And oh yeah, we bought new running shoes, too...

Rick and I had a nice day yesterday – one of the last weekdays to get out and about before he starts his new job on Monday. So we started our day by heading toward downtown to try a new coffee place. (Well, not “new,” technically – just new to us.) It’s called Caffe Teo, and according to the sign hanging outside on the patio, it’s been voted one of the top ten coffee establishments in the country. They also serve some very yummy-looking gelato, which I have not had the opportunity to taste. Yet. (That’ll be a priority the next time I’m in Caffe Teo…) And I have to agree with the reviews – they DO have an excellent cup of coffee. Rick was disappointed that our “slightly dry” cappuccinos were actually heading straight into latte territory, but the TASTE of the coffee was quite good. That’s one of Rick’s pet peeves – when people make cappuccinos (which are supposed to be equal parts steamed milk and foam) more like lattes (which are just steamed milk and no foam). I’m not quite as picky, myself – I love a good cappuccino OR a good latte… but cappuccinos ARE fewer calories… when they’re made correctly.

So we got our cappulattes and sat out on the wooden patio, where small speakers mounted above the shop played selections from what sounded like a Bollywood movie soundtrack. Italian cappuccino enjoyed with Indian music – is there anything better?? (Well, perhaps Indian food enjoyed with some Italian opera… that would be good, too… :))

After coffee, it was time for lunch – so we headed down to Guadalupe and checked out Terra Burger. We’ve been wanting to try this place ever since we saw they were opening one up north, closer to where we live – we actually tried to stop about a week ago, but it still wasn’t open. So we went to the original, instead, which has been open for a year or so near the UT campus. It’s an all-organic burger place, where, I was quite happy to see, they also serve veggie burgers. I love a burger place that serves vegetarian alternatives. And I’m not even a vegetarian. But I do, as I’ve mentioned before, have a problem eating any kind of meat that has been ground up and smushed back together. And Terra Burger had quite a delicious veggie burger – I will definitely want to head back to this place again. Hopefully the new one is open by now…

Once coffee and lunch were out of the way, we went to the Central Market grocery store to pick up a few things. The last couple months we’ve really been making an effort to eat better and work out more, and I ran across an interesting tidbit of information the other day as I was perusing some diet/exercise blogs. According to many random bloggers, raw spinach makes a great smoothie additive – you can toss a couple handfuls of spinach in your blender along with other ingredients, and once it’s all blended together, you don’t even TASTE the spinach. But it DOES add lots of vitamins (and barely any calories – did you know a cup of raw spinach is only 7 calories??). So last night, instead of a usual dinner, I made smoothies – I have to admit I was a little apprehensive. I wasn’t sure if The Great Smoothie Experiment would work very well. But I brought out my blender, and then I added:

1 cup almond milk

1 tablespoon almond butter

1 tablespoon ground flax seed

1 cup spinach

1 frozen banana

1 cup frozen blueberries

1 cup frozen peaches

Then I hit “blend” and hoped for the best. When it was done, the concoction was a rather unappealing muddy blue color, flecked with dark specks of who-knows-what. But I poured it into two glasses, pulled a couple straws out of the cupboard (because smoothies just seem like the sort of thing you have to drink with a straw), and tried it. To my surprise, my muddy blue smoothie was really GOOD. Even Rick liked it…

And it was the perfect fuel for our nightly four-mile walk, which we’ve just started to do. I was already working out every day, usually walking/jogging between three and four miles on the treadmill. But Rick doesn’t like the treadmill – he prefers to walk on pavement. And for some reason, I’ve decided to go with him every night, even though I’ve pretty much been doubling my daily workout. And I don’t know if it’s the distance, or the fact that I’m not used to walking that far on a sidewalk, but I have actually been SORE the last few days. I think a little less so today than yesterday, so hopefully I’m getting used to all those extra steps…

And speaking of steps, I only have about 1000 today, so I’d better get moving…