1. Today is [kind of] my first blogiversary. I actually started blogging in early October on a tumblr site but after realizing tumblr didn’t have everything that I wanted, I switched over to WordPress and my first post was up on October 22, 2011. Crazy how time flies.

2. Last Friday night was spent driving. Ian and I left Chicago around 5:15 and arrived home in Michigan at about midnight (Michigan time). It was exhausting and I wasn’t even driving. I packed a sunflower seed butter, banana, & fig jam sandwich on brown rice bread for dinner and it managed to hold me over pretty well for the ride.

3. Even though Sonic kept us up all night Friday night, on Saturday I got up early to get in a quick run before heading up to Ann Arbor. I ran one of my favorite 4 mile routes and even stopped to take a few pictures. The last few years I’ve really missed running with all the pretty colors and hearing leaves crunching under my feet.

4. After my run, I ran over to my favorite market, Westbourne and picked up a muffin for Ian, some supplies to make pumpkin oatmeal, and my favorite nut butter of all time: Naturally Nutty Pepita Butter!

I also grabbed the Mocha Peanut Butter at Arbor Farms (health food store in AA).

5. After a shower and a huge bowl of pumpkin oats, Ian and I were off to AA to tailgate and go to the Michigan vs. Michigan State football game. Unfortunately both of us forgot how difficult it is to get into the city on football Saturdays (even 5 hours before!), find parking, and make your way down to the golf course (common tailgate location) and so our planned 11 a.m. arrival turned into 12:15. Oh well, at least we brought booze.

6. We met my friend from college Maria at one of her friend’s tailgates and ended up playing a few games of flip cup and chatting with some new faces. It was so much fun and reminded me how much I miss Ann Arbor.

7. After an hour or two, we walked over to a tailgate at my college friend Kris’s house. It was a wonderful surprise that two other girls I went to college with were there! Working on my MPH had pretty much overwhelmed my life the past two years so we had a lot to catch up on. It was nice but cut short when we realized that we had about 15 minutes to get to the stadium before kick-off.

8. We had some trouble with tickets (apparently they reprinted a bunch of season tickets this year and someone had sold us an old, invalid ticket) but eventually we all got into the stadium with our original tickets, found each other, and settled in to the student section. Unfortunately this is where my phone dies and I can’t take any more pictures. Bummer.

9. The game was incredibly low-scoring but exciting. It went down to the last few seconds and Michigan beat MSU for the first time in 5 years! Woohoo!! It was also the 900th win for Michigan football making our program the first football program to have that many wins. It was so exciting, I didn’t even know the 900 wins was up for contention! In typical Michigan fashion, the students stormed the field (this is reserved for games against OSU and MSU otherwise it’s not allowed) and everyone was celebrating. It was awesome .

10. We hadn’t eaten since breakfast so Ian, Maria, and I were starving and decided to head over to Sidetrack’s in Ypsilanti for some food. Sidetrack’s is one of Ian’s favorite places in the AA-Ypsi area and we used to go there a lot when I still lived in Ann Arbor. I ordered a salad with asparagus, mushrooms, tomatoes, and a black bean burger and a side of sweet potato fries. Food has never tasted so good.

11. Ian and I were supposed to meet my friend Brian afterwards to grab a drink but after driving half way to Detroit we decided we were just too tired and headed back to my mom’s house. I’m pretty sure I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

12. Despite not sleeping as much as I would have liked, I woke up on Sunday prepared to get in my 12 mile run. Can I just say how happy I am that the weekend we went home coincided with a cutback week for Goofy training? My 12 miler wasn’thardbut my legs were definitely more tired than usual. I stopped a few times to stretch and to take pictures of cute pumpkin patches and I believe I averaged about a 7:45 min/mile?

13. After my run, I showered, snacked on some pumpkin pudding and then headed out to Fish Bone in Detroit to meet Brian for an early lunch. I ordered a cup of seafood gumbo that was to-die-for and a Greek salad without feta. Unfortunately, only my gumbo got caught on camera.

I always love seeing Brian (we’ve known each other since we were 3 years old!) and I’m so glad we were able to meet up while I was home! Also, we saw a bunch of Detroit Marathoners while we were eating lunch and it occurred to me that it’s been 3 years since my first marathon!

14. I also stopped over at my grandma’s house as well as my dad and step-mom’s to say hi. By the time I was back at my mom’s it was almost time to go. I felt like the worst daughter for not spending a lot of time with my mom but I am looking forward to her coming to Chicago in a few weeks!

15. Speaking of my mom, remember that cute little ball of puppy fluff she got over the summer? Well now that puppy is almost 50 pounds. Insane!

16. I also managed to finish reading Dark Places on our drive back. I’m not sure I can really compare it to Gone Girl but I do know that Gillian Flynn is a talented author who really knows how to hook her readers. I can’t wait to read her other book!

17. Ian and I hit some bad traffic on the highway last night and didn’t get home until almost 10. Yikes. We unpacked, watched an episode of Friends, and then went to bed exhausted– I’m sure coffee will be my best friend today

What did you do this past weekend?