Wow. I can’t believe I leave in less than a week. How crazy is that? I have one more adventure to share with you all, as well as an awesome new recipe from Cooking Light that we tried out last night!

So….what do I meant by the title??

Monday night, my friends and I went to the Giants-A’s game up in Oakland. I don’t think I’ve ever been to the Coliseum.

For those that aren’t familiar with the sports culture here in the Bay Area, I would call the Bay rivalry more of a fun one. There’s no hatred between sides, and I always root for the A’s as my second team. I think the rivalry is best summed up by the twitter burns being exchanged between both sides’ news teams. Fun-hearted.

Our seats were far better than I realized, so that was a nice treat!

We walked the entire way around the ballpark in search of the food trucks that come out, but couldn’t find them and gave up, so I settled on an easy salad for dinner.

I appreciated the ballpark’s beer selection. I got a Kona Longboard Lager.

The A’s had what I thought was a hilarious promotion where they would exchange any old Giants hat for a brand new A’s hat. I actually felt pretty conflicted this game, and decided to bring my worst Giants hat (I had 3 at the time, and one was brand new!) and just go for it.

I bought this one in St. Louis to wear to the playoff games in Wrigley. It’s not the nicest hat, but it was the only one I could find in STL. It also didn’t have any wins in it; we didn’t do so hot when I wore it in Chicago! I think it was bad luck anyways.

So i sent off a tweet, and sure enough….

I felt like a little bit of a traitor, but I have become more of an A’s fan this year. They don’t lose quite as frequently as we have been.

Just temporary dark side. The Giants were ahead until our notorious bullpen came in. I decided to switch loyalties and put the hat on, and literally the second I did, the A’s hit a grand slam (ouch).

Later in the game, I got my sodium and carbs in in the form of cheddar and caramel corn, which was delicious.

The Giants lost, but it was a really fun game. And, I can’t say I minded the weather! I only left wearing one jacket, which would be unheard of for the icy games in San Francisco.

In other life happenings, after staying up until midnight on Monday, I decided I really hated myself and went to 6am Crossfit for a really stupid workout. It was this:

100 pull ups

80 sit ups

60 pistols

40 calorie row

20 push press

I did Murph for the first time with unbounded pull-ups this year. This was far, far worse. I spent 15 straight minutes doing nothing but pull ups. I started with sets of 5, and lasted decently far, nearly halfway with that. Then I lost my sets of 5, then my sets of 4, and quickly I lost my sets of 3 and was doing doubles for probably the last 20 reps. This was miserable, and I was the last by far to get off the bar. To make matters worse, around rep 92, I could feel my hands start to rip. I was going to be SUPER mad if I ripped on the LAST couple reps, but thankfully I just finished with hands on fire and a few minor blisters.

We had a time limit for this one, so I figured I wouldn’t have to do the last parts. Well, the coach oh so kindly extended it. Honestly, everything post-pull ups was fine though. I did the sit-ups straight through, and assisted pistols. I was very happy, however, when I made it to the push presses and blasted through them because I chose a pretty wimpy weight. No regrets. Let’s not even talk about how my arms feel today.

In the evening, I had my LAST softball game before I move! It was a tough loss, and I did get totally slammed into while I was playing first, but I did hit a home run my last at-bat after being hitless earlier in the game. It felt so, so good off the bat. It’s hard to explain the sweet feeling of a ball hitting the meat of the bat like that.

For dinner, I searched through August Cooking Light and found a delicious looking recipe that I had bookmarked. Zucchini-Ribbon Pizza with chicken! We actually found the Mama Mary’s brand crust it called for in gluten free! I actually loved the crust; it was soft and chewy, and reminded me of the crust in the flatbread at the ballpark. I honestly think I prefer the gluten free for the texture.

The pizza came out awesome; the tomato-less pizza had strong coriander notes, and had lots of rotisserie chicken, topped with zucchini ribbons and feta.

One modification I made that I would highly recommend is that I added salt and lemon juice to the zucchini ribbons before putting them on the pizza.

We served it with garlic and lemon roasted green beans.

And that’s all I’ve got for you guys today!

Friday morning started the way it normally does, with Crossfit. We did back squats, for long sets (which stink). Then an EMOM of 5 burpee pull ups on even minutes, and 10 wall balls on odd.

I had a festive breakfast afterwards—pumpkin yogurt with cinnamon granola and sunbutter.

For lunch, I made a salad with hummus, goat cheese, champagne vinaigrette, and a microwave egg because I’m not cooking in the morning. My new tip for microwaving an egg is to rub a little olive oil on the bottom of the bowl, because the egg slides out much more easily then! Plus crackers.

This was my afternoon:

After work, my coworkers and I had plans to go to dinner and then to a haunted house. On the way to dinner, we got stuck in insane traffic. What should have been a 10 minute drive turned into over an hour of standstill.

After sitting for an hour, I was texting my mom asking if she knew what was going on (I heard it was something political) and apparently Joe Biden was there? I asked where the event was, and she told me “The Pageant.” I asked my friend where that was….and she pointed right up. Apparently we were right in front of it!

When we FINALLY made it to dinner, this was so necessary:

We went to Seoul Taco, which was a Korean-Mexican fusion. I got a bowl with chicken and brown rice; there was no fusion in this though—it was all Korean flavors!

So good!

Then, we made our way to Creepyworld, a haunted house. I had never been to a really legit haunted house, so I didn’t really know what to expect, or how I would react!

We waited in line for 1-1.5 hours before finally going in.

This was intense! It took us over an hour to walk through everything! It was really cool. There were 12 different areas with different decor. There were plenty and people and props ready to jump out and scare you! I had a good time, but apparently I’m not too easily scared!

But what was supposed to be a reasonably early night turned into a 12:30 bedtime. My alarm felt far too early before my 8am spin class on Saturday!

Before spin, I had a bowl of Cinnamon Apple Cheerios. I’ve never been much of a Cheerio person, but I’m loving them pre workout right now!

Class went well! Afterwards, I made a Flapjacked muffin and had some fruit on the side.

And then, I was off to see my zoo friend play lacrosse! Somehow I forgot to take any pictures. I’ve never watched lacrosse before and it was fun to watch! She of course rocked it too, even though they lost (it was a close game!).

On the way home from the game, I got some groceries to prepare for my night and for my trip. And because I had no vegetables.

For lunch, I had an egg white scramble with spinach and laughing cow, and avocado toast.

I spent the afternoon packing and doing chores, and prepping sangria.

Here we have jazz apples and raspberries soaking in vodka.

For the wine, I found Robert Mondavi on sale. Remember when I visited that winery in the spring?

We had such a hard time opening the bottle with a pocket knife corkscrew. And then opening the martinellis.

For the sangria, I mixed the fruit with Sauvignon Blanc and sparkling apple cider.

I was adamant about dressing up.

Unsurprisingly, I was a baseball player. My friends were a lax bro and a rugby player. Then, it was on to haunted house number 2, Darkness in Soulard.

I thought this one was scarier than the last one, although not quite as extensive. There were lots of well hidden people ready to pop out at you, and the scariest part was it was so hard to tell what people/bodies were real or fake!

The next stop was Ballpark Village.

There was an event going on, and we just wanted to watch baseball/hockey, so we didn’t end up going in. Instead, we opted for froyo (or in my case, frozen custard) at the fudge place.

And then we headed back to my friend’s place to watch scary movies. I was home by 11!

Can I confess something? I really can’t bring myself to root for the Cubs. I really want to root for them. I do like the players. But in my heart I can’t. I hate being a sore loser, but after being the lone Giants fan in Chicago, it’s become ingrained to fervently root against them.

Oh well. I’m still enjoying watching the World Series!

What were you for Halloween? Who are you rooting for?

I headed out first thing Friday morning after a quick run. While leaving, I felt like this was a journey I was destined to take!

Also note that if you don’t follow baseball, this whole post may seem crazy. I dropped everything and drove 5 hours to a strange city by myself for a couple of games?

Yes. Yes I did.

I don’t know if you guys have seen How I Met Your Mother. I recently rewatched the series. (It’s interesting now that I feel like I’m more in that stage of my life…) Anyways, there’s an episode where Ted and Marshall drive to Chicago for pizza and the only song they can listen to is that “I would walk 500 miles” song on repeat, because the tape is stuck. I thought I would try that. I made a road trip playlist, and loaded the front of the playlist with 30 minutes straight of that song on repeat (8x). I thought I would see how long I lasted. I am happy to report I made it all 30 minutes. And yes, it did get better over time. In the middle there, I got a little bored with it, but by the end I came back around. It was a little jarring when a different song came on my playlist though!

I stopped for lunch about halfway, apparently in a town called Normal, IL. I found a Panera, and had the Fuji apple chicken salad.

The drive was fine until I got to Chicago. I spent about an hour less than a mile from my hotel, sitting in traffic. The Chicago Marathon was this weekend, so that just made things worse. I have never been so happy to hand my keys to a valet.

I wanted some downtime before the game so I relaxed in my room and had a flapjacked smores muffin in the room for dinner.

…which I came to regret later because I was STARVING at the game and couldn’t find anything I could eat, until I found a salad and it was the most exciting thing ever. But we’ll get to that. Let’s do some pictures.

The train was PACKED!

First view of Wrigley:

This is Wrigleyville. There are places (bars) that have stadium seats on the roof where you can watch the game without a ticket!

And the inside. I was at the top of the centerfield bleachers, right below the old scoreboard.

I was surrounded my plenty of nice Cubs fans, who grew rowdier as the beer flowed. I definitely got messed with a little bit, but it was all in good fun. Anytime anyone found out I had come by myself, they said “you’re brave.” It was a good game, but a frustrating ending. That being said, I also now really understand how much home field advantage matters. The momentum is everything.

Saturday morning I went for a run along Lake Michigan. To be perfectly honest, the lake made me strangely claustrophobic. It’s so strange to be to have something that looks like an ocean, but to know there’s land on the other side. I felt very landlocked. California problems, I suppose. It was a beautiful morning for an exploratory run though!

On my run, I actually had an extremely awkward encounter with one of the Giants’ broadcasters. I said hi…and she looked confused and then I realized I didn’t actually have anything to say…awkward all around. Oh well.

Next on the agenda was brunch! I went to Wheat’s End, a totally gluten free cafe and bakery. There was a bit of a wait, so I put my name on the list and walked around a little bit.

I started with a decaf cappuccino, and then got a side salad and popover with honey butter.

I also got a pumpkin cinnamon roll for later but had half of it then because it was warm! Yum!

Next stop?

The bean!

Obligatory bean photos:

I hung out at the bean for a little while. It was an interesting place to sit back and watch the city.

The other “must do” thing for Chicago was a visit to the Field Museum. It was about 2 miles away, so I meandered my way over, stopping to finish my cinnamon roll along the way.

Look what I found! Lots of streets were blocked off for the marathon.

I really enjoyed looking at the animal exhibits, especially now that I work at a zoo. It was interesting to read about and compare the animals to what we have at the Saint Louis Zoo.

Look—Somali Wild Asses! I watch these guys

Terra Cotta soldiers.

Next on the agenda was a super quick coffee date with a Stanford friend who just moved to Chicago. It took me FOREVER to get there thanks to traffic, and unfortunately we didn’t have a ton of time together, but it was great to catch up!

I headed to the hotel to get ready. I felt so puffy every night: long sleeves+sweatshirt+giants shirt+fleece. I was cold in the bleachers thanks to wind, but my seats the next night were much more covered (and better!)

To be honest, I wasn’t feeling too great most of the day, and the soup place right by the train stop was a godsend. Exactly what I needed. It was called Soupbox, and I got carrot ginger bisque which was fantastic on a chilly day!

(It came with a free topping, so I went with artichoke hearts.)

My seats for Saturday’s game were awesome. I was on the first base side in the lower level. It was also a lot less rowdy. A lot of older couples with season tickets. I apparently got the woman next to me’s son’s ticket!

See that old scoreboard? I was right under that the previous night. Near the second to left column at the top.

Sadly, we lost again. It was rough. To be honest, it was really hard being a Giants fan in a different city. It was sort of demoralizing/soul crushing. I’m so glad I had the awesome experience of going to Wrigley to see a playoff game, but I left feeling sort of emotionally crushed. I think my boys need to go home to the home crowd. We still have a chance, and we need to get it done!

Luckily, I had a blueberry muffin from the cafe early to ease my pain.

The next morning, I walked around a little and stopped at Starbucks for some herbal tea and a banana, which I paired with a Luna for breakfast.

I loved walking around the chilly city in the morning. I really liked Chicago. It reminded me a lot of San Francisco, and it makes me want to take more advantage of SF when I get home.

Then, it was time to make the trek back. It was actually not bad at all, although I was expecting it to be rough. I blasted some music (my Knoxville playlist) and enjoyed the open country. I’m at the point in my life where there is just SO much to think about. Driving through the midwest countryside is also super easy, compared to driving through CA (like from SF to LA).

I stopped halfway through for lunch+gas. I didn’t leave with a full tank because there wasn’t much in Chicago, so I got pretty nervous when it was time to get gas and I was in the middle of NOWHERE. Seeing gas+Subway was beautiful.

I got a chopped salad with carved turkey (WAY more delicious than the normal turkey breast—it’s thicker cut), provolone, olives, tomatoes, oil and vinegar, and salt and pepper. I think Subway is the most underrated “healthy fast food.” There are a lot of great options, and you can literally find one anywhere, which is great if you’re in the middle of nowhere or in an unknown place.

The rest of the drive was uneventful, but it was nice to see the arch as I drove in. St. Louis is much more familiar! Also, coming home to cats? The best.

It’s honestly so great to be at a point in my life where I can just drive to a new city alone, and have a great weekend. It also gives me more confidence that no matter where I end up, I’ll be just find. I think the people you’re with are ultimately more important to the place, and it’s so exciting to go to different parts of the country, even driving through farmland.

It was quite the trip. I’m glad the drive went well, because I have an even longer solo drive coming up soon!

In summary: Chicago is a fantastic city, I had a great time, and GO GIANTS! Don’t stop beliEVEN!

So with that theme, let’s get to it!

The weekend began with a surprise when I got home from work: a package from my parents! Best. Delivery. Ever.

There was nothing “I almost didn’t” here though, because this was totally unexpected.

Yay!

To kick off my Friday, I bit the (expensive) bullet and ordered delivery from the vegetarian restaurant that is the sister restaurant to my spin studio where I teach.

I almost didn’t because it was crazy expensive (the delivery)…but I’m glad I did. The weather was yucky and with traffic, it would have taken forever to get home.

I got a MASSIVE kale salad (I almost didn’t order the half size but I’m glad I did!) It was oil free, with marinated kale (in lemon juice?), scallions, sunflower seeds, tomato, avocado, and nutritional yeast. YUM. I also got a side of local, fresh and warm GF bread, and veggie spring rolls with truffle dipping sauce.

This was so good, but I was SO FULL after this. I was really looking forward to doing a baking experiment that night, and drinking an Oktoberfest beer while watching my college football team and the Giant’s game, but I couldn’t handle it. I settled for a microwave pumpkin pie thing. Pumpkin pie filling+egg whites+whipped cream, and a Dove milk chocolate ghost.

The football game was ugly but the Giant’s game was AWESOME. I stayed up past midnight watching it (yay time difference), but it was so worth it.

Saturday morning I taught spin. I almost didn’t make a fresh spin class (I would have adapted an old one), but I’m glad I did because everything just flowed really well. I surprised myself by having pretty wobbly legs coming off the bike! I think you can check it out on Spotify here.

I went straight from spin to check out the Soulard Farmer’s Market,

The market first started in 1779! Crazy! It’s pretty similar to Pike’s Place Market in Seattle, but on a smaller scale.

I quickly realized I should have actually come with a plan about what I wanted to buy…I made a full pass through before stopping!

My first purchase was beet, apple, carrot, ginger juice. Yum!

Then, I got a chicken tamale. I absolutely love tamales. I took this outside and sat on a ledge while I ate this and decided what I wanted to buy.

I almost didn’t buy this…but I’m glad I did because it was so delicious!

My plan for the rest of the morning was to go for a hike, since the weather isn’t too cold yet! I had to spend some time at home charging my phone before heading out. After sitting around, I was feeling lazy and I almost decided to just stay in…but I’m glad I went out. The plan was Route 66 State Park.

I was a little confused about where to go to reach the trailhead. I drove a few circles, and when I arrived at the visitor center and realized the trailhead wasn’t in the same place, I almost didn’t go in but I’m glad I did. There was a little history museum inside.

I also learned some really interesting history about Route 66 State Park. It used to be the beach town of Times Beach, where St. Louis residents would spend their summers. Later, people lived there year round. Then, it was found to have been contaminated with dioxin, and evacuated. Years later and after having it cleaned, it was turned into a state park. (More info here if you’re curious.) I couldn’t see any evidence of the town while I was hiking around; it just looked like nature. It was crazy to imagine what it would have looked like back then, full of people.

While looking for a trailhead, I found myself at the boat dock. Which was not the trailhead. But I’m glad I made the stop, because I got a great view of the river.

Finally, I found the trailhead, and while I enjoyed the scenery, I realized I made a bit of a mistake, as there were swarms of bugs (mosquitos) that would attack me anytime I stopped.

I didn’t do the full loop; I decided that since there was a good paved portion, I would save it for a run, when more leaves have changed. Plus, I had a baseball game to watch!

I really planned my day around watching the Giants game. It is crunch time! I got MLB tv for super cheap, so I’m able to stream the games. And, I finally got my beer.

My trusty sidekicks stuck with me through it all.

It was an AMAZING game. Our rookie pitched amazingly, and got 2 hits! THAT is what October is all about.

My big experiment of the night was a pumpkin bread sort of attempt. I wanted to see if it was possible to make pumpkin bread from pumpkin pie filling. The answer?

Ehhhh….not really. It wasn’t BAD per se, but didn’t really resemble pumpkin bread. I think my pumpkin ratio was off. It was more like a cross between pie and bread. Oh well, can’t win them all.

Saturday night, I took Claritin because Yoyo was threatening to sleep in my bed (he didn’t). It’s SUPPOSED to be non-drowsy, and I’ve never had an issue before. However, I was shocked to look at the clock and see it was almost 9 when I woke up Sunday morning! I woke up still so, so tired.

I spent the majority of the morning on the couch with the kitties because I felt so out of it.

I had planned on a morning run, but since I was feeling so off, I almost didn’t. But I’m glad I did. It was exactly what I needed to shake the drowsiness, and I felt 1000x better and more awake afterwards.

I was running late, but I whipped up a quick lunch of egg whites+spinach+garlic and herb laughing cow, plus pineapple. The nectarine was from the farmer’s market the previous day, and it was just not good.

Then, it was time for the main event of the weekend: Oktoberfest! I’ve never been to one, and one of my intern buddies found one last one (apparently they were all in September…whoops) in Grafton, Illinois. I almost didn’t want to go because it was an hour away, but I’m so glad I did!

I’ve never been to an Oktoberfest, and I’ve never been to Illinois. Why not kill two birds with one stone?

Armed with a live stream of the Giant’s game, we headed to Illinois.

The first goal was to find some German beer, one thing I was excited for. At least at Oktoberfest, I didn’t have to worry about accidentally ended up with some sort of IPA!

It was a smaller event, but it was still a fun trip! We got seats out on the water.

And grabbed some snacks. Potato salad and applesauce for me.

Even better? The Giants were killing it, and we WON! We are headed to the wildcard game on Wednesday!

I actually mentioned my blog to my zoo friends, so if you guys are reading: hi!

I actually really enjoyed driving through the Illinois countryside. I really like seeing different parts of the country. I really enjoyed driving through TN as well over the summer. It’s so different from anything in California, even if it doesn’t seem like much.

On the drive back, I thought about how truly happy I was in that moment. Sometimes these moments are small, but they’re something to hold on to. (I’ve actually been thinking about best moments a little lately, so I thought I might do a fun post on that soon).

I am also really loving this fall weather. The cloudy skies. The leaves. The light changes. It was drizzly out, so when I got home, all I wanted for dinner was grilled cheese and tomato soup.

The best part of cooking and buying all my own food is that no one can judge me for using American grilled. cheese. American is the only way to go for grilled cheese or burgers (unless we’re talking gourmet). I absolutely cannot do cheddar grilled cheese. I got the 2% American cheese in hopes that it might hold up a little bit better and be less soft.

It was delicious. Judge me.

I almost didn’t buy the cheese and soup but I’m certainly glad I did. This was the perfect way to wrap up the weekend.

What is something you’re glad you did?

Although it’s Tuesday, I thought we could still do a little weekend recap!

My Saturday morning began with a fun spin class and a trip to the farmer’s market.

I really, really love figs. And California peaches—they cannot be beat! Pro-tip: put your farmer’s market peaches in the fridge ASAP even if they are still hard. They ripen super fast and will start to rot otherwise! (I knew this but still failed to do it…)

For lunch, I picked up a falafel salad with tahini dressing from a food truck.

And enjoyed the last of the caramel sauce with Halo Top and whipped cream.

The afternoon was low key, but dinner was delicious. We had grilled romaine salad with avocado, chicken, and grilled corn. Last time we made this salad, we used grade B maple syrup for the dressing, and this time we used syrup that was less than A. It made a HUGE difference—I’m never going away from B again! This was sweeter with less mapley flavor and the whole salad didn’t hve the same “wow” factor as before.

I was in the mood to bake, but didn’t want to commit to a giant loaf of bread, so I tried the 2 ingredient cookies I’ve been seeing all over the internet lately. 2 bananas, 1 cup of oats, 12 minutes in the oven at 350. I spiced them up a bit by adding some milk and semi sweet chocolate chips (I may or may not have gone to the store exclusively to buy milk chocolate chips, but worth it!), and fresh strawberries to some of them.

The verdict? Delicious, but I highly recommend adding chocolate chips. They MADE them.

Sunday morning, I went for a run! I went to my favorite place ever to run, down by the reservoir. It is just so beautiful there. I was struck by the fact that the last time I ran there, I was running on a stress fracture. I ran 3 miles! This is a big deal, because it’s the furthest I’ve gone since my stress fracture. I don’t think I’m going to be running longer than 3 miles for a while though. It’s a good distance, and there’s no reason to take any risks. My foot definitely doesn’t feel as good as new. It feels really creaky, and I think there might be some scar tissue there. But again, I am being careful.

Sunday afternoon, I went to a Giant’s game with my friend. It was AMAZING weather. No jacket—what??

My lunch was actually a salad. At a baseball game. I do concede that that is sort of ridiculous. I normally get amazing flatbread, but I’ve gotten it the last couple of times. This beet+parmesan salad was delicious though!

We left a little early to get on the train to go home, and in that time the lead was blown and we lost. :/

I was hungry by the time we got home, so my family and I quickly threw together fig and goat cheese salad with grilled chicken, and had some of the homemade buttermilk biscuits my mom whipped up that morning.

Monday consisted of vet school apps and a hard but fun Crossfit workout. We worked on snatches, and I was able to hit the prescribed 65% feeling good!

The WOD was full of all the things I love to do. I was the only one in the class, and would have preferred someone to suffer through it with! It was:

10 rounds: 5 pull ups, 7 front squats, 9 push ups

I think it took me around 16 minutes? I used 75# for the pull ups.

Food highlights for the day included butternut squash, chicken, and quinoa stew with roasted brussels spouts:

And leftover graduation cupcakes from the freezer:

2 months later, I stand by my decision to ask the cupcake place to switch the dulce de leche and chocolate frostings, resulting in dulce cake with chocolate frosting, and chocolate cake with dulce frosting.

The best part? I still have 2 more in the freezer, which I’m eyeing for dessert tonight!

Did you ever apply to grad school? How was the process?

The Giant’s Race finishes in the Giant’s ballpark. It’s awesome. It was my first ever race! This year I did the 10k, not the half like I did the past 2 years. I had a hard time with my training for my April half because I was so sick, that I was just not up for it. That, and I had no time or energy to train with work. This summer I was on my feet 8 hrs a day, and half marathon training plus that would have torn up my feet!

So, I settled on the 10k.

It’s so crazy to me. 4 years ago, I ran this race for the first time.

I was about to start my freshman year of college. Where the heck did the time go?? When I ran it 4 years ago, I actually won my age group. I was in my best shape of my life at the time, and followed a strict training schedule to work up to that distance (at the time a PDR). This year, I ran the race about 7 minutes slower. Instead of moaning about how much slower I’ve gotten, I’m appreciating how my body has changed to allow me to run this distance without issue, essentially without training.

I didn’t have any expectations for the race. I didn’t want to die, but I wanted to run a decent pace. I was actually a second away from my last minute goal time. I mostly just wanted to enjoy this race. It’s an amazing course-along the Embarcadero, under the Bay Bridge, and out past Fisherman’s Wharf. Bonus-the 10k is flat. The half marathon course actually goes to Chrissy field, with a fantastic view of the Golden Gate.

The energy of the runners is amazing as well-lots of like-minded people (aka Giant’s fans). Plus, finishing on the field never gets old. I definitely enjoyed this race!

After the race, I met up with my mom and grabbed a complimentary post-race beer, just because I could. Yayy for 21. I only had a few sips though because we had other plans for beverages that morning!

There was also a little sandbag toss, for prizes. Of course, I had to take part. I nailed my first 2 bags right in the whole. I still have some softball player left in me, and walked away with some new sunglasses!

After my coffee exploration in New York, I figured I should use a trip to the city as an excuse to try some of the best San Francisco has to offer! I picked out a place, and it turned out they had gourmet and gluten free doughnuts! Dynamo Donuts. We arrived minutes before they opened.

I had a chocolate raspberry and a lemon buttermilk gluten free donut. Both were delicious, and you definitely could not tell they were gluten free.

Plus, OF COURSE a cappuccino. Excellent as well. Good coffee is just so much smoother, and without the bitterness.

Overall, it was a great morning!

Tell me-where’s the best coffee?

Friday was an awesome first real full day of summer. I started the morning with my current go-to breakfast-oatmeal, eggs, and blueberries.

I cooked the oatmeal on the stovetop with plain soy milk, banana, and vanilla extract. I made a big batch so I’ve been eating the rest of it every day since!

Then, midmorning my high school friend and I headed up to San Francisco for a workout adventure! While in DC, I did some Outruns, were were group runs mixed with bootcamp stops. I thought it would be fun to do it here, so I created a little workout for us. We started at the Ferry building.

And then ran on the Embarcadero towards Fisherman’s wharf. We covered a total of 3 miles, and stopped every half mile for a bootcamp session.

These were our stations:

1. 6 minutes: 1 min each 2x of jumping jacks, mountain climbers, and plank

2. 5 minute AMRAP: 5 squat jumps, 10 lunges each side, 10 plank dips

3. Abs (I’m still sore from this one): 6 minutes, 1 minute each: plank, Russian twist, bicycle, in and out, plank, Russian twist

(Meeting a friendly dog mid-plank.)

4. 3 sets of 10 squats

5. On a bench, 3 sets of 10 each: push ups, step ups, dips

The whole point of starting at the Ferry building (besides the fact that it was flat) was to grab lunch there afterwards, and we were more than ready post-workout! Since I’m not eat gluten right now, I was excited to see a Gluten-free cafe!

I got a turkey sandwich with cranberry sauce on a gluten free roll. It was an absolutely beautiful day in the city, so we enjoyed lunch outside with a view.

We stopped at an ice cream place for dessert.

The secret breakfast is their most famous flavor, but I went with salted caramel cacao nib, which was delicious!

I also picked up a gluten free pumpkin chocolate chip muffin to go from the cafe.

That evening, I went to a Giant’s game with my dad-my first of the season. We have the prettiest ballpark.

Unfortunately, we lost, but it was still awesome to be back there! Also-how cool is this-we now have a garden, with an avocado tree!

They have two food vendors there, and I was able to watch the game while enjoying an asparagus salad with truffle oil, and a gluten free flatbread with roasted asparagus.

SO good!

Hopefully next time we bring home the win!

What was your last workout?

Do you watch baseball?

I currently am on Day 3 of having no voice. I’m starting to wonder if it will ever come back…Strangely enough I probably appear to be sort of dying, but I’m 80% sure I’m not even sick. I think I had a tiny baby cough from allergies, and then I went home for a few hours yesterday and hung out with my cat (who I’m allergic to) and have been sniffling like crazy ever since. And oh, my voice. I have never so completely lost my voice before. It’s weird because my throat is totally fine. My voice is just gone. I think it was well earned though. Between screaming like crazy during the Giants parade and then Halloween, I think I’m all screamed out!

Friday was just an amazing day. I can’t remember the last time I had as great of a day. I saw almost all of my favorite people! The Halloween recap of Friday will be a separate post. Let’s talk about the parade!

I didn’t go to either of the last 2 victory parades, so I decided I had to make it work for this one.

I woke up at 6am to leave at 7am for a 12pm parade.

My beautiful outfit:

Transportation was complicated. Bike to bus to train then walk a mile to meet up with a friend from Berkeley on the parade route.

I met up with her around 9am. She had been there since 8, and scored us some prime spots. Seriously-we could not have had better spots. For one thing, we were SITTING! We sat on top of a newspaper dispenser, so not only did we have seats, but we were right at the front and higher than most people! It was amazing!

It was also wet. 3 hours of just sitting there, getting rained on. I had a rain jacket, but that did nothing for my legs or feet!

By the time the parade started, we were FREEZING and SO, SO wet. But I could not have cared less. It was AMAZING.

To give you a sense of how close we were.

Commentators^

The first float of players^Crawford+Belt

And of course, the World Series MVP:

And the trophy!

It was so, so amazing. It was also less rowdy than I was expecting, although we were also above the crowds. The area I was watching from seemed to be mostly families!

Getting down from our perch was interesting. It was about a 4 foot drop, and our legs had been immobile and freezing for 5 hours. We couldn’t walk at first because our legs were rubber!

Ignore the crazy hair.

Instead of braving the subway traffic, we stopped in the mall nearby for some lunch. AKA warm soup. AKA the best, most amazing thing ever. I didn’t even care that I spilled it all over myself and then smelled like chicken for the rest of the afternoon!

It was such a great experience. I’m so glad I finally put other things aside to go!

Halloween recap coming soon.

7:05 Alarm goes off. Jump out of bed and remove my foot straightjacket.

It’s a night brace for my plantar fasciitis. It really helps, but I feel really constrained so I typically wear one at a time to give one foot some freedom.

I wake up grateful that my feet are feeling good! They were bad yesterday.

Heading out for a run. I have trouble getting out the door on time this morning. My route takes me 2.5 miles more or less up a gradual hill, and 2.5 miles back. It feels pretty good. The plan was 6 but I’m short on time and the turnaround works better this way. I think about how much I miss running in DC. 2.5 miles there would take me from my house in Georgetown to the monuments. Here, it takes me…up a street.

I had to wear long sleeves! It was cold this morning! I think about how hard it will be to get out the door in a few months, but it’s fine once I get moving.

Not the fastest time, but it was up hills and felt better than last week!

9:00am Go to breakfast. They had roasted cauliflower with the eggs! I get a small bowl of eggs+veggies, plus my usual yogurt bowl with sun butter and pears. It seems like a lot of food, but run days make me hungry!

I contemplate getting coffee. My decision is made for me when the dining hall is out! I decide that taking back some roasted veggies for lunch will save time in my lunch prep, and I’m still running late.

9:15 Pack up lunch and back pack, and then shower and get ready.

9:52 Walk out the door and refill our candy bowl.

Bike clear across campus to my first class.

10-11:50 Developmental Neurobiology

We talk about synapse elimination in the spinal cord.

12-Lunchtime! Contemplate getting coffee because I’m dragging a bit, but decide against it.

Lunch is mashed sweet potatoes, roasted veggies from this morning, and precooked lemon pepper chicken from Trader Joe’s. I was impressed and surprised by how lemony the chicken was.

Also here’s my outfit. Jeans. Moccasins. Long sleeve shirt+scarf. It’s fall my friends.

12:30-3 I did work. Normally I’d have a Chem section in there too but since we just had a midterm, there wasn’t much material to go over.

I spent some time working on Wednesday’s post.

I also watched Monday’s CS lecture. On Mondays I have overlapping classes, but one of my lectures is filmed so I watched the lecture today!

~3:00 Head over to CS lecture. This class has 700 people in it, but luckily in week 5 people stop going to class so it’s easy to get a seat!

4:15 Return to dorm. I need a nap! Dinner doesn’t seem like it will have a ton of substance so I eat a bite of blueberry vanilla goat cheese.

I then change into leggings-GOTTA SUPPORT THE TEAM-and crawl into bed until 5:00 when the game starts.

5:00 Alarm goes off. I just up and run to the dining hall to grab dinner before first pitch at 5:07. Dinner looks better than expected.

A piece of quesadilla, salad, roasted carrots, a little cilantro brown rice, some dry chicken.

Then-game time!

Between innings I run back to the dining hall to return my dishes and grab a bowl of ice cream with hot fudge.

Continue watching the game and work on pre-lab during commercials.

Game ends around 8:45. Sadly we lose. We’re now 1-1 for the series but we’re headed home!

8:45-9:15 Work on this post and chat with a friend. She learns about this blog and wants to follow it.

9:15 House meeting. Only a couple of announcements, but they bring in Sprinkles Cupcakes! I haven’t had many sweets this week so I don’t worry that I already had ice cream.

I decide that Sprinkles doesn’t compare to the other cupcake places in DC, although I swear the Sprinkles Cupcake I had in DC was better. And bigger…

9:38 Now. Typing up this blog post. I’m ahead on work so I’ll probably go to bed soon. I also realize that I’m almost certainly allergic to the Halloween candy that doesn’t contain nuts, but is packed and processed near so many nuts. Booo. I’ve gotten so sensitive!

It’s interesting to see this Day in the Life compared to the last one-my life is so much less crazy now!

What do you think of Day in the Life posts?

Today’s post will sort of be photo dump style. Expect more organization tomorrow-I’m recording a “Day in the Life” today!

Dinner on Sunday night was a giant Mexican salad with an obscene amount of avocado. I can count of one hand the number of times I’ve had avocado since coming to school….

Also a cheese quesadilla on top.

Breakfasts have been same old, same old. Which I actually like, because it’s nice to have a routine, but doesn’t make for the most interesting blog content. The other day there were bananas though, which was a nice change!

While this lunch wasn’t the most exciting, I loved how colorful it was! Mashed sweet potatoes, hard boiled egg, and broccoli.

Yesterday, I went out to lunch with my family. My mom and I split a chopped salad (see my version here!) and an arepa with gouda.

Dinner at the dining hall was meh. The roasted vegetables were great-the food I did get was good, but there wasn’t a protein source so my meal felt like it was majorly missing something.

I remedied that by making some chia pudding, eaten in front of the Giant’s game.

I left it in the communal fridge to thicken, and I feel like people probably judged me heavily because it looks pretty weird!

In terms of life things, I’m officially having a Halloween party! I’m a little obsessed with holidays, and I feel like if I didn’t have one, I’d be sitting around by myself on Halloween. I invited people yesterday, and have zero idea what type of turnout I’ll get. On the plus side, my high school friend is visiting, and she’s very artsy so she can help decorate!

Other life news: this gum. It tastes like love and happiness.

Also, I love my Giants and I love my friends.

SO HAPPY about yesterday’s game! I’ve planned my whole life around the games so it was great to get a win! So happy guys, you have no idea. Let’s hope we keep this up!

What have you eaten lately?