Keeping it a Surprise

It’s already been a busy weekend, and it’s only Saturday morning!!

Yesterday afternoon, I met up with Mike and another friend to do some shopping near Union Square. I ended up buying a bright orange sweater dress that I’m determined to find the moxie to wear, because even though it’s a statement piece, I’m kind of obsessed with it. I also bought my Halloween costume, which I’m keeping a surprise until October 31…I got the idea last November and have been excited about it ever since!

For dinner, we went to a hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese place. Authentic ethnic restaurants are the best places to get cheap, good food.

I started off with a big bowl of vegetable hot and sour soup (my favorite). This had big chunks of pineapple amidst the veggies, which was such a good touch!

Mike and I also shared a dumpling-like dish stuffed with rice and shrimp. They had a really interesting texture- the rice was super duper sticky inside, and almost stuck to the roof of your mouth.

For my entrée, I ordered the “design your own” vegetarian entrée, with sautéed carrots, zucchini and baby bok choy alongside brown rice and a spicy vegetable sauce.

I inhaled it, of course. It’s always funny when people comment about how many veggies I can put away!

After dinner, we hung out at my apartment (and I ate some dark chocolate, of course) for a bit before heading out to a bar. It was a low-key but very fun night- spontaneous and full of good friends.

This morning, I woke up pretty late and had a bowl of Kashi GoLean with a banana and chocolate almond milk.

If you’ve never used chocolate milk in your cereal before, do it. It takes the bowl to a whole new level.

Afterwards, I headed to the gym for a quick elliptical + strength session. I did 20 minutes of HIIT, followed by half an hour of weights. It dawned on me that I’ve kind of unintentionally taken the week off from running- following Wednesday’s butt issues, I wanted to take it easy, and the 9-miler I had planned for this morning has been postponed until Monday. Though it is making me a bit anxious that the race is quickly approaching and I need to keep training, I know that pushing it is never good. It’s better to take time off and come back strong, than to slug through a run that you’re not really in the mood for.

Headed uptown soon to pick up my sister in law and her friend- so excited they’re here!

What are you being for Halloween? Of course, if you're keeping it a surprise too, I totally understand :)