roof deck – Burpees to Bubbly

Good morning! After I looked back on this past weekend, I realized how blessed I am to have such a wonderful family and place to escape to during the hot, crazy days of the summer. Since I had to teach on Saturday morning, I hadn’t planned on going to Maine until late Saturday afternoon to wait for the traffic to die down. My office closed at 11:30 on Friday, so it was nice to have some time around my apartment to relax, get caught up on stuff and even meet my sister at the beach (love having a BLL at the beach!).

That evening, my sister and I went up to Lisa’s deck for cocktail hour. Lisa lives on the 3rd floor in my apartment building and it’s so fun that we’ve become friends throughout the year. Our 1st floor neighbor, Lauren, couldn’t join us, but it’s so awesome to have 2 other girls in the building that are not only neighbors, but friends!

How about that view?! I love it! I also made my first real sangria and can’t wait to share the recipe with you- I think it came out pretty darn tasty!

We decided to head down to Kelly’s Pub for some pizza (I hadn’t had REAL, non gluten free pizza in ages!). It was such a fun night!

After teaching on Saturday, I treated myself to a pedicure. With all the working out I do, my poor feet need that kind of TLC every few weeks at this point!

Danielle and I headed north around 3pm to wait out the weekend traffic- it was a perfect idea! We didn’t hit a stitch of traffic. We even had time to grab an ice cream- yum!

Saturday night was SO MUCH FUN!!! We ate, we drank, we laughed, we danced. I just love when the 4 of us get to be together!

The pizza came out AMAZING!!! And it was so nice out so we decided to dine al fresco on the back patio. Dad had gotten the bonfire going so it was a perfect place to eat!

We definitely had a dance party post dinner as well- so so fun!

Sunday morning wasn’t as sunny as we wanted, but it was still a good day! I filmed some videos for the blog and then we headed to the Mahoney’s for their annual Labor Day BBQ. It was a small crowd, but we still had a blast! Emma is at the age where she’s super active and so funny with the things she says and what she does!

Waking up on Monday morning, I was so happy to see that the rain had stopped, the skies had cleared and the sun was shining! We packed up and headed to the beach before bringing Danielle to the train. Going to the beach with my mom is the best- she is always stocked with drinks, treats and magazines. Anything you might need or want, she has- it’s awesome! Nothing like some sun and bubbly!

After dropping Danielle off, we headed to the hotel where my aunt and uncle are staying for the next 10 days or so. Since I won’t be able to go home this weekend because I’ll be on the cape, it was good that I was able to visit with them for a bit on Monday while I was around!

Monday night was quiet and relaxing- the most perfect way to end the day and weekend home. I decided to get up on Tuesday morning and drive right to work, which was so much better than stressing about the traffic on Labor Day. Such a fun, fun weekend- I’m so lucky to have such wonderful people in my life and such a great place to call “home”.

Questions for you: What was the best part about your weekend? Did you go away for Labor Day? Do you bring drinks to the beach?

Hey Friends! Happy Friday! I hope you’ve all had a good week. Mine was relatively uneventful, but I worked out before work on Monday and Tuesday and it was SO NICE to have some extra time after work to do, well, whatever I wanted! My Tuesday workout wasn’t terrific (I did one of my recent UXF workouts and it is really hard to do those first thing when I don’t have the energy I do at the end of the day!), but it was something so that’s all that matters!

Anyway, I don’t know if anyone else has noticed, but ever since August 1st came around, it seems like everyone is officially doing a “summer countdown”. I don’t know about you, but I am NOT ready to even think about summer being over! I know I’m probably not alone when I say this, but I cannot believe how fast the summer has FLOWN by. But! Don’t worry, there’s still plenty of time to do fun summer things before we officially step into fall.

10 Things To Do Before Summer Is Over

1. Go to a local produce stand and buy fresh summer veggies! Or, visit a friend who has a garden; I’m sure they would love to share the fruits (err, veggies) of their labor. You’ll be amazed at how fresh your salads and meals taste when you eat freshly and locally grown veggies.

2. Go out on an ice cream adventure! There’s something about going to an ice cream store just to get an ice cream cone. And when I say “ice cream cone”, I mean just that: get real, full fat ice cream. None of that “fro-yo” crap (ok, jk, it’s not crap, but get the good stuff!).

3. Get outside and enjoy the weather! Go for a run along the water or a pretty trail, grab a friend and go for a power walk to catch up, get an iced coffee and stroll through your city or town. Soak up the nice weather while we still have it!

4. Find a new beach, grab a good book or magazine and a cooler and take an afternoon for yourself to relax and chill out.

5. Go shopping! Stores are FULL of summer sales right now, but summer isn’t over yet so everything that’s on sale is still great to wear for the rest of the season. And, getting a good deal is a great feeling 😉

6. Check out a farmers market and talk with the vendors. They always have loads of information to share! If you’re in the Boston area, you have to check out the SOWA Open Market in the South End. I have only been once, but I’m dying to get back!

7. Find an outdoor workout class or boot camp to take. My friend, Athena recently went to an outdoor CrossFit Class that looked like SO MUCH fun!

8. Find a fun roof deck or outside bar to go to and spend an afternoon there! Day drink and push all your other “to-do’s” aside! Take advantage of nice weather and the great mood it puts people in.

9. “Summer clean”. Go through your closet and bureau and clean out everything you haven’t worn in the past year. I recently did this and couldn’t believe how much I could donate!

10. Make a fun summer cocktail. Sangria is always a good choice and Rachel provided a delicious recipe in her Guest Post a few weeks ago!

Focus on the now and stop your “days left of summer” countdown. That little trip you’ve been putting on? Plan it! That recipe you’ve wanted to try? Make it! The new restaurant you’ve been wanting to go to? Go! Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Questions for you: What’s something on your “summer list” that you still want to do? Favorite roof deck bar? Have you been to any outdoor fitness classes? What’s something I missed?