A Brief Background

I’m working on a detailed post about me and diets, and food, and exercise and all that good stuff. I actually have a post done, but it’s quite long, and I’m not sure if I should put that much information in it or if I should stick to the main points.

At a high-level, here’s me in a nutshell:

• My parents (especially my dad) are health freaks (my dad has been into organic foods for the last 30 years)
• I grew up eating wheat bread and veggies from my parent’s garden (white bread and junk foods were “no’s” in our house)
• In my childhood and teenage years, I spent 10 years of my life training in figure skating
• The first time I felt self-conscious about my weight was in high school
• In high school, for the last couple years, I thought it was a good idea to not eat breakfast or lunch
• In college, I totally pigged out on junk food
• During my sophomore year, a sushi chef at a restaurant where I worked called me “fat” (even though I was roughly a size 6-8 and not what I’d consider “fat”)
• Post-college, I dropped some serious weight “thanks” to a depression from a bad relationship
• During my second job (post-college), I was traveling for work and worried about gaining weight from being on expenses. I took up tennis to exercise and put serious pressure on myself to not eat too much (note: focus was amount of food, not quality)
• After my traveling project ended, I think I “rebelled” against my too-strict eating habits and fell into an exercise rut

This brings me to last year. Last year, I was in a serious rut. I was still eating pretty healthy foods, but nutrition wasn’t my focus. I was also completely un-motivated to work out. I thought I “didn’t have time.” (You’ve said that before, right?) Lack of time was my excuse. As I gained weight, less and less of my clothes fit. I started staring into my closets in the mornings getting ready for work frustrated that my clothes weren’t fitting but un-motivated nonetheless to do something about it.

Last December, after being fed-up with my clothes not fitting, I decided to try every single pair of bottoms I owned to see what fit. Only a few pairs fit…the bottoms that didn’t fit were stacked up and placed on a shelf in my closet. Sadly, about 16-20 pairs didn’t fit me (see picture of stacked pants).

Call it the straw that broke the camel’s back, but I was ready to take control of my health. I knew I knew how to take better care of myself…I just needed to put some effort into my well-being.

Following a Non-Diet

Fed up with my clothes not fitting and tired of using negative tactics to make myself “skinny”, as part of my New Year’s Resolutions for 2009, I decided to focus on my health. This time, I would pay attention to the positives instead of the negatives. This time, I would not make myself hungry. This time, I would eat till I was full, but I would focus on what I should be eating and not what I shouldn’t eat. This time, I would work on educating myself on nutrition and exercise. This time, I would prioritize good food and exercise at the top of my to-do list. “I don’t have time to work out” was no longer a valid excuse. The truth was I had time, but I was using it for other things. I decided to use more of my time to work out.

In a way, earlier this year, I returned to my roots – to what my parents have been lecturing me on for years (nutrition-wise). I tapped into my athletic nature. I tried to tap into a lifestyle I’d grown up with and apply it to my current lifestyle.

In February 2009, I took on Ellie Krieger’s 12 week program – Small Changes, Big Results . Ellie’s attitude towards a healthy lifestyle meshed well with my focus towards the positive attributes of healthy eating and exercise. I loved following her 12 week program!

Non-Diet Success

After having put major energy and attention into a more healthy lifestyle, I’ve seen some awesome weight loss results. Last week, I decided to try on some of the pants from my stack of bottoms I put in my closet last December. The results…I’ve tried a couple pairs and so far those pants fit again! Yay! I’ve been working on revamping my lifestyle since December and it’s great to see my hard work from the last 7 months pay off!

I’m happy that I’ve been enjoying my exercise (yay zumba!).

I’m happy that I’ve been enjoying my eating.

I’m happy that I’ve been able to lose weight, not by trying to eat less, but by trying to eat better.

I’m happy that my revamped eating habits have merged my parent’s healthy eating habits with my current lifestyle and that I can stay healthy even with a splurge here and there.

I’m happy that I’ve been able to learn so much more about foods and nutrition.

I’m happy that overall I’ve lost weight, but I’m mostly happy that I’ve done it my way and what I consider the right way.

I’m ecstatic with my results! I have more energy and I feel so much better about myself and in general.

Reader question: Have you been in a rut before? What did you do to get out of it?

My Last SCBR Post!!!

10:30 am – Breakfast in Bed – Content (5)

I didn’t have anything too crazy planned for my last day of SCBR, but I guess hubby did because he woke me up with breakfast in bed.

He made scrambled eggs with Mexican blend cheese and a Morningstar “sausage” patty for each of us. Hubby microwaved the patty and I thought it was surprisingly good cooked this way (as opposed to baking them like I usually do).

Hubby even made my coffee just the way I like it – sweet and milky.

12:30 pm – Mini Cinnamon Roll – Content (5)

Hubby and I went to Great Harvest to get one of the bread flavors I’ve been craving lately – Oat Bran.

I couldn’t resist grabbing one of these min cinnamon rolls while we were there.

After our errands, we met up with our realtor to go house-hunting! We just had 1 house to look at for Saturday and a few more scheduled for Sunday. The Saturday house was…uh…interesting. It would be a bit of a gamble buying it IMO, but who knows? No risk, no reward, right? It will be interesting to see how the houses we look at on Sunday compare.

After our house-hunting, I went with my realtor (who is my friend, too) to get a spa pedicure! I couldn’t help but think of Kelsey looking at all those nail polish bottles.

The salon had lots of pretty OPI colors, but I chose a bright orangy-red color. I love to do super bright colors when the weather is warm. Look who came over for my pedi picture…I swear, sometimes he poses himself…what a ham!

We grabbed smoothies afterwards for a quick lunch. I got the Protein Blast which had lots of good flavors, including: Strawberries, bananas, and soy milk. Yum!

After our pedis and smoothies, I went with my realtor friend to go bike shopping! I’ve been toying with the idea of getting a bike lately. I wanted to get one a few years ago, but didn’t want to fork out the cash. I bought this really out of shape bike at a garage sale a couple years ago for a mere $5, but never did anything with it. Now, I’m back in bike mode and would like to get a multi-tasking bike so I can use it for exercise and so I can possibly run local errands with it to be green. I found a nice commuter bike I liked and it was on sale, but I need to wait till I have money to buy one, so we’ll see…my 1 year anniversary is coming up. Is metal for the 1 year anniversary? lol…jk I think it’s paper.

6:30 pm – Quick Dinner – Content (5)

Although we’ve had shrimp the last 2 nights, we decided to go ahead and get more for Saturday’s dinner because it’s just so healthy and quick to cook. We had plans with friends later and the house hunting put us a little more behind than we expected, so a fast dinner was a must. I think this one took about 10 minutes…love that!

I did a dinner similar to Thursday night’s meal: seasoned shrimp sauteed in olive oil, steamed broccoli with a butter drizzle, and a piece of GH Oat Bran toast with butter.

7:30 pm – Dog Bar!

We met up with Kate, Nate , and Kelsey at the local Dog Bar for a fun-filled Saturday.

Bailey had fun wandering around and making new friends.

Gilbert (click for bio) made an appearance, too.

We were happy to see Bailey and Gilbert seemed to get along quite well. I see a new friendship blossoming here.

The dog bar had some cool features, too, like this fire hydrant…

…and this dog treat dispenser.

There was the cutest little puppy there last night – I think he/she was the fave of the group.

Kate played photographer for us so we could get a family shot. I think she did a great job – this picture came out awesome!

We got a family shot for the Gilbert fam, too.

The dog bar was super fun…I hope we get to go back soon.

We stayed till it got dark outside and tried to take more photos, but Bailey was too excited to sit still, so they came out blurry.

As the night went on, everyone started getting hungry. Hubby and I were the only ones who ate before the Dog Bar. So, we all headed over to Revolution Pizza . I was still full from dinner, but hubby got a small red pizza with pepperoni and jalapenos. Everyone’s food looked great, so I’m hoping we come back soon and I can try some of the yummy-looking pizza.

Well, for SCBR, I guess that’s all folks. I’ve had a lot of fun with this 12 week program and I’m hoping to do a book review and summary post in the next couple of days. Till then, happy weekend!

7:30 am – Coffee – Content (5)

I managed to get to bed a little earlier than I have been lately, but felt just as tired as normal in the AM. I started the day with a nice cuppa Fresh Market Breakfast Blend .

9:30 am – Banana Flaxseed Oats – First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

We had one organic banana leftover from this week’s organic produce delivery, and it was looking pretty ripe, so I did a repeat of yesterday’s breakfast today – Banana Flaxseed Oats.

2:30 pm – Heavy Hors D’Ouevres – First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

My company had its quarterly meeting today, so I left the office early and headed over to meet the group. I was so busy at work, I was hoping to grab a quick sub before heading over, but I didn’t even have time for that. Luckily, my company had some faboo heavy hors d’ouevres at the meeting, so I snacked up!

I wanted to take a picture, but the lighting was so dark…darker than normal. We actually had our meeting inside a movie theater. We didn’t watch any movies, but they did put our presentation on the big screen.

Anywho, I loaded up on veggies: carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower – all with a dabble of ranch dressing. I also had about 3 pita chips with some cheesy spinach dip, 1 slice of thin-crust margarita pizza, 1 slider, and some sweet potato chips. For dessert, I filled half a plate with fruit: pineapple, melon, cantaloupe, 1 raspberry, 1 blackberry, and some strawberry pieces.

6:15 pm – 1/2 Zumba! – Happy

My company meeting lasted until 6pm, but I decided to go ahead and try to make the majority of the class, thinking it started at 6pm and I may be able to make the last 45 minutes. Unfortunately, I forgot the class actually started at 5:45pm, so I only did half. Oh well, I figured half a class was better than no class, right?

8:30 pm – Simple Shrimp Pasta – First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

In the fridge, we had some organic cherry tomatoes that were starting to go, so I decided to finish out what I could of the carton in the form of pasta.

We also had some shrimp leftover from yesterday since hubby accidentally picked up too much. Hubby waited till today to peel the shrimp and I cooked them up for tonight’s pasta dinner with some salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes – and towards the end garlic.

I also used some pasta water and chicken broth to make a light sauce for the dish.

For the base, I used linguine pasta. This was a super simple shrimp pasta dish that came together quickly and used up a lot of ingredients we already had on hand. I love those kinds of meals sometimes! I started out with a small portion and waited a bit after finishing my plate to determine if I was truly hungry for seconds. I’m working on trying to eat more intuitively again since I’ve been reaching the “full (7)” state of my Hunger Continuum a lot lately. For tonight, I was a bit hungry still several minutes after eating my first bowl of pasta, so I grabbed just a bit more.

For dessert, I had 2 of those TJ’s Blueberry Shortcake Bites with a wee bit of 2% milk.

I started out with just the 2 bites and decided to get 2 more to round out the evening. They were topped off nicely by the smooth milk.

Wow…can’t believe I only have 1 day left of SCBR!

7:30 am – Coffee – Content (5)

I started today with a nice hot cuppa joe in Fresh Market Breakfast Blend flavor. I ran out of my soy creamer a couple days ago and have been using 2% milk and sugar to finish the mug.

9:00 am – Banana Flaxseed Oats – First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

This morning, I had a nice, cozy bowl of oats with more of that flaxseed stuff (which I’m currently storing in the freezer at work).

Pre-cooking ingredients:

• 1/4 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup water

Microwaved for 60 seconds

Post-cooking ingredients:

• a few tbsp of 2% milk
• about 3/4 sliced banana (I just ate the rest while I made my oats)
• 1 tbsp dry toasted TJ’s almonds
• 1 tsp blueberry-milled flaxseed from TJ’s

1:00 pm – Leftover Spinach Ravioli – First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

I ate the rest of my spinach ravioli from last night’s dinner for lunch. It reheated surprisingly well and I still thoroughly enjoyed the flavor. Just wish I had a nice hunk of foccacia to go with it!

5:00 pm – Organic Fruit Snack – Content (5)

I was getting pretty hungry towards the end of the day, but I didn’t want to eat one of my snack bars, so I just had this TJ’s Apple Strawberry Organic fruit bar.

It wasn’t very filling, but it tasted good and was better than eating nothing.

After work, hubby and I took Bails for a car ride to go house-hunting. Hubby had found a couple houses online and we wanted to see what they looked like in person. I think after house-hunting for the last 4-ish years like we have, I’m pretty apprehensive about actually buying a house, so I hope I’m not putting too much pressure on myself to find the perfect house. I guess we’ll know we want it when we see it right? We’re thinking about booking an appointment to see one. It’s not in the neighborhoods we’re currently eyeing, but we can’t really afford anything where we’re currently looking, so maybe it’s time to expand our search?

8:00 pm – Spicy Shrimp, Steamed Broccoli, and Chips + Queso – First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

I was already hungry when I left work, so after the house-hunting, I was really hungry. As soon as we got home, I got started on a quick dinner. First, I chopped up some organic broccoli and got that going in the steamer.

I did a quick spice mix for the shrimp while hubby peeled them.

In the bowl:

• salt
• pepper
• garlic powder
• onion powder
• cumin
• paprika
• cayenne pepper

I mixed this op and sprinkled it over the raw shrimp.

Then, I drizzled a bit of extra virgin olive oil into the pan and then in went the shrimp, which I sauteed till cooked through.

I drizzled the broccoli with a wee bit of melted butter and served it with the shrimp and some of the tortilla chips we picked up on our way home from house-hunting. We also got some queso, which I had a hard time resisting tonight, but I managed to stop eating before getting “full” so yay!

Dinner was super fast and relatively healthy (more so if I got a better carb), so I’ll have to remember this one for the next time I need a quick meal after a long day of work.

What’s your fave thing to cook after an extra long, hard day of work? Do you prefer to unwind by cooking something slowly or cook something that comes together quickly?

Well, I remembered my camera today, but when I went to take a picture of my breakfast, I discovered the battery was dead. *sad face*

7:30 am – Coffee – Content (5)

I had a nice big mug of Fresh Market Spring Blend to get me going this morning.

9:00 am – Strawberry/Blueberry-Flaxseed Oats – First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

I made a bowl of oatmeal with fresh, organic strawberries, dry-toasted almonds, and a sprinkling of that blueberry flaxseed stuff I got at TJ’s yesterday. The bowl was kinda pretty so I’m sad I didn’t get a photo. Oh well. The camera is charing now, so hopefully, I’ll have some photos for tomorrow.

1:30 pm – Leftover Salmon + Leek Wild Rice + Cherry Tomatoes – First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

I had the rest of the salmon and leek wild rice from yesterday’s lunch. I also brought some organic cherry tomatoes for some veg action. I’m glad I brought the tomatoes – they were very refreshing.

6:30 pm – Fiammas – Full (7)

I met a friend for dinner tonight at a local Italian restaurant – Fiamma . We started dinner with some foccacia and pesto olive oil.

I had a glass of white wine.

We each got the 3-course dinner (currently offered Mon-Wed). I started with the blood orange salad.

My friend started with the vegetable croquettes. We shared a couple bites of each to experience more flavors.

Post app, we got a bite of sorbet.

Then, it was entree time! I got the spinach ravioli prepared with homemade ravioli and red sauce and sage…yum! I definitely prefer fresh pasta whenever I can get it.

For my dessert course, I got the tiramisu…

…with some decaf coffee.

At the end of the meal, we even got a free sample of their house-made limoncello – how cool!?

Dinner was fab and it was great catching up.

Hopefully, I’ll have more photos tomorrow. Till then, g’night!

7:30 am – Coffee – Content (5)

I woke up a lot easier this morning and made a nice, big mug of Fresh Market Breakfast Blend coffee with milk and sugar.

11:00 am – Berry Good Oats – First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

I totally left my small camera at home today, so I don’t have any photos, which is a shame….a shame because today’s breakfast was a big, lovely bowl of Berry Good Oats with lots of fresh blueberries and organic strawberries…yum!

1:00 pm – Grilled Salmon + Rice – First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

I really missed my camera at lunch today, too, because I went with my new teammates hit up a restaurant I’d never visited before and I had a lovely serving of teriyaki grilled salmon with a leek-rice pilaf. I ate half of the plate’s serving and it was quite tasty. We also got to sit outside and the weather was lovely – sunny and warm with blue skies everywhere!

6:00 pm – Zumba! – Tired but Happy

I was worried I wouldn’t make zumba tonight because I had to email a document out to about 20 people before leaving work and I just. barely. made it. The point is that I made it! I got to zumba with just enough time to put my dance shoes on and do a little bit of stretching. My arms were killing me from yesterday’s zumba class, so I was hopeful we wouldn’t do any dances with serious arm-work and thank goodness…we didn’t! I did get a nice hour-long workout in, though. 2 down for the week already! I feel so productive!

9:15 pm – Salad, Roast Chicken Breast, Sweet Potatoes – First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

After zumba, I hit up TJ’s to restock on some goodies – dry roasted almonds, milled flaxseed with blueberries, blueberry bites, and a few more energy bars since I’m down to my last 2 Clif bars – my preferred pre-workout bar.

We got our organic produce delivery today, which included tonight’s salad ingredients: organic cherry tomatoes, organic broccoli, and organic romaine lettuce, topped with some sunflower seeds and my fave salad dressing – Drew’s Rosemary Balsamic dressing .

I got 2 kosher chicken breasts from TJ’s and roasted those with olive oil and a handful of spices: salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, chili powder, and cayenne pepper.

I also took one of the organic sweet potatoes we had delivered today and did Ellie Krieger’s Honey Roasted Sweet Potatoes (click), which I also topped with a sprinkling of cinnamon.

Dinner was simple, easy, and very tasty…and filling!

Hubby and I enjoyed our dinner with some water and a wee bit of TJ’s white wine – Coastal.

Post-dinner, I was feeling my sweet tooth coming on so I dug into the TJ’s Shortbread Blueberry Bites.

Nutrition info for the blueberry bites.

I only picked 2 bites out for dessert. They didn’t look like much on the plate, but I was pretty full from dinner, so these were juuuuust enough with a wee bit of 2% milk.

Reader Question: Does any one else out there do zumba? I know some of you guys have mentioned it before, but let’s hear it even if you’ve already mentioned it!

7:30 am – Coffee – Content (5)

I guess all that staying up late this past weekend really hit me, because I snoozed for an hour this morning! I left for work in a frenzy, which ended up lasting the entire day!

I had a cup of Fresh Market Breakfast Blend coffee to start my day while I was getting ready.

Then, I got to work only to find out that the 3 new people starting today would be “under my wing” so to speak since the lady who was supposed to be managing them was out sick today (hope she feels better…poor thing sounded so weak on the phone). I met with the 3 new guys from 9:15 – 10:10 am. Got to my desk at 10:10 to learn that I had 10:15 and then 10:45 interviews! The 10:15 called me around 10:14 saying they’d been directed to go to the wrong location, so we rescheduled for later, but the day didn’t slow down there. I had the 10:45 – 11:00 interview, then grab new guys at 11:15 for the 11:30 to 1:00 pm, which ended early except I had to meet with the new guys again. Then, I had a couple quick minutes to heat up lunch, then a 1:30 pm – 2:00 pm, then the 2:30 pm interview, and then a 4:00 to 5:00 pm…phew! Finally, I had a 5:30 – until happy hour with my company. Hectic day! Secretly, I really enjoy days when I’m crazy busy like this – I love a fast-paced environment and to be busy and challenged!

As far as breakfast eats, I did manage to down a blueberry Clif ZBar and a non-fat vanilla latte (I got non-fat instead of soy since the change for this week in SCBR was to switch to low-fat dairy). I also had a piece of chocolate b-day cake in our 11am meeting for all the May b-days on our team. Yea…we get cake once a month!

1:30 pm – Leftover White Bean Chili – First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

As I mentioned above, I re-heated some white bean chicken chili for lunch, which I had with some more blue corn tortilla chips.

3:30 pm – Kiwi – Content (5)

Later in the day, I had a couple minutes and decided to eat a kiwi I brought to work. The kiwi wasn’t very good – the 2 I got from the same grocery trip weren’t that great…not sure what’s up?

I also tried to finish my bottle of water for the day.

6:30 pm – Belly Dance Zumba! – Upbeat

I went to my company’s happy hour for about 20 minutes, but left early so I could get a good workout in! I’m hoping to make all 3 classes this week, so we’ll see.

Tonight’s class was a belly-dance inspired sort of zumba class. Check out the belly skirt I got for this class! It’s so fun to wear because it really makes the hippy movements more fun.

Please pardon the sweat – I took this after the class and we had quite the workout!

Matching belly skirts!

9:00 pm – Leftover White Bean Chili – First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

We had even more leftover white bean chicken chili for dinner along with corn…

…along with some blue corn tortilla-based nachos. My half was rather plain, without salsa.

I have to say, I’m really missing my veggies right now, but we’re expecting a nice, hefty delivery of organic produce tomorrow, so we didn’t want to buy too much knowing we’ll be getting lots tomorrow. Besides that, we seem to be burning through our monthly budgets faster than ever – we really need to buckle down and pay closer attention to our finances!

Does any one else keep a monthly budget? If so, what are you tricks for staying on course?

10:00 am – Coffee + Bacon, Egg, and Cheese – First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

For breakfast, my MIL made bacon egg and cheese biscuits with a dab of honey butter, hash browns, and fresh fruit. I also had some vanilla coffee.

We watched hubby’s mom open her presents and then it was time to head back home.

Bails loved sticking his head out the window.

2:00 pm – Qdoba – First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

Hubby and I hit up a local shopping center to enjoy a late lunch/snack outdoors with Bailey. The weather was soooo gorgeous outside, I’m so glad we got to spend some time outdoors.

Our snack wasn’t the healthiest, but it worked: chips + queso and a kid’s meal chicken quesadilla.

When we got home, I started on a long list of to-dos:

• Friday’s blog post makeup
• Load of dark laundry
• Jewelry order – breast cancer earrings
• Saturday’s blog post makeup
• Jewelry order – Giada necklace
• Load of dark laundry
• Grocery shopping at TJ’s
• Unpack
• Cook dinner
• Work on secret project

It’s been a long day, but I’m done with everything except the last item since I forgot to include tonight’s blog post on the list. I love being productive!

Shortly after starting my to-dos, I made a quick mug of Yogi Tea Ginger tea , which is always a nice treat, especially with a wee bit of honey.

Yogi tea quote of the day: “Speak the truth”

8:00 pm – While Bean Chili – First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

Since I’ve been eating pretty decadently lately, I decided to try to do something healthy for dinner – White Chicken Chili by Ellie Krieger – a recipe from my Small Changes, Big Results book .

Remember those corn chips I found awhile back? I decided to bring those Garden of Eatin Blue Corn Chips out to go with the chili dinner. I really wanted to make cornbread, but 1. I forgot to buy some cornbread mix at the store and 2. we had salsa leftover that needed to be eaten, so I figured chips would do the trick.

We also got some vino to go with dinner – Trader Joe’s Coastal Sauvignon Blanc – not too shabby.

The soup was really good.

Both hubby and I really enjoyed our soups topped with fresh cilantro and some TJ’s Wisconsin Sharp Cheddar Cheese, which was uber soft while I was shredding it – I can’t wait to eat more later this week!.

The soup made a lot of servings, so I’ll be enjoying more of this soup in leftover format…maybe I’ll actually make cornbread tomorrow…hmm?

Happy Mother’s Day!!!

Happy Mother’s Day to my hubby’s mom who always welcomes us with open arms.

Special thanks to my mom. I appreciate her more and more every day, and I’m more and more proud that I’m a lot like her. My mom has taught me so much over the years and I’m so grateful to have such a wonderful mom in my life. I love you mom!

Wow…the last week! I can’t believe SCBR is over! I’m a little sad that I don’t have another SCBR week to look forward to, but I have plans to revisit some of the previous chapters to make sure I cover some of the items I missed. So, without further adieu…

Changes for Week 12 of Small Changes, Big Results (Last week!):

• Switch to low-fat dairy
• Sign up for a fitness event
• Donate some time to charity

10:00 am – Coffee + Breakfast Miscellany – First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

Since we got in so late the previous night, I slept in on Saturday. Hubby’s mom had left for swimming but not before making us a miscellany of breakfast items. I got a bite of each: blueberry muffin, potato cake, (I think) Canadian bacon, and an egg fritatta-style dish that had green peppers, and I think sour cream in it.

I also had a cup of coffee from the one-cup coffee maker I got my MIL a couple years before for Mother’s Day.

1:00 pm – Light Snacks – Content (5)

I had plans for a special bloggy dinner, so I didn’t want to fill up too much beforehand. We just had some light snacks that consisted of whole wheat crackers, tortilla chips, various cheeses and various veggies.

Hubby’s mom has a dog already but hubby’s bro came over and brought his dog, too, so we had a really doggie party. Bailey had a blast!

Motion blur – that orange streak is hubby’s brother’s dog.

6:00 pm – Bloggy Dinner Outing! – Full (6)

I met up with Jessica of Johnstone’s Vin Blanc at Six Plates , a wine bar in Durham, NC, for a bloggy dinner outing! It’s so nice to be able to dine with fellow foodies!

The wine bar was super swank inside, but rather than cozy up on the luxe red chairs, we decided to sit at the bar for a more interactive experience since Six Plates does not have waiters.

We were quickly greeted by Matt, the owner, who was behind the bar the whole night and took great care of us.

We started with the lamby joes, which were seasoned with fennel seed and were quite tasty, and an order of the steak.

We each had a glass of the Olivares Monastrell “Altos de la Hoya” Jumilla, Spain, which was the suggested wine pairing for the steak plate.

braeburn farms sirloin – local asparagus hash | fig demi glace sauce

Matt surprised us by sending out the tuna tartar tower on the house – Jessica and I were on the fence about trying this one, but it was quite good (if you like raw tuna). The tuna was paired with jicama, avocado, and a lovely mango vanilla vinaigrette.

We also got a small cup of the bacon-flavored popcorn…

…and the flatbread of the evening, which had a chickpea puree with local tomatoes, a cheddar cheese and a yogurt sauce. I think the flatbread was my fave dish of the night – it surprised me the most with its interesting combination of ingredients and light yet tasty flavor.

Jessica and I each got a glass of the dessert wine – Robertson Winery Late Harvest Gewurtzraminer South Africa

We also tried the Strawberry Shortcake dessert but subbed the Thai Basil gelato for the Goat Cheese gelato listed on the menu.

We were 2 happy foodies after all these good eats! We had a blast at Six Plates between the great food and awesome service. Matt and his staff really took care of us.

After dinner, we decided to grab a quick coffee at Copa Vida (in the same shopping center), and boy am I glad we did!

I was going to get my usual (Vanilla Soy Latte), but decided to switch up the syrup with Caramel and then last minute, when I heard they used a local creamery’s milk, I got whole milk, too.

This was one of the best lattes I think I’ve ever had! Look at how thick that froth is! Yum!

We ended our foodie adventure with a quick trip to the fountain outside to make wishes!

Click here to see Jessica’s recap.

Jessica, thanks so much for the super fun bloggy outing! We’ll have to do this again some time soon!