Food, Fun, & Sun!

Ah, the sweet taste of summer. That's right... school is out!! Woo hoo! I have to admit, as much as I love my students, the summer is worth all the hard work during the other 10 months.

So far this summer, I've kept myself busy in small ways. I've had what I call "pool dates" with girlfriends I don't normally get the chance to see during the school year. It is so refreshing to relax, sit in the sun, and catch up on life with these sweet friends. I learned my lesson early in the spring to wear sunscreen and apply often! Ouch! No one likes sun poisoning!!

I attempted the MasterCleanse last week, for those of you who haven't heard of it, it is a lemonade with filtered water, squeezed lemons, and gradeB maple syrup that you drink throughout the day. Hard core cleansers drink only this concoction, along with some teas that I was scared to try! I started it and it surprisingly gives you energy and makes you feel full! I started eating small meals with it instead of solely doing the cleanse. I now try to drink the lemonade to replace one meal a day now and do smaller meals for the rest. It has actually made me rethink the importance I place on food. We think we need so much food to feel full- not true! I have cut down the amount of food I eat and it has made a big difference. So my love/hate relationship with food is actually improving because of the lemonade! Who knew! :)

Speaking of food, I found my new summer treat... the pinkberry type frozen yogurt places are popping up everywhere in Charlotte lately. YoForia in SouthPark is the big one, then my friend Anna introduced me to TastyYo in NoDa... heaven in a cup! I love fat free, sugar free anything that doesn't taste like cardboard. This stuff is fabulous! It makes for a fun outing in the summer and guilt free treats always work for me!

My favorite: Vanilla, ferrero rocha froyo with chocolate chips, graham cracker bits, granola, and strawberries... yumm!!

We have a busy, fun summer ahead! I'm looking forward to the fun memories with family and friends. More updates to come!

Off we go to Charleston!

This past weekend, the hubs and I got out of the Queen City and headed to Chuck Town! What a beautiful city. We had briefly passed through once before, so it was fun to see and do Charleston things. I wanted to give a few highlights. We stayed at the Palmer's Pinckney Inn, an adorable pink house off Pinckney St, a block away from the Market off Meeting St. I would highly recommend this B&B, except parking was tiiiiight! We barely made it out. Next time, we might park across the street.

Food? Of course we can't go anywhere without wining & dining! Friday night, we went to Poogen's Porch, which was fabulous. A little pricey, but worth every penny. We learned Poogan was actually a dog's name who the restaurant is named after, pretty cool. I had scallops & grits, and we ate fried alligator!!! It really does taste like chicken. Who knew! A first for me. Eek.

Saturday night, thanks to our tour guide, we went to Fuel, a fun patio atmosphere with caribbean/ mexican food. Very affordable, Fish tacos were awesome. We did the touristy food on the along the way, of course, Toast for breakfast & Hyman's for lunch.


Walk it out: I was surprised at how pedestrian friendly this city is! From our B&B, we were able to walk just about anywhere in the downtown district. We didn't move our car the whole visit. Saturday, we walked without a destination- my new favorite thing to do. We literally grabbed a city map and off we went! We made it to the Battery and walked along the waterway. Beautiful homes, historical markers everywhere (gag me haha), and people from all walks of life everywhere. What a great way to enjoy a beautiful spring day in an awesome city.

Make time! We've made it a point to budget in and schedule in occassional vacations just for us. We see the benefit in getting away from the normal routine and just spending time together. I must say these are the weekends you work for. It makes the long work weeks completely worth it. I want to fast forward and retire so I can just travel and eat good food with my husband! haha. We're a loooong way from there!

We can check Charleston off the list! We will definitely be back!