Make Up Less But Not Labor Less Labor Day

That title cannot be grammatically correct.

Just because it was Labor Day did not mean I would skip the gym! I woke up, quickly ate some cereal, and met Amanda at the gym. We both jumped on the elliptical for about 20 minutes and caught up on our weekend. We did some arm and booty workout, and then I jumped on the treadmill for 20 minutes of HIIT. And that was enough labor for the day.

My little brother spent the night w/ me on Sunday, so I let him choose where we’d have lunch. I nearly passed out when he didn’t say “Chick-fil-A,” as he too is obsessed. He opted for Japanese and we invited Mariah along. Initially, we wanted to try Sushi Taro, but it was closed! I guess they believe in Labor Day! Boo! Our next option was Umi, right outside of Park West. Just inside the plaza with Publix, this unassuming restaurant was tiny, but welcoming. Their lunch specials were very fairly priced and were served quickly. All three of us chose the Teriyaki chicken with vegetables and rice, for $8. It wasn’t the best Teriyaki chicken I’ve ever had, but the sauce was a nice citrusy flavor.

A mandatory stop at both TCBY and Target was next on our agenda. By a pure miracle, I didn’t purchase anything for myself at Target; the mission was solely to purchase an iPod shuffle for my brother’s 15th birthday. Holy crud, my baby brother is getting old! That evening, it was time for a booze cruise with Matt and Tyler.

This photo may alarm you for two reasons: Matt is smiling (!) and I have a naked face. The only logical explanation for this is that Matt was drinking an adult beverage and it was just too darn hot out for makeup. Fall is nowhere in sight.

We made it just in time for the fireworks from the Riverdogs game.

Doesn’t that second picture look like a jellyfish? Someone teach me how to take pictures of fireworks with a DSLR, por favor!

See you tomorrow for a sweeeeeeeeeet review. So sweet my teeth hurt.

Oh, I almost forgot!! The winner of the Thrive Foods book giveaway is:

Congrats, girlfriend! Send your address to christinaorso @ gmail dot com.

The Weekend Is Only Half Over!!

Okay, it’s more than half over, but I’m in denial.

Friday: Matt and I, along with a few others, went to a Riverdogs game.

I stared at this guy’s butt for half the game.

While there, I had my first pickle dog! Eeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhh! And a giant Coor’s Light. What a special moment this was.Stay tuned for later this week when I show you exactly what a pickle dog is. Trust me, this is going to be such a good post.

We also stayed for the fireworks! I like them now. They are kind of romantic when you are with the man who asks you to get married if, at 35 we are both still single. Hahahha yes, that’s Matt, my future ex husband.

After the game we went to Closed for Business for a beer. This is not one of my favorite bars, just fyi. Thankfully I was entertained by a Fashion Friday DON’T: tall socks with sneakers. Bad, bad, bad.Saturday: I spent the entire day with Amanda and we had soooo much fun! We met a bunch of our other girlfriends at the beach, and although it was almost 100*, we had a really nice, relaxing time. The ocean feels like bath water right now. Oh, July in the South.

After we left the beach, we wanted nothing else but frozen yogurt!! We decided to check out Lil Yo Yogurt, a part of Square Onion Too on Coleman Blvd. Inside a small house, Lil Yo Yogurt has four flavors of froyo:

I got strawberry & vanilla and Amanda got chocolate & vanilla. I guess we took the phrase “guilt-free vanilla” seriously, because we both got 8-ounce servings! Mmmm.

I was really proud of Amanda’s bowl – you couldn’t even see her yogurt under all the chocolately goodness! We both topped our froyo with these amazing homemade peanut butter chocolate bars…sooo good.

That evening,  we decided to continue our date with a wine tasting, a movie, and dinner. The wine tasting was at Winestyles in Town Center. For $5, we got to sample 5 different wines, shown here.

The “samples” were pretty generous. We both felt a bit tipsy walking into the movie. And that movie…we ended up seeing Midnight in Paris, a romantic comedy about an American couple in Paris. Amanda and I are both fans of Rachel McAdams and had read that the movie got a good rating, but it was just odd. I still don’t know if I understand what was going on. Has anyone else seen this? What did you think?

Our late dinner was at Mustard Seed, surprise surprise. Jonathan surprised us with an appetizer of cornmeal crusted green tomatoes with shrimp and a fresh pepper salsa. Ahhhh it was so good. So summery!

We decided to share two entrees. We started with the roasted chicken, blue cheese, & caramelized pear salad with raspberry port wine dressing. Drool. This is definitely their best salad.

Then we had the Pad Thai with shrimp and chicken. This has always been one of my favorite entrees.

Now I am at home reading this book I found in the Blackbaud “library.” Have y’all heard of this?

Just kidding.

But I really am reading it and will read the next three. All my friends read them while I was reading cookbooks I guess.

Happy Sunday!!