Weekend In a Nutshell

Hello, hello! Here’s hoping you had a wonderful weekend and are feeling at least a little bit okay about welcoming Monday into your life. I know we aren’t all fans of the M-word, but whether we like it or not, here it is!

Sometimes I put together weekend recap posts and wonder if anyone really cares about seeing me doing this or eating that. But, I continue to type them up and press publish for two reasons:

• I get to share my weekend pics.

• Looking back at them helps me start my week off on a good note.

Hopefully it does the same for you!

(Thank you for the inspiration to do so, and for always hosting the Marvelous In My Monday link-up, Katie!)

I wrapped up my Friday work day on the computer at about 5 p.m., which gave me just enough time to straighten up the house before our (and Roadie’s!) friend Bri came over.

We had plans to go to dinner and a movie, and decided to take the dogs on a two mile walk to the trails and back while we waited for Scott’s arrival.

I wasn’t sure what to expect of the trail conditions, but we didn’t get very far before we had two extremely muddy pups on our hands. These are the types of messes Roadie finds the need to hop around and go sniff happy in. Eh, why not.

We let them do their thing and made our way back to the house once the sun started to set. It was getting really chilly and windy!

Around 9 p.m, we lost our drive to wait on Scott for dinner and ended up ordering it in instead. Three cheers for pizza night!

(Hungry Howie’s veggie pizza with pepperoni with Cajun spiced crust.)

I was actually very impressed by this one. I hadn’t had Hungry Howie’s in years and everything tasted really fresh.

While waiting for Scott to arrive, we stumbled upon a scary movie marathon on television and decided to stay in and watch them for the rest of the night. Halloween (the remake) and The Hills Have Eyes 2 had us shaking in our boots for sure!

Saturday

Saturday started bright and early with a productive morning of organizing my email box and an at-home Ballet Beautiful workout.

Scott and I got dressed and ready to head out just after Noon to catch the tail end of the Royal Oak Farmer’s Market.

One of our favorite things about living in Orlando were Saturday morning strolls outside at Farmer’s Markets. Although this one wasn’t sunny, we still enjoyed the atmosphere and plan to come back in a few weeks for the full experience!

As shops were packing up, we were able to sneak in a few purchases including specialty honey and iced chai tea lattes!

Hungry, we then continued on to grab lunch right down the road at a Mexican place we have been wanting to try.

Cantina Diablo’s is a nice atmosphere to watch any major sports event and grab a fresh Tex-Mex meal. As expected, we started with their chips and homemade salsa.

Scott says you can always judge this type of restaurant by their salsa. He wasn’t the biggest fan of it, but we were both very impressed by their overall menu choices.

They offer brunch on the weekends and Scott ordered the Breakfast Quesadillas. I, on the other hand, was craving greens and LOVED my choice of the Chop Salad with Shrimp.

Shredded lettuce, grilled shrimp, jicama, roasted bell pepper, avocado, tomato, black beans, onions, mesquite roasted corn, and cilantro with a side of cilantro vinaigrette.

Um, yum. I might just have to attempt a recreation of that one at home!

Right as we sat down, I remembered how close we were to my hair salon and asked my (awesome) stylist Emma if she could fit me in for a touch up. Being more than accommodating last minute, she worked her magic after lunch and we both got a chuckle at how Scott kept himself entertained.

(Game of War. Always Game of War.)

We made it back to the house late-afternoon with just enough time to gather up some things and get out the door again. There were two HOOPER appearances to attend!

In case any of you are new around here, Scott manages some of the entertainment for the Detroit Pistons! He is the mascot coordinator for HOOPER, and the Director of our dunk team, Flight Crew.

Between those two commitments along with my Pistons Dancers schedule, you can imagine how most of our nights and weekends are spent at some kind of Pistons practice, game, or event.

It’s usually entertaining, nonetheless.

Sunday

I awoke early Sunday morning and had some free time before our team practice at 10:30 a.m. We wrapped up right after 1 p.m. and a teammate, Kylee, and I attempted to go get our cars’ oil changed directly after.

Most of you probably already knew this, but it is pretty hard to find somewhere open for oil changes on Sundays. Eventually, we decided to hold off and grabbed lunch at Olive Garden instead.

It had been ages since I have eaten at good ‘ol OG. While I usually leave in a food coma, I had goals of pacing myself and wanted to order on the lighter side to break the curse.

We both started with coffees and waters and then split the Chicken Meatballs for an appetizer.

(So good!)

Per usual, I ordered the minestrone soup and salad for my entree, but decided ahead of time not to give in to the free refills.

(I also requested the light dressing. I wonder if it is really any better for you?)

I held off on the addition of grated Parmesan cheese and enjoyed a couple of their famous (and terribly addicting) bread sticks to dip in my soup instead.

I left very full and satisfied, but without the normal food baby I usually experience exiting those doors. See, eating “healthier” is possible anywhere. Even at Olive Garden!

I arrived back home around 3:30 p.m. and spent the remainder of the day doing normal Sunday things.

Scott got home late from an event around 9 p.m. and we finished off our scary movie watching weekend with The Shining. Ahhhh!

I had never seen it or read the book before, and had only heard horror stories. I loved it and was on the edge of my seat the entire time. If you are a scary movie buff and haven’t seen it, I encourage you to do so. Yikes!

All right, that’s it for now. See you all later this afternoon!

Questions of the Day

• What was one marvelous thing about your weekend?

• Are you a fan of scary movies?

I have always loved horror movies. I am not the biggest fan of haunted houses, but if it is on a movie screen or in a book, I am totally okay with it. In fact, I prefer to watch thrillers over almost any type of movie. I know, I’m a weirdo.

Growing up, I was obsessed with reading the Goosebumps series of books too! Remember those?