Charleston Bound

Good evening my lovelies, I have missed you! It?s only been what.. 2 days? Yeah, I can?t stay away very long apparently.

SO, this break has been good for me. And my life has been turned upside down in a matter of a few days. Let?s just get right to it, shall we? As the title of this post suggest, on Tuesday I am bound for Charleston, SC! I am going to stay with a family member for the rest of this week and *possibly* looking for a job down there!! If I DO find a job and things work out, I?m going to be moving back down there after I get back from Ireland. *Deep breath* This is still up in the air though.. it depends how things go when I am down there for this week and some other matters as well. But if it does work out, it?s going to be crazy!!! After everything that?s happened these past few weeks (of which I haven?t disclosed on the blog) and going through this stress fracture, I need something something in my life, you know? I need a change, a new challenge. In any case, whether or not I decide to move there, it will be a nice little mini vacation because I need to GET AWAY, ASAP, from my town. I?m not sure what the internet situation will be like where I?m going to be staying but I hope to be able to blog. We shall see. But if I go MIA, you know what?s going on.

Meanwhile, I?ve been staying busy with family and friends this weekend. I spent the entire day at the pool on Friday with some of the girls? in my family for some much needed girl?s time. I then went to Whole Foods and World Market yesterday, where I engaged in a little retail therapy. And then we had a cook out with some family last night. Many of these were consumed over the weekend?

SO GOOD. I used to hate beer but I must say, it?s grown on me.

I then went to Lake Lure, NC with some of my girl?s today, on a little day trip. In case you haven?t heard of it, Lake Lure is where Dirty Dancing was filmed. Ring a bell?

We shopped, walked around, ate, and ate some more? you know, the usual. It was much needed, MUCH needed.

I?ll breeze through some of the food I?ve eaten this weekend but I don?t have pictures of it all. Not that you missed a lot though/

Annnd here we go! Starting with Thursday?

A lunch of a tasting plate?

An apple

Strawberries

With cinnamon-y yogurt and almond butter to dip.

Cute dish, huh? On sale at Target. Score!

Along with millet bread and leftover guacamole.

I had an epic fried rice dish for dinner!

I made some brown rice in my rice cooker.

I scrambled an egg and set it aside. Then, I sautéed broccoli, mushrooms, fresh corn (the KEY), cilantro, and ginger. I added soy sauce and teriyaki and added back the rice and cooked until a little crispy. Then, I stirred in the egg that I had set aside and topped with salted peanuts and cilantro.

YUM!!! 

Strawberry shortcake for dessert.

I decided to try a yogurt bowl with a sweet potato on friday morning because I?ve seen it ALL around the blog world. I think I had a feeling that Friday wasn?t going to be my healthiest eating day haha..

In any case, I baked it the night before and so I ate it in the yogurt bowl cold, with yogurt and some pumpkin flax granola. And maple agave nectar.

SO GOOD! I wasn?t sure how I would like it but it was really great!

?Lunch? was a pack of peanut butter crackers, 1/2 of a protein bar, and some beer and wine coolers at the pool. Yeah? it was worth it

I then continued the healthiness and had pizza for dinner. Mushroom pizza, to be exact. From Papa John?s.

I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I had a pancake saturday?

The usual mix of oats, egg whites, cinnamon, vanilla, whipped cottage cheese, baking powder, and whole wheat pancake mix.

I topped it with 1 mashed banana, almond butter, and a drizzle of maple syrup.

And blueberries.

?Lunch? (yeah, not the most balanced lunches ever this weekend) was a pineapple Chobani with some granola.

It was kind of the only thing moderately appealing at the time. I did end up eating 1/2 of a bar and some organic all natural (if that?s possible) ?cheetos.?

No pictures of dinner but we had turkey burgers, chips, and salad. And more Blue Moon.

I had overnight oats this morning.

I mixed 1/3 cup oats, 1/3 cup yogurt, 1/2 scoop Jay Robb?s vanilla whey protein powder (I finally gave in and bought a canister), and a touch of milk. I then added this special ingredient this morning..

Macadamia butter! YUM!!! But it is SUPER runny? but oh so delicious!

I also added blackberries.

No picture of lunch but we had some ice cream and some subs. Which, by the way, they were the BEST SUBS I have ever had in my entire life. Yeah, I said it.

Dinner was another turkey burger and sweet potato fries.

I?ve been craving a burger for sooo long so this hit the spot!!

And the sweet potato fries were taken to another level with the addition of some melted cinnamon honey butter that I found today? oh my? out of this world!!!

Also had a salad!

If you are still hanging in there with me through this beast of a post, props to you! Seriously though, I appreciate you for sticking with me these past weeks. I know that I haven?t been my usual self and have had my drama-queen moments. Things have been up and down and crazy and back and forth but I promise, regular blogging will return. I have this week in Charleston, next week at home, and then the next week in Ireland, and then who knows? I am going to continue blogging as often as possible until I go to Ireland. After I return, I?ll be able to find some sort of blogging routine again, I hope. In any case, thank you for sticking with me? I have a feeling that there will be some interesting posts in the future!

Love you guys!!

Jess

?If you’re feeling frightened about what comes next, don’t. Embrace the uncertainty. Allow it to lead you places. Be brave as it challenges you to exercise both your heart & your mind as you create your own path towards happiness, don’t waste time with regret. Spin wildly into your next action. Enjoy the present, each moment, as it comes; `cause you’ll never get another one quite like it. And if you should ever look up, and find yourself lost, simply take a breath and start over. Retrace your steps and go back to the purest place in your heart..where your hope lives. You’ll find your way again.?