*This post is sponsored by Blue Diamond Almonds.
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- Women’s Running Cover Model Contest <——- vote today for Lindsey H.! (my sister!)
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It’s officially summer now and this weekend certainly felt like it! It was a LONG week at work and I was so ready for the weekend. Friday night, Rick and I headed out to Michelle’s for a fun night grilling out. They have a nice grill and I was craving a cheeseburger something fierce. It also gave me a chance to make a pasta salad and break out some of the new flavors of Blue Diamond almonds I got recently — hello blueberry and toasted coconut!
They were a nice dinner snack, which we continued to munch on for the next three hours while we chatted outside with drinks on the porch. [Full disclosure: I was sent these two flavors complimentary from Blue Diamond through the Tastemakers program. Since I LOVE them already, it’s awesome!] I just loved the summer weather and being able to sit outside with some space. Michelle lives kind of far out, where it’s actually affordable to have porches and yards. We were happy to take advantage of that!
Like good DC inhabitants, the four of us discussed politics for a good chunk of the night. But it wasn’t so bad because our husbands don’t work in politics like we do so they don’t actually get into these deeper discussions quite as often. It was a good conversation — I think many politicos could take notes from the way we were all able to discuss things without getting upset! Of course we also had a variety of drinks including Skinny Girl Moscato, Shock Tops, Corona and more — all delish for the night!
Washingtonian’s Fit Fest
Saturday morning, I was up early to head over to American University with my friend Amy for the Washingtonian’s FitFest. The Washingtonian Magazine sponsored and awesome gathering of fitness lovers in the area for classes, panels and an awesome expo hall. The first thing I saw when I walked in was free massages — hello! I was invited to come and write about the event and couldn’t have been more excited. Here are the classes I took:
- Reformer Pilates (we used towels and plates to emulate an actual machine)
- Freestyle dance (loved!)
- CrossFit (beginner but obviously loved!)
I was supposed to do a trail run but it was raining. Instead, I sat in on a nutrition session with Will and Kim Artley. He’s a chef who has appeared on “Chopped” and been a guest chef for the White House! He is the head chef at Pizzeria Orso in Falls Church. She’s the owner of a new fitness business called PackFit, focused on workouts with your dogs. Dog people will love this! Anyway, they talked mostly about how juicing and blending can make a big difference you in your life. Will also shared his inspiring weight loss and fitness journey. They made me want to by a Vitamix, that’s for sure!
My favorite thing all day was definitely the freestyle fitness dance class, taught by a guy was an amazing dancer. The premise of his classes is to dance to songs that are popular now. When you know the words, you want to dance, right — like when are at a club? So that’s what we did and I had a blast. Here’s a video from my Instagram:
I wasn’t a huge fan of the pilates reformer, though I did try it! I know how good pilates and barre classes can be for core and muscle tone but I’m so impatient. I just want to go fast and sweat for time — aka CrossFit 🙂 Here’s my try at the pilates reformer machine:
We got to try some yummy foods from Sweetgreen, Whole Foods, Honest Tea, Zenful Bites and more. I was also excited to hear about a custom fitness clothing shop, Core 72, who gifted us with awesome branded t-shirts from Oiselle. Speaking of Sweetgreen, I stopped by their new location in Navy Yard this week and had the “earth bowl” salad — it was SO good.
It’s always nice being around fitness lovers like myself — these kinds of events are always a blast. It made me remember that I seriously need to get more cards made for my blog so I can actually give them out and tell people about it! I was glad Amy came with me because going alone is never fun to me, although everyone there was really nice.
So yes, it was a fun-filled summer weekend! Saturday night we went out for a sushi dinner and Sunday, it was off to church, working and laying around. Hope you had a great weekend as well!