Brace yourselves: there was another barbecue at work recently. (I say “recently” because I’m sooooo behind in blog posts. I’m writing this a week after the bbq, but it won’t publish until a week from now probably. I’m so confused! What month is it again?)

Anyway, I was busy working (of all things) when the bbq began, so I missed the first part. After about 20 panicked calls from my coworkers wondering where I was with my camera and expressing genuine concern that I would miss all the good stuff, I made my way down to the patio. The buns and burgers were gone (fine with me!), but Ibrahim was kind enough to put the remainders of his meal on display for blog purposes:

Despite my late arrival, I rustled up quite a plate!



Clockwise from top left: olive medley, Turkish tomato-cucumber-dill salad (made by Lucia), green salad with corn, Italian sausage (grilled by Sam), a baby brownie (made by Sister Fran), strawberries, and grape tomatoes:



Lucia’s cucumber salad was amazing and so refreshing!



And check out the fudgy perfection of this brownie:



Belkis and Rosalie were very excited about the chip selection and wanted to ensure that they made the blog:



I had a couple chips but was more focused on taking advantage of the 40-spice hummus that had just arrived, courtesy of Trish:



And, of course, watermelon had to make an appearance:



I think I’ve eaten my weight in watermelon at least five times over this summer! It is EVERYWHERE.

Other work treats of the week (month?) have included Jessica’s honey wheat pretzel twists, Pansy’s ground chicken puff pastries, Belkis’ rice and beans, bakery fresh buttered french bread, mystery trail mix, avocado, Deborah’s mom’s home cooking, and Puerto Rican cookies and wafers from Rosey’s mom:







On top of all that excitement, there was another department breakfast somewhere in there, too!



My selections included more french bread, half a banana, CSA tomato-cucumber salad with balcony basil (from me!) and mozzarella (from Jessica), Dominican round cheese from Lillian, and mangu(!!!!) with egg, salami, and fried cheese:



I had seconds of mangu as usual:



Mildred and Jessica matched Nydia’s flowers:



For breakfast dessert … and lunch … and dinner, I ate copious amounts of Pansy’s ambrosia:

And I’m pretty sure I went home and ran like a million miles before I could fall asleep because I had so much extra energy jazzing me up! Something I’ve noticed: as much as I looooooove veggies, my best runs take place after too much cake and other desserts. No pain, endless stamina, positive self-talk the whole way through. It’s a crazy effect. I wish that a mountain of steamed broccoli would produce the same result! What is the most effective exercise fuel for you?