Dinner at Wine Bar and Other Saturday Happenings

Is it seriously Monday tomorrow? It feels like the weekend just started.

Yesterday was a busy day. In the morning, I worked out with a friend. I explained last week that I’m usually a loner at the gym because few of my friends are active. Well, one of my closest friends just joined GoodLife so it looks like I’ll now have a gym buddy to go with me sometimes.

There weren’t any classes yesterday so we did free weights followed by twenty minutes of cardio. My friend had no idea what to do with the free weights (much like me a few months ago) so before we went, I wrote down the sequence of exercises from The New Rules of Lifting for Women Stage 1, Workout A and showed her how to do all of the moves. I then did my own weights workout – Stage 2, Workout A – followed by 20 minutes on the elliptical.

After the gym, it was time to do my weekly grocery shop. I decided to try Organic Garage because I heard it’s cheaper than Whole Foods.I wasn’t overly impressed. It wasn’t that much cheaper than Whole Foods and I couldn’t find half the stuff on my list (they didn’t have Granny Smith apples or regular milk, for example). The store is also tiny and cramped and you constantly have to manoeuvre your way around other people’s carts – disaster. I’d rather pay a little more and get everything done in one peaceful trip complete with free samples and a delicious hot bar.

For lunch, I improvised and came up with this little combo:

Turkey, brie cheese and tomato on whole grain toast with a side of snap peas and hummus. The tomatoes came straight from my grandpa’s garden and they were soooo much tastier than the ones from the grocery store.

After lunch, I read and took a nap. I’d say the hardest part about working full-time is not being able to take afternoon power naps. I would love to pull a George Constanza and build a bed under my desk.

Later in the afternoon, Josh called me up and asked if I wanted to go to a barbecue at his friend from University’s house. We had evening dinner reservations at Wine Bar, so we could only stop by for a quick beer. Then it was time to eat!

Wine Bar is a Tapas-style restaurant with a constantly changing menu and local ingredients. From the Wine Bar website:

“We use only the finest local and naturally-raised food, produced by Ontario farmers and artisans. Every finished meal incorporates Chef Burke’s masterful layering of tastes and commitment to creating distinct dishes that are healthy, sustainable, and ethical. You also need to know that our supply of ingredients changes from season to season. It can even change from week to week – or day-to-day. That, in turn, means our menu is constantly changing, too, and there will always be something new to savor.”

Josh and I shared four plates of food and dessert:

Lamb Poutine

Chorizo Sausage with Mustard

Beet and Goat Cheese Risotto

Lion Paw Scallops

Bread and Butter Pudding

Every plate was delicious and the portions were perfect – enough to satisfy but not so much that we were too full to really savour every bite. We would definitely go back as there were many other items we wanted to sample (you should have seen the careful deliberation process that went into the selection of our food).

This morning, I woke up early for a 10 km Tempo Run. It’s funny because 10 km used to seem like such a big deal but now I actually look forward to them as a nice break from my Speedwork and Long Runs. 

Plans for the rest of the day include a family lunch at my grandpa’s house, then going to watch “The Help” with my mom. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!