Fall Festivities

Hey guys! I hope your weekend was wonderful. Thanks so much for all the safe travel wishes. Josh and I had the best time in New Haven enjoying our long weekend with his parents. We did something super exciting wedding planning wise. I’ll be sharing it in a post later this week. Before I do that I want to share the rest of our fun weekend.

We started off our trip with the traditional stop at Irving’s in State College to get bus food. I picked up an egg and cheese bagel and an Eye Opener smoothie. It’s made of yogurt, milk, wheat germ, banana, and honey. It had such a light taste but was so tasty and definitely woke me up and started my day off right.

Our Megabus trip went smoothly and before we knew it we were in NYC and boarding a train for New Haven. Josh was so sweet and picked us up cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery.

The red velvet was delicious.

We were greeted by his parents when we got to Connecticut and it was so good to see them. We went out to eat at Delaney’s for dinner and I got a veggie burger with fries. It was delicious but even better was getting to catch up with John and Debbie. I’ve missed them!

Breakfast the next morning was at Bread and Chocolate. Debbie, Josh and I had some errands to run so we made sure to find some sustenance before we started our big day. I ordered the pumpkin scone thinking it would be great, but ended up falling in love with the blackberry scone. I love that we’re all food sharers.

After our morning errands, Debbie and I dropped Josh back off at the house for some guy time with his dad and ran out to do some girl stuff. We talked over wedding ideas and picked up some food and decorations for Fall Frolic. We grabbed a quick lunch at Panera before heading home. Broccoli cheddar soup and chicken-less fuji apple salad for the win!

Fall Frolic is a big tradition in Josh’s family where they get together with family friends and decorate for the upcoming fall holidays. His family has a TON of decorations and they go all out with them. I wanted to make an appetizer for everyone and have been meaning to try Fitnessista’s sweet potato and goat cheese recipe, so I figured this was my opportunity. I cut the sweet potatoes and Josh mixed the goat cheese and chives together (adding a few more ingredients of his own) before putting extra generous proportions on each sweet potato slice. They were delicious and something we’ll definitely have to make again.

Josh’s parents’ really good friends Mary and Joey came over to help us decorate and surprised Josh and I with our first fall decoration as a couple. How adorable is this? It will definitely be put out in our future apartment next fall!

Mary made hard apple cider for us to drink while we worked and it was delicious.

Some of the fall decorations. The whole house looks beautiful! I can’t wait for Josh and I to decorate our own house someday.

We took a pizza break with pizza from Est. and it was so good. We then finished up the night with girls vs. boys card games. It was a blast.

Sunday we headed over to Manjares for breakfast. I was trying to be healthier, so I skipped their amaaazing French Toast and ordered an egg and cheese sandwich. It was good but nothing special and there was so much cheese it really wasn’t any healthier. Debbie and Josh were so sweet to share their French Toast with me and it was just as good as I remembered. In the future, I’ll just order what I really want because I only end up regretting it later. ;p

We drove around before stopping at Bruegger’s Bagels for lunch. I got their Leonardo Da Veggie bagelwich and it was incredible. Cream cheese and roasted peppers are an amazing combo on a bagel. Josh and I also split a butternut squash soup and it was incredible.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at Barnes and Noble (I love that other people like to do that!) before heading home. It was pouring, so we ordered delivery from Est. again (it’s that good). I ordered the Eggplant Florentine at Josh’s recommendation and loved every single bite. This was a time when I wished I had a bigger stomach because I wanted to eat the whole thing but I had to stop at half.

Josh ‘s parents ordered spaghetti with marinara and it was some of the most flavorful marina sauce I have ever had. So so good!

While we were eating Brewski enjoyed a drink from Josh’s water glass. We all looked over and saw him so happy and looking so cute we couldn’t do anything but laugh.

The next morning it was unfortunately time to pack up and get ready to leave. We went to breakfast at Café Romeos and I got one of the best egg sandwiches ever. Cream cheese, red peppers, onions, eggs, and salsa? Yes, please!

Josh and I enjoyed walking around the city for a while before deciding to stop for lunch. Josh was intrigued by Heartland Brewery and I loved the sound of their homemade veggie burger so we decided to stop and check it out.

Their veggie burger was amazing! Definitely worth checking out if you’re in the neighborhood. Josh also really liked their pumpkin beer.

After lunch we walked over to Hudson Station for dessert. Josh and I split a cookie dough and ice cream concoction that was out of this world! I also tried a 50 Shades of Grey Goose drink. It was really good! I felt so wrong ordering it though, I have never been able to bring myself to read that book. ;p

And then we were back on the Mega Bus making our way home to State College. It was the perfect weekend that, like always, went by way too fast. I can’t wait to do it again this winter!

Today I get back to healthy eating and working out. I feel no regrets eating what I did. Life is all about enjoying and I’m so glad I enjoyed this weekend to the fullest. I find after lots of rich food I find myself craving my oatmeal and green smoothies so this week will be chock full of them. I can’t exercise when I’m in New Haven because of cat allergies, so I’m extra anxious to hit the treadmill tomorrow. I just love how happy exercise makes me. Hopefully my legs don’t fight me too much after lots of rest!

Question of the Day: What fun things did you do this weekend? Any favorite meals?