Meet Me On The Mat: Valentine's Day Date Ideas
Helllllo!How are you doing?The weekend, as always, flew on by so fast.We enjoyed a cauliflower pizza on FRIDAY night to celebrate National Pizza Day. (That counts, right?)SATURDAY, Sam made a tasty breakfast for us and then we went for an hour-long walk before I had to get some work done from home.
Later, I took a flow yoga class taught by my friend Meg. It was great! It was a really sweaty, ab-focused class. Lots of killer core work that had me feeling really strong and quick-moving sequences that felt great.At night, we went to an Improv show and dinner.The Improv show saw at UCB Franklin had us laughing the whole time. So funny. And dinner and drinks at Birds next door was great too. I got chicken tacos and a glass of pinot noir.Birds had an anti-Valentine's day theme going on inside and it was super entertaining.
SUNDAY, we checked out the Montrose Farmer's Market in the late morning for shopping and bites (acai bowl and an cold Korean watermelon punch), went grocery shopping, and watched lots of Boston sports.
I did some lunch-prepping at night, blogging, and getting ready for the week.
On to today's topic...This week's a fun one with Valentine's Day tucked in mid-week (which makes it sometimes hard to celebrate if you're at work). Doing anything fun for it?Last year, I shared a post about all my past Valentine's Days spent with Sam.Check it out here!I can't believe this will be our eighth one together. Sam really is the best little Valentine. :) Any excuse to celebrate love, and I'm in.Since we've gotten older and have been together longer, the idea of Valentine's Day hasn't faded (duh!), but our need to go out and always go big has.Last year, we stayed in and it was just as (if not more) fun. We made a delicious meal from our Anthony Bourdain cookbook and legit, it came out like restaurant quality, guys!Meat lasagne, wedge salads, and chocolate lava cakes. Yummmmmmmm.Anyway, this year we decided we aren't going to stress ourselves out over celebrating on the actual day, but instead wait until the weekend to go out somewhere nice. Places are bound to be less crowded and there probably won't be any prix fixe menus we have to order from.I think we'll probably celebrate at home with a drink or two and chocolates day of, but nothing too crazy night of.What are your thoughts on Valentine's Day?Love it? Hate it?Do you have to go out in order to feel like you're celebrating?I've compiled some unconventional ideas around Valentine's Day and thought I'd share them on the blog:- Make it a breakfast date.- Take a cooking class.- Go to a wine tasting.- Go dancing.- Flip to a random cookbook page and make that recipe.- Have appetizers and drinks at one restaurant, and then move to another for dinner and dessert.- Watch black-and-white films together.- Visit a brewery.- Flip through old photos of you both together.- Go where you went on your first date.- Go to a jazz club.- Get a couples' massage.Whatever you end up doing, just have fun.That's what this holiday's all about—fun, romance, and togetherness. Heck, make it corny. LOL. Who cares?!
MEET ME ON THE MAT: Rule Your Mind Or It Will Rule You
If you're looking for a little inspiration this week (aren't we all?), then I've got you covered.I wasn't shy about telling you guys that last week was a hard one for me. Nothing for you to be worried about as my friend or family member, but just emotionally and mentally draining.Before I could control my emotions around it, I let my mind start telling me how I should feel.Instead of going down that path again this week, I'm going to rule my mind and remind myself to take things day by day.I'm going to control my state of mind before I let it control my happiness.Have you ever tried this? Ruling your own thoughts as they pop up?It's just like meditation.Just like anything, this is going to take practice. But I'm ready for it.Hope this inspires you too.You have the power.xoxo,Ari
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