easter on the beach

I've been following healthy lifestyle bloggers on instagram like it's my job lately. It's such a cool community of women sharing recipes and detailing their healthy eating and lifestyle journeys. I'm inspired and motivated by it every day when I log into instagram (by every day, I mean like every hour). It has really begun to change the way I think about food and fitness. There's a lot of language around taking charge of your body and owning it, and I'm coming around to feeling comfortable in that space.

This weekend, we were at the beach visiting Zan's parents (they live in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware), and I found myself consciously choosing to make better choices. Not always - I certainly still drank my body weight in wine over the course of the three days and indulged in a crazy delicious quesadilla and some nachos and maybe even a margarita, but I also chose to go for a walk on the beach instead of stay inside in my pajamas and watch episodes of Veep on HBO Go. I ordered a steak for dinner on Friday night - but chose the smaller one with a side of vegetables to keep it kinda sorta healthy. And before Easter dinner last night, after an afternoon of shopping until I literally dropped from shock at the amount I'd spent, I opted to go for a run instead of our usual pre-dinner festivities of wine and cheese... the pre-cocktail hour cocktail hour.

It was the best run I've been on in a long time. I ran a 3.3ish miles loop around Zan's parent's neighborhood. The air was crisp and a little cool, but the sunshine offset the chill. I ran through a swampy area covered in reeds, through a forested nook in between residential neighborhoods, across the country club parking lot, and along the bay, stopping to crouch down on a dock for a picture. Zander hopped on his dad's moped and caught up to me part way through the run. He honked and cheered me on, teasing me a little, but mostly making sure I didn't get lost. (Side note: He had driven me in the car around the loop, showing me exactly where to go. Even with that and having been down to the beach at least half a dozen times, I still managed to nearly get lost twice!)

In the middle of my run, I found myself thinking about choice. About how I have the power to choose myself - to choose to eat foods that make me feel good instead of weighed down and to choose to get outside and move. It sounds so simple, and it is, but it takes a lot of self-discipline, for me, to make the better choice. Being at the beach made it easier this weekend, though.

There's something about fresh ocean air, the smell of salt, the outdoor shower calling my name, the reeds and woods and water, and long, sunshine-filled days, that make it effortless to be the best version of myself.

All that in addition to great food and hours of catching up over countless bottles of wine. That's what Easter's about for me these days. 

summer showers

 

I showered outside for the first time the other weekend.

Matt came with Zander and me to Rehoboth, Delaware for the weekend. We took him to our favorite beaches, down the boardwalk, stuffed our face with boardwalk fries (another first for me!), rode bicycles - all the while hoping desperately that Zander, our recklessly fearless leader wouldn't get us killed, and brought back pink noses and sun-highlighted hair to show for our efforts. Zan's mom welcomed us all in with open arms, except when we were covered with sand. Then she ushered us quickly to the showers - and since there were three of us and two showers inside, she suggested someone use the outside shower. 

I volunteered so quickly you'd think it was for a make your own sundae bar instead of bathing myself. I ran - really, with a bounce in my step, outside. I full on showered with soap and shampoo and conditioner and suds and bubbles and skipped wrapping my hair in a towel after I turned the water off so I could feel the drops dry on my skin.

It might be ordinary for anyone who owns a beach house, but it was bold and daring to me. I felt the warmth of the sun as it shined down on the parts of me I never show it, the ones reserved for inside the four walls I call home and house and hotel. Like a rebel and a hippie, a naturalist and a minimalist - all the fantasies of a different kind of wondrous life, wrapped up in a single outdoor shower. I lived a little more.

here's why | rehoboth beach, delaware

I love the drive from D.C. out to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. It takes you through a panoply of settings - urban as you exit DC, suburban through the towns with Targets and shopping malls, scenic and awe-inspiring over the grand Chesapeake Bay, rural through cow pastures and farmhouses and property with acres that stretch endlessly, and finally, beach town.

Nine months ago, I'd never been there, though I'd heard plenty about the (in)famous summer parties at neighboring Dewey Beach. When Zander and I started dating, I knew his parents lived in Rehoboth because he often referenced summer fishing trips and weekend getaways (that I now know is a euphemism for "place to do my laundry"). In the last nine months, I've gone from a stranger to the area to familiar and comfortable with it to a Rehoboth enthusiast. 

A big reason why I love the drive out to Rehoboth is the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. The nearly 4.5 mile shore-to-shore behemoth is one of the longest of its kind in the world, shakes (like a salt shaker) when there's a modicum of wind, and generously offers up incredible views of the bay. Once, we spotted an un-submerged submarine. That has to be one of the coolest things I've ever seen, and it was a mere hour outside the District. We've crossed it on bright, sunshiny days, when the rain is coming down like pellets, when the wind has us gripping the steering wheel and door handles for dear life, and at sunset, my favorite.

Of course, the reason most people visit Rehoboth is for the beach. It's pretty gorgeous, right? This is Zan's dad, walking ahead of us Christmas Eve morning, the cold biting through our multiple layers. The dogs barely noticed it. Beach culture in Rehoboth is just like any other beach town - beer and laughter-filled during the summers and isolated in winter. Winter is my favorite. The mile long boardwalk (a great, easy, pretty run!) is empty, the ice cream and french fry stands boarded up, and the only other people you'll see are locals, who share a connected love of the forlorn boards and still amusement park rides. There's a certain, I don't know, je ne sais quoi, about a heavily touristed area that's silent, but for the rolling waves. It's beautiful.

Rehoboth has its secrets. Lordy, I love a place that holds its secrets close and tight. Most visitors eat pizza at Grotto's, when they should be having it served fresh and hot from Nicola. They shop at the Outlets on Route 1, when there are life-changing finds to be had at Hula Sue, boutique extraordinaire. The tourists grab a few groceries here and there where they find them, when a short jaunt takes you to Hickman's Meat Market, home to America's most incredible homemade chorizo, that I have to get every single visit. There's also "the farm," the best place for milk and honey and dairy galore, but I couldn't tell you where it is because it's off a side street I can never remember, and it's only open when it's open.

Beneath the sand-filled nooks and crannies exterior, Rehoboth is a foodie town, at its core. Take Shorebreak Lodge, a locals joint off the main strip, that serves some of the best wings I've ever had, has a killer wine list, and makes homemade edamame hummus that is to die for. Henlopen is one of Zan's parents' favorites for good reason. With a fresh oyster bar, and another incredible wine list, a bustling atmosphere and bartenders that remember your name from six months ago, it's the place to see and be seen. For low key nights that don't require much effort, I like Casa DiLeo, where the homemade tiramisu is the best thing on the menu.

Travel doesn't have to be costly or international. Travel can be at a new restaurant, a city you've never seen, the site of raindrops falling on a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere, or a beach where the only prints in the sand are your own. Rehoboth is good travel. 

Here's why you should visit Rehoboth Beach, Delaware... 

1. crossing the Chesapeake Bay
2. fresh seafood, local markets, oenophile's dream
3. the beach, of course 
4. shopping (outlets + local boutiques)
5. you might just run into me some time! say hi ;)