Joe and Chicago

Hello blog friends! Yesterday was a great day in Chicago & today was a great day at Trader Joe's!

I know she looks really unhappy here, but we really did have a great time, I promise!









Eats from yesterday:
For breakfast yesterday I had a green juice with the usual: Spinach, celery, lemon, green apple, cucumber, and just a little ginger. I decided yesterday I like this juice a lot better when I use a whole lemon versus a half. It tastes more like lemonade to me this way.

Road food= Lara Bar

Lunch was pretty comical. Matt wanted to just stop for fast food, but I would rather just not eat than to eat a fast food salad. YUK!  So we stopped at a Texas Roadhouse and I got a carryout salad and he lovingly made fun of me!

Dinner was a few things. First this. Can you guess what it is?

It is Portabella mushrooms in a vinaigrette and oil. You should of seen Matt's face when they brought this out. He didn't hear me order and he totally thought it was beef! 

I let him think it was for just a few so I could continue to watch his face as I shoveled it in...priceless!

Next, was a huge bowl of romaine, tomatoes, and shrimp. It has been a while since I have had any kind of seafood.  I am very picky about seafood. This was really good though!

So, on to today. I had my green juice this morning, then was off to meet up with a friend and then to Trader Joe's. So lunch was skipped. Not good, I know! But here are my goods from Joe!

Round 1

Tough to see, so here's what it all is. Starting from the back left:frozen eggplant slices, chicken burgers, organic cucs, veggie kabobs, organic celery, 2 Trader Joe's vegetarian pizza, organic cottage cheese, 2 raw cheddar cheese blocks, 3 goat cheddar blocks, 3 goat Goudas, regular Gouda slices, cheddar cheese sticks, and a Greek salad.

All the cow dairy and meat are for Sophia and Matt and the goat cheese are for MOOWA. Ok, so I do share with my family!

Round 2

From back left: 2 boxes organic cheese crackers, 2 bottles stevia sweetened lemonade, 2 jars PB, 4 bottles of wine, agave maple syrup, veggie lasagna, pita chips, yogurt stars, probiotic smoothies, eggplant garlic spread, applesauce squeezers, 3 dark chocolate bars, organic yogurt, 100 cal dark chocolate sticks, 6 bars of vegetable soap, and yes folks that is a one pound 72% cocoa dark chocolate bar! I am going to cut it up, stick it in a freezer bag and toss in the freezer for a nightly square!

(excuse my candles that I didn't push out of the way)

And then there were these amazing green beans who never stood a chance! I told you I didn't have lunch!

Dinner was the frozen Trader Joe's veggie lasagna. It was very tasty!

~A

Here is the "Story"

So yesterday, we got all packed up and hit the road for Brown County, In. This is about a 40 minute drive for us. We had our bathing suits on and we were all ready to hit up the pool! But when we pulled in this is what we saw.

Are you kidding? Closed? On a Tuesday? Come on people it is 90 something degrees here and we are hot! They weren't hearin' it and they didn't open for us! So we tried to make the best of it and tough out the heat. So here is what we did...we went for a pony ride,

We left the deer some dinner treats,

We did a mini hike,

We drank green juice (ok, I did... the rest of the fam had carrots and hummus)

And then we found "The Story" the famous "Story Inn"

Matt discovered this little piece of heaven while on a mountain biking trip with his brother and has been dying to take us there. I fell in LOVE! First off the place is so stinkin' cute and secondly they served us our drinks in Ball Jars! My kind of place!

Here is a snap of the inside of the restaurant. It is also a bed and breakfast with 13 rooms. We got to look inside 5 of the rooms and I can say we will definitely go back for an overnight. Oh, and it is "haunted" Matt and I love some Ghost Hunters action!

They had lots of fantastic vegetarian and non vegetarian choices. They also serve LOTS of local items! Including several ingredients that they grow in their own gardens! Have I mentioned I fell in love! Unfortunately, we got there in between lunch and dinner so we could only choose from the bar menu, so we just had a snack. Sophia enjoyed some local ice cream from a dairy farm in Columbus, IN

Here are some other views that we enjoyed on our impromptu trip. Beautiful flower gardens,

Cool tractors and barns,

Covered Bridges (and a little girl OVER mommy's camera)

Wide open spaces

Beautiful Butterflies,

Horses,

Lots of sweaty hair,

And then to top off the night we enjoyed this along with some Bachelorette on DVR. Nice! By the way if you like sweet wine you should try this Woodbridge Riesling. It is my new Fave!

Tomorrow is another special day! Matt and I will have been married for 9 years tomorrow! Yikers, we are getting old better with every passing year! Where does the time go? Especially once you have kids, the time really flies!

Thanks for reading my "Story" If you haven't been to Story it is SO worth the trip!

Peace, love, and wide open spaces,

~A

Pretty 'n Pink

Hello blog friends. So I am definitely a fan of pink and today was a very pink day beginning with 2 freshly juiced grapefruits! They juiced so pretty 'n pink, and tasted amazing on such a hot day!

I don't have pics of my in between eats today, but they included 2 green juices, a ridiculous salad with a new dressing I will share later, and while the rest of the fam ate whole wheat spaghetti, I had sauteed cauliflower and topped it with the spaghetti sauce!

Next, we were off to a princess Birthday Party. Talk about pretty 'n pink. Just look at my pink princess(on the left) with her best friend Hannah (on the right)! Aren't they the sweetest!

This girl LOVES cake. She waited for about 30 minutes just sitting at the table while the rest of the kids ate pizza just so she would be in position and ready to go when the cake arrived!  She is all business when it comes to cake! Do I want her to eat healthy? Of course! But I also want her to be a kid and part of  that is enjoying all the sweet things that go along with a friends birthday! Such a Pretty 'n Pink day for us!

Have a great day everyone & see if you can find something Pretty 'n Pink today!

~A