weekend relaxation

My weekend unexpectedly started early, thanks to MacKenna being sick.  I’m sort of torn on how to feel on these days.  Part of me feels awful for missing work, considering that I haven’t had a full week with kids yet this semester (I’ve had plenty of full weeks of work, but lots of professional development days, the stomach flu, and MacKenna’s surgery have all shortened my weeks).  But, I also really enjoyed the extra time spent with MacKenna.  She was nothing but snuggles all day on Friday, a sure sign that she was definitely not feeling well.

She spent a lot of time on my lap, napping.  So sweet!  I could spend every day like this!

She slept most of the day, including a 2 hour nap in the afternoon that I took full advantage of getting my workout and shower in.  4 treadmill miles plus a quick CrossFit workout.  I felt so accomplished, since I knew I was going to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening cuddling with my baby girl.

My new BAMR Headband for my race this coming weekend!  Don’t you love my home gym setup?! ;)  Monitor within eye and ear shot – on her old bouncer of course.  I guess that’s what you use old toys for when they outgrow them…

Friday was also pizza night.  Usually Matt makes homemade pizza dough, but we had a Groupon for A Better Pizza burning a hole in our pocket.  It’s seriously some of the best pizza I’ve ever had!  I’m a St. Louis style thin crust girl for the most part, but dang, this Chicago style is so good!  Plus, we were able to eat it for leftovers the rest of the weekend, including for my post-10 mile lunch on Saturday afternoon.

YUM!!!!!!!

My long, 10-miler was pretty much the only exciting thing on Saturday.  My awesome running streak continues with finally checking a post-pregnancy goal off of my list!  I was finally able to run 8-miles in under an hour on Saturday!  I started really easy on my run, thinking I was averaging about an 8:30/mile – my legs just felt like they didn’t have it in them.  But, when I heard my first mile was a 7:38, I knew I was in for a good run!

Sure enough, I was able to do 8 miles in 59:54 – a personal best for me!  I took the last 2 miles of my run a little easier, but was still able to keep it right around the 7:30/mile pace.  Another confidence booster, for sure!

Sunday’s are by far one of my favorite days of the week.  We went to church Saturday night like we usually do, and since my long run was done, we had a big fat nothing on our schedule!  It was really nice to sleep in (to make up for the hour we lost) and take a relaxed approach to the day.  We had another Living Social deal that we had to use this weekend, so we headed out the door to Vanbuskirk Chocolate Bar.  We’re still not eating chocolate, but luckily, we couldn’t spend the deal on chocolate so that wasn’t a problem!  What we really wanted was their gourmet ice cream!  They make it in house and they did not disappoint!  I went for their new Fig, Honey, Port Wine, and Olive Oil ice cream.  I know, olive oil sounds gross to be in ice cream, but you honestly can’t taste it.  The ice cream was subtly sweet with a great port wine aftertaste.  The only thing I didn’t like about it was that it wasn’t very creamy.  I’m all about mouth feel when it comes to ice cream and this was just a little too icy for me.  Great flavor, but it needed to be creamier!

Fig, honey, port wine, and olive oil ice cream

Matt got their Cherry Bourbon ice cream, which was absolutely divine!  So creamy, great cherry flavor, and a wonderful bourbon finish!  I WILL be making this at home soon!

Cherry bourbon ice cream

We also each got a latte, which we totally delicious as well!  Makes me wish I was a college student still because I would probably spend a lot of my time at Vanbuskirk!

Burnt caramel latte

It was a wonderfully relaxing weekend – exactly what I needed!  Fourth quarter starts today and Parent Teacher Conferences are on Friday, so I needed something to help me destress before a busy week ahead.

Kenna destresses by chewing on my clutch.  She is teething so bad right now (finally getting her other lateral incisors on top and bottom), which made her being sick extra fun…

Did you try anything new this weekend?  Would you try strange ice cream combinations?  Thin or thick crust for pizza?