One of my favorite traditions with my college girlfriends (plus Katrina) is our annual girls weekend every summer (or sometimes early fall).  This is something that we started during the summer of college graduation back in 2007.  I invited the girls to stay at my uncle’s Cape house before we all headed home from school.  Who knew that one little getaway would be the start of an annual event?

Just for fun, here we are through the years:

2007 (Woof)

Cape 2007

2008

Cape 2008

2009

Cape 2009

2010

Cape 2010

2011 (this recap is on the blog)

Cape Cod Weekend 2011 035

In 2012 we unfortunately couldn’t coordinate a weekend, but here we are this year!  A huge thanks to Bridget for bringing the weekend back at her family’s house in Ogunquit, Maine.  It really doesn’t matter where we are, because the themes of the weekend are the same.

Cape 2013

Mainly food.  Some poop jokes and funny snap chats and drinks and catching up, but mainly food.  We call this little getaway “No Carbs Left Behind Weekend,” or NCLB weekend for short.  This originated the very first year when we got back from a bar, no pizza places were open, and we discovered two jumbo packages of mozzarella sticks in my uncle’s freezer.  We tore into those bad boys, and the rest is history.  We now have to bring mozz sticks wherever we go.  And every year we try to bring more snacks than the last.

Mozz Sticks

Don’t worry, Uncle Chris, we replaced yours.  We wouldn’t leave you hanging like that.

Here are some scenes from this weekend!

Mustaches on wine glasses…

NCLB 2013

Prancersizing…

NCLB 2013

Walking along Marginal Way…

NCLB 2013 - Marginal Way

Perkins Cove…

NCLB 2013 - Perkins Cove

Squatting like we’re hot…

NCLB 2013

Beers on the beach…

NCLB 2013 - Beers

The annual random Slesh tackle…

NCLB 2013 - Tackle

Pretty views…

NCLB 2013

A yummy pizza dinner at Cornerstone… chicken fig balsamic, mushroom, and acorn squash.  Yum!

Cornerstone

Frozen martinis and fun at the piano bar…

NCLB 2013 - Front Porch

Dance party…

NCLB 2013 - Dance Party

Another great beach day…

NCLB 2013 - Beach

Another great dinner – steamers and salad from The Lobster Shack!

NCLB 2013 - Lobster Shack

Aannnddd another fun night out with the same circuit of frozen martinis at the piano bar followed by dancing across the street.  Oh, and rum punches from Barnacle Billy’s too.

NCLB 2013 - Drinks

NCLB 2013 - Front Porch

And finally, some browsing and lunch at the Stonewall Kitchen store.

NCLB 2013 - stonewall kitchen

As you can see, we had a ton of fun!  As far as healthy living goes, during weekends like these (especially when they are named No Carbs Left Behind), I simply accept the fact that I am going to splurge.  However, my body DEFINITELY cannot handle NCLB weekend like it used to be able to.  That being said, I made sure to prepare both a quinoa salad and sweet potato salad ahead of time to have for lunch at the beach, and I tried to stick with either eggs or a bagel thin with peanut butter and bananas for breakfast.  This way I could at least save most of my splurging for dinner, drinks, and late night snacks and mozzies instead of “waste” my splurging early in the day.  Although I did have a few bites of those delicious donuts/muffins from Congdon’s throughout the weekend. It’s all about moderation, and because I went into the weekend with a plan, and a plan that did not include deprivation, I already feel back on track this week!

Tell me about a fun weekend you’ve had lately.  Or a fun annual tradition that you always look forward to.  Or how you plan to stay on track when there are lots of treats involved.  Or anything you feel like!

Have a great Thursday, friends!