Another night out with family

This afternoon I never did get to the gym, it was nice out, but a little cloudy- I decided I'd try and go for a run anyways- bad idea, I was out 5 minutes and it started raining, so I ran right home, and did a 25 minute cardio routine on the treadmill instead. I speed walked at a speed of 4 and a 10% incline for 10 minutes, then switched to 10 minutes of running/springs, and finished with 5 more minutes of inclined walking. I did some arms and legs as well for about 15 minutes afterwards. It was a nice strengthening workout!

After my workout I refueled with my new favorite protein-filled yogurt creation, 1/2 cup 0% greek yogurt with a dollop of peanut butter!

This held me over SO well, over 3 hours until my mom, sister and I drove up to Providence to meet my cousin for dinner! She wasn't able to make it to Crazy Burger for my birthday celebration, so she invited me to come up to Prov and have dinner at Red Stripe. It was so good, the menu looked unique but nothing too crazy- there were tons of delicious choices! I had a piece of warm fresh baked bread to start (no butter), and then my sister and I decided to split a salad, which turned out to be HUGE, with a creamy sauce that was a bit too much for me- I normally try for oil/vinegar based dressings, so I tried to just have a bit of the dressing. I ate about 1/2 the lettuce, some nuts, all the apple and grapes, and about 1/2 the gorgonzola.

For my entree, the waitress recommended the Tea Smoked Tofu, which she said has gotten rave reviews! It surely did not disappoint. The smoky taste was prominent but not overbearing, it was just firm enough but not dry at all. The flavor was incredible, I ate 1 and 1/2 of the pieces of tofu, and all of the steamed vegetables cooked in parchment with a delicious raspberry sauce.

I was full by the end, but we really wanted to try one of their tasty looking desserts... so we settled on the chocolate espresso cheesecake, and split it between the four of us. I had about 5 medium sized bites, and boy was it worth every last nibble! It was whipped and not too thick, lighter and even more flavorful than I had expected.

I had a great time with the girls, I even got a Bed, Bath and Beyond gift certificate as a birthday present I can use for my new house!

Now I am tired from such a long day, I'm ready to head to bed!