The first time I saw Nix, I got the vibe that it was some crazy heavy metal bar. A biker bar perhaps. Well, at least a place where short skirts and sleazy guys might hang out.
I mean, they DO have FLAMES in their logo:
So fresh and so (not) clean
I’ve been in Charlotte for nearly 2 months now, yet my place is still in disarray. So, my primary goal for the weekend was to be OOBER productive. Looking back I’d say I did a fairly good job of meeting that goal—good enough that I may even be able to post some pics of the apt in the next week or so 
Amidst all my oober productivity, I squeezed in a Body Pump class Saturday morning and a “run” (Ah! more on that to come) Sunday morning.
After the Body Pump class, the instructor called me a “real regular”. I know it seems silly, but her little comment and acknowledgement that I’ve been body pumping on a regular basis gave me this sense of pride and accomplishment. I guess it’s because I’ve NEVER been able to stick with any sort of strength training program. I’ve tried. I’ve failed. Annnd repeat. I mean, you all remember my strength training powerpoint, right? Fail.
The hard part for me was finding something I could stick with, and something that I KNEW wasn’t a waste of time. I’m happy to report I’m four months in to Body Pump and going strong! So strong in fact, that today without thinking I flexed my biceps in the bathroom mirror at work. Who does that?! Luckily no one walked in on my “which way to the gym” routine
Anyway, after body pump Saturday I headed home for a quick shower and scooted out to run some errands. I was about 5 centimeters down my street when I realized that I had not only forgotten to shave my armpits, BUT I’d also forgotten to put on deodorant. I slowed the car down to a crawl contemplating on whether or not I should turn around. On one hand I had my goals of oober productivity. On the other hand I had my newly formed goal of not ruining my chances of making new friends in Charlotte because I smell like B.O.. Now if it had been my cell phone I’d forgotten, you’re darn tootin I would have turned that car around. But hairy au naturale armpits? Not so much. I guess we all have our limits 
I hit up Lowes, Target, and Trader Joes before rolling my famished self (neglected armpits included) into my first ever visit to Zoe’s!
Simple.Tasty.Fresh!
My strength training obsessed BF tells me I need to make sure I get bookoo protein in after body pump, so as I perused the menu for something meaty I giggled when I saw they had a dish called The Protein Power Plate. Really?
REALLY??
As unappetizing as the name sounded, the description really hit a special place in my heart. Flat-grilled chicken, caramelized onions, and slaw. Say it with me. CARAMELIZED ONIONSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.
I was also pleasantly surprised that the dish was sprinkled with a bit of feta. You know what they say. Feta makes everything betta.
This was one DELICIOUS dish. One that I’d eat again regardless of my body’s protein replenishment needs. Zoe’s has a ton of other things on the menu that look worthy of a taste – several sandwiches, kabobs, salads… not to mention the hand-made chocolate cake and homemade cookies. Can’t wait to go back!
After lunch, I headed back to the apt where I unloaded my booty… as in all the goodies I scored shopping… not as in #2… ummmm moving on….
One thing I scored was this lamp shade from Lowes:
I love the color and pattern. Yes, I plan to take the plastic off. Please note the pile of crap on my nightstand. Now envision a 1,000 square foot apartment filled with similar piles of varying heights. That’s what I’m working with, folks.
Slowwwwllyyyy but surely
Weekend in Paradise
I’d like to rewind this past weekend, click the pause button, and live the life of an islander for the rest of eternity. The island life. Where your stresses melt away, your to-do lists disappear, and daily woes are forgotten.
OHH, PLEASE. I forgot to say please!
Ahhhh the island life.
Forget the fact that I missed out on first place in the 5th grade spelling bee because I misspelled the word “paradise.” As a wee 10 year old I hadn’t experienced paradice let alone PARADISE!
What’s this island I speak of?
Good old Bald Head Island, NC.
**sigh**
Bald Head Island. A beautiful harbor and beaches that stretch for miles. No cars—just golf carts. No stress—just cocktails.
Quite frankly, there’s not much to do there. But that’s kind of the point, isn’t it?
They even have little trucks to smuggle you across the border:
Being the Frugalista I am (can I coin that??!?! … no pun intended 
) the BF and I rented a TEENY TINY little studio right on the harbor (this one was called the Elements – Fire).
So cute and quaint and sassy all in one little shoebox!
We didn’t waste any time once on the island. First stop—kayaking on the beautiful island marshes!
BF wasn’t exactly a natural…
Tootsie tanning:
Bird watching… (birds are so creepy).
After kayaking it was back to the harbor.
For a little dinner at Eb & Flo’s!
Dining out = happy Mary
We split some yummy jambalaya:
Reminds me of New Orleans!
Grey Goose and Tonic for the lady. Blackened chicken Caesar wrap for the man.
My entre:
Shrimp AND potatoes?! Sign me up!
The restaurant deck was prime for people watching across the harbor.
We took a stroll on the beach after dinner. It was entirely empty and entirely peaceful.
Saturday we had one thing on the agenda: BEACH TIME! With chairs and umbrella in our cargo, we headed for the sand.
Never underestimate the luxury of a nice beach umbrella.
The beach was pretty uncrowded, but still provided quite the opportunity for man candy oogling
After a few hours in the sun (or sprawled out on a beach chair under the nice shade of a 6 foot beach umbrella as the case may be)…
we were in need of some serious fuel. We headed to the Shoals Club where I feasted on an ENORMOUS burger complete with Swiss cheese, onions, and mushrooms.
After lunch, it was—you guessed it–back to the beach! We were so full, that we both passed out under the umbrella for a good hour and a half.
R&R.
Good Ole Baldy:
For dinner, we headed to the River Pilot Café.
Cheesy appetizer goodness:
BF got the jambalaya pasta for dinner (apparently we were really missing New Orleans):
It was DELICIOUS. Shrimp, sausage, country ham, and chicken over pasta?!?!
FABULOUS lobster bisque.
SALAD with EGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG 
After dinner I realized the sun was setting… on our mini vaca 
I woke up bright and early Sunday morning and took a stroll along the harbor.
This is what I do to keep myself occupied when my travel buddy is STILL.FREAKING.SLEEPING… It’s 9am. Get your butt in gear man.
Anyway….
For breakfast we headed to the Maritime Market Café to get our grub on.
I know this looks like a massacre, but it’s actually a bit o hot sauce heaven.
The breakfast burrito was delicious and so were the potatoes.
His face says “enough with the pictures already” but his plate says “I’m a breakfast burrito eating champion.” I’ll go with the latter.
Ooooooghahhhhhh yessssssssss cheesy bagel bliss:
Never have I ever seen a golf cart with a baby car seat strapped in…
Waiting for the ferry to take us back to the daily grind:
Farewell Bald Head!
(insert obligatory “I’m the King of the WORLDDDDDDDDDDD” titanic reference here)
We’re already planning our next beach retreat… hopefully priceline will be kind to me 
3 Ingredients to Breakfast Bliss
What do these three ingredients have in common?
Cottage cheese (bleghhhhhh), eggs, and oatmeal?
Despite being super healthy and good for your body, these three ingredients have one MAJOR thing in common.
A big ole plate of PURE breakfast bliss, that’s what.
I hope you are as excited as I am 
Thank you to Jessica from Warfield Ninjas for sharing with me one of the simplest yet tastiest belly pleasing recipes I’ve tried in a while!
For two good sized pancakes (similar in size to a toaster waffle), you’ll need to combine the following in a food processor:
- 1/3 cup uncooked oats (I used quick oats)
- 1/3 cottage cheese (I used fat free)
- 2 egg whites
Give all the goods a quick buzz in the food processor until the lumps are gone, and cook them up like you would “normal” pancakes!
get. in. my. bellllllllllllllllllyyyyyyyyyyyyy.
I was feeling a little OVER THE TOP, so I decided to top mine off with some all-natural peanut butter, Dannon Vanilla Greek yogurt, strawberries, AND Smuckers sugar free syrup.
Feel free to use the toppings of your choice. To each her own pancake, I always say 
I made a smaller version of these for my mom over the holiday weekend, and she said they were surprisingly tasty and that she appreciated the “healthy and hearty” texture of the pancakes. I completely agree!
Pure breakfast bliss.
I’m looking forward to playing with this recipe a bit – and hopefully making it waffle-iron ready 
Stats on two pancakes (without any toppings): 203 calories, 21g carbs, 2g fat, 22g protein, 3g fiber.
Bask on Seaboard
Last weekend, the BF and I decided to dig into my Living Social / Groupon stash and head to Bask on Seaboard at the NC Music Factory in Charlotte.
Bask’s website touts the restaurant as chic and comfortable – and I’d agree. I also add “swanky” to the description. Partly because it’s perfectly fitting, and party because I love that word 
Prior to leaving, I tweeted Bask to let them know I was on my way and soon after got a response:
This is a perfect example of why Twitter is awesome. I know I was late to jump on the Twitter bandwagon, but over the last year I’ve really grown to love it!
After perusing Bask’s menu, we decided to go with the Black Bean and Roasted Garlic Hummus for the appetizer:
The hummus was DELICIOUS.
The pita chips were still hot and were especially yummy dipped in the cool hummus (even though I wasn’t expecting them to be fried).
Of course the BF got a Caesar salad.
If he were to have “signature” dish, I think it’d have to be the Caesar. He gets them everywhere we go. EVERYWHERE.
Mwah haha… Unsuspecting photo shoot subject 
I went with the Spinach Salad with grilled Shrimp for my dinner:
LOVE me some grilled shrimp. The lemon vinaigrette dressing was very good – and I also asked for some of the spicy thai sauce (that comes on their shrimp appetizer) on the side. It was pretty spectacular.
Two thumbs up on the salad, but what REALLY put a smile on my face was the delicious mac and cheese:
Mmmm I’m a sucker for a cheesy noodle.
I stole a (rather large) bite of the BF’s chipotle chicken sandwich too:
He said it was the best chicken sandwich he’s ever had. I’m not gonna lie. It was STELLAR. Pico di gallo, ancho chili, and AVOCADO. Yesssssssssss. This sandwich alone will ensure our return to Bask.
There was a music event going on at the NC Music Factory the night we visited Bask, and since we chose to sit outside we had prime seats for enjoying the live music and people watching.
Last but not least, we decided to grab a dessert.
I REALLY wanted to try the chocolate brioche bread pudding (chocolate and bread both hold VERY special places in my heart), BUT we compromised and got the apple turnovers:
This was tasty (especially the rum ice cream) – but next time, the bread pudding will be making a visit to my belly.
