A Healthy Balance: Pimp Chillin at the Holiday Inn

Hey everyone! Just got back to the hotel after a busy but fun-filled day in Nashville!

Here's an overview of my day:

We snacked on Archer Farms Cranberry Nut trail mix on the drive up!

When we got to Nashville, we ate a late lunch at The Silly Goose. This meal, my friends, is what food blogging is all about! One of the top 5 best lunches I've ever had in my life. It was one of those "can't even talk the food is so good" type meals. Everything on the menu looked great, but I had it narrowed down to 3 choices.

I started with the Citrus Mint Ginger Green Tea. So refreshing.

The waitress confidently told me to go with The Bird Sandwich, and she did not steer me wrong! The sandwich was served hot on organic flax seed bread and filled with grilled chicken breast, sun dried tomatoes, avocado, and peppered goat cheese (I asked for it without bacon).

It came with a side of pesto couscous and salad. I think it was the combination of avocado and goat cheese that really made the sandwich.

We saw peanut butter banana ice cream on the menu and couldn't resist splitting a bowl. Whoever thought of combining the flavors of peanut butter and banana and making it into ice cream is a genius!

After lunch, we headed over the Green Hills and looked in Anthropologie, Lululemon, and Whole Foods. You know, the usuals. After that, we checked in and walked around the Expo for a bit. By the time we left, it was about 7:30, which meant we were ready for dinner!

We had a little trouble finding a restaurant but were finally able to get in without a wait at Valentino's. It was a really cute restaurant and had a "homey feel". All of the pasta dishes came in creamy, buttery sauces, and I didn't think that would be the best idea before my run. I settled on a pasta dish with rigatoni, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, and shrimp. It came with a white wine sauce, but I asked for it with marinara instead. The waiter told me he couldn't do that without getting a black eye from the kitchen staff. So, white wine sauce it was. The pasta was good but not great. Actually, the portion size was really small, and we were slightly dissatisfied with our pre-race meal.