when i grow older, i will be stronger

This week was definitely not the most exciting, but the weekend was full as usual. Friday I actually got to sleep in a little bit, and then Alyssa and I spent the afternoon/evening together. First we did some shopping at the mall and at Kohl's. I got a much-needed belt and a much less needed scarf. It's chartreuse which is one color that I don't have, so it's okay. ;) Afterwards we went out for dinner and then I took her back to her house. 

Later in the evening I had a little birthday gathering to go to for one of my friends at work. A few people got together at one of our frequent waterholes, the Weary Traveler, which also has phenomenal food. I picked Alyssa up on the way and we just hung out there for awhile. Alyssa got a grilled cheese sandwich, which sounds kind of boring, but it looked amazing and, according to Alyssa, was pretty damn good. I had a cup of their vegan chili and vegan cornbread, which was also really good - and nice and spicy (too many restaurants make their chili wayyyy too bland).  This place is known for having a very wide selection of vegan meals on their menu, plus a lot of their ingredients are local. 

Now normally I wouldn't care about what the vegan items on a menu are BUT....I have been eating terribly the last 6+ months now and so I finally decided to make some changes. I've heard a lot about cleanses and cleansing diets, but most of them sound pretty sketchy and rather unhealthy. So I decided to just go vegan for 2 weeks as a way to jumpstart some better eating habits. Basically a lot of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. Minus some of my favorite foods [and staples to my unhealthy diet]: meat, cheese, milk, any dairy products, eggs....basically everything. Sooooo, it was very hard, and it was why I was very thankful to be able to find yummy vegan options on the menu. As of late I have moved into Phase II of my two weeks, which is just vegetarian. I couldn't handle skipping all the dairy. I'm still eating very limited amounts of the dairy, but it gives me a little extra breathing room. 

Saturday morning I got to meet my friends Britny and Nick for brunch! They were visiting from LaCrosse and I haven't seen them since like....December?, so it was really nice to get together just for a little while. Saturday evening Zach and I went to see "Born to Be Wild" in IMAX 3D. It was absolutely adorable. It is a documentary about two women who rescue orphaned elephants and orangutans. It was only 40 minutes, but it was pretty awesome. Plus the women do some amazing work. Of course, when I left I wanted a baby elephant to play with and Zach wanted a baby orangutan to go on motorcycle rides with him, but it was definitely worth it. Afterwards we went over to one of Zach's friend's house to hang out and play games. We ended up playing a 4+ hour game of Trivial Pursuit (90s edition), but Zach and I won [no thanks to me] so it was worth the time. It was a ton of fun though, good company and lots of laughing. 

Sunday morning Zach and I went out for brunch with his parents and brother at a place in Middleton. It was a brunch buffet, and the food was pretty good. Plus, I had decided ahead of time that I was going to allow myself to eat meat and cheese, so it was quite a treat. I had some reallllly yummy prime rib (which sounds pretty tasty right about now...). Afterwards I had to go home and take a nap, because I was exhausted from the night before [staying up super late playing games] and getting up at a normal person's time of day for breakfast. So I took a nap, and zen fired ze missiles. (aka went back to work). 

Now I am 2/5 of the way done with my workweek, and I'm trying to get caught up on a bunch of correspondence that I'm behind on. Off to write some letters!