Tropical Storms and Birthday Parties Don't Mix!

I love when I can say that I had a wonderful birthday. Yesterday was a wonderful birthday! YAY!

As I mentioned yesterday, J and I share a birthday. Which is neat, because a) it was the coolest coincidence on our first date and b) he will NEVER EVER forget it. It was his 30th, so he decieded to host a get together at Whisky River. But we wanted to celebrate privately so we went to his favorite Indian restaurant 5th Element:

Photo from 5th Element Trip Advisor site

They have a phenomenal lunch buffet. J and I got our eat on! I had multiple servings of basmati rice and chicken tikka masala and he had his favorite: chilli chicken! 

After lunch, J and I traded presents.I got him this beautiful Armani watch to commemorate his 30th birthday. 

I wrote yesterday how I have been dying to make my own smoothies for my post work-out snack. Well that dream will be a heck of a lot easier thanks to his gift:

A MAGIC BULLET! J pays attention to when I like something or say I want something. I mentioned getting one a few weeks ago when we were in Bed, Bath and Beyond. I'm excited to use it. 

So a few hours later, we met up at Whisky River with our friends. I love that people came out, even in the torrential downpour of Debby. I was late to my own party, because Debby just kept dumping buckets and buckets of water on my town. I'm grateful that my side didn't get any bad flooding the way the Westside of Jacksonville did.

It was a great night and a bunch of our friends and family came out. A few of my friends and J's friends stayed out at Whisky. I didn't get home till late, but that much fun was totally worth it!

Here are some pics:

J's peeps from work, my little brother (who's the tallest!) me and J. Forgive the crazy hair, it was pouring! Note my massive umbrella!

I love that my Central Riverside peeps came out! I'll miss them so much at my new school.

So as I said earlier, a wonderful birthday indeed. What was your favorite birthday? (Oh and forgive the use of the word peeps...)

It's my birthday!

Yep, it's my birthday. 27. Man, that feels old. There are plenty of things that I thought I'd have by now that I don't, and plenty of things that I do have by now that I didn't even think of! Oh, and it's J's birthday too! Yes, you read that right, my boyfriend and I share a birthday. It's one of the quirky facts about us. It's his 30th, so OBVIOUSLY he's the star of the show today. We're having a joint party at Whisky River later this afternoon (as long as Debby decides not to ruin anything).

I kicked of my 27th year right: by going to the gym and doing my strength workout. It was my first time doing this routine without my trainer Trey (he's kind of pricey and I'm trying to save here!). It is a kick butt workout:
Circuit one (repeat three times)

• 30 walking lunges
• 30 dumbell lifts with 20 pound dumbbell (15 on each side)
• 30  side plank hip tucks (15 on each side)

Circuit two (repeat three times)

• 15 pushups
• 15 kettlebell rows with a 20 pound kettlebell
• 15 throw downs (I don't know the technical name, I just take an 8 pound weight ball and slam it down 15 times)
• 30 woodchucks at 12 pounds (15 on each side)

Circuit three:

• 15 reps on one of the weight machines. Forgot the name, but I have to reach down and pull with my side muscles. I do this at 40 pounds
• 30 shoulder presses with 12 pound weight. 15 on each side.

Wow. I feel like such a kick-ass person seeing all that in writing! It's an awesome exercise and definitely gets my heart pumping.

I normally do cardio afterwards, but my brother was with me and he wanted to leave (his trainer kicked his butt!) so we went and got smoothies. My current favorite post workout smoothie is the Lean1 at Smoothie King.

They finally got the Lean 1 strawberry powder in, so I'll be going back to buy it. This way I can make my own Lean1 smoothies at home!

Off to get ready for my birthday lunch date! What kind of workout do you do?