Getting outside my comfort zone and a Tweet Up!

Part of the deal with my stair climb was, I joined a team of 9 others that I didn't know in real life. I knew two of them on Twitter (and then on Facebook) but we hadn't met in real life until the morning of the climb!This is our lovely team right before heading to the concourse level and then to the stairwell! Hazel (Our team captain) is in the little miss T-shirt in front and Susan is right behind and to the right in the black shirt! Hazel has a ton of energy and her and her husband John (the lone guy in the picture) joined us for breakfast after the climb - they are both so great! Susan is a fellow Weight Watcher, cupcake lover and all around great person! It was so nice to get to meet them both in person! Susan and I did two events on Saturday together - the stair climb and the Oakland Running Festival's twilight 5K. We parted ways and then I rode BART (outside my comfort zone #1 for the day) into Oakland to meet up for the 5k. (Race re-cap to come later).

We had plans to meet a large group for dinner at one place, it fell through, then it was just going to be me and Susan at a different place and then some others wanted us to meet with them and I said sure - so we met up at a place called Souley Vegan. (Outside my comfort zone #2 for the day) The menu was a little intimidating to me since I had never had vegan or soul food before and the table decided to do large platters of everything on the menu and we would just share. At this point I was thinking I could just grab a burger or something on the way to the hotel and I would just pretend to eat some and like it. I LOVED IT! They had both a deep fried tofu and a BBQ tofu that were wonderful! The fried Okra was delish! They had wonderful red beans and rice and a cornbread that would have been the death of me, but I had to be polite and not eat it all! I also tried greens! Yes greens! They were spicy and flavorful. The best part was a vegan Mac and Cheese - so yummy!! Not the type I place I would have chosen to eat at - but will go back to if I ever get the chance!