Weekending

I'm trying to make consistent posting a thing again over here, so I'm here with a little weekend recap. 

We spent a lot of time with Sammy's family which was really nice. All of us cousins were together for two family get-togethers and it was so good to hang out and catch up since we're all scattered across Chicago and IL. I got a lot of much needed time with my niece as well ;)

I spent Saturday afternoon with some of my favorite women in Sammy's family celebrating one his cousin's 65th birthday. It was a surprise which made it all the more fun.

She's really into board games, so another one of our cousins made her a Scrabble cake! 

So cute, right?

And since her face isn't in this I can technically post it ;) look at those leg rolls! 

Our little chicken struggled in the beginning to gain weight, but now she's in the clear and is gaining consistently, so anytime we see rolls we lose our minds.

After the birthday lunch, I went home to change and freshen up a bit (aka take a 45-minute nap) before heading over to Sammy's nonno's 80th birthday dinner at Trezero's in Mt. Prospect. It was so nice to spend time with the other side of his family (the side where all the cousins are around the same age. It's so fun doing life with them.) and the dinner was really lovely. 

All those guys up there are so good.

On Sunday we ventured over to Stone Park for the San Francesco di Paola festival. Stone Park feels so old school Italian to me and I love being in those kinds of neighborhoods. They remind me a lot of my grandparents (especially my grandpa since he's no longer with us) and how they would get together all the time with their cousins and cook dinner together, play cards, and go to fests like this. 

That's a huge reason why I love spending time with Sammy's cousins so much because it feels like we're bringing back some of the "old" Italian traditions my family has slipped away from since so many of our relatives from that generation have passed away. 

The festival is held on the grounds at Casa Italia which is the Chicago Italian Cultural Society. There's a mass in the morning outside in the pavilion which Sammy's grandparents always attend. We meet them after for the food ;)

Families can come with their own food and picnic (which many, many people do) or you can wait in line for the free plate they offer anyone who wants one. We always make a donation, but it's really amazing the amount of cooking they do considering how many people attend this festival every year.

The line leading up to this little house (which is where my grandparent's Italian social club used to meet when I was little) ends up taking a pretty long time to get through, but we just chat and catch up so it doesn't really bother us. 

The tables are always full by the time we get our food, so we found a shady spot in the grass to eat.

And also this plate. I mean. OK.

And since her face isn't technically facing us... I think this is OK to post as well because look at how sweet this guy is with his niece/goddaughter :) 

Damn, a man with a baby, I swear to god. Gets ya every time.

Also a man and a golden retriever. UGH. 

After the mass is over, the pavilion empties and the Sicilian band plays music for the rest of the day until other vocalists come on in the evening. Sammy's grandparents always stay until almost midnight so they can hear all the performers. It's so sweet, especially since they're not stay-out-till-midnight kind of people ;)

Love these people. 

Sammy and I spent the rest of Sunday night relaxing by starting The Sinner with Jessica Biel. We both really like it, and I wish it was one of those shows they released all at once so we could binge it. 

The rest of this week will be filled with getting back on the healthy eating horse, two kickboxing classes, getting more dog walks in, and having Friday off (!). 

Hope everyone had a fun weekend!

xo