I am so excited I can hardly stand it! This time tomorrow I’ll be arriving here…

My parents just moved to Okaloosa Island which is located on the Florida panhandle just outside of Destin. We actually grew up going to Destin for two weeks every summer (back when it was a small beach town!) and I haven’t been back in years. I’m really looking forward to being at my childhood beach with my family. We’re already planning on dinners at some of our old favorites. I haven’t seen my parents since Easter so this visit is overdue! Five days of relaxation and beach time are exactly what I need right now.

Last year I asked for book suggestions for beach reading and got some great recommendations and wrote a “Summer Reading List” post. I asked for book recommendations for my trip on Facebook today and got tons of good suggestions. Let me know if you have anything to add to the list and I’ll a write a Summer Reading List post for 2012.

Things have been pretty easy on the food front. I didn’t want to go to the grocery since I was only home for a few days this week so I’ve been making do with what I have. Dinner last night was a turkey burger, roasted sweet potatoes and okra.

I was at the new gym at 7 a.m. this morning to meet some of my friends who wanted to try CrossFit for the first time. I planned on doing the class with them but my body just does not like doing CrossFit upon waking. So I went and got coffee for everyone and breakfast instead! I tried the Starbucks Artisan Egg Sandwich with Monterey  jack cheese and veggies (the veggies are a joke…a couple peppers sprinkled here and there) for the first time. I really liked the sandwich and I’d definitely eat it again for a hot breakfast on the go. I feel like it’s a better option than getting something out of the pastry case. I think this sandwich had around 350 calories and 18 grams of protein.

Lunch was a quinoa bowl with spinach, quinoa, roasted squash, sweet potatoes and eggplant, sundried tomatoes, goat cheese and hummus. I had some blue corn chips on the side. I had quite a few dips in the cookie butter jar while I was cleaning up. That stuff is scarily addictive. I’ve yet to actually put it on anything. I just eat it straight from the jar.

Now that it’s so hot out I have been craving kombucha like crazy again. Such a refreshing (albeit expensive!) afternoon treat.

Any fun plans for the 4th? And let me know if you have book suggestions! Off to pack! 😀