Weekend Recap

You guys. I still have to blog about Christmas.

Trying not to let these winter vibes get to me, but...they sure do get to me. It feels like overtly privileged to "be down" about the weather when people have real problems to worry about. So I'm actively working on not letting it get to me. But an increase of like ten or so degrees wouldn't hurt ;) All that to say, I haven't been blogging like I would like to because I've been feeling a little blegh lately and for no good reason. I have about a million random pictures I want to document that probably mean nothing to anyone but me. Hoping to still post them one of these days.

Anyway, another good weekend with lots of family time and time at home. My favorite things. 

FRIDAY

Friday night I came home and cleaned the house a tiny bit but ultimately was really wanting to just relax. We're still riding the leftover wave, so I added some rice and a fried egg to the top of some leftover veggies and called it a night. I saw this kind of "bowl" meal on Cup of Jo last week and have been really loving making it. Especially when Sammy is fine to do his own thing for dinner (not sure this would fill him up enough). Also, this has to be like the most unappetizing photo but what are you gunna do?

SATURDAY

In an interesting turn of events, Sammy's aunt and uncle invited me and my mom to join them at a dress store Saturday morning where they'd be prom dress shopping with their two oldest girls. The store has wedding dresses, so they asked if I'd wanna stop by and check them out. They know the owner and was able to get me a last minute appointment which was awesome. Even though it was a trek out to Naperville, my mom and I headed out early Saturday morning.

We got to downtown Naperville about a half hour early and stopped at Sparrow for some coffee and a quick breakfast.

I had this awesome multi grain toast with a deconstructed compound butter. Fantastic.

It was a pretty store, and I loved my consultant, but I didn't find anything I really, really loved. Definitely some pretty options but they further confirmed that I'm holding strong on one dress I tried on at Kleinfeld. It's by Pronovias and I definitely want to make an appointment at a store nearby that carries their gowns.

Sammy's mom was there (originally to watch the girls find prom dresses) along with Sammy's grandma and one of their cousins and it was so special to have them see me in some wedding dresses prior to the actual day. I probably wouldn't have normally had the experience of shopping with them, so this was really special to me.

Afterward we went to Uncle Julios for some lunch which was fun and a great end to a wonderful morning.

Sammy was already at work when I got home, so Henry and hung out for the rest of the afternoon. After such a lovely morning and early afternoon, I was really surprised when I ended up having the weirdest afternoon and evening. I was in such a funk, only made worse by watching A Star Is Born. (I'm sorry guys, I just could not with this movie. The acting is amazing. I will surely give you that. I was thoroughly impressed. But the rest of it, I was like...why did I need to see that? I was so sad afterward. It just didn't feed my soul like I love movies to do. What did feed my soul? Bradley Cooper with that beard and accent. All day, people. I could listen to that all day.)

After the movie, I let Henry nap in the kitchen and went upstairs for about an hour to try to get a handle on myself haha. After processing some shit, I changed into even comfier clothes, got a book (a middle grade novel that just came out, written by Caroline Cala (Donofrio) of Cup of Jo) that I'm loving, and a snack and settled back into the couch until Sammy came home. 

Couldn't ever truly put a finger on what my problem was but I was relieved that I felt better pretty quickly after taking a few self-care measures. I ended up watching the last movies in The Hunger Games series and Sammy joined me once he got home.

SUNDAY

Sunday morning we met Sammy's family for breakfast to finish off celebrating his birthday. We went to Jelly Cafe in Palatine and I got their chicken and waffles which is always delicious and basically my go-to forever now.

My SIL and I looked for flower girl dresses because we both hate all the poofy options that are out there right now. SO loving this option she found.

We came home and spent the rest of the day cuddled up inside, lounging around which is my favorite way to spend a Sunday. Sammy played a lot of video games and I napped and read and watched random stuff on TV. 

After dinner we watched The Grinch, the new animated one that came out this year. (We always wanted to watch it but never got around to it during the holiday season.) I LOVED it hahaha. I know that probably takes any credibility I had about movies away from me if I liked The Grinch more than the A Star Is Born, but I just loved this movie. It was so sweet and perfect for kids. Plus the animation is absolutely stunning which is definitely something I'm picky about since working with children's books and illustration and all that. Highly recommend. I can't wait to watch it again this Christmas (only ten months away! ;) ). 

Tonight Sammy and I are going to a Bulls game—our annual winter date—and I'm super excited. It's one of my favorite things to do together. Parents of a friend of ours from elementary own an Italian restaurant near the United Center and reached out after having dinner with my mom last week with an offer to pay for our dinner tonight if we stopped by to celebrate our engagement, which is insanely generous and kind of them. So we're obviously taking them up on that offer ;)

It's going to be a low key week (with a little Valentine's Day festivity thrown in there!) which is great since I have a packed weekend coming up with a girls outing and baby shower. I've been so looking forward to it though, so I can't wait.

Happy Monday, all! xo