Hello, and Happy Tuesday! I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend. Ours was pretty busy, and while I had every intention of checking in yesterday…. sleep won. It happens.
First things first, I want to take a second and acknowledge why I am dragging after a three day weekend in the first place. I spent the majority of my time working with my old furry friend HOOPER (<- remember this goof?) to pay our respects, and he said it best:
“All gave some, some gave all. Gone but not forgotten.”
I know it’s a day late, but I still want to say a sincere thank you to all who have sacrificed for our country and freedom. The soldiers, families, and all who have been affected by their service will never be forgotten. <3
***
While the weather could have been a little warmer and brighter in our neck of the woods, Scott and I had a great Memorial Day Weekend. It was filled with events, but we still managed to fit in some down time and enjoy much-needed quality time together. Here are the highlights!
• couples Fitness Pilates
I worked in and out of the gym all day Friday. I wanted to get in my own workout after my last night class, and was pleasantly surprised when Scott took me up on the offer to join in on my own Fitness Pilates inspired workout!
Gosh, I miss those moves. After an hour of re-living my obsession with that class at my old gym, I realized I need to incorporate more Pilates and barre back into my everyday workouts!
• Saturday snuggles
Saturday started off slow, and getting our carpets cleaned over lunch ended up taking up the majority of our day. With the furniture randomly dispersed throughout the house, I found a cuddle spot off of the wet ground to work on the computer while Scott finished working outside. I had a couple of fur babies join me, too.
I had no problem enjoying as much down time as I could, since I knew the rest of the weekend would be pretty scheduled. Cali didn’t seem to mind!
• dinner at Sumo Sushi & Seafood
Scott, our friend Ryan, and I drove over to Downtown Rochester for dinner at Sumo Sushi & Seafood on Saturday night. We started our meal by splitting a pear sake and an appetizer of choice. I decided on the house ginger salad.
Wanting to try something new, I went for a soba noodle bowl for my main entrée.
Scott ordered two rolls, which I had a bite of as well. I wasn’t a fan of this round, but I usually really enjoy their sushi.
I have my eyes on the vegetarian roll with sweet potatoes and a raspberry sauce next time!
• Memorial Day parade(s)
Scott and I spent most of our weekend working parades for the Detroit Pistons.
Once I retired from dancing, I stayed connected to events by being a part-time assistant to the team’s mascot, HOOPER. I’ll get asked to help out at appearances every now and then, and since Scott already had plans on going, I figured I could easily work too!
Parades are fun. I was in charge of getting all of the giveaways ready, as well as helping to decorate the van in Patriotic flare.
By the time we drove to the location, set up in our spot (two hours early due to street closures), and rode through the two-mile parade on Saturday, it took over six hours of our day! Pair that with being out in the hot and humid weather, and we were all pretty pooped coming home. It was so worth it though! We got the opportunity to honor those who have fallen, and made a lot of people smile. <3
Monday’s parade was a lot shorter, but we had the added challenge of fighting the rain. Luckily, the weather held out long enough for us to make our loop and return to the van before it came down. It was fun to help out with Pistons events again!
• barbecue with friends
Scott and I didn’t have any time to spare once we arrived home from the parade on Sunday. We had plans to join our friends Alex and Alex, along with a few others at her house for a barbecue. She made a delicious display of apple chicken sausage and peppers for the non-steak eaters. I had a little bit of both!
We were in charge of bringing a fruit tray, so we concocted a summery fruit dip that you’ll see more of later this afternoon!
We also brought a madori fruit punch for the group to enjoy throughout the night. It was fantastic, and a combination we will be sure to repeat in the future!
Midori liqeur, pineapple juice, sparkling white wine, and sliced kiwi, strawberry, and pears.
We spent our time both in and outdoors, and Roadie was able to come with us this time. Being the extreme dog lovers we are, Alex and I could be found on the floor petting her two family dogs and Roadie the entire night.
We know, we’re ridiculous. It’s fine.
• Eva’s ice cream
The only bad thing about going over to Alex’s is that it’s a stone throw away from Eva’s Dairy Cafe. I guess that could be considered to be a perk… but, could also become trouble when you want to go every single weekend. It’s just so good!
While I’m sure there are plenty of amazing combos to choose from, I stuck to the rice crispy treat concrete. The reasons are obvious.
The group of us sat inside for about an hour and talked about how crazy popular the place is! It’s been around for decades, and not much has changed since it opened. There’s always a line out the door any time we visit!
• lunch at Sagebrush
I planned to get up with the sunrise on Monday, but my body told me to sleep instead. Who am I to fight that? Scott and I left the house at 8:30 a.m. to head out to a Memorial Day parade in Keego Harbor, then returned back to the arena around lunch time.
We met a couple of friends visiting from out-of-town at one of our favorite spots, Sagebrush Cantina in Lake Orion. It’s hard to go to Sagebrush and not order some kind of margarita… they are that delicious!
This time, my friend Katlyn and I each ordered a frozen version and split the Fajita Taco salad as our meal. Isn’t it huge?
Per usual, we had plenty to keep us full along with the basket(s) of chips and salsa.
• movie date
It doesn’t seem like we did much over the course of the weekend, but Scott and I both felt exhausted come Monday afternoon. We took a drive after lunch, then ended up crashing for a nap almost immediately after we walked in the door. It felt nice to be home without having to get ready and rush off somewhere.
We woke up right around dinner time and decided to go see a movie. I guess you can’t keep us home for too long!
I enjoyed movie theater popcorn for dinner (yum!) and laughed throughout the entire screening of Pitch Perfect 2. It was hilarious, and definitely worth a ticket to go see it if you haven’t already!
***
It doesn’t feel like it’s already Tuesday. Three day weekends are so odd to me! Here’s hoping you had a great one and aren’t fighting a case of the Mondays at work today.
See you later!
What was one highlight from your weekend?

I’m so glad you liked Pitch Perfect 2 too! Look at that grill spread! So many yummy eats! And I love doing pilates with Josh too! It’s a lot of fun!
Gotta love the men that do yoga and Pilates with you! Sounds like Josh is a keeper 😉
I am looking forward to Pitch Perfect 2! I loved the first one. Looks like a great weekend! Scott and I do yoga together sometimes so that’s like our pilates. 🙂
That’s awesome, Lauren! I think you will love the movie 🙂
Can’t wait to see PP2!! glad to hear you liked it 🙂 and that’s so cool that you got to help out at the parade! Reminds me of my band days when we would do lots of parades!
Yes, there were marching bands at each parade. It’s always fun to see (and hear) them!
I love that you get down and hang out with your four-legged friends. I’m a huge dog-lover too and sometimes it’s more fun to spend time hanging with them!
Haha, it’s an every day occurrence around here. Between Roadie and the cats, I spend a good 10-15 minutes a day on the floor with them. So funny.
That fruit punch sounds fantastic! Glad you guys had a fun weekend! xo
We certainly did. You should give it a try after Baby #2! 😉
Oh cookouts are the best! I would say one of the biggest highlights of my weekend was getting to spend some time with my best friend from high school, who moved a couple hours away! It was great catching up and I can’t wait to see her again soon!
It’s so nice to spend time with long lost friend. So glad you got some time with her!
That midori punch looks amazing! Do you have a recipe or a link? 🙂
750 ml sparkling white wine, 500 ml midori, 1 L pineapple juice, 2 c fresh fruit, lots of ice! 🙂