Living life in moderation...one run at a time
I was in Newport, RI all week (once we finally left the airport on Monday, that is). It was great for work, but it was SO hard being away from my monkeys.
Good thing Newport was so pretty, the weather was freezing — and we kept BUSY!
Ahhhh….. home sweet (insane, crazy, hectic) home.
How was your week?
This has been a weird week. The first few days just creeped by and I was seriously just in the biggest funk. Hormones are weird. Then the rest of the week just flew by. On Wednesday, I worked part of the day from home and then flew up to DC for two nights.
Am I good at capturing the sights or what?
Can we just talk about how much I love DC? It helps that it’s only a two-hour flight away and whenever I go there I a) have a great time and eat great food and b) get to meet up with someone I know. This time it was Melissa!
We ate dinner at The Commissary, which was perfect. Not too loud, good food, and a menu for anyone (it had burgers, pizzas, salads, sandwiches, dinner, and is also vegan friendly). I went totally out of my comfort zone and had the Butternut Squash, Purple Kale, Pears, Cambozola Cheese, Spiced Walnuts Pizza. Yes, all of that on a pizza.
The food was great and the company was even better. I asked Paula why Melissa couldn’t move to Orlando?
Then we could things like this more often — together.
Thursday I was in a meeting all day, followed by a work happy hour (i.e., I sat around drinking water wishing I could drink about 15 glasses of wine), and then we attempted to eat dinner at this Greek/Turkish restaurant Zaytinya, but it was packed and we were too hungry to wait for an hour. So we wandered down the road and found Oya instead.
It was… interesting.
The decor was gorgeous – but the marble walls made the place LOUD.
Can you spot me?
The food is Asian-French fusion and everyone but me RAVED about their meal. I SHOULD have gotten the Restaurant Week menu, but instead got Shrimp and it was “eh.” I would go back though – if anything to try their sushi!
Yesterday we had a morning full of meeting and then headed to the airport for our flight home. I also had my first strip search experience because I did not want to go through the body scanner. Good times. Thankfully the woman was really nice and the rest of the trip was uneventful.
But I have to say – I love being home — no more of this!
Because my week has been so hectic, I haven’t really had time to read anything laugh, cry, sweat, or inspiration worthy — so instead I give you some of my favorite blog posts of the week.
What are some of your favorite posts of the week? What’s your favorite city to visit?
Happy Weekend!
I picked up L from daycare on Wednesday and her teacher asked me if it was true that we were having an, “adult only weekend in Tallahassee” this weekend. I guess L informed the class! It was the the truth though :).
After some confusion surrounding who was watching the kids (we never learn our lesson in regards to early planning), we left around 12:30 on Friday with our friends Brian and Trisha (<– we went with them up to Tally last month too).
It was an uneventful ride, with the exception of going a little overboard on eating a few to many Combos (<–me) and the boys doing a little pre-partying (boys will be boys), and we made it into town 4 hours later.
(PS – Tallahassee is really pretty)
We quickly checked into our hotel, changed, and then headed downtown for “Downtown Get Down” — a Tallahassee tradition the Friday before a home game. It was homecoming weekend and the fans were out and about!
We decided to eat dinner at Andrew’s Capital Grill – and lucked out and got a table outside right away.
Not that our food actually came any time soon after we ordered. Fortunately, there was a lot going on around us that kept us entertained. Like the old dude who took about 40 minutes to completely polish off a turkey leg (seriously). There was also a band.
And fireworks that scared the crap out of Brian and Trisha. That was fun.
Thankfully, dinner was worth the wait (I got an awesome salad with salmon. Add salmon to the list of things that I suddenly (and oddly) craving). After dinner we did a little vendor browsing and then headed up to North Tallahassee to Po Boys to meet some friends. Most of them were actually leaving as we arrived, but we hung out for a little bit until it got “too late” (aka 10:30, lol).The boys had some more beer.
Saturday morning I slept in until 8, hit up the elliptical in the gym, and then we headed to breakfast at Village Inn. Oh, how I miss Village Inn (technically they have one in Orlando, but it’s on I-Drive, which is a world I don’t frequent). I ordered a veggie omelette that came with hash browns and pancakes. Can you say carb overload? It was delicious and worth the splurge (<–theme of the weekend)
Around 12:30 we headed over to our tailgate behind the stadium. It was a pretty nice setup! We were in a nice shaded area and had tons of food (including food from Sonny’s), drinks, and a TV. Going in, I actually knew only three people there, but we had a great time. I definitely wouldn’t mind going back and tailgating with them again!
The four “adults”
Around 3:15ish we walked over to the game. We just missed the intros and kickoff – but no big deal since we had just seen it.
It was really the PERFECT day for a football game. There was a light breeze, it was somewhat sunny/somewhat overcast, and the temps were in the mid 70s. Although, I have to admit, I was half into the game. However, I did sing the fight song every time we scored, which happened to be a lot (spoiler: we won 48-7).
There was a lot a funnel cake involved. Aren’t funnel cakes more important than football games?
During the first half I scoured the crowd and miraculously spotted Jackie Jovi! I guess the blue shirts amongst the sea of garnet and gold made it easy to spot the Jovi family. She surprised me by stopping by and then later her crew joined our for the last quarter!
I told DadJovi that I DID cheer for his team when they scored their lone touchdown as a sort of payback for jumping my car. I don’t think he thought that was a good enough. Damn.
After the game we posed with the statue on fire (when did they put this up? And how does the spear stay on fire?)
And then we headed back to the tailgate to watch the Gators lose (sorry Gator fans) and finally back to our hotel to do a quick change before dinner. We decided to eat at Ted’s Montana Grill for dinner because a) the menu looked amazing and b) it was next to our hotel. We were NOT disappointed. How do we not have one of these in Orlando?
I ordered the Big Sky Grill Salad (above) which combined the best of both worlds — a salad AND a burger (I opted for the bison over the beef), and a side of fries. Dan got bison meatloaf while Trisha got a burger and Brian ate a steak salad.
We didn’t eat until close to 10pm, but it was definitely worth the wait. Trisha even reminisced about her burger on the way home today – it was that good. After dinner we rolled ourselves back to the hotel and called it a night. Do we know how to party or what?
This morning I got up at 7:45 for my “long” run. I planned on doing 6 miles for my ZOOMA virtual kickoff run (did anyone else join in??), but the weather quickly changed over night (it was 53 degrees when I got up) and I didn’t pack anything but shorts and a tank top! Ooops. I was still committed to getting a few miles in so I compromised with 4 miles. I’m pretty sure everyone driving around in North Tallahassee thought I was nuts. It was very hilly and windy, but man was it gorgeous…
And I felt great after my run (even if I don’t look like it)!
I’m going to attempt to get 4 miles in tomorrow morning to make up for my lack of running last week.
We then packed up and headed home. Why does heading back always feel like a longer drive?
I had a lot of fun during “adult only” weekend, even if I wasn’t able to participate in adult activities of the drinking kind — but I definitely was happy to return to these two…
Missing tooth (he lost it last week!) and all.
Yep, it’s good to get away for an adult only weekend every now and then, but I definitely like having those kids in my life more 
We left Saturday morning for Tallahassee. After a late night at Disney on Ice with Jackie Jovi – I wasn’t sure what time we’ve get on the road, but since my kids seem to be morning people (I have no idea where they got this trait) we were on the road by 9.
I’m not going to lie to you. It was a long drive.
Back in the day, a trip to Tally would take anywhere between 3-3.5 hours depending how much we were breaking the law. I feel very lucky that this trip only took 4 hours. The weather went from beautiful to rainy and the kids where not happy campers. I have never been so happy to see this sign (clouds and all):
Our first stop was a Tallahassee favorite — Po’ Boys. Thankfully, Po’ Boys expanded to North Tallahassee since we left town, and we didn’t have to fight the college kids for a table. There we met up with our friends (and Dan’s college roommate) – Brian and Trisha and their two girls.
Po’ Boys serves a variety of Cajun food – but by far the BEST item on their menu (and probably the #1 thing I miss about Tallahassee) is the fried pickles.
I have not eaten better fried pickles anywhere else. Even in New Orleans.
B said today they were his favorite thing ever. I think my mission in life has pretty much been accomplished.
After lunch, we checked in our hotel (the newly opened Four Points Sheraton on Tennessee St, which I highly recommend.), made a quick stop to Bill’s Bookstore for some FSU gear, and then got ready for the game.
One of the best parts about our hotel was that they offered a free shuttle over to the game. Score! We made it there just in time to see the Marching Chiefs march by…
We walked around the University Center for a bit before heading into to Doak find out seats.
I actually had no idea where we were sitting (Brian bought the tickets), so I was pleseantly surprised!
I think this is the closest to the field I’ve ever sat. Of course, the last time I went to a game I was a student (let’s not talk about how long again that was).
The band kicked off promptly at 6
Followed by the national anthem — where this happened (how funny is this picture?)
And the massacre began!
End of the 1st Quarter!
Now, we were playing a team who, last week, lost 84-0 — so expectations for a win were very, very high. We were not disappointed. We were there for almost 3 quarters and I’m pretty sure I have NEVER sung the FSU Fight Song so many times. The male cheerleaders run around the end zone with flags every time we score — and I was just exhausted for them.
The only thing disappointing about the game was the rain and the lightening (thankfully, we came prepared for the rain).
The game was suspended for a 2nd time (yes, we waited around during the first suspension) during the end of the 3rd quarter and we decided to head out. We ended up at Chili’s (where there was no shortage of beer, margaritas, and chips) before we realized that the game had been officially been ended for good (giving us the win — 55-0). Glad we didn’t stick around!
Of course, today we woke up to beautiful skies and perfect weather (73 degrees and zero humidity!!).
Tallahassee, sometimes I do miss you. It was just so gorgeous!
After a quick breakfast, we decided to give the kids a tour of campus. We started with a drive by of the new (to us) Medical School and Psychology Building (I majored in Psych during undergrad and had to trek allllll the way across campus to get to class. No fair.) and then made a quick stop at the dorm where Dan and I both lived our Freshman Year — Smith Hall.
This is where it all began for us!
We actually met a few Smith Hall residents on our walk back to the car last night and they confirmed that it had not changed at all since we lived there. No renovations for Smith! We then all cried when we realized they were 2-years old when we lived there. Damn it goes by fast.
After the quick stop, we parked at the Oglesby Student Union and we became extremely jealous of all of the food options that were not available to us when we were there. What the hell is up with them having Einstein Brothers, and a Chili’s? Crossroads, Rallys, and that bagel place (that I can’t remember the name of) isn’t good enough for them? Screw that.
We then walked across campus to the Wescott Fountain and took many photo stops on the way….
Landis Green (and Landis Hall)
Strozier Library
I apologize for being a complete cheeseball for a minute, but walking across campus just made me realize how much I really did love going to FSU. There’s just something about the architecture, the hills, the live oaks, and the people that made me fall in love with this school. And that feeling just never goes away. I can only hope to pass on this tradition to my kids!
After the brainwashing, we made one more stop before heading home — our first home.
Awww… It looks exactly the same. And damn, check out how big our yard was.
Thankfully, the ride back to Orlando was less eventful than the ride up and we spent the rest of today recovering. I’m not quite sure I’m ready for a busy week — but I guess I have no choice, huh?
I’m so happy we made it up to Tally this weekend — I’ve decided that 8 years is WAAAAY too long. Good thing we’ll be back up there again (adults only!) in October!!
When’s the last time you visited your college campus?
I’ve been out of pocket the last few days and this trend will continue into this weekend. We are heading up to Tallahassee — land of my Seminoles to watch FSU crush Savannah State (who?).
So here’s your Saturday Morning Motivation…
(I’m pretty sure a whole bunch of UF Fans just closed this post).
We’ve been pretty excited about this trip for a while now. It’s our first visit back in 8 years! We are totally can’t wait to brainwash our children, eat at Po’ Boys and Gordos (yes, we get our Cajun and our Cuban fix in Tallahassee), and get our chop on.
Scalp ‘em Seminoles!! (<- Let’s just hope nobody does any scalping in care during the 4 hour drive north!)
Happy weekend to all