I took Wednesday off of blogging because I needed a night off and we had a very special occasion to celebrate – my mother in law’s official birthday. (I know I posted about a party her friends threw for her over the weekend but this was the day!)

Before heading over to the family dinner I got a quick tempo workout in. I ran 3.1 miles in 26:47. The first half mile was a warm up at around a 9 minute pace. The last two and a half were at around an 8:20 pace. It was definitely not easy. I’m so thankful for my new Garmin – it really helps me stay on pace and I realize how hard it is to maintain a consistent hard effort. Whew.

Then we headed over to party with the birthday girl.

My mother and sister in law. Aren’t they so cute!?

I was tasked with bringing an appetizer and the cake (I always volunteer to bring the cake!).

I made summer corn dip. Always a hit!

And for the cake I chose a Blueberry Lemon Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting. This cake was a little different – it was denser but intentionally so. I was worried that it would not turn out well but it ended up being a huge hit. The flavor was amazing and everyone loved the fresh blueberries and hint of lemon. Perfect summer cake! I’ll be blogging about it soon (like in the next few days) on Bakin’ and Eggs.

Rachael (my sister in law) made the most delicious salads.

Baby spinach, dried cranberries, apples, cherry tomatoes, goat cheese, walnuts and a dijon honey white whine vinaigrette.

Dinner was grilled filet with bernaise, tomato pie and cucumber salad.

I went with the vegetarian option and just had tomato pie, cucumbers and salad. I LOVE tomato pie and can definitely always make a meal out of it.

Then it was time to cut the cake!

Look at those blueberries! Heaven!

After dessert the girls got a little silly. Rachael and my mother in law, Kathy, spent at least 30 minutes trying to convince me to come to cardio funk with them. I very politely explained to them my extreme distaste for dancing but they insisted that I would like it. They even tried to teach me some of the dances.

Which was of course a total disaster. I think Brandon had tears in his eyes he was laughing at us so hard. Keep in mind that we were singing the pop songs as they taught me the dances.

I feel so lucky to have Brandon’s family here in Charlotte. They are amazing! HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATHY!!!!!!!

I have so much to update you guys on from today (Thursday) but I’m going to save it for a separate post.

Again, thank you for sticking with me this week. It’s been a tough one.

Do you enjoy dancing? Do you like dance exercise classes like Zumba, BodyJam or CardioFunk?