Happy Birthday Kate!

I had a wonderful first day of 2012. It started with a 40-minute walk around my neighborhood in the beautiful 57-degree weather. I then came home to get ready for the afternoon that would be spent shopping and having lunch with a good friend that I played volleyball with about five years ago. How time has flown!

Happy Birthday Kate! Enjoy this walk down memory lane!

Kate and I in Minnesota for the Junior Olympics in 2007!

We LOVE peanut butter!

Kate and I after winning regionals 2007 to qualify for the Junior Olympics!

We went to City Centre to do some shopping - seems like I am there quite a bit these days, huh? - and some eating. It has a really fun atmosphere and it is a wonderful place to be, especially on a beautiful day like today. We walked around Anthropologie, Paper Source, and Sur La Table and admired all the pretty clothes and fun products. City Centre is quickly becoming my favorite place in Houston - with stores like these and superb restaurants, who can resist? J. Crew is also opening sometime in 2012 and I can't wait! It makes coming home from college even better!

Before leaving City Centre to head to the mall to make a few returns, we decided to have lunch at Ruggles Green. This is one of my all-time favorite restaurants in Houston, it is one of the four green certified restaurants in the country and I definitely understand why. All of the food is fresh and healthy, always a plus!

I went for the fish tacos as my meal. Yes, I had fish tacos last night as well, but they are so tasty that I just couldn't resist ordering them again. Kate had the grilled chicken sandwich and said it was amazing. We enjoyed our lunch outside, where the sun was shining and the wind was blowing. It felt great and I had a very enjoyable afternoon catching up with a great friend!

My delicious fish tacos! I promise there is fish under all that cabbage!

The birthday girl!

Kate's grilled chicken sandwich with a side of fruit

Me with my fish tacos

Workout

Once I returned home, I decided to venture up to the gym to check out the newly renovated pool that just experienced it's grand re-opening. It has been closed for three weeks due to some remodeling and boy, have I missed the pool! Swimming is such a great alternative workout to running, and like I have said before, it is just so relaxing. I swam a little over a mile before returning home to do a quick 20-minute walk around my neighborhood. It was then time for dinner, which was DELICIOUS! My dad put pot roast, carrots, onions, and tomatoes into the crock pot around noon today and the result? A delicious, tender pot roast. I have enjoyed such good meals so far in 2012!

Yes, we still use these Hercules plates that came from McDonald's years ago!

Next up on the agenda? A night full of football with my family. Sounds like a great night to me!