Weekend Recap: A Rebel with a Paintbrush

A late weekend recap is better than not one at all! Friday after work, I bailed on the gym because I had a ton of errands to run. One of my stops was Ulta. The annual "Vice" makeup pallet by Urban Decay had just gone on sale so I of course had to scoop one up and I am super pleased with it. It is much better than last years and it came with a travel bag. I absolutely love the color selections. 

My errands took a few hours so once I was home, I made dinner, sipped on a little champagne, and did some work on my book. I rented "Blended" from Redbox and put it on when I got into bed. I fell asleep after 20 minutes; I was not into it. I was kind of disappointed actually. 

Saturday I spent most of the morning being lazy, but the weather was beautiful so I decided to make the most of it. We had a week of nonstop rain and gloom so I knew I wanted to incorporate sunshine into my workout. I walked to the gym for weights then jogged on the greenway.

After my workout, I came home to take a shower and get ready. I decided to do a grey smokey eye with my new makeup pallet and I loved the outcome. I thought it was sexy!

I spent the evening uptown with my best friend Kelly and her boyfriend Drew. We started at a Mexican restaurant called "La Paz" for Margarita's and painting. 

The painting of the evening was a tree in front of a sunset. I did a painting similar about a month ago so I felt like being a rebel. Thus my painting was a the silhouette of a serial killer, ha ha. The instructors were not amused. It represents my state of mind lately, kidding! Drew and Kelly's are below mine; their paintings were very good!

Once we finished painting, we had a lovely dinner on the patio, listened to live music, enjoyed a few more drinks, and soaked up the amazing view. 

The night was a lot of fun, but unfortunately I did not sleep at all. One of those nights again. That resulted in me taking it easy on Sunday; but I did get my usual food prep and cleaning done. That is about all I accomplished though. 

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Weekend Recap!

Friday after work, I went to the gym as usual. I am still working hard on my book, and since I have quite a bit written, I decided to do my first round of editing. Thus when I got to the gym, I started the process. Talk about "killing to birds with one stone", ha. It worked great. I did 45 minutes of cardio on the Elliptical and an upper body weight circuit. 

When I left the gym, I went home to take a shower and get ready for the evening. I am still loving my new hair color!

Once I was ready, I met Alexis at she and I's favorite spot "Cantina 1511" for dinner and drinks. I told myself that my limit was one cocktail for the weekend... so a pitcher it was! Ha! We had "Passion Fruit Margarita's" and they were delicious... and strong. Dinner was amazing too, per usual. 

After our lovely dinner we went to the movies to see "The Maze Runner". That movie was so, so awesome. I now want to read the books and cannot wait for the next movie. I think it is a "must see". There was so much action, you were continuously on the edge of your seat wanting to know what was next, and the story line was strong.

I thought after a long day and a wonderful night, I would be more than ready for bed. Which I was, however my RLS had other plans. I slept so bad. I tossed and turned all night, and had really bad leg pain. I fell asleep around 1:30 and woke up multiple times throughout the night. At 8 AM I stopped fighting it and got up. 

Luckily it was such a beautiful morning. I made breakfast, got myself ready, then took off to the mountains to go hiking. I had 11 miles planned. The weather was perfect! I am now inclined to hiking in almost 100 degree weather, so hiking in a lovely 75 degrees was amazing. It really makes a difference too because I had probably the best hike I have ever done -- even after a crappy night of rest! I achieve my 11 miles with interval training. I did a lot of speed walking and jogging. I felt accomplished after!

I was starving after my hike so I took off back to Charlotte. When I got back into to town my first stop was "Smoothie King". My appetite was insatiable and I could tell my sugar was low, so protein smoothie was the perfect answer. I got my favorite combination: a skinny banana boat protein smoothie with fresh kale.

Once I purchased my refuel, I bought groceries for the week and then ran a couple of more errands. When I got home, I dived right into cleaning. It took 3 hours, but my apartment was sparking after. I was trying to wear myself out in hopes that I could sleep well and my RLS not keep me up.

When I finished cleaning, it was finally time to relax for the evening. I took a hot Epsom salt bath, made myself dinner, then cuddled up on the couch with a Cucumber Skinnytini and HBO. I watched "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" then the Jay Z and Beyonce "On the Run" concert special.

My plan for wearing myself out worked great because I was asleep by 11 PM. I was up early again yesterday as well. Something weird; I woke up at 8:12 AM on Saturday and Sunday. How strange. Once I was up, I made breakfast then prepped all of my food for the week. I have great meals planned and my prep was finished by 10:38 AM. That is a record for me!

I then took a shower, took my time getting ready, then went to get a sports massage. It just just what I needed. I got some good, awkward stretching, and my tissue worked on. It was my reward for a great hike.

I then had to run a few more errands and picked up a cupcake. My local grocery store has started selling "Gigi's Cupcakes" which is a famous bakery about 15 minutes away from where I live. I have never had their cupcakes before but I hear that best things about them. When I treat myself to a cupcake it is usually from SAS. However, this treat was amazing. I think it is my new favorite.

After got home, made myself dinner, and got things ready for the week, the rest of my evening was spent editing and writing. Oh the life of a wannabe author.

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Weekend Recap: My new hair!

Friday was end to an awful week. After work, I went to my girlfriend Sara's to get my hair done in her fabulous new home salon. She has been working on it for a couple of years and it looks great. In honor of fall and because I was yearning for a change, I added dark and caramel streaks into my hair. I am officially on the "dark" side right now! I may need to change my blog name to "Fitness Blondie with Brunette and Caramel Streaks". How does that sound?  Once I my hair was finished, I went to get groceries then finally home. I took a shower and relaxed watching 80's movies and made my favorite type of "pizza": fresh whole wheat dough made from my grocer's deli, low fat mozzarella, authentic brie cheese cut straight off of the big block, and a balsamic glaze. It is the most delicious and rich tasting meal. A little goes a long way.

Saturday I awoke to the worst lower back I have had in a long time. In fact, my whole body was aching. As I stated above, last week was not a good week. I took the week off from the gym to try and rest my body a little, however, I learned first hand that physical activity on your body is NOTHING like what can stress can do. I took it easy most of the morning but did get some cleaning done.

Eventually I took a shower and got ready the afternoon and evening. I really wanted to get a good picture of me with my new hair style, but I was not feeling very photogenic. I snapped one in the parking lot of Smoothie King and called it a day. Here is the result... ta-da:

I picked up a smoothie, went by GNC to stack up on my Quest Bars since I had a $10 off coupon (I love getting a box of Quest Bars for only $15!), then I went by Ulta to pick up my Smashbox primer. When I arrived there, I saw they had the cutest "weekend" bags on clearance for $10 bucks. Of course I had to scoop one up; it is my new gym bag!

After my errands I went to church. My Pastor and his wife did the sermon together for week 5 of "Meant to Be: The Bible's Best Kept Secrets About Sex, Marriage, and Being Single". The sermon was beautiful; Steven and his wife Holly have good chemistry and you can really tell they love each other. Some of it sounded and looked a bit "showy", but when one is putting their marriage on display like that, it is expected.

Though it was beautiful, it was hard to listen too. I agreed so much about what they talked about in marriage. A couple sat beside of me and I heard them talking about how "renewed" they felt and happy they were together. It was incredibly genuine and sweet, but hard. 

After church, I went for a sports massage. My goodness did my body need it. The massage was only supposed to be 50 minutes, but my therapist worked on me for an hour and 12 minutes. My lactic acid build up was that bad. I had tons of knotts on my shoulders, back, and neck. The woman even made the comment "Hun, do you have stress job or something? This is unbelievable. And you're only 25?". That was not great to hear. I already look older than I do, so the last thing I want to do is have stress contribute to that. Luckily, as I was checking out, I was given a certificate for a free message so I am booking one for this upcoming weekend.

Once my massage was over I was starving so I met my girlfriend Alexis and her husband Daniel for dinner. We tried a new place we have all been wanting to try called "The Rusty Onion". The atmosphere was fun, the food was awesome, and the prices were cheap -- that is how we like it.

Yesterday I had a really busy day at home. I posted a new recipe, did a little work on my book, did 2 loads of laundry, cleaned my windows, and did a ton of food prep. I have a lot of good food this week that I enjoy immensely and per usual, healthy versions. I have enjoyed my crockpot a lot. Chicken never tasted so good.

I am really excited for a macaroni and cheese recipe that I will be sharing later this week. I have been developing this recipe for a while trying to bring together the best mix of ingredients (so official, ha). I think I did it. It is made with "hidden veggie" macaroni noodles, puréed cauliflower, plain Greek yogurt for lean protein, and more. It is a delicious way to get in a lot of essential nutrients. This one is for my parent friends out there; as it's a great way to trick your kids!

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Weekend Recap (Did you miss me?)

It has been quite the ghost town for the past week on Fitness Blondie, huh? Well, I had good reason. Initially I was going to take some time off to work on my book. I have been posting 7 times a week, which is great, but I felt like each post was not getting the proper time and exposure it needed, plus it was super time consuming. My creative levels were high though, so I went with it. However, I wanted to dive back into my book to finish a few more chapters. I planned to focus on that Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. 

Unfortunately, that did not happen. I worked 10-12 hour days last week with "end of the month" accounting going on, lots of problems with that, planning my third quarter "town hall" event, and meetings upon meetings. It was all I could go to work then go to the gym. It happens, I guess. 

Friday morning I was wore slam out. It was 95 degrees by 9 AM, sun was blazing, and I had a ton of errands to run for the event. I got the food from a local membership club, loaded everything, drove to the office, then had to go to a cornhole board since we were one short for our "company tournament", pick up tea from Panera, get sodas from a local grocer, rush back to the park, unload everything, leave to go get ice, then finally come back and help setup then cleanup. I was sweating profusely, felt dead tired, but it was so awesome to see everyone having such an amazing time. I truly love planning all of our events and all of the hard work and chaos that comes with it. Seeing happy people makes it all worth it.

I do not know how, but after work, I managed to go to the gym for leg day. I pushed through 35 minutes of cardio and heavy leg training

. 

After the gym, I went home to shower and get ready, then I met my girlfriend Alexis for a cocktail and chocolate fondue at none other then "The Melting Pot". A drink never tasted so good after a week like that.

After our drink and dessert, we went to a "luxury" movie theater to see "As Above, So Below". I am a horror junkie and was stoked to see the movie. The theater was very cool as well. The seats were spread out and very comfortable; I loved all of the cushion. The movie was great too; I was surprised by the good story line, it was intriguing, interesting, weird, and scary. Also, the ending was great.

Saturday I was dragging. I felt like crap. At 11 I finally drug myself out of bed, threw on a pair of jeans, picked up a smoothie at Smoothie King (with extra caffeine), then took off to Greensboro to spend the night with my grandma and grandpa. 

I brought my laptop to my grandparents in hopes of getting some work done, but guess what? That did not happen. For literally 5-6 hours, my grandmother and I sat in the sunroom chatting. It is such a blessing to be so close with them. The view was beautiful too.

In true grandparent weekend fashion, my papa fired up the grill and I had the best NY Strip a girl could ask for and a salad. That is my idea of a perfect meal.

My grandmother and I spent the rest of the evening watching the Brittany Murphy movie and special on Lifetime, and I was actually in bed pretty early.

Yesterday I slept in then hit the road back to Charlotte. I had a ton of errands to run. I had to go to the grocery store, Pet Smart, and Target. I also treated myself to a "Wheatgrass Shot". Drinking it tastes like death, but the benefits are killer.

My last stop was picking out new clothes for work at New York and Company. They were having a killer sale, plus I had a coupon. Buy 1 get 1 half off and a $70 off $150 or more coupon. You can't beat that. I found a lot of classy and gorgeous items.

When I finally arrived home, I spent hours and hours cleaning up and food prepping. Around 8 PM I sat down to call it night. I'm still a little tired this morning, but ready to make it a great week!

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A Weekend to Remember...

I am so thankful for this weekend. It was without the doubt the most fun I have had in a long, long time. My soul and spirit feel refreshed and renewed. It has also given me that push and desire to dive back into work, my book, training hard, and get back to the dedication I need to exude to get this last bit of weight off. I firmly believe in a work/life and work/social balance; thus it was nice to take 3 1/2 days off from work, blogging, and writing, to laugh, make memories, and have fun.

Friday morning I was up early to get 40 minutes of fasted cardio in. I can't believe I actually got up and did it! After, I got ready and went to work. As my Friday's always seem to be, it was nonstop, but at noon, I was out of the door to start my weekend. 

I went home to shower and get ready. Once I was ready, I went to Kels house so we could take off to the Blake Shelton concert. She, her boyfriend Drew, and I, met our friends Traci and David there. We all tailgated, drank, and played cornhole until time for the concert. It was a lot of fun, but unbelievably hot. We were all soaked in sweat -- so much for my curls and cute makeup. That was dunzo fast.

The concert was an amazing time. Dan and Shay and The Band Perry opened for Blake. We all brought blankets and chairs, and danced, sang every song, and totally let loose. I had two of the most delicious, yet filled with sugar Margarita type drinks. It was so hot though, that I did not care. I had a good buzz too.

I slept in late on Saturday and felt like crap when I woke up. I was not hungover because I only had two drinks at the show, but I had a sore throat and killer headache. I spent the morning laying around and managed to get in a couple of loads of laundry. By late afternoon I took a shower, got ready, went by Ulta since I lost my sunglasses and translucent powder (so random) at the concert, then I picked up my girlfriend Alexis. She and I went to Monroe, NC to "Treehouse Vineyards" for a winery tour and tasting.

The winery was so cute. They have actual tree houses you can rent for special occasions. We were surrounded by beautiful scenery, delicious wine, and it was fun hearing the stories behind all of the wines names. We had a great time, but again, it was miserably hot. Before we left, Alexis and I split a bottle of our favorite wine from the tasting; "Crystal Creek" a light, white wine. 

Sunday I enjoyed another lazy morning, did my grocery shopping, then got ready and went to church. It was week 2 of our "Meant to Be" series and I enjoyed my pastor's focus on embracing singleness. That has been something I have been diligently working on for 10 months now, so it definitely spoke to me. After church, I went uptown to meet my friend Jay. We had the most delicious Italian dinner at a popular restaurant called "Mama Ricotta's". He and I were both craving Italian and my taste buds were absolutely satisfied. We ended up talking for a long time, so as we were finally leaving, we decided to go across the street to my favorite place ever "The Melting Pot" for dessert. It was such a fun time.

Today I was up bright and early to put my big splurge from Sunday night to use!

My agenda was to go to the mountains for a long 10 mile hike. For the first 90 minutes, I was thoroughly enjoying myself. I was bloated but I felt strong and I was pushing very hard - I speed walk basically the entire time now. However, the last 3/4 of a mile to the very top pushed me over the edge. I guess between the distance I had already walked and the extreme heat we have had this week, it was really getting to me. 

Going up those 300+ steps to the top, I did not think I was going to make it. I was almost in tears because it was hurting so much and it was that hard. Slowly but surely I made it. I sat down for just enough time to chug water and inhale a pack of plain almonds and walnuts. I was ready to finish and get the hike over with. If you read my blog, you know that hiking is one of my favorite activities in the world to do, but today it was awful. 

Going down the mountain and hiking back to my car proved to be worse than going up the mountain. I was exhausted and so over it. I thought the trail was NEVER going to end. My heals and glutes were hurting, and my knees... I cannot even tell you guys the pain my knees were feeling. It felt like I was 90 years old. I am very glad I pushed so hard, but I have never been happier to finish a workout.

Once my hike was finally done, I came back to Charlotte and went by Target to pick up a crockpot. I had been talking about getting one on Instagram, and after getting everyone's feedback and comments, I knew I had to scoop one up. When I arrived home, I watched the new Kardashian's episode in hopes that I could come back to life. The rest helped and gave me the strength to prep all of my food for the week and give my apartment a deep cleaning. Now that everything is finished, I am off to take a shower then cuddle up on the couch and find a movie

Happy Belated Birthday Kerry! You are one of my longest and closest blog friends and I hope you had the most fantastic birthday. You deserve it.

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