Labor day weekend: from housework to yoga inversions to I am so not meant for clubbing…

My Labor Day weekend hasn’t provided much of a break from laboring but it sure has been productive. And there has been a bit of fun involved so I can’t complain. Housework has continued in full force and the following has been accomplished…

– HVAC repaired
– Installation of two new toilets
– New light fixture hung in the kitchen
– Two closets cleaned out
– Kitchen cabinets emptied, scrubbed and reorganized
– Raked and bagged 30 bags of magnolia leaves from the back yard
– Back yard mowed
– Bushes trimmed in back yard
– Removal of three trees and a lot of limb trimming

I was supposed to go to the lake today but the weather ended up being gray and gross so it looks like instead the house and back patio are getting pressure washed and the front railing on the porch is going to be painted. All of this housework is long overdue and it feels so amazing to finally take care of some of it. Unfortunately, the list of projects to tackle is still a mile long but this is a good start.

I did sneak away from the work to go out in Uptown Charlotte on Saturday night. Once I learned that I had to go to a new club called Bubble in the EpiCentre a full panic ensued. I have zero club worthy outfits. I was at the mall at 7:45 p.m. frantically trying on dresses. I ended up finding a cute dress at Guess that was marked down almost 75%.

I should have taken a picture of myself in it given that I dress up and go out never but I didn’t. Here’s a photo I found online. The back had a big cut out as well.

Bubble opened several months ago in Charlotte’s big entertainment complex, The EpicCentre. Bubble offers a dinner service featuring mostly small plates but it seems that their main focus is on the club aspect. We were supposed to meet a group around 9:45 and arrived a few minutes early to grab food before. We were told they were no longer offering table service for food but that we could sit at the bar. We ordered the tuna tartare tower.

And the calamari which was supposed to be “seven-flavor spice” sichimi dusted but it really just tasted like fried calamari. Overall, the food was okay and the presentation was nice but it’s clear that this isn’t what they are focusing on. The service at the bar was very attentive but that also probably had to do that there were all of like 10 people in the place at 9:30 p.m. As we ate they started transitioning all the tables into bottle service and I noticed most of them were reserved. After 10 the crowd started picking up and when we finally bailed around 10:45 it was pretty crowded. I had to teach the next morning and I really don’t love staying out late and drinking anymore, especially in a club atmosphere. Old and boring! 🙂

Switching gears to something I am more into…yoga! I had a great practice on Sunday afternoon. One of the things that we worked on was a variation of pincha mayurasana where the arms are asymmetrical. You rest one palm on the floor and the other side it’s the forearm. It looked simple but this does all kinds of crazy things to your center of gravity. I tried it a bunch of times and finally got stable in it. Here’s the progression I took from straight legs to split legs to a scorpion variation. I LOVE arm balances and inversions!

After class there were a few more hours spent working on the house including working through a thunderstorm so a good dinner was in order after two long days of work. I picked up these baby purple artichokes at the market Saturday and couldn’t wait to try them.

I can’t even remember the last time I had a steak and filets were on sale at Harris Teeter so pan seared it in a cast iron skillet and finished it with 25 year aged balsamic. I braised the baby chokes with white wine, lemon and shallots and roasted fingerling potatoes on the side. Yummy dinner!

I am dragging today but going to get a workout in before I get back to the house. Enjoy your Labor Day!