Midweek Check-In + a birthday!

Because what else am I famous for other than a random ass check-in on here?

Last week was a great week. I've been looking forward to it for months haha. I live for days when I can meander around the house and do nothing all day if I choose.

To kick off the long weekend, we had Sammy's parents, grandma, and my mom over for dinner on Wednesday night. I snagged some rotisserie chickens from the store and made a compound butter to brush on them. We also had roasted potatoes, corn, salad, and some crusty bread.

On the fourth, I got up and read.

And tidied up the house a bit while Sammy headed off to his friends' place downtown.

And did some more reading before my family came over to hang out for the night.

On Friday I had zero plans for the day except making my way to the library to pick up some holds they had for me. I wound up outside with Henry for most of the afternoon and finished this book while getting some sun.

Friday night we did some more relaxing before heading out to see Spider-Man which we looooved.

Saturday we got up and went for a walk at Three Oaks where we met a younger golden retriever friend for Henry! He convinced Henry to do a little swimming for the first time ;)

His little head popping out is my favorite. Mr. Apprehensive.

This was extremely exhausting for some of us so we rested up before heading to a family graduation/fourth of July party.

My boys :) It was such a fun night with family, we look forward to it every year.

And someone was SO tired after all that socializing that he even slept with us for a little bit (which only happens when he's REALLY exhausted). But then got too hot and retreated to his crate. ;)

Sunday I went to Chelsie's for coffee, bagels and doughnuts, and girl time. It was awesome, per usual.

Crystal Lake does their fourth of July celebrations on Sunday, so Sammy worked the parade in the morning and then hung out at home until I came home. Later that night we took Henry to the dog park and then made our way to the Lakeside Festival for some dinner before the firework show.

We watched fireworks from our lake and I was living for it. They did SUCH an awesome job and I'm so glad we went because we weren't able to go last year for our first year because Sammy had to work.

It was a great way to end a long weekend, although I've been dragging this week haha.

In other news, I gave audiobooks another try and haven't cared so much for this one at all unfortunately, so I think I'll return it and try again. (They have women doing men's voices... I don't get that!)

I started this lovely one this week and am truly loving it. Erika Robuck is so good. And I've said it a million times already, but if you're interested to see what I think about any books I post here, you can check my reviews out HERE. :)

And in the biggest news... our man is ONE today. Can't believe it. We've got big plans tonight including dinner outside, visit to the dog park, and cake (homemade by mom last night) and presents at home.

We love you, Henny. You make life so much more fun.

Late Weekend Recap

Hi, friends! I didn't get a chance to recap last weekend and since it's a short week at work (off Thursday and Friday! #blessed), this is already my "Friday," so I'm going to throw in some random "favorites" while recapping last weekend and sign off for the week :)

FRIDAY

Last Friday I surprised my grandma and took her to lunch which was such fun. She was really surprised, especially when I showed up in my new car. And now she's obsessed with getting me a St. Christopher medal to keep in the car—those Italians ;)

After lunch I stopped at the park district to get us a key to the dog park and then made my way to the library to get a library card and a big ol' stack of books.

I came home for a little while and tried to take some pictures with Henry for my book instagram which went well until...

they quickly didn't ;)

He was still wearing his onesie and cone at this time, so we stayed outside for a while so he could get some fresh air, despite the stupid amount of humidity. (PS. I just reviewed that book on my book insta if you're interested ;) )

As soon as Sammy came home, we went out to run a few errands and grab Panera for dinner. We bought tickets for Toy Story 4 and then came home to eat and do some stuff around the house before the movie.

I put together Sammy's brother's 30th birthday gift which was a "30-piece adult game night" kit. He asked for board games and I felt like we could take it up a notch, so I came up with this idea.

We included about five or six games, snacks, candy, beer, whiskey, and cigars.

We saw a late showing of Toy Story 4. I love going to late movies but Sammy isn't the biggest fan, so we rarely go but I convinced him the 9:40 (SO late ;) ) was a good choice for this particular night.

I liked the movie but I was a little disappointed in it at the same time which I hate to say because we LOVE Toy Story. I wish the gang was together more throughout the whole movie. But the end killed me and I was a pile of tears, as predicted. Not Toy Story 3 level of tears—I look like a complete shit show after I watch that movie I cry so much—but tears none the less.

SATURDAY
On Saturday we packed our little family up—Henry got to come!—and headed over to my BIL and SIL's house to celebrate his birthday. It was a warm day but they put out the pool for the kids and we all sat outside and hung out. And Henry tried to play bags ;)

And my James and I matched. I truly can't with this face.

And he loved on Henry a lot.

Babies and dogs. What's better?

Idk how Sammy's cousins got this picture, but I'll take it!

After we left the party, Sammy decided he was going to hang out with his friends, so he drove to where they were and then I drove myself and Henry home and proceeded to wait up till 2 a.m. so I could pick Sammy up from the train.

Henry was SO tired from his day out that he collapsed on the couch as soon as we got home. So we snuggled for a while which is a rarity for our overactive pup.

SUNDAY 

On Sunday we went to another graduation party (still have two more to go this month haha) which was fun. It's been awesome to see Sammy's extended family as often as we have this summer. We came home and pretty much relaxed for the rest of the night which is why I have zero pictures of this day ;)

Extras+++

In other news, Henry is no longer in any post-surgery gear! We have our fingers tentatively crossed that's healed completely. All resources say you can consider dogs healed 7-10 days after neutering but since Henry had a few complications, we wanted to play it safe and keep him in his cone and friends for the full two weeks. It's been over two weeks now, so I think we're safe. I even gave him a bath last night because he needed it and his incision looked fine afterward. (Please excuse the pile of dog hair on the table in this photo. This is our life.)

We took him to the dog park last night for the first time because he was at a 10 as soon as I came home from work so we hoped to bring him down a little bit energy-wise. (Really glad the neutering is helping his energy levels *eye roll* hoping to see some difference soon.) He was exhausted after only twenty minutes which was great, but as soon as we got home he recuperated quickly. ;) So much for our relaxing evening.

I think that's all for me! Tonight Sammy's parents and grandma are coming over for dinner along with my mom (my dad has to work unfortunately) and I'm excited to have them over since they haven't been in a while. 

Not sure what our plans are for tomorrow and Friday I hope to take it easy. Saturday we have another graduation/summer party, and Sunday I'm meeting my friends for coffee, and our town is celebrating fourth of July which means Sammy is working the parade and we'll get to see fireworks over the lake. 

Hope everyone has a fun and happy fourth and great weekend! xo

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday, all! I feel like it's been a while since I've done a favorites post, so I've definitely had some "favorites" stock piled and ready to share.

HENRY
Probably goes without saying this guy is the most favorite around our house. I thought I would have more pictures of him to share actually, but he keeps us so much on our toes at this age that I haven't taken as many pictures 'cause I'm always running after him!

Currently, we're super focused on potty training/crate training with the occasional command training session thrown in there. I think we're going to sign him up for a class when we get back from Paris in October, so right now we're just focused on potty training. He loves bully sticks (gross but I'll let it go since they really keep him occupied), shoving himself into corners and under chairs to nap, and taking all his toys out of his basket at once.

He got his first PupBox yesterday and it was SO good. Benny gets BarkBox and while I love the cohesive theme and creativity shown with each box, I love how the PupBox products are catered to your puppy's exact age and development stage. Plus you get more than just toys and treats, we got several products that are going to be helpful with Henry.

And such a sweet coworker of mine bought Henry the cutest toy! A milk carton with little squeaking cookies inside :)

RECENT PURCHASES - FOOD

I grabbed this orange chicken bag from the frozen section at Aldi to have in the house for a quick dinner. I made it last night with rice and really enjoyed it. There was enough for Sammy and I for dinner plus another serving or two for lunch the next day.

I grabbed these from the frozen section at Aldi as well and was pleasantly surprised by the flavor. Really good and super easy.

I picked this up a few weeks ago when I was staying by my mom's (and when she was footing the grocery bill ;) ) and really enjoyed the flavor combo.

RECENT PURCHASES - CLOTHES

This would be a $30 Amazon purchase that I think I'll get a lot of use out of. It's one of those 15-way dresses where you can tie the top a bunch of different ways. I needed something for a wedding we have on Saturday so I Primed this and hoped for the best. I thought the color was perfect for a Fall wedding. It's super comfortable as well thanks to an elastic waist and soft material, so I'm excited to wear it this weekend.

One of my cousin's bridesmaids introduced me to these wicking shorts by Jockey when I complained to her about wearing dresses in the summer because my thighs rub together. These are a GAME changer, people. I picked mine up at Target and won't look back. They're comfortable while holding you in a bit (but are more like shorts/underwear than Spanx) and just perfect if you need to avoid that unwanted friction.

I grabbed a few things from Old Navy recently (surprise, surprise), starting with these distressed jeans. They were on sale during Labor Day for $15 so I snagged them and plan to cut the seam off the bottom to create a rough edge.

I love their jersey swing dresses and this one is no exception. I love the color for fall, it looks so cute with my denim jacket and knee boots, and it's super flattering. 

Never have been so in love with a sweater in all my life. It's soft and looks expensive and this particular color is so unique (at least in my wardrobe). I want to buy it in every color they make.

I've been waiting to grab this linen blazer and a promo code finally came up that applied a discount, so I snagged it. Can't wait to layer it over turtlenecks and wear with jeans.

This tunic is so lovely and soft. It's a perfect "flannel" for me because it doesn't make me feel too hot but still feels cozy. I wore it with jeans and knee boots this week and when it gets a little chillier, I'll definitely throw a vest over it.

These were also on sale for $15 and I thought the rough edge on the bottom with a little bit of bleaching looked cool. These are something that I normally wouldn't be drawn to, but I'm a total sucker for army green bottoms. And these look different in person than they do online. My plan is to wear them with billowy white blouses and sandals during these last few warm days of summer.

MISC
Loving the fall vibes lately and can't wait for things to get even more festive! I may or may not have made the backgrounds on all my devices photos of apples...

Sammy and I stopped into Crate and Barrel last week before we saw a movie, and I always have to snap a picture of their holiday stock. My absolute favorite. 

I'm officially signed up for our town's apple pie contest haha. My brother's first question: "so, what's the average age of all the contestants? sixty?" Probably! I'm one of 10 contestants competing on the last Saturday of September, so we'll see how I do! I think I've got my recipes down, so I'm feeling pretty confident.

I had this pear juice at Sammy's grandparents last week and wish I knew about it sooner, especially earlier in the summer. It's bottled in Italy and would be incredible served over chilled champagne. In Italy they drink it served over rum ;)

I got some snuggles in with this guy last week before Henry took over our lives ;)

I snapped a few pictures of my favorite photos of Sammy's grandpa when we were looking through shoeboxes full of them before his funeral. He was a barber all his life, so I love this photo of him under a barber sign in Italy.

And this picture of Sammy's grandparents is too good. They look like characters in a movie to me.

And of course an old school picture of Sammy creeped in there somewhere ;) I mean, can you even stand it?!

My dad brought me some of my favorite things to try when he came over on Sunday. He's the best.

I've been watching Seinfeld from the beginning and it brings me so much joy at the end of every day. 

Spotted my first red-leafed tree on my walk yesterday morning! *heart eyes* all day

Sammy made pasta on Thursday night while my dad was over for dinner and it was definitely my favorite night of the week (only thing better would have been if my brother was over--my three favorite guys). I just love having our family in our home. 

The pasta was so good, I think Sammy is now our resident gravy maker (much to my stubborn dismay ;) )

That's it for me! 

I'm happy to be off work today and get to spend the day with Sammy and Henry. Tomorrow we're going to (hopefully) just lounge around before heading over to the wedding. My mom is coming over to watch Henry, so I'll be happy to see her. And on Sunday, it'll be just me and Henry since Sammy is working, so I'm hoping to spend another cozy day at home (despite the projected 85 degree temps, ugh!), maybe trying out a chili recipe and playing outside ;)

Have a wonderful weekend! xo

*linking up with Christina and Andrea!