Memorial Day Weekend 2016

This long weekend really seemed to stretch out thanks to limited plans and lots of downtime. The weather here was pretty overcast and gray for most of the weekend and I kind of enjoyed having an excuse not to be at the pool/lake/beach.

On Friday night I taught and took yoga. My fiance had to work so I came home after class and made myself a big salad with salmon on top and sat out on the back deck for a couple hours before an early bedtime.

I spent some time organizing all of my Pinterest boards on Saturday morning while drinking coffee and eating breakfast. I’ve been all about Pinterest lately. I’d love for you to follow me and also leave a link to your Pinterest in the comments. I need new accounts to follow!

After my Pinterest extravaganza I went to the gym for a quick workout with treadmill hill intervals + heavy lower body strength. (Which ended up not being the smartest decision ever…keep reading.)

Post-workout it was off to the studio to teach my 11:15. We stayed after for lunch at Namastay Kitchen and I tried a new menu item for the first time. This is a chickpea and sweet potato falafel wrapped up in a pita with tzatziki, hummus, tomatoes and sprouts. It was delicious!

After lunch we took off for an afternoon hike. We didn’t leave until 3:30 so we decided it was best to keep it close and go to Crowders Mountain. We hadn’t been in over a year so it was nice to visit again. How about this sign right on one of the main trails!? Zoey’s like…“whatever, I’ve got this guys.”

We hit the trails around 4:30 and our late start time ended up being a huge blessing because almost everyone was leaving by the time we got started so we had a quiet, peaceful hike.

Zoey was in her element and led the way the whole time. She had so much energy it was amazing. And so entertaining to watch her jump and leap her way over rocks. When we took her last year we had to pick her up a lot. Not this time. There was one especially amazing jump where she had to have leapt 8-9 feet instead of taking the longer way down.

We spent about 20 minutes up top admiring the scenery. This looks like Zoey and Tanner having a moment but it was really “hold on to her for dear life so she doesn’t go to the edge of the cliff.”

With my girl. We were sad to leave Sullie at home for this one but hopefully she’ll be back to hiking with us super soon.

The views at the top are nice. Granted, it’s only a 1,600ish foot elevation, but all things considered it’s really nice to have so close to Charlotte! On a pretty day you can see the city skyline.

We tried a new trail down the mountain that required quite a lot of rock jumping. It was challenging and fun but did I ever start to feel my morning hill and legs workout when we were about 5 miles into our hike.

We finished around 7:30 p.m. and headed back to Charlotte. We thought Zoey would be exhausted but nope. She was still ready to play when we got home. Crazy puppy.

I had a work project to finish up when we got home so we ordered dinner through Postmates from Sabor Latin Grill. I had heard so much about this place so I was excited to try it out. I got the quinoa avocado bowl with quinoa, couscous and brown rice with avocado, grilled vegetables and cilantro lime yogurt sauce. I added grilled chicken to it. It was awesome! We both loved our food and will definitely be ordering again! Also, our Postmates service was KILLER and our food arrived in just over 20 minutes.

I woke up with screaming legs on Sunday and decided immediately it would be a rest day. I made scrambled eggs, bacon, sweet potato bowls and fruit for brunch and then spent a couple of hours on the computer working through some video tutorials/lessons on using Google Webmaster Tools.

I decided to go to the mall to check out the Memorial Day Sales. I headed to Nordstrom first because it’s time for their half-yearly sale. I was really hoping to find some new casual clothes but nothing was speaking to me. (Also, I’m really confused about what’s in style right now. I can’t make sense of it.) I did grab a new pair of Tom’s wedges. Zoey ate my last pair and they were my favorite because they’re so comfortable. I went super basic this time with the Clarissa Natural Linen so they would match everything this summer.

I taught yoga after leaving the mall, did my weekly shopping at Whole Foods and then sat outside on the back deck with a glass of wine and worked on scheduling social media for the week for the studio. It was such a lovely evening.

The highlight of my Whole Foods trip was finding sea scallops on sale. They are my favorite ever!

I served the cast iron seared scallops over cauliflower puree with a tomato/mushroom/herb/wine sauce and balsamic reduction. Sauteed squash and zucchini with Vidalia onion on the side.

This three day weekend is really making this weekend recap post long! 😉 I had to teach at 8:15 a.m. on Memorial Day Monday. I got up early to eat breakfast and prep for class. Breakfast was cashew butter, honey and banana on sourdough.

[And now let’s talk about Memorial Day.]

For the past few years I have taught on Memorial Day and the thing that always weighs so heavy on my heart is a) finding gratitude for our freedom and b) living a life that is grounded in being of service. (Read this post.) So we talked about those things in class today. Gratitude. Service. Courage. Bravery. Being strong. Can you imagine being 18 years old and raising your hand to go to war? Many of the things that we face in our daily lives pale in comparison to the sacrifice that so many have made for our freedom.

One of my students came up to me after class with tears in her eyes and thanked me for talking about those things. She lost her brother in Iraq 11 years ago. My love, prayers and gratitude are with everyone who has served and sacrificed as well as their families, friends and loved ones.

I came home after class and cleaned the house and cut up a watermelon. You kind of have to on Memorial Day, right? It’s the first of the season!

I went back to the studio to meet a friend to take class a little later and then spent the rest of the day hanging out at home with my little fam. Happy to report that Sullie is doing better every day. This afternoon she took off after a squirrel and I had to scold her for running! She’s still supposed to be quiet but I’m happy she’s feeling up to running around.

Marathon weekend recap but I wanted to get it all into one post for you instead of dragging it out!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend of relaxing and remembrance.

Leave me your Pinterest profile link if you’re an active user!

Tell me about your Memorial Day weekend.