First, sorry for the weekend hiatus from blogging but I was in need of a disconnect.

This weekend was all about birthday celebrations. My mother in law has a milestone birthday coming up on Wednesday (I will not share the number because I am a sweet daughter in law 😉 ) and my sister in law’s boyfriend’s birthday was on Saturday.

Friday night one of my mother in law’s friends hosted a great birthday party for her.

Appetizers included a smoked salmon platter.

And really amazing stuffed mushrooms that I snagged the recipe for. I will share on the food blog soon!

Our niece Scarlett was the star of the show (naturally, aren’t babies always!?).

Dinner was a spread of lasagnas and salads.

I had veggie lasagna, salad, a really tasty artichoke casserole and a slice of bread.

Then it was birthday song time!

Close up.

The cake was great – just your traditional vanilla cake with buttercream but very moist and flavorful.

I headed home shortly after cake because I was feeling kind of gross and had BodyPump and a long run planned for Saturday morning. For some reason I was really stressing about my long run because it was supposed to get so hot Saturday. I temporarily entertained the idea of knocking it out before I taught BodyPump (which would have been 5 a.m.) but I thought it would jeopardize my ability to effectively teach anything leg-related and I really needed to get eight hours of sleep in.

Pre-BodyPump and long run fuel.

Almond butter and Crofter’s on a 12-grain English muffin. Pretty much the only thing I will eat before a long run (nut butter on toast).

I formulated a plan to do my long run from the Y after I taught BodyPump. My goal was to get a few miles done outside and then finish up on the treadmill. I was kind of dreading running on the treadmill but after three really hot, really sweaty miles outside, the air conditioned Y treadmill was calling my name.

I ate a vanilla GU Energy Gel on my way back into the gym and breezed through my final six miles on the treadmill. Usually, I don’t fuel if I’m running for under two hours but I knew that teaching BodyPump before would leave me needing a pick me up.

I was so happy to be done with my long run and able to enjoy the rest of my Saturday. I started off with a veggie quesadilla for lunch.

I sauteed squash, onions and peppers and then made a quesadilla with the veggie mixture, black beans and cheddar. Topped it off with hot sauce, plain Greek yogurt and salsa.

I spent the afternoon relaxing and running errands. I splurged on a manicure and pedicure (so nice for tired feet!), treated myself to Yoforia and bought some new yoga clothes. A perfect afternoon!

I met up with Brandon for happy hour at Old Mecklenburg Brewery.

After happy hour we came home to get ready for dinner at The Palm for Charlotte Restaurant Week and to celebrate Stephen’s birthday (my sister in law’s boyfriend).

Here’s the birthday boy and my sister in law, Rachael.

Restaurant week happens twice a year in Charlotte. Tons of area restaurants offer three courses for $30. A great deal and a great opportunity to try new places!

It’s also just fun to dress up and have an occasion to go out and celebrate! 🙂

I was excited to discover Great Harvest bread in the bread basket.

My three courses kicked off with a salad.

I never order Caesar salads (they are way not good for you but as you will see in the next two pictures, that was not being taken into consideration last night!) but it sounded kind of good and Brandon wanted to split it (he got soup).

Next up was the main course and highlight of the evening.

The crab cakes were calling my name and they were SO good. I could only eat one because they were insanely rich. I gave the other to Brandon and Stephen to go with their steaks. We ordered sides for the table – fried asparagus and three-cheese potatoes. (And yes, I am still a healthy living blogger!)

And the grand finale.

Cheesecake. I dominated.

And then I died. Seriously, my poor body cannot handle that much rich food in one sitting. I felt pretty terrible the rest of the night but it was totally worth it.

You won’t believe it but there was ANOTHER birthday celebration today. This post is way too long already so I’ll cover it tomorrow. It involved more food, lots more food. I am kind of sick of food right now!

Hope you all had a great weekend!