Hello friends! How are you on this Monday morning? I hope your weekend was a good one and that you’re stopping by the blog today feeling rested and refreshed!
Saturday
My weekend began on a good note! I had plans to meet up with my friend Lauren for a workout at Orangetheory Lake Norman first thing on Saturday morning. It was a serious sweat fest!
If I thought my first Orangetheory experience was a tough one, my second time at the studio was even more challenging. Rather than rotate through the treadmill, rowing machine and weight room floor several times, Saturday’s workout kept us in one spot for much longer.
Lauren and I began on side-by-side treadmills and spent the first 20 minutes or so of the workout challenging ourselves with some intense intervals before it was time for strength training and rowing.
The strength portion of the workout looked like this:
8 minute AMRAP #1 (Reps: 10-8-10-8):
- One arm chest press
- One arm bent over row
- Triceps kickback
8 minute AMRAP #2 (Reps: 10-8-10-8):
- TRX high row + TRX bicep curl
- TX triceps extension
- Weighted v-up
(Note: AMRAP = As Many Rounds As Possible)
The workout concluded with rowing and had me and Lauren breathing hard! It was a great workout and a wonderful way to kick off the weekend.
(I still think it’s so cool to see a summary of my workout pop up in my email after an Orangetheory workout! Ohhh technology!)
After our workout, we had plans to get pedicures before heading home, so we stopped for lattes before heading into a local nail salon. It felt so nice to have some uninterrupted quality time with Lauren since we’re usually wrangling our kiddos whenever we hang out! (Refresher: Lauren is my friend whose little girl Claire was born four days before Chase!)
I selected OPI Houston We Have A Purple polish for my toes and thought it was the perfect summer-to-fall transition color. So pretty!
Once we said our goodbyes, I headed home and took a much-needed shower and timing worked out really well because I finished getting dressed just as Chase woke up from his nap! We had plans to head out to Birkdale Village to pick up a couple of small gifts and couldn’t resist swinging by Clean Juice for smoothies.
I also nabbed a cashew milk latte (I added a sprinkle of cinnamon and a little bit of honey to mine) and loved it!
Ryan and I joke that Chase is Clean Juice’s number one fan because he absolutely loves their smoothies and smoothie bowls. He shared some of Ryan’s seasonal fall bowl and some of my berry smoothie made with almond butter and was a happy camper!
We spent a solid hour or so wandering around Birkdale and made it home around 2:30 p.m. Chase seemed ready for another nap (he was shockingly a decent napper – right back to his two long naps this weekend – go figure!) and so we put him down and I got to work on the computer while he slept.
Once Chase was up again, we headed out to a local park to attend a dog show we read about in a local magazine. It was a cute event, though not exactly the hoppin’ festival we were hoping for, but at least Chase had a blast!
He is quickly becoming obsessed with dogs and we laugh because he says “woof woof” when he sees big dogs but sticks out his tongue and starts panting rapidly at the sight of little dogs. Luckily most pet owners were more than willing to let Chase pet their dogs so after he had his fill (or one we decided he had is fill, really), we swung by Food Lion for some groceries before heading home.
Once we made it back home, we had about 20 minutes to kill before our new neighbors were set to come over for a cook out, so we went into overdrive straightening up the living room (aka shoving baby toys into the corner) and prepping some food for the night. We had a deliciously simple meal of grilled chicken thighs (I marinated them earlier in the day using the marinade in my easy baked chicken recipe), burgers, sausage, baked beans, rosemary potatoes and a salad.
Plus S’mores Klondike bars for dessert!
Oh my gosh, the S’Mores Klondikes are ridiculously delicious. I’m not sure if they’re a seasonal flavor or not, but I hope they stick around for a while because they are SO good.
Sunday
I don’t have quite as much to report about our Sunday, mainly because I ended up dedicating the latter half of the day to work. Our day started out on a fun note though, with church, lightened up coconut French toast casserole for brunch and a beautiful mid-morning family walk along a local greenway.
We ended up taking a few necessary breaks so Chase could get out of the stroller and move around (and eat some snacks) before we finished our three-mile walk.
I spent the rest of the afternoon working through the early evening and took a break before dinner to spend some time outside with Ryan, Chase and Sadie.
I love her crazy-long tongue. Such a little goofball.
After dinner, we gave Chase a bath and put him down for the night before relaxing on the couch and watching The Big Short on Netflix. We crashed hard at 10 p.m. Not a bad way to round out the weekend!
I hope you all had a lovely weekend and that your Monday is a good one!
![\"Quantcast\"/](\"//pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-1e3-7hOJ_U8Bg.gif\")
Lovely! What did you think of the big short? I thought everything was way too technical and over my head and didnt end up enjoying it much!
I liked it! It wasn’t as amazing as I thought after reading reviews but it still held my attention which is a win for me since I get bored during movies fairly easily!
definitely sounds like a fun weekend! it’s the jewish new year today so we had a big family dinner last night! 🙂
Okay where is your adorable orange dress and blue vest from? I love it!
Thank you! Unfortunately it’s really old! It’s an old BCBG dress I bought probably 3-5 years ago? And the denim shirt is a cropped tank that I just tied together. I actually recently bought that one from thredUP for like $5 but it’s initially from Forever 21.
I’m with Erin… where did that dress and shirt come from??? So cute! I NEED it. 🙂
We are getting an Orangetheory in Asheville finally and I’m looking forward to trying it! Glad you had a good weekend.
Your hair always looks so good! How do you style it like that?
You are so sweet! Thank you! I need to d a video tutorial but I basically wrap my hair around a curling iron (away from my face), hair spray the heck out of it and then brush out the waves. It also seems to hold curl better when it’s a little dirtier (I LOVE dry shampoo for texture, too!) and will usually curl it the day after I wash it.
Oh yes pretty please do a hair tutorial – I have the EXACT same hair texture as you (from everything you’ve described) and I would love to see how you do this. Do you let the hair spray dry and then brush it out? Can’t wait to learn this!
I love orange theory for the awesome work out and the results. It’s so satisfying and gratifying and to see your work out results immediately after finishing. Looks like you had a great workout on Saturday!
Julie ! Your hair is always in the BEST loose waves. How do you accomplish this ?? I have long hair as well and am always struggling to find a good effective method for simple waves.
Harris
Thank you, Harris!! I just replied to Emily’s similar comment above and didn’t want you to miss it!! 🙂
So sweet thank you!!
I love starting my Saturday mornings with an great workout. That’s so nice you had some quality girl time and also got lattes and Pedi’s. Also wondering about the waves in your hair, I can never seem to accomplish that look…..
I’m hearing about Orange Theory everywhere, though I have yet to try a class. I was told that classes tend to get competitive, which I’m not really into.
You’re making me so excited to try OTF. A new studio in town is opening at the end of this week and I’ve got a two week trial, so I’m pumped!
It is AWESOME and a seriously kick-butt workout! You will love it!
I love Clean Juice, too. I wish it was a little nicer on the wallet, though! I’ve done my one free class at OrangeTheory and really loved it. I love the constant switches, so there’s less time to think about the exercises!
What a fun weekend!!!!! So happy you got to relax a bit!!!!
I recently signed up for Orange Theory but I don’t think I’ve seen any splat points! I need to get on this train!
I always hit up Clean Juice when I’m at Birkdale Village, which isn’t enough! I wish there was one closer to the city 🙂
That smoothie bowl looks amazing! I’ll have to check out that place soon!
I wanna come to your cookouts! Menu sounded delish. My mom always buys Klondike bars when she’s not feeling like making a dessert and there are zero complaints on those days 🙂
I have been dying to try Orange Theory – everyone here loves it! That Klondike bar takes me back to my childhood!!
Love this – such a relaxing weekend!
After two weeks in Chicago, and this upcoming weekend in Nashville, we had a VERY relaxing weekend. Though, like your’s, it was filled with a lot of work goodness.
Cashew milk cheers to getting some work done! Ha : )
XO, Jessica
http://www.semisweettooth.com
I really need to try OTF. There’s one right by my office that I’ve been wanting to try for months. Maybe this month!
I loved The Big Short! We saw it in the theater, and I liked the way they broke down the tech stuff (with the sidebars by Margot Robbie and Selena Gomez etc.) It’s not everybody’s cup of tea, because the subject matter (that affected everyone’s real lives) is a huge bummer, but I thought it was an important movie.
I said it above already, but I’d love to see a hair tutorial! We have the EXACT same hair texture and length.
Sounds like you guys had a really good, relaxing + productive weekend. Looks like a good one! I too went to a festival on Saturday that was SUPPOSED to be amazing (it was a Tiny House expo, and no, I don’t want a tiny house, but I enjoy watching the show Tiny House Hunters etc.) Anyhow, it ended up being so so so lame. 6 houses, 4 of which were not nice enough to even be called sheds. Disappointing! BUT, we ended up eating lunch over the St. Croix River valley and right next to a huge (100s of yards) tall waterfall. Worth it!
I love OTF! I love that every time I go it’s always a different workout but always a great one. Also I need to find that s’mores klondike bar, never heard of them!
Hi Julie!
Sounds like a fun weekend. 🙂 Long time reader here, but I rarely comment. I’ve hesitated to mention this before, but I worked up the nerve today after seeing some pics in this post. First of all, Chase is adorable! Second of all, I wanted to let you know that I’ve seen a few pics of him sitting in what is called the “W” sit. (He’s sitting that way in the pic of you two from your Sunday walk). According to physical therapists, that is the worst way for a kiddo to sit and can negatively affect their ability to walk and even their speech. My kiddo was a later walker and when I had him evaluated they brought this to my attention, or else I would have had no idea. I just wanted to pass this along in case you are unaware as I was. You are a great mom!
Thank you for sharing! I was actually JUST talking to one of my girlfriends about this and wanted to do some research. Thanks for letting me know!
I am so glad someone else brought this up because I would never ever want to offend anyone but he’s just too cute to not try to help 🙂 I am an Early Interventionist and a “w-sit Nazi” if you will. I can send you a graphic about how it affects their hips and ability to walk long term and even other developmental milestones. It’s absolutely crazy and so simple to fix when young! A lot of kids do it simply because it feels safer and more secure to sit with support on either side of their core- especially when a small little guy. It is no indication that anything is wrong at all- so don’t worry. Most of the time, just moving their feet out of it and into a cross-legged position will help! It’s just a habit- just like slouching 🙂 hope this helps and once again, do not fret- so many kids do it for no reason other than it feels comfortable! he is beautiful and love watching you raise him- an amazing mother for sure !
I’m curious about Orangetheory! It’ll probably take a few years to hit Europe (especially Spain!). I do know that oranges and blues are great motivational colours which is why most gyms are blue so you’re more productive working out. My gym’s cage/functional area floor’s orange and I do feel more motivated, happier and energised working out there than on the regular blue gym floor!
I’m probably the zillionth person to say! I love your dress you wore to Clean Juice! And little Sadie looks so happy with her stick. The simplest things!