Livin' Lean

Happy holidays to everyone! And Merry belated Christmas to those who celebrate it. I’ve been so wrapped up in spending time with family and friends that I haven’t been on top of blogging for the past week. I’m back, my friends!

My winter break started off with some family time in Maryland. The night before my sister and her boyfriend arrived from New York, I got together with some of my best friends for an ugly sweater party.  I borrowed my mom’s sweater (sorry, mom), but it’s from about 15 years ago, so it’s okay to make fun of it.

I missed these girls!

I was beyond excited to see my sister and her boyfriend! It was so much fun having them around for a few days. Our little family celebrated Christmas before I headed to Roanoke, VA to stay with Josh and his mom until New Years. I love spending time in Roanoke because it always feels like a mini vacation. We have such a great time going out to eat, shopping, and relaxing. Playing with puppies somehow occurs every time I visit too…

I so wish I could have taken this little girl home with me! She made my heart melt.

The other day, I decided to put on my new running gear for a long run. My sister got me this adorable Lululemon outfit for Christmas. I desperately needed new running clothes since it has been getting colder. This jacket and spandex pants did the trick! They kept me nice and warm in the 35 degree weather.

I ended up doing 8 miles. Great success! I’m not sure how my pace keeps getting faster as my runs get longer, but I’ll take it.

The scenery on my run was absolutely breathtaking. Josh’s house is surrounded by mountains, which is a nice change from the tall buildings in Philly. Even though it was freezing, the mountains were beautiful covered in snow.

Yesterday morning, Josh and I tried this unique restaurant called Healthy Stuff. We first heard about it when they were downtown, selling baked goods made with healthy and natural ingredients, such as zucchini or butternut squash brownies. I’m all about weird ingredients in my food, so you know I was all over that!

Healthy Stuff uses the freshest ingredients, and they don’t use any refined sugars. They use cane sugar when necessary and had that along with organic agave nectar and Truvia on each table. I thought I died and went to heaven. I would love to own a restaurant like that one day! Josh and I had a hard time deciding what to order, but we finally decided to get their butternut squash pancakes and eggs. I got mine with turkey sausage, while Josh went with bacon. As expected, their pancakes were out of this world. I think I said “Mmmm!” with every bite I took.

The butternut squash pancakes were huge and so, so fluffy. I NEED to find a recipe for these. There was no butternut squash taste at all, and I actually think these are better than regular pancakes! I might have to go back for more before I leave Roanoke…

I’m off to go hang with Joshua. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!

~~~~~

Chobani Giveaway Winner

Congratulations Gina! Please email me at livinleanblog@gmail.com!

~~~~~

Question of the day:
What’s your favorite part about the holidays?