DONE.

Well... at noon tomorrow, that is! And while we would love to say that we are breaking it in some fantastic way (like Founding Farmers or Zaytinya) we unfortunately won't be (pathetic, we know).- I'll be at an all day conference and Jon will be working on the Hill- a bit anti-climatic, BUT we will both have the freedom to enjoy lunch with colleagues- SO, that will be magical in and of itself. Now, if we both have the opportunity to eat vegan- that will be a miracle (so packing lunches just in case). Seems somewhat funny to go into the last hours of this journey not knowing what food we'll finally be able to eat, but we sure do hope it's delicious!

In the spirit of these resolutions, challenges, and this blog- we wanted to take a minute to capture the lessons learned over the course of this adventure and what we hope will carry with us for the rest 0f 2011 (and beyond...):

The top 10 lessons learned from 36.5 days of not eating out:
(1) We have yet to master (or even be proficient) in the art of making our own bread (2 attempts, 2 total failures)
(2) When properly challenged, we can create a brunch just as kick ass as (and MUCH cheaper) than our very favorite brunch places in the city
(3) There is really no need for canned ANYTHING- crockpot power! (Although, that would be an entirely different challenge, but you get the spirit behind it)
(4) Saying "no, thanks" to colleagues, friends and family members who want to eat out is really hard, and sometimes painful (in your heart- and stomach).
(5) It's really easy to eat all of the yummy foods you love and crave if you learn to cook them yourself (and dangerous!).
(6) It's worth the extra 15 minutes in the morning to pack your lunch for the day (financial and making good choices).
(7) When I skip the afternoon coffee break, I probably cut at least 20 medium coffees from my body since the new year (!).
(8) When you don't eat out- you sort of develop a photographic memory for the closest grocery store (and start to know the staff's hours).
(9) Jon's vegan waffles are delicious, no matter who you are or when you're eating them. De-lious.
(10) Focusing our efforts on this challenge, and taking time to write about it, has given us better personal/professional alignment ("PPA" is what our office calls it) than college!

2 bits of food for thought general curiosity and/or musings:
(1) No weight lost, no weight gained (for both of us)
(2) We didn't track this as well as we should have, but here are the approximations that we made (which we are feeling good about, but can't confirm for sure) that take into account typical spending on items eaten out and then the cost of groceries.
Money saved in not buying coffee out: ~$55.00
Money saved not buying lunches out: ~150.00
Money saved by not dining out for dinner/brunch: ~$400.00
Money saved by not going to happy hours: ~$100.00
Total saved: ~$705.00(ish)

Even though it's the end of our "not eating out challenge' and we are now working out, we will definitely still be posting recipes from what we are cooking and enjoying- so much more to come on the food front too :o)

Thanks for following our adventure with us! Now, hitting the gym....