1. I ate enough vegetables this weekend for the rest of the week. This was not necessarily due to choice but the choices available for me at restaurants. Friday night I had a huuuge serving of steamed veggies in Chinatown and then on Saturday when Ian and I met my mom for lunch I devoured most of a veggie and hummus platter and then another (unpictured) salad with veggies afterwards.

2. Speaking of my mom, she is amazing. On Saturday, my mom drove the 2.5 hours to Kalamazoo with my bike and a bag of food I left when I was there a few weeks ago. Ian and I met her, grabbed lunch, and then took the bike. I guess that makes Ian pretty amazing too. I feel very lucky for their generosity!

3. After meeting my mom on Saturday, Ian and I went to visit his old roommate’s (and brothers best friend’s) mom. Ian’s previous roommate adopted a dog about 3 months before I moved to Chicago. Unfortunately he then went to Vegas for an extended period of time and left his puppy with his mom. A three-month trip turned into a permanent vacation and his mom ended up taking the pup in for good. Ian has been dying to visit the doggie ever since and figured this was the perfect trip to do so. The dog was sweet as could be but waaay overweight. We could not believe the little guy had gotten so big. He didn’t weigh all that much less than I do… He is on a diet and attending puppy daycare so hopefully the weight will come off quickly.

4. After driving to meet my mom, playing with the dog, and then driving home to Chicago, all I wanted was something super easy for dinner. I had sweet potato slices with black beans and a peanut sauce. Incredibly easy and delicious.

I also tried making my own buckwheat bake for dessert (needed to counteract all of the veggies) with what we had on hand (not much). It was ok but I added cacao powder that made it really bitter. Lesson learned, buckwheat + cacao is just too much bitterness.

5. On Sunday morning I took my new bike out for a brick workout. I had mapped a 13 mile ride but ended up missing my turn around on Lakeshore and riding all the way down to Hyde Park. Oops. I turned around and rode home, completing 16 miles in total. I dropped my bike off and headed out for a two-mile run. It was already 80 degrees at this point so I tried not to push too hard. My first mile was a 7:35 and my second a 7:04. After being in the car all day Saturday, it felt really good to sweat.

6. I finally had a jar empty enough for oats in a jar! Our fridge was pretty bare so I cooked 1/2 cup of oatmeal and 1 tsp chia seeds in 1 1/4 cups water. Once the oatmeal thickened I stirred in chopped strawberries and maple sugar. Yum!

7.  The Gold Coast Art Fair was going on in Grant Park this weekend and Ian and I decided to walk over and check it out. On the way we stumbled across this urban agriculture exhibit. It was pretty cool!

8. The art show was PACKED and it was incredibly hot so after doing a lap of the tents, Ian and I found some shade to sit in and relax.

9. The flash thunderstorm on Sunday stranded us at Trader Joe’s much longer than anticipated and by the time we got home I was hangry. I made the quickest lunch I could think of. I spread a tortilla with hummus, nutritional yeast, sliced mushrooms, and spring greens and then threw it on the Foreman. I also had sugar snap peas and a peach.

10. I found a gluten-free, vegan, corn-free brownie mix at Trader Joe’s and had to try it. The mix calls for an egg but I figured I could substitute it with a flax egg. I must not be used to gluten-free baking though because the brownies looked so oily that I kept baking them. I definitely over baked them to a crisp. They still tasted good crumbled over applesauce mixed with almond butter. Which is not weird at all, I swear, the apple sauce almost tastes like an almond butter pudding.

11. I was pretty worthless all weekend yesterday afternoon. I watched the Olympic trials, took an hour-long nap, watched more Olympic trials, and then Mad Men. Ian and I are 5 episodes into season 5 already. I wish the seasons were longer!

12. I brought back the zucchini boats last night only instead of stuffing them with tuna I stuffed them with cooked millet, the zucchini insides, hummus, and nutritional yeast. They were really good!

13. Sonic must have thought yesterday was his second birthday. We went to Petsmart to pick up more food and walked out with kibble, wet food, treats, and two toys. What can I say, we spoil our little furball. Of course, Ian didn’t let me take home the one thing I really wanted, the kitten that looked like he could have been Sonic’s brother.

14. I forgot to mention this last week but Ian goes out to the burbs every so often to grab wings with his guy friends. Last week Ian sent me a picture and told me he had ordered the peanut butter & jelly flavored wings that come with a jelly flavored dipping sauce. What?

15. All I did this weekend was sleep. I slept on the car ride to Kalamazoo, on the car ride home. I went to bed early. I took naps. I am not looking forward to another work week. At least it’s a 4-day week right?

16. This morning I tried The Fitnessista‘s Breakfast Cookie Dough Cereal. I used 1/3 cup oats, a lot of cinnamon, 1 T almond butter, just a tiny bit of sea salt, and a little stevia. I added blueberries, sliced banana, pepitas, and 2/3 cup almond milk/rice milk mix.

I really liked it!

17. Ian and I signed up for the Terrapin 5k in August and guess what? He suggested it! I only hope I can drink beer by the day of the race, Magic Hat is going to be supplying and #9 is one of my favorite brews.

18. I am so excited for the Olympic trials run-off tonight. Any guesses on who will win?

19. Don’t forget to enter the Ozeri Digital Kitchen Scale Giveaway if you haven’t already. I believe there are only two more days to enter!