Vietnamese? Pho sure!

After a pretty short but brutal speed workout at the company gym, I quickly got ready to meet up C-ler for some much anticipated Vietnamese goodness.  I had been itching to try some of the famous beef and noodle soup, Pho.  With recommendations from yelp.com and C-ler, we headed to Pho Hang in Madison Heights, dead smack in the middle of what looked like a teeny tiny Little Vietnam.

After some staring at the menu in the not-so-quite hole-in-the-wall-esque restaurant, I made the decision (ok fine, C-ler made the decisions for me, I heart that!) to try the Goi Cuon - shrimp, steamed pork, lettuce, vermicelli wrapped with fresh rice paper with peanut sauce - as the appetizer.  A great healthy alternative to the typical spring roll.

For my main dish, I quenched my desire for Pho by ordering the "Pho Hang's Special" version, which was topped w/ rare beef, brisket, tendon, and beef meatballs.  Then it was garnished w/ cilantro, onions, bean sprouts, and lime.  I was surprised that the dish had a slightly sweet taste to it, but no complaints here.  It definitely hit the spot :)

C-ler and I enjoyed a nice, long, lounging dinner as we caught up on each other's lives.  After a few hours, I got nervous and started looking around to make sure we weren't overstaying our welcome.  But to my surprise, the atmosphere at Pho Hang was clearly laid back.  Everyone seemed to be on the same page as us, for they were taking their time eating and chatting the evening away.  I will defintely be back for round 2!

This morning, I got up even earlier than I usually do to go volunteer for mentoring 4th - 6th grade girls interested in engineering.  After spending 6 hours together putting together random stuff such as flashlights, active volcanos, and egg drop holders, I got to know each and every girl in my group.  I saw potential in all of them, and look forward to keeping in touch w/ them!  Hmm, maybe they'll even be working at the same company as me in 10 years or so...

And how happy was I when I realized I still had time to take the dogs out for a quick walk to the park w/ the hubs when I go home??  I love the (slightly) longer days!  Never mind the fact they *just* got groomed earlier today, we were excited to see them romp around the park!  Here are some pics of our dogs exploring the park via my iPhone:

How can you NOT love these two??