1. On Friday night I had a girls night with some of my favorite ladies in Chicago. We ate salad, hummus & veggies, chips & guac, and popcorn while drinking wine and attempting to watch Crossroads (we were waay too chatty for a movie). I had so much fun that I didn’t get home until almost 1 am. That hasn’t happened in a loooong time.

2. I slept in on Saturday morning and then headed out for an 8 mile run with a few stride drills. It was surprisingly warm out and I tried to enjoy the fact that it was sunny out and I was way overdressed. By the time I got home, all I wanted was something cold for breakfast. Unfortunately, Ian and I were in desperate need of a grocery trip and hot oatmeal was my only option.

At least pumpkin oats are tasty!

3. I spent the majority of my Saturday watching Michigan beat Iowa (woohoo!) and recipe planning for the Thanksgiving at my mom’s. We’re going to have a few family traditions (modified for my dietary restrictions) as well as some new dishes and I can’t wait to see how it all turns out!

4. On Saturday night, Ian and I decided to go out for a date night. It’d been about 2 weeks since our last sushi excursion, so we figured it was about time to be sushified. Rather than drive/take the el for 30-45 minutes to go to a sushi spot, we decided to head over to one of the nicer sushi places nearby, South Coast Sushi.

While we were looking over the menu, our waiter brought out fried seaweed with wasabi mayo and spicy mayo for dipping. I always used to love this little appetizer but I can’t have it anymore (although I did steal a few strips of seaweed–I was hungry!)

I decided to start with a ginger salad and Ian had a cup of miso soup and then we split the super white ponzu appetizer.

I love super white tuna, it has to be my favorite sushi fish.

Next, we ordered some nigiri (two yellowtail, two super white tuna, & two salmon) as well as a salmon poke roll (salmon marinated in seaweed, scallion & fresh sesame soy, cucumber, masago, and crushed cashew).

We also ended up ordering an Alaska roll (king crab, avocado, cucumber, and roe). It was good but not as tasty as our first plate.

Overall, it was quite the successful evening and I’d highly recommend South Coast if you’re looking for a good sushi spot in the South Loop area.

5. On Sunday morning I woke up early to get my 14 miler in (cut back week FTW). I fueled with a rice cake with sunflower butter, chia seeds, and dried cranberries and some almond milk (I decided not to fuel during the run but to eat a bigger pre-run snack). The run went well and was over before I knew it! It definitely helped that it was nice and sunny out . I’ll get my weekly workout recap up soon (and link to it here like before). Obviously I suck at doing it on Sundays . My weekly workout recap has been backposted here!

6. I usually have a smoothie post-run but Ian was still sleeping when I got back and I didn’t want to wake him up. Instead, I ended up indulging the craving I’ve had since last week when I finished my frozen waffles.

So. good.

7. Ian and I spent most of Sunday watching Netflix on the couch. When it came time to make lunch, I only had enough energy to roast some veggies and throw them on top of kale. I was excited to try my new black truffle olive oil from TJs and I used a little bit to coat some brussels sprouts. It was good but not amazing. I’m thinking the oil will better on fries/in salad dressings. Any suggestions?

8. By the time dinner came around I was ready to cook something. I decided to try a cajun mac ‘n’ cheese recipe that was both gluten free and vegan. For a mac ‘n’ cheese recipe it took a lot of prep work, but it was definitely worth it.

I loved this meal.

9. The rest of Sunday was spent in true lazy form. Ian and I watched Walking Dead, Breaking Amish, and more Netflix. Considering we’ll be travelling next weekend, I think we did an excellent job of laying low this weekend .

10. And now it’s time to announce the two winners of the $25 gift cards from Coca Cola.

So this means that Sarah and Skylar J have won! Please e-mail me your addresses (runningthewindycity[at]yahoo[dot]com) and I’ll make sure your gift cards get on their way!

So now tell me, what did you do this weekend?