Weekend Recap

Back at with recapping on a Tuesday ;) this past weekend was so good. It will probably look boring to most, but it was exactly what the doctor ordered.

Friday
Sammy and I had plans Friday night to do a little last minute house shopping, but we changed our plans at the last minute when two of his coworkers asked if we wanted to join them and their girlfriends for dinner.

I've been looking forward to meeting his coworkers and their girlfriends for so long, like I've gotten kind of creepy about it considering how many times I've asked Sammy to coordinate something, so I jumped at the opportunity. We met at Weber in Schaumburg and had a nice evening getting to know one another. We were missing a couple (arguably the couple I've been most excited to meet), so I'm looking forward to getting together with them (hopefully!) very soon.

I had the bacon wrapped scallops with garlic green beans and corn polenta and enjoyed it, but then my stomach bothered me for the next day or so which wasn't super fun. 

After dinner we hung out at my house watching Lock Up on Netflix (my ob-frickin-session) and falling asleep intermittently.

Saturday
I couldn't wait to sleep in on Saturday (no surprise here), so I lounged around for a long while and worked on my embroidery project for mom for a few hours. My mom came with to my haircut appointment and then we spent the rest of the afternoon/evening having dinner and shopping.

It's not often I get to spend lengthy one-on-one time with my mom, so this was so restorative for my soul. I absolutely loved it. We found some good finds at Nordstrom Rack, found a Thai restaurant we're now obsessed with, and ran some house-related errands.

To note: best haircut experience ever. I love everything that's associated with getting a haircut: someone washing your hair, brushing it, etc. But Dara (at the Ulta in Algonquin if you're local--she's incredible!) made it even better. I'm so terrible at taking selfies that I don't have an after photo, only this lovely and incredibly attractive ass-in-seat photo, but maybe I'll have one for Friday Favorites. I'm obsessed with how it looks, it's turned me into an even bigger narcissist ;)

I got these Wit & Wisdom jeans for under $30 at Nordstrom Rack. They have an elastic waist, but also have buttons and pockets and all that. I love how stretchy they are but look like actual jeans. They're more comfortable than any leggings I own. Highly recommend.

I paid a little more than I would have liked for this trench (around $80), but I've been on the lookout for one for months now and it's so stunning and I know I'm going to wear it a TON. Especially in Paris ;)

We had dinner at Ta Wan Thai in Algonquin and we're obsessed. The wonton soup is out of this world. I got the Thai chicken fried rice and I can't even talk about it. 

I had to return the comforter I bought from Target because ya girl bought it while she was half asleep and got the wrong color. So we made a Target run where I picked up a bunch of cleaning stuff, towels, and jersey sheets for our move on Thursday.

We also stopped at Aldi to get my grandma a gift card for Mother's Day (she loves her Aldi money haha) and I grabbed an orchid for Sammy's mother and these hot pink roses for his SIL. I didn't see her on Mother's Day, so Sammy's mom had to bring these to her and since I bought them the night before, I wanted to try to preserve them as best I could. I wrapped a wet paper towel around the stems and then wrapped them in saran wrap before putting them in a little gift bag from Target. I thought it looked cuter than the plastic flowers come in.

We didn't get home until after 10 p.m., but I wanted to bake some of what I planned to make for my mom's breakfast the next morning, so sometime after 11 p.m. I decided to make blueberry and lemon scones and clotted cream haha before crashing into bed.

Sunday
I got up and made my mom's breakfast-in-bed. I'm definitely going to miss doing this when I'm not living at home anymore, and I think I made a good meal this year. I made her herb crepes with ham, havarti, and arugula with hollandaise sauce. I added a side of roasted potatoes and some blueberry lemon scones.

here!

Our dog has zero concept of personal space whenever anyone has food.

Momma opened up her gifts (is it any wonder I didn't finish the embroidery in time? She loved it anyway and I'll give it to her when it's finished haha luckily I had other gifts for her), ate, and then the ladies (plus Benny) fell back asleep for some naps. 

My uncles and grandma came over in the later afternoon and the men started cooking. I stood by this platter with my favorite favorite beer (after I drank a bottle of $5.99 Bellini mix from Aldi) and basically did nothing.

My uncle made a roast with caramelized onions in a port wine cherry sauce. Absolutely out of this world, and this from a woman who would never eat roast.

He also made corn and black bean salsa, gnocchi, baked potatoes, and peas mixed with caramelized onions, roasted red peppers, and mint. For dessert we had angel food cake with fruit and clotted cream and some truffles.

We just hung out for the rest of the night and enjoyed each others company. It was a lovely end to a family-filled weekend. Couldn't have asked for anything better for my last weekend at home (living there full-time). 

It's moving week, so needless to say I'm struggling to get my shit together. I'm having many, many emotions as well which I'm a little surprised by (although, I really shouldn't be. This is classic "me" behavior.) and trying my best to navigate. It's all going to work out though. Keeping my new mantra at the forefront of my mind: "Lean in." Leaning in to relationships, emotions, adversity, etc., and learning from it.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and good start to the week. xo 

*Linking up with Biana!