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Wedding Wednesday: My Bachelorette Weekend


My bridesmaids and I went to Charleston last weekend for my bachelorette, and it was the most fun! I wore all of the white dresses, we had perfect weather, and it was great to finally get all (except one) of my bridesmaids together! They had been group chatting each other for months, and some of them had met previously. But it was the best time getting them all in the same place to celebrate! My matron of honor is my best friend from college, and she kept just about everything a secret. So it was a weekend full of surprises!

Friday
My matron of honor flew in to Atlanta the night before, so it technically all started Thursday evening. We actually have not been able to see each other since her wedding over 2 years ago. She hadn't even met TJ yet either! So we had a little reunion, and she got to know him a little bit. Friday morning, we met with my friend also in the Atlanta area, who drove us to Charleston.
We stayed in a condo on King Street, and the first order of business before checking in was to find some food. We went to El Jefe for a late lunch. They had some great tacos, giant frozen margaritas, and even some people riding a mechanical bull at 3pm. My brother lives in Charleston. So we met up with him and his girlfriend, who is one of my bridesmaids, and she joined us from there.

We checked in to the condo, which was all decked out in pink balloons! This was also when I was reunited with the rest of my bridesmaids who came from Charlotte. We then started to get ready for dinner at Stars, where we had the best dinner! We also later spent some time on their rooftop bar. I've been to Charleston several times before, so I've always heard it was a big bachelorette destination. But I was one of very many girls in a white dress, sash, and veil that night!
We stopped in to another bar after the rooftop, but ended up going back to the condo on the earlier side. We were hoping the weather would allow for a beach day on Saturday, so we weren't trying to do it up too big to where we wouldn't make it there in the morning!

Saturday
We woke up a little late on Saturday with mimosas and bloody mary's. The weather ended up being just too cool for a beach day. So we ended up walking around Charleston for most of the day, and the weather was absolutely perfect for that! That is always my favorite thing to do in Charleston anyway.
We grabbed some iced lavender lattes at The Rise coffee bar and lunch at The Watch rooftop, both part of The Restoration Hotel. The rooftop was beautiful and had some great cocktails! We then just explored for awhile and saw all of the classic Charleston spots. Stopping into some shops, seeing Rainbow Row, the Pineapple Fountain, the pier, etc. We also found several Insta-worthy spots along the way. On our way back, we stopped in to Henry's and spent some time on their rooftop.
We had a pajama party in the condo that night, with Mellow Mushroom pizza, lots of games, and of course some more drinks!


Sunday
We woke up on the earlier side on Sunday to get checked out of the condo. You know it was a later twenties bachelorette party when no one got sick! We took one last walk around King St and stopped into a few shops before brunch. I ended up finding a cute dress from the Gretchen Scott Designs store, which had the cutest decor full of bright colors and bamboo furniture! We ended the trip with brunch at Fleet Landing on the way out. I had the best breakfast crabcake, and we just so happened to be at the same place as one of my friends from growing up. Of course we didn't know she was there until we had the sweet surprise of mimosas being sent over for the table! She actually lives in New York but was visiting her boyfriend there. So I even got to see her for a minute before we headed out! Then we went to our separate cars and made our ways back home. I was so sad to see it end, and wish we could do it all again this weekend! Thanks again to my wonderful bridesmaids for the best time!


Thanks for reading!

Fitness Friday 29


Picking up where I left off on some Fitness Friday progress! My new job has the corporate discounted ClassPass, so I have been trying out some studios in the Atlanta area! I have been sticking to barre and pilates classes (avoiding cardio) because I am still wearing a mask to class. I'm unfortunately in a minority on that around here, but I got my fist vaccine earlier this week! So I can hopefully start trying some cardio after I have the second one. So, in between trying out some studios, I have been keeping up with some video workouts as well. Since I skipped last month, I thought I would stray from sharing my weekly workout schedule. I'm instead going to share the video services I have been using and studios I have tried out so far!

Workouts
Video:
Rumble TV- I did a week free trail and really enjoyed how they mix boxing and strength training.
Fit Atelier- My most frequented studio in Charlotte with my forever favorite class (taught by one of my bridesmaids), Ballet Fit Theory!
Blogilates- I love Cassey's shorter options (around 15-20 minutes) that still provide a good burn! You can find them on her website, YouTube, or her app, Body by Blogilates.
SweatNET- I've definitely been missing their popup workouts all over Charlotte, but I can still get some of the experience with streaming from their partner studios.
ClassPass Streaming- I have been enjoying seeing all of the options available to stream like Barry's, several barre 3 and Barre Code locations, as well as solidcore. Which I have been wanting to try in Atlanta, but isn't the most convenient location for me. There are even ballet classes you can stream from New York City!

In Studio:
Club Pilates- I had been meaning to try Club Pilates at one of the several locations in Charlotte, but thanks to my hip injury and COVID, it took until I moved to try one in Atlanta. It is a reformer studio and I tried the Balance class. The class was a little more stretching than I've seen on a reformer before, and some barre work. I haven't made it back yet, but I'm sure I will soon!
barre 3- I have tried one of their locations in Charlotte before, so I was excited to see there were a few to choose from in the Atlanta suburbs. I really like how they are a little different from other barre methods in that the movements are a little more based in yoga, and very grounded.
I Heart Pilates-  I tried an independent reformer studio in Roswell and really liked how they used the full variety of traditional pilates equipment. I have done more megaformer before, so it was nice to learn more of the traditional side of pilates.
SculptHouse- A megaformer pilates studio (and activewear boutique), and I have tried their Charlotte location before. So I had to try the original in Buckhead. I was so sore the next day, I will definitely be making my way back!

Food
  1. A recent dinner favorite has been this sweet potato ground turkey skillet. It is pretty simple to make and a little different from having chicken all the time.
  2. Also with sweet potatoes, another great option I've made several times lately is a simpler version of this 1 pan chicken, sweet potato, and broccoli dinner.
  3. On the snack front, I keep on buying Luna Bar protein bars. I used to always have a stash of their classic bars while I was in college and I'm currently loving these chocolate-y protein filled versions.

Thanks for reading!