Kelly Runs For Food

Eating and exercising my way through a (mostly) healthy lifestyle

Enjoying the little things

Ahh another weekend in the books! If I’m being honest, I didn’t do a whole lot and I’m really ok with it. I’m not one of those people who takes pleasure in being “sooooo busy.” You know the people I’m talking about. The ones who wear their busyness like a badge of honor and think that the more they pile onto their plate, the more impressive they are. Don’t we put enough pressure on ourselves? I’m gonna answer that for you and say yes, we do. The need to “do it all” is killing us and I’ve made a huge effort over the past few years to just slow it down. 

Summer weekends are about relaxing and being in the moment and that’s exactly what I did. Friday morning I hit the road to Richmond to spend a few hours with my friend Jane Berry.

We braved the heat at her neighborhood pool and her son, Jack, was just the cutest thing ever. We only made it a couple hours because it was super hot, but it was still a lot of fun. I’m so glad we live close enough that we can carve out even just a few hours to spend together.

Later on Friday evening, our friends Brendan and Tara came over for dinner. Riley grilled some ribeye steaks and roasted some potatoes and asparagus. Our friends brought the salad and a bottle of cabernet and we stuffed ourselves silly.

We sipped wine and chatted late into the evening and completely lost track of time. 

Even though it was after 1 AM when I went to bed, it was well worth it! 

Despite a late night, I can’t seem to sleep past 7 AM, so I was up nice and early on Saturday. Bella had a ton of energy, so I took her over to Colonial Williamsburg for a quick walk before things got too hot out. 

The farmer’s market was in full swing and people were out with their dogs everywhere. Bella was a bit over-stimulated so I took her away from the main area. She saw some horses and the gardens on our walk and she loved them both.

After about 30 minutes, I could tell it was time to go. It’s been CRAZY hot around here lately with heat indexes around 110 degrees every single day. It has not been fun. Bella was already panting by 8:30 AM, so we got back in the car to go home. She wanted to ride shotgun and drooled all over my car….

She’s lucky she’s so cute.

The rest of Saturday was spent reading a book. Yep, I spent the entire afternoon and into the evening reading until Riley got home from work. It was awesome and even though I had a few things I “should” have been doing (washing my car, doing laundry, painting a china cabinet, hanging pictures in the guest room, yada yada yada), I didn’t do any of that and just got engrossed in my book instead. 

Sunday morning started out with a barre class, which was the perfect way to begin the day.

After barre I just kind of putzed around town for a few hours. I spent a stupidly long time in Target and spent a stupid amount of money. Damn you, Target, you win again. 

I spent the rest of Sunday watching some Netflix, napping, and reading. The sunset was gorgeous so I ended my evening on the front porch with the pets watching the sun go down.

I ended the weekend just feeling so grateful. Grateful for our life in Williamsburg, for our new home, for Riley, for the pets, and for the fact that I’m able to take time off in the summer to just enjoy the little things. 

And on that note, I’m back into the swing of things at work! I’m already looking forward to more lazy sunsets on the porch and diving into some new books. Have a great Monday!

What did you do this weekend?

What’s your favorite thing to do to just unwind and step away from the to-do list?

Do you put pressure on yourself to fill your calendar? 

Friday Favorites 7.21.17

Happy Friday! I missed you all on Wednesday, but this week has been crazy! It has not felt like a summer week at the office, that’s for sure. I feel like I didn’t even know what day it was, then yesterday it was Thursday already out of nowhere. 

I can’t really complain because that means the weekend got here so fast. I’m pretty excited for the weekend. I’m headed up to Richmond today to spend that day at the pool with one of my dearest friends, Jane Berry. I’m pumped for some girl time by the pool! 

In the meantime, here’s a look back at all my favorite things from this week. Make sure to share yours in the comments section!

Oikos Triple Zero new flavors

I’ve loved this Greek yogurt for a while now. With 0 artifical sweeteners, 0 grams of added sugar, and 15 grams of protein, it’s been a staple in my house. They recently came out with new flavors, though, which is why it’s making an appearance on the blog again! I couldn’t find the new flavors listed on their website, but I recently picked up a banana peanut butter flavor that was amazing! 

I made a yogurt bowl with it using actual PB, granola, and banana slices to round out the breakfast. It was awesome! 

Playing the piano

I sat down and played my piano for the first time since moving into our new house on Tuesday. I went through all of my favorite songs and it was almost 2 hours before I got hungry and realized how long I’d been playing! The pets were super cute and seemed to enjoy my little concert. Anyone else play an instrument?

Rose of Sharon

So this tree has been growing on the side of our house and recently started blooming like crazy. It’s so gorgeous, but didn’t know what it was called.

One of my co-workers was able to figure out that it’s called Rose of Sharon. It’s apparently not all that popular anymore, but I’m really glad someone decided to plant it at our house. If only it could tell my veggie garden to grow…..

Online ordering at Zoe’s Kitchen

Has anyone eaten at a Zoe’s Kitchen before? It’s amazing! They have all kind of Mediterranean food, including tons of great vegetarian options. Riley and I didn’t feel like cooking the other night, so we ordered online, which made pickup super easy. I had their veggie kabobs, roasted veggies, and a Greek side salad and they were all amazing. Riley loved his dinner too.

I love how many places let you order/pay online and then just pick it up. I’ve used Panera’s rapid pickup option for this many many many times, but apparently you can also do it at places like Noodles & Company and Chilis. 

Deer in the backyard

Can you spot the little guy in the picture above? We’ve learned since moving into our house that there are deer everywhere.  They come out every night and visit the park across the street. We’ve even seen some right in our front yard. It’s so cool! Our neighborhood backs up to a bunch of trails and a huge lake, so I figure that’s where they’re coming from. It’s just so neat to come out at night and see a dozen or more deer running around.

New Haircut

Finally! Y’all, I literally hadn’t had a haircut since last JUNE. It was out of control. I’m super lazy when it comes to my hair, but I was just over it. I was running on the treadmill and realized my hair was sticking to my back and I felt so gross. While I was on the treadmill I scheduled an appointment to get it cut. It feels so much better! Even though my hair was pretty healthy before, it feels even better now. Here’s hoping I can stick to a trim schedule from here on out!

Date night

My favorite thing is having regular date nights with Riley. Even though our days off don’t always coincide, we make a point every week to spend time outside the house as a couple. I feel like this is critical to maintaining a happy marriage, whether you have kids or not.

Last night, we went out to the Corner Cafe for dinner. We kept things simple with appetizers for dinner. We split the caprese salad and truffled eggs first.

Afterwards, we split a charcuterie platter for dinner, which was just incredible.

Gaah it was so good! We were super satisfied, without being too full.

Now I’m off to get this weekend started. Have a great weekend and I’ll see y’all on Monday!

What are your weekend plans?

What’s one thing you’ve been loving this week?

Do you plan an instrument?

Arya Stark is a badass

Game of Thrones is baaaaack!!

Riley and I were ridiculous last night. We gave the pets a special fancy dinner. We made ourselves a fancy dinner. We drank our favorite bottle of wine and dimmed the lights like we were at the movies. Anyone else pumped that GOT is here?!? Grumpy Cat isn’t, but when is Grumpy Cat excited about anything?

Ok, so my weekend wasn’t all about Game of Thrones, but I had to start out with that. Here’s how the rest of my weekend went!

Friday was mostly spent lounging around. Riley and I were both feel super lazy, but I rallied later on and made the drive down to Chesapeake to see my cousin and go to a 90’s party. We went to dinner beforehand and as soon as we walked out of dinner it was a torrential downpour outside. Naturally, we called an Uber to take us the 3 blocks to the concert.

We decided we were going for the grunge look. Ha! The concert itself was a blast and I’m really glad I went, especially since tickets were only $15.

Saved By The 90s was a really fun band! They were super talented and performed everything from Nirvana to Spice Girls. Mallory and I were in 90s heaven. I would definitely go see them again if they come back to our area!

I had a quiet Saturday morning at home with Riley. We drank coffee and had breakfast, then I went to the beach.

Saturday night was spent at home. After a week on the road, it was nice to just spend a quiet Saturday in my PJs with Riley! I used some of our homemade tomatoes to make a tasty spaghetti dish for dinner, then we just hung out and watched some shows.

I started my Sunday out with a nice workout at barre class.

Followed by some lounging on my outdoor swing…..

Then another trip to the beach!

It was so great. There was an awesome breeze yesterday that kept the heat from feeling too strong. It’s been crazy hot around here! I’m talking 110 degree heat indexes. The fact that it was “only” 90 degrees was a nice change haha. I definitely fell asleep on the beach and burned the backs of my legs, but it’s all good.

The rest of Sunday was spent doing boring house stuff – laundry, cleaning, etc. Then, of course, Game of Thrones time!

Now I’m back in the office this week after a week on the road. I’ve got a lot to get done, but it should still be a pretty easy week. My project of the week is to decide what to do with this:

 My old family china cabinet is in need of a makeover. I don’t mind the wood, but Riley’s not a fan and it doesn’t exactly go with my plan for our third upstairs bedroom. I’d like to paint it, but I’m hoping some of you have done this before. I’m looking into calk paint as an easy, low-prep option. Anyone have experience making over a big piece of furniture like this? I’d love to hear your input!

My plan is to turn this into a bookcase in our library/office/gallery room. I’ve seen some cute ones that put wallpaper along the back walls, which I’m considering too. Better yet, if you want to come do it for me, I’ll pay you in wine!

Anyway, it’s off to get the week started. Hope you all have a great Monday!

How was your weekend?

Do you ever make over furniture? What’s your go-to paint?

Do you watch Game of Thrones? What did you think of the premiere?

Friday Favorites 7.14.17

Ahhhh, home sweet home! Good morning and happy Friday, friends. I’m back home in Williamsburg today after being on the road all week. Our college tour road trip around the state was a huge success. I’m pretty wiped out, but luckily I’ve got three days to recover this weekend.

Let’s dive right into my favorites from this week, shall we? Feel free to share your favorite things from this week in the comments section!

College Tours and Virginia scenery

We toured 7 schools this week! It was so fun to travel all the way to one end of the state and work our way back to home. Even though I have no regrets in choosing the college I went to, going on all those tours made me feel super nostalgic. The whole college search process is so exciting and being able to see it again through the eyes of prospective student made me fall in love with what I do all over again!

Plus, we got to stop at my parents’ alma mater, Virginia Tech!

We were so hot and tired by the end! The heat index on our last day was over 110 degrees, so I’m not sad it’s over. 


The Backyard Grille

We enjoyed some awesome dinners while we were on the road. Our favorite, though, had to be The Backyard Grill in Richmond!

This place was so good. The owner is the father of one of the girls on our trip, so he hooked us up with some appetizers, including the amazing brisket nachos.

If you live in Richmond, go there just for those! My entree was their homemade pimiento cheese sandwich.

It was amazing, but I’d eaten so many nachos I couldn’t even finish half of it. Seriously, I’m adding this one to my list of Richmond favorites. If you’re vegetarian, there are a bunch of options for you there too. A big thanks to Evelyn’s dad for the hospitality!

A visit from Danielle


My friend Danielle was in town this week visiting family, so she came over last night to spend some time with us! Since she moved to Texas I don’t see her very much, but it was so great to catch up. I’m so tired this morning, but it was so worth it!

Marriott Hotels

I never sleep as well on the road as I do at home, but I’m always so appreciative of how great Marriott hotels are. Their beds are to-die for and I especially love that the TVs have streaming options now (at least some of them, anyway). I was able to enjoy my favorite activity- Netflix in bed with wine- even though I was away from home.

Just a tip from me- if you travel a lot, get the Marriott Rewards credit card. I’ve had Gold status for years because of it and the points add up so much faster!

That’s a short list this week, but I’ve got no complaints. The whole trip was a huge success and I’m ready to enjoy a few days to relax. Have a great weekend!

What are you loving this week?

What are your weekend plans?

Date night at Bonefish Grill

A few weeks ago, the awesome folks over at Bonefish Grill invited me to have dinner (on them!) at our local Williamsburg location. We love Bonefish, so obviously I couldn’t turn that down!

Generally speaking, Riley and I try to abide by a “no chains” policy on date night. Williamsburg has some amazing restaurants and we try to support our local businesses. That being said, Bonefish is really freaking good, so we’re able to make an exception there when the mood strikes. Bonefish also does a great job of changing up their menu regularly to keep their customers interested.

As soon as we were seated, our server brought our menus and we decided on some cocktails.

One thing I learned from Riley over the years is that you should always order the special! We’ve always had an unofficial competition to see who gets the best entree on date night and for the longest time he always won because he always orders the specials. We stuck with that theme most of the night and ordered their special martinis- pomegranate & sage for me and watermelon for Riley.

They were so good! I can always count on Bonefish to have some pretty amazing cocktails and these didn’t disappoint. The sage in mine was a fun surprise compared to what I normally drink. They should totally use the sage for some fall/winter cocktails because I bet it would be awesome.

We ordered their classic ceviche to start and also received some bread/dipping oil.

I looooove Bonefish bread. I’m a sucker for restaurant bread and this ranks in my top #5 for national restaurants. The ceviche was really interesting because it had pieces of sweet potato mixed in, which I’d never had in ceviche before. I think I definitely liked it better than Riley did, but he kept an open mind!

Finally, our entrees came. I ordered one of their Summer Duos, the cod piccata and lobster tail, which was incredible.

I love a good chicken piccata, so the cod version intrigued me. It had a perfect crispy outside and just the right amount of sauce and capers. The lobster tail was, of course, delicious. I had their whipped garlic potatoes and a side of spinach. I barely touched the spinach because there was so much other food on my plate (lobster tail vs. spinach- is it even a contest?).

Sadly, we were way too full to order dessert, but they had a strawberry shortcake on the menu that looked good and perfect for a summer dessert.

A huge thanks to Bonefish Grill for treating us to dinner and letting me share it with you guys! Obviously, we will be back, especially since we live so close to our Williamsburg location now. I am especially a fan of their Bang Bang shrimp specials on Wednesday and their cocktails, but trying out their summer specials was an great treat. Until next time!

Do you have a Bonefish Grill near you?

What’s your favorite summer drink?