It seems quite a few of you really enjoyed this morning’s 30 Days of Self Love post. I smiled with each and every one of your comments on how you are physically beautiful. We should never deny our beauty, inside and out. I would love to read more, so share how you’re beautiful in the comment section of today’s post.

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Since the only blogging I do over the weekends right now is for the 30 Days, I owe you a recap. We had no set plans going into this weekend. I love weekends where you can go with the flow. I expected relaxation, family time, and a good meal out for our one night a week restaurant visit. Saturday fell a little bit short of those hopes and dreams. Even my massage.

I headed out Saturday morning to use up a Groupon I received for a prenatal massage. I almost had butterflies from the excitement! My body needed this massage and I could not wait to feel less tension. I got myself situated on the massage table – on my side with a body pillow for support – and settled in to await bliss.

I would not quite describe this massage as bliss. I would not describe it as bad either…but weird. A good 1/3 of the massage was done through the sheet! And with basically no pressure. It felt like someone poking me in the shoulder or back over and over to wake me up. Not exactly relaxing. Part of what I love about massages is the use of oils and really feeling the release of muscles. No oils touched my skin and minimal tension release happened. I did enjoy the chance to relax, but I certainly would not go back. Any Atlanta area massage studios want to offer me a chance for review? I promise to play nice! As long as you don’t rub me raw through a sheet. 😉

The lackluster Saturday continued with a Georgia Bulldogs game loss and a pretty nasty dinner. We typically prefer going to local, non-massive-chain restaurants in our area but had a BOGO coupon for Ruby Tuesday. I remembered liking their food okay and who am I to say no to a cheap dinner with a salad bar involved? Lesson learned – say no!

My salad suited me nicely. Greens, beets, artichoke hearts, edamame, olives, cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, carrots, parmesan, balsamic vinaigrette, and things I’m likely forgetting.

My meal, however, equated to disaster. I used to love their steak but I could not handle it. It had a lot of chew to it, which cannot be good in my standards. All in all, I had sweet potato fries for dinner. Not worth the $15 we saved from going elsewhere.

I enjoyed Sunday a lot more. It started off fairly typical with church, home for lunch, and chilling during M’s nap. Then, we made the spontaneous decision to head out to the park for the afternoon. I soaked up some quality time with the family and a leisurely stroll around the park’s little pond.

Spending afternoons together outdoors gets me all warm and fuzzy inside every time. We closed out the night with more fun. The hilarity of the movie Date Night ensued. I really liked it! I liked the fact it wasn’t too long and gave us an early bedtime even more. Such a wild life we live. Oh well. It all added up to a pleasurable Sunday!

• What was the best and worst part of your weekend?
• Have you ever had something you looked forward to turn out lackluster? What was it?
• Check out my guest post on Healthy Living Blogs!

Happy Labor Day to those of you celebrating! Today goes on like any other day for me. I still woke up by 5:30 am to get some things done and still had plenty to occupy myself throughout the day. I call it a labor of love – for little M, my husband, baby B, the blog, and writing. Luckily, these things don’t feel so much like work and I don’t dread what goes into cultivating those important areas of my life. So, even though I won’t celebrate Labor Day in the traditional way, my labor of love still satisfies. It also helps I already had a fabulous weekend too, though!

Friday night, Peter and I chilled with a movie night. We had rented The Back-Up Plan with Jennifer Lopez, even after hearing some not so great reviews. Overall it was pretty cheesy, but some parts that we could relate to with pregnancy made us laugh.

Saturday, I started the day off on the right foot by taking a 3.5 mile walk on a local walking trail. It freed my mind and I enjoyed the chance to get in a good workout as well as quality time with M. We discussed colors, sang our ABCs, talked about running/walking/biking, and more. It all added up to quality mother-daughter time.

We continued that fun with lunch at home while watching the first UGA football game of the season. Yay for a win! M seems to like football…or mostly she likes the mascot Uga and saying “Gooooo Dawgs! Sic em!” so she can bark. 😉

Things relating to my friend’s wedding filled the rest of the weekend. Saturday night her aunt threw a BBQ night for family and close friends. We spent the night relaxing and laughing with friends outdoors.

I can’t forget the delicious food as well. Oh my! I had a pulled pork sandwich, a crazy sounding but delicious egg/potato/artichoke heart combo, pickle spear, deviled egg, tiny slice of pound cake, strawberry, and mini apple tart.

After church on Sunday, I attended the Bridesmaid’s Luncheon in the afternoon. My friend gifted us all with the jewelry for the wedding, a little makeup case, and some flip-flops to wear at the reception. My feet thank her for that idea!

We also dined on the most delicious Southern girl food. Her mom can somehow make the most traditional and heavy Southern items into light, healthy, and tasty creations. Chicken salad croissant, potato salad, broccoli salad, and a peanut slaw. With fresh fruit and a spinach salad. Well, minus the croissant, mini brownie and petit-four. Nothing light about those!

Even after all of that, we still had more festivities to attend. That night I picked up Peter and Makenzie to head back up to my friend’s parents’ house for her mom’s surprise birthday party. Yet again I ate well (a plate of veggies and one of the wings + a slice of bday cake) and spent time with people I don’t get to see nearly enough.

All that fun did leave me pretty drained today though. I anxiously await Peter to come home from helping work on his sister’s car. This momma needs a break. And a backrub. Braedon has been putting my body through a lot of extra discomfort!

• What was the highlight of your weekend? I don’t think I can pick one thing this weekend. I already know next weekend’s though! I have a prenatal massage scheduled for Saturday.
• Did you watch any college football? Or any good movies (even old ones!) if football isn’t your thing?