Happy Monday, everyone! Hope you’re having a marvelous start to the week. So far, so good on my end.

I was very spoiled this year, and my birthday festivities continued throughout the weekend! Saturday morning started out on a great note – with a long run!

Woohoo!! 10.4 miles = the longest run I’ve had this far. I felt awesome and although this was longer than what I had on my training schedule, I decided to keep on pushing since I was feeling extra spry that morning.

When I returned home, I had a package waiting for me on the doorstep.

A birthday gift from my best friend, Emily! She shipped me some fun socks and a DVD + a cute doggie bday card. She is the sweetest, and it makes me so sad that she lives in St. Louis so we don’t get to be together too often. But this gift definitely made my day brighter!

Crepes for Lunch

After my run and gift opening, I took a quick shower before my mom and sister-in-law (also named Christine) arrived to my house around 11 AM. We headed out for a nice lunch (along with Nick!) in downtown Springfield at the Aviary Cafe and Creperie.

The Aviary is a tiny, cute, and eclectic little cafe that serves the BEST crepes in town. Everything is homemade, fresh, and extremely flavorful. I’ve eaten there a handful of times and have never been disappointed! I also love the atmosphere since it’s small with limited seating, so I thought it would be the perfect spot for our lunch.

We started with some (unpictured) fried brussel sprouts. They were amazing and kinda strange at the same time! My  mom and I loved them, while Christine and Nick both only tried one bite. 🙂

Then it was onto our savory crepes for our lunch entrees! I had a breakfast-filled crepe and a side salad.

It was filled with bacon, eggs, and cheese. It tasted like an awesome breakfast all wrapped in a thin pancake! Loved it! Plus I thought the protein would be good for me after my long run. I ate every last bite and even helped out everyone else in finishing their plates. Do long runs make you hungry? Because they turn me into a bottomless pit. 🙂

Nick had a crepe that was filled with shredded beef and bleu cheese crumbles in a spicy and savory sauce of some sort.

It was all delicious as well. But my favorite part came next: dessert crepe!

We ordered a caramel apple crisp crepe to split for dessert. It was AMAZING to say the least. That homemade caramel sauce basically made me swoon. And since it was my birthday weekend, they let me lick the plate and eat all the leftover gooey goodness!

White Christmas

After our lunch, we headed over to Juanita K. Hammons Hall on the campus of Missouri State University to see White Christmas, the musical. I had asked my mom for tickets for my birthday a month or so ago, and she obliged to get tickets for us all to go together. I love Christmas; I love the movie; and I love musicals, so I was basically excited like a small child on Christmas morning when we arrived!

Nick was such a good sport to go along with us gals for my birthday. I know he probably didn’t love all the singing and dancing as much as I did, but he was still happy and tried to act excited for me. 🙂

Our seats were kinda up in the nosebleeds, but we were perfectly centered and had no issues seeing everything on stage.

It was a long show – we were done and outta there around 5 pm. But it was totally worth it. I think getting to see this musical with my family is probably one of the best gifts I’ve gotten in a while. It was a special day that I won’t forget anytime soon!

My mom and Christine headed home once we got back to my house, so Nick and I decided to just relax and be lazy until we were hungry for some dinner around 7:30. We went out for a late and casual dinner at Big Whiskey’s and then went to visit one of Nick’s buddys who was having a few friends over for a game night. It was fun to see some old friends, but I was tired so we headed home fairly early to get some rest. Birthdays are fun but can really make an old 24 year-old tired!!

As you can tell, it was a fun and food-filled birthday weekend! I’m trying to get back on the healthy-eating wagon today, but the leftover Halloween candy is making it hard! It’s my goal to have lots of fruits and veggies with every meal this week to help my tummy get back to normal.

I’m thankful to have tonight off to relax and rest my tired legs. My long run is really catching up with my backside today! Ouch! Rest days are our glute’s friends. 🙂

Have a great day!!