Wonderful Weekend!

It still is taking a bit of me getting used to doing whatever I want, whenever I want.  I met up some of my blog readers at the Madison Farmers Market Saturday morning.  As I was driving there I was contemplating how different my life is now.  Had Tony still been alive and I had made this mini road trip, the whole drive up I’d be worried about him, wondering if he was up yet, did he sleep well the night before, is he eating anything.  I had the role of caregiver for so long, it’s going to be a hard habit for me to break.

To say the farmers market was amazeballs is the understatement of the year.  It wraps all around the Capital building on four sides.  I like that the traffic goes counter-clockwise so you just ease around each of the sides – I think it took us just under two hours to walk all the way around it.  If I had brought a cart with wheels I probably would have bought more!  Lynne, Gina and Jessica were all seasoned market goers, so it was nice to get their recommendation on where they buy certain items.  One thing I was told not to miss out on was Stella’s hot and spicy cheese bread.  Oh my! 

It was nice to walk around, catch up with Jessica and Kris who I met when I went to my Spartan race in May.  It was the first time meeting Lynne and Gina.  Gina was the winner of the other free ticket to the Spartan race – we tried to meet back then, but the timings of our race were different and it didn’t work out – we both said we’d do it again together though!  We could put a whole My Bizzy Kitchen team together!

Gina had plans later that day so we said goodbye to her and then headed to lunch.  I can’t remember who suggested it now (maybe Lynne?) but we went to the Green Owl, which is a vegan restaurant.

I got a Mediterranean wrap:  Tabouli and hummus with romaine, tomatoes, cucumbers, roasted peppers and kalamata olives and lemon-mint vinaigrette in a flour tortilla.  I added a lemon marinated tofu to my wrap and I have to say this was really delicious.  I could only eat half. 

This weekend I was a bit off on my 7 day carb cycle – I never quite got all my meals in and I didn’t eat every three hours.  Nor did I drink a gallon of water each day and I can definitely feel that I am dehydrated today.

After lunch we went to a strip mall that had a spice shop, and Karli, as soon as I saw this place Lynne and I had to go in before Kris, the vegan, made her way there.  They had an amazing butcher case, but I walked away with . . . a jar of pork fat.  Not kidding!  I think my friend Kris thought I was joking when I told her that was what I had bought!  Not sure what exactly I’ll so with it, other than make the best tasting popcorn!

Then we went to Brennan’s Market – when walking inside I told Lynne “this has all of my favorite things!  Fruit Cheese Spirits and Bakery!

I wish I could have bought ALL the cheese!  But I only bought a couple – one of which I’ll tell you later on in this post – it was a caramel goat cheese!  Kris had a couple other errands to run in town so Lynne and I stopped for coffee at Starbuck’s – my summer go to drink there is a Grande Iced Coffee with sugar free caramel and a touch of cream – not too bad calorie wise and only $2.95.  Thanks for the coffee Lynne!  Lynne also bought me a four pack of spices I can’t wait to try out:

Before I knew it, it was time to head back home – I left the house at 6:50 a.m. and didn’t get home until 6:00 p.m. – nice day out!   Here’s all my market loot:

The kids and I just went to a local restaurant for dinner – the service was SO slow – we got there around 6:30 and we didn’t get the bill until 8:45. I know the owner of this place and I seriously need to set up a meeting with him to tell him how disorganized his staff was that night – and those were just from the servers that were working the outdoor patio.  We weren’t in a hurry, but still – that’s crazy long for dinner.  I did drink Tony’s favorite beer on tap though!

Sunday morning I had plans to meet up with my friend at her house and bring stuff to make breakfast.  She just had her kitchen redone and I was chomping at the bit to have a chance to cook in it.  I made pancake batter at home as well as a low sodium low carb quiche for my friend because she has some diet restrictions.   I met their dog for the first time too.  I’ve never thought of myself as a big dog lover, but after meeting this dog, I would buy one tomorrow – for such a big dog he was a complete teddy bear and sat near me or walked wherever I was.  And his name is Winston – so cute!

So my cooking environment didn’t suck too bad – ha!  OMG, this is my dream kitchen.  Better yet, when I have my living room done she’s going to help be decorate and I can’t wait.  I have no sense of decorating style at all – at best my style could be called “early miscellaneous.”

I told her if that were my kitchen I’d probably sleep in a sleeping bag next to the stove!  We had a great time catching up.  Before I knew it I had to get on my way because then my Mom was coming over.  We ended up going grocery shopping, then hanging outside with a cheese/cracker/fruit plate with some wine and then ended up grilling a whole chicken on the grill.   OMG – this cheese I got in Madison was amazing – it was a caramel flavored goat cheese, slightly sweet but so creamy and sliced on top of an apple was the perfect combination .

I had to laugh at my Mom because Runny was all up in her business and it takes my Mom a while to get used to how hyper Rummy can be.  I give you this collage!

It was the perfect ending to a wonderful weekend.  Great food, great friends, great family – I am blessed.

CONSTRUCTION STARTS TODAY on my living room.  After nearly a month of it being torn apart, happy to have work begin.  The garbage people just dropped off the biggest dumpster I’ve ever seen.  I asked the lady on the phone what I couldn’t put in it, and she said no concrete or bricks so after the house debris gets in there we are doing a clean sweep and throwing out everything that we possible don’t want anymore.  It will be good to get rid of stuff that I’ve been hanging onto for years and don’t do anything with – a giant garbage pile and a giant Goodwill pile. 

Alright, I have to jump in the shower and get my shit together – what was the highlight of your weekend?  Make it a great day!
I almost forgot!  My Week 2 WI with the carb cycle diet:

I’ve lost 7.1 pounds in two weeks!  Hope I can continue the weight loss streak this week too.  Hugs!  (and I do believe I need another pedicure!)