Ah, ah, ah, beautiful Sunday

This is my, my, my beautiful day…

Isn’t that how the Daniel Boone song goes? I started off my day of the challenge by going to have brunch at The Farm in Beverly Hills. I love this place. It’s so lovely in every aspect. Great drinks, great service, great decor, great food…and famous brownies.

I ordered the blackened chicken flat bread wrap. Yummy! I had a quarter of it. Just enough to accomplish my goal of not feeling hungry.

I also had a side salad with balsamic vinaigrette. Just a few bites. I did have a Coke though. And it was goooood. I savored every sip of it.

I decided to spend the day at the movies watching Hairspray. WOW! It was so entertaining and delightful. Beautiful colors mixed with the perfect cast; I couldn’t help shaking my leg along with the music.

My only major complaint was the oddity of the lyrics being present during the musical numbers. I had a hard time concentrating on the scenes when the words are screaming at me to be looked upon. Also, the idea of a girl with big dreams always inspires me since here I am in the land of Big Dreams. Sigh…

While there, I had to use every ounce of restraint to not buy some buttered popcorn and Milk Duds. Mmmm…buttered popcorn. Snapping out of it…okay, moving on. I did buy an oatmeal and chocolate chip cookie from The Farm that I relished throughout the movie.

I later had some spinach with a sesame oil dip for a snack before I headed out the door for dinner at a new (to me) place called Blair’s in Silverlake. Quaint little joint with a fairly small menu, nice beer and wine selection, and delicious food.

I ate half of a salad and an entree. The salad was the perfect blend of endive, romaine, walnuts, apples and…one of the most fantastic things on the face of the planet: goat cheese.

My entree consisted of Alaskan halibut (I gotta support my home state peeps) with shitake mushrooms, new potatoes and kale. It was like a party in my mouth! Such a delicious explosion of flavor…ahhhh, yeah! Splitting it made it the perfect size.

In all honesty, the portions of food these days has gotten way out of control. I know that the restaurants want to give us our money’s worth but how about this…lower the price and give us smaller portions. Genius, I know.

I finished off my meal with a nice cup of decaffeinated mint tea. It was the perfect replacement to dessert since I love to finish a nice dinner with something sweet. This way, it was sort of a mint delight!

When I dine out, I almost always order a large bottle of sparkling water and play a game with myself to finish the bottle before I leave the table. I do have an unnatural love of soda (especially Dr. Pepper) and sparkling water is a great alternative since I still get the sensation of the carbonation.

Later that evening I took to doing some relaxing yoga poses that help to prepare my body for sleep while stretching and strengthening my muscles. Yoga is a great way for me to become more aware of my body and what its telling me. I pose and listen to it with every breath.

Yoga at night serves as a perfect means to centering myself and reflecting upon my day. All in all, a great day for the challenge. Namaste.