Happy Tuesday after Memorial Day Weekend!

I feel like a fatty and it doesn’t help that I will be spending a week on the beach in Turks and Caicos starting Saturday. Last week, I got in two runs (but planned for four, if that counts) and went to two barre classes.

I really do think barre was the exercise highlight of my week last week. My good friend from growing up met me in Hoboken after work to attend a Top Shelf class at Local Barre. Top Shelf is a more advanced class and even though my friend had never attended a barre class, I figured she would be fine given her athleticism. And she was more than fine, she did great! We rewarded ourselves with sushi afterwards and it was just so nice to hang out casually. We talked for hours at dinner and it made me wish that I had more of a consortium of friends in town. Our friends are mostly all scattered locally but it makes for casually hanging out a little harder between work and weekend schedules.

We spent most of Memorial Day weekend shopping and eating, which I cannot complain about but goes back to my earlier complaint about feeling like a fatty. On Friday afternoon, I tried to sneak out to the mall right after work figuring I would hopefully avoid some of the weekend traffic but boy was I wrong. A trip that was supposed to take 20 minutes ended up taking almost 90 minutes; it didn’t help that it was also raining out. There were many occasions where I thought about turning around but decided that I was committed to shopping… haha, addiction problem? Garden State Plaza was busy but I found a quick parking spot and was on a mission. I went to the mall for a couple of specific stops – Madewell, J. Crew, L’Occitane, Lululemon, and Papyrus. I did well; picked up a bunch of clothes (which I will have to take pictures of later, but I am wearing one of my new shirts from J. Crew in the picture below — p.s. I got the shirt for $22!) for our trip and work, a pair of running shorts, lotion, and a card. There were sales at most stores and I left feeling satisfied, which just means no more shopping for a couple of months!

Our shopping adventures didn’t end there. With the sales going on, we went to West Elm and Crate & Barrel for furniture browsing on Saturday. Before leaving on any shopping endeavor with Josh, I need to make sure he is well fed, otherwise the trip will be a bust. We both fattened up with our normal brunch skillets at Turning Point and were on our way. We didn’t end up buying anything big (just a berry colander, more on that later) on this trip but found a media console, desk, and bedroom furniture that we really liked at Crate & Barrel. To take advantage of the 15% off discount for the weekend, we spent some time on Sunday morning reviewing our choices and measuring everything out at home before purchasing. It will likely be a couple of weeks before our new items come in, but I am excited to swap out our almost decade-old Ikea furniture. These new items will also force me to go through some of my clothes for donation and Josh to clean out his desk area, which I am thrilled about but will need to find time to do.

We had a great time at my cousin’s medical school graduation party on Saturday night as well. I ate so much from sushi to Italian to Chinese food and like four different desserts! Josh thought Operation would be a funny present and I think it was a great idea (hopefully my cousin enjoys it!). We ended up playing a couple rounds with made-up rules since there was eight of us and I am proud to say I was the winner! However, clearly you will not want me to advising you on anything medical.

After our furniture purchases on Sunday, we spent the day in NYC visiting friends, playing even more games – 7 Wonders and Cards Against Humanity, and eating more food – pizza, Korean fried chicken, and wine. Finally Memorial Day would not be complete if I didn’t try to make something to kick off the “official” start of summer. For dinner on Monday, I made a beef patty with mushroom; spinach, pepper, zucchini, and quinoa salad; corn-on-the-cob; and guacamole. Yummy! I was also so excited to use my berry colander that I had to take multiple pictures!

In preparation for another full week of eating next week, I am paying for my food-filled weekend today. I already signed up for four future races today — Achilles 5-miler in Central Park at the end of June, NYC Marathon Long Training Runs #1 and #2, and the Electric 5K run in Brooklyn in September. I am tired just thinking about all this running! However, on a more immediate front, I am signed up for a barre class this evening and will try to get a run in afterwards as well.

How was your Memorial Day weekend?