The first full day of our family holiday weekend was a lot of fun. Nice and laid back and full of quality time! I wasn’t too good about snapping a lot of photos yesterday, but I have a few to share with ya!
My sister and her boyfriend, Ross, left early yesterday morning to spend the weekend with Ross’ family (they’ll be back in Jacksonville on Christmas Eve) and when they headed out after breakfast, my mom and I followed suit and headed out for a morning Jazzercise class.
As long-time readers know, my mom is an avid Jazzerciser and wasted no time finding a new Jazzercise center near my parents’ new home. A couple of weeks ago, my mom got a t-shirt for attending her 150th class this year! I think Jazzercise is a blast and love going with my mom whenever I have the chance, so when she mentioned that there was an 8 a.m. class on Saturday morning, I was more than game.
Yesterday’s class was a lot of fun and concluded with mimosas for class participants. Sweet!
My favorite song of the day was Usher’s “Scream” because it reminded me of dancing to Usher with Tim Roberts at Jazzercise Tropic Heat last summer. (You can see a video of Tim Roberts leading our big group of Jazzercisers in this video. He is the jam!)
When we arrived back home, Ryan and my dad were out and about, so my mom and I hung out with my grandma for a few hours before reheating Friday night’s lasagna for lunch.
After lunch, Sadie needed some attention, so I took her outside for a windy three-mile walk.
I arrived home to find Ryan wrapping some Christmas gifts that he bought earlier in the day. Sadie decided he needed a little help and jumped right in.
After a hot shower and quick change, Ryan and I drove out to walk around the shops near Atlantic Beach. There are a bunch of little boutiques, coffee shops and fun stores in the area and while we didn’t find anything we were looking for, we had a good time browsing.
When we arrived home, everyone had dinner on their mind, and when my mom suggested pizza my mouth started watering.
She ordered two large pizzas from Al’s Pizza within 30 minutes, dinner was on the table.
I helped myself to two slices of the veggie pizza and shared a slice of the meat pizza with Ryan. Gotta love family pizza night!
Now I’m sitting on the couch trying to motivate myself to tackle the long run I have on the books for today to stay on track with my half marathon training plan. Better get to it!
![\"Quantcast\"/](\"//pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-1e3-7hOJ_U8Bg.gif\")
Haha my brother’s dog, Molly, also loves to “help” whenever they’re doing projects around the house. When they were painting their living room I came over and she had bits of paint on her nose from getting a liiiiittle too close.
First of all, I love your blog, but I never remember to comment. This time I couldn’t not comment though! I lived in Ponte Vedra Beach for years and there are some great restaurants you should checkout. LuLus, Barbara Jeans, Palm Valley Fish Camp, Restaurant Medure, Aqua Grill, and 619 Ocean View to name a few!
wooohoooo! you just made me excited to get out and explore. thanks for the recommendations!
I live in Jacksonville Beach, and to go off what Madison said, there’s a great new(ish) restaurant in Atlantic Beach called North Beach Fish Camp (it’s affiliated with Palm Valley Fish Camp in Ponte Vedra), and it’s amazing! Definitely worth trying!
I love that people still Jazzercise! I was on our elementary school’s “team” when I was little. We used to Jazzercise in all the parades. Hilarious. I need to try it again!
Yum, I love pizza night. I feel like my dog is always at my side whatever Im doing!! The other night my dog lily laid right in front of me while I was wrapping gifts, that didnt work too well 🙂
mmm that pizza looks so good! I love zumba so i’m sure I would love a jazzercise class!
Now I want pizza, but there is not a decent place to order from around here. I will have to look.
The Kidless Kronicles
That is too funny! I have two rather large dogs (an aussie-shepherd mix and a rottweiler) who looooove to help during the holidays, also! They seem to have agreed to split the tasks which I find absolutely endearing (and hilarious!). Every year my aussie is convinced that she’s the best helper when it comes to wrapping gifts (more like best snooper), whereas my Rottweiler prefers to help with the UNwrapping on Christmas morning. So cute! Oh, and of course they’re both eager taste-testers in the kitchen 😉
Also, LOVE the picture of you and Sadie! So precious 🙂
We had a caribbean chicken pizza from Al’s last week – It was spicy and delicious! Good luck on your long run!
I’ve never taken a Jazzercise class but it looks so fun! Plus, any mother-daughter time is a win in my book 😉
Pizza night is always a good idea :)!
I love that your mom does Jazzercise! And that you join her when you can. I know you are a huge fan of bodypump – have you ever done bodyjam? This post made me think of it. It’s also a Les Mills program but a dance one and super fun! A little intimidating if you don’t have any dance experience, but a fun workout nonetheless!
oh man, i would LOVE to try other les mills classes. i’ve only tried bodypump b/c that’s what my gym in orlando offered and unfortunately my gym in ocala doesn’t offer any les mills classes. i’d love to try them all!!
The jacksonville condo looks very nice! I’ve never been over to the Atlantic Beach area, just the landing.
Hey! While in Jacksonville, you should checkout the UNF hiking trail. Great 3 mile hike.
oh! thanks for the tip! i’ll definitely look for it!
That veggie pizza looks amazing! I am a big fan of a “veggified” 😉 pizza!!!
Last night was pizza night in my house, too! We had BBQ chicken… yum!
My husband has just suggested pizza for dinner…yaaaay! Happy Christmas to you and your family x
Your pizzas are making me hungry! My dog loves to “help” with the wrapping too. LOL Enjoy your day!! 🙂
Love the zebra headband! RunningSkirts just sent me one that looks just like that! And you can’t ever go wrong with pizza 🙂 🙂
You’re lucky…our sidewalks here in Cleveland are covered with ice and snow…I’m so glad that my half marathon is 5 months away! I don’t know what I’d do if I had to get a long run in this weekend…
So fun!!! I have never been to a jazzercise class.. Not even sure if they are offered here..?
Pizza sounds fabulous right now!
Tim Roberts choreographed the routine “Scream,” so good call! He teaches it on our instructor DVD. 🙂
i should’ve known! he’s so much fun!
Oh my gosh…I used to take dance classes in DC with Tim Roberts…like 20 years ago! I’m impressed that he is still in the same amazing shape he was then. I had no idea Jazzercise was so hip!! How fun to go with your mom!
Glad you’re enjoying my hometown!
Pizza nights are the best nights! My family is all about them. I’ve never tried Jazzercise before but it seems fun and like a great workout.
So jealous! We never had a family pizza night because my dad doesn’t eat cheese. Crazy, I know!
Whenever I’m home for the holidays ( or any reason really!), we always have plenty of leftovers of Italian dishes in the fridge like parmigiana or lasagna for lunch the next day. Soooo good, though super filling.
Your holiday’s sound busy! Family time, workout classes, AND half-marathon training? Man, can I just have half your motivation, girl?! Being a blogger and it being the holiday’s, I’ve been trying to balance time with family and time blogging about real life. I just want to say that I love your dedication to your blog. You find time to post fun and interesting posts and pictures even days before Christmas when you have so many other things you could do! I just think it’s cool that you are always “around” on your blog, no matter what. Thanks for blogging. Seriously! 🙂 Hope you have a wonderful Christmas!
YUM! Al’s is by far my favorite pizza in all of Jacksonville. I love that all of the locations are styled specifically to the area in which they are located.
The shops in Atlantic Beach are so great. There’s a cute bookstore called The BookMark that I love to browse in.
Oh and I second all of the restaurant recommendations made earlier, but am adding one of my own. There is this awesome breakfast place called the The Beach Diner on Atlantic Blvd about mile east of First Street. You should try it some time!
Have a wonderful Christmas!
Mmmm! Pizza! I sure do miss ordering out pizza. I do, however, love making the lavash bread pizzas at home 🙂 It may not be as incredible tasting as a pan pizza with loads of toppings and a thick, buttery crust…but it sure takes the craving away! Hope you have a wonderful Christmas Eve/Day with your family, Julie!
Jazzercise sounds fun! Preparing or a half marathon does not. Lol. Merry Christmas!
So fun that you’re able to go to jazzercise with your mom!! And my mouth is watering just looking at those pizzas.. delish!
I just wanted to say thanks so much for your posts, particularly your workout-related ones! We’re at the in-laws’ til tomorrow, and it’s too icy here for me to run – plus I’m still recovering from some health issues, and can’t run as much anyway. Your at-home circuit workout was perfect this morning!
One question – do you have a list of fitness / health blogs *you* read? I can’t find a blogroll on our site and am always looking for new ones to add to my list.
Thanks again, and Merry Christmas!