What a weekend.

Hey Ya'll!

I'm back from Asheville and had an absolutely MARVELOUS weekend! I love spending time with my best friends and am SO thankful that we've stayed so close! If I got nothing else from my time in college, I got my husband and 3 girls who mean the world to me so.. I think I did pretty darn good for myself. :)

Friday I got up early and did a quick speed workout before getting ready and hitting the road. Okay, I didn't get up super early and I didn't hit the road until 3:30 but still. You get the point. 

I ended up getting to Asheville around 6pm and as luck and timing would have it, Chiz and Kristin arrived within 20 minutes. Anna's trip was a little longer so she didn't arrive until about an hour later. The first thing we did was head to the grocery for supplies and by the time we got back to the room, Anna was there so we had a quick dinner at the Chop House (in our hotel) before getting to work on our tutus. :) I somehow managed to talk everyone into a St. Patrick's Day race the next day and the only reason I got them to do it is because I promised them fun costumes. 

Okay--I had DIY-ing and crafting but this was so EASY. I'm pretty stoked with how mine turned out and may or may not wear tutus for every race from here on out. 

Saturday morning we woke up bright and early to head out for the race. It was raining which was kind of a bummer but it wasn't TOO cold outside so not totally miserable. When we arrived, we were definitely one of the only groups who went all out but we received SEVERAL compliments on our "costumes." :) 

My friends did the 5k and I did the 10 so they left out a few minutes earlier than I did. Okay. Let's talk about this race and how I'm so glad I had no idea what I was getting myself into. This was by FAR one of the hardest I've ever done. Seriously. It was ALL HILLS. Heck, we ran up a MOUNTAIN. According to my fitbit, we climbed almost 1000 feet during this race. It was absolutely brutal. I've never stopped and walked during a  race before but this was the closest I've ever came to considering it. ha. I knew pretty early on I wouldn't be PR-ing. That being said, I'm fairly happy with my time. I think it was 49:40 which is a solid 3 minutes slower than my previous 10k but my previous 10k didn't involve climbing mount everest. I won my age group and was the 5th female overall so I can't complain. Plus, I love being challenged and who doesn't love eating mountains for breakfast? Right?

After the race, I met up with Chiz, Anna and Kristin again. We enjoyed a green beer while waiting for the results and then headed back to our hotel to get ready for the day. 

We explored Asheville the remainder of the day and had fun looking around at all of the quirky shops and enjoying the PERFECT weather! The rain basically cleared out as soon as our race was over (go figure) so it was all 65 degrees and sunshine that afternoon. 

Around 5:30, we made it back to our room to regroup for a night out. I think we were all pretty exhausted from the race and just took it easy for a few hours. We ended up not getting back out until 9pm, which for this old lady, is late. ha. 

We went to a few bars Saturday night before I got the stomach ache of all stomach aches a few hours in. It sucked but luckily, I have amazing, AMAZING friends who didn't mind to head back to the room and be a grandma with me. That's what I love about these girls--we can be doing absolutely anything and still have a good time. I felt bad I had to cut the night short but it is what it is. I think the combination of fried food (blah!) and running that morning did me in. 

Sunday morning, the girls slept in and I, who can't sleep past 7am, got up and decided to walk a few miles on the treadmill to shake my legs out. By the time I got back, they were up and we packed our things and headed to brunch. We met one of our other friends at Mayfel's and it was AMAZING. I got the Asheville scramble which consisted of scrambled eggs with mushrooms, pepper, and spinach on top of homefries with the BEST BISCUIT EVER! Good thing it was a cheat weekend. :) 

We got seated out on the patio and had the best time just talking, sharing food, and enjoying a street musician a few feet down from us. It was one of those moments you wish could last forever. It reminded us of being back in college and having Sunday morning brunch at the caf--we were reminiscing about our weekend, planning for the future, and just enjoying each others company. Just like old times. 

When we were finished, we had to sadly say goodbye to Anna who had a 6 hour trip ahead of her. :( But not before taking more pictures, of course.

Kristin, Chiz, and I decided to stick around town a little longer since our drives were considerably shorter. We ended up checking out the Grove Park Inn and decided we MUST stay there next time. How can you go wrong with this view?!

Plus, we saw the spa and that pretty much sealed the deal. I'll be saving up for a while for that trip. ;)

After Grove Park, we headed to the mall and then I talked them into a quick trip to Whole Foods. I got 2 vegan cookies while we were there and they were freaking fantastic. Especially when I warmed them up later and added some Arctic Zero ice cream..... ;)

I ended up getting home around 8pm and wishing that the weekend wasn't over so quickly. I've said it a million times and I'll say it again--I'm so beyond grateful to have these girls in my life. They've been there for me during the best and worst times and I know I couldn't have made it without them. I'm already counting down the days until our next trip! We're heading to Charlottesville in June. 

Happy Monday!