Weekend Royalty

Heyyy everyone! I had a wonderful weekend and hope you did as well! :)

My mom has been out of town, keeping her brother's kids in Wilmington, NC so I've been dogsitting her babies while she's been gone. Of course, her babies are my baby's sister and mama, so naturally they need excessive love and attention!

They seemed to be a little love deprived this week and hadn't eaten much, so Cory and I decided to have a sleep over at mom's to keep them company. They were beyond ecstatic, leading to no sleep for me and the hubs! :(

Unfortunately, that resulted in a slight delirious AM run....




Me and runnin buddy taken by another group member


I must have been sleep running when I hit a crack in the sidewalk and busted it on the busiest road in Fort Mill. I'm sure I'm on YouTube somewhere... I hit the ground and rolled into the grass...I imagine it was quite entertaining. With skinned up legs and hands, the last 2 miles of the run were so awesome and painless.


Road Rash is hott. You didn't know?

After cleaning up my battle wounds, I did something that was so far beyond over due... went shopping! Got a few new things, some shorts (!!) since summer's almost over now and I haven't had a single pair unless you count sweet running shorts. Also a few cute dresses and accessories. yessssss
I got our weekly grocery shopping/cleaning done since me and the hubs had some pretty sweet plans for the rest of the weekend, which is foreign to us. Plans I mean (cleaning sometimes, too).

Then napped until around 5 when I got my clean on...

Shopping? Showering??? You know that's outta the norm! Where were we going, you ask? Cory and I planned our First Wedding Anniversary celebration dinner for Saturday night! We were in for quite a treat! :)




Bam!

 Oooooh yes, we did.

And we tried our very, very best to not seem like tourists while we were there... but that's a feat a little too tough for us.

They seated us in this aaaaamazing table beside the lobster tank (honestly, it was prob the best seat they had in the place) We think it was compensation for losing our reservations (we had them, I swear). Naturally I had to prove to the hostess that we had them by whipping out the iPhone to show her the email confirmation. Classy.




Lobster staring at me. Poor guy.

 All plans of acting like we knew what we were doing went out the door when Cory yelled out:

"Oh sweet, look at those CRABS!"

fail.

Dinner was out of this world good. If anyone needs a place to go to get treated like royalty and eat food that you don't want to ever end, go. there.



Sweet bar...grabbin a drank while we waited

I swear I'm not drunk

Well heyy there good lookin

King Cory

  

And the chinese Queen

 Dinner started with amazing bread that we were afraid to cut
"No sudden movements. Don't. Break. Anything."

And then salads mmmm.



Mine-
Oven-roasted double chicken breast stuffed with garlic herb cheese and served with lemon butter




Plus creamed spinach.



Cory's-
The most tender cut of corn-fed Midwestern beef topped with crispy onions and served sizzling
They forgot his "crispy onions"...the nerve.

Plus garlic mashed potatoes

Finished off with a dessert trio (no pic, sorry!) Which included Raspberry Sorbet, Chocolate Sin Cake, and Traditional Cheese Cake. They were each TO DIE for.


Sunday morning, we woke up, went to breakfast and then headed for Crowder's Mountain for the day.



Happy ONE YEAR!

 Crowder's Mountain is so beautiful and peaceful. It was the perfect place for us to talk and spend all day together. And we couldn't have asked for better weather! Naturally, we chose the "strenuous" trail to climb, and it was a work out! Had us both sweatin at the top!!

After hiking to the top and back, we ate our little romantic picnic pb&j's and then headed back for a real treat....



Anyone for some year-old wedding cake?



Cutting our cake

Y'all. This cake was the bomb. Even a year later. It was awesome! Wish we had more
... someone wanna get married? Please.

In all seriousness, this has been the best year of my life and I completely owe that to my wonderful husband. We've roughed it this past year and through all the marriage, job, home and life adjustments, Cory has done nothing but support me 110%. He's everything I could ever ask for in a husband and I can't wait to see what year 2 has in store for us. I love you Cory!





Bad to the Bone

This weekend began like any other- got off work, went home, asked my hot man what we were gonna do, sat around, pondered over why we still live in Rock Hill, wondered more about what we could go and do… and then met the in-laws at El Cancun for dinner (yes, 2 nights in a row, don’t judge).
This wasn’t just any ole dinner though- it was Reagan’s very first El Cancun experience. As excited as we all were, she must have been absolutely bored with the place and slept through the entire dinner.

Apparently, loud obnoxious drunk rednecks chugging down fish-bowl sized margaritas aren’t her thing.
She’ll convert.

Even though I drank absolutely no alcohol Friday night, I woke up Saturday feeling stiff and tired and dragging. The 6-miler was gruesome…and the 100% humidity didn’t help the sitch.
I kept getting really light headed and was so thirsty…I need to do better about hydrating the day before/during the run.

I got this Nathan hydration belt:

and used it the whole time at the beach, but haven’t on a group run yet. I just hate having so much stuff on…the 305 is clunky enough and I hate feeling restricted. Even so, I woulda killed for it Saturday….a gas station bathroom sink woulda worked too.

I was scheduled for my first placement at the Junior Welfare League’s consignment shop, Twice Is Nice, on Saturday. As a new member, I have to volunteer for 13 3-hour sessions during the year. Knowing I had to be there, dressed, and non sweaty at 10am, I raced home to get ready right after the run. I got ready in record time and arrived right on the dot; worked from 10 to 11 and then realized that there is no way on Earth someone should
have given me a college degree or a driver’s license. I didn’t have to be there til 1.

Wahhhh. Nothing makes me madder than making retarded mistakes that impact my whole day. See… me and Cory scheduled our lease signing for 2pm that day… but since I only have ½ a brain and can’t read a schedule, we had to cancel. L Hoping for next weekend.

After finishing at Twice Is Nice around 4:15, Cory and I headed out to get some errands done. One thing that both of us love is getting Anney new “babies.”
The look on her face when she gets a treat is hysterical and so worth it.

We name all her toys and have basically taught her the names….so when we tell her to get her favorite, “Turk” she runs and gets her mangled, chewed up, one-eyed Turkey baby that used to be really cute.

Saturday we introduced her to “Moo Cow” and also brought her a rawhide bone.

She loves Moo Cow, but the bone really stole the show; she didn’t put it down all night, apparently the bone didn’t love her back. Around midnight, she came around to my side of the bed and woke me up- which typically happens 12+ times a night (She's afraid to jump on the bed in the dark) but when I went to pick her up, something was obviously wrong.

She was gasping and looked horrified- a piece of the bone was lodged in her throat! I started screaming for Cory and since he’s nocturnal and still awake at that crazy hour, he came in and saved the day! Lucky he knows the Heimlich for dogs. :( Anney is fine now, but it was hard to get back to sleep!

No more bones for her!

Sunday, went by way too fast. We spent a few hours at Chad and Page's, hanging out with them and Reagan, grocery shopped, etc. and before we knew it, it was time to start a new week! :( Booo

This coming Sunday is mine and Cory's One Year Anniversary! So exciting, and crazy to think what I was doing this time last year! Time FLIES!!!! (when you're havin fun!)



Weekend Warrior

Hello friends, Happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend! Mine was kind of all over the place but turned out being really fun.

Friday after work, I met Mom at her house for a few drinks before heading to dinner. Mom is the Queen of summery cocktails and is always coming up with new delicious recipes! Friday she made us Cherry Limeades which included Diet Cherry Limeade soda, cherry vodka, a splash of cherry juice and a few cherries. It was DELICIOUS! These drinks get me in trouble though, because they just taste SO good! I know ingredients for this drink will be brought with us on our family vacay to Oak Island next month! :) Can't wait!!

We went to a local pub for dinner- McHales. Typically, this is more of a bar than a place to eat, but we wanted somewhere with outdoor dining since it was so nice outside! They have a great beer menu and I tried out the Paulaner Hefeweizen and really liked it! It was a light, smooth beer that started with hints of banana and clove and ended with a hoppy malt taste... ha! Who am I kidding? I have no idea how to be a "beer taster" or whatever they're called... it tasted like beer to me. Maybe one day I'll learn to appreciate it, but honestly, it just tasted like beer... good beer, but beer.

I ordered a spinach salad with grilled chicken + buffalo sauce and a side of ranch. This is my absolute favorite salad, and I always seem to crave it! After dinner I headed home to spend the evening with Cory watching our favorite show, Dateline! We can't get enough of this show and try to catch it whenever it's on. Too bad we're too poor stingy to buy Ti-Vo. Ahhh the possibilities.

Saturday morning, we were both up early to get started on the day. Cory headed to work and I headed out to meet my running friends for a quick 6 miler. We started at 7:30 and by the time we finished it was H-O-T. I'm not sure I'm ready for it to be this hot yet! We agreed to start this coming weekend at 7 to finish before the sun really got us. After my run, I ran a couple errands and headed home to shower and get ready for my sister-in-law's baby shower in Hartsville, SC. My mother-in-law and I drove up there together for the 2 o'clock shower. It was so fun, baby Reagan is already SO spoiled and has twice as many clothes as I've ever owned in my life! Too bad we can't share.

hahahaha

Page's Granny, Chad, Page, Julie, Me

After getting back in town, we joined Cory and my Father-in-Law at White Horse, a local restaurant, for dinner and awaited Rapture. After realizing we were all still alive, and the end of the world wasn't ending, we ordered. Remember how I said that thing about always craving a Buffalo Grilled Chicken Salad? Yeah, I got pretty much the exact same salad as Friday night. This one had the addition of mushrooms and a piece of garlic bread...I sure know how to branch out.

After dinner, Cory and I went home to watch Little Fockers. We liked it okay, but thought the first two were better. Of course, it was still funny and I'd recommend it to anyone that liked the first two in the series! After the movie, we watched Dateline. Again. :)

Sunday morning, I woke up around 8 and cooked Cory and me "Sunday Breakfast." This was my first time making biscuits from scratch (of course, when I say scratch, I mean Bisquick mix that only needs water) and they turned out edible! wooo hooo! This cookin thang ain't so bad! ;) We also had scrambled eggs and coffee. Unfortunately Cory had to work again (7 days this week! Poor little guy). Since he was out running around with screaming kids, sweatin in the 100 degree heat, I felt like I needed to be doing something, too. Lucky for him, that meant giving our little home a good cleaning. I'm not talking vacuuming and dusting...this girl cleaned out cabinets, scrubbed the bathtub and steam cleaned the carpets. Ahhhhh nothin' like a clean apartment! Just wonder how long it'll stay like this! :)

Afterwards, I went for a 60 min Pi-Yo Class (Pilate's + yoga combo) and then grocery shopped. As soon as Cory got off work, we headed over to the In-Laws for a cookout. I love cook outs! Every time we cook out at my In-Laws it always brings back happy memories of the day Cory proposed, which by the way, was almost 2 years ago! Time is seriously flying!

This morning, I got up at the crack of dawn for my AM strength training sesh, then had Banana Overnight Oats at my desk and some Chocolatey Special K around 10:30. For lunch I had a turkey + spinach sandwich on a sandwich thin with an apple (you guys know what these look like, thought a pic was unnecessary....okay, that's a lie...honestly I just devoured it too quickly to take a pic). I've got my favorite Kashi bar waitin' on me for an afternoon snack and then it's to the gym for a spin class! It's been too long since I've taken this class, I'm lookin forward to it!!!

This is a fantastic week for shows!! Tonight kicks off The Bachelorette + Dancing With The Stars, Tomorrow is American Idol and Biggest Loser, Wednesday is AI Finale and Thursday is the Premiere of So You Think You Can Dance!!! It's gonna be a gooooood week!

Weekend Recap

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a faaaantastic weekend! Mine was just jammed packed with fun! I kicked off Friday with the Royal Wedding (yes, I got up at 5am to catch the first glimpse of Kate's dress!) then high-tailed to my AM strength training sesh where I literally got beat up... I was too busy straining my neck to watch the wedding to retain any of what we did, so sorry there's not an update on the Workout Page. I just remember lots of uphill treadmill sprints and something with a weighted ball that left my arms keeelling me on Saturday.

After a looong day of work, I headed to home to enjoy the evening with some cute boy that was waiting for me in my apartment. I washed some unmentionables (running shorts) for the next morning and we headed out to get some food. The weather was fantastic so we wanted to sit outside. Since we have a problem agreeing on out-to-eat food, we settled for getting food to-go and went and sat on Mom's backporch. I got a mini mozzarella/spinach pizza from Donato's and Cory got Hibachi Chicken from Hibachi (creative name).

We ate and enjoyed the sunset then headed home and went to sleep at 9:15. That is not a lie or even an exaggeration. We're simply paaaa-thetic. Is it bad that we're under 25 years old and make vows to each other like "promise tomorrow night we can try to stay up til 11?!" Because that happens. A lot.

But, there was a perfectly good reason excuse for it- we were both up and kickin' by 6am. Cory had to work and I had a scheduled 12-mile long run. The weather outside was simply perfection. God created that morning with his bare hands. The sun was beaming, not a cloud in the sky, 0% humidity and about 60 degrees. I had my usual pre-run breakfast; whole wheat English muffin with 1tbsp natural peanut butter and 1/2 banana. (~250 cals) I tend to limit my liquid consumption before long runs because I get serious pee anxiety. What would I do? Use a bush? No, thanks. So I try to only drink enough to not die of thirst from my breakfast. Now, the day before a long run is another story- you can just call me Nemo.

I met up with some friends from my Fort Mill Fast Feet group; ran the first 6 miles with about 7 people and then split off from the group with 2 others to finish with 12. It was an amazing run. I was so thankful to be out enjoying the morning. Part of our route is out in peaceful farmland with rolling hills; I can't describe just how amazing it was!

After finishing, I ran to a gas station, changed clothes, grabbed some waters and a protein bar and headed for the US National Whitewater Center in Charlotte. One of my best college friends, Shae, (a bridesmaid in my wedding) and a few of her friends came in town to go whitewater rafting. Shae's birthday was last weekend and we're trying to make a tradition of doing something "crazy" each year for her birthday. Last year, we went skydiving!!!

(BTW, sorry I don't have pics, I'll work on this, in the meantime, use your imagination) The Whitewater Center was so much fun! We got to "jump" off a 2-story platform (supposed to be a "free-falling experience" but the harness kind of slowed you down), waterwater raft, bask in the sun with local brews and mountain bike!

That's not me... taken from here since I'm lame and didn't bring my camera

It was so fun to spend time with Shae, I hadn't seen her since my wedding (!!!) Unfortunately, because Cory had to work, he wasn't able to join us. Bummer to the max. BUT, right as we were coming off the mountain bike trails, GUESS who I see?! Cory! He showed up as soon as he got off work... what a little sneaker!

Once we left, Cory and I headed home to shower + get dressed and met back up with Shae and her friends at a little brewery in Uptown Charlotte called Rock Bottom. I enjoyed a glass of wine and catching up while Cory played pool with some of the guys. We called it a night and headed home, I was simply exhausted!

And...apparently I literally WAS exhausted because I slept for 11 hours. Yes, eleven. Like, one less than half a day. Geez. I guess I really needed the sleep, but I absolutely hate wasting a day sleeping. We took Anney for a sleepover at Mom's Saturday night so I guess not having a little furry alarm clock is part of the reason I was able to sleep so late. Once we finally rolled out of bed, we cleaned the apartment and did boring errands, like grocery shopping during the day and then got ready for a celebratory dinner!

Congratulations to my wonderful brother-in-law, Tony, for graduating college from Ashford University!! I know he put in a lot of time and effort -while working full time- and we're all so proud of him! We had dinner at Chili's with my family, Tony's grandparents + aunt/uncle, Page and Julie! It was a great ending to the weekend! I got the Margarita Chicken (grilled chicken with pineapple on a bed of wild rice + black beans) with a diet coke + strawberry Graduation Cake.

Cory and I came home and watched our my favorite Sunday Night Shows- Desperate Housewives and Brothers&Sisters. Well, we tried to watch Brothers&Sisters but were interrupted with the HUGE news of Osama Bin Laden being killed. I sure am proud to be an American! A great, big, huge thanks to all of our troops!

Date Night= 5 restaurants, a screamer and a breakup...

Last night, after my boot camp class, Cory and I were out running around and at about 8pm the hunger hit. Hard. I got kind of light headed and needed food ASAP. So, I politely told Cory (ha) that I needed to eat. His response?

 "OH GOD! OKAY... WHERE DO YOU WANT TO GO?!!? WHAT'S THE CLOSEST!?"

Just a little FYI about me.. I'm kind of weird. See, when I get hungry...I get "hangry." Really. Ask my husband.... ok, maybe you shouldn't. You probably wouldn't read my blog anymore.

So, I'm a pretty extremely picky out-to-eater. I don't like fast food (with the exception of Chic-Fil-A...char grilled chicken sandwich mmm) and I'm really picky with other restaurants. I know that most places pack in the calories in seemingly healthy dishes. For example, McCallister's Grilled Chicken Salad has nearly 900 calories. [WHERE do they come from?! Are they frying their lettuce??]

The decision of where to eat usually comes from places I trust are healthy (and know what to order) or places that post nutrition information and I have time to look it up. BUT, when I'm starving all that planning goes out the door and I get frustrated with thinking and just want food.

I suggest Peppers, a deli-like restaurant (that posts nutrition online, per my handy iPhone) that neither of us have been to that was just down the street. We drive there, see that's it's packed and decide to try somewhere else. So Cory suggests going back to Nishi G's... I know they have whole wheat wraps and plain grilled chicken. Bingo.

We drive about 10 mins...again P.A.C.K.E.D. I'm talking no where to park. Another no-go. I knew of another deli down the street, Penn Station, that I heard was good. I figured I could order a  turkey sub on whole wheat and just get on with life.

So, Cory (who is keeping his anger/frustration with me hidden inside) and I go in. I ask for turkey on wheat and the cashier stops me in my hungry tracks. "Umm... we only have WHITE." With a disgusting attitude and the dirtiest look she could produce.

Remember that thing I said about being "hangy?" Well, I blame that... I gave her an even dirtier look, told her we'd be eating somewhere else and walked out. I don't know if Cory apologized for me, but I wasn't waiting around to see (the joys of marriage).

We were back to square one. Cory then suggested "Little Caesar's! Kris, it's $5 for a large pizza (!!!!) " By this point, I'm feelin bad for my poor husband and am contemplating eating my hand. So when he says pizza, I think back to a place near our apartment, called "Stone Pizza." I know they have fresh ingredients and you can personalize your pizza, so I suggest it. Cory's thrilled... thinking we're finally gonna eat! We pull into the parking lot, practically run to the door.

Closed.

The food gods were obviously against us.

 Just as we were about to give up on life and starve to death, we see it. Those beautiful glowing yellow neon lights. Charanda's.

We didn't need to ask each other, a look settled it. That's where we were going. We got a table and literally plunged into the chips. Ahhhh, so this is what Heaven feels like. We quickly ordered- Veggie Fajitas on corn tortillas for me, and Beef Tacos for my hot boyfriend. We were in such a rush to order that we didn't notice our surroundings until we'd eaten a basket of chips and had 2 refills of diet coke. On one side of our booth was (the most adorable) baby boy... screaming his head off. He wasn't crying. He was literally SCREAMING. And the more me and Cory laughed, the louder he got. His parents just loved that he was entertaining us.

On the other side, was a couple breaking up. It was immensely awkward to overhear. Apparently, he cheated on her and was denying it, telling her she needed to "filter this shit." It took some will power (and threats from Cory) to not turn around and tell him what a d-bag he was.

Oh, and did I mention we were sitting outside with 70mph winds? It was romantic.

Despite our surroundings, we got our food, wolfed it down much too quickly and rolled each other out of there. Luckily we just had a 30 second drive to our apartment where we promptly planted our beyond-full selves on the couch to catch up on The Voice.

All in all, it was a perfect romantic night. Ha, hardly. C'est la vie!