South Carolina Road trip & Family Lovin’

November 6, 2013 -
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Hiiiii everyone! These last couple of weeks have definitely been jam packed with traveling! I am definitely not complaining because the opportunities have been amazing, but it’s also nice to have a few days of down time this week before we head out again.

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I see youuu Winking smile

Down time = sleeping for 10 hours last night (my body needed it), shoulder workout, grocery shopping, laundry, & now finally settling in for a few computer work hours at my favorite coffee shop with a coconut milk cinnamon latte keeping me warm on this beautiful fall day.

A positive about being home for a few days is I can make some powerful homemade breakfasts! Often when I travel my go to is oatmeal, not that I don’t looove me some oats, but it’s always nice to throw some buckwheat waffles together topped with peanut fluff, coconut nectar, & blueberries!

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I get my peanut flour, coconut nectar, & buckwheat flour at iHerb.com with a $5-10 coupon code XUG228 for first time users!

I’ll be saying bye bye to buckwheat waffles for a few days as I head to NYC this weekend with mamacakes! For those of you that are in NYC – I would loooove to see you this Saturday! I will be running a workout at the What’s Beautiful Under Armour Event at Macy’s Saturday morning. 

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I’m still kind of freaking out over the fact that my name was featured in the NY Times with the What’s Beautiful Event! Disappointed smile This was a total surprise on Saturday & definitely put a smile on my face.

If you want to register – head to the What’s Beautiful Events Website & register under the NYC Macy’s event! It’s an 11am registration time with an 1130-1230 workout, then you can shop with UA stylists from 1230-130 with chances to win some swag! Hope to see you there!

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So over the weekend, I visited my family in South Carolina! It was nice because every year when my fam goes down for their fall activities, I was in school & couldn’t make it! It’s about 9 hour road trip so I definitely brought some snacks for the ride.

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Pistachios that I picked up while in Hawaii made for a good snack & also killed some time (since it usually takes a while to break through them to enjoy).

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Once we got there, we headed straight to my cousin Kolin’s 9th grade football game. I loved that all the boys were rocking their pink.

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It happened to be Halloween that night as well so it was fun to watch my cousin Kyra organize her candy. This was ALWAYS my favorite part of Halloween – organizing the candy into groups. If you can’t tell, her costume was a baby Winking smile

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A lot of time was spent cuddling with this little fluff ball – Kennedy!

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She is such a cuddle-bug.

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She is a maltipoo & I absolutely adore her…if you can’t tell by our daily photo-shoot. I’ve already told (asked nicely) Corey that we will totally have a Kennedy in the near future. Since I’m always super jealous of my girl Christina & her Princeton pup!

Early Friday morning I took a local PAC class that I love! It’s a plyos, abs, & conditioning class. Basically a circuit style class where you do 40 seconds of work followed by 20 seconds of a plyo move then after 3 sets you sprint a lap around the building. Then after about 45 minutes of variations of this, you do about 10 minutes of core work & some hill sprints. WOO!

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I was a sweaty, pink cheeked, crazy eyed, hot mess after this one! Aka – LOVED it.

I posted on Instagram this lovely pic & challenged you all to send me you #IWILL face –

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@shammeh_321 totally represented with me!

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Shortly after the workout, we went out to lunch with a few friends. Gotta love a place that serves #powerbowls! I got a big Greek salad with fresh salmon on top. The weekend was full of good eats –my Aunt is always fixing up some delicious meals for all of us! (11 of us to be exact and usually 15 when my dad, brother, sister in law & boyfriend can make it to visit)

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She made some awesome turkey chili and I added some avocado on top with brown rice underneath for a powermeal.

Another go-to lunch over the weekend was a #powerbowl of brown rice & veggies tossed in nutritional yeast, vinegar, liquid stevia, Dijon mustard, & hummus topped with beets.

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My aunts always got fresh veggies on hand for everyone so it’s definitely easy to fuel up while still enjoying all types of treats…aka candy corn that is placed all around the house in cute little Halloween bowls. #sorrynotsorry #lovemesomecandycorn Winking smile   Moderation & balance, people! Life is too short for me, personally, to not enjoy some candy corn. #betruetoyou!

Ok ok I’m done with my candy corn chat – the next day we headed to my cousin’s (Kaylie & Kelsi – have you caught on to the K theme yet in our family? Winking smile) cheerleading competition.

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The car rides together are always a good time & I have to brag that my Pap’s got some swag.

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We were dressed in blue & yellow and equipped with our big “L’s” ready to cheer on our Lexington Wildcats!

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Kaylie & Kelsi’s team both did awesome & I was a proud cousin, for sure.

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Kelsi representing the polka dot L with our great Aunt Rita!

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Because when you’re 89 years old, you can totally rock sunglasses indoors. This is why we call her “Rockin’ Rita” Red heart She is amazing.

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It was a day long event so we grabbed lunch in between with some down time to take a few cousin selfies & family pics.IMG_8485

[Myself, Pap, Mamacakes, Kaylie, Aunt Rita & Nan]

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I got a Greek salad (I know, I know, AGAIN) but I love them! With some un-pictured Salmon since they kinda forgot it at first – no biggie though!

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I honestly can’t get over how fast my not so “little” cousins are growing up! I swear they were all babies, like yesterday.

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Round two of the cheering L’s happened whenever Kelsi’s varsity team took the floor. Love the wildcat lovin’!

The rest of the night we spent relaxing. It’s funny how days like this can completely tire you out. I guess it was all of that cheering Winking smile

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Our last day was my cousin Kaylie’s 13th birthday! We happen to dress very similarly. Isn’t it funny how the “young ones” have wayyy better style than I ever did when I was 13? ha! I swear I could shop in their closets.

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Kaylie picked Outback for her birthday dinner, which I was pumped! I used to work at an Outback about a year ago so I know how good their food is. I also love the birthday song & caught myself singing along as they sang Kaylie happy birthday.

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Not that great of a picture but I did enjoy their Halibut with a side of shrimp, veggies, asparagus, & a chilled white wine! Red heart

All in all, the weekend was packed full but very enjoyable. I thank my lucky stars everyday for having a close family like I do. It’s something I think people can take for granted but I feel very blessed to have such supportive people in my life.

The ride home (always feels longer) & actually did take a bit longer due to some traffic. So after a full day of sitting in the car, Tuesday morning I was up & at it for a 6am spin class!

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Felt great to get the legs moving & I rocked my new Under Armour Infared Coldgear Parka on the chilly morning! There is just something about being done with your workout & getting your errands done all before like 8am. Totally sets me up for the rest of the day to be productive!

With getting prepped for half marathon training, I’m incorporating 2 spin classes a week. My foots being a big weird so the spinning doesn’t seem to bug it as much as running does right now. Still continuing my weight lifting, body weight moves, & plyos! Always love mixing things up & always cooling down my foam rolling.

I’m off to finish some computer since the weekend will be here before you know it!

I hope you take some time today to find something you’re thankful for. Taking a moment to think a positive thought can really be a great addition to your day.

be true to you,

Red heart Kasey

 

Have you been on any trips lately?

What are your favorite travel snacks or meals?