Labor Day Weekend Recap

Hi guys, how was your Labor Day weekend? Ours was pretty low-key (overall). We didn’t really go anywhere and didn’t attend any BBQs (is that a  Labor Day thing? I saw a lot of advertisements for BBQ stuff before this weekend), but I since I get (most) Fridays off, I was lucky and got an extra-long four-day-weekend out of this holiday weekend. Sweet!

On Friday, we got all our errands out of the way. Grocery shopping, cleaning the house, and such. It’s nice to have it all ‘done’ before the weekend even officially starts. In the evening,  we made sandwiches and watched a couple of (recorded) episodes of “Adam ruins everything”. Have you heard of the show? Adam Conover debunks myths and misconceptions that most people take for facts in an educational, but funny way. J and I really enjoy the show.

On Saturday morning, I did an interval training run and dedicated my 7.5 miles to the #girlsruntheworld project. I am sure you have heard about the three recent acts of violence against female runners, haven’t you? Girls Run The World is a project that is supposed to raise awareness and send a message to the unknown perpetrators of recent violence against women runners that WE WILL NOT BE STOPPED. Everywhere, throughout their day on their daily runs, runners were wearing YELLOW to draw attention to our numbers, to our strength, to our courage, as we hit the streets in celebration of running and to remember Nicolette Brueger, Katrina Vetrano, Vanessa Marcotte and all the other strong, women runners who have faced violence or harassment on the streets.

So, I ran in yellow on Saturday (in the one yellow shirt that I own) for all the women runners out there. I am horrified about what happened to these women while they were doing something that they loved. Although I know these kinds of attacks are rare, I also know why I mostly run around the local park (yes, laps if you will) or at the gym. I just don’t feel safe running along the river or on other more remote running paths by myself.

The rest of the afternoon was spent doing laundry and finishing “Joyland” by Stephen King for the #Postal Bookclub. I am usually not a fan of Stephen King, because I always associate him with horror stories (which I am not a fan of), but I am so glad I gave this book a chance, because the story was so well-written and I loved the main character, Dev. A really good mystery story, if you are interested.

Saturday night, we got a large veggie pizza and sat outside on our deck for most of the evening. 

On Sunday, I had my usual phone calls with my family in the morning and then J made coffee and we had some breakfast. After writing some emails and reading some blogs, I got a second cup of coffee and then started a new book.

In the afternoon, I also did some baking. I made new pumpkin-seed granola, some nut bars, and these seeded spelt-rye rolls. I’ve made them a few times already and they have looked prettier before, but they still tasted great. There is nothing better than some freshly baked bread (give me all the good carbs!).

Monday, I ventured out to Ikea. I was a bit afraid that Labor Day would be a bad day to go, but it turned out that most people must have done their Labor Day Ikea shopping earlier that weekend. It was like any other day at Ikea – crowded, but totally manageable.

I walked through the showroom for about 2 hours (I love it. I know other people get stressed out by it, but I love the Ikea showroom maze and I always take my time and let my mind wander and get inspired). I usually have a list (or five) going where I mark down things that I consider purchasing or take notes on what I might be able to DIY. Sometimes I take pictures of the room setups.

I ended up buying a Kallax 16-cube shelf  for my craft room, the Ingolf bar stool for our kitchen counter, the Rundlig Serving bowl, the Luns Chalk/Magnet board that I had been eyeing for so long and the Ängstörel bedspread that just looked so lovely. I am under no illusion that I’ll be making our bed and using the bedspread every single day (although I wish I was that orderly), but whatever. I have a nice bedspread! We have visitors coming soon.

After the Ikea shopping, I went to the gym to get my endurance run in (6 miles on the treadmill + a side of baseball. Don’t you love working out while watching sports? Me too!).

On my way home, I stopped at our local running store, because a) they had a weekend-long sidewalk sale going on, b) I had a $15 reward credit that I had to spend and c) I just love perusing the running store. I ended up buying two new pairs of running socks and a tube of Nuun tablets in a new flavor that I haven’t tried (which flavor is your favorite?)

How was your Labor Day weekend? What did you do?

Did you make a trip to Ikea? What are your favorite running socks?