Friday Favorites #36: Week of 5/9

Happy Friday! Who’s ready for the weekend?

Today we are saying our goodbyes to family and driving over to Tampa to celebrate a special birthday before we fly back to Michigan. I’m not sure exactly what is on the agenda before dinner, but I am hoping to at least sneak in a trip to our neighborhood beach, if not a real one before we go!

Diving right into why you came here, here is what I have been loving this week in Florida. Please feel free to play along by telling me some of your Friday Favorites in the comments section, and don’t forget that you can also link-up at the bottom!

Friday Favorites #36: Week of 5/9

• running with family

Most of you already know that I share a love for running with both Scott and my mother.

Any time we come to visit, I look forward to running outside in my old neighborhood alongside the both of them.

Even though we weren’t quite used to running in the bright and warm weather like she is, we got through four miles and enjoyed the sights of palm trees and lakes in the process.

• coconut water

Directly after our run, Scott jumped in our pool and I re-hydrated with a different kind of water.

I forgot how much I love coconut water!

(Making a mental note to stock up when we get home.)

• BBC Animal Cracker videos

My sister, Trish, introduced me to this series of funny talking animal videos a while ago and I totally forgot they existed until she mentioned them again just the other day. Seriously. Why is it so great?

If you liked that one, then you should also get a kick out of this one, this one and this one.

• My House Fitness Boot Camp

While staying with Trish Tuesday night, Scott and I decided to tag along to one of her group workouts at My House Fitness Wednesday morning.

It’s an upscale personal training studio that has three franchise locations in Winter Springs, College Park, and Maitland.

They offer a variety of services including one-on-one training, group training, virtual training, and even Date Night training! We signed up to take a full body throttle boot camp, which is very similar to what they call a Happy Hour Boot Camp.

As soon as I saw my sister this visit, I noticed that she has trimmed down and firmed up dramatically since I last saw her! She says nothing but great things about her kick-booty training sessions, and I was excited to finally have the opportunity to try out a class for myself.

Boot Camp takes place outside and everyone sets up their own stations with a mat, towel, and dumbbells.

It lasts an hour long and includes a combination of cardio and plyometric exercises.

Our trainers name was Sonia and she did not play around. While she encouraged taking a second when you needed it and frequent water breaks, there was absolutely no time to doddle between any exercises.

With fun music playing in the background, she rolled a dice to see how long we would be doing each exercise, and that ranged anywhere from ten to sixty seconds.

Our class had us constantly moving with sprints, jump squats, chest presses, bicep curls, push ups, planks, squat jacks, rows, high knees, jump split squats and a twenty second plank hold or v-hold between every single thing!

In the (luckily shaded) Florida heat, we all left more than a little sweaty. It was certainly a challenge!

• Panera egg white power bowl

Directly after Boot Camp, we drove right down the street at Panera Bread for a recovery breakfast.

I knew they had a hidden healthier menu, but I always forget to ask about it. This time, Trish didn’t and introduced me to egg white power bowls.

This one is just the standard egg white power bowl with the addition of Turkey and roasted red peppers.

It was delicious and satisfyingly filling with all the protein! I will for sure be ordering it again.

• visiting old stomping grounds

Every time Scott and I are able to visit home together, we end up reminiscing about the old days and often drive to former places of importance just for fun. This time, we revisited our old condo, which is the very first home we lived in together.

I absolutely loved this place.

We were on the top floor, had ceiling to floor sliding glass doors, and a stunning view overlooking Turkey Lake.

Right from our balcony, we could see fireworks from both Universal and Disney every single night. Talk about spoiled!

Seeing it just reminded me how much I loved our old neighborhood and running around it. Sigh.

• Publix

Ahh! Publix! Those of you who are from Florida know exactly what I’m talking about.

Although I am very content with Meijer and Kroger up north, there’s just something about Publix that no other grocery store will ever compare to. First and foremost, Publix subs. I can’t believe I haven’t gotten one yet!

Picture Subway, but with Boar’s Head meat, super crunchy shredded lettuce, and a variety of veggie choices on super warm, fresh, incredible bread. I used to crave them after long shifts at work and always had one packed and ready on a trip out the beach.

And don’t even get me started on their cookies and desserts.

Publix Mango Key Lime Pie. Worth every calorie.

• Aviary photo editor app

I had already been using Aviary to edit photos I take on my iPhone, but have especially been loving it since it’s latest update this week.

In fact, every single picture included in this post was taken with my phone and edited with the app. Can you believe it?

Just in time for the weekend… have a great one!

Your Turn

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