So, my good friend Courtney is moving on to bigger and better things! I have been working with her for a while now, and we have become really good friends! I am gonna miss her!

I am really proud of her and her decision to  try new things! She got a job with one of our sister hotels, under the same owners as the Swan and Dolphin. It's the Sheraton Chicago! She's moving to the Windy City! It is so exciting! She has been wanting to move there for a while, and she finally has done it! She got a great job, a promotion actually, and is moving in with one of her really good friends who just happened to move to Chicago recently!

I am already planning my trip up there! I have never been, but heard that it is spectacular!

We are sending her off with one final night out here in Florida, and going out to CRAVE for happy hour! It was delicious, and we ordered almost one of everything from the happy hour menu! Sorry I didn't snap any pics, the food went right into our mouths as soon as we got it!

I did, however, get pictures from dessert! Tutti Fruitti!!

Finally my Week is back to normal! It takes a couple days for me to get back into the groove of things after a long weekend of fun and excitement!

There's a lot on my plate right now, and I will try to go in order!

My workouts this week are going to be intense! I have to step it into gear for the Miracle Miles Race coming up on September 25th! I will be running a lot this week! Monday was a great night at the gym! I ran 6 miles and felt great! Now I have to work on my speed, and try to get faster! I probably won't run more than 7 miles to prepare for the race, there's always extra motivation to finish when you're surrounded by other runners! I am so excited that my best friend Nicole is running it with me! It will be my first run with someone else! 

Football is BACK!!! The first week of football felt great! We went to our favorite little dive bar and pool hall, Backstage Billiards, for beer, free pool, and free food! I lost my first fantasy game against Fertile Mertle, but I have high hopes that the Man Eaters will dominate this week!

Next on the list is school! I started talking about going back to school a little while ago, and have finally started taking the first steps into getting back! I got approved for tuition reimbursement! That was for sure step number one, because that will help a great deal with financing this endeavor! It is such a process, so much paperwork, but I am so excited to start learning and getting a degree in Digital Media! Not gonna lie, I actually kind of miss school!
 
This weekend of course cannot go on without a little wedding planning involved! we have another venue to look at! Now, this one is totally different than our original vision. It is not on the beach, but on a lake, so it does have the same feel to it. It is a little quaint Bed and Breakfast called Town Manor right in between Orlando and Tampa. It seems like such a cute, intimate, and different place, so we are really excited to check it out!

We are also starting our gift registry (finally!) at Bed Bath and Beyond! I am really excited to start scanning! 

Check it out here!: Registry

Also, on the list for this weekend is Colombia!

Colombia is this fantastic spanish restaurat located in Celebration. They have a famous salad called the "1905 Salad" that they make table-side for you! That along with the delicious tastes of authentic spanish cuisine keep us going back! We just found out that this Sunday, from noon until 7pm, they are celebrating their 105th Anniversary! In honor of this long family owned and operated restaurant, they are having special "throw-back" prices! Going back to the day when coffee was only .05 cents! This is the menu they are offering, and check out those prices! We are so excited!

Chicken & Yellow Rice “Ybor” for $2.95
Boliche (eye round of beef) for $2.95
Merluza “A la Rusa” for $2.95
Columbia’s Original “1905 Salad” for $1.95
Sangria for $.95 cents
Flan for $.50 cents
Richly-brewed American coffee for $.05 cents


Upcoming Posts! Keep a look out:
             ²Brett's New Car
             ²New Running Shoes. How to Choose?
             ²Courtney's Last Day in Florida!
            

We finally made it back to Orlando after a long weekend of fun! Brett and I decided we needed to treat ourselves to a nice night out together. We had a gift card from one of Brett's Aunt's to the Cheesecake Factory, so we decided to go all out! 

We started with an appetizer of fried mac and cheese! 

For my entree, I decided to try something new. I always steer away from menu items that have "spicy" in the name or description, but lately, Brett has been tempting me with hot and spicy foods, and I am oddly intrigued by them! Most of them I can handle and have actually enjoyed!

I love curry, but of course never had it spicy, so I decided to try the Bam Bam Thai Noodle dish, that had spicy in the name! I was hesitant that it would be too hot, but I am so glad I got it cause it was delicious!

I forced myself to quit halfway through the dish, cause I was getting stuffed, but was totally in the mood for cheesecake! 

We decided on the Reese's Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake Cheesecake! It has chunks of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups mixed in original cheesecake with layers of delicious fudge cake and caramel! We also felt really good about ourselves for purchasing this one because 25 cents from each slice sold is donated to help feed hungry Americans in our communities! Now that will definitely help you to not feel guilty about eating cheesecake! ;)

When I got home from work on Friday, Stephen was already here and we said our hellos, hung out for a little while over a couple of beers, then headed out to meet Brett's other cousin Lindsay for dinner. 

We went to BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse, which is actually right by Brett and I's apartment, but neither of us had ever been there. 

I was pleasantly surprised at how good the food was! I was expecting more of a corporate feel to the restaurant, where everything is pretty much pre-packaged or pre-made, but all the food was really fresh and delicious! 

Since I am not a professional blogger yet, I of course forgot to take pictures of the food, but I will tell you what we ordered! We started off with chips and salsa (which by the way are better than Chili's, which are my favorite and I would never go against Chili's, but kind of have to in this case!) and tomato and mozzarella salad, with a balsamic glaze. I got a Chicken Teriyaki Stirfry, for my main course, that I gobbled up too quickly to even pull out the camera, anyways! I would definitely go there again!

At least I got a picture of the fam!

We had a fun night at dinner, and even spent more time together at a pool hall, called Backstage Billiards, right around the corner from our house, before heading home for the night.

In the morning, I woke up before the guys so that I could get some running time in. My times are getting a lot better, and I up-ed the speed to 5.9, which I haven't done before! Check it out:

I was pretty excited about the run, but I had to get back to the apartment to get ready so that we could head to Tampa. The boys were waiting for me to get ready when I got in, so I quickly showered and dressed so we could hit the road.

I only had time fore a Luna Protein Bar, which I ate in the car and was looking forward to Peggy's famous greek salad!!

We were heading to our Live Fantasy Football Draft at our favorite pub and eatery, Peggy Oneil's. Every time I go I get the greek salad, because it is authentic with the homemade potato salad at the bottom! 

Our live draft was chaotic, but really fun, and we all had a really great time picking all of our players! Lunch was our halfway point, so that salad was a nice little break!

I was last in the draft, so I got to pick twice in a row, but my quarterback, Drew Brees, was long gone by then! So was Adrian Peterson! But that's ok, I think I made out pretty well. Here is my starting lineup:

Quarterback: Kevin Kolb, Eagles

Running Backs: Pierre Thomas, Jamaal Charles

Wide Receivers: Wes Wellker, Larry Fitzgerald, Donald Driver, 

Tight End: Brent Celek

Defense: Baltimore Ravens

Kicker: Stephen Gostkowski

So far the matchup is 90 points (me) to 98 points. Let's hope they pull through for me!

The Live Draft pretty much took up most of the afternoon, so when we were finished, it was time to head to the Bucs vs. Jags preseason game!


We got a really good deal on tickets in really good seats, with a parking pass! It was a lot of fun...minus the rain delay...but we had Miller Lite so it was ok! The stadium is awesome!

It was definitely a fun-filled weekend, and little Winnie sure felt the same way! This is his sleeping in the car on the drive back to Orlando!

TGIF! Friday could not get here sooner! I was so excited for Friday night because Brett promised to take me out to our favorite Sushi Restaurant, Izziban, for Happy Hour. They have the BEST specials, and really good sushi!


I started off the morning with my usual morning spin class and came home hungrier than usual. I decided to make Apple Cinnamon French Toast (Well, actually english muffin!) I made it with egg whites, Weight Watchers 100 Cal english muffins, a couple shakes of cinnamon, and sugar free syrup. It was so good, and under 300 calories!

When dinner time finally rolled around, we ordered our happy our drinks, I got red wine and edamame to start. Then for the main course we ordered 5 different rolls! I really wanted to take a picture of the pretty display, but we pretty much devoured the plate in less than 5 minutes! I ended up taking a picture afterwards though!

Today I wanted to take a step class at the gym at 6am, but when I woke up, my legs were so soar from the bootcamp class last night! I should have gotten up and done weights, or taken Win for a walk, but my bed just seemed so much nicer! I am still trying to get myself up early during the week to get some activity in. I'll try again tommorrow! I wanted to get a workout in this morning because I got invited to a dinner at work with some of our  partners. We will be going to Todd English's bluezoo for drinks and to Shula's Steak House for dinner! Yumm! This meal is gonan be so good...I will definitley take pictures!