Hi friends!

How were your post-July 4th weeks? Mine just felt weird. It felt so sluggish yesterday and today while I was at work but at the same time, it feels like the weekend has come unnaturally fast!

On July 4th, my sister and I had some serious shopping planned. Independence Day sales are no joke – especially at an outlet! We went out hard at Jersey Shore Premium Outlets, but unfortunately, didn’t come home with as much as we wanted. I didn’t find much I liked or in my size and my sister already has so many clothes that she was afraid of incurring the wrath of my mother if she bought more.

Photo op while in Tommy Hilfiger:

Later on, my parents wanted to go to Applebee’s, so we popped over for an early dinner. To start, my dad had the Sam Adams summer ale, I ordered the berry sangria, my sister had the mango lemonade, and my mom wanted to join in on the photo with her glass of water.

For apps, we went with the spinach artichoke dip (Steph’s very favorite) and the classic buffalo wings. Both were good!

I ordered the seasonal berry and spinach salad, which is similar to my summer salad with strawberries, but with grilled chickens and without the avocado. It was exactly what I wanted after having heavier chicken tenders for lunch and hit the spot!

My mom had the 7 oz house sirloin, which she enjoyed. I thought it was cooked perfectly! The waitress asked her to cut into it before she left to make sure, hence the butchered-looking steak and the knife on the plate.

My sister ordered the bourbon street chicken and shrimp, which came on a sizzling plate. I tried a bit of the chicken and it had way too much seasoning on top in my opinion – super salty! Then again, I season very lightly and consider a lot of things oversalted.

I don’t remember exactly what my dad had but I think it was the grilled shrimp and island rice. I love roasted vegetables so I was stealing that zucchini off his plate! No shame here.

As for the past two days, I’ve had two of what I’ve now decided officially qualify on my favorite foods list. I can’t decide what I like better!

Vegan chocolate mousse which claims to be only 42 calories but tastes like heaven?

Or authentic tzatzki filled pitas from Mamoun’s Falafel in Hoboken? Hmmm. Quite the food toss up!

My half eaten falafel hummus pita. Yum!

My sister’s visiting this weekend and tomorrow (or rather later today!) we’ll be doing the pool dive portion of the PADI open water diver certification! I convinced (okay, bullied, just a little) her into doing this with me and we both just passed the test online about an hour ago. She’s excited after getting our gear at the scuba shop today. I can’t wait to get certified so we can go diving together in Hawaii at the end of the month. Yay!

Have a lovely weekend!

I had an uneventful day today, but yesterday was fun-filled!

My sister and I finally got off our lazy asses yesterday and went on a bike ride on the Henry Hudson trail.

Helmet on and ready to go!

I used Map My Run and it turned out that the ride from our house to the start of the trail was a mile. We ended up riding a mile and a half more to a small abandoned airport and then riding down the short runway. We took this picture on it!

And I snapped this photo of the trail on our way back. I’m so jealous that my parents live so close to it!

My mom planted these flowers in the planters on our front porch while we were gone. So pretty!

Lunch

For lunch, my sister and I split our second to last black bean burger. Lettuce, cheese, ketchup, mustard, and pickles on mine!

My parents also made bruschetta, which looked like the photo on this post. On a somewhat related note, I saw an Olive Garden commercial today where they pronounced bruschetta “bru-sket-ta.” What?! I always thought it was “bru-shet-ta.” Whoops.

Dinner

My parents wanted to go out for dinner so we decided to go to Bonefish Grill in East Brunswick since we hadn’t been in a while.

For our appetizer, we had the Fresh Ceviche with scallops, shrimp, fish, avocado, peppers, and cilantro. It was a total hit! My sister’s normally not a fan of seafood, but even she loved it.

My mom ordered the Bayou Mahi Mahi and Shrimp. It came with a spicy creole sauce and garlic whipped potatoes. The sauce gave the fish the perfect spicy kick!

My dad went for the Fresh Maryland Stuffed Soft Shell Crab Dinner. We thought this might be a miss since soft shell crab is usually a hit or miss, but he loved it! It was seasoned perfectly.

My sister picked one of the restaurant’s popular dishes, Lily’s Chicken, with a side of potatoes au gratin. It was grilled chicken breast with goat cheese, sauteed spinach, artichoke hearts, and a lemon basil sauce. All the flavors really worked together.

I ordered the Bang Bang Tacos. I’d been craving veggies all day, so I chose the spring mix for my side. The tacos had their signature Bang Bang shrimp with their usual creamy sauce. Delicious! I managed to finish one and almost a half.

After dinner, we stopped by Kohl’s next door so my sister could pick up some new workout clothes. Then we walked over to TJ Maxx to browse. I picked up this squeaky toy for Cissie!

When we got home, the raisin swirl rolls my mom had been baking all day were all done and they looked absolutely amazing. Don’t they?! Tasted great too.

Hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!