Scenes From Staycation

Today is pretty much the most depressing day ever because it’s back to work after a really, REALLY awesome week off. It’s been so fun relaxing, sleeping, spending time outside, and celebrating with friends, family, and each other. I want to share our (mostly) staycation with you guys today, so here’s the day by day rundown of our week:

Friday night
We stayed in and made blackberry mojitos and fish tacos to enjoy while finishing season 3 of The Walking Dead. Does anyone own season 4 that we could borrow?

Blackberry Mojito

Saturday
After hitting up the Waltham Farmer’s Market in the morning, we ventured up to Gloucester where the engagement happened.

Engagement in Gloucester

After we got home from our day trip and dinner, my parents stopped in for hugs and a glass of champagne while we relayed the story.

Engagement: Parents

We drank the champagne on our front porch, which Tim’s parents decorated while we were away for the day. So thoughtful! This picture doesn’t really do it justice because it was hard to capture the porch in one shot, but you get the idea.

Engagement: Porch

Sunday
On Sunday we slept in and then called and texted what felt like a bajillion people. I also got my nails done before planning an impromptu celebratory BBQ at our apartment with some of our favorite friends.

Engagement BBQ: Friends

Engagement BBQ: Friends

Engagement BBQ: Me and Ashley

Engagement BBQ: Me and TimEngagement BBQ: Me and TimEngagement BBQ: Lexa and LaylaEngagement BBQ: Girls

I just realized that we didn’t get a single picture of any of the men who came to celebrate. Oh well!

Monday

On Monday, Tim and I were finally able to get a beach day in. We headed back up to Gloucester and spent several hours relaxing at Wingaersheak Beach.

Staycation 2014: Wingaersheak Beach

On the way home, we stopped at the jeweler to square some things away with my ring. We spent the rest of the night cleaning up from the BBQ the day before, and then I went to bed early since I was teaching class the next morning.

Tuesday

Tuesday morning was an early gym day for me. I taught an outdoor Tabata stations bootcamp workout on the basketball court, and then I stuck around to do a strength workout since I hadn’t exercised Saturday, Sunday, or Monday.

Staycation: Bootcamp

After the gym, Tim and I packed up the car and headed first to work to pick up our CSA produce and then to a nearby lake to get our first kayak of the season in. It was a beautiful day, and we just floated around while enjoying the water. We also had a picnic lunch, Tim did some fishing, and I did some sunbathing.

Staycation: Kayaking

Wednesday

Unfortunately, I woke up on Wednesday not feeling so hot. My throat hurt, my head felt cloudy, and I felt stuffed up. I was seriously annoyed because who gets a head cold in July? I made it through the entire winter without being too sick and then I felt all stuffed up on vacation? Gah. Anyways, I slept for 12 hours from 10pm Tuesday night to Wednesday morning. On Wednesday we didn’t do anything outside since it was so humid. Instead, I got another strength workout in with a cardio finisher to try to sweat out the stuffiness. The rest of the day I spent inside getting some things done around the apartment and shopping at the mall for some new shorts. Tim and I also went out to dinner at night to try to beat some of the heat. We enjoyed a bunch of different small plates at Temple in Cambridge before calling it a night.

Staycation: Temple Bar

Thursday

I woke up Thursday feeling better. I was still stuffy, but without the head pressure and sore throat, so we packed up the car and headed down the Cape for the next three days. I wasn’t going to let a little cold ruin the rest of our time off!

4th of July 2014: Cape

We got to my uncle’s Cape house around noon, ate lunch, and then met my parents and Uncle Chris at the beach. We stayed at the beach for about three hours before stopping by our favorite Cape Cod bar, The Summer Shanty, for a few drinks.

July 4th 2014: Summer Shanty

July 4th 2014: Summer Shanty

July 4th 2014 Summer Shanty

We spent the rest of the night just hanging out, grabbing a bite to eat, and having some more drinks.

Friday

The weather on Friday wasn’t as horrible down the Cape as it was everywhere else in Massachusetts, but it still was no beach day. Tim and I woke up and went for a three-mile run to start our 4th of July. It was still humid, so we appreciated when it rained a bit on us during our run!

July 4th 2014: Running

4th of July 2014: Post Run

When we got back, my aunt, uncle, cousin, and grandfather arrived. We spent all day just hanging out together at the house, eating, drinking, and playing cornhole.

4th of July 2014: Breakfast

4th of July 2014: Cape

4th of July 2014: Cape

4th of July 2014: Cape

4th of July 2014: Cape

4th of July 2014: Chickpea Salad

4th of July 2014: Cape Meal

After dinner, Tim and I were on the porch when all of a sudden everyone came out with a big cake singing what they thought was the wedding song but was really the graduation song. It was hilarious! My uncle made Tim put on a big fourth of July hat with a little tux pinned to it, and he made me put on a light up fourth of July crown that he attached a little veil to. Then they made us cut the cake and take one thousand pictures.

4th of July 2014: Cake

July 4th 2014: Cake July 4th 2014: Cake

As you can see, Tim smashed the cake in my face, and I told him that it better have been the first and last time he did that! The rest of the night included games, strawberry prosecco floats, and more relaxation.

4th of July 2014: Strawberry prosecco floats

Saturday

When we woke up on Saturday morning, the weather still wasn’t so hot, so I did the Baby, You’re A Firework workout that I posted last week. Once the sun popped out, Tim and I packed up our things and said good-bye to my family.

July 4th 2014: cape

We then headed to the opposite side of the Cape to visit with our friends Jeff, Jill, Cate, Joe, and Nicole for the afternoon. I was happy to squeeze in another couple of hours at the beach and see baby Hannah.

July 4th 2014: Falmouth

We left the Cape around 6:30 to go to Katrina’s parents house (halfway home for us) where she was throwing Geoff a surprise 30th birthday party. We wrapped up the night with more fun friends and some night swimming. Geoff was surprised and happy, and I was happy we could be there for his day.

Staycation: Geoffs 30th

Sunday

Cue Sunday blues. A lot of the day was spent catching up from our week off, but I was able to sneak off to the pool to meet Slesh for a couple last hours of sunshine and last minute wedding talk. I cannot believe her big day is in less than a week!

Staycation: Pool with Slesh

And that’s that! Do I have to be back in the office today?

–Let’s chat–
What’s been going on with you in the past week? How did you spend your 4th of July? How are you enjoying summer?
Do you have any time off to look forward to?

Scenes from the 4th

4th of July breakfast

West Dennis Beach

West Dennis Beach

West Dennis Beach

West Dennis Beach

West Dennis Beach

West Dennis Beach

West Dennis Beach

West Dennis Beach

West Dennis Beach

Red White and Blue Salsa

4th of July BBQPatriotic Trifle

Cornhole4th of July Me & Tim

4th of July Me & Mom

4th of July - Beanbags

Summer Shanty

Summer Shanty - Me & Uncle Chris

Summer Shanty Steamers

Summer Shanty - Ann & Dan

Summer Shanty - Mom & Dad

Summer Shanty - Dad & Uncle Chris

Summer Shanty - Tony & Greg

Summer Shanty - Me & Tony

Summer Shanty

I’ve said it countless times on the blog before, but the 4th of July really is my favorite holiday.  This year did not disappoint, as we had a wonderful time at my uncle’s Cape house.  We did hit some bridge traffic despite leaving late on Wednesday night, but it didn’t matter once we got to the house and started catching up over drinks on the porch.  We had two great beach days, tons of food, great company, my favorite Cape Cod bar, and lots of laughs.

One of the funniest moments of the entire weekend was when my dad was playing corn hole and got one of the bean bags stuck in a tree.  He then proceeded to try to throw other bean bags at it to get it down, and somehow managed to get THREE bean bags in total stuck up there.  The next thing you knew, there were a LOT of Greeks just throwing random things up in the air, including bouncy balls, more bean bags, tennis balls, and even brooms.  And yes, the broom got stuck in the tree at one point too.  It’s one of those things that I wish had been video taped because it honestly could have been submitted to America’s Funniest Home Videos.  Luckily, I date someone over 6 feet.  Tim was able to save the day by standing on a 6 foot ladder and using a pole to knock the bean bags down!

Anyways, even though it’s not that far away, there’s something about being at the Cape house that makes you feel like you are escaping.  Even for just a night or two, it’s the perfect getaway.  Especially for July 4th.

What is your idea of the perfect getaway, whether somewhere close or far away?

Hope to see some of you at Two A Day tonight to burn off any weekend indulgences!  I’m teaching both Kickboxing for Liz and my Interval class.  Also, another F&F birthday shout-out today… happy birthday, BRIDGET! 🙂

Fun from the Fourth

Is it Friday?  I have no concept of what day it is, which I must say is quite a nice feeling.

Let’s talk about July 4th.

July 4th Eve

On Tuesday after I taught both Kickboxing and Circuit, I headed down the Cape to my uncle’s beach house with Tim and my brother.  Luckily, we hit NO traffic and were able to make decent time.  When we got there we spent three hours in the living room catching up.

While we were talking, I drank one of these:

And also one of these:

And I ate a bunch of THESE:

We didn’t end up going to sleep until around 2, but luckily we weren’t too tired in the morning when the rest of the family pulled into the driveway with Greek music blaring before the birds were even chirping. <—Not joking.

July 4th Breakfast

Our 4th of July started with some patriotic pancakes!

I mixed the batter and Tim did some sweet flipping.  They were a big hit among the rest of the breakfast spread that Uncle Chris had ready for everyone, and a yummy start to the day!

July 4th Beach Time

After breakfast, we all headed to the beach for a couple of hours.

I tried to be as 4th of July-ish as possible in my (what used to be) red bathing suit with white polka dots.  Seriously this bathing suit is like 8 years old.

My dad, as you can see, didn’t care as much about sporting his red, white, and blue.

Our time at the beach was spent lounging, swimming, reading, and hole digging!

July 4th Workout

After we got back from the beach, it was backyard bootcamp time!

I originally was planning for the holiday to be an off day, but I brought a workout outfit to the Cape just in case.  And while I was flipping through the latest issue of Women’s Health on the beach, I stumbled upon this page:

It was called “6 Moves, 4 Workouts.”  Now the moves weren’t anything new to me, and they wouldn’t be for those of you who come to my classes week after week:

  • Jump Squats
  • Butterfly Crunches
  • Burpees
  • Triceps Dips
  • Jumping Lunges
  • Pushups

What caught my eye was the four different workouts that Women’s Health provided that use all six moves.  I decided to go with workout one because it was only 15 minutes, and a quick 15 minute sweat sesh on a holiday sounded good to me.  Especially if I could sneak it in while I was still grimy from the beach and while the BBQ was being prepped.

My mom and Auntie Paula decided to join me.

The workout?  Do 10 reps of each of the moves listed above, in that order.  Once you’ve done 10 of each, you’ve done 1 round.  Do as many rounds repeatedly as you can in 15 minutes.

Let me tell you, this 15 minute workout is NO JOKE.  I was able to do 7 full rounds, which is pretty much averaging 2 minutes per round, plus the first two moves of the 8th round.  By the end, I was dripping. 

Circuit class, I foresee this workout in our near future.  <grin>

July 4th BBQ

After backyard bootcamp was over and showered off, it was time to eat!

Everything was so yummy!  Here’s my plate:

I had a bit of everything, but instead of a bun I enjoyed my burger topped with the tomato, basil, and mozzarella.

After dinner comes dessert, naturally.  I made red, white, and blue chocolate covered strawberries!

And enjoyed with Uncle Chris’s to die for trifle.  I could eat seriously the entire thing!  I didn’t eat the whole thing, but I may have taken an extra scoop.  70 burpees before dinner makes up for it, right? 😉

4th of July Goofiness & Games

Other pics from the rest of the day:

Was a great day!  I love July 4th!

How did you all celebrate July 4th??  Anything fun??