My last post was a little emotional, so I thought I would check in with a more fun, upbeat photo post!

Over the past week or so I’ve been enjoying some much needed fun in the sun and oh soo many delicious eats…

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Like…

Soft serve with toasted coconut.

DROOL.

Girl’s night out = Counter Burger!! The usual – veggie burger with roasted red peppers, mixed greens, tomato, and corn & black bean salsa!

After that awesome dinner date with some of my girls, I was reminded that the most amazing things can come even after a terrible storm… or as Dolly Parton once said, “if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain”.

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*Little update on my ‘situation’ – Let’s just say the torrential rain has slowed to a light sprinkle, and the sky is beginning to clear up in the distance. I’m still patiently waiting for the sun to come out and reveal a rainbow, but I’m staying positive and trying to enjoy the change in weather that happened a few weeks ago. 

Okay, enough of the metaphorical talk…let’s get back to some pics.

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Homemade flatbreads topped with fresh un-photographed salsa.

Classic summer barbecue (plus tons of BBQ pop chips!)

Is anyone else as obsessed with Drumsticks as I am? Holy YUM.

Fresh beets, carrots, and way more steak than what’s in this picture… (plus of course, dinner wouldn’t be complete without my fave roll!)

More ice cream…this time a twist with rainbow sprinkles. Probably my favorite way to eat soft serve. Seriously, who doesn’t like sprinkles? They make everything better. And it’s hard to make the best food (ice cream) taste better.

Babysitting means easy meals…aka frozen pizza. This was not exactly my favorite…I’m more of a thin crust veggie pizza girl, but I mean, it’s not like any pizza is bad. It was actually pretty good for a change and it brought me right back to my childhood.

Or maybe it was the terrible Disney movie we watched that did that…

(let’s just say that channel is not what it used to be :()

 (multiply what’s on that plate times two)

Slightly more sophisticated fresh tomato, basil, and mozzarella so gorgeously prepared by yours truly…

…paired with BBQ meatloaf, sweet potato with cinnamon, and rolls.

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This past weekend my parents wanted a vacation, so they let me bring along one of my best friends for a nice little getaway with them.

Not too shabby, eh?

The first night, I had salmon with some sort of spinach and fruit risotto. Fancy-shmancy.

Followed up by raspberry chip gelato.

I’m obsessed with the tiny spoons they give with gelato. It forces you to take teeny bites aka eat way slower aka the deliciousness lasts so much longer.

We also indulged in some super fine dining every morning…

…not.

(But actually, the Dunkin’ Donuts Egg White Veggie Flatbread is pretty good!)

For lunch, I spilled hummus all over myself had a hummus veggie wrap on the beach.

For dinner the second night I had a killer sweet potato and black bean veggie burger smothered in horseradish aioli with a side of kale and leeks. Oh my gosh. SO. GOOD.

Then, obviously, we had to get gelato (it’s a given that ice cream is consumed every night of vacation). This time I had mint stracciatella. Perfection in a cute little bowl.

Lunch on the last day was a veggie wrap with goat cheese and balsamic vinaigrette. I wish I could have bought the goat cheese spread. It was so light and creamy and really complimented the roasted zucchini, onion, tomato, and other veggies.

We also snacked a lot in between meals, but that all went undocumented, clearly ;).

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Believe it or not, I have even more foodie and fun snapshots from the past few weeks, but I think I’ve bored you enough for one day. Plus, I don’t want to post all my pics at once!

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On the fitness side of things, I’ve been running a lot more lately than I was earlier in the summer. I ran with my friend during our mini vacation which was fun since we were XC buddies back in high school. I’ve also just been loving the alone/thinking time that running provides, so since I’m still enjoying and not dreading runs in the summer sun, I’ll stick with it for now! I’ve also been alternating between some core work and arm/back/hip(PT)/leg strengthening on days when my runs are 5 miles or under. On days when I run 6+, I just leave it at that (plus my stretching/rolling routine, of course)!

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Hope you’ve been enjoying yummy food, awesome workouts, and lots of fun with family and friends! Summer’s almost over… gotta live it up while we still can! 🙂