So Long, Farewell

“…Auf Weidersehen, goodbye!”

It’s so sad when friends from college start moving away. 😦

Since I went to college at UCF in Orlando and have been fortunate enough to transition into a job in downtown Orlando, I am lucky enough to live near many friends from college. Though Ryan and I have jobs we enjoy in Orlando, others have slowly started moving away to pursue other opportunities or additional schooling.

Tonight we said goodbye to our friend Pete, who is moving to Chapel Hill to attend grad school at UNC.

Pete was in Ryan’s fraternity and his girlfriend Merri was in my sorority, and we’ve always enjoyed hanging out with these two! (Merri is staying in Orlando and they will continue stay together long-distance.)

Pete & Ryan

We met up with Pete, Merri and some other friends at Mucho, a Mexican restaurant in downtown Orlando to say goodbye.

Ready for Dinner

Once we sat down I dug into the chips and salsa.

Chips 'n' Salsa

Crunch 'n' Munch

The waiter kept refilling our basket and I swear I ate an entire basketful myself. I was addicted!

Some of the guys enjoyed some beers…

Boys

That came with free shots of tequila…

Shots

For dinner, Ryan and I shared a quesadilla and I also had a fish taco which went unpictured.

'Dilla

I left this meal a little too full. I snacked on a bunch of almonds (easily three to four servings) before we left for dinner and I think they contributed to my overly stuffed feeling.

A too-full belly was more than 100 percent worth it though to enjoy a fun evening with good friends and say our goodbyes to Pete. Fortunately it won’t be goodbye for too long because Pete is a groomsman in our wedding so we’ll be seeing him in no time at all.

I’m off to PACK for our vacation!!!

‘Dillas on the Grillas

The weather warranted another dinner on the grill. Well… kind of.

Ryan and I were feelin’ cheesy quesadillas tonight and figured we could add some protein to the mix by throwing grilled chicken breasts into the ‘dillas.

While Ryan grilled the chicken, I got all the “fixins” (as Paula Deen would say) ready for our quesadillas.

Fixins

Our ‘dillas included:

• Cheese
• Corn
• Grilled chicken
• Cauliflower
• Spinach

'Dilla

Ready for Folding

Yum

On the side we had roasted broccoli for some added nutrients.

Roasted Broccoli

My Plate

Dessert

Ryan and I are working our way through our Easter goodies.

Tonight we both enjoyed two Oreos and a small bowl of Swedish Fish. Yum!

Dessert

Portioning out the goodies in a small bowl helps prevent me from eating a billion Swedish Fish. Sitting down to eat them out of a small dish is a great way to help me thwart overindulgence.  

After dessert, I got to work in the kitchen again.

I promised to bring in a sweet treat for the winner of our March Madness cake vs. pie bracket at work.

Even though red velvet cake lost in the finals, everyone in my office preferred red velvet cake to cheesecake, the actual winner. I decided to make a red velvet dessert to bring into work, but didn’t want to make a big ol’ cake. Instead I made red velvet cake brownies!

Red Velvet Cake Brownie Batter

They’re currently baking in the oven and smell deeeelicious.

I hope they last through the night… 😉