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Appetites and Adventures

Easy Weekend

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There’s not much I’d rather do than see live music.

 

 

The weekend began Friday at 6pm when my friend picked me for the Brandi Carlile concert.  I adore Brandi, but I was especially excited to get to see her play at on of my favorite venues – Chastain Park.  Chastain is an outdoor amphitheater in Atlanta.  You can buy a table for 6 and bring dinner to enjoy during the show.  People get really in to it – they have tablecloths, candles, and flowers to decorate their tables.  We were a little more low-key, but I did bring my special protein-filled dinner.

 

 

It was a great show.  Brandi played a good mix of new and old.  she did a cover of Johnny Cash’s Sunday Morning Coming Down, introducing it by saying that she felt is was an appropriate song because she no long drinks tequila and she no longer eats Chick-fli-a (the song references a hangover and fried chicken).   My favorite part was her cover of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody.

 

 

Saturday was another concert!  This time I trekked to Tennessee to see the Indigo Girls play with the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra.  I have a friend that lives in Chattanooga, so she got the tickets for us and chose an excellent place for dinner – Easy Bistro and Bar.

I was really impressed with the restaurant!  We decided to spit a couple of appetizers and a main dish.

 

We began with the Heirloom Tomato and Watermelon Salad.  After a hot walk to the restaurant, the light salad hit the spot.  It included a few types of heirlooms and cucumelon. I’d never heard of cucmelon before, but t was fantastic!  It was topped with shaved pecorino cheese and basil live oil.

 

We also enjoyed a rich Crawfish and Artichoke Dip with toasted flatbread.  It’s been years since I’ve had a cheesy artichoke dip.  The cream cheese-based dish was very, very rich… and it was just as good as I’d remembered.

 

The entrée was the highlight of the meal – swordfish.  It had just been added to the menu that morning, so it was incredibly fresh.  The meaty fish was grilled, which gave it a great char taste.  It was plated atop a summer squash salad and simply garnished with olive oil, cherry tomatoes, and Marcona almonds.

 

We walked to the Tivoli Theatre where the Indigo Girls were performing with the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra.  It was such a neat show!  The theatre itself was beautiful; it reminded me a lot of The Fox Theatre in Atlanta.  The Indigo Girls are known for their acoustic, singer-songwriter tunes, and to hear those redone with the string and horns behind them… it gave me chills more than once.

 

 

Did you think it was strange we didn’t have dessert with dinner?  I mean, it WAS cheat day.

Don’t worry.  I didn’t get possessed by aliens; we were just in a hurry to get to the show.  Post-show we hit local for-yo shop, Top It Off.  The Red Velvet, Double Chocolate, and Peanut Butter flavors were all just as good as they sound… but the show-stopper was the Salted Caramel Pretzel.  I’ll be dreaming of that stuff for weeks.

 

 

This is my friend’s yogurt.  We have a friendly wager that her bowl would get more likes on Instagram than mine would.  She won… and since I’m a good sport I’m posting the pic of her pretty cup ‘o yogurt.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Last week was a good week for workouts.  I felt especially focused at the gym.  We all know that you need to concentrate on the body part you are working out… but sometimes my mind wanders.  My goal last week was to be more focused, and I think it paid off.  Especially on back day… I was SORE after that one.

Leg day on Tuesday was fantastic with my trainer.  I was able to squat more than ever!  Leg day by myself on Saturday left something to be desired… I find it much harder to max out on legs alone.  I know it’s mental…

 

 

Workout Recap (7/24 – 7/29):

  • Monday – Chest/Biceps, Calf raises, 2 mile walk
  • Tuesday – Legs (with trainer), 2.5 mile walk
  • Wednesday – Back/Triceps, Calf raises, 2 mile walk
  • Thursday – Shoulders/Glutes, 1 mile walk
  • Friday – Chest/Biceps, Calf raises, 2 mile walk
  • Saturday – Legs, 150 push-ups
  • Sunday – *rest day* … easy 4 mile walk

***

The icing on the cake of the weekend was not having to wake up to an alarm Sunday.  I stayed in bed until 10, and it was glorious. 

What was the last concert you went to?

Do you find certain body parts harder to work out on your own?

 

Comments

    • OMG – I would LOVE that. Seriously. Maybe the next blogger meet up can “happen” to coincide with my leg day… 😉

  3. Wow that swordfish and fro yo look sooo yum- I am glad you didn’t forget about desert. It just wouldn’t have been a cheat day without some ;)! I prefer to work my chest out with a spotter, especially when I’m doing decline bench press. Nice going on the squat PR – first of many!

    • That’s a good point… I have to ask some one for help with chest. Love the decline presses!

  6. Every concert that I’ve ever been to at Chastain is the kind where you are not allowed to bring in outside food. Boo.

    I don’t like doing legs either. Or shoulders. I hate shoulders for some reason.

  7. that fish and that dip, oh my goodness. I am glad you had a great weekend. I so enjoyed your tweet where you said you finally got to sleep in without an alarm. I was so happy for you, those morning are needed every once and a while.

  8. I didn’t wake up until 11:30 on Sunday….first time in years that I’ve slept in that late. I guess my body was trying to tell me something!

    And Chastain Park is one of my fav. places in Atlanta! So fun!

  11. I think the last concertI actually went to was 5 years ago to see John Mayer with a friend. I should mention that I’m not a fan at all, but she needed someone to go with her and she had free tickets. My most fun concert was when Tony and I got to go to a live small concert for Cake. Tony used to win tickets all the time from 99X when he listened to that station while he worked (back when it was that type of music) and it was us and about 20 other people sitting on a floor while Cake played. It was awesome, to say the least.

    Anyway, I’m super jealous that you saw the Indigo Girls! I bet that was amazing with the orchestra too! I LOVE their music! Sounds like a great weekend! I hope that leads into an incredible week for you!

    • I miss the old 99X days. Cake would be GREAT to see live. How did he win all those tix? I never could get through to stations.

    • I didn’t know Sugar Ray was still touring! Bet that was a good one.

      Thanks for the award. 🙂

  15. I find ALL body parts harder to work out on my own ;D However hardest for me are the exercises where I really feel like I need a spotter to push harder/improve. Like chest press! I’ve been pressing the same amount forever, but I really can’t get the push I need to improve without someone there to make sure I don’t collapse my ribcage with a dropped bar…

    And despite being a TN gal, I’ve never done anything in Chattanooga except visit the (admittedly amazing) aquarium. But I do hear that for a moderate-sized city there are some great dining options.

    • I was in the same boat. I finally made myself make friends ate the gym… but it took a month.

  16. Saturday evening was so.much.fun! It was great to see you and catch up! I think we should see another Indigo Girls concert soon. I’m kinda hooked!

    p.s. That’s a pretty pic of the yogurt! 😉

  18. I am so jealous of your weekend… I used to LOVE the Indigo Girls… haven’t listened to them in a long time. And more impressive workouts, nice job. 150 push ups? Look at you go!

    • I was the same way! I have to admit – I had a singalong during the car ride home 🙂

  19. I’m 23, and have never been to a concert. I’m not sure if something is wrong with me or what??? All those fro-yo flavors sound friggen amazing. My cup would’ve been a minimum of $6.00 if it went by weight.

    • Yup! Well, in 3 sets of 50. I used to do 100 every day (before training started) and wanted to prove to myself I could still get ‘er done. 😉

  22. I am still so proud of you and all of your accomplishments in the gym!

    I am so jealous, babe! Swordfish is my fav 🙁

  23. Leg days are super fun…well sometimes;)
    Sounds like a really joyful weekend!
    I’m actually a weirdo and don’t really enjoy concerts very much…I think its because I don’t like being really close to other people haha. Which is why I also hate movies and airplanes.

  24. What a relaxing and fun weekend you had! Good for you!! You DESERVED it after all that hardcore workouts you did during the week! I usually go to the gym in the morning, but I wanted to check out this total conditioning class in the afternoon so I waited…It turns out that class I saw was for yesterday! No class..and I was bummed out. A trainer took pity on my poor soul and gave me a free training session!! Isn’t that so sweet? I actually learned that I probably should go back off from the group classes that I’ve been going to since I’m trying to “bulk up.” I have a lot to learn…And so little time.
    Anyway, sorry for rambling to you about my problems..you just seem to have everything so put together!
    mmm…crawfish and artichoke dip…I haven’t had one of those cheesy guilty pleasure in a long time..

    • Thank you, Min!!!

      That was so nice of the trainer to give you a workout! Was it a good one?

  25. Such an awesome weekend! I am always drooling over the amazing restaurants you go to. Yum. I do have to get more motivated to work certain body parts too! Like abs.. and biceps.. I just never care haha.

  26. Darnit, I missed at first that this post was in Tennessee, and I was about to beg you to take me to that froyo place one day! 😀

    • Oh, we have plenty of fro-yo here in Atlanta. I’ll take you to my favorite locally run shop. 🙂

    • Mine wasn’t as organized… but I was too busy getting every flavor imaginable in my cup!

  30. You saw the Girls!!!! I love them. I haven’t been to one of their concerts in YEARS though. They are such incredible performers and excellent musicians. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Brandi Carlile. I’ll have to check her out.

    The swordfish looks incredible. That’s such a flavorful fish. My mouth is watering even though it’s 6:30am

    • They actually introduced me to Brandi! She open the the Girls years ago and I was hooked. Let me know what you think if you check her out – you’d love her!

  31. Ugh, I’m drooling all over again even though I Instagram-stalked you this weekend…I swear I’ve GOT to get my hands on some swordfish! Until I saw your pic in my feed, I’d forgotten how much I loved it when I tried it for the first time on a vacation in Florida. I love the meaty heartiness of it…it’s definitely no floppy tilapia!

    I’ve never been much of a concert goer…live music just doesn’t sound the same to me…I know, par-TAY poop-ER! That being said, I WILL make an exception for the time I got invited to go to Winterfest in Nashville…it’s a Christian music festival and I swear they had ALL of my new/old favorites the year I got to go! It was pretty awesome!

    I’m totally guilty of zoning out and not getting the best workout sometimes and I hate it…feels like such a waste. I usually do a pretty good job of kicking my own butt in the gym, but I always have a hard time with my biceps. I think I need new ideas…I’m so bored with curls. I tried a few new things during my workout yesterday (bicep rows and extended arm bicep curls) and I thought I worked them pretty good, but I’m not sore in the least. I’m totally of the mindset that if you’re not sore, you didn’t work hard enough…I can’t help it! The last time my biceps got really sore was back in my Crossfit days…wish I could remember the moves that seemed to do it for me back then!

    • I am obsessed with swordfish. If I see it on a menu, I have to order it… it’s like meat fish!

      Not to be too self-promoting (who am I kidding… I’m shameless), but have you checkout out the bicep workouts under my fitness tab? There are some good ones, IMHO. 🙂

  32. Brandi Carlisle singing Bohemian Rhapsody? WOW. I haven’t listened to her since college (don’t hate me) but I need to go back and find her again. Have you heard any Missy Higgins? And Indigo Girls just made me flash back to summer camp… I bet they are amazing live.

    I saw that artichoke dip on Instagram. I have never wanted cheese so badly in my life. [OK, that was a TOTAL hyperbole….especially considering that same day I had found a pen in one of my bags from my favorite pizza place in Austin. Obviously I’m wavering on veganims lately.]

  33. I love Chastain – one of my favorite venues for concerts! I can’t even remember the last live music show I went to sadly, it’s one thing we don’t do as often. We really want to go to a concert at Red Rocks, there are a few on our radar that look promising.

  34. The venue on Friday sounds so cool! I love being able to picnic and listen to live music!
    I was so obsessed with Indigo Girls in high school. I must have played “Least Complicated” (or the whole Swamp Ophelia- is that what it was called?- album) 1,000,000 times when I was 16. 🙂
    It’s crazy how much your workouts have changed. Do you miss the cardio? I’m sure your body has changed so much already!

    • Awwww… we could have had singalong together in high school. 🙂

      I miss cardio… but then again I don’t. I have tried to run a little (shhhh…) but it hurts. Makes me miss it a little less. I’m definitely getting my heart rate up with the heavy weights! I do dread the day when I try to build back the mileage I had last winter.

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