You’d better grab a cup of coffee (or a glass of wine!) because this is going to be a long weekend recap.
It started at 4 a.m. on Friday when I woke up to Zoey barking her head off. She had somehow gotten closed out of our room and was in the living room barking at who knows what. I went in to check on her and she had something in her mouth. I turned on the light to find that she had eaten an ENTIRE JAR of sunflour seed butter. I had just opened it the day before. My guess is that my fiance left it out on the counter sometime during the night (he’s sometimes a midnight snacker) and Zoey took advantage of that. I can only imagine what her puppy tummy must have been feeling.
I had clients starting at 5:30 a.m. so it was pointless to go back to sleep.
I trained three clients at the gym and worked on my #UltimatePlankChallenge post between sessions while eating this bowl of chia pudding. I went straight to the studio from the gym to teach my 9:30 a.m. hot yoga class. I headed back to the gym after class to workout. I ran four miles outside and then got a great lifting session in. It felt nice to work myself out after spending all morning doing it for others!
Lunch when I got home from the gym was a big “empty the fridge” salad with spinach, arugula, beets, radishes, strawberries, avocado, pistachios, dried cranberries, deli turkey, tomatoes and a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic. I tried the new GT’s Lemonade kombucha flavor and verdict is two thumbs up!
I worked on an email newsletter to send out for the studio before heading back to teach my last class of the day. And this is where the weekend took a bit of a left turn. Right before class my fiance told me that our employee who was scheduled to work back of house in the restaurant on Friday and Saturday night no showed. We were anticipating a busy evening so he quickly stepped in to cover the shift and asked if I could come back during the rush to help. I had been up since 4 a.m. and was exhausted but I couldn’t say no. I knew he was equally as stressed and tired and had been at the studio since 6 a.m. that day himself. So I put on some jeans and a Y2 tank top and worked the rush busing tables and washing dishes.
I got home around 10 p.m. and brought this salad from the restaurant with me. It was an accidental double order so rather than waste the food, I took it to go. My fiance didn’t get home until almost 11:30 p.m. and had to be back at 7:30 a.m. the next morning to teach.
I slept until about 8 a.m. on Saturday, ate some chia pudding and then went to the studio to practice before teaching at 11:15.
I was craving eggs for lunch so I made scrambled eggs with sauerkraut and avocado toast on sourdough topped with some sriracha. I gave both of the girls a bath after lunch which is always a really fun endeavor! 🙂
I had a cut and color scheduled for Saturday afternoon and I had been counting down the days. I was getting dressed to leave the house when I received a call from the salon asking where I was. I had put 3:30 in my calendar but my appointment was at 3. They told me that they would only have time for the cut and I’d have to wait on the color. I was mad at myself for messing up the times but groveled to my stylist (because he’s so hard to even get in to see in the first place). I love the cut he gave me and he played with switching up my part a little which feels surprisingly “fresh” and different. They’re going to squeeze my color in on Tuesday (thank god, the next available appt wasn’t until June 22 and my gray’s couldn’t have waited that long!).
I felt terrible for messing up the times but the silver lining is two blowouts in one week.
I took the girls to the park to chase the ball when I got home.
And then settled in for another solo evening. There was no one else available to cover the no show employee so my fiance had to work back of house again in the restaurant. Small business owners have to wear A LOT of hats and I am always amazed to see him do everything from teaching classes to designing websites to tech troubleshooting to working the restaurant to handyman stuff…and never complain even when I know he’s exhausted.
I cleaned the house, changed the sheets, chatted with my mom and grandmother, folded laundry and cooked a good dinner. I made roasted sweet potato fries, chicken breasts and a salad with arugula, sauteed radishes and mushrooms, pine nuts, sea salt and a drizzle of olive oil and lemon juice.
Sunday made up for a “meh” Friday and Saturday. My fiance texted me on Saturday and said, “let’s get subs for our classes on Sunday and take a day off together.” I was like, DONE! We slept until 9 and then I made us brunch. I had to make a repeat of the previous day because it was so good! We lounged around the house until around 2 p.m. when we headed to the gym to workout together.
I did four miles of treadmill sprint and hill intervals and then knocked out #UltimatePlankChallenge day 1. The assignment was a max plank hold and I was thrilled to make it just over 8 minutes! It was a 3 minute improvement over last year! (Side note: I am STUPID sore today from that plank!)
We stopped in HomeGoods to pick up a few things and grabbed some fruit and veggies from Whole Foods.
When we got home I got showered and dressed up and declared we were going out! It was stormy and rainy but I wanted to get out of the house.
We went to Soul in Plaza Midwood for tapas.
It was hopping on Sunday night and there was even a DJ.
We shared a flatbread, fried brussels sprouts, Korean wings and gyro skewers.
It was a really nice end to the weekend. We had a long discussion on Sunday evening about our shared goals/dreams/wish for work not to be so crazy and all-consuming.I think we both feel really ready for something more than that. The industry that we work in is just so tough being 7 days a week and sun up to sun down. On top of that, he feels a heavy load on his shoulders as a business owner. We talked about some ways that we can be a stronger team and strategies for supporting each other on even deeper and more meaningful levels.
You still reading? I warned you that this weekend recap was a long one! I hope you had a lovely weekend.
Any weekend highlights to share?
Craziest thing your dog has ever stolen off the counter? (Sullie has never taken anything! Zoey, on the other hand, cannot be trusted!)
Strategies for balancing demanding jobs and relationships?
I ran the New Jersey Marathon and finished in 3:27 which is a PR and a BQ!! I had a tibial stress fracture in the fall and had to drop out of Chicago, so I was super happy with this race, especially since my training was super short! It was a miserable day (rain the entire race) but I would take that over blazing sun any day. Now I’m ready to take a good month off from running and focus on strength over the summer- definitely partaking in the plank challenge as well!
big congrats on your marathon finish…a pr and a bq is huge…especially coming off an injury! i’m sorry about the rainy conditions but like you said, at least it wasn’t hot. happy recovery!
Our very sweet pitbull is a fiend for food, he will literally eat anything we give him or leave out. Most recently we accidentally left out a costco size bag of lindt truffles, which were all individually wrapped. Luckily there was only about 15 left (still so many) but he ate all of them and their wrappers. It was awful! He looked SO miserable for the next 24 hours.
oh my goodness! zoey totally goes for wrappers too. nothing gets in her way!
1. Your skin is so so beautiful!!
2. Where are your black wedges from? Brand?
3. So glad to hear you got subs and had Sunday off!
4. An 8-minute plank!? You’re superwoman.
Love reading your posts! And I do hope you and T find some good balance! #TeamJen&Tanner
The chia bowls look amazing as always!
thank you dana! <3
8 minutes!?!? Holy cow. I will have to try that one! Also loving your wedges (and entire outfit), super cute!
I’m an Army wife and my husband and I are long distance A LOT. The only advice I have for managing time and relationships is to make each other the priority as often as you can and make each moment you have quality if you can’t have quantity. 🙂
i know, i was surprised too. and i am feeling it today! thanks for the compliments on outfit…i never get dressed up so it’s fun to do every now and then.
i admire you for making it work with so much time apart. i agree that the quality of the time and connection is important. <3
Our most recent foster ate an entire 16-oz bag of roasted, salted almonds. Within a day it became apparent she did not chew them and she was a pez dispenser dropping almonds behind her for a solid week…
oh my gosh, laughed out loud at this one!
Love those wedges! Where did you get them?
You and Tanner both work so hard ! You both are so dedicated to helping others, never complaining ! My husband of almost 13 yrs also has a very demanding work schedule and has had it since we first got married. My husband has always insisted on a once a week date night. Whether it be just grabbing a drink, coffee or dinner. It truly has helped us stay connected. We both look forward to it. I typically end up talking his ear off telling him all about the kids. But this is what works for us !
Sorry to be snoopy but do you mind me asking where you got the cute pink shorts, if that is the color they are. Also started plank challenge! Thank you!!
ask away! they’re actually white. the lighting was bad. there’s joe’s jeans and i got them at nordstrom rack! thank you so much for participating in challenge!
Sadie ate a whole pound bag of Hershey’s kisses, foil and all, one holiday season. We put them out on the coffee table and left to go out…came home and bowl was empty…I was like “I know I filled that bowl full of kisses, wtf??” The culprit became obvious the next day when Sadie’s poos were full of silver foil….no other ramifications, though, hence her earned status of Belly of Steel!!
Oh no! I’m so glad that she was okay after eating the chocolate!
Our Bernese Mountain Dog stole my then 3 year old daughter 3/4 of her birthday cake in one bite. I swear, I turned away for only 3 seconds….
OH NO! How did your daughter react? Did she freak out or laugh?
My Jack Russell ate a plate full of buttery, sugar Christmas cookies (and half the paper plate they were on). Poor baby, she was so bloated. Pretty sure she regretted it.
Haha, Zoey ate a half pan of frosted red velvet cupcakes last December and she DEFINITELY regretted it. Her belly was upset for like 3 days!
We say our dog (Willow) is part billy goat because she will eat anything! She’s definitely had her share of peanut butter jars. She’s also chewed up and eaten a plastic dust pan and a plastic water dish. She passed those pieces but it could not have been pleasant for her! Once she barfed up a piece of cloth, it was canvas and kind of looked like it had been a handle on something. But we never figured out what it was! We never found anything missing a handle.
What is it with the plastic! Zoey likes to chew it too. I guess it’s just a challenge and keeps her busy for a while.
One night my husband played poker with his friends so the next morning he had a stash of $1 dollar bills and one $100 bill sitting on the table behind our couch. Our Chihuahua got up on the back of the couch and out of all those bills he ate the $100 one – he didn’t even touch the $1 bills!! We quickly poured salt down his mouth to make him throw it up and it came out in pieces. Luckily we were able to get the number off of it and the bank replaced it!
Oh my gosh! This is crazy! And I cannot believe that the bank replaced it! That’s a great story!
Being a small business owner is SO tough! I always joke that I never shoveled until I owned a business..lol. There are so many hats to wear. I’m in a transition phase now and leaving my fulltime job to be a fulltime studio owner/yoga teacher and I’m not sure if I want to grow my business or stick with one, small location. Life is crazy…you two will figure it all out!
It really is. It’s eye-opening and sometimes overwhelming. It’s scary enough to open a business and deciding to grow it or expand is a whole new set of considerations. I know you’ll figure it out. I’m always here if you ever want to bounce ideas off each other. xo
Our beagle is true to hound form and will eat virtually anything if it’s not nailed down. His most impressive eating feats include an entire loaf of whole wheat bread and a bag full of protein bars. After both incidents he looked like he’d swallowed a basketball for a couple days. Quite impressive considering he’s very small for a beagle (about 10” tall and 18 lbs normally).
This made me laugh. One of my parents goldens has eaten a whole loaf of sourdough as well as some uncooked pizza dough off the counter. That just CANNOT feel good in the belly. (Especially if you only weigh 18 lbs!)
my boyfriend and i struggle with the same things that you are discussing those both of us are in corporate america vs individual business owners but similar demands. i have by no means found the answer at all ! here are 2 things we do that (sometimes) help. he cooks a very basic breakfast of eggs and fruit each day for us for breakfast and we sit and eat it and sort of have quick talk about non work things like what was on the news or sport game, etc. i used to feel this was a waste of my time (i could get to work 15 mins earlier if not!) but now i think its good. time to connect in the AM for a bit before the hectic day and actually look at each other vs being on the phone. the other thing is to have a “meeting” on saturday or sunday. i have a planner that is “ours” but only i really write in it. but we “meet” and discuss our week. we say what meals are having and when we will be home each night, what do we have planned for the upcoming weekend, etc. it has helped a ton. for example, if we are both going to be home at 8 PM on a tuesday well we can’t make some gourmet meal that takes 2 hours. seeing it in writing also helps my boyfriend to visualize if there is just to much planned for a saturday for example. and we try to “schedule” things like rest and catching up on tivo. i hope this might help a tiny bit. i feel your pain.
Oh my gosh, I love this Tara. The morning breakfast date sounds like such a nice way to start the day and you’re so smart to schedule a weekly time to check-in to make sure you’re both connected and communicating. I think that’s so great for managing expectations and preventing unnecessary frustrations. So awesome.
I admire your outlook on all the “left turns” and your support of your fiance. Loved reading this post. <3
Thank you friend! Love YOU!
Thank you for a lovely and interesting post! You look wonderful in your evening shorts, lovely combination, and I really like your hair. Weirdest things my dogs have stolen…I had a basset hound years ago, he stole a wheel of cheese, whole butter and a raw prime rib off the counter, then a greyhound who stole my sandwich, mandarins, a lemon and even Portuguese custard tarts (and hid them in his bed ‘for later’). And lets not forget the chihuahua who’d fly-steal pieces of salami from guests (as they are bringing hand to mouth) and one time he got into a carton of Baci hazelnut pralines, thankfully, there was only one left…
Hi Maya – thanks so much for the kind words. I just got my hair cut!
Oh WOW I love you dog thief stories! They are such a mess but worth it in every way!
You have such a great attitude about the unexpected turns! I’m envious of the GT lemonade! Looks delicious! I can’t find that in Chapel Hill. I have tecently tried Synergy’s strawberry. Love it!
Thanks Alyssa. If you can’t change the situation you might as well just roll with it. Strawberry is good! My fave is Gingerberry.
Wow you had a crazy weekend! My dog would totally steal a jar of nut butter, she loves her peanut butter filled kongs.
Yes, my girls go crazy over PB kongs too!
I love how you and your partner ended such a crazy weekend with reconnecting and working on ways to improve your relationship 🙂 I’ve had a crazy week at work and when I read your point about not having a day off (ahhh!) it just reminded me that there’s always someone out there working harder — not in a contest sort of way, just a facing obstacles I don’t have to face kind of way. Love the positivity lady, it’s contagious, keep it coming!
Hey Hettie – thanks for the comment! Yes, it was important to get grounded after such a crazy weekend. And you are so right, it’s not a competition but we should all be kind and loving to each other because you never know what someone else is dealing with. I hope that you can relax this weekend! Enjoy! 🙂
I can empathize with you both about “no shows” – I get so frustrated when someone cancels on me when I was expecting them to help with packaging, invoicing, designing, etc. – but the best thing to do is to remember to carve out a little time for what’s important. It can really get you down, but it’s awesome that you’ll took the day off to rest and then hit the town and talk about it. it’s so easy to say, “i’m just too exhausted” but sometimes it feels good to get yourself together and out of the house!
Yes, it was just the mental health day that we needed!