Bad Girl

I didn't post for two days.  Oops.

And I was being bad.  Double oops.

I think the stress/exhaustion from the last couple of weeks finally hit its peak on Thursday when I decided to join two lovely ladies + one husband for happy hour and football watching.  It was BOGO night at Alba, and because I'd been doing fairly well all week (and all day, eating the normal breakfast, snack, and lunch), I decided to go for it.  This feeling was amplified when I spied newly-engaged ex-boyfriend across the bar.  Chug. A. Lug.  Three beers later, we were ready to watch some NFL action at a downtown establishment.  I'm not going to lie, friends: I drank another beer and pretty much inhaled a turkey Reuben and french fries.

Triple oops.

We met a new friend at happy hour, though, and he joined us for dinner and football as well.  He just moved to Des Moines from California a month ago and doesn't know anyone.  We had a great time telling him all about what Des Moines has to offer, the fun places to hang out, etc.  I think he's going to join my soccer team, which will definitely be a great time!

Yesterday I did well again during the day.  However, co-worker's son brought us lunch, but I only ate half a Jimmy John's turkey sandwich, some grapes, and chugged a Nalgene.  After work, though, I headed to West Des Moines for a friend's final dress fitting at Schaffer's.  She looked absolutely gorgeous, and I'm super excited for her wedding in two weeks.

As we were leaving the bridal boutique, the fun started.  We noticed a string of police cars, backed up traffic, and lots of people in the Super Target parking lot.  Naturally, we walked toward the action.  We saw a man being led in cuffs to the back of a police car, straw hat still in hand.  Apparently, this is what was happening: CRAZINESS.

The three of us girls decided not to stick around to see what happened next, and instead we headed again to Trostel's Dish.  That place is oh-so-amazing.  Instead of just two small plates like last Friday, we ordered six small plates and a couple glasses of wine - and water!  I apologize for the lack of pictures, but we had the following:

• Duck quesadillas: pictures from last week!
• Pear and blue cheese pizza: pictures from last week!
• Chips and dip: fried plantain chips dipped in chilled guacamole - omg
• Calamari: while it was still delish, this was probably our least favorite plate of the evening
• Lamb kebabs: this was a huge chunk of lamb that we sliced off onto toasted pita wedges, topped with a tomato and cucumber sauce - ah-maze-ing
• Arancini: these crispy risotto balls were so creamy and so delicious; a wonderful burst of herbs and spices

Following a dinner with an amazing girl friend, BFF and I headed downtown to join some more friends at Amici, a coffee shop that also serves "happy hour beverages."  We had another glass of wine and then headed with one of the girls to CABCO for yet more wine and dinner - for her, not us.  (Not going to lie, though...  BFF and I did share a pretzel appetizer.  We were hungry again!)

I can't believe I didn't bring my camera for any of these amazing meals.  Bad, bad girl.

Shockingly, after two days of not eating wonderfully, of imbibing too much, and of not exercising, I do not feel super sluggish, and I did not gain weight.  Clearly this is not something to do every day or even every week, but it didn't affect me nearly as much as I was fearing this time.

No promises about today and tomorrow, though...sadly.  Today is "Iowa's Superbowl":

VS

 and tomorrow is the first full day of NFL (read: fantasy football) action.  It could get wild and crazy.  I am going to try my hardest - my absolute hardest - to be good.  We'll see how that works out for me.  :)