Weekend Recap: YaFo, Tri Training and the Pups

Hey guys! Hope you had a great weekend and that your Monday is off to a great start. I am on VACATION this week and it is the first vacation I have taken in 2 years. Let’s just say that I have been looking forward to this weekend for a loooooooooong time  

Here are a few random things from this weekend:

Weekly Visitor

Beamer came and visited us for the week while his dad went out of town. I loved having him! Lily has her moments but in general, Beamer is a much more snuggly dog. He loves to lay on the couch with you and sleep in the bed with you at night.

Lily is pretty laid back these days since she is getting a little older, but Beamer definitely brought out a little bit of spunk in her.

Lunch Date at YaFo

On Saturday, B and I took a break from running weekend errands to meet at Yafo for a lunch date. Yafo is a new Mediterranean restaurant near South Park. You can read all about them in this Charlotte Agenda article.

I would describe the set-up of Yafo as the Mediterranean version of Chipotle. You order your food at the front and your meal is assembled in front of you. There is a plethora of fresh ingredients if you want to customize things.

My roommate, Micah, had already eaten there before and he said he felt a bit overwhelmed by the menu and all of the choices. I can definitely agree with that because there are a ton of choices. But I asked one of the employees for some guidance and she was very nice and helpful!

I ended up ordering one of the “Signature Bowls”, the Yafo Shawarma. It was made with shawarma pulled chicken, cucumber, tomato, tzatziki, sumac onion and drizzled with Tahini. You can choose either rosemary white rice or cracked bulgur as your grain and I went with the bulgur (whole grains, yo).

B got the Marrakesh Lamb wrap, which had rotisserie lamb, yogurt, cucumber, tomato, chickpea salad and kalamata olives. We also tried the hummus.

The verdict? The restaurant is described as street-style Mediterranean food and I think that description is pretty accurate. I liked the style of service so that you can get your food quickly. B and I were both really happy with our meals, we thought the hummus was really good and agreed we would definitely come back there. They serve beer and wine so it would be a great place for a night out or to grab something quick with friends. I also really liked how you can customize your own bowls and how they have all sorts of fresh ingredients.

I am a bit of a Mediterranean food snob, though, so I naturally have to compare Yafo to Kebab-Je and Le Kebab, two of my other favorite Charlotte middle eastern places in Charlotte. I definitely think the food is a bit more flavorful and authentic-tasting and Kebab-Je and Le Kebab.  Kebab-Je is still the winner for best hummus on the planet. But I appreciate the street-style that Yafo has to offer and also that it is in a more convenient location to central Charlotte.

Definitely try them out if you are in the area!!

Tri Training

I have a full update coming tomorrow of of the past week of tri training but I stuck to my 3 planned workouts over the weekend:

• Friday: Run
• Saturday: Ride
• Sunday: Run

I feel like everyone is recognizing me now at the gym as the girl with the hot pink cast. Turns out it’s a great conversation piece. Isn’t this picture of me stunning? I thought so.

Also, I wanted to say thank you to everyone who left a nice comment on my post from last week about the guys who yelled unkind things to me while I was running. I appreciated your words of encouragement

This Week

I’ve got a fun week coming up with being on vacation and I’m excited about it. I have a couple of days with nothing at all planned and then I’m going to the beach. Can’t wait to get a little R&R!

Did you do anything fun this weekend?

Do you like Mediterranean food? If so, what are you favs? For me it’s falafel, grape leaves, and hummus.

Beach reads: I need your recommendations for good books to read at the beach!