Birthday Weekend

Today is my 29th birthday. I can't believe I'm almost 30 and I'm so thankful to be healthier today than I've ever been in my life. I had a big weekend to celebrate and wanted to share some moments with you. 

I had my first major running wipeout just after mile 2 of my long run on Saturday morning. I tripped, which I've never done before, and landed hard on the sidewalk. I have small scrapes on my hand, knuckles, knee, hip and elbow plus this massive one on my shoulder. I'm glad I was wearing a t-shirt and not my usual tank! My shoulder is basically a big bruise, and it put a slight damper on the day. I was proud of myself for completing the 8 miles I had planned. My legs felt great (and still do today). 

The second part of my day was the Central Florida Veg Fest! I had heard about it before we moved and didn't realize it would be my birthday weekend until about a month ago. Score! It was huge and we had perfect weather.

I had a few main goals: meet some amazing plant based speakers, eat a ton of good food, learn something new, get a shirt, and see cute animals. All missions accomplished!

I got to meet Robert Cheeke and Tess Challis! They were both cool, but I have to say that Tess was so incredibly kind and sweet and inspiring. We both used plant based eating to overcome obesity, and I have to say that we are both babes now! We also watched her kale salad demo - delicious!

The part you all were waiting for - the food! Here's a sampling of what we ate: Bun Cha Gio, Indian sampler plate, summer rolls, our friend Jen with a vegan chili cheese dog, and rawvioli. We also got some free samples and had bites of cupcakes, cookies and cakes. (Dishes link out to the restaurants they came from)

After Veg Fest we went home for a rest for an hour or so, then we headed out to the Downtown Disney area for part two of the birthday weekend!

We wanted a cheap dinner, so we went to Qdoba. I got a salad with brown rice, pinto beans, grilled veg, salsa & guac. Qdoba, Chipotle, Tijuana Flats (local) are always good go to options for us because their beans are vegan and I can get good veg. 

Here I am with my new Plant Eater shirt from Compassion Co - such awesome people, my new Asics, and geeking out because Jessie Ware was playing behind me!

I LOVE Jessie Ware - her "Devotion" album is solidly in my top ten albums of all time, and I feel like no one knows who she is! I saw an ad in a local paper back in July that she was playing - birthday serendipity! We've had our tickets for months and the experience more than lived up to the wait. 

Mikky Ekko opened for her and he was fantastic. She had the most amazing stage presence and seemed like she was having a blast. For me, that always makes a concert more enjoyable. I was able to get to the front row and loved every second. There weren't many people there and it was such a great show. 

Even better, we got to meet Mikky Ekko and Jessie Ware after the show! Great freaking day :)

When I got up on Sunday I was pleasantly not as miserable as I thought I would be from all my contusions. I got in a 10 mile bike ride and 30 minutes of light strength, cardio and foam rolling. After that, a shower and a few loads of laundry Carly surprised me with a lunch date. We started at Infusion Tea with salads (and a half sandwich for her), then moved to Bosphorous for grape leaves and mimosas. 

When I got home I fired up the smoothie factory, here's a week's worth in the freezer. I eventually started labeling them with masking tape so I remembered what I made!

Amazing pre-birthday dinner. Buckwheat zucchini cakes on top of spinach, topped with a black bean/salsa mixture, fresh peppers & zucchini, steamed broccoli, avocado and roasted squash seeds. 

I'll spend most of my birthday today at work. I'm hoping my hand/shoulder will let me get in some yoga before we hit up our favorite local sushi place for dinner.