Not a whole lot of favorites to share from July.  The oppressive heat kept us inside a lot, but it still seems like the month went by pretty fast.  And just as the month went by fast, this post will also be pretty quick!

FAVORITE #1

Back in May, for Mother’s Day, my son Danny gave me an e-gift card to a new restaurant in Ft. Worth called Quince!  (Pronounced like the Spanish word for the number 15)  The very first day of July was a Saturday, and I had made reservations for Big Eagle and I to give it a try.  It’s in an area we have frequented often right on the Trinity Trail, and we loved that!

I started by ordering their signature drink called Quince Spirit.  It’s made with Fords gin, pineapple, grenadine, and tonic.

Almost too pretty to drink, right?  Almost.  Ha!

For our entrees, Big Eagle ordered the Panko Crusted Chilean Sea Bass.

And I ordered the Beef Filet over Yellow Ahi Pepper Risotto.  OMG…so good!

This was so delicious, I would definitely order it again!  We were both too full for dessert, but there was still a balance left on the card.  While we were there, the patio was being renovated.  So…since we still had money on the card, we decided we will go back when the weather is cooler and enjoy drinks and charcuterie on the patio and maybe even check out the desserts.  You can be sure I will post that experience in the future!

 

FAVORITE #2

Orangetheory Fitness is a regular part of my days.  Over the last several months, I’ve been working out there 5 days a week, and I love it!  I actually have 3 favorites from OTF this month, so I’m grouping them all together here.

They always offer a challenge, and in June the challenge was called Push 30.  It required working out at least 15 days during the month of June, giving up one unhealthy diet-related item, employing at least 5 minutes of mindfulness daily, drinking at least 2 liters of water daily, and doing at least 20 minutes of light activity daily.  Everyone who met the challenge had their names placed in a drawing to receive a prize.  Lo and behold, I got on Facebook one day early in July and there was a video of the drawing on their VIP page, and I was the winner!  What?

And this is what I won!  A few days after I received it, my biceps were sore from one of our workouts.  I slapped this baby on each of them for 10 minutes, and it was great!  Of course, they were still sore, but it did help.  Thanks, OTF!

Another thing OTF does every year is to schedule a 90-minute workout members can only attend after giving at least a $25 donation to the Special Olympics.  I participate in this workout every year, and this year was no different.  I love getting the extra 30 minutes to work out whenever a 90-minute is offered, and with the proceeds going to a great cause like this…it’s a win/win!

Orangetheory also has what they call specialty workouts and signature workouts where you can record your results and try to improve them the next time that particular type of workout is on the schedule.  One of them they held in July is called Inferno.  It is a treadmill/row workout, where the goal is to focus on rowing as many meters as you can.  You alternate between the treadmill and rower, doing the same distance on the treadmill each time, but increasing the row by 100 meters each time.  I went into it hoping to make a PR, but being a little skeptical at whether I would be able to do that or not.  My previous best was in January of this year: 3394 meters.  Here’s the chart OTF posted on the FB page after this month’s workout:

I was floored!  I beat my previous record by that much AND I was first in my age group!  Okay…I have to say here that for a month or more I had noticed I was not performing as well.  I was having to hold on to the handles of the treadmill to get a rest, whereas before I had always gone at a higher speed and had not had to touch the handles.  Well, Big Eagle and I went to give blood, and they wouldn’t take mine.  Iron was too low.  I ate more red meat and lots of greens the next week, and then tried again.  My iron was even lower!  So then I started taking an iron supplement every day.  Within a week I had my energy back on the treadmill.  It was amazing to me!  Thought I was just declining because of my age, but it was my iron!  I plan to attempt to give blood again sometime in the next few days, and I’m hoping they will accept me.  Anyway, all this to say, if you feel fatigued more than usual, it COULD be your iron.  Or something else.  Best to get it checked out, UNLIKE me.

 

FAVORITE #3

If you know me, you know one of my very favorite things about summer is enjoying the tomatoes from the garden!  And every year I pick the best-looking one and deem it our “prize” tomato.  🤪  Here is this year’s prize tomato:

And sliced on Big Eagle’s plate:

Don’t you love our avocado green Corelle from the 70s?  We enjoyed all the tomato things this summer: sliced with salt & pepper, BLTs, bruschetta, grilled cheese w/sliced tomato, and homemade salsa!  Salsa canning began on July 7th.

It’s nice to have Big Eagle’s help!  We did 6 or 7 batches…I lost count.  That would be between 48 and 56 jars.  We’ve already gone through a few, and I’ve given a few away as gifts.

 

FAVORITE #4

LEO IN JULY!

Again, I’m so thankful that Erin and Danny send pictures of Leo, our new grandson!  I love watching as he grows from week to week in so many ways.  And we’ve video chatted with them a few times, too, and that’s always a favorite!

 

 

 

 

I am so in love with this little guy, and I haven’t even met him face-to-face yet.  But that will all change here in August!  Can’t wait to cuddle with him, play with him, hold him, and just get to know him soon!  I’m already trying to figure out how to bring him back as a stowaway when we have to come back home. 😜

Also so excited to get out of this brutal heat for a while!  It’s crispy and crunchy here in Texas.  I sure hope you are keeping cool wherever you are and enjoying your summer as it’s winding down.  If you’d like to share what’s going on in your neck of the woods, I’d love to read about it!  Just comment below.