Hi there! Sorry I’ve been MIA for a couple of days but I was soaking up momma + bday time. Here’s a look at my birthday in photos. It was a great day and I felt so lucky to have my mom here with me for it! It started bright and early at Metro where I coached 6 and 7 a.m. CrossFit. I usually teach Monday evenings but switched with another coach so that I could have the evening off. My athletes celebrated my birthday with 31 birthday burpees in their warm up. They pretty much loved me. 😉 After coaching I squeezed my own workout in. A mile warm up on the treadmill followed by a TRX and weights circuit. I came home to shower and get ready for a day trip and made green smoothies for me and my mom. She actually loved this combination (but requested only a half…I think she wishes she’d have gone with the full size!). We swung through the Dunkin Donuts drive-thru on the way out of town so that I could caffienate and then it the road for the mountains. My mom drove so that I could get a little work done on the way there. Less than two hours later we arrived in Blowing Rock. I love how close Charlotte is to the North Carolina mountains. We started our day with a hike. The Glen Burney Trail starts in downtown Blowing Rock so it’s super convenient. It’s around a 1.5 mile out and back trail (3 total) that takes you down a trail that runs along a stream with a lot of small waterfalls. It’s kind of like a nice stroll in the woods with the relaxing sound of running water. Of course I had to stop for a yoga shot and of course my mom thought I would fall and be swept down the waterfall. (Glad I didn’t!) It was all easy going at first but we had been warned that it was brutal on the way back up. The 1.5 miles in is all downhill so the return trip is…fun. (Ask my mom.) It didn’t help that it started thundering and raining on us. I was drenched when we made it back to the trailhead! Luckily, we had packed an extra set of clothes so after a quick change we were good to go. We decided to have lunch at Storie Street Grille after a quick search on best lunch spots. I started with a Highland Gaelic (beer at lunch on Monday is perfectly acceptable on your birthday). I chose the soup and salad combo for my lunch. This cream of artichoke soup was so delicious. And my salad was mixed greens, candied pecans, gorgonzola, mandarin oranges and grilled chicken. We made a short stop in Kilwins for a treat after lunch. I got peanut butter fudge dipped in dark chocolate. We spent an hour or so wandering around Blowing Rock and checking out the shops before heading back to Charlotte. My favorite spot was Take Heart. It was an adorable store full of cozy robes, bath accessories, candles, lotions, jewelry, cards…all kinds of great stuff. I especially loved when my mom told them it was my birthday and they gave me a sparkly silver crown! Every girl should feel like a queen on her birthday. 🙂 We got back to Charlotte around 6 p.m. and then I got showered, dressed and ready for dinner at a new restaurant in town that I’ve been dying to try, Stagioni. It DEFINITELY lived up to all the hype and I had a wonderful experience.   Grilled octopus with pickled onion, chick peas, lemon and olive oil. Melt in your mouth and “mmmmmmmm” every bite pizza with fresh mozzarella, mushrooms, caramelized onions and truffle oil. I love that they serve it whole with pizza shears. I will definitely be returning to the pizza bar for this one over and over again. Veal saltimbocca over creamy polenta. This dish was incredible. And cheers to 31. Hoping for a year of growth, love and happiness!