Bloggers, Birthdays, and Dessert!

Whoa! You guys are amazing! Thank you for all the comments on the Steak the Cove 5k race recap. It was one of the most empowering races I’ve ever run and I was more than thrilled to share the experience. Definitely a race worth remembering. 🙂

After the race I hightailed it home, ate an un-pictured evol breakfast burrito, blogged, showered, and grabbed an apple on my way out the door to St. Pete.

The super, amazing Caroline took the lead this month for the Tampa Bay Lady Bloggers and arranged this month’s meet up at Hooker Tea Co. in St. Pete.

I LOVE Hooker Tea Co! We used to have one in downtown Tampa, but it closed down about 6 months ago and I miss it dearly. It was a great place to order a tea and just work for hours on end. They had a great selections of teas, a great staff, and a cozy atmosphere that’s best to just sit and chill. The original St. Pete location is just as amazing – if not better! – than the downtown location and won extra bonus points yesterday for being super accommodating of our 12 person meet-up. We took over our own section of the tea place and spent an hour+ discussing all things blog related in Tampa Bay.

I asked one of the baristas (or are they called something else in a tea place?) for recommendations on a light and fruity tea. She suggested the “Good Morning Sunshine,” which was a minty green tea that smelled wonderful. I ordered it iced and downed it so quickly that I ended up ordering a second before we left.

I was also starving when we arrived (the earlier apple did nothing for my hunger). I ordered the spinach and artichoke quiche (delicious!) with a mini chocolate chip muffin and orange slices.

It hit the spot! 🙂

Tampa Bay ladies rock! 🙂

If you’re in the Tampa Bay area and would like to be a part of our next meet-up, check out the Facebook page – http://www.facebook.com/TampaBayLadyBloggers – for more info 🙂

And if running a naked 5k in Kissimmee and attending an awesome blogger meet-up in St. Pete weren’t enough for one day…. a group of us met up at Bern’s Steakhouse for a dinner of dessert in honor of Courtney’s 26th birthday!

I love Bern’s desert room! It truly is an experience just in itself. The dessert room takes up the entire upstairs of Bern’s and is sectioned off into private dining alcoves. Derek and I came here last year to celebrate his birthday and I’ve looking for an excuse to return. Courtney’s birthday seemed like the perfect fit. There’s nothing better than celebrating a birthday with good friends and good dessert… who needs dinner anyways? 😉

I was fading fast at this point and had originally just ordered a cup of Bern’s famous coffee (they roast their own beans on site every morning and it’s out of this world). But, then everyone started ordering “fancy” coffee drinks that sounded amazing and persuaded me to order the same.

I played copy cat to Mary and ordered the “Mint Chocolate Coffee” which was coffee served with mint and chocolate liqueurs, it was heavenly.

The dessert menu was very overwhelming. So many options and everything sounded delicious. I decided I wanted something that was refreshing and not terribly heavy – ice cream was on my mind.

I ended up ordering the Peach Melba Sundae.

The sundae was large enough to feed a small family. I could only manage half of it. 😉

I loved the fresh fruit and extra creamy homemade ice cream. The sundae was just what I was craving.

However, I was a teensy bit jealous about Marcus’ Bacon Brownie + Bacon Ice Cream trio.

Next time I’ll get that. 😉

Happy Birthday, Courtney!!

I was so wiped after our dinner/dessert, that I crashed as soon as we got home. So sorry about not posting last night, but I could barely keep my eyes open!

This morning I ran 4 miles with Maddie (fully clothed – not quite as fun), then did the Tone it Up Summer Slim Workout 3 times while watching “The Pitch” (still not sure how I feel about the show, it’s kinda slow).

Breakfast was a bowl of cereal.

• 1/2 Wheat Chex
• Mini box of Cascadian Oats and Honey Granola (race swag)
• ricotta cheese
• mini chocolate chips
• fresh strawberries

I can’t believe it’s Monday already! The weekend flew by!

Have a great week everyone!