Balance and going back to LA

Chocolate at night followed by silver strawberry moon juice in the am.  That’s balance, yo.  The strawberry flavor was the best of all the ones I brought home from LA.  Perfect, since I saved it for last. It basically tasted like a strawberry smoothie but with a thin milk-like consistency.  And since it’s insanely healthy, it means my See’s scotchmallows basically get erased. Right?

I was gone this weekend for my sister’s wedding shower, which was a MUCH NEEDED break from the kids.  Obvs, I love them, but Kyle’s been out of town a ton this year and it’s been tough.  I didn’t realize how much I needed the time off until I got it. All Monday I felt the difference, so just two days away can be enough! Things that ordinarily would have tested my patience, I just let roll off my back without getting annoyed.

Here’s the first time the kiddos saw Kyle after he had been away.  He met us at soccer and they sprinted into his arms so hard.  <3

Raise your hand if you spent 15 hours on the I-5 this weekend!  Me me me!  At least the drive was with my mom and sisters – and I didn’t have to do any driving!  Thanks mom! We left on Friday and came back Sunday, so it was a short and sweet stint in So Cal.

We hit maaaaajor traffic on Friday but took our time picnicking before we got back on the road. Whatever.

My mom got WF for us all – including a chicken salad, salt and pepper Kettle chips, carrots, and kombucha. And an avo to eat on the side.

We arrived at my g-ma’s just in time for dinner take away from TLT food.

I didn’t take photos of all the food, just the green rice bowl I got (above) and my sister’s poke bowl (below).  But the real star of the show were the sides.

We got roasted brussels sprouts (below) and pee wee potatoes that were crazy good.  I had the potatoes for breakfast the next morning and I wasn’t even hungry but couldn’t stop eating them!

Of course I may have been stress eating after the rough start to the day I had.

This pic doesn’t do it justice but I took a terrible fall on my morning run.  It was super embarrassing…I cracked my phone, I ripped my pants, and I ended up with scrapes on both knees, my hip and a huuuuge arm bruise. So lame.

Happy shower!!

No boys zone.

I got tipsy before noon…had a raging headache for the rest of the day and night and ate non stop…soooo not my finest for health reasons, but since I was enjoying my family’s company and having real uninterrupted conversations for the first time in AGES, I was super happy to just live it up.

CAKE!

I managed to run Sunday morning before our departure too, despite my scraped knee.  It was a little awkward because I was second guessing every step I took…it’s like I don’t trust myself to run anymore?!  But I wanted to finish the final episode of S-Town (<– podcast obsession of the moment). After a quick Starbucks run we were on the road!

We powered through our breakfasts in the car, and limited stops to the bare necessities, and before we knew it we were home!  Well, at my parents’ house at least.  Since we had our food already packed (we bought eats from Gelson’s the day before because I-5 food is a no go) we all ate lunch together before splitting our separate ways.

My mom and I both got that kale salad and it was so good!  There was a citrusy dressing with carrots, sunflower seeds, and feta. Mmmm…I have been craving tuna salad recently, so I got that as well, but the portion was ginormous so I only ate some of it.  Oh and chips.  All the chips.  I basically finished the rest on my drive back to Davis.

So glad to get home to these cuties. 🙂

I made it back in time for my BFF’s daughter’s birthday party (which I totally didn’t think I was going to) so we ate dinner there and caught up with friends.  It was a long day but a great end to a very packed weekend!

And now I’m desperate for veggies in a major way.  I had a kale salad for lunch and dinner on Monday.  There were bacon wrapped dates in it, but still.  Balance, yo.