beer, bloggers, & balance

I just had a great night!!! I got my teaching assignment for being a TA, I successfully navigated the public transit system, and I had a blogger meet up with some lovely ladies!

Cara, Caitlin, Teddy, Sarah, Carina, and I met up for a great dinner! I have “known” Caitlin for a while through the blogosphere and she, too, just moved to Austin the same week as me! And Cara and I found each other when I announced my move to Austin, so I’ve been reading her for a few months. The other girls were fun new finds! Sarah actually went to college in Virginia so we have some VA love to bond us!

We started out with a pitcher of Austin’s finest… Lone Star!

Lone Star (a Texan beer)

And then some pizza!

White pie (this + another small slice!)

And my lovely dinner buddies!

Left side from bottom: Carina, Teddy, Cara; right side from bottom: me (duh), Caitlin, and Sarah!

Thanks, Salvation Pizza, for some yummy pie! I normally am not a huge fan of thin crust (it has a carb deficiency) but this was quite delicious! We had originally planned to go to the restaurant next door and it was randomly closed But this turned out to be a great alternative.

Salvation Pizza on 34th

So let’s talk about my food intake lately. Yes, it appears as if I’ve been doing nothing but going out to dinner, drinking beer, and eating pizza. But, as you should know, I am a huge advocate of balance. So what if I eat pizza for dinner? I don’t apologize for what I eat. I’ll have a lighter lunch and make sure I get some good healthy fruit & veg in somehow. Having a healthy relationship with food means finding balance. I don’t believe in swearing off a food (except maybe meat if you’re a vegetarian like me… but that is a different issue). Labeling a food as “bad” creates bad food vibes and a bad relationship. There are foods I tend to keep out of the pantry, but I would never swear it off for being unhealthy. And I hate the word “moderation”. So you eat a few too many cookies? Keep making good food decisions and eventually they’ll outweigh the not so good decisions. Balance, people. Balance.

Life is too short to give up pizza and beer!!

bike ride & a new neighbor

Yesterday, I joined some of the current graduate students in my department for a bike ride to start learning my way around Austin. No one warned me that my department was so athletic!!! They’re all really strong riders and athletes, for a “social ride” it was a decent workout. My thighs are burning this morning! But I have to say, I loved socializing during exercise. I don’t always want a sweat buddy, but sometimes it is nice to have someone to talk to. It makes the time go by faster!

I didn’t snap any pictures because I was busy overcoming my fear of riding my bike in traffic, but we did stop at a really cool place to have lunch. For lunch, we went to a grocery store called Central Market where there is a small restaurant inside and a great patio. I had a Green Machine smoothie (orange, mango, and spirulina) and a granola bar. I was shockingly NOT hungry, just HOT and THIRSTY! The ride started around 10am and we wound around the city, ate lunch, and finished up around 1:30pm. When we were done it was nearing 103 degrees outside so I spent the rest of the afternoon chugging water and sitting in the pool at my apartment.

After recovering from the bike ride, I got a text from my friend Mary (the one in town looking for a place to live & my dinner buddy from the other night). It turns out, she signed a lease on an apartment in my complex!! My complex is made up of 2 different communities, but they’re all run out of the same leasing office. She will be about a 5 minute walk down a parking lot from me!!! We went out to dinner, again, to celebrate!

At North by Northwest Pub & Brewery, I enjoyed a carb fest. I sat down for dinner and realized it was 7pm and I hadn’t eaten anything since my granola bar & smoothie at 11:30am! I was ravenous!

Northern Light from the brewery at NXNW

Our appetizer... Skillet Fried Cornbread with goat cheese & wild mushrooms

Bleu cheese & artichoke pizza with caramelized onions (came with chicken & I subbed with artichokes!)

The pictures didn’t turn out great because of the lighting in the restaurant, but at least you were able to see my carb fest! I ate half the pizza and have the rest to eat for lunch today!!

So do you enjoy social exercise? And more importantly, do you enjoy the occasional carb fest? Carbs are not evil!!!