No Regrets...

Um...how's this for a start of a "No Regrets" post??

First of all:  HI!  How was your weekend??  Mine was a crazy/wild/busy mix of lots of family fun and a crazy amount of yoga, which was both relaxing, overwhelming & intense.

In short:  A complete mess of emotionsJ

But I guess I should back-track back to Friday where I said "there weren't going to be too many zucchini noodles" involved & I was right about that one!  Especially when a trip to Uncle Dood's Donuts in Toms River is how you start off the day...

photo source

We had full plans to 'just get a few to sample,' but after the INCREDIBLY FRIENDLY staff led us through all the donuts + a few 'menu additions,' we were pretty much dying to get on our hands on as many as possible.  So we ordered up our box of (COMPLETELY OBSCENE FOR 2 1/2 PEOPLE) NINE donuts (EEK!) and headed outside for the benches to give em a sample...

"Only a bite or 2 of each" was my mantra as we sat down:  Till I took my first bite.  HOLY SHMOLY these donuts were OUT. OF. THIS. WORLD!  Crispy, hot & fresh, HAND DIPPED TO ORDER and not to mention:  light, not greasy in the slightest and WAYYYYY to easy to sneak too many bitesJ  (or at least that's gonna be my excuseJ)

I didn't sample either of the top left ones or the middle one (they were Scott's pick of Twix & specialty coffee/mocha varieties), but I had a bite (or 2...or 3) of the rest.  Including the cinnamon & cream cheese frosted (top right), the blueberry & basil (Katie's pick...TO DIE FOR!),  the samoa (bottom left...do I even need to tell you how much I liked that one???) and the two biggest surprise favorites:  The peanut butter iced/chocolate sprinkles one ("you're gonna die" was my preceding bite warning for Scott) and the FRENCH TOAST...

Again, back to that friendly staff:  the guy convinced us to order 2 French Toasts cause they were his favorite and they did NOT disappoint.  Maple frosted, dipped in cinnamon & sugar...they probably were actually the family favorite of the whole box.  Can't say enough great things about this place, the staff and those CRISPY (yes, I'm gonna emphasize that again cause it's a FAV) donuts.  We left with....um, not as many as we thoughtJ), but some of them DID INDEED survive our on slaughter and made it home somewhat in tack.   ...till Saturday.  More on that laterJ

After stuffing our faces, we headed over to (the original plan from my birthdayJ) the Popcorn Zoo,  in Forked River.  

The zoo is actually an animal sanctuary for abandoned or injured animals.  So on top of it being a fun place to visit with kids, it's also nice to see these animals being SOOO well loved & taken care of by the friendly staff.   A very sweet experience.

And the place gets its name from being offered popcorn to share with the animals throughout your visit...

...even if someone snuck in a few bites of her own.  OY!

I'm not sure I've ever seen some of these animals as up close as the Popcorn Zoo is set up....

...which may or may not have been a good thing, considering this tiger was eyein Katie up like a nice steakJ

But needless to say my little animal-lover (except for Polar bears!  She DOES NOT like polar bears for some reason) had an absolute BLAST at this place and couldn't run around fast enough to make several visits to ALL the animalsJ

Only "problem" with this place??  It felt like it was built on the surface of the sun.  ...or at least that's what my 8-month pregnant self felt:), so after our visit, Momma needed to sit down and RELAX for a sec!

So we headed over to Point Pleasant and to one of our all-time favs:  Frankie's Bar & Grill for some of thier AWWWWWWWWWESOME nachos and a salad with ranch that sounded like THEGREATESTTHINGONEARTH at that momentJ 

And in an effort to, ahem, keep it SOMEWHAT together, we split one of their PERFECT burgers, complete with fire-burnt edges on a poppy seed bun.  Oh the joy of it all... 

And of course, after we had to head East.....where we went from 'the surface of the sun,' to a cooooooooool & breezy beach.  Scott deemed the ocean 'like ice'...

...but that didn't stop SOMEONE from headin in!

....which lead to a SOAKED dress, a lack-of change of clothes and THIS LOOK (in one of Daddy's shirts) on a traditional stop at Hoffman's on the way homeJ

#WAYMOREMEMORABLE!

And after 2 LONG, INTENSE days filled with yoga school, we headed out to Mafalda's restaurant on Sunday night to cap off Mother's Day weekend with a fine dining bang.  Starting with these sausage & cheese filled "Italian Spring Rolls" (which Katie HOUSED!)

...a blue cheese, walnut & strawberry salad... 

...and even though they had an exquisite Mother's Day menu of delectable & unique treats, I ordered what just sounded like THE most scrumptious and delicious choice at that moment:  The classic Vodka Rigatoni.  Momma needed some comfort after a loooooooonnnnnnnggggg day. 

Creamy, comforting and delivered to our table PIPPING HOT, I honestly couldn't have enjoy this more at the moment.  A fabulous night out with my Mom, Scott & Katie to end a wild weekend.  (we also had a round of dessert, but I was too exhausted to even reach for my camera again at that pointJ)

Of course, these weren't ALL my eats of the weekend....just the more decadent onesJ  I can't say I always made the SMARTER choices (ummm...9 donuts??), but I never really got overly full and enjoyed ALL my splurges VERY MUCH and I don't have ONE ounce of guilt this morning.  Just ready to get back to our Bikini Series:  Week 5!

I'll have my more VIRTUOUS selections from my weekend of EdoFoods eats, as well as my healthier Monday recap for you tomorrow!

For now, I'll leave you with my hilarious dinner selection from Saturday night...where I walked in the house and realized NOTHING ON PLANET EARTH was going to sound better (or be any more or less caloric, really!J) than the last few bites of the remaining donuts.  And I sided up those bites with my EdoFoods green juice (more on that tomm!) and called it a day...

 

If THAT is not THE portrait of balance, I don't know what isJ

Hahahahahaha...here's to a healthy Monday, everyone!