Good morning all! I hope this Monday has you full of fun memories from the weekend. I had an amazingly fun weekend. In fact, there is so much I want to share in the recap, I decided it would be best to split it into 2 posts. So today, I want to share the first half 🙂
It really started off on Friday. I met fellow blogger, Jessie from Don’t Forget Dessert, for lunch. We met at Zoe’s Kitchen in Birkdale Village. I love Birkdale… it’s one of those eat, live, play communities in between Charlotte and Mooresville.
It was so much fun meeting Jessie, hearing about her childhood battle with cancer, which you can read about HERE, and just enjoying the company of a fellow blogger. Hopefully we’ll meet up again soon 🙂 It was my first time eating at Zoe’s, and I was excited. They have food with a Mediterranean flair. I ordered the chicken kabobs. Good choice…!
I might have been starving, but everything was delicious… especially the braised beans! I am going to have to work on recreating those tasty legumes at home.
I guess I didn’t get my fill of Mediterranean at Zoe’s because Friday night, Hubbs & I decided to try out another Mediterranean spot we had heard of in Mooresville…
What? Doesn’t sound Mediterranean? I didn’t think so either. But people told us it was, so we tried it. Although they do have a Greek section of the menu, they also serve eggs, reubens, & cheese tortellini. Hubbs & I decided to go Greek. He had the gyro and I ordered Souvlaki.
The food was actually very tasty! However, I personally like it when restaurants specialize. If you have incredible gyros, be a Greek restaurant! Make mouth-watering omelets? Be a breakfast place. I feel the places that have some of everything, end up being mediocre in all of it.
Saturday was a long day… for real. I woke up at 2:45 am. BAM! Just suddenly… wide awake. After forcing myself to stay in bed for almost an hour, I decided I might as well get up. It’s so unlike me to not be able to sleep! But I decided to be productive. I made to-do lists, sent emails, did some work, then decided around 5am that I was in the mood to BAKE.
I rummaged around in the kitchen and in no time I had whipped up a batch of Gracie’s pumpkin muffins. Only I added walnuts, to make them pumpkin-walnut muffins. Mmmm! They smelled SO good.
By 7am, I was ready for my faux 5k. You see, I have a running buddy… but she lives in Washington. Her name is Sarah. We came across each other in the blog/twitter world and realized we were at the exact same place in our Couch to 5k training. We decided to train the rest of the way together. Her first 5k was this past Saturday, so I decided to “run it with her” from North Carolina. & she’ll do the same with me for my first official 5k in October. Cool, right?
The weather at 7am felt great. The sun was barely coming up and it was still cool out. I grabbed my 4-legged running buddy and we were off! I immediately hit a steady pace. My legs were feeling strong and I had a good feeling about this ‘race’.
By the time I was hitting the third mile though, I had to start pushing. I wanted to stop… although I didn’t know why. My legs felt fine and I was able to breathe. No cramps… I was just ready to stop. But I pushed… and finally…
WAHOO!
::confetti falls from the sky & fireworks explode::
Shocked! I did it! Immediately I high-fived Sarah…
I was exhausted…
…but on a runner’s high! (Yes, I finally felt it… a runner’s high!) I was so proud of myself! In fact I decided to celebrate by cutting the grass. Odd? Well, I was already sweaty, so why not?? (No worries, I definitely remembered to change shoes…).
After all that, my legs were shot. But I decided to reward my efforts with a trip to the Davidson farmer’s market. (::cue heavenly angels singing from above::) I love that place.
& I brought this sweet girl to enjoy it with me…
Koda had been such a sweet pup. She got up at 3am with me, ran the 5k, played outside while I cut the grass… surely she deserved a treat for being so good. So I let her pick out whatever she wanted. & the bug knew exactly what she wanted…
(Sorry to all the vegetarians and vegans out there…. she is usually a peanut butter lover, but every once in a while, she loves these bones! Thanks “Nana” for starting this love affair ;)).
We wondered around all the locally grown veggies, flowers, meats, eggs, fruits, homemade jams & freshly baked breads. It truly is my happy place.
Finally we headed home with out treasures. By then it was 11am and way past lunch time for me! So I quickly sauteed some of the okra I picked up with a little Garlic Gold. Then poured a little of Nannie’s hot pepper sauce of top, and dug in. It was actually DELISH!!
Then I went to work on whipping up some BOMB BLTs… the secret? HOMEGROWN tomatoes and freshly baked bread…
Oh boy, were these tasty! I might even try to squeeze them in one more time before fall arrives. After lunch, Hubbs was home from work, so we showered and got ready to head to Charlotte Oktoberfest… more on that tomorrow 😉
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What was the most delicious thing you ate this past weekend?
christina says
look at that mediterranean food! so yum! those beans look really good 🙂 the most delicious thing i ate this weekend was either my pumpkin white chocolate chip cookies or my apple cinnamon sweet potato muffins! YUM
Tina says
Sounds like you had a pretty packed weekend. But a great one! Good job on the run. 😀
Alexa @ The Girl In Chucks says
Quinoa stuffed delicata squash! Delicious!
Good job on your 5K!
I love farmer’s markets. If I could actually go to the two big ones here in the city on the weekends, I might not even go the CSA box route. Always so much to sample and the colors of the produce are always so amazing. So many picture opportunities!
Katie @ Healthy Heddleston says
Good job on the faux 5k.. what a fun thing to do with your friend! I made an awesome stew last night and ate that . I guess that was the yummiest thing 🙂
Nichole says
I am pooped from reading this. Looks like your body was having pre race jitters at 3 AM, haa. What a fantastic accomplishment. You should be more than elated with HOW FAR you’ve come in like no time. You are kicking that program’s a**!
Holly @ couchpotatoathlete says
I LOVE BLTS!! And that homemade bread looks so delicious.
Brittany you are doing so well with running, you should be very proud of yourself!
I agree with you about restaurants that have a little bit of everything: it usually isn’t that good. There used to be this place near our house that called itself a Fish Fry — but they had the most unbelievable Gyros and french fries — they should have jsut served those since that is all they sold! They eventually went out of business 🙁
Kristin says
Our yummiest food this weekend was homemade Southwest Spring Rolls, made with faux meat (soy crumbles), black beans, and corn. Baked, not fried. Sooo yummy! Although next time I want to try them with shredded chicken instead, for lower sodium.
Your farm market looks amazing! We have a tiny one that I go to most Friday evenings, and a larger one Saturday mornings that I still need to check out. Can’t beat the fresh tomatoes – so much better than the ones at the grocery store! You have me craving a BLT now…
Jane says
OH MY GOSH! I am craving Greek food so bad right now, I can’t stand it! All your pictures look fabulous. Congrats on the running!
OK, my favorite thing I ate this weekend is halof of a Light Sundried Tomato flatbread with 1 TBSP of low fat vegetable cream cheese, some fresh spinach leaves and a few slices of Lox (smoked salmon). YUMMY!
Jane says
oops, I meant half of
Sarah @ The Smart Kitchen says
Mmmm….BLTS….
And that happens to me all the time! The weird (super) early morning insomnia. I, too, usually just take advantage of the extra hours rather than stress about not falling back asleep….even if I pay for it later in the evening. 🙂
TheHealthyApron says
What a fun weekend! I love me some Mediterranean fair! MMM
I also ran a 5K this weekend! Although I am not a runner anymore, I still did way better than I expected! Didn’t feel tired at all but my knees are hurting today (reason I quit running years ago). I love your idea to run “with” your distant friend!
Most delicious thing I ate: a slice of deep dish pizza!
Blond Duck says
I’ve been craving Mediterrean food lately! I’m with you–mish mosh restaurants are never as good as niche!
Monique@She's Going The Distance says
My dog loooves pigs’ ears and it kinda creeps me out haha.
GOOD WORK on that run girl!
Shawnee says
Oh I am so excited to start baking some pumpkin treats! Love your little pumpkin decor.
Lindsay @ The Ketchup Diaries says
LOVE the idea of a long-distance running buddy. What great inspiration!
Corey @ The Runner's Cookie says
Awesome idea with the “long distance 5k” – a creative way to inspire and support each other 🙂 Isn’t it fun to see yourself get faster?! Looks like you are quite the runner now!! Thanks for your sweet comments about my race, Brittany!
Melissa says
The Bacon sammies look yummy and fresh. Makes me want some bacon! The best thing I ate was my cheesy, tangy Italian salad.
Mo@MommyRD says
Most delicious thing I ate…probably my homemade apple crisp.
PS-love the photos of your fur baby!
Mary @ Bites and Bliss says
I always bake whenever I wake up in the middle of the night, too 😛 It’s so relaxing and quite at that time!
Congrats on the faux 5K!! I remember cursing the race planners in my head a few times when I used to run them…so I know the pain. 😉
homecookedem says
Oh my goodness, now I’m craving a BLT just like yours!! The most delicious thing I ate this weekend was a piece of carrot cake at my first baby shower!! 🙂
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