Monday, September 21, 2015

Weekend Highlights

Happy Monday and greetings from Chicago!  I'm here again for a super short work trip.  I'm really hoping that I can extend one of my Chicago trips soon as I have so many people I'd like to see in the Chicago area!  Hopefully I can finagle that in 2016!  I flew into Chicago last night so it made my weekend feel a bit short but flying in this morning wasn't an option since I had to be in the office by 7:30.  My weekend went by quickly and didn't involve much downtime, but here are some of the highlights!
 
- Going out to dinner on Friday night with Phil, another couple and their baby.  We went to a really cute restaurant in Northeast Minneapolis that was so good and has the best french fries.

- My run on Saturday went really well!  I ran 16 miles at a 9:07 pace.  That's faster than I expected/planned to run it but I just felt so good.  It helped that the weather was absolutely perfect; I hope the weather is like that on race day!

- After my run, I decided to run errands on my bike since it was so beautiful out. I dropped off some basil with a friend, pick up my bike tour packet, went to a running store to get some stuff for the marathon, and stopped by Whole Foods for a couple of things.  Mornings like that make me very thankful that I live where I do as all of those stops were within 1.5 miles of my condo!

- After all that running and biking, I was starving so I made a delicious at home brunch.  It's was a lot of food but truth be told, I was kind of still hungry when I finished...  post-run hunger is no joke!


3 scrambled eggs + 2 pieces of GF toast + 1 avocado was consumed by one hungry runner!
- I got to briefly Facetime with Becky and meet her adorable baby boy, Parker!

- I spent lots of time in the kitchen prepping for the two recipes that I made at Phil's mom's house on Saturday night.  She said she can not remember the last time that someone made her dinner so it felt very good to do that for her.  All in all the recipes turned out great except one recipe was a little bit too spicy as I used hot Italian sausage in it.  Oops.  I'll have to cook again for her soon so she can see that not everything I make is super duper spicy. The spice level was just fine for Phil and I but a bit too much for his mom who has a Scandinavian taste palette.  ;)

- We played 3 games of Yahtzee at Phil's mom's and I got a Yahtzee during one of the games!  Woo hoo!

- On Sunday morning I did the Minneapolis Bike Tour.  They have 3 different route options and I did the longest one, which was 32 miles.  It was a beautiful morning and there were so many people out biking.  It's such a cool event and does a great job of showcasing the beauty of Minneapolis!  I did it on my own as Phil doesn't have a bike and my usual biking buddy is 8 months pregnant, but I still had a great time.  I really try to not let having to do things by myself hold me back!

A small fraction of the many, many bikers lined up at the start!

Nerdy helmet selfie.

- After the bike ride, I went directly to church.  I was obviously extremely under-dressed, but God doesn't care, right?  :) Speaking of church, isn't my church beautiful?  It's a historical landmark as it's one of the oldest Catholic churches in the Twin Cities - and it has a French theme to it as the patron saint is Our Lady of Lourdes.


What were some of the highlights of your weekend?

18 comments:

katielookingforward said...

fun!! I want to do more group rides once I'm all settled....and I have a flat on both my bikes at the moment, so those need to be fixed.

Marlys said...

You had a great weekend of activity! I hope your trip to Chicago goes well. I understand about the sensitive palette of Phil's Mom! I know we didn't grow up on spicy foods so hard to adapt to. Your Dad is especially sensitive to it.
Your church is beautiful, inside too!
We had a busy weekend getting the boat & pontoon in storage for the winter months, and other things put away, too. When you reach our age, and the seasons fly by to quickly, it is really sad! I do love summer the most, so hard to face what we know is coming, so I hope we have a long beautiful fall!

Nora said...

Beautiful church indeed! I love that you cooked for Phil's mom; you are such a sweet and special person. I try to bring food for my dad at least once or twice a week as I know he appreciates it and misses my mom's cooking. (Not that he doesn't cook for himself, but it's nice to be cared for.)

Highlights of the weekend: A lovely game day at Mizzou with D on Saturday, a spontaneous dinner with my dad Saturday night, where we sat outside and had lovely conversation, and being able to sleep with the windows open the last few nights. Love breaks on the a/c bill! Hope the training in Chicago goes well!

Stephany said...

I can't do spicy food either, so I feel for Phil's mom! It's tough having a sensitive palate. :)

I also love that you did that bike race by yourself. It's inspiring for me - I need to be better about just going out and doing something by myself. Being a single gal, there's so much I don't do because I don't want to do it alone, but I need to cut that out!

Highlight of my weekend was my nephew's birthday party! It's blowing my mind that he turns SEVEN on Friday. Time flies!!

missris said...

"I really try to not let having to do things by myself hold me back" I really admire that! You are awesome :)

Unknown said...

You say you went to a really cute restaurant in Northeast with the best french fries and you don't tell me the name?!?! That is so mean, Lisa. :-P

Charis Faith said...

Congratulations on the awesome run!!! You absolutely live in the best location!!! I just got hungry seeing your brunch, post running hunger is very real!!! So sweet that you cooked for Phil's mom! I'm such a spice person that most things I make end up being spicy. I do have one or two dishes that are not spicy. That bike ride sounds amazing! I hope your trip goes well!

Jenny said...

Your church is indeed beautiful! And well done on your long run :)

I've been biking more on the weekends and it's turned my Saturday morning errands into a highlight. Phils mum might have liked the meal I made on Friday which was pickled herring, boiled eggs and potatoes with dill sour cream - zero spice! The other highlights of the weekend were going to the opera to see Tosca and the final trail race of the series which was an awesome event to end on.

Have a great trip!

Jolene - EverydayFoodie said...

That is so nice that you cooked for Phil's mom :-) I bet she really appreciated that. Fun that you got to meet up with some babies too!! I just looooove babies!

Gracie said...

Such a lovely church! It's sweet that you cooked for Phil's mom. I bet she appreciated the coddling a little bit!

The Many Thoughts of a Reader said...

beautiful church!

Leigh said...

You had quite the weekend! Glad to hear your 20 miler went well...I bet that's a sigh of relief! Love that you made dinner for Phil's mom...she sounds like a great lady and deserves to have someone maker her dinner :) We should organize another Google hangout so we can 'meet' Henry and of course catch up with one another :)

Linda said...

Your breakfast looks amazing and I've never ever played Yahtzee! Or know what that means! I was gifted as a small child the game but it was before learning how to read and it just collected dust until it got sold in a garage sale. Ha!

Abby said...

You got a lot packed into your weekend, despite it being cut short due to a work trip!!! Post run hunger is definitely no joke. I started eating eggs this year (lol), and always make a breakfast "burrito" after my long workouts on weekends - and when I finish eating, I'm still hungry sometimes!

Your church is so beautiful! Those old churches are so precious, and rare!

Envious of your bike ride in nice weather!! Soon we'll be there! I actually don't mind biking alone. It's also a good time to clear my mind and enjoy the sites around me. My girlfriend's uncle owns a "bike shipping shop" in chicago - and he is going to sponsor us to do the "El Tour de Tucson" in November. So I have a 75 mile race coming up! Looks like i need to start training ;)

Highlight of my weekend was obviously my tri :)

Jeanie said...

Was this your Julia practice dish? I'm curious -- you'll have to tell! I'm so glad you enjoy Phil's mom -- makes all the difference!

My words of wisdom are those you are already practicing -- savor the beautiful days for they will fly by far too quickly! I am doing my best to do exactly that!

Anonymous said...

Your church is SO gorgeous and you're so sweet to cook for Phil's mom. There's no doubt that she appreciated it -- spicy or not! :)

Becky said...

Loved face timing with you! And love the helmet selfie! Also, of course the church you go to has a French theme - you're awesome! Hahaha!

Highlight of last weekend: successfully baby wearing. Low point: Ben getting rear-ended. (Whomp whomp!)

Amber said...

You had such a crazy busy weekend last weekend with SO much activity! You earned that big breakfast and much more!! Last weekend was really great for us as well. We went for sushi with my mom and brother on Friday night, for dinner with Jen and Brennen on Saturday night and then out for beers with my brother and on Sunday we went to the gym, for brunch and then did grocery shopping/meal prep etc. I spent lots of time reading and watching netflix too so it was a really good weekend! Can't believe another one is already here too!