Spa, Yawns, and Asparagus Spears.

The Amnéville Hot Springs and Spa were great. It was a rainy drizzly day and we got 3 hours of warmth and relaxation. There was a lazy river that was pretty nice, as well as a heated outdoor pool (it was surprisingly pleasant to have cold raindrops on your head while breathing fresh air and having your body nice and warm in the water) and several steam rooms. My favorite steam room was the "mint room." Maybe I like steam rooms because of my hot yoga addiction - sort of the same idea! It also reminded me of the giant pool that we used to visit on the West Side (I loved it so much there I held my 12th or 13th birthday party there...they had a lazy river too!). Being in the spa pools brought me back to my childhood, when I would happily pass a whole day in a pool!

After we got our fill of zen relaxation, we were dropped off back in the city. (The event was entirely school-sponsored, and they even rented a bus for us!) For dinner I had some soup with veggies stirred in, and apple sauce. I made a dinner for Alex too, using this honey butter chicken recipe. I actually did it on the stove top instead of in the oven and used two coatings of flower instead of doing the second coating in breadcrumbs (which are really hard to find in grocery stores here...). The outside coating is made of an egg/parsley dressing, which is why there's green stuff. Alex's review: the garlic chicken recipe I've done a few times still takes the cake!

Somehow  I found this article about how to eat for running.  The author suggested a new idea... dates stuffed peanut butter! That sounded so good that I tried it this morning with my reserve of real American peanut butter. Delicious!

This article about yawning and athletic performance is also pretty interesting. Who knew that yawning inspires competitive advantage?! I can't remember yawning before any regatta or race...

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While at the market yesterday, I saw M&Ms on the shelf. Normally here, you only see the yellow bag of peanut M&Ms (I've never seen the brown bag of plain M&Ms for sale in in a supermarket). I looked a little closer, thinking the blue bag was pretzel M&Ms like in the US. When I saw "crispy" I was thrilled! Just last week at the M&M World, I was telling Alex how I wish they still made these! Turns out here, they do! I bought a pack (though I resisted stocking up on 983459 so I would be set for life). What a special treat!

Foreign M&Ms feature new colors. Can you tell which one we don't have in the US?

I got these yummy asparagus spears at the market too. I plan to use them in an omelette but will have lots of leftovers. Does anyone have favorite asparagus recipes I could try? Please email me with ideas!

I intended to catch up on sleep this morning but didn't sleep very late...I snuggled in my bed while watching Parenthood on Hulu and then got in a workout afterwards!

The rest of the day will feature pancakes and exploring Luxembourg City! Tonight's recipe...enchiladas!