Whoops!

(Please excuse the format of my post! Windows Live Writer isn't working; I had to use blogger! Yuck!)

What a weekend!  I’m sorry I disappeared…it’s been a bit rough at times, so I’m trying to keep a level head.  Or maybe it’s just pure exhaustion…and this week doesn’t help either…
Anyhow…along with finishing Christmas shopping for everyone in my family in a mere 1.5 hours at the outlet mall (Oh yeah…!) I was also celebrating a much needed time…

Ah, look what I got.  One month past already? Really?
The weekend didn’t start off like that though!  While the boy was off surfing the SoCal waves I was off running the mountains of my home!  According to my Phoenix 1/2 Marathon training plan I was up to run 9 miles with my greatest investment yet:

I have owned two pairs of these and only use them for long runs, or anything over 7-8 miles.  After running the San Antonio 1/2 Marathon a year ago November and getting the worst blood blister of my life I had to find something other than athletic tape to keep it from happening again.  I forget who mentioned these to me but at $12 a pair, they are the best $12 spent.  And because I only use them around once a week they last longer!  Awesome!  You can find them at a lot of specialty stores and they come in awesome colors and height varieties.  I highly suggest them if you’re having blister problems on your toes or trying to keep them warm in the cold weather!
Anyhow, the 9 miler was awesome!  I ran the first 6 by myself along the back dirt roads, running the first 3 at a 10 minute pace, then at 9.15 on the 3 back!  I was supposed to meet up with my running buddy to do my last three but she thought I left without her so she went without me!  But I could see her in the near distance so I picked up the pace and finally met up with her!  We ran 2.5 miles together and I finished out the 9.3 miles at 1:31.  My knee was a bit tight at the end so I walked up the last hill and made sure to ice it up pronto!
After that I stuffed my face with these awesome oats and headed out to hit up the mall!

The mall came and went…cause it took an hour to drive there, and lo and behold, I was starving of course.  Only having cereal and a banana before the run, oats, and an apple…I was ready for dinner!  Luckily, Whit and I have a favorite Japanese restaurant that dishes out a lot of food for not too much money!

(Sorry about the pictures; from my cell cause I didn’t have my camera!)

We started off with some edamame and devoured it in an instant.

I have become a huge fan of Seaweed Salad since we started coming here, but this one wasn’t as good as the first time.  I’ve had it a few other places, but the flavor here is the best!

Starving, I ordered a vegetable roll and a cucumber roll, that contained far too much rice!  It was more like eating rice than the contents of the inside!  Otherwise, tasty good!

How cute is this dessert that comes with our check!?  Sliced apples with pb and some chocolate syrup.  Yum yum!

The night wouldn’t have been complete without some fro-yo!  This is the only self serve in Bakersfield so I totally took advantage of it! I had a mix of pb, vanilla, oreo and chocolate with graham crackers.  What a great end to a night of eating!

I may have had more peanut butter pretzel nuggets throughout the night because there was such little protein in my dinner…
Sunday was nice and relaxing with a walk to TJ’s for some breakfast…

Fage Greek Yogurt, a pear and some Fiber O’s…oh how I miss GY!

After tweeting with Monica and Andrea about these the other night, I had to find them.  They would have been included with the flowers, but the guy at the store said they already ran out. 
WRONG!  I found them and snatched them up in an instant!!! Holy mackeral! 
We decided to try to different kinds, this time being the pb and ginger varieties.
Gahhhhhh…
That is all I have to say.
To end the night with the boy and I noshed on some organic sweet potatoes he got from some farmers!  Oh my goodness so good!  Because he’s your typical guy there is nothing in his apartment…so I used what I could: lots of spices!

I had a nice bowl of these babies with some ketchup…and because he doesn’t have a roasting pan I cooked them on the stove top.  They actually came out pretty well, when I expected them to be super soggy!
Today was tough and the appetite was nill, so nothing to share there…other than eating a double dark chocolate covered TJ’s cookie…oh yeah; highlight of my day.
Tomorrow is another day…and a long one…
How did your weekend go?  Did you get hit by those crazy snow storms!?  I feel for you all!!!  Yikes!