Hello and happy Monday. I think it’s back to reality for most of us after two weeks of holiday schedules. This is definitely the busy season in the fitness industry. The yoga studios were unbelievably packed over the weekend thanks to a new year and really cold, rainy days. I had over 60 yogis in my Sunday morning class and I attended a class later in the day at another studio and there were over 50 of us. You might think that would be overwhelming but it’s really not. Everyone’s energy is so beautiful this time of year that it feels so great to be a part of it all.

Here are some scenes from Saturday…including dinner out Uptown and a Jay Z concert.

Green (purple) smoothie for breakfast on Saturday morning before teaching hot vinyasa at Om Yoga. I kept this one simple with blueberries, mango, banana, spinach, greek yogurt and almond milk. I didn’t want any other textures from nuts, nut butter or dates like I usually do.

Lunch with a friend at Nolen Kitchen. It was really nice to catch up with her. I had the kale salad with beets, pita croutons, goat cheese, pistachios (<– love this for something a little different!), tomatoes and grilled salmon.

Another kale salad at dinner. This time a kale caesar. I had tickets to see Jay Z at Time Warner Cable Arena on Saturday night. We grabbed appetizers and wine at Rooster’s Uptown before the show.

Beef carpaccio with arugula, onions, croutons, spicy mustard and olive oil.

Duck tenders that are made in house. The breading was so good with a cayenne kick. They served the tenders with a chile aioli. I loved this dish so much.

Showtime! I can’t say that my sweater dress, scarf and booties were exactly the right thing to wear to a rap concert but it was really cold outside! 😛

The show was incredible. Jay Z stood up there and rapped the entire time…no back up dancers or anything. His band was up on these cool riser/cage things. His stage presence was awesome and he played a wide range of songs from his nearly 20 year career. Did you know he released his first album in 1996!?

I took several videos (one really, really great one from Paris that is not suitable for posting on the blog) but here’s a short clip from Izzo. The crowd was so into the show and everyone was on their feet the entire time.

Here’s a crowd shot that shows you how much everyone was into it. This was during a tribute to Nelson Mandela during the encore.

Speaking of the encore…it was filled with hits and so fun. He played, “Encore,” “Empire State of Mind,” “Izzo (H.O.V.A.),” “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)” and “Young Forever.” Everyone left the show smiling and happy.

Love, love, loved this night out!