An all-fruit smoothie made with club soda and mint infused simple syrup that’s packed with strawberries, nectarines and limes.

No progress on the back yesterday. The pain was much pretty similar to Monday but I did rig up quite the set-up on the couch so I could comfortably lay down and work on the computer at the same time.

For all you back-pain free people out there don’t take for granted things like brushing your teeth, watering hanging plants, shaving your legs and emptying the dishwasher. They all become quite the task when leaning over and bending sends sharp pain down your back. To quote Ulysses last night, as I tried to contort my body in front of the bathroom sink to brush my teeth: “what the heck are you doing? You look like your taking a shit!” He’s so sympathetic isn’t he? Picture this, legs spread apart, knees bent, squatting down with one elbow resting on the sink counter top to take the weight off from bending forward. Quite the sight!

Anyway, I’m really trying my best to not dwell on this. It’s easy to get negative quickly when I start thinking about things like how 3 days ago I was running 4 miles and today I could barely walk to the mailbox. I’m trying to push those thoughts aside and just tell myself I will get better eventually but it’s not easy. I wish I could bottle some of the energy and desire I have right now to work out for when I am feeling better and lack motivation. Wouldn’t that be nice!?

Let’s move along to happier things shall we…

Things like delicious nectarine smoothies on a 95 degree summer day.

Remember the strawberry nectarine bellini from this weekend? Well, I still had a ton of both strawberries and nectarines in the house and after the aforementioned attempt to walk to the mailbox left me sweating from the heat outside, I instantly thought about creating a fruit smoothie with similar ingredients.

This concoction however is sans champagne. It was still the middle of the workday after all.

I thought about making this my lunch and adding protein powder and yogurt to amp it up but the thought of dairy with this heat kind of grossed me out so I stuck with pure fruit + ice + club soda.

It was perfectly refreshing and a great way to get a couple servings of fruit in.

No reason to be tied to nectarines here, I think this would be great with peaches, mango or pineapple too.

Use whatever summer fruit you have on hand.

Notice anything different about these shots?

I finally got a decent photography area set up this past weekend.

Welcome to our formal living room that has never been used as such. Our house is a traditional colonial layout in that it has a dining room, formal living room and family room. The family room is right off the kitchen and has our one and only TV in it. We spend all of our time in there and never use the living room on the opposite end of the house. I don’t ever envision us actually using the formal living room either so now it’s become the photography area thanks to an extra small table my parents had at their house. The room has great natural light from about 10am-6pm giving me a good window for photography.

It was nice to not have to lay on the floor taking pictures for once.

More smoothie recipes like this to try

I love this roasted apricot smoothie for the short period of time apricots are in season in the summer. It’d packed with greens so it’s also quite nutritious.

This ginger peach strawberry smoothie is also super refreshing and if you’re motivated with the time, serves it in a layered fashion which is pretty to look at before sipping.

You can also make nectarine basil ice cubes for any summer drink. It’s a great way to keep your cocktail or mocktail cold without diluting it with ice.

What’s your favorite smoothie combination?

Fruit smoothie or dairy smoothie?