Commas & Carbs: Weekending

I almost said "happy Monday, friends!" and then got super pumped when I realized it's Tuesday! Nothing wrong with being further into the work week than ya thought ;)

This weekend was a good one and I hope everyone had a good one too! Let's recap...

On Friday night Sammy came over with all the ingredients (and some beautiful red roses) for our little dinner at home.

He stuck with steak, asparagus, a tomato and cucumber salad, and a medley of olives and artichoke hearts, and I stuck with garlic butter shrimp and green beans. Loved how mine turned out and it's zero WW points (if you don't count the butter I cooked with and small amount of bread crumbs sprinkled on top...)! We had a leisurely dinner and nice conversation (which is a step up because usually we don't talk much while we eat hahaha which is a weird thing about our relationship because normally we can't get the other to shut up). I always love cooking and being in the same space in that way with him, so this was a really lovely evening.

After dinner we curled up in bed with my laptop and booked our trip to...

YES, we're going to Paris in October and I couldn't be more excited. I have two weddings this summer that extend into July and Sammy doesn't have any weekends off until October, so I picked a weekend that I thought might work and we've been watching the airfare for a few weeks and it dipped to what Hopper is predicting will be it's lowest price, so we jumped on it. We'll only be in Paris for a weekend, but with his schedule we have to go and do things when we can otherwise we'll never get around to it.

I can't wait to go back, especially with Sammy. It's going to be such a different experience and yet I can't wait to experience the same things again (if that makes any sense). I've been all about the French-themed books and music lately, not that that's any different from usual. I know the next seven-ish months are going to fly by but I'm already getting antsy to get there ;) It was a very happy Valentine's Day indeed.

On Saturday I went with my girlfriends to "Wine About Winter." It was so nice to be with all my favorite ladies, tasting a bunch of wine and snacking on many things (God bless free samples).

My heart <3

Starting to get a little sloppy ^^ haha. We ended the day at O'Tooles for more food we didn't need and some wonderful champagne cocktails with raspberry syrup. A few of us went back to Chelsie and Dan's to hang out before heading home for the night where I promptly passed out.

I slept in on Sunday and stayed in bed until I had to get up for therapy. I came home right after, changed back into my sweats, and played with my new Kindle. And by "new" I mean my girlfriend brought it to me on Saturday because she isn't crazy about the backlight on it and didn't use it, so she SO generously offered it to me.

I was never a big e-book fan as I definitely prefer to hold a physical book in my hands, but I can't deny that I read a lot more using a device like this, so I've embraced it. Especially when I can get library loans on it.

I've been wanting to read Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds ever since I first heard about it, and last week it became a Newbery Honor book, a Coretta Scott King Honor book, Printz Honor book, and was longlisted for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature, as well as landing itself on many other "best book" lists. So I started it on Sunday morning and finished by the afternoon. It's absolutely incredible and I highly recommend. Definitely going to be talking more about it during my February book review.

I started reading Hemingway's Girl later that afternoon and finished it by the evening. I've been obsessed with reading fictionalized accounts of famous authors (OK, just Hemingway haha), especially after reading The Paris Wife.

I spent the rest of Sunday on the couch reading while visiting with my grandma and uncle who came over for dinner and to hang out. We ordered some Chinese food and they watched the Olympics (because, as you know, I don't watch ;) ).

I slept in again on Monday and it was a perfect morning to do so because it was gloomy and rainy (not that I need a reason to sleep in!). My mom and I watched the season premiere of When Calls the Heart that had recorded the night before and we loved it, per usual. I watched a few Hallmark movies that were playing on TV because once my Hallmark heart gets going, I can't stop it.

I'm looking forward to the "Spring Fever" movies they were advertising for and I hate myself for it.

I peeled myself off the couch around 5 p.m. so I could make it to personal training where I got my ass kicked. It feels amazing in the moment but I am feeling it today and I'm sure I'll feel it even more tomorrow, which is when I have my next session haha.