Beach Trip

This past week I enjoyed a relaxing vacation with my family at the beach. We have been renting the same beach cottage for over 10 years and has a lot of memories attached.

The weather for the week was perfect! With the recent monsoons that have been gracing the North Carolina coast  we did not know what to expect.. Thankfully, the sea breeze kept the rain away and we had clear skies for most of the week.

Early morning bike rides soaking up the sunrise were a daily occurrence. '

We many rides on the boat as well as hours relaxing on the beach. This was Charlie's first trip to the beach and it is safe to say he loved it!

Our nights were spent relaxing by the water with drinks watching the sun go down.

The 4th and the weekend was packed with parties and lots of fireworks. Our beach house is at the point of the island so we are able to view firework shows from several different towns. In addition, several neighbors had gone to South Carolina and purchased  major displays.

Patriotic fruit tray

It was nice to get away for a bit and relax. I have to admit even getting back to the easy routine of chores and laundry was a bit hard for me today.

How do you get back into the routine after vay-cay?

Best wishes,

Ashley

Food & Fitness: July 7- 13

Last week I was vacationing with my family at the beach. We enjoyed sun filled days and warm starry night. With that came lots of delicious new recipes and drinks to sample, taste and share. (Stay tuned for a full post soon!) After a week vacation and break from eating healthy and exercising, I was more than ready to make a food and fitness plan for this week. I find vacations to be so hard to recover from at times. However, I am hoping that with great recipes and intense workouts I will be back at it in no time. 

Food

    This week's dinner menu is going to be all about keeping it simple and healthy. Last week we enjoyed many indulgent, rich meals and I am ready to get back to clean, healthy foods! I typically eat very clean enjoying lots of fruits and vegetables. However, while on vacation I relaxed my eating and indulged in many different things I typically don't eat. Isn't that what vacation is about? It was nice to indulge my sweet tooth and try different things however, I am ready to get back to clean, healthy foods! Tuesday is my 26th birthday. Joe is surprising me with dinner but that is all I know for now. Friday a few friends from grad school are coming in for the weekend! We will be going out Friday and Saturday night for dinner and drinks.

Monday: Seared Ahi Tuna Salad

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Tuesday:Birthday Dinner

Wednesday: Quinoa Stir- Fry with Vegetables

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Thursday: Roasted Cherry Tomato Sauce with Spaghetti

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Friday: Girl's Night Out

Fitness

Sunday: Rest Day 

Monday: 3 miles 

Tuesday: 5 miles

Wednesday: Interval workout  & strength 

Thursday: 5 miles

Friday: Interval workout & strength

Saturday: 7 miles

      My goal for July is to try and incorporate more interval training into my workouts. Interval training is such a great, quick way to get a good cardio workout without spending hours at the gym. Because I am currently training for a half- marathon my workout schedule is mainly running. I really want to take advantage of interval workouts for cross training. Tabata or interval training focus on intense cardio for shortened periods of time followed by rest. This type of cardio has been shown to burn more fat in a shorter amount of time than steady state cardio. Tabata intervals have set periods of work and rest. For example,  20 seconds on then 10 seconds off repeated 8 times for a total of 4 minutes. The circuit could be completed 3-4 times after a good break. You can find some of my favorite go to interval workouts here and here .

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Best wishes,

Ashley

Patriotic Food & Fashion

I hope you all have fun plans this 4th of July!

We have a fun long weekend planned with lots to do. On Thursday, we are hosting a 4th of July beach day and cookout with my parents.  We also have friends visiting from out of town  for Thursday and Friday. Then Saturday night is the wedding of a childhood friend. 

Luckily, our beach cottage is the perfect location for catching multiple firework shows at night. I am looking forward to catching some rays during the day and lots of fireworks and sparklers st night. Since we will be outside most of the day enjoying company, we wanted to keep everything simple so we will be having a cookout.  I made sure to include several  patriotic themed side dishes and drinks!

Flag inspired fruit and cheese plate

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How cute is this tray? I am sucker for fresh, seasonal fruit and make it patriotic themed on top of it and I just swoon.  Some people love a perfectly grilled steak, I love a nice fruit tray.. what can I say?

Berry Crumble Ice Cream

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I whipped this ice cream up this weekend so I would not have to worrk about it and have snuck a few bites and it is delicious. I sure hope my guests love it as much as I do!

Blueberry Smash

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Gosh, I just love the name of the drink Blueberry Smash! I have seen several drinks recently with St. Germain in it and can't wait to give it a try. 

Below is a little outfit inspiration for the fourth for you all. :) I will be wearing something very similar at our cookout. 

4th of July by sweetcarolinabelle featuring rachel pally

Happy Independence Day!

Ashley