Weekend Recap + Check-In

Hi, there!

Took another couple weeks off from this space. This seems to happen to me at some point each year where I just feel bogged down by other things happening in life or overwhelmed once I realize how much time has passed and all the things I need to document here and then I go get a snack and binge watch episodes of Four Weddings from 2014 and call it a day.

I definitely want to recap Christmas, post some photos I've stockpiled showing daily life over here, an update about Henry turning six months old (which is important to me only, I know), and I definitely want to start using my creative muscles a little more and write some posts here that go beyond Friday Favorites and Weekend Recaps. Feeling confident about that.

For now, a weekend recap will suffice in order to get back into this blogging habit. 

FRIDAY
We got to leave work an hour or so early on Friday in preparation for the snowstorm we were expected to get—everyone hoped to get home before it started to really come down.

Sammy was feeling alfredo sauce Friday night, so we stopped at Aldi to get a jar. I made it with chicken and tri-colored tortellini. He was super unimpressed with the sauce for some reason. I, of course, loved it haha.

He spent most of the night in the basement playing video games (a relatively new pastime he's taken to as a way to decompress from work. I love that he's found something that helps in that respect.) which meant it was free to snuggle on the couch with Henry solo and watch Indiana Jones: my favorite pastime.

The snowstorm didn't seem as bad while it was happening, and even though it doesn't look like much from this photo which I took after midnight from our guest room window, but we did get about seven inches or so which was more than predicted. The wind was the worst of it, in my opinion. Especially when we had to take Henry out.

SATURDAY
We had some snuggles in the morning...

Before heading over to Sammy's grandma's to "make the sausage" as his family says. They buy huge quantities of various deli meats to hang in his grandma's basement as well as sausage we tie and hang. It dries in a room in their basement (that they keep extra cold during this time) and in a month or so, they'll take it all down and portion it out among each family. It's SO good. We cut it and serve it with antipasto as appetizers or just have it as a snack. It's awesome fried as well.

It's a tradition both his grandparents started, one his grandfather really spearheaded. He passed away in September so doing it without him was bittersweet because it's sad to not have him physically with us, but it's such a testament to his legacy that his grandchildren feel so passionately about continuing the tradition.

We always spend the morning getting the sausage ready to hang and then spend the afternoon having lunch together (Sammy's grandma makes hamburgers from the leftover sausage which are UNREAL), talking, and playing with the insanely cute children now apart of our family.

We spent the rest of the day mocking how I drive (which isn't totally inaccurate ;) )...

And spending the rest of the evening chilling with Henry, watching movies, and getting takeout from Tommy's. Speaking of, if you're local to CL, I would recommend the teriyaki chicken pita from Tommy's. I've yet to find my order with them yet, everything I've tried has been just okay, but I really loved this pita sandwich. They don't sell baked potatoes, so instead of getting fries (I didn't need any side honestly because this sandwich is so filling on its own), I made some parsley potatoes in the Instant Pot. And yes, I took the lettuce and tomato off this because I don't like anything that's healthy for me.

I snuck upstairs at the end of the evening to journal (another way I'm hoping to to stretch my creative muscle) and do some reading. I loved being up in my library in the quiet of the late night looking at the snow out the window. 

SUNDAY

I went with Chelsie to a baby shower for our girlfriend's SIL. It was such a nice afternoon. No games meant we got to sit around with our other girlfriends and have (always) much needed girl time. I got to see a friend there who is getting married this Saturday and it was so fun to see her so close to the big day! 

How cute were the favors? Wine glasses filled with loofas, essential oils, bath bombs, and tea lights.

They had Portillos chopped salad, Italian bread, vodka pasta, and a meat and vegetable lasagna. They also served cake from Costco which I honestly want to be the cake at our wedding. It was so good. I shouldn't have been surprised, Costco is good at everything, but I was. Also, $18.99 for a HUGE sheet cake. OKAY, COSTCO. I also had three very full glasses of white wine with Sprite because I'm an adult who can't drink straight alcohol.

When I got home, Sammy and I made pizza with extra sausage from the day before. And it turned out SO good. We're definitely going to become homemade pizza people. We bought dough from the store, but I definitely want to try my hand at homemade dough soon. (I actually got Sammy a grilling kit to make pizzas on the grill for his upcoming birthday and while we were making this pizza he mentioned wanting to make pizza on the grill when it gets warm, so I'm excited thinking he'll really enjoy that gift!)

I stayed up later on Sunday night than I normally do because I knew I'd be working from home Monday (we don't get MLK day off) and wouldn't have to get up as early to get ready and commute, so we stayed up watching Hoarders #ClassicUs and watching the eclipse. That meant this guy stayed up later than normal and was very tired when we finally went up to bed ;)

MONDAY

I was home yesterday working from home because we're finally moving onto our new floor at work (!) and IT was setting stuff up which meant no internet or server access. I had a great buddy all day, even though he quickly got used to me being home by the afternoon and really wanted to play.

Being home meant I could start dinner early in the day, so I baked baked lemon chicken in the Crock Pot with creamy lemon pasta. Unfortunately, Sammy couldn't come home for dinner because he was so busy at work, so I had this all to myself ;) 

I finished the evening off with phone calls to my grandma and mom, watching House Hunters, and making this makeshift apple crisp in the microwave. Delicious and might have to be made again tonight...

In an interesting turn of events, we got an email yesterday telling us that in addition to some IT delays, there were delays with the inspections that needed to be done on our floor in order for us to inhabit it. SO we've all been instructed to work from home today and tomorrow as well. Everyone knows I LOVE my job, seriously, there's never any reason to not want to go to work, which I'm eternally grateful for. But I won't say I was super disappointed when I got that email just cause of the snow outside, and the few inches we're supposed to get today, as well as the low—sometimes single digit—temps we've had. 

It's been incredible to be home and get to spend extra time with Sammy before he goes in for his shift. Sammy cleaned the house on Sunday while I was at the baby shower, so I've enjoyed not having to do any actual cleaning, but it's been nice to be home to organize some leftover things from the holidays and recovering from surgery and what not. Trying to get the house in order has definitely helped me mentally. 

I was in an insanely good mood yesterday, it was so good for my soul. I'm a homebody by nature, so while I thrive on being with people I love and staying somewhat busy, it's also incredibly restorative for me to spend time at home too. We're supposed to get an update email tomorrow on whether we've been cleared to work from our new space, so we'll see if I make it out of the house this week ;)

Looking to get some tedious editing (both in books and in InDesign files) done today while answering emails as they come in, do some laundry, place a grocery order, do some blog planning, and get some snuggles in with Henry. 

Hoping to see you guys back here more frequently on my end. Thanks to those of you who read my words. Means more than you know. xo