WIAW: The Day I Turned 33

One more reminder…. go win some sweet stuff!

Hey all! Thanks for the birthday wishes yesterday. It was a pretty great day! Since it was a Tuesday, I started out the day by teaching Spinning and Core Strength back to back. These are probably my favorite classes of the week to teach. I really love the regulars, because most of them have been coming for 4 the years I’ve been teaching! And of course, there’s always a few new people, and they’re great too. I’m just a big fan of the early morning crowd in general. My other favorite day to teach is Friday- 7:00am Bodypump. That is the perfect time of day for me to exercise/teach and I think I’m at my best then.

Anyway- Tuesday’s ride: I’m a huge numbers geek. I love data, statistics, you name it. And like many other exercises I know, I like to have a number in mind when I work out (it’s usually just getting to a round number, like I can’t stand to ride 19.9 miles… it’s got to be 20!). Since I didn’t have enough time in my 50 minutes of Spinning to reach 33 miles, I decided to go for 21.2 instead, since it was kind of like the date of my birthday (2.12).

Like I said, I’m a big geek. Seeing that number made me happy.

Spinning was followed by a killer core strength class, and I will definitely be sharing that workout soon! It involved some awesome “ladder” intervals, and by the last set of each exercise, we could all barely go on! Such a good time.

It happened to also be Pancake Tuesday yesterday, so of course, I had to partake. Breakfast was high protein/fiber pancakes topped with Greek yogurt and grilled peaches and bananas.

And, as you can see, coffee was enjoyed from my favorite mug.

I went back over to the gym later in the morning to train some clients (one of which shares my birthday!) grabbed an apple on the way out.

This is generally how I leave the house. Hands full, apple in mouth. I’m very resourceful.

I got back home around 1:30 and cracked open a Dale’s.

It’s perfectly normal to drink beer in the middle of the day, right? Actually, the beer was used to make beer crust pizza, because that’s what I wanted for lunch!

I made the crust with barley flour, shredded cauliflower and beer. It was topped with Vegan-rella and tons of veggies (and mustard, of course). SO. DARN. GOOD.

I drank a few of these throughout the day too (water with mint!):

After lunch, I had a deep tissue massage. It was wonderful (and painful- but in a good way!).

I’ve been getting regular deep tissue massages every two weeks for the last four years. They are definitely an essential part of muscle recovery! They don’t always feel great during the session, but my body always feels wonderful afterwards.

I quickly ran back home to shower and change to head out for my birthday dinner. And, I actually put on a dress!

When you live in workout clothes 90% of the time, it’s nice to actually look like a lady once in a while!

Greg gave me this beautiful necklace, and I am totally in love with it.

I’ve actually been searching for the perfect Tree of Life necklace for years. Every time we pass a jewelry store, craft fair, or any other place that would sell necklaces, I look for a necklace like this. I’ve look all over Maryland, Virginia, DC, Colorado, Oregon, Washington and even in Canada! I’ve seen all kinds of Tree of Life necklaces before, but never found the one. But this one is exactly what I’ve been looking for! (And I love all of her jewelry!)

We picked up my mom and stepdad and went to dinner at one of my most favorite restaurants, Great Sage. I’ve had so many great meals there (and it’s the perfect place for a friend date!), and knew that it would be the perfect choice for my birthday dinner. It’s 100% vegan, and everything is just so flavorful and delicious always. My mom and stepdad had never been, and were excited to try the restaurant I’ve been raving about for years.

The only problem with Great Sage? The menu! There are too many good choices! The only time it’s been easy to choose what to eat there was last year for Valentine’s Day- because it was a prix fixe menu!

Greg asked our server which beers were on tap, and when she listed “coffee porter” as one of them, there was no question about what either of use was going to order!

We got a couple starters to share: a chickpea & greens salad and the hummus platter (which we almost always get).

I decided on the BBQ tempeh dish for dinner. I almost went with the butternut squash/lentil burger (because I’ve had it before and it was so good), but wanted to try something new. It didn’t disappoint!

The sweet potatoes were my favorite part of the dish, closely followed by the roasted tomato with the cashew crust. YUM.

I could have eaten the entire plate of food, but stopped myself about halfway through- because I was definitely not going to be skipping dessert!

My friend Katie, who happens to be the manager at Great Sage told me that I needed to try the raw cheesecake bites. Cheesecake would usually be the very last thing I would ever order on a dessert menu, but being that these were raw and vegan, I figured that they would be nothing like traditional cheesecake. And I was right!

They were SO good… but not as good as this:

Salted caramel (coconut) ice cream. Probably the best ice cream I’ve ever had in my life. Honestly.

We all left Great Sage completely full and feeling good. Once again, it was a perfect meal!

I’m very happy to say that I’ve been keeping up with tracking my water consumption every day- and it definitely makes me drink more H2O!

Water tally for the day:

So far 33 is pretty great (and delicious)!

I definitely am LOVING my veggies this month (and every month)!

Happy WIAW!

Do you have a favorite restaurant? Do you usually celebrate a “birthday dinner?”