It was one heck of a sunny weekend in Sarasota and we did our best to make the most of the beautiful weather!
Friday
Ryan and I arrived in Sarasota Thursday evening and after a delicious dinner of southwest turkey burgers (recipe to come!), we lounged around for the rest of the night before going to bed at 11 p.m. We woke up early on Friday morning so I could take a BodyPump class!
Not having access to BodyPump in Ocala makes me awfully grateful for any chance I have to take BodyPump when we travel. Friday morning’s class didn’t let me down!
After a workout, breakfast and a few hours of blog-related work on my computer, Ryan and I took Sadie to Venice Beach so she could run around off leash and play in the surf at the local dog beach.
(Trying to cram two people and a dog into a picture you take yourself is an art Ryan and I clearly have yet to master.)
It was incredibly breezy at the beach which was fantastic since we didn’t sweat like crazy. Unfortunately the wind also made the waves a little too big for Sadie’s courage level, so she spent most of the time chasing sea foam and shadows and checking in with us for periodic hugs and kisses.
By the time we made it back to my in-law’s and showered, everyone was home and ready to head out to dinner. We decided to dine at a Lolita Tartine, a casual French restaurant located in downtown Sarasota and left feeling quite satisfied! Our evening concluded with a quick stop at Der Duchman Bakery for some incredibly delicious peanut butter pie. Dessert is always a necessity at my in-law’s!
For as much as I love peanut butter, I’ve never really been a fan of peanut butter pie. It’s almost like peanut butter overload or something (which I didn’t think was possible, but apparently it is), but I am glad I decided to give peanut butter pie another shot because this one was awesome. The peanut butter filling tasted almost like a light custard and I ate enough of it to cause myself to slip into a bit of a sugar coma later that evening!
Saturday
I slept in until 7:30 a.m. on Saturday and spent the early part of the morning eating breakfast and lounging with Ryan and my in-laws before they had an errand to run. I took advantage of a few hours of free time around 9:30 a.m. and decided to take Sadie for a run outside.
Since my Runner’s World Five and Dime race is coming up in the beginning of June, I wanted to complete around six miles on Saturday and slowly work my way up to the 9.3 mile distance I’ll have to cover on race day. (Boston runners: If you’re interested in running in one of the Runner’s World races June 7 or 8, you can find coupon codes for 10% off race registration here. I’d love to meet you!)
My run on Saturday quickly made me realize the days of running in the late morning in Florida are over for quite a while. The heat and humidity are back in full swing and I felt incredibly hot and sluggish. It was a pretty brutal run and I actually overshot the estimated distance of my running loop by more than a mile and ended up completing just over seven miles on my run. The final two miles were more of a walk/run since I ran during the chorus of a song and walked during the verses. It was a great little tactic that kept me moving along without burning out. It was H-O-T!
Once Sadie and I arrived back at my in-laws’ house, we both made a beeline for water and after chugging two glasses and eating some cashews, I hopped in the shower to cool off and get ready for an afternoon lunch date with Ryan and my mother-in-law, Diane.
Ryan found Veg, a vegetarian and seafood restaurant, on his phone using Urban Spoon and the three of us headed out for what ended up being an absolutely fantastic mid-day meal.
The restaurant specializes in vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free food and I was so excited to see so many nutritious options on the menu. I opted for a seared ahi tuna kale salad with avocado and ate every last bite.
All too often I leave restaurants feeling overly stuffed, but I left Veg feeling 100 percent satisfied and not too full. I wish I could eat here every day!
After lunch, I went to the grocery store with Diane and we picked up the ingredients we needed for Mother’s Day brunch on Sunday. We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out at the house before Ryan and I encouraged everyone to get dressed so we could treat Diane and Les to a special Mother’s Day dinner in Sarasota.
We ended up dining at Off the Hook, a local seafood restaurant.
Since nearly everything on the menu called to us, we decided to order a bunch of appetizers and share. I snapped pictures of some of my favorites, including the shrimp and grits, fried artichokes and the lemongrass mussels.
Of course we still had room for Sweetberries after dinner!
The frozen custard from Sweetberries is unreal and I loved every bite of the small coconut, almond and chocolate chip flavor that I ordered. By the time we made it home, we were full, happy and sleepy so we spent the rest of the night on the couch watching a movie before bedtime.
Sunday
Sunday was extra special since it was Mother’s Day and Ryan and I were able to spend it with two wonderful women! Ryan’s mom and grandmother are so special to me, so enjoying a fantastic homemade Mother’s Day brunch with them was such a treat.
Take one:
(Thank you for interrupting, Sadie. She clearly loves Ryan’s grandma!)
Take two:
(Dottie, Ryan’s grandmother’s adorable maltese, is camera shy!)
Diane and I spent some time in the kitchen Sunday morning and put together two recipes from Taste of Home magazine: Sunday Sausage Breakfast Casserole + Berry-Topped Puff Pancake
Both recipes were a hit with our group and we enjoyed them along with bacon, fruit salad, apple fritters and long johns from a local bakery. No one left the table feeling hungry, that’s for sure!
We spent the rest of Mother’s Day at my in-law’s soaking up all the quality time we could before we had to get back on the road for Ocala. I left wishing we had more time together but I feel grateful we were able to spend a very special Mother’s Day with family.
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and that the moms, grandmothers and mom-like figures out there were able to spend Sunday relaxing with loved ones!
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Looks like you had such a wonderful weekend! So jealous of all that amazing sunshine you are having. Here in Australia it is getting colder by the minute.
Drooling at the tuna avocado salad you had. It looks so fresh and delicious.
Looking forward to that turkey burger recipe.
That sounded like such a lovely mother’s day and weekend! That little dining spot looked perfect as well! So fresh!
Sounds like a lovely Mother’s Day weekend! Your eats look absolutely delicious!
Yay for the Sarasota, Siesta Key is soooo beautiful =)
Can’t believe you have a blog called Peanut Butter fingers but you don’t like peanut butter pie (my ultimate weakness) and just about the only dessert worth a trip to the gym for me. Or, if the kids are cranky an 80’s workout dvd (well…vhs tape) of Billy Blanks!!!
You had me at seafood!!! I adore all things seafood and sushi, so I really loved the ahi tuna pic and the shrimp and grits reminded me I MUST make that at home sometime!!!! Yum!
Seafood is the best!!
Sounds like a wonderful weekend! All of the food looks delicious!
Looks like an amazing weekend! It’s not quite beach weather here yet, but I think we’ll get there this week!
Love that picture of you and Sadie on the beach :). And how sweet, I love that you celebrated with the grandmothers too!
Jam packed weekend!!! Some yummy eats too, the tuna looks divine!
Sounds like you had a relaxing weekend! All the food looks amazing too!
Looks like you all had a wonderful weekend! I missed being with my mom and MIL this mother’s day since we live far away 🙁 BUT Thankfully we will see them in a few weeks!
Looks like you had a wonderful weekend celebrating Mother’s Day. I am SO in need of a beach in the near future – your pictures look so tropical and warm!
Ahhh! I love Sweetberries, best dessert in Sarasota, the pies are also good, I haven’t had der Dutchman, but Yoder’s makes awesome peanutbutter pie as well.
Awe the beach! We are covered here in Denver with an unexpected 4-5 inches of snow on the ground with it still snowing.
Looks like a nice weekend, I’m definitely looking forward to a day at the beach.
Sounds like you had a wonderful, family-filled weekend! That peanut butter pie looks out of control. In college there was a nearby restaurant that served the most amazing peanut butter pie, but I don’t think I’ve had any since I graduated two years ago. Now I really want some!
What a beautiful weekend! It has been so rainy here in Utah that I am ready for some summer sun. Bring it on!
What a fun beach day! I love that your dog wants you to hold her. That’s adorable. That ahi salad looks amazing!!! What a fun weekend of celebrating. 🙂
Looks like a fun weekend! I am so jealous of your beach pictures. I can’t wait to make it to the beach this year!!!!
Siesta Key has always been my favorite Florida beach. It’s just gorgeous.
Have you ever run in Boston?? I was in town for the marathon with my running club. I did not run the marathon, but did do a 5k they had on the saturday before. Such an great city and an amazing race.
What a great weekend!!! Oh my goodness, the thought of having easy access to beaches like you do in FL is just amazing to me. I would LOVE to live there one day 🙂 Sadie is a doll, glad she got to run around the beach some!
all those food pics are making me drool! YUM!
Sounds like a great weekend! Sadie looks like she had a blast at the beach! Our dog is way too chicken to play in water! He runs away from the sprinkler when it’s running! We had an awesome Mother’s Day here too!!
Dog beaches are the best!!! However our silly Lab is afraid of the waves so she doesn’t even go in! lol!
Ah I wish I was able to go to the beach!
I was just in Sarasota last week visiting my mom and sister and we went to that same SweetBerries for custard. I used to go there all the time in high school! So yum! Also, next time you’re there, hit up Phillipe Creek. Its this adorable seafood restaurant off of 41 between Bee Ridge and Fruitville Rd. Amazing food and neat atmosphere. Childhood fave of mine!
Can we get the recipe for the peanut butter pie?!
Wow–what a fun & lovely weekend! you got a whole ton of your favorites in there–BodyPump, family, good food, and beach time. Awesome!
Woah, for a second I thought you two were in California because there is a Sarasota and a Venice Beach in Cali… but not very close to each other! Then I figured it out. 😉 Looks like you had such a nice weekend celebrating Mother’s Day with some awesome women! And umm, that peanut butter pie looks to die for. I can’t imagine a PB overload– but I take your word for it, given your blog name, hehe. Happy Monday!! Xo
What a nice weekend! Love the pic of you and Sadie.
Love that Sadie!!!
Hmmmm…..didn’t know that fish and seafood were a vegetable 🙂
Looks like you had a great weekend! The shrimp and grits looks amazing!
I live by the Great Lakes so I’m used to Lake Fish (which is a risky menu choice!) but I always treat myself to some real seafood when I go by the coast! You’re meal looks absolutely delicious!
Julie – I LOVE your sunglasses, love is an understatement, meaning I want to buy the exact same ones you have. Who are they by? Are they new? I had similar one’s from a cheapy store, but they since broke and now I’ve replaced them with $3 faux Ray Bans lol. Clearly in need of new ones.
Looks like you had a great extended weekend! I can’t wait to get to the beach. T-minus 27 days until I head to FL for vaca!! That salads looks absolutely amazing – so fresh – I love little places like that.
We hosted a Mother’s Day brunch for some friends and family and had shrimp and grits too. I never thought I liked grits but Sunday I changed my mind! They are soooo good when cooked right.
One thing that I have noticed about most Vegetarian/Vegan restaurants is that they serve you the PERFECT amount of food. I love it 🙂
Looks like a fabulous weekend! I cannot get over how gorgeous the water was at the beach! We were in Pensacola for the weekend at my sister-in-laws, and the water in the gulf was a bit nasty – full of seaweed, from all the rainstorms, I’m assuming. Also, Ryan definitely looks like his mother! How special that you were able to spend Mother’s Day with both his mother and grandmother.
What a fun Mother’s Day weekend, Julie! I was excited to be able to spend most of the weekend with my mom and other mom-figures in my life — we were all in town for my cousin’s wedding, which was a blast! http://daybydaymasterpiece.com/2014/05/11/happy-mothers-day-goals-for-the-week-of-511/
your dress looks so cute from behind Sadie.. are there some fashion posts coming soon?
I always have to visit the Sweet Berries in Bradenton when I visit family. What a wonderful weekend you had.
Looks like an amazing weekend!! And thanks for the info on that Veg restaurant (my fam is vegan)! We ate at The Shore in St. Armands last night for dinner, which I friggen LOVE that place, but it’s always nice to have more options. Wasn’t the weather just perfect this weekend in that area. Ugh, too bad my vacation here ends on Thursday! I also didn’t know that there was more than one Sweetberries locations. I used to always go to the one in Bradenton before I went vegan. That stuff was the bomb!
Ryan and his mother have the same smile!!!
Cute!
Thanks for your positive attitude Julie -I love reading your blog each day (I use it as a motivational study break!)
I grew up on Der Dutchman…so know that pie, yummy! Try Walt’s for seafood!
Julie – Love your blog!! I am loving your sunglasses from the beach. What brand/style are they? Thanks!! 🙂
Thanks! They’re Carrera but I got them on RueLaLa!
I know what you mean about the heat- I usually live in London, so the heat is obviously rarely a problem, but I’m in Italy at the mo, and I almost died on my morning run- sooo hot and sweaty! At least i may get a tan though…
Sounds like the best weekend ever! I love all of the attempts at taking pictures!
We are heading to Sarasota for Thanksgiving you have given me more restaurants to try. Can’t wait
Thanks
Have fun!!
Mmmm the food, the dessert!!!! Your sunnies! I love that style and they look really pretty on ya~Uh-oh, looks like someone’s gonna be on the lookout for that style now, haha.