Happy weekend! I mentioned in my Friday post that I was traveling this weekend. I’ve been a little all over in the last 24 hours but here’s my final destination.

I’m at my parents house! I arrived exhausted and sweaty around 3:30 p.m. and was immediately sent off to shower. I then painted my nails and planted myself on the couch for the long haul. It’s rainy and cold and we’re eating dinner in tonight. I’m looking forward to an evening of relaxation!

I actually didn’t come to Georgia to visit my parents – getting to see them was just a bonus! I came down Friday night to visit a friend who is the director of a Y that is located right outside of Atlanta and to help them launch BodyPump 80 this morning.

We met in Athens last night for dinner at 5 & 10.

5 & 10 is my favorite restaurant in Athens and I was so excited when Louly suggested that we meet there for dinner. It was a good central location for me driving down from Charlotte and for her driving over from Covington. I was so ready for some bread and a glass of wine after three and a half hours in the car.

The chef sent out an amuse bouche featuring sautéed pompano that he’d just received in fresh.

I started with the butternut squash soup. It featured chicken stock, pureed butternut squash, roasted pear, candied pepitas and cream.

I could have ordered anything on the menu and been perfectly happy. I was really struggling with my decision…scallops, duck, short rib, pork chop…it all sounded delicious\. We had a wonderful server (Paul) and he told me the scallops were one of the best dishes on the menu. Actually, I’m pretty certain he said they were his number one pick. I love ordering seared scallops at restaurants so this was all the convincing I needed. They were served over rutabaga puree with lacinato kale, celery pine-nut salad and finished with lemon brown butter.

We ordered coffee after our meal and you can’t have coffee without dessert, right? What started with the idea to order two scoops of salted caramel ice cream turned into ordering the chocolate nemesis cake with candied pecans, seared bananas and two scoops of salted caramel. It was so good that we were speechless. The combination of flavors was perfect.

Fueled by coffee, I made the 45 minute drive to Louly’s beautiful lake home where I promptly took a hot shower and collapsed into bed. I was able to get almost 8 hours of sleep in and it was blissful.

I awoke this morning to a sunrise over the lake, breakfast and coffee. More details in my next post about the BodyPump launch and the rest of my Saturday. I had a great time teaching with the Covington Y team!

What is your favorite thing to order when you go out for nice dinners? The kind of things things you don’t cook at home.