Kelly Runs For Food - Eating and exercising my way through a (mostly) healthy lifestyle

The art of the one-day weekend

September 26, 2016

Happy Monday! I feel like I dipped out on you guys last week, but it was necessary for my survival. Sorry! I made it back home from Charlotte at the end of the week, now I’m coming to you from Northern Virginia. I got in yesterday and met up with two co-workers for one of our busiest college fairs of the year.

I’m up here for the next few days, visiting some high schools and some other work stuff.

Backing up a bit, though, how was your weekend? Mine was….short haha. I did manage to pack in some fun, though, even though I only had one day off.

Saturday started out with a trip to Target, where I ran into my friend Tara. She invited me to come on a hike with her and her son. We took her dog Scruffy to a local park and completed an easy 2 miles.

After days in the car, it felt amazing to get out and do something active outside!

After our hike, I treated myself to a mini spa afternoon- face mask, nails, etc. Later on, Riley and I headed out for a date night.

Our first stop was to Fat Tuna for a cocktail. I had some kind of berry mojito that was really good.

We then made our way to Francesco’s Italian Restaurant for dinner. We enjoyed some wine, salads, and delicious garlic bread.

My entree was a lobster stuffed ravioli that was to die for!

A much better dinner than the one I had last night after the college fair…..

And now it’s back to the grind. My agenda includes a workout, a couple visits to high schools, and an interview later on. Then I plan to hole up in my hotel room with some wine for the first presidential debate. Every time Trump mentions that he’ll win at everything, take a drink.

Have a great Monday!

What was the highlight of your weekend?

Will you be tuning in to the debate tonight?

Road food {WIAW}

September 21, 2016

Hey there friends! Greetings from Greensboro, NC. Or Charlotte, NC depending on when you read this. Or Virginia, if you’re really a slacker. Anyway, it’s travel season over here, so I’m running the roads, recruiting students and wracking up the Marriott points.

Know what I’m not finding, though? Gas. Yeah…..didn’t realize what was going on until I got to NC on Monday. There’s a major gas shortage all over NC and other southeastern states and 80% of the gas stations I passed were out of gas. I saw this gem all over Twitter and it was basically my life Monday night.

I gave up and went to Trader Joe’s instead. By a total stroke of luck, I was on may way out of my college fair Tuesday morning and saw a Shell station open, with gas, and it miraculously didn’t have 5 million cars trying to get in.

Woo hoo! Let’s just hope my luck stays long enough to get through this week….

Anyway, enough about gas. Let’s talk about food! Since it’s What I Ate Wednesday, I thought I’d share what I’ve been eating on the road so far. Here’s what I had yesterday, take a look!

Breakfast

This was really just first breakfast. I’d heard the morning college fairs I’ve been attending have varied food options and I didn’t want to go hungry, so I grabbed a Quest bar before I headed out.

Later on, we were treated to eggs, bacon, and fruit, which was a pleasant surprise!

I successfully avoided the muffins and super greasy home fries that were also offered.

Lunch

If you’ve been reading for a while and remember past travel seasons, this is no surprise to you. Panera is my go-to spot for lunch on the road. I know what I’m getting, there’s free WiFi, and I can sit in a booth for over an hour and no one will care. I had a 1/2 turkey avocado BLT and 1/2 a Greek salad.

The apple has joined my other snacks (Quest bars, veggie chips, and wine) in my snack bag.

Dinner

I’d had a super long day, so trying to find a restaurant sounded really unappealing. After a good workout at the hotel gym, I popped downstairs to the on-site restaurant. I started out with a glass of wine while I caught up on some work.

Then, after a lot of internal back and forth, I rejected the voice that said, “get the turkey sandwich from the ‘skinny’ menu!” and ordered a chipotle chicken quesadilla instead.

Later on, I enjoyed another glass of wine in the room while I treated myself to a face mask and Netflix. Ahhh, travel life…

Now it’s back to recruiting, then I’m headed home tomorrow!

What’s the best thing you ate yesterday?

How adventurous are you when eating out in new towns?

Travel season has arrived!

September 19, 2016

You guys, I’m so excited! Today is the first official day of my travel season for work. I’ve got four trips booked for the fall to recruit the best and brightest high school seniors. Travel is definitely one of my favorite parts about my job. Later today, I’ll be packing up my rental car and heading down to North Carolina, so wish me luck and no traffic!

How was your weekend? I hope you did all kinds of fun stuff. My weekend was pretty great over here. Friday night involved catching up with some old college sorority friends. My chapter was celebrating its 25 year anniversary and women from all over the country came back to celebrate. Even though I hadn’t seen some of them in ages, it felt like coming home for Christmas and seeing your family.

Saturday involved ALL the chores. My house is gloriously spotless and I even managed to squeeze in a quick run. It’s still summer weather here, but at least there’s a nice breeze to keep things a bit cooler.

Sunday started off with an awesome barre class. *Side note- Target has some adorable workout clothes right now! I got these cute stirrup leggings for super cheap and they looked really similar to my teacher’s Lulu ones. *Side-side note- remember when we wore stirrup leggings as regular clothes?!

When I got home from barre, Riley and his friend Wally had just gotten back from golfing, so the three of us headed up to Oceans & Ale for a pre-football drink and food. I had their chicken lettuce wraps that were amazing.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing at home. We watched the Redskins lose (again…..) and we just lounged around. It was the perfect way to wrap up the weekend!

Now I’m off to get things squared away for my trip south this afternoon. I plan on looking for some good barre/yoga studios to drop in on in the cities I’m visiting, so if anyone has any recommendations in Raleigh, Greensboro, or Charlotte let me know. Have a great Monday!

What were you up to this weekend?

Where do you usually buy workout clothes?

Friday Favorites 9.16.16

September 16, 2016

Fridaaaay! So excited to enjoy a quiet weekend off. Hope your week has flown by. As is tradition around here, on Fridays I like to share some of my favorite things from the past week. I’ll be linking up with Heather, so head on over to see what the other bloggers are loving when you’re done here. Here’s what’s been going on with me!

The Limited Madison Blazer

So all the women in my office are now obsessed with this blazer. I bought two over Labor Day weekend and love them. I got this one in green-

And also a black one. The material is SO comfy and it has a lot of give, which makes it great for long work days when I have it on all day. If you have to dress professionally for work, but want to feel like you’re wearing a sweatshirt, buy this blazer.

Apprentice in Death

You guys know how much I love my J.D. Robb books! Her latest one came out last week and I’ve been reading up a storm.

Workout Music

My latest running song of choice, which I feel you all need to enjoy with me:

The second it gets to 1:05 I get seriously pumped up. Just listening to it makes me want to run!

Phi Mu 25 Year Anniversary

My sorority chapter turns 25 this year! I plan on participating in a couple events and hope to see a lot of sisters I went to school with. Hard to believe it’s been nearly 13 years since I joined. I reminisced a bit and thought you’d enjoy these pics from my college sorority days.

I particularly love the last one of me and Megan. Flip phones, Natty Light in the background and my hair in braids. The only thing missing is the box of Franzia. Oh, college, how I miss you.

TeachingCenter

Sports Center is on in our house basically all the time, so I laughed so hard when watching this video. If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to treat teachers like star athletes, here you go.

Too funny!

Breakfast meetings

Yesterday, the leadership team at work decided to take our weekly Thursday meeting to a restaurant right by campus that just opened, Byrd’s Restaurant. I had a teeny little espresso cup and an egg/turkey bacon/toast/home fries breakfast.

They were both amazing! I can tell this place is going to be very popular for a while and I can’t wait to try out their lunch options.

Well, I think that about wraps things up for today! My friend JaneBerry is coming down for some of the sorority festivities this afternoon, then I’ve got a whole weekend of relaxing and catching up on some much needed sleep. Have a great weekend!

What are your weekend plans?

What’s something that made you smile this week?

Were you part of a Greek organization in college?

Champagne Detox {WIAW}

September 14, 2016

So I drank a lot of champagne this past weekend. If you didn’t catch up on my wedding adventures in Alabama, you can head over and check it out. As a bridesmaid, it’s standard procedure to make sure there is champagne at just about every stage of the wedding. Hair appointments? Champagne. Putting on makeup? Champagne. Nervously waiting to walk down the aisle? Champagne. Post-ceremony toast? You get the idea.

As soon as I got back home, I was craving ALL the healthy food. In addition to just being exhausted, I just felt like I was running on fumes. Since it’s What I Ate Wednesday, I thought I’d share my meals from yesterday so you can see how I attempted to get back on track.

Breakfast

My first meal was a Suja green juice with Greek yogurt and hard boiled eggs. Followed by coffee at work.

Lunch

I had an Evol frozen meal for lunch that was surprisingly tasty! Frozen meals are super hit or miss, but this one had a nice spicy kick in the sauce and left me full for several hours.

I also enjoyed some La Croix on the side…

Followed by a mid-afternoon chocolate break, courtesy of a co-worker’s candy bowl.

Dinner

Veggies! Totally hit the spot. Riley made a huge salad with spinach, peppers, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, and avocado. We topped it with some chicken and it was delicious. Such an easy go-to, but packs in a ton of vegetables.

And that was my whole day. This whole week has felt like a day later than it really is, so here’s hoping Friday comes fast!

What’s the best thing you ate yesterday?

What’s your favorite frozen meal?