Potato Chip Rock and Island Prime!

WOW... yesterday was full of non-stop fun and on-the-go activities! I hardly had time to catch by breath before moving onto the next adventure... don't you love those days?

It started off with oatmeal (surprise, surprise) and then a fun 10 miler around this new route I've been wanting to try for awhile.  It reminded me of being back in NorCal since the path had a billion hills (gotta love that burn!)

I came home, showered, grabbed some toast, yogurt, cereal and an egg before lacing up my sneaks one more time and meeting up with Sister and friends for a hike!

We headed to Mt. Woodsen trail and proceeded up this 4 mile, never-ending incline to the summit before looping around and heading back down.  Let me tell you, an 8 mile hike after a run is hard.

SO obviously I begged for rest breaks.
It was so gorgeous up there, I don't think anybody minded stopping and taking in the views.

I face planted into a rock at some point...

AND THEN -- at the summit -- we finally found POTATO CHIP ROCK!!
How cool is this?  You had to do a leap of faith from one rock to get onto it... we felt so hardcore.

After a much-needed break/photo op... we basically ran down the mountain in a little over an hour in order to make it home, shower, put on our heels and head out to birthday dinner with the fam.

I told you it was non-stop.

We went to Island Prime, which is the cute restaurant right on the harbor. We had a great view of the bay and of San Diego's skyline, all lit up at night.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY BRO -- we actually call him Brotato Chip.... and now my brotato chip is all grown up.  18 years old... wow.

I was obviously starving at this point, so when the complimentary bread rolled out, I almost attacked our server.  UM this wasn't your ordinary "bread"... it was a delicious, doughy pop-over with jalapeno butter... sign me up for seconds, please.

The menu was filled with all sorts of seafood and steak options, so we were all struggling to decide on what to order.  We eventually decided on 3 appetizers (after much debate) -- we went for Escargot in a Puff Pastry and garlic butter sauce. Heaven on earth, I tell ya.  It melts in your mouth!

Mom couldn't handle an escargot after all of her incidences with snails and sluggo -- the snail and slug killer that she uses in the garden.  Yeah, gross.

But that's cool because we also ordered some beer battered onion rings (unpictured) and a Seared Ahi Tuna Tower. It had a layer of lobster salad, avocado, mango salsa, and seared ahi. 

Our appetizers did a great job of holding us over until our entrees arrived.  Of course, being the foodie family that we are, we had to order 4 special sides - family style - so we could sample it all.

The two-pound Twice Baked Potato with Lobster, Bacon and Aged Cheddar Cheese. Yes, you heard me right.. and if you're wondering if it's as good as it sounds... yes, yes it is.

 The Mac and Cheese with Blue Cheese, Bacon, and Carmelized Onions. This was my favorite side dish because you can't go wrong with carbs covered with melty cheese.

Then, we got some veggies :) Prosciutto-wrapped Asparagus.  Simple and delicious.

 Fresh Green Beans with Lemon Brown Butter and Toasted Pecans. I was hoarding this dish!  The green beans were soft and crunchy and coated in butter...

Everyone went separate ways for their entrees.  Some order filets, Sister ordered the grouper, mom ordered the Lamb Chops... I ordered a salad and an appetizer because I couldn't decide.

A Study in Lobster Appetizer: lobster lollipop, lobster-sherry bisque, lobster-fontina grilled cheese. EVERYTHING WAS DELICIOUS!  I loved the lobster grilled cheese! Especially dipped into the amazing lobster bisque.

I also ordered Organic Mixed Greens salad: sun dried pears, blue cheese, candied walnuts, toy box tomatoes.  Simple. Good. It was a salad...

The real stars were the desserts -

Retro Island Mud Pie: mountains of coffee ice cream over a chocolate ganache, homemade fudge

Amaretto Cheesecake: a vanilla cheesecake topped with bruléed bananas, spiced almond brittle & a shot of amaretto

Pineapple Upside Down Cake: covered in a pool of rum-caramel sun dried cherry sauce, topped with cardamom ice cream

Potted Brownie Banana Split: homemade peanut butter ice cream over a warm brownie with butterscotch fudge & bruléed bananas

Um.  WOW!!!
My stomach is still full - that's a first, huh?

I'd say it was a crazy day.  I would say I'm going to spend the weekend relaxing and recovering but no we're heading to LA today!  New Years Eve in Disneyland?!?!?

I'll be sure to fill you in later!

A New Workout and The Holiday Bowl!

Yesterday was awesome. seriously. 

It started off with hanging out and doing some work with my sister (okay, we were watching Dexter... that stuff is seriously addicting) -- which is always fun!

I was planning on taking a rest day yesterday... aka my legs were tired and I'm lazy... but then Sister announced she was going to get a quick workout in before we headed out for the big game.

The workout? BOXING.

Sister joined a boxing team in Boston and she's been trying to convince me it's a super fun, super fast, and super effective workout -- so, I gave it a shot.

We wrapped our wrists and grabbed our gloves and pads. 

The workout:
- 2 minutes of punching combinations (jab, punch, hook, upper cut, upper cut) which we repeated 3 times each.
- a minute of "punch out," where you punched non-stop for a minute
- 5 uphill sprints (these were more like accelerations because they were long as ffffaaackkk)
- 1.5 mile jog/cool down

The whole workout took about 55 minutes and I was sweating afterwards!  NICE.  I'm excited because I finally found a workout that I enjoy that isn't a long distance run

Then we got our Cal gear on and headed to Qualcomm for the HOLIDAY BOWL GAME!

We scored 2 free tickets from a friend of my who's on the team and they were prime seats.  We were in the "players' guest section" in row 2.  Front and center, baby!

Of course, as much as we loved cheering on our team, we were really excited about the stadium food.  Yes, nachos, brats, and churros are delicious -- but we decided to walk around a survey our options before deciding on anything.  We stumbled upon 4 food trucks that had killllller menu options!

Enter: THE GOOCH.

We decided on the Redneck Tacos: two tacos on a cornbread pancake, filled with pulled pork, bacon, and jalapenos-pickled coleslaw.  oh my... oh my. 

Honestly, this was one of the best things I've ever tasted.  The combination of the semi-sweet cornbread with the bacon and the spicy slaw AND the pulled pork that melts in your mouth.. I'm seriously still raving about it.  Sister agrees.  BEST STADIUM FOOD EVER. 

We also snagged some typical nachos :) complete with that fake cheese we all know and love.

And then it was time for dessert!
We split a double scoop of cookie dough and rocky road ice cream in a waffle cone.
 

We finished off our cone while we watched the first half.
Cal was winning but all the fumbles will eventually screw you over....

We snagged kettle corn to snack on.
But come half time, we knew where to head for a little round of dessert #2!

Back to the food trucks for....
Corner Cupcakes -- the WINNERS OF CUPCAKE WARS on The Food Network!!!!

They had all these football themed cupcakes (like "the touchdown" and "the endzone") but we decided on a Cookies and Cream Cupcake filled with Chocolate Ganache and topped with Mint Chocolate Chip frosting anddddd A Peanut Butter Cupcake filled with Chocolate Ganache and topped with a Vanilla Buttercream frosting! 
 

Guy, when did stadium food get so delicious?
Seriously.

We caught the last half of the half-time show -- super cool.

Navy seals parachuted into the stadium!

There were even some fireworks!  Like 5 different rounds of them..
It was a really fun time!

We enjoyed the food, the fans, and the game! minus the fumbles...
And, of course, we kept scoping out the players and ranking their hottness and datability based on their bodies (yes, we were those girls).  We also met up with a friend of mine who was at the game!

Overall, awesome!!
Tonight is my baby bro's birthday dinner -- HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROTATO CHIP!

So.. What Happens Now?

Well, we've found ourselves in that awkward in-between stage...

You know, that time when Christmas is over but you're still in the holiday spirit so you have to wait around for New Year's to roll around in order to have yet another reason to celebrate?

What are you supposed to do with yourself?!?!

I've narrowed it down to three crucial things:
      1. Shopping
      2. Salads
      3. Running

Boxing day shopping (which is basically a holiday in itself) for 6 hours, where you will spend half your month's paycheck on absolutely nothing you really need.

 

Sister and I picked up our friend and headed to Carlsbad Outlets for some boxing day celebrations. And boy did we celebrate.  We hit up all the girly places: BCBG, Lucky, Banana Republic, Coach... the list is kind of endless.  I walked away with some prizes!  Including 3 skirts, a sweater, and a cardigan from Banana for 80 dollars!  whaaat?!?! 

We stopped at Rubio's for some premium Americanized Mexican food... which is still delicious.  You really can't complain when fish tacos are involved. 

I got the Balsamic and Roasted Veggies Salad with Chicken and it was glorious.

Pretty impressive for a taco place, huh?  The roasted veggies and the corn were my favorite.  I added like 5 different kinds of salsa which gave it that Mexican kick (aka I can't feel my tongue anymore because it might be on fire).

Sister and I stopped at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for an after-lunch dessert.  We grabbed a S'mores on a Stick and an Almond Joy Marshmallow stick.

Don't worry, we only took a bite of each and then put them away for later.  And the shopping continued... Sister literally almost bought a 44" television... I made the mistake of sitting down on the couch in Bose and got totally suckered in with the whole "guess where the hidden speakers are" demonstration.  Plus it had a reallly cool remote... you can't blame me.

We came home, napped (shopping drains you, man), and got up to go on an awesome run right as the sun was setting.  I wanted to snap a pic, but I was on a roll.  7.5 miles/8:23 pace 

Sister and I whipped up leftover salad with vegetable tian and beer can turkey and put in Dexter, everybody's favorite serial killer, which is basically my idea of a perfect night.

Hello, gorgeous... you will be the future father of my children.  I will even let you kill all my ex-boyfriends!  don't judge, he's a hunk. I can overlook minor flaws like that horrible habit of murdering people

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TUESDAY:

Still on that shopping, running, salad kick!

But, instead of shopping, Sister and I tried to be productive -- we woke up early and watched Gilmore Girls while doing some work (she's a real person with real work, I applied to internships)

Workout of the day: 10.3 mile run, some boxing with Sister.

Feast of the day: SOUPLANTATION/SWEET TOMATOES!!

This is like my dream come true: all you can eat salad bar, carb bar, froyo.... oh my.
We stocked up on the salad (which is inevitable, no matter how hard you try to "just take a little")

 And then hit up muffin heaven -- I had about a million blueberry muffin tops, apple cranberry muffin tops and some cornbread.  (btw muffin tops are only drool-worthy when actually on a muffin)

And THEN I hit up their STUFFING with turkey soup.  Only I scooped the stuffing in first and drizzled the creamy turkey soup on top (kind of like a gravy).  It was like Thanksgiving all over again.

Oh... and then the apple cranberry cobbler with vanilla froyo x 2 happened.

I'm telling you, only go to Souplantation if you don't plan on moving for the next 4 hours.  You might have to be rolled to the car because you're too full to walk like a normal person.

I went to my high school's girls' basketball game with an old friend/ex boyfriend, and it was fun just to catch up and pretend like we didn't graduate from high school a billion years ago.  

GUESS WHAT I'M DOING TODAY: 

Sister and I scored some free tickets to the Holiday Bowl!!!! I know a player on the team and he's a sweetheart (with extra tickets) sooo... Go Bears!

Catch ya later with some updates!