Guess what I did yesterday?

I got acupuncture for the first time!

Caitlin’s husband, Kristien (who is British and has the cutest accent), is a licensed and nationally board-certified acupuncturist and recently co-founded The Holistic Wellness Center of Charlotte, which focuses on Chinese medicine and herbology as well as acupuncture.

I was talking to him this weekend about how I find acupuncture and eastern medicine in general fascinating, so he offered to do a practice session on me. How cool! He did a full intake, asking me all sorts of background questions about my health, stress levels, lifestyle, etc., and then based on that, gave me a customized acupuncture session!

I had no idea what to expect, but it was really cool and didn’t hurt at ALL! The needles are as thin as a strand of hair, so you don’t feel them go in. He put a few needles around my ankles and legs (in the same places on each leg), and then one in my forehead, which was pictured above. Interestingly, I hardly felt anything in my right left, but in my left leg, there was some tingling radiating out from the needles. Kristien said this was normal; most people feel the response more acutely on one side of their body. Very cool! He said it would take a series of treatments to feel any real changes, but I definitely felt more relaxed afterward. Have any of you ever gotten acupuncture before?

…

The rest of my time in Charlotte was spent eating delicious food and relaxing! We had tacos:

Wandered around the city in the beautiful weather:

Played with cute dogs (Caitlin and Kristien have two dogs, Maggie and James, and their visiting friends Sarah and TK brought their dog Lady Bird with them, too!) in the house:

Drank green smoothies (I love staying with other healthy living food bloggers that feed me healthy snacks and meals!):

Ate a delish veggie dinner prepared by Caitlin – roasted veggies and chickpeas with brown rice:

And, this morning, after a fun night out and a couple glasses of wine, we had a delicious breakfast – waffles! Love.

Topped with honey Greek yogurt and banana and berries

Thanks again for being such awesome hosts, Caitlin and Kristien

I’m back in Chapel Hill now and have a very sleepy Matt on my hands – he was literally around the globe for a work trip this past week and spent all of last night on a plane! I picked him up at the airport on my way home from Charlotte this afternoon. It’s nice to have him back home

Goodnight, friends, and happy early Labor Day if you’re in the U.S.!

I had such a great trail run this morning with my new friends and fellow masters students!

I love trail running and I’m so excited to know this trail is nearby! I’m also super excited to already have running buddies – that’s the hardest thing about moving to a new place as far as I’m concerned.

We ran 5.14 miles in about 54 minutes. It’s hard to run fast on a hilly and rocky trail – gotta watch your feet so you don’t fall!

Are you guys fans of trail running? I think running on a trail makes running SO much more entertaining. We had a blast maneuvering through the hilly, rocky terrain and chatting away the whole time.

After the run, I bonded with an old friend – my foam roller! If you’re a runner and you don’t own one of these, I’d really recommend getting one! Here’s a link to the one I have. It made SUCH a huge difference for me when I was training for my first half marathon in the spring. Really helps with soreness and muscle recovery!

Speaking of my half marathon, look what I finally got around to buying for my car!

13.1, baby!

After my run, I met up with a high school friend for lunch (so excited to have an old friend nearby!) and then headed to Franklin Street (the main drag in Chapel Hill) to meet a friend from DC who is in town!

Hi Kristen!

We walked around, chatted, and decided that the only solution for such a hot day was frozen yogurt. Duh.

I’m off to enjoy a rocking Saturday night by myself – Matt left this morning for a week-long work trip. Boo! I figure since I have no plans I should try to get some work done so I can play tomorrow However… I have a TV for the first time in 2 years. We just got it hooked up yesterday and I forgot how awesome TV is! This could be dangerous. I am so out of the loop and don’t know what most of the shows are. Also, why are commercials so much louder than the regular shows?!

I’m glad you guys enjoyed the photos from the beautiful weekend here in D.C.! They were actually all taken with my little point and shoot – check out this post for my tips for taking better point and shoot photos.

This week is going to be insane getting ready for the big move – I spent all day yesterday with my mom running errands and sorting through my clothes. I literally got rid of nearly half of them! The damage:

• 5 huge trash bags (for Goodwill)
• 1 huge trash bag (for the trash)
• 4 huge shopping bags (to sell)

Sweet! I always feel so productive cleaning out my room and getting rid of stuff I don’t need. On the docket today is getting my car serviced, getting a Tb vaccine shot, sorting through old papers, and starting to PACK!

But for now – a new recipe!

I teased you guys with photos of this awesome bread on Friday, remember?

As always, it’s packed with nutrition AND deliciousness!

Blueberry Apple Cinnamon Yogurt Bread

Ingredients:

Dry:

• 2 C spelt flour
• 1/2 C brown sugar
• 1/2 C finely ground flaxseed
• 1 Tbsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Wet:

• 1 C unsweetened applesauce
• 1 C skim milk
• 1/2 C nonfat plain yogurt
• 2/3 C blueberries
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325.

1) In two separate bowls, mix dry, then wet, then add wet to dry, stirring gently until evenly mixed.

2) Pour the batter into a 9×5 pan. Top with pumpkin seeds (optional – makes it look pretty!).

3) Pop it in the oven for 55 mins to 1 hour. Fork check to make sure it’s done!

Mmmm… healthy and delicious, just how I like it

Enjoy! I already ate it all, sniff. Might need to make some more today…!

Well… the exam was kind of a debacle. At least it’s over? (I hope… unless I have to take the stupid class again… which would be lame since I got A’s in all 7 of my other prereqs!). The worst part is now I have to play the waiting game – unfortunately I won’t find out for a week or so how I did… ugh. Crossing fingers and hoping by some miracle (or by a huge curve) I pull off a passing grade. Hardest test EVER. But thank you so much for all your sweet good luck wishes

After doing what any mature 27 year old does in such a situation (called my mom in tears), I pulled myself together and enjoyed the rest of my day

First stop – lunch with my friend Michelle!

Yay! Michelle is my friend from my Microbiology class this summer and I heart her. She lives with her husband and kids (yes, kids – she has 3! doesn’t she look young??) down south where our class was, so since I took my final exam down there today, it was perfect to meet up one last time before I leave!

We met at Wegmans – yum!! I hit up their salad bar and got all sorts of fun stuff:

I got some lettuce & spinach and topped it with all sorts of bean salads, a tabouli salad, some curried tofu, green beans, broccoli and who knows what else

With a side of fruit!

Ah, watermelon. Why must you be so tasty and so heavy and expensive at salad bars?

After lunch, I FINALLY went and got my hair cut (my head feels 13908203948 times lighter), and then I picked up a copy of this awesome book

I’m hoping I can get the author to sign it for me next weekend

And now I’m off again! Matt’s company is having a cocktail party thingy tonight – perfect timing to show off my nice straight hair!

Have a great night!

p.s. – Have you guys tried the new Carrot Cake Larabar yet?! I had it today and it was AMAZING. I think it’s my new fave!