery, a couple carrots, a 1/2 lemon, and one whole apple. It really hit the spot and set the tone for a good day at the gym!

Recently I have gotten to the point where I enjoy spinning so much that I actually, truly look forward to going! MOST of the time, that is. Today's class was a fabulous workout, but it was NOT fun. It was incredibly hot and humid and though I hate to say it, there were many, many moments of weakness where I strongly considered skipping out early.
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Honestly, the first 10 minutes of class got me far more exhausted than I was after running 12 miles yesterday! However, as hard as it was - I felt close to passing out from the heat - I'm glad I stuck it out! I love that feeling of endorphins and accomplishment after completing an especially difficult workout, and I try to commit that lovely feeling to memory so that I can reach back to it during the next moment where I am having a hard time or am considering quitting something early.
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I also did a few minutes on the hip abductor and adductor machines, and some crunches before heading home.
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Yet again, I came back from the gym absolutely craving fresh, cold veggies beyond belief. I had some leftover corn chowder from the other day, but I felt like jazzing it up a bit so I threw in the only tomato product I had around - lowsodium V8 juice lol - and this ended up tasting excellent! I love creamy tomato soups :)
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I will definitely be making the corn + tomato soup combo again!

Still a bit hungry an hour later, I kept craving the veggies and I dipped into another V8. I am getting so low on veggies and it makes me sad!!! I definitely need to replenish my supply soon.

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I made this into a yummy virgin Bloody Mary by adding a splash of lime juice, salt, and pepper - it reminds me of our honeymoon, where I would make these every morning at the breakfast buffets at the Mexican resort :)

I also had a spoonfull or two of capers - what? is this weird? Don't knock it til you try it.. capers are a great (and calorie-free!) way to satisfy a "salt" craving! I love this huge bottle from Whole Foods - I go through capers very quickly so it's so expensive to buy the smaller bottles that you usually find.

My uncle Gary and cousins Matthew and Katherine were in town, so we all went to Kroll's for dinner. The original Kroll's is a Packers bar at Lambeau Field, but this ome is more of a bar and grill. It's super close to our condo and they have a great selection of both food AND drinks AND they have shuffle puck, which I happen to excel at ;)

Despite the teasing that ensued (both from family AND from the waitress - hence today's blog title!), I happily ordered the hummus plate and a large order of guac. Except that this, to me, was NOT a large order of guac by any means, this was about 1/3 of what I would have liked....

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But the guac was pretty subpar anyway, I personally like mine to be a lot more flavorfull. Luckily the hummus was great and I ate all the veggies (but none of the pita bread).

It was nice to see so much extended fam this weekend! I rarely get to see any of my cousins, so it was an anomaly to see two different sets of cousins on days back to back. Sadly I probably won't see them again for months!

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Dessert was bittersweet... I had two of these bites of fabulosity in the form of my raw choconute coconute bars...... which was a tad upsetting since they were the last two of the batch! I am highly considering making another batch tomorrow, but I know I should squelch that thought and branch out to a new recipe.

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I was awarded with a Lovely Blog Award from Traveleatlove! Thanks so much for the sweet recognition! :) I love her blog and I encourage you to check it out, it's definitely one of my favorites that I check regularly.

There are so many great ones out there, but these are just a handful of some other wonderful blogs that I can't get enough of, due to their superb writing, witty humor, fabulous insight and tips regarding cooking, fitness, philosophy, or all of the above! Some of my faves Traveleatlove already listed, so here are some other fantastic ones that she had not already mentioned:

Care to Eat

Carrots n Cake

Chocolate-covered Katie

Choosing Raw

Eating Bender

Eat Live Run

I'd rather be running

Kath Eats Real Food

My Summerizations

Rosey Rebecca

Run, eat, repeat.

Say yes to salad

Simply Fabulous

The Hungry Yogini

Whit's Getting Fit

What are your favorite blogs, and why?

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Another question for you: When we were walking back to my place from the restaurant tonight, my uncle... inadvertently... stepped into a lovely pile of, well, you know! It was pretty disgusting and the poor guy had to attempt to clean his shoe off before driving home to Indiana tonight and Florida tomorrowl lol. However, it's one of those things that will definitely make a funny story! What was a time when you found yourself in an awkward situation but it later ended up being a crazy or hilarious story?