Weekend Recap

 

 Ohhhh was I happy to see Friday arrive. 

Drew is honestly the sweetest, cutest little bundle and I love her with every bit of me but the girl is stubborn! She had kind of a tough week with just giving me short little cat naps, not enjoying taking the bottle from anyone but me or Joel (SO annoying), and I just felt like I heard crying all week long. 

By 5pm, these were both mine.

 

Plus - it was snowing and the weather all weekend looked pretty bleak, so I was in a ripe little mood. 

Thankfully, I made the best crock pot soup, (deets to come on that tomorrow).

 We got the kids in bed and just hung out on the couch and relaxed on Friday night which was lovely. 

Saturday morning both Joel and I got in workouts and then we dropped Leo off at his grandparents so we could take Drew to get her passport. 

We ran a few errands after our appointment and then took advantage and snuck in a little lunch date. 

 

It was such a treat to have lunch with Joel and it's so funny how being with just one kid now totally feels like a vacation. 

Saturday afternoon we tried to get a few things done around the house and then Joel's parents came over for dinner. 

Joel's mom made a shrimp paella and then once the kids were down we played a few rounds of RummyKub. 

 

Sunday - another crappy weather day (which I'm getting SO tired of) - Joel and I both got in workouts and then I took the kids to my parents for a bit. Joel ended up grabbing Leo to take a nap at home, but Drew and I stayed back and just hang. 

My mom and I worked on a puzzle most of the afternoon while my dad watched the Master's and then the boys came back over and we enjoyed the best dinner .

 

 

I don't have a recipe for this, my dad used a base of a regular chicken marsala recipe he found online and then played with it himself. It was as good as it looked. 

 

 

We were home pretty early, got the kids to bed, and then Joel and I had a cocktail and watched Queer Eye for the Straight Guy which obviously had me crying. Such a sweet show.  

Must Haves

::: Old Navy Luxe Swing Tank Top ::: 

 

This one in particular....I love it. I bought the black and grey and wear them in constant rotation. I will say, for whatever reason, some of the other colors don't fit the same way, but I keep trying them on in hopes that they will. 

::: Asics Gel Venture 5 ::: 

These are cheaaaap on Amazon ($60) and the most comfortable gym shoe I've worn in years. I don't love to wear gym shoes to run errands (I typically prefer like a new balance sneaker), but I've been wearing these constantly because they actually look pretty cute to hang out in all day. 

::: Cameron's Southern Toasted Pecan :::  

This coffee is SO good. It's stronger than Dunkin Donuts (which used to be my old go-to), but still has enough of a flavor taste that I'm looking for. They have some bags on Amazon - but I've been finding it at the grocery store for even cheaper. I'm obsessed. 

::: Splitting Up Together :::

 

The pilot premiered last week on ABC and I loved it. It's hard to judge a show by the pilot but so far, this one has all of the elements in a show that I like; not too serious, funny, sweet, and relateable.  

And I love Oliver Hudson. 

::: Burts Bees Tinted Lip Balm in Pink Blossom:::

 

I have one of these in every corner of my life - strollers, my car, my makeup bin, downstairs desk, and my purse. I've tried a few colors (hibiscus is a fail) and this one is the perfect pink to wear anywhere, anytime of day. 

::: Robert Mondavi Chard :::

I think I mentioned last week that I'm on a major Chardonnay kick....and I have another good bottle if you like a really Oaky taste. My girlfriend Vicky grabbed this one for me (from Target), and just this week I picked up another one because I liked it so much. 

Any other goodies I should add to my list? It's freezing and snowing here so please share some good things to make this week a little sunnier.

Easter Weekend Extravaganza

We had the best long weekend. Joel's office was closed on Good Friday, so literally at 8:15am I left the house and hightailed it to get my eyebrows done, do some shopping, make returns and get a mani/pedi. It felt like such a fun mini-vacation! 

 

These two couldn't be cuter - but sometimes Mama needs a morning off.

 

I'm so bummed that we didn't snag any pictures, but Friday night we went out with our friends to Da Baffone here in Crystal Lake. 

 

Joel and I sat at the bar for a quick drink, before we had a great dinner and basically shut the place down. Two bottles of wine and a ton of pasta later did not make me feel good - but it was such a fun night out so I'll call it worth it.  

We had a ton of rain Saturday morning, and since I was a little hungover and Joel was out running, Leo and I decided to watch Curious George and ease into the day a bit ;) 

 

Mid morning we went over to my moms house. My sisters came in from the city, and my Grandmother came to stay too, so we spent the afternoon cooking, doing puzzles, and enjoyed a little hair of the dog.  

 

 

 

Joel and I took the kids back home right after dinner - put them down - and watched basketball. Joel had spent the day playing Easter bunny building this beautiful little play house in the garage. 

He wasn't so thrilled with the project, but he did such a good job and the house is SO dang cute. 

Sunday...Easter morning....I felt like we had basically lived a full day before 10am! I LOVE holidays as a mom, but they are a lot of work! 

 

Joel took Leo to church, and while they were at church, the Easter bunny showed up!

 

Leo's favorite part was finding all of the eggs filled with marshmellows and bunny fruit snacks....with the final eggs leading to his big surprise.

It was 35 degrees Easter morning (wtf), so we only played in the house for a few minutes, but I know he will love spending his summer in his little spot.  

We hit up brunch at 11am and before we sat down, the country club had a little petting zoo. It was supposed to be outside but due to the freezing temps, the put it inside.

 

Leo loves animals, but I wasn't super excited about having him pet all of the animals and then go enjoy breakfast, but we had fun watching from the outside and that actually seemed to appease him enough.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

After brunch the entire crew went back to my mom's house for more food and more family time. Some of my aunts and uncles and cousins came by to spend the afternoon with us too so it turned out to be a packed, but super fun, Easter. 

 

Both kids did SO good all day. Drew was a happy camper at brunch and took a 45 minute nap in her stroller and then loved being held by all of her aunts and Coco, and Leo - despite eating SO much sugar and not napping couldn't have been better. He was great at brunch, was sweet and fun with everyone, and then played for almost two hours by himself with his new Moana and farm animal toys in the middle of the playroom. They both make me so proud to be their mom.

 

 

Monday morning came way too fast - but it was so much fun to celebrate our first Easter as a family of four. I truly couldn't be more thankful. 

 

Reading, Watching, Listening, & Cooking

Reading: I haven't read anything since Drew has been born. I've really wanted to find a new, good book, but that just hasn't happened. Most nights - true story - at 7:30pm, I finish pumping, take my glass of wine up to bed, watch something silly and light (ie. sisterwives or Real Housewives), and fall asleep at about 8:35pm. I have a list of books I really want to read, but....... ........ ...... hopefully this summer.




Watching: Let's be real....I'm actually watching a lot of Chuggington (which is actually very cute, on Netflix).

I've also been really happy to see my old favorites Sister Wives and Counting On. And I'm EAGER to see the next season of Southern Charm 

Listening: I'm really enjoying Dax Shepard "Armchair Expert". The Kristen Bell episode had me actually laughing out loud for a majority of the time. It's long, but enjoyable. I read about the podcast on Cupcakes and Cashmere and have binge listened since.

Cooking:  This taco salad was SO good (Natalie called it cauliflower rice taco bowls). I used this recipe from Natalie's blog as a jump start and made a few substitutions (no cauliflower rice + carrots). We topped the salads with some corn tortilla chips and a jalapeno ranch dressing ....it felt both decadent and light.

 

Weekend Recap

Why is it that weekends just fly by? 

And I was SO ready for the the weekend by the time it showed up. 

We started transitioning Drew into her crib this week and while she is getting there, it has included lots of short naps and lots of crying. 

We ended up throwing together leftovers on Friday night and after the kids went to bed, I made a martini. 

I ended up having such a headache I couldn't even drink it. I think I was just worn out.

Saturday the weather was crap, but after coffee and breakfast in bed (thank you Joel), I hopped on the treadmill and got in a quick workout before we lounged around the house Saturday morning. 

I have the itch to start planting but the weather is not cooperating for the foreseeable future so it's going to have to wait. One of my favorite Instagram accounts (@darby613) posted this plant and I'm hoping I can find it at our nursery and use them in a few spots in our yard. Has anyone had success with Bridal Wreath Spirea before? 

During nap on Saturday I snuck out to get a car wash and pick up some wine, and then we met friends at Crystal Lake Brewery (clearly our favorite) for happy hour.

We all ventured back to our house and picked up BBQ from a new spot here in Crystal Lake called Moontime Smokin' Que. 

It was BEYOND good. A new favorite for sure.

Sunday morning, Joel took the morning shift and I got to sleep in a little and have my coffee in bed which I look forward to all week. And then something really amazing happened.....I booked my solo trip to Los Angeles!!!! I'm ringing in 30 with my girlfriends for a long weekend in May and I couldn't be more excited!!!!

Then around 9am, I took the kids to my parents so Joel could workout and get some work done in peace and quiet.

My mom has been dying to get Leo to watch Moana with her, so while they were watching, I snuck out for a quick run, and then we just hung with my parents for the morning.

Moana not Maui

Joel whipped up an awesome Lasagna dinner for us and friends - and I decided to spectate with a mimosa. 

We had been using our dining room table as a command center while Drew was a newborn, and while it was really nice to have an area on the first floor, it's been really nice to get my dining room back.

 

 

Joel has Good Friday off of work so I'm pretty pumped that we are going into a short week! Cheers to Monday!