Weekending

It was definitely hard to wake up and get ready for work this morning! This weekend was so spring-y and lovely and I didn't want it to end. 

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I had an email in my inbox on Friday morning saying that our office would be closing a few hours earlier so we could all get a jumpstart on the holiday weekend which was a nice surprise! 

On the way home, I had to stop to pick up my bridesmaid dress from the seamstress and she had such pretty potted flowers on her stoop. They smelled amazing and I had to take picture because I'm a dork.

I pulled the hammock out when I got home and enjoyed the sunshine with this guy :) I started Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon. So far I like it! I'm interested to see how the conflict builds and the rest of the story develops. 

On Saturday, I did some "radical self-care," as Anne Lamott says, in the form of painting and napping. The weather was so beautiful, so I pulled all my stuff outside and painted on the deck. Then I went inside with my stack of books, opened all the windows, and took a nap. 

  

In the late afternoon, I went with Sammy's parent's to a family friend's son's 2nd birthday party. It was Mickey themed and all the little details were so cute!

  

That boy's face! He's so sweet.

  

Sammy and I got him a toddler scooter which seemed to be a big hit...until he got a basketball hoop and then it was severely overlooked haha. Can't blame him though. 

  

Later on Saturday night, I decorated eggs with my mom, siblings, grandma, and uncle. It was nice to see my grandma and uncle since I knew I wouldn't be seeing them the next day for Easter.

I woke up on the earlier side on Sunday morning, pulled out the hammock, and listened to Easter sermons on my phone. There was a slight cool breeze so I brought a blanket out with me, the birds were chirping. It was so peaceful to be out there. I really enjoyed one Easter sermon in particular and I'm making plans to visit the church in person soon.

On Easter morning, my mom had us hunt for eggs and open our baskets. Yes, we still do this. Yes, all that candy has already been eaten. 

   

Later in the afternoon, I went over to Sammy's parent's house to spend Easter with his family. I didn't take any pictures of the food because I ate too quickly since I'm a slob and all the "big cousins" got demoted to the smaller table in the other room ;) So we didn't have any food that stayed on our table. 

Sammy's mom and grandma cooked and they made lamb, ham, green bean salad, mashed potatoes, green salad, lasagna, and a whole antipasto selection (Italian lunch meats, frittata, cheese, olives, etc.)

And then I spent the rest of the afternoon doing what I love to do most: feeling for kicks :) Which felt a lot of! I'm sure my SIL loves this ;) But I can't help myself. 

I hung around to hang out with Sammy once his family had left and it was great to have a little one-on-one time together. This was his last Sunday off, so for the next month or so, he'll be working every weekend so it was good to have that time together. 

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Every year I find that I have a newfound appreciation for the holiness of the holiday. Sammy and I heard different sermons on Sunday, so I was excited to talk with him about what he liked about the service he attended. I'm hoping to keep on with this spiritual journey of mine.

 I hope everyone had a wonderful time celebrating Easter and/or Passover this weekend! 

Weekending | Easter Recap

Nothing like getting a weekend recap up on start of a new weekend. Wouldn't be me if I got a recap up on the proper day. #sorryboutit Normally I would forgo a weekend recap but since last weekend was a holiday I feel like I need to document it even though nothing crazy happened. I just can't miss an opportunity to talk about a holiday!
So let us get to the belated recapping, shall we?

I spent Friday night relaxing and making a World Market stop with my momma. She wanted to grab some Easter stuff {always getting everything right under the buzzer, that one ;) } and I picked up a few things to add to my Dad's birthday gift. I spent the rest of the night snacking, watching tv with my momma and brother, and I also started The Catch which I'm of course already totally into since Shonda Rhimes is a wizard of television.  

Sammy and I had a day date on Saturday which was so nice. We had lunch, walked around the outdoor mall aka I made him go to Crate & Barrel so I could "see all the new spring stuff for inspiration" {since I totally have my own home to use said inspiration...}, and saw Batman vs. Superman which was pretty awesome.

      

We went to Mod Pizza and we liked it a lot. Sammy especially loved that the toppings are endless and free {you only pay for the size of the pizza you get}. I did the "Lucy Sunshine" which was parmesan, mozzarella, garlic, and artichokes with dollops of marinara. I added black olives and jalapenos for a little kick.   

Sammy of course got something with 87 pieces of meat on it and added artichokes and roasted red peppers. For the record, he tasted mine and said he liked my meatless one better. A first time for everything, people.

Also, look at this face? Can we even discuss this face? We can not because it's too cute of a face. ;) 

Sammy wanted to see if J Crew had a pair of sunglasses he's been looking for and while we were there I snagged this top and a part cashmere striped infinity scarf for $8 each. Eight. Dollars. Died.

      

Again, the face. I could squeeze him like a weirdo forever. 

Sunday was a whirlwind of a day. Sammy and I don't normally split holidays but in the last year we've started to make a better effort about doing it. Since Sammy had to get back to the academy later that night, we spent the earlier part of the day with his family and then he dropped me off so he could make the drive back and I went to spend the evening with my family. 

Our first stop was by Sammy's mom's side. We ate a ton of antipasto stuff, per usual, like homemade bread, cheese, olives, soparsada, fried garduna, stuffed mushrooms, bruschetta, pesto zucchini, eggplant, etc. She also made ravioli, carrots and finochio, mashed potatoes, veal parm, lamb, and salad.  

      

my fav "SIL" // my favorite part of the meal - the antipasto!

Nana Tina with all her grandchildren :)

Sammy's brother, SIL, parents, and us. 

After his grandma's, we stopped over by his aunt's for a short visit to see his cousins and grandparents. We couldn't eat because we didn't have the appetite after eating such a big meal an hour before {who am I kidding? I totally could have eaten again} or the time. Plus, I was eating another meal with my family later in the evening, but their spread looked lovely. 

      

His aunt and cousins served lamb, ham, asparagus, meatballs, noodle kugel {Sammy's cousin's husband is Jewish :) }, corn salad, frittata, and a green salad. They had fresh berries and other fruit for dessert and his cousin made tiramisu which I don't normally like but I had a taste of Sammy's before we left and loved it. Amazing. Promptly asked for my own piece. It was Giada's recipe so it makes complete sense that it would be delicious since she's perfection. 

Sammy had a hard time leaving this week and I think not being around for the entire holiday made him realize what he'll be missing as an officer. Just another part of the job we'll all have to adjust to but I know he'll feel it the most. 

I went by my grandmother's for Easter dinner later that evening. It was a bit more chaotic at my family's than by Sammy's {hence the wine} but it was nice to be with my family regardless. They're supposed to drive you nuts, right? ;)

      

We served ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, pasta, Italian Easter pie (which is cheese like parmesan and ricotta and Italian deli meats baked into dough), sweet potatoes, and salad. 

My dad brought pumpkin pie for me for dessert since its my favorite {I'm slowly realizing we basically had Thanksgiving dinner for Easter...} and my uncle made strawberry cheesecake that was out of this world. Sammy's grandma also packed me up a container of her cookies to take with me so we served those as well. 

      

We still get Easter baskets in my family which I love. I didn't take a pic of the basket from my mom but she always gives us little treats from World Market and a gift card {I got Trader Joe's which I've already used ;) }, but she also made little baskets out of candy for my grandma since she couldn't really do it this year. They looked really cute. I love the nerd rope as the handle. 

And my dad nailed his "basket" which came in paper shopping bags #classy. He included the above list and one item per category in each bag. So for classic drink we all got Mexican Coke in the bottle, but for all the other categories we each got different items that are "classic" to who we are. So I got Doritos for my "classic snack" since I would eat them for my last meal. That's how strong the love is. It was such a fun gift to get. I'm definitely doing it for my kids and I really want to do it for Sammy for Christmas or his birthday next year. 

So that was my Easter! It was a busy day and it felt like a lot of running around but it was worth it because we got to see so much family. Because the day felt so busy I felt like I didn't get to spend nearly enough time reflecting on the meaning of the holiday and that was disappointing but I know it doesn't have to be a holiday in order to do that. I gotta get better, that's all. 

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Also, some super nerdy things for this April {YASTHANKGODSPRINGFORREAL} Friday.

      

You may not be able to tell from my dorky, cocky ass screenshot {like seriously sorry for how obnoxious this is} but I ended up with straight A's this quarter. I don't mean that to be braggy but I am really proud of how hard I worked. It just makes all the stress of commuting and studying seem worth it. 

Also REALLY nerdy but I got my Honors Society sweatshirt yesterday. Yes, I bought myself a sweatshirt. Yes, this is also obnoxious. Yes, please bury me in this.

I've never graduated with honors and it's always bothered me. School was never overtly hard for me but it also didn't come easily either so I made it my mission to graduate with honors this year since it will likely be my last chance and it got me into the English Honors Society, so whats up. 

Also, Sammy was a Sig Tau in college so I jokingly told him I can be a Sig Tau too now ;) He told me I was incorrect about that real quick.

Anyway, enough boring, nerdy stuff. I hope everyone has a great Spring weekend with lots of fun plans! We've got a packed Saturday and I'm having brunch on Sunday with my girlfriends so I'm very excited.

Maybe I'll get the recap up on Monday this time. ;)

xo