Our Lone Star Digs

After our late breakfast the hubs and I explored our hotel a little. To say this place is gigantic is an understatement.  In addition to the restaurants, Starbucks, etc this hotel is floor after floor of oversized suites. Can I just say any hotel with trees and waterfalls inside is okay by me? 😉

Still inside the hotel..

 

Our room is one of the more modest suites in the hotel but there is still plenty of space. The living room has a perfect little office/work area for me to set up my pink netbook and blog.

There is a small kitchen area across from the bathroom. I love having a microwave and fridge in the room because it makes healthy snacks/drinks easier to store. I do not love the mini bar items. Too tempting and too expensive!

The bedroom is at the other end of the suite and is cozy (ie small). However the room is really nice and the photos really do not do it justice.

And check out the view. I truly cannot get over how flat Texas is. When we were landing I felt like I could just see for days and days.

In a weird turn of events there is no”regular” television here. There are 2 flat screens in our room but all stocked with “On Demand” TV and movies. $5.00 for an episode of GLEE? I think I’ll pass!!!

I am heading to get in some rest before meeting up with our tour guide in a bit to pick up our game tickets (and maybe even meet a Cowboy or 2) !

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Searching For My Lost Shaker of Salt

So when the beach decides not to cooperate with your fabulous lay in the sunshine and do nothing plans by bringing in a pesky rain storm you have to simply improvise and make other (just as fantastic) plans.  Recently the hubs and I spent a week in North Myrtle Beach, SC. If you wonder why I am making the North distinction then you are not familiar with the area and so I will simply say North Myrtle is somewhere you stay with your family or grown up friends and Myrtle is somewhere you stay during senior beach week. 🙂 We woke up on our very first morning of vacation to a rain storm.

We decided not to waste the day and instead headed out to “Broadway At The Beach” a Myrtle Beach “must visit”. Since it is mostly outdoors it was pretty abandoned for such a popular spot.

After stopping in a few stores and snapping a few photos we decided (since it was a little after noon) that we would visit Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville.

If you can believe this there is normally an hour and half wait for a lunch table and over 2 hours for a table at dinner. Even on this rainy, yucky day we had to wait 25 minutes for a table. We passed the time by cruising the gift shop (we bought some hot/cold tumblers for coffee) and snapping some photos of the interior. The restaurant has a cruise ship sort of decor with parrots and mermaids and such. However, the crowning jewel is the ginormous margarita “blender” in the middle of the bar area.

After we were seated a giant bottle of margarita mix dropped from the ceiling into said blender and the song “Margaritaville” boomed from all of the speakers and televisions. Apparently this happens once an hour on the half hour. People sing along, confetti falls all over the restaurant and it’s a lot of fun.

Our waitress recommended the “Cheeseburger in Paradise” burgers so that is what we ordered. We also felt it was our duty to sample some of their awesome Margarita selections. Raspberry and Mango were the best in my opinion. I LOVE a raspberry frozen drink!

I adore a good margarita so I was in heaven here! Definitely not a healthy lunch but I am ok with saying this was perhaps my favorite vacation indulgence. If you ever get the chance to visit this themed joint it is loads of fun, the drinks are excellent and the price is right (think less than Hard Rock Cafe or other themed places). The hubs and I finished up our meals, enjoyed a movie, and had a wonderful rainy day at the beach!

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Salt Water In The Air

Greetings from South Carolina. We made the 5 hour drive from VA to SC yesterday and have made it safe and sound to the beach. There is probably nothing I love more than getting up and seeing this view.

Yesterday was mostly driving (and napping) but I did manage to get in a few minutes of beach time with the hubs.

It’s raining today (BOO!) but that just means a date day with my sweetie.  Here is to fun times (and healthy eating). I will check in with you all soon!

Have a Happy And Healthy Sunday!

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Sandy Toes and Salty Kisses

After a little confusion (IE: the hubs giving me the wrong dates for our trip to the beach) it turns out we are leaving tomorrow morning rather than Sunday. The good news is we have an extra day at the beach. The bad news, well there really isn’t any. I managed to get everything done today (and lived to blog about it!)

I started my day with some peanut butter toast and skim milk. (not pictured). I had to go do my long run today since tomorrow I will be in the car from 5:00am on. Since I was pressed for time I just dashed over to my gym to get in a fast 5 miles. I went a little faster than normal which made my stomach ache. This was the first time this has ever happened to me. I am blaming the skim milk and will likely skip that in favor of a banana and water next time.

After my run I showered and left my house sans make-up (gasp!) to make my appointment at Ageless Organic Spa in Lynchburg, VA. The spa was “no frills” in terms of its decor but the services were great. The girls there use organic products for manicures, pedicures, massages, facials, waxing and hair services. I got a manicure and pedicure for $25.00 (a steal right??). They were also nice enough to give me a couple of products to review (more on those later).

My very first organic manicure (even the polish was organic!)

I heart my pedicure in "For Audrey" blue.

After getting pampered I raced over to meet the hubs for lunch. He was working today so I just happened to finish up right in time. We decided to have lunch at Hickory Farms. And, no we didn’t just have beef stick samples and crackers! (Ha!). It turns out you can get wraps in there and they are really good. I chose turkey, cheese, and loads of veggies. I also grabbed a bag of chips and a diet black cherry soda. I ❤ Black Cherry anything so I was pretty excited to find this.

The rest of my afternoon and evening were less than exciting. I paid bills, ran errands, paid more bills, ran more errands and bought all of those random last minute “oh yeah we do need one of those before we leave” items.  The hubs joined me and we finished up the night spending WAY too much at Target. While we were there I decided to get Loreal foundation instead of buying department store foundation for like the one month I am tan (tan is relative in my world. We shall just say I am not see-through at the moment. hehehe.)  I will switch back to Mac in the fall. What is your favorite non-make-up-counter makeup?

After the errand running we stopped for a quick dinner. I picked up 1/2 sammie and chicken tortilla soup. I am just trying to maintain my 35 lb loss while on vacation so I am not stressing too much about food. My plan is to pick whole grains, veggies, and proteins, get in some workouts this week,  and only have a couple of indulgences while at the beach. When I get back I hope to be will be in the mindset to resume my weight loss journey. The mental aspect is more than 1/2 the journey. It’s taken me a while to accept that.

I hope to get in a little beach blogging this week and I will miss you all bunches! You can keep up with my vacation happenings through my twitter feed on the right of this page! Sandy Toes and Salty Kisses are coming my way!

Have A Happy and Healthy Week!

PS: You should totally enter my Delicate Soles giveaway. I am picking a winner when I return from the beach. Extra entry if you post the giveaway on your blog or facebook page!! xoxo

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Beach On The Brain

So I guess it’s a common ailment that right before vacation it is hard to think of anything else. The trouble with that is normally the week before vacation brings an extra busy work-week. At least that seems to be the case for me this week. I am trying to avoid going in on Friday so I have been doing 10-hour days this week. (Yes that is just as fun as it sounds). But, I only have one left, a normal 8-hour day on Thursday and then I am beach bound! (Well first I am pedicure bound because my toes are not looking their most fantastic). I am thinking “For Audrey” as my beached out toe color. What is your favorite pedicure color?

(source)

My 2.5 miles were all done at the gym today. It rained again. This seems to be a pattern on Tuesdays. The run went well though I have to admit I am feeling a little lazy today. I am blaming the rain.

Tonight I am making a to-do list for both my beach trip and my upcoming Chicago trip. I cannot believe The 2010 Healthy Living Summit is right around the corner! I am so excited to meet the girls who write some of my favorite blogs. I asked my husband if this made me a geek and he said yes. Ahem. I said I will just have to make geek chic. 😉 Thankfully my Healthy Living Summit roomie does not seem freaked out by my now daily emails. Im an excitable person what can I say?

The hubs and I are currently doing that super fun “we are leaving for a week so lets get creative and eat the random items in the house so nothing goes bad” thing. Tonight’s creation: Cheesy Mac with Veggie Pasta. 🙂

This is a very simple recipe. Simply take 1 box of whole grain pasta (or in this case veggie delight pasta)and prepare as directed. In a large skillet combine ground turkey, sliced onions, and any other veggies you have laying around. In a 2nd skillet make a béchamel (white cheese) sauce or simply buy a jar of your favorite store brand cheese sauce. Drain the meat mixture, stir in the cheese, stir in the prepared pasta and that’s it!

Now on to watch some of my new favorite cheesy show with the hubs… The Gates. Have you seen it?

Have a Happy and Healthy Tuesday (Ugh is it really only Tuesday?)

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