Food Splurges and a Drink Discovery

Happy Friday, Y'all!  I don't know about you guys... but I am REALLY ready for the weekend. TGIF!

I toasted Friday with a cup of coffee this morning...

and I celebrated by wearing my awesome self-designed Nike Frees. 

I heart these shoes so much for Zumba and everything else that I seriously am thinking about designing a backup pair so that I won't wear these out all at once.  Several years ago, I had the most awesome pair of shoes.  I wore them until they were literally falling apart.  Then, I went to order more and... guess what... they were no longer being made!  I am scared that will happen with these shoes. 

Since I haven't posted in a few days, I thought I would give you a little sampling of some of my fun food splurges over the past few days!

On Wednesday, I was lucky to be able to attend a seminar with 3 other coworkers to see Cris Tovani speak about Assessment.  One of the best things about this seminar was that it was held at Brookland Conference Center in Columbia... and they serve amazing lunches!  (Excuse the crappy pictures due to poor lighting...)

I had some amazing Black Bean Soup with baked chicken and a spoonful of mac n cheese...

salad...

and this delish piece of cake, which I said I would only eat half of... but I ate more like 3/4 of it.  He he.

Last night I taught my last Zumba class at Oakland Baptist for a few weeks.  However, we are about to have a big reopening in a few weeks!  I'm so excited!  Afterwards I met the girls for drinks at Michael's Grill. 

I love this place. 

I started with a Mai Tai...

...and I opted for the Chicken Cordon Bleu sandwich, which was HUGE and fabulous, with homemade potato chips. 

The only down side to eating at Michael's is the dark atmosphere... which is only a down side if you like to take pictures of your food.

Speaking of Zumba... I have a new drink discovery to share with you.  Coconut Water!

I've been drinking Zico, which I get at Trader Joe's.  I've seen lots of people talking about it and drinking it, and when I read info about it online, it sounded like every athlete should be drinking it.  It's "nature's Gatorade."  At first, I wasn't sure how I felt about it.  I wasn't sure if the taste was working for me.  However, I've figured out that I don't like drinking it out of the carton!  Weird, huh?  So I've been pouring myself about 1/2 cup to drink just before a workout, and I really like it!  I think it helps me to stay hydrated.

Finally... I would like to close with a quote.  The hubs and I have had several unexpected bumps in the road lately.  My family has lost two very special people over the past couple of months... and I am still dealing with those feelings of sadness that seem to come and go at the oddest times.  Then, our air conditioner broke, and it turns out we are having to replace the ENTIRE air conditioning system AND the furnace.  Let's just say that we could go on several REALLY nice vacations for the price of a new air conditioner and furnace.  And there are a few other challenges that we're trying to deal with.  Whenever I hit bumps in the road, I like little nuggets of wisdom that I can repeat to myself.  And I thought... we're all dealing with challenges every day, so this quote might be helpful to some of you. 

So my quote for the week is...

"Seeds of faith are always within us; sometimes it takes a crisis to nourish and encourage their growth."
-- Susan Taylor

I like the idea that with each challenge we face... something is planted inside us that can grow and turn into something wonderful.