Goooooooooooooood morning and happy Monday!

How was the Super Bowl?  Any good parties?  Good dips?  Crunchy chips??  Add: “The Super Bowl parties” to the list of things I sometimes miss about the U.S.  I don’t miss the game itself, but I miss the excitement… and the 7-layer taco dip.

Super Bowl or no Super Bowl, this weekend was still really great.  I’m sad it’s over, but hey… another will be here in just 4 days.  Glass half full, amiright.  Actually, now that I’m looking at the photos, I’m noticing that most of them are food, so- mom, you’ll just wanna go ahead and close the browser now.  

My weekend started on Thursday with a long day of classes, followed by a gym workout.  I totally wasn’t feeling it, but I dug deep for a burst of energy and finished a really great NTC workout.

After a quick shower, a snack, and two hours of Spanish class (started a new place!  loving it! will provide all the boring details soon!!), I got to enjoy a delicious Italian dinner with a new friend.  Perks of the MuchBites job 😉  

We ate cheese and lots of it, the creamiest mushroom risotto (love…), gnocchi with clams (??) and then cheesecake (also love.  I’m a polygamist).  

#whyIgotothegym

So that was a nice ending to a long day.

On Friday, I woke up earlier than people should on Friday.  I just felt like I had a lot to do, so I painted my nails, finished a couple blog posts, ate breakfast, went to Body Combat (LOVE this class!  It’s so fun and I definitely burn a gazillion calories and get almost 10,000 steps in just 45 minutes.  Is that cheating?)  Anyway, I’m still sore.  After the class, I showered and sat back down for some lunch and more blogging (you’re welcome!).

Eventually, I met up with Annie so she could accompany me to get my haircut.  I’ve been having this crazy desire for bangs, but bangs are scary so I wanted her to come.  I took a before photo for all you fan girls out there.

But I never took an after photo because…it looks the same! haha!  The girl only cut a little and because of my hair’s “fro” tendencies, bangs will never sit flat so basically my head looks the same.  I ain’t mad about it though.

After my (not really) haircut, Annie and I popped some popcorn and went to the movies!  Something I have been wanting to do foooorever and was on my 25 things to do in my 25th year list.  I was so excited to see the new movie, Lion.  Even better, the ticket was half the price that we were anticipating AND the movie was incredible.

If you are in the market for a movie to see in theaters and you like the Slumdog Millionaire feel good type movies, this one is so recommended.

After the movie, I popped in and out of stores without buying anything (strength) and then went to the supermarket and bought lots of groceries for that night and the whole week.  I took some time to prep lots of veggies and make dinner for me and Luis.  On the menu- Chicken Tikka Masala! 

I cant take credit because we bought the sauce from El Corte Ingles a few weeks ago and planned to use it for a dinner at home.  It was good!  Served with rice and roasted cauliflower and sweet potato.

On Saturday, I had the usual breakfast and then dragged myself to GAP class (glutes, abs, piernas [legs]).  I was the last person to get into the class before they reached capacity and was up against the wall, but I still got in an awesome workout and two days later, I’m SORE.  The rest of Saturday included making butternut squash- chicken soup:

Then, I did other things like organize food for the week, work on a job application, watch Gossip Girl, and taking a 2 hour nap.  Gotta love Saturday.  And then I went for a walk since I felt like a total couch potato. 

I met Luis for dinner at a new-to-me (but not to him) restaurant called Blanca 6 where we shared a really, really good burger and some “Thai” pasta that had nothing Thai about it, but was still good.

After dinner, we met his Friends for drinks.  We spent the night in, drinking a lot of wine (but the sparkly, juicy kind of wine) and talking and laughing.  I haven’t laughed so hard in so long… it was fun.

Sunday, as you can imagine, started slowly.  My favorite way to start any day:

It’s creepy how Luis’ face is in the spoon…

Then I cleaned up the destruction I left from the night before, worked on some things for this week, and then I went for a 5 mile walk.

Add to the List of Things I Love in Spain:  Groups of old Spaniards that sit on park benches and socialize.

Gotta get in those steps!  After a quick shower, I did my weekly Sunday salad prep:

And finally, Luis and I went to El Corte Ingles to get some things for HIM, but I was the only one who left the store any poorer.  Ooooops.  Then dinner: 

And a nightcap before bed:

This weekend was SO GOOD.  And so was that Ben & Jerry’s Blondie Brownie ice cream (with a caramel core)