I honestly have no words to express my heartbreak over the mass shooting in Las Vegas. The last thing I looked at on my phone last night before turning to my book was CNN.com to scan the headlines. I was shocked and sick to my stomach to wake up and learn about what happened as I slept. I have seriously been reeling over this all day and all I can think is how incredibly senseless it is.

Hurricane Irma, Hurricane Maria, the earthquake in Mexico and now this all in the span of a month is just too much. I was admittedly in a bit of a funk over the weekend. I was feeling tired, blah and unnecessarily grumpy. This news instantly snapped me back into reality for the week ahead as I remembered that I have a lot to be grateful for and that each day is a blessing…even if you’re feeling a little blah.

On Friday I started listening to Marianne Williamson’s book, Tears to Triumph, for the second time on Audible. I listened to it last year shortly after my brother’s passing and something was calling me to give it another go. I am finding so much comfort in her words, especially today, and the book is so relevant for those who are not only experiencing personal suffering but also just seeking a deeper understanding of how to better deal with the suffering happening on a global and universal level.

It’s my hope that you guys are finding your own way to process and deal with these terrible natural disasters and world events but that we can also maintain open dialogues and open hearts. We are all citizens of this world together and it’s imperative that we stay awake and support and love each other as much as possible.

A few weekend photos…

FRIDAY

On Friday night we finally made it to Rooster’s for dinner after talking about it for at least a month. As usual, it did not disappoint! We ordered from the seasonal menu (they have one menu that changes every day based on what is in season and available locally and another that is offered all the time).

We shared the roasted okra and it was served over a tahini yogurt sauce with sesame seeds. I had the fish special which was a snapper over spaghetti squash with some sort of pumpkin sauce and pumpkin seeds. It was out of this world. Tanner had the duck confit over pureed potatoes with macerated cherries and some sort of yummy sauce.

It was a perfect early fall-themed dinner.

We finished with the coconut cake. It’s one of the dishes that Rooster’s is most well-known for. It’s INSANELY good! Good news, the recipe is online so you can replicate it at home if you’d like to give it a try.

SATURDAY

Saturday started with a bowl of plain yogurt topped with honey, granola, bananas, strawberries, almond butter and chia seeds.

Next stop was the Charlotte Regional Farmers Market. The selection last weekend was incredible. There were SO many greens!

This was my first time seeing turmeric leaves. Have you guys seen these? If so, how have you used them?

I stopped by the pumpkin patch to grab a couple pumpkins for our front porch before heading home.

Here’s what I got at the farmers market…

• 2 lbs ground beef, 2 lbs sweet italian sausage, 1 whole chicken, 1 pack chicken leg/thigh quarters from Windy Hill
• 1 bunch red russian kale, 1 bunch curly kale, 1 bunch collard greens, 2 butternut squash, 1 eggplant, 1 bunch cilantro, 2 pounds mountain apples from Bluebird Farm
• A few pounds of sweet potatoes, a couple pounds of small white potatoes, 1 bag of arugula, 1 pound green beans, 1 pound okra, 1 pack bone-in pork chops from Hoffman Heritage
• 2 pumpkins from the greenery shed (which I should have bought at the grocery store because they were crazy overpriced at the pumpkin patch…which is strange for the farmers market!)

Open faced salmon salad melt with avocado and cheddar on homemade sourdough. I ate this after teaching my 11:15 hot yoga class. I didn’t feel great so I came home for lunch instead of eating at Namastay.

The rest of my day was pretty uneventful. Tanner and I walked the girls for an hour and then I watched the second half of the UGA/UT game (Go Dawgs) and stayed parked on the couch for the rest of the evening. Tanner went out to see the movie It with some of our friends but I had zero desire to see it so I enjoyed a glorious night at home instead. Virginia came over and kept me company. We watched really riveting things like Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team and Chopped. 😉

SUNDAY

I got up and baked a batch of pumpkin, date and walnut muffins and then made us a breakfast of scrambled eggs, fruit salad and bacon.

We took the muffins over to our friend Angie’s house where we went to visit her and her baby boy for the first time! It seems like only yesterday we were celebrating her baby shower and now he’s here with us!

LOOK AT THAT HAIR. <3 We only had one major poop explosion. We got to be there for his first “poop out of the back of the diaper” experience. It got all the way up to his hair. Haha. 🙂

It was just what I needed to bring some sunshine into my weekend. We are so lucky to have such wonderful team members who have become very close friends through the yoga studio. <3

Back at home I had two slices of sourdough with cashew butter, honey, sea salt and banana. It’s my current favorite snack/meal.

And the weekend concluded with teaching a yoga class, a semi-long run, a trip to Whole Foods and watching the season 2 premier of This Is Us.

Sending lots of love to all of you and prayers for peace and understanding out into the world.