what itch? 7 year anni wkend

 aaaahhh!! so many pictures! well thank God for pic collage apps or this blog post would be 2 miles worth of scrolling.  we had a low-key, relaxing time in Lakeway (right outside of Austin) at the Lakeway Resort & Spa this past weekend for our 7th wedding anni. time for a new mattress.

this sweaty selfie was taken after my last workout before our anni weekend began.  i had only managed to unbraid half of the what seemed like 1 million braids in my head at that point, so i threw on a head scarf and got some upper body and cardio done regardless.

 not gonna lie, i worked out with the anticipation of some good food in my near future! intensity is everything and i turned it UP. here's my stair slaver workout: (video coming soon)

after i posted this pic of my go-to traveling snacks on Instagram i remembered it would tip Sonny off about our trip, whoops.  it's my year to plan and i hadn't told him a thing about leaving to go anywhere. oh wells.

i hardly ever leave for trips without:

• fresh fruit (nectarines this time)
• bottled water
• turkey jerky (high protein snack)
• Quest Bars ( i like Double Chocolate Chunk and Sonny likes Cookies & Cream the best)
• gum to combat mindless munching! that gets me in so much trouble
• roasted, unsalted nuts
• granulated stevia (for my coffee, tea, and oatmeal when eating at restaurants still operating in the stone age)
• Beats headphones + Spotify
• fitness or foodie mags

off we went!  breakfast, snacks, and breast pump in tow.  i actually sat in the passenger seat first but soon as my butt hit that seat Sonny reminded me that it was my year to host.  yeah, yeah.  i actually had another stop planned along the way, but the weather ruined it! i did NOT even check nor consider the weather when i was planning everything, seriously. i just knew it would be clear, hot, and sunny as usual. no. so i'll save that stop for a later date.

we're here!  however, our room wasn't ready since we arrived earlier than expected.  we were hungry again though so we hit up the resort's breakfast buffet per the front desk attendant's suggestion.  boy was he right!  everything, and i mean everything was as delicious as it looked. so.many.options.  we love a good omelette bar and both got egg white omelets loaded with veggies.  no surprise there.  Sonny is prepping for a few upcoming shows and did his best to stick to his meal plan.

bacon, sausage, pancakes, french toast, migas, fruit... sensory OVERLOAD.

next, a couples massage i have been anticipating since i booked the appointment. we were already full and lethargic from breakfast and the massage was the icing on the cake for Sonny. at one point he was over there drooling.

the view overlooking the pool from the spa. the gym was right across from the spa and you knoooow we checked that out next.

impressive! you can get an excellent full body workout done in there, oh yeah. hotel gyms are high on our amenity list and this one gets 5 stars from us. they had my beloved arc trainer, treadmills, a full rack of dumbbells, and a bunch of machines including a Smith machine. lovely.

our room was ready by this time so we headed to check it out and take the most incredible, uninterrupted nap, EVER.  boooo to the weather though.

it didn't start clearing up until the day we left, but we will certainly be back with the kiddos so they can have the time of their lives out there on that slide!

 next up, an early dinner before the big Mayweather fight.  so this was my first time seeing my hair straightened (my beautician wrapped it at my appointment friday and i kept it that way) and i was blown away.

 may not seem like much to anybody else but man my hair has come a long way as far as length and texture! i decided not to get another perm but i knew that as soon as the tiniest drop of moisture hit my head, it would never be the same!  after wearing my braids for a year (shout out to my gorgeous, mobile (yes, she will come to you), braid lady, Ogechi) with 3 short breaks in between, they really are the best fit for my sweaty, on the move lifestyle. they'll be back very soon, but i enjoyed being girly and flipping my hair around town all weekend, lol.

one of my regular Lifetime class members, Sally,  lives in Austin and really hooked me up with the scoop on where to go in ATX.  she suggested we stay downtown close to 6th street with the youngins' but after i told her how Sonny just wants to actually relax on his vacations she said to stick with the hill country, (i.e., Lakeway).  we hit up Oasis and saw a little bit of the sunset.  through the fog.

after perusing the menu for forever i finally decided on salmon with sweet potato cakes, grilled veggies w/ a side salad, and Sonny went with a grilled shrimp salad. i ate most of those chips.

then, we stopped by the landmark Whole Foods Market in downtown Austin for snacks and gelato! so many nostalgic memories here for me. you can read about one of them in the IG post i made that day <3

gosh i love this store.

especially this aisle.

unpictured are the plantain chips and chocolate covered raisins i killed before the fight even started.

was it just me or was the Mayweather fight...boring?? anyway, the next morning we were both up super early as usual and headed to the gym before breakfast. who forgot their workout shoes? :'(  so unlike me!  i went anyway but i don't advise working out in flip-flops around weights, guys. in addition to the shoe fiasco, i had one of THE dumbest workouts ever.  complete waste of time. i was so worried about my hair puffing up i didn't want to move. and i love to move. i think i did the arc trainer for like 8 minutes super slow, then some dumbbell curls, lunges, and squats holding the dumbbells. didn't sweat a drop. ridiculous. i love my hair like this so much but unless i flat-iron it every single morning (and i definitely won't) then i just can't rock the straight look with my lifestyle. THE struggle.

we got cleaned up, explored the resort a little more, then headed to hit up the omelette bar again.

7 years in the marriage game! hard to believe i've known this dude for almost 14 years. we had plans to go out on the lake that fell through, so we hit the Lakeway Galleria Outlet Mall to look around and get some lunch and fro-yo.

found a new fave flavor i've never had before-- taro. yum! i discovered it at Red Mango back in houston too.

pistachio & taro fro-yo randomness.  worth every bit of dairy bloat.

while walking through the galleria, i did a double-take after seeing the word Chiso!  close enough. what a rare sighting.  from there we went back to the room to pack up because #Texans. yeah, they were apart of last years Miami trip too.  so was the Mayweather fight now that i think about it!

i requested a fridge to our room to freeze and store the milk i was pumping.  gotta get it out, and gotta get it done.  we headed to watch the Texans game at Sally's beautiful home in the hill country before heading home to our boys.

our actual anni this year is on monday, september 15th, and instead of going out to dinner, we went to the gym and sipped on anniversary protein shakes.

wouldn't have had it any other way.

happy 7th anni, Mr. Egwuatu!

thanks for reading:)

le

blogging from de plane

that post title is false advertisement.  i was so excited to blog from our plane headed to Jamaica to celebrate our 5th anni that i started the post early, from home!  however........ after all the hustle and bustle of the previous night (we had a FANTASTIC time and did well at our first bodybuilding show!!!!! details in my next post) that we naturally *sigh* overslept and missed our WI-FI enabled first flight. UGH. the second flight, which only left 1 hr later, was not wi-fi enabled because well, that's just how things go.  SO, Sonny and i actually spoke to one another (cause people still do that :shock: ) about the weekend's events, the highs and lows of training under one roof, our bodies then and now, how we felt on stage, how each other looked on stage, future shows, etc... yeah we had lots of time to catch up as life has finally slowed down a little.

i can't shake this 'i need to be prepared for anything' feeling, which is a good thing though. i knew i wouldn't go completely HAM on sweets so soon after the show, so i packed some healthy stuff for our trip a few days beforehand to make this a gradual thing:

 strawberry flavored magic pop, some shelled pistachios, light tuna packed in water, apples, chocolate PB2, canned salmon, and a stack of Food Network magazines i never found time to sit down and crack open.

not gonna lie- even though we woke up super late and rushed out to miss our flight, i still had my oats and bananas lol!   i really WANTED them though and didn't have time to get creative and make something else anyway.  we had a quick layover in Charlotte, NC, and it was there where i was reunited with the dairy food group again after over 3 months. i had an unused Starbucks gift card from Christmas, so i whipped it out and ordered a fruit cup and one of my fav drinks- a skinny vanilla latte.   

so, even on vaca, and i said i was gonna try and stick to 5-6 balanced meals a day, but also indulge and live a little! with everything being all-inclusive (unlimited food and drinks EVERYWHERE) this is hard.  not doing TOO bad so far though- there are different menus everyday, so i'm grateful for the variety.  for breakfast, there's a live omelette bar- was so excited to see that!! can you guess what i've been ordering? haha

 they only have *GASP* instant oatmeal which is disgusting and tastes and looks like wall paper paste. maybe even worse. i see why some people might be turned off by oatmeal if they ever have this stuff when eating oatmeal for the first time, my goodness. i mean it was BAD.  there aren't enough toppings in the world to mask a bowl of that stuff :shock:

my lunches and dinners have been looking a little like this: salad,

fruit / veggie plate - raw celery, tomatoes, artichokes, watermelon, cantaloupe.

and yes that's a slice of cheese pizza lol- i said on IG that i've had a slice with every meal so far except breakfast and that is still in effect!

random lunch plate - curried tilapia, roasted yellow potatoes, sautéed green beans/onions, jerk chicken.

random dinner - grilled jerk chicken, beet salad, raw tomatoes, zucchini, and chicken/tomato pizza;)

have we been indulging? DARN RIGHT. they don't just put out one dessert as you can see.  i made us a sample plate and well, we got our sample on.

rum cake, chocolate chip cookies, strawberry cheesecake, vanilla mousse cake, and chocolate cake.

there is a poolside grille that is open til 1 am (they shouldn't have told us that) and we took advantage right away.  fried fish and french fries - we split this though!

the buffet people see us coming a mile away LOL. we are always right on time for every meal!

 having a really good time so far and i can't wait to post about our show.

 for now, back to Jamaica!

le