A Fall-Feelin’ Weekend

How was your weekend? Mine was full, but good!

On Friday night Katie and I hung out with some friends we hadn't seen in awhile. We went to their house for drinks and to meet their new puppy! We were all excited that it got cool enough to sit around the fire pit outside. We had jackets on and it was still chilly...bring on Fall!

I slept in Saturday and then ran a bunch of errands. When I got to the grocery store, I realized I was hungry. Danger!! I decided to check out the salad bar for a quick lunch. Turned out they were having a special - $5 for all-you-care-to-eat! [Quick aside....I love salad bars. I somehow managed to mention this to my college roommate on the first night we met. A few years later she told me that she thought I was weird for a long time because of this. ]

Their salad bar is actually quite large and fresh. This is the veggie side, but there is also fruit and prepared salads on the other side and desserts on the end cap.

I got a plate full of salad, cottage cheese, 3 bean salad, and pasta salad.

I also got a side of strawberries, cantaloupe, and grapes. And this teeny cupcake for dessert!

Much better. I was then able to shop for football snacks without passing out or convincing myself I needed 7 kinds of Doritos. I went to my parents' house to watch the Husker game that evening (college football...another sign of Fall!) It was kind of a blow-out, so I may have ended up talking about wedding stuff with my Mom and my sister during the second half.

I was up before the sun on Sunday morning. In fact, we hit the running trail well before twilight - good thing a few people thought to bring flashlights! I nearly wore a long-sleeved shirt, but I was plenty warm once I got moving. I decided to get in one final 20-miler before my marathon. I know this will probably sound sick, but I think I'm going to miss those 20-milers a little bit. Now that I have people to run with, the time flies by and I feel so accomplished at the end! I plan on doing a full post with stats on this run and last week's 18-miler, but I think we came in at about a 10:15 pace.

After I completed the rest of my Sunday morning routine (run/ice bath/mac n cheese/nap), we had some friends over for a BBQ. We've known Jonathan and Christopher (brothers) for a couple years now, but we haven't been able to get together much lately. It was so nice to cook, eat, chat, and eat some more with them!

We munched on chips and dips while the grill was heating up. (smoky chipotle salsa, guacamole, jalapeno hummus, and bean dip)

Katie made a big salad.

Jonathan grilled salmon on a cedar plank - so fancy!

My plate included a grilled veggie burger on an onion roll, fresh pineapple, salad with feta, and 3 bean salad.

And then....dessert. This one is cool, my friends. Jonathan made bananas foster on the grill!

Totally caught Katie licking the bowl.

Au flambe!

Caramelize, sweet jewels, caramelize!!

We ended up tossing in the rest of the pineapple, too. I thought its tanginess was nice next to the super sweet bananas. And brown sugar. And ice cream, which we served it over.

It might not look like much from this picture, but trust me, twas good.

After the boys left, Katie, Stella, and I hung out on the porch swing for a little while before heading to bed. We may or may not have talked about the wedding. (I don't want to give you guys the impression that we actually have anything planned yet. Then again, I like to take credit for 'planning' if it merely comes up in conversation. Other things I have done to prepare are: purchase one wedding magazine, spend approximately 15 minutes researching venues online before getting overwhelmed by advertisements. and send a Facebook message to a friend for suggestions because I knew they'd be more reliable than Google. Good job, me!)

One thing I love about the Midwest is the change of seasons. I think I would go crazy without it! It gives me something to look forward to and reminds me to do what I can while I have the chance. (You can't swim outside in the winter or sled in the summer!) This summer was really hot, so now that it's cooling off it seems like everyone is getting excited for fall. We've opened our windows and turned off the AC! We may very well still have to swap that back before the season is in full-force, but we'll take it as it comes.

Are you enjoying fall weather where you are yet?