More Sundays Like This, Please

This weekend was by far the busiest slash most relaxing one I have had in a long time! Sound confusing?

Ha! I feel like that is the vicious cycle that we call our lives right now. February has been absolutely jam packed with home games and I casually mentioned a little thing called “danceritis” Thursday. It happens, and all I can do to fight it is take a step back, look around at the opportunities I have right in front of me, and enjoy my time doing what I love!

With that being said, I am going to quickly recap Friday and Saturday, so we can get to the good (and yummy!) stuff that happened on Sunday.

Country Dancing with Big  & Rich

If you have been following this blog for a while, you might have seen me mention something about our halftime acts for the Detroit Pistons. Coming from someone who started their dancing career in Orlando, I have to admit that they are pretty epic up here.

Throughout the season, the team brings in a handful of currently or once popular music artists and more times than not our team has the opportunity to dance with them for the halftime show. Pretty neat right?

Friday’s game started with a country themed dance with our mascot, HOOPER.

(Save a horse, ride a… ?)

Then continued with halftime performance with Big & Rich!

They were for sure one of my favorite halftime acts to date. We all had so much fun performing to their music and they were incredibly nice and welcoming to us afterwards. I even got a high five!

After a win, a group of us went to celebrate by grabbing a bite to eat at a local pizza joint. Instead of boring you with food pictures (believe me, there are more of those coming right up!) I will leave it at being delicious with a strong appreciation for their gluten-free pizza and pasta menu options!

(Me, Katlyn, Alex, Nichole)

I spent my time Saturday morning cleaning up the house, doing laundry, and getting ready for another game. I wanted to go for a trail run, but I am trying this new thing called listening to my body and giving it rest when it aches. It’s a tricky and frustrating concept, but I am rolling with it in order to get through the rest of the dancing season!

Plus, it hadn’t warmed up as much as I had hoped outside… so there’s that.

We had practice in the afternoon and then went straight to the arena for another attempt at a home win.

Dan Lippitt Photo

Unfortunately, we didn’t pull the W that time, but we did enjoy dinner (again) after and a fun time out to celebrate anyways.

We decided on TGI Fridays and I hesitantly ordered their black bean burger with a side of sweet potato fries.

I am always skeptical when a chain restaurant offers a garden or black bean burger on their menu, but I have to admit that this one was hearty and good! I moved the top bun off, and enjoyed it smothered in melted cheese, lettuce, pickles, grilled onions, and fresh avocado.

Sunday Brunchin’ in Birmingham

I can’t tell you the last time I had a Sunday like yesterday. It was perfect. Originally, I thought I was going to have to attend a dance workshop and practice, so I didn’t have high hopes for a weekend of regrouping and relaxing.

As it turns out, I had the day free and Scott and I were determined to take advantage of it. We never have the same Sunday entirely off… ever!

We started our day gratefully sleeping in, then attended the late 10:30 a.m. service at church. It felt so great not to have to rush off anywhere afterwards, since we usually go to the early service and then have to go straight to practice.

Instead, we made our way out the doors at our own pace and drove down to Birmingham for brunch.

I have only been to Downtown Birmingham a handful of times, but every time I visit it makes me want to move there. It’s adorable!

Where we originally planned on eating had over an hour long wait, so we walked a couple of blocks and stumbled upon Social Kitchen & Bar instead.

I had only heard great things about this spot, but never gotten the chance to try it out. Once again, adorable.

Alex had been there a handful of times, but always for dinner and said we have to come back during the summer when the patio is open!

I love the eclectic look of places like this, and it reminded both Scott and I of hidden spots we used to frequent back in Orlando. Check out the cool light fixtures and Bloody Mary bar!

We happily accepted our half hour wait time for brunch with a round of Mango mimosas.

We got sat much sooner than we expected and all found ourselves swooning over the menu. Scott kept joking that we were so happy and giddy, and I credit half of that to the sunshine finally finding it’s way past the clouds outside.

I give the rest of the credit to these beauties we ordered as an appetizer.

Pumpkin Pancakes with real pumpkin puree, chocolate chunks, cream cheese frosting, and toasted pecans.

Yeah. They only lasted about thirty seconds. For entrees, all the girls ordered make-your-own skillets that all turned out similar.

Scott ordered egg tacos!

Scrambled egg, chorizo, pico de gallo, black bean puree, queso blanco, cholula.

I was proud of him conquering his fear of corn tortillas and have to give his entree the win here. I can’t really complain about my skillet though, because it was also pretty freaking delicious.

Egg whites, mushrooms, tomatoes, cilantro, avocado, jalapenos, Swiss cheese, bacon and cholula.

We all left full, and in the best moods walking the downtown blocks.

On our way back to the car, we just so happened to cross a Sweet Earth frozen yogurt place that is known for their gluten and wheat-free toppings bar. Clearly, we had to check it out.

Out of pure curiosity, I chose the dairy-free vanilla and chocolate swirl fro yo and topped it with blackberries, blueberries, strawberries and toasted coconut shavings.

It was good, but the texture of the non dairy yogurt might not be for some. It was very light and resembled more of a whipped cream consistency to me. I’m still not complaining, though. It was oh, so yummy.

And with extremely content bellies, we walked back to the car and each enjoyed the rest of our Sundays, respectively.

Scott ended up going bowling with some friends while I stayed home and caught up on some rest. We ended the night with dinner at Olive Garden (a true rarity!) and a promise to eat more meals at home this week.

To be honest, I really do miss the days that we were home at night on an almost every day basis. It really gives me more motivation to cook at home more consistently! I guess I have the summer (off-season) time to look forward to that.

Until then, we are plugging away trying to soak in the rest of this crazy NBA season upon us. There is another home game tonight, so I must go and get movin’ on my to-do’s before I need to get ready for it.

I just had to share my weekend with you to hopefully share the good mood around. I’m also linking up with Katie and her marvelousness!

I hope you all have a fabulous start to your week!