Date Night Fun

I did so much shopping last week, which is so unlike me. I had a mall excursion that was unplanned because I needed to kill a couple hours. This is where I landed the spiralizer I mentioned previously. Then there was the one-store trip to find an outfit for a social event. Even though I don’t really enjoy shopping, I had some shopping planned for date night Saturday. We were going to 2 stores we had never been to before and I looked at it as a kind of adventure.

First up was REI. A few weeks ago I had never heard of this store. REI stands for Recreational Equipment, Inc. and it turns out there are over 100 stores all over the US. There are only 2 in my state, the closest one is 30 miles. So, why go there? Lisa Macy posted a link to some great core exercises on mercola.com where I learned what a slackline is. This looked like a fun way to work on my balance and core. When I found out they aren’t too expensive, I thought I’d order one. Once I selected one, it turned out I could get it cheaper through REI than the manufacturer and even better there would be no shipping charge if I picked up in the store.

I love the outdoors. Even though I’ve become a couch potato and have never been athletic, my early childhood was in a rural area with lots lakes and lots of time spent in nature. I’ve always loved hiking and camping and water. I grew up a Girl Scout. Yep, the whole way. My mother was the leader of my troop most of the time. Our family vacations were always camping. Nature gives me a sense of peace and tranquility. There’s something mesmerizing to me about staring into a campfire.

REI is an awesome store for the outdoor lover. We browsed kayaks and camping and those hiking hats I saw people wearing out west on my hikes up the peaks and backpacks and hammocks and granola/protein bars and winter jackets on clearance and shoes and bikes and more. Oh, it was so much fun!  At the checkout I learned the store is a co-op. I joined for a one-time fee of $20 that goes towards good stuff and members get benefits too.

I don’t have the slackline up yet, it’s been raining every day. I hope it doesn’t get shoved in a corner and gather dust…

Next stop was a running store a few miles away from REI. A real running store! All the running stores are in the city, so I haven’t made it to one yet. I got fitted for a new pair of shoes. Well, that was fun. It only took at least ten different tries (different one on each foot) plus walking on the treadmill and video taping. And the salesman wanted to know what I was going to do with the shoes, maybe just walking? I didn’t punch him, but I did only say I’m “trying” to run. I may not look like your typical runner (or my Darling either at all) but was I really in a running store buying running shoes to just walk? Cheeky young man! I ended up with the pair that had the most awesome new technology (salesman speaking), the Adidas Supernova Boost Sequence 7. I have to say, the salesman knew his stuff, I’m pretty happy with the shoes so far. I also got a couple headbands to control the hair and sweat, a new roller that has the pvc center and nubby foam (my old one is the white solid foam) and a ‘The Stick’ which my husband loves, me not so much. It seems a bit pinchy.

What date night is complete without dinner? We checked out a new restaurant to round out the adventure. I ordered blackened ahi tuna with asian slaw. It was delicious and I thought a pretty healthy choice. Oops, I thought I had snapped a pic of the ahi, but all I could find was this one:

Key Lime Pie