2013… that’s going to take some getting used to! I predict that I will spend the entire month of January drawing a little curvy line on the bottom of the number 2 to turn it into a 3.
New Year’s was great this year! We got together with a few friends over at one of their houses and had lots of festive food and drinks, and I actually stayed awake until midnight (but promptly passed out a few moments later). I took it easy on the beverages, but still felt a little “blah” the next day. That could also be from sleeping in so late and the fact that the weather outside was icky and gray. Greg and I could have easily just laid around all day, but instead we finally got up and made some breakfast. Over a little too much indulgence the night before, it felt good to eat a little more mindfully the next day!
The day began with this.
And there was a lot more water throughout the entire day.
I made a PB&J smoothie for breakfast, which had frozen banana and strawberries, peanut flour, almond milk, guar+xanthan gum and ice.
I added a little bit of spinach after I took this picture, because the color was much prettier before it was added. I also cleaned off my Vitamix once I saw how dirty it was!
For years, we’ve gone hiking on New Year’s Day. Luckily, the weather has always been on our side. It was cold out, but actually pretty perfect for hiking. So, after breakfast, we headed down to one of our favorite places to hike in the DC Metro area: the Billygoat Trail!
Greg and I love this trail because there’s quite a bit of rock scrambling. It challenges your balance, coordination and confidence for sure!
This is my favorite part of the trail- a super steep rock that you either have to climb up or down, depending on which trail you start on. It’s a lot easier to go up (which is what we did).
It’s typically super crowded on weekends, but today was definitely a lot lighter. There were a few kayakers out though!
I had packed a very simple picnic lunch… one which seems to be our standard fare for picnicing. We waited until we were almost near the end of the trail to eat and climbed up on a rock to enjoy a great view.
We ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, leftover Super-Antioxidant Kale Salad and shared a Dale’s. Because we’re classy.
Any meal that you eat during a hike always tastes like the best meal ever.
For dinner, I cooked Greg his usual birthday request: filet mignon, mashed potatoes and roasted brussels sprouts with bacon. (This was his plate.)
Since I prefer sweet potatoes to white potatoes any day, I had one of those instead.
There wasn’t any birthday cake, because Greg’s not a big fan. That was kind of a relief to me, as I’ve had more than my fair share of sugar over the last two weeks! It felt good to go back to my standard “dessert.”
A Concorde Pair (best ever!!) and a glass of Candy Cane Lane tea.
Happiness.
2013 is off to a delicious start!
Yum! Those roasted brussels sprouts look delicious
I love brussels sprouts, but almost never buy them because they’re expensive. And I’ve never roasted them before! It’s definitely on my cooking bucket list, haha. They always look and sound SO GOOD when I read about other people having them.
i totally agree! i could eat jerky and an orange on a hike and it be the best thing on earth! LOL! Happy bday greg!
What a fabulous & perfect birthday dinner! It looks absolutely amazing.
Happy Birthday to Greg! Looks like he had a delicious birthday meal! Good job with the plating.
Happy new Year!
I had to look up the Billy Goat Trail, and that looks AMAZING! May need to check it out soon!
Happy New Year!
Hiking sounds so fun! I wanted to go outdoors yesterday, but my cold isn’t a fan of it!
The trail looks really fun!
Sounds like a great day to kick off the New Year! We haven’t made any New Year’s Day traditions the past few years just because it totally depends where we’re at… sometimes we’re in Arizona visiting family while other years we’re in Utah watching it snow outside. I like the idea of a New Year’s Day hike though!
You have to love a girl who brings a beer on a hike. It’s all about balance
Happy New year!
That trail looked beautiful. I would have been a little nervous to climb up those rocks, though. It looks like Greg had a great birthday meal!
That does look like a great day! Happy birthday to Greg & happy New Year to you both!
I too loooovveee smoothies in the morn with spinach–but they’re kinda ugly
You guys are awesome – I love your active traditions like hiking NY (& hiking 14ers in Colorado)!! Happy New Year!
I love that trail! I”ve hiked it several times and I agree going up is a lot easier than going down that side (: Love those brussels sprouts…my favorite veggie!
Hiking on New Years sounds perfect!! I need to drink more water…. I just can’t get myself to when it is cold out!
Yum! That Filet looks amazing!!!
Oh wow your hike looks like great fun – and lots of delicious eats to keep you going.
Love the look of that candy cane lane green tea too mmm!
Whoa! That rock climb looks intense!
And you’re so right – every meal while hiking is the best meal ever. Happy New Year’s!
Holy yum! The hub’s plate looks like it belongs in a magazine! Nice plating m’dear! And now…now I’m craving bacon! Come make me some (it skeeves me out to cook it!) Lol
I love that you guys do a hike every year. I was a lazy bum for most of the day…until I had to go into work that is, but I DID get a man-made omelet breakfast to start the year out right!
Oh my GOLL, I do not think I could go down that rock! Glad you chose to go up.
And yes, any meal you eat while hiking is seriously the best meal ever in your life. Bread always tastes better in the woods.
[...] is why we only really go on days where most people aren’t out hiking in the morning (like New Year’s day!). The forecast also called for rain all day, but Greg and I decided to risk it anyway- and [...]