so zen right now
Hi friends! Happy Monday! A friendly reminder for todayโฆ.
Weโve got this. ๐
How was the weekend? I hope you had a fun and relaxing one! I had the most relaxing weekend that Iโve had inโฆ a very long time. My friend Betsy flew in from San Diego and we spent the weekend hanging out, shopping, eating all the delicious things, and enjoying a magical spa day at Miraval.
Before she arrived Friday morning, I had to finish my CPR certification. I did an online and classroom combination since my certification had expired, and it was SO convenient to do most of it online. (Word to the world: donโt wait until the night before to do the full online component because it takes a few hours. At the same time, it was really helpful for me to have a refresher on all of this information. Iโve been CPR certified for 10 years now, and every time I have to re-certify, Iโm SO glad I did it and so thankful for the information.)
Since the classroom component was only an hour long and I had to head directly to the airport to pick up Betsy, I took P to CPR with me. I figured youโre never too young to learn these valuable skills haha. (And yes, I called a couple of days before to make sure it would be ok, and they were totally cool with it.)
She watched me do chest compressions on the Brayden mannequin thing and even tried to a couple of rescue breaths. (The instructor got a kick out of it.) When I needed to practice roll bandaging, she was my model. She thoroughly enjoyed having her pretend wound bandaged up. After I demoed my skills and got my certification, we drove to the airport to swoop Betsy.
We were all ready for brunch, so of course I had to take her to Prep & Pastry.
Kyle released new menus at Prep and Commoner & Co. this week and theyโre both INSANE. He surprised us with a couple of fun things:
the cinnamon roll croissant
(this is seriously a dream come trueโฆ a cinnamon roll with flaky croissant layers)
and two of their new toasts. One had an egg, bacon and maple butter, and crispy brussels sprouts, and the other was smoked salmon with an herbed goat cheese.
For my actual meal, I rolled with the classic breakfast: scrambled eggs, housemade turkey sausage, potatoes, and gluten-free toast.
It was perfection.
When we finished brunch, we came back to the house to chill for a bit, and then decided to get some fresh air. I thought Sabino Canyon would be a fun *Tucson thing* to do, and since we had time to kill before we needed to pick Liv up from school, we decided to go for a little hike.
The weather was absolutely gorgeous – I think it was in the mid 60s and sunny – and we walked a couple of miles, enjoying the scenery,
and miss P ran almost the entire time.
She is suddenly really, intensely into running.
A couple of weeks ago, we went to take the dogs for a walk, and instead of riding her scooter (as she always does), she said,
โNo mama, I want to run. Please put my sneakers on.”
I put on her sneakers, and she ran the entire time we were walking the dogs. Iโm familiar with the distance since weโve ran and walked it so many times, and her little newly 3-year-old legs ran .75 miles. She did the same thing at Sabino Canyonโฆ started running, and hardly stopped. Maybe I have a mini Janae-esque speedster on my hands???
(She asked to wear her gymnastics outfit, too, and I was just like, โYou do youโ haha until I realized that she likely wanted to wear athletic clothes for her run? I donโt even know.)
After the hike, we picked up Livi from school, watched a movie at home, and then went to La Encantada for shopping and dinner.
My mom, stepdad, and nana met us there, and we had an awesome meal at Blanco. I almost always get the chicken tacos, but switched it up by ordering the chicken enchiladas. It was a WISE choice. If youโre in Tucson, definitely try the enchiladas! (And PS their rice is soooooo buttery and good.)
Madre took over for the girls – she watched them for the weekend! Sheโs the real MVP – while Betsy and I went shopping and then checked into our hotel at Loewโs Ventana Canyon.
This weekend was my bday gift, and all I really wanted was to hang out with Betsy and get some real sleep. I slept SO well both nights and it was amazing to have a weekend without a schedule or agenda. We knew we were doing a spa day at Miraval, but besides our treatments, we decided to go into it and just wing it depending on how we were feeling. It was so relaxing, and a much-needed refill on a cup thatโs been feeling a little spent lately.
I have SO much to tell you about Miraval (and Iโll also compare it to Canyon Ranch) but it needs its own post, because otherwise this one will be TLDR. We spent the entire day at Miraval on Saturday (from about 8:30am until 7pm) and then went straight to Commoner & Co. for dinner and drinks.
This is random, but Kyle got me into bourbon cocktails. This one had vanilla and orange, and it was so smoky, slightly sweet, and delicious.
For my entree, I got the salmon from their new menu, which has kale chips and a mushroom risotto. It was perfect, as always. Even if I didnโt know Kyle (or be his kinda-twin), Commoner would still easily be my favorite dinner and date night spot in Tucson.
After we were totally full from a fantastic dinner, and refreshed from a full day at Miraval, we went back to the hotel for 9 1/2 GLORIOUS hours of sleep. When we woke up, my mom was already heading to the zoo with the girls, so we met Everly and Meg for crepes at the farmerโs market.
(This is the Breakfast 2.0 with no cheese on a gluten-free crepe. It has eggs, guacamole, green chilies, and salsa. Basically this is my ideal breakfast and I could eat it every single day.)
We walked around the market for a bit, and then it was time for Betsy to head home!
It was such an amazing weekend and the perfect ending to my week of bday celebrating. After I took the girls to swim, P crashed on the couch while Liv and I decorated for Christmas. It feels so festive around here, and Iโm really excited for the next couple of months. <3
Iโd love to hear about your weekend! Do you ever do getaways with your best friends? Whereโs your favorite place to go? I still want to head back to Palm Springs one day- our girlsโ trip there was a blast.
Have a happy Monday.
xoxo
Gina
PS. Guess what?!
This week, I am thrilled to celebrate Thanksgiving by offering daily deals on my brand new Fit Guide workouts — it’s my way of saying thanks to you for your love and support, and to help empower and inspire you to get and stay fit as we wrap up 2018!
Each of my Fit Guides includes 12 weeks of workouts, plus a workout calendar, a suggested meal plan and special bonuses. And if you aren’t sure which one is right for you, you can take a free, fun personality quiz to find out which Fit Guide I think is best for you:
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Now, here’s today’s daily deal:
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Please remember that this is ONLY available for 24 hours! This coupon is only valid on the Home Workout Warrior Fit Guide, and expires at 9amPT on Tuesday, November 20.
I have been reading your blog for years and have always loved it. However, I find it disingenuous that you post pictures of food you do not eat, and do not include that information. There is no way you ate that cinnamon roll. It feels like lying. I felt similarly after you had surgery and didnt tell readers for months.
hi lisa,
thank you so much for reading for so long. i ate the cinnamon roll (about a 1/3 of it) and it was delicious. i’m trying to minimize gluten right now because of some hormone issues, but i’m also a human who really likes croissants and cinnamon rolls.
for the surgery, i apologize that i didn’t write about it sooner. i’ve mentioned this on the blog a few times, but i’m extremely superstitious and weird about jinxing things. it was a big surgery, with some risks of complications. i was scared that if i wrote about it right away i’d have a blood clot or infection. i wanted to make sure i was healing and feeling better before putting it out to the world.
i write a lot about my life on this blog, but there’s also a lot i don’t share. i would never write or post something with the intention of deceiving you guys.
What a nice reply. Good job Gina. I personally don’t feel like you owe us 100% of your life because you write a (mostly) fitness blog. You are kind enough to pull the curtain back when appropriate.
I hardly ever comment, but I’m commenting on this one… agreed with Stella! You do you Gina. Other people’s projections of their own issues is nothing you need to worry about. xoxo
people are CRAZY! you don’t owe anyone anything. complaining about not alerting your audience about your medical decisions? what world are we living in?! you’re killin’ it. love you & your blog, sista! <3
Thank you for clarifying. I appreciate that you took the time to reply. I had scary complications from my emergency c-section so I get that if you are superstitious you didn’t want to talk about it.
Gina, you do a lot for your blog and readers! Of course it’s human nature to want more and more info when someone shares parts of their life with the interwebs:) but, you control your content and we need to accept what you do and do not share………….that’s pretty easy to comprehend! ๐ I love that you share product reviews that don’t give you stuff for free too!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your fam!!
Sounds like you had a fab weekend with your bestie! I love getting away with my girlfriends – we go tent camping in Utah’s canyonlands. /\
The next time you’re in Palm Springs you should definitely head to the Integratron! It’s so weird and awesome and it’s the best sleep you’ll ever have. I went with my girlfriend for galentine’s day last year – it was her first solo trip after having a baby – we stayed in PS, but went as a little side trip. Highly recommend! https://www.integratron.com/
ok this needs to happen!
Happy Birthday Weekend Gina!
Comment for the above poster. Who cares if Gina ate the croissant or not! Looks great and thanks for sharing. Your a genuine person and my feeling is it doesn’t affect me if you ate the dang thing or not! Keep on doing you Gina. Your amazing!
Hi Gina. I’ve been thinking about your fit guides for a while and think I should jump on the discount this week. I’m torn between the at home warrior or fit mama. I just had a baby 5 months ago and because we did IVF to get pregnant, I couldn’t work out during our IVF procedure or the pregnancy, so it’s been a LONG time since I worked out. However, with my work schedule and the baby’s schedule, my best option is to work out at home for now. Can you guide me to the best fit guide for my situation? Thank you!
i think benchmark babe would be the best fit. it helps to get back to a solid fitness level safely. after you finish it, if you want to try another fit guide, please send me an email and let me know!
Hi Gina: I am interested in the Home Workout Warrior Fit Guide, and was wondering if you have additional descriptive information about it. I read the associated summary, but I had questions regarding the duration of the workouts and whether the workouts rely solely on body weight. Thanks!
they’re about 30-45 minutes and use mostly dumbbells (light and heavy). please let me know if you have any more questions!
My good friend and I are actually planning a trip and considering Miraval. I’m anxious to read your upcoming post!
P looks so much older in these pics! I can’t believe she’s only 3. She’s growing up so fast!
A lot of bloggers post pics of food. How would the above reader know whether you ate it or not unless you posted a picture of it with bites all around it? That wouldnโt be a very attractive photo!That was an absurd and also very rude comment. Iโve been reading your blog for ages as well and appreciate how much of yourself you put into it!
Hi Gina! I must have missed a post as I donโt remember you mentioning this but did you ever do a recap as to why the sudden move back to Arizona? Also, is the pilot away at the moment?
P is so cute and I love that she gets excited to run, already picking up on your awesome healthy habits!
Oh my gosh P looks so much like your Mom smiling away in her running outfit!