A happy bike rider

Happy Memorial Day to all that have served our country and fought for our freedom.

While yesterday was not very productive, today definitely was. We woke up late again, so getting up at 5:30 tomorrow is going to hurt!

We both meditated, I made blueberry pancakes, and then we went for a nice walk before it got too hot.

I did some stuff around the house, like bring up my bike from the basement and accessorized it with this nice Bell bag to store my cell phone, keys, sunscreen, etc. in.

I was so glad to have found this bike bag last summer, because the ones that sit under your seat just didn’t work with my bike. Also, those are never big enough for all of the stuff I like to take on my ride. Plus, this one was a great price.

Craig planted green bean seeds, so we’ll see how they do.

Since I was already sweaty and gross from our walk, I went to the gym to do a full circuit of weights, some ab work on the ball, and about 20 minutes on the Precor 100i, which I hadn’t been on in a while. I was definitely feeling it in my legs after about 5 minutes! My new “smart” goal at the gym is to switch up the machines I use. There is actually a board about smart goals up at the YMCA this month and it made me think about incorporating a new goal for my time at the gym. I know that switching up your fitness routine leads to faster results, so I decided that was my goal.

I was craving a smoothie when I got back from the Y. I threw in protein powder, strawberries, a banana and skim milk.

It was so flippin’ hot out today, so we stayed inside the house where it was only a bit cooler. I read The Help and I am enjoying the story so far.

When it had cooled off a bit, I went on a bike ride and it felt good to get outside on a bike! I love bike riding and really do wish I could bike to work every day on a safe route. I got this Trek 7100 bike last summer and I couldn’t be happier with it. I’ve always been a Trek girl. Gotta support products made in my home state!

I wasn’t really hungry for dinner because of the warmer temperatures. But I had to eat something and I decided I needed some veggies in my diet today. I made a nice salad with spinach, feta, grape tomatoes, cucumber, broccoli & carrots. I also topped it with some Mural of Flavor Penzey’s spice because I have found that particular spice is perfect on veggies.

It’s almost 9 and that means it’s almost bedtime for me! Aaah, I wish every weekend was a four day one. It has been so nice being off of work. At least I’ll have a four day weekend to look forward in mid-June before the summer months get very busy for me at work.

Hope you enjoyed your Memorial Day!

A wedding, lazy day, and the hunt for a summer beer

Here’s what we have been up to this weekend:

Saturday

I went to yoga class and while it felt good to stretch, we had a substitute teacher instead of the normal teacher and she didn’t really integrate the poses in a way that made it feel like it was flowing together. Kind of disappointing, but I now appreciate the regular yoga teachers I go to.

Even though I wanted to get some more gym time in, that was not feasible since I had to do some cleaning around the house and then get showered and ready for a wedding in the afternoon.

We went to Craig’s cousin’s wedding. Here is the happy couple (Craig’s cousin is the bride).

After the wedding, I was starving! We headed to Cousin’s subs (I just realized this is ironic since Craig’s cousin got married) and we both got clubs. I scarfed most of it once we were home. I know this isn’t what one should do before a wedding reception, but I was very hungry.

Then it was time to head to the reception, which was at Potawatomi Bingo and Casino in Milwaukee. The reception hall was really nice and huge. I headed right for the alcohol to get myself a glass of Merlot. There was also a candy table! I got some peach gummies.

Dinner was fish and chicken, plus salad, green beans, mashed potatoes, & pasta. Hence why I ate most of that sub–with not really liking chicken and hating fish, I was glad I ate ahead of time!

I didn’t take a picture of my meal, but here is our dinner table. We ate with Craig’s sister, parents, and his Aunt, Uncle and cousin.

Craig and I. I really should have done something more with my hair. I am bad at putting it up, but I figure I should learn how to curl it or do something for these more fancy events.

Instead of a wedding cake, they had cupcakes, which was also a great idea. Loved the cupcake I got, although I couldn’t figure out the flavor of the frosting.

The cupcake frosting even matched my name place card!

Us with the bride!

The other creative thing they had was a photo booth. If our wedding wasn’t so low budget, I would have loved having one of these at ours!

Craig and I took some funny pictures in the booth and then I went up there with Craig’s cousins.

Once everyone settled down and no one was even dancing anymore, a bunch of us went down to the casino. I am totally not a gambler, so this was like being in another world. I have only been to casinos in Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe, NV. I’ll just say we didn’t spend much time down there because I also don’t like cigarette smoke and because we felt sort of uncomfortable.

Sunday

Today sort of felt like a waste, but maybe I needed the time to relax. We slept in a bit and then went to Home Depot for some more soil so I could plant my flowers. I did that when we returned home, had the rest of my Cousin’s sub and a big bowl of yogurt for lunch, and then it started to pour outside. The house was dark and I started to read The Help, but I felt tired after a little while. I opted to take a nap with the kitties in our bed and slept for an hour. I had to force myself to get up, put some makeup on and get out of the house.

I headed to my least favorite mall, but I wanted to get the Estee Lauder gift and to check out the liquidation sale going on at World Market. Our World Market has to close because a Macy’s is going in it’s spot, which disappoints me because I really like that store. They had just started their liquidation, so there weren’t that many good deals yet. I really wanted this couch and chair, but I know our cats would claw at the material (they aren’t declawed).

Once I was done shopping, I went to a local food store, Sendik’s, and was on a mission. Paige from Running Around Normal had posted about how awesome Buffalo Bill’s Brewery Orange Blossom beer was about a month ago. I wanted to find the beer, but had no such luck. I’ll keep looking for it though! I went to Buffalo Bill’s website to see where I could find it locally and I had to laugh because they spelled “Wisconsin” like this: Wisconson. It doesn’t look like I can get it here, but you never know if some small liquor store carries it.

Instead, I picked up Pyramid Apricot Ale beer. I haven’t had it since living in California and it sounded like a nice summery beer.

I purchased one of my favorite cheeses–Swiss Rye.

Once home, I put it on a pumpernickel roll and it was so simple, yet the delicious flavors blended together and pleased me so much!

“Dessert” was Brown Cow maple yogurt pictured above. I decided to buy that rather than ice cream.

Oh and I finished Water for Elephants on Friday and I really enjoyed the book. I thought it was well written and I liked the characters. I am looking forward to seeing the movie, but may wait for it to come out on DVD.

Night!