End of Summer Celebrations!

What an awesome, fun weekend it was!

Friday night when the clock struck 5 PM, I was off of work to start my normal routine; gym. I did cardio followed by yoga, then went home. Marquis arrived shortly after me and told me to get changed because he was taking me downtown for dinner, drinks, and live music - my favorite! We live in a suburb of south Charlotte called Waxhaw, and it is so beautiful. It's rapidly growing, safe, very classy, and upscale, and I just love it. The "downtown" area reminds me of an old western town. It's very small, but packed with local restaurants and pubs, shopping, ice-cream, hardware stores, and more. Downtown was even having horse and carriage rides.

We stared at this little hole in the wall, listened to bluegrass, and drank Fireballs. 

After being there for a while we went into Charlotte at a pool hall that Marquis worked security for a long time ago. More live music, drinks, karaoke, and good food there. And um, Marquis got pretty drunk! It was very entertaining!

We went to bed around 2 on Saturday morning and ended up waking up at 9:30. That's late for us, we are usually up around 8:30. Not to my surprise, Marquis felt horrible. From enduring 14 hours of training in the gym in 4 days, then a night of drinking, he was exhausted. We spent most of the day just hanging out around the house and relaxing.

So did Marty.

Finally later in the afternoon he was feeling better. We got creative in the kitchen and baked from scratch his mother's fruited oatmeal cookies for the "End of Summer" luau. They were amazing!

We then showered and made ourselves presentable and it was off the luau. The cookies were a total hit. I will admit, Marquis did most of the baking. I handed him ingredients and cleaned, but he did all of the good stuff. At the luau we had the most delicious BBQ and drinks. As always, it was such a fun night.

Sunday we woke up and had breakfast outside on the porch and enjoyed the beautiful morning. We then took the dogs to the dog park. I had to snap this picture of Dottie trying to get a lizard from a tree and Charlie watching. Typical.

We took the dogs back then had to get some errands done. One of our stops was Old Navy. I was able to get 2 PJ sets, a pair of work out pants, an adorable pair of flip flops, and Marq a pair of flip flops all for $52. I love a good deal.

Since Marquis felt so good about the cookies and how well they turned out, he wanted to bake AGAIN. So it was back for round two! This time he made (I helped some!) a cherry pie, all from scratch. Another one of his mother's recipes (She passed in 2008). And I believe this one will be another hit. We are giving it to friends since we can't really have any right now. Want a slice?

The rest of the evening was spent making a delicious squash dinner and watching "Bar Rescue". And now another Monday is upon us, let's make it count!

TGIF: Back on the grind!

Another Friday is upon us. I am most happy to see it, too. This three day work week was brutal. I do not know how I am going to handle a 5! So I definitely need a weekend to prepare myself, right? Can't we just go back to Labor Day weekend? I want my toes in the sand, a fruity drink in my hand, and the ocean. OK anyways, since it's 5 on Friday and H5F5 I am sharing 5 randoms of my short week since coming back from the beach!

(1) Wednesday, reality hit. It was time to go back to work. I definitely through a tantrum too. Ha! But luckily, my laptop was delivered! As you may remember if you read my bloggy blog (you better) Marquis surprised me last week by ordering me one. Mine has been out of comission for well over a year and since I have been writing, I have been using an OLD office laptop that cannot even connect to Wifi. Marq set it up for me and even made my name "Liz Beagle". It made me so happy!

(2) It's back on the bandwagon for healthy eating and my training schedule. And I need it. I need that structure. I am nowhere near perfect and I have definitely been slacking in both departments some. It gets difficult when work is stressful, way too busy, and nonstop. Plus when you're nonstop with everything else as well. But you must push on. I am big Fiber One fan. Their bars, etc. really do have a good amount of fiber in them. Fiber is SO essential and many people do not get enough. Their new lemon brownie flavor is out of this world. It is seriously so delicious! I cannot get enough. Pair one of those babies with an apple or greek yogurt and you are full and good to go. And... um, it will definitely help "clean ya out". There is a coupon for .50 cents off of a box on Coupons.com as well!

(3) August was a stressful month. Literally half of the month by the end of the day, I was in tears. It's very fun working for a small, start-up company sometimes. A lot of times I did not even take a lunch hour. I just had too much to do. I would sit at my desk from 8-5, taking small breaks here and there to blog, look at Twitter or retail websites, and drive right back into work. Well, I don't like that. I need that mental break. What a better way to do it then get in some good cardio at the gym? My gym is right across the street! It's an all around win: my favorite music, my Lateral machine, a mental escape, and burn some fat. I had a great cardio session Thursday, too! Extra cardio on top of my work out's will be fine. It's light cardio, just enough to feel good. I sit at a desk ALL day, my body can handle it.

(4) Since Marquis is in full contest prep again and I want to be better, we have really been cleaning up our meals, especially dinner. We have had the best dinners this week! Plain grilled chicken (it isn't bad either, very juicy and tender) with spinach, almond, and apple salad with sides of sweet potatoes and beans. Last night we had a butternut squash with ground cinnamon, sugar free maple syrup, and a hint of walnuts. What a delicious, organic, and all around nutritious meal. Yum!

(5) Our babies. These are just random pictures I have taken of them since we have been back. They are just too cute and lets face it; who doesn't like pictures of furbabies?

TGIF loves!

Labor Day Weekend, Baby!

Labor Day weekend was a blast with my baby. I want to go back! I wish we could make time stop. Friday night after work, I started my weekend the best way I knew how...

Then I went home to pack, do laundry, and pack some more. That night, I was packing and Marq was in the office. He calls me in there and surprises me with a new clutch for the beach!

I love it and it was so sweet and unexpected but lets get it straight: he gets tired of holding my keys, phone, etc. for me so that is why he surprised me with it. Ha. Kidding. 

Kind of.

Saturday morning our 3.5 hour drive to coast began! Around 2 PM, we made it. Our first stop was touring a business then we were off to our hotel. 

I was so impressed, it was absolutely beautiful.

It was a beautiful day.

We enjoyed the afternoon walking on the beach and having a cocktail at the ocean bar. We then showered and got ready to go to dinner. We were going to a popular seafood buffet.

Saturday night's look

There was an hour wait and I don't know about y'all but a pitcher of Margarita's is the only way to handle an hour wait.

It only took us about 30 minutes to finish that pitcher. We were full by this point and decided to leave. We went to the boardwalk and around 11 had a late dinner at this cute ocean front Catina. I stuffed myself with chips and salsa and barely touched dinner. 

Sunday, the day was spent like this:

After being pool and beach bums all damn day, we were ready for an evening out. It started with our favorite dinner at our favorite Myrtle restaurant; "Ultimate California Pizza". We never order pizza there though, Marq likes this huge turkey wrap and I always get the mushroom and  spinach Ciabatta sandwich. 

Sunday night's look

The rest of the night looked like this:

Monday mirrored Sunday. Pool and ocean all day. But we were really tired and hung over. I didn't even put on make up. We eventually ventured out to the boardwalk and dinner.

Cheers

Excuse the no makeup, we were both burned and exhausted.

Marq and I bought a funnel cake from the boardwalk. Marq's FIRST ONE EVER and the first one I have had in over 10 years. It was my favorite growing up.

This morning I woke up this:

And then it was time to go. Back to reality tomorrow. Insert toddler tantrum now...

Get to know Karly while drinking a Pants Off Dance Off.

I am currently laying on the beach (probably with a fruity drink in hand) so my BFF has decided to take over my blog. The amazing Karly Kim has answered some hard hitting philosophical questions so we can all get to know her better. 

1) If you survived a plane crash and it was only you and one celebrity on an abandoned island, who would it be and why?

Leonard DiCaprio, because his Jack Dawson instincts would hopefully kick in and he would figure out a way to let me live.

2) If you were on a FIRST date with a super sexy man and he told you that he loved you during dinner, how would you react?

That's happened to me before.  He told me he loved me and asked me to move to Texas with him.  And I was like, "last time I was in Texas it was really humid.  So, probably not."  And then we made out for a minute.

3) Miley Cyrus asks you to twerk with her on her next MTV performance. What do you reply?

Twerking and I have a love/hate relationship 

I would have to decline because I have a healthy relationship with my parents that I'd like to maintain.  

4) A production company wants to make a movie about your life. Who do you cast to star as yourself? Why?

Lucy Liu for Asian accuracy purposes.  Jennifer Lawrence in my dreams so I could meet her.

5) What song would you choose as the theme song to your life?

Oops... I Did It Again 

6) Describe your perfect pizza. 

Cheese.  I'm a minimalist. 

7) What is the funnest birthday you have ever had?

When I was 8, my dream was to ride in a limo.  For my birthday, my parents rented one for me and my friends to ride around town in, we went to McDonald's and saw a movie.  Every birthday since hasn't been as magical.  

8) If you could make a million dollars as year doing any occupation in the world, what would it be?

Dog walker.  But only dogs that I liked and on my schedule. 

9) You were told you won a free trip to Turks and Caicos. You can wear the clothes on your back and only bring 5 other objects - what would you bring?

1.  A bikini

2.  My camera

3.  Sunglasses

4.  Gum

5.  Tina Fey

10) You created your alcoholic beverage for a popular bar in NYC, what do you call it? 

Pants Off Dance Off

Be sure to follow her blog. Because if you don't.

You will have to answer to me.

And we all do not want that to happen.