It’s been a while since you’ve heard from me. Brandon and I had a miscommunication about who was packing my laptop for our long weekend in Hilton Head. We were about half way there when I realized that he didn’t bring it. I had a minor freak out but then just decided to enjoy my vacation and unplug for a couple of days. It was nice and refreshing.

As a result of this, you’re getting an onslaught of photos now and just  a quick overview of everything. We went to Hilton Head for a wedding and were able to extend the weekend to get in some beach time too. It was great to spend time with friends we don’t get to see often!

THURSDAY

We left Charlotte Thursday afternoon. I was in such a rush to get everything packed and ready to go that I didn’t have time to pack dinner for the road. I never ate lunch on Thursday (so unlike me) because I was trying to get everything wrapped up at work. I snacked on some trail mix and dried apricots. I was starving when we got in the car and ended up getting a Veggie Delight from Subway.

My sub was not very delightful. 🙁 The bread was so stale and ruined the whole thing. On the bright side, my white chocolate chip macadamia cookie was tasty.

FRIDAY

I set my alarm bright and early on Friday so I could attend a yoga class at Jiva Yoga Center in Hilton Head. It’s fun to visit other studios when you’re traveling. The class was good but I didn’t feel like we got enough work in considering it was a 90 minute class. Regardless, it was great to practice and an awesome way to start my day.

I stopped for bagels on my way back to the condo.

I had a multi-grain bagel with peanut butter and honey (brought from home) and a sliced banana. Bagels are a splurge for me. I do not eat them often because they are so calorie dense and don’t stay with me unless I do things like top them with peanut butter and that just makes them even more calorie dense!

After breakfast we hit the beach. It was a beautiful day with perfect weather.

Lots of beach games and relaxation. We had lunch at a small cafe on the beach.

I had a salad with tomatoes and grilled fish.

Friday night was the rehearsal dinner. It was held at the grooms house and was amazing. Everything was outside around their pool.

The dinner was insane. The food was catered by Robert Irvine of Eat! restaurant.  I think there was something like 12 courses. We tried to count but never decided on a final number. I took pictures throughout the night but they’re not great so I’m only sharing a picture of dessert but here’s a list of what I can remember…it was all served family style.

– Italian Wedding Soup
– Caprese Salad
– Bread with Herbed Olive Oil
– Chilled Tuna with Mushrooms and other deliciousness
– Baby Greens Salad
– Chilled Zucchini, Squash and Artichokes
– A really amazing pasta dish with Penne, Sundried Tomatoes and a cheesy sauce
– Steamed clams and mussels
– Veggie and Seafood Flatbread Pizzas
– Grilled Lamb
– Salt Crusted Fish
– Gnocchi in Tomato Sauce
– Meatballs

I think that about wraps it up. It was a feast! Once I realized how many courses there were, I just had a couple bites of mostly everything. The coolest part was that the chef prepared all of the food in the outdoor kitchen at the groom’s house. It was fun to watch them put it all together!

Dessert was gelato, tiramisu and the groom’s chocolate cake. I had pistachio gelato and tiramisu. I don’t know how I fit this in but it was totally worth it.

SATURDAY

I’m not going to lie. My stomach did not feel so good after the previous night’s indulgence. I ate half of a cinnamon raisin bagel with peanut butter, honey and banana in an effort to stabilize my system and went out for a run. I ran about 4 miles on the beach and through the resort. I felt 100 times better after the run. I am a huge advocate of exercise on vacation.

We spent the day on the beach and had lunch at the beachside cafe again. I had a grilled grouper sandwich.

Saturday evening we went to Colleton River Plantation for the wedding. It was a lovely setting and the bride and groom were blessed with nice weather.

They had stations set up with several different selections.

I had an unpictured spinach salad as well as some cheese, grapes and crackers and then everything in the photo above minus the mashed potatoes – shrimp and grits, sliced steak on a roll with horseradish sauce and chicken with sundried tomatoes and goat cheese. I also had a slice of wedding cake which was lemon and strawberry flavored and really good. Love it when wedding cake doesn’t disappoint! 😉

Hours and hours later when we arrived back at the condo, I had the other half of my cinnamon raisin bagel leftover from breakfast with a little peanut butter and honey.

SUNDAY

We stopped at the Hilton Head Diner for breakfast on our way out of town. I’ve been to this place several times and it’s always mediocre but they were able to accommodate our big group so it was worth it.

I had blueberry pancakes and an egg over medium (trying to get in some protein). The pancakes were just okay. I ate about one and a half. I was disappointed that they only had syrup with high fructose corn syrup. There was no real maple syrup to be found. I really try to avoid HFCS but didn’t want to go without syrup so I just used it very sparingly.

As soon as we arrived back in Charlotte I changed into my yoga clothes and headed to Charlotte Yoga for hot class with Suzanne. It was SO tough today. I’m sure my weekend overindulgences did not help my cause but I was definitely not the only one in the class struggling. I had to take a couple breaks in childs when my heart rate was getting up to high but felt great after the class. I love Suzanne!

Dinner tonight was pizza and salad.

I topped my pizza with tomato sauce, marinated artichoke hearts, portobello mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, mozzarella and goat cheese.

And there you have it. A long weekend in review. Did you even make it this far? Hope you all had a great weekend!