Weekend recap and Nani’s bday

Hi friends! Happy Monday! I hope you had a lovely weekend. We had a great one because we celebrated my nana’s birthday!

More on all of that fun below. 🙂

Friday was a pretty relaxing day. I caught up on some chores and had eggplant parm leftovers for lunch (one of the magic foods that tastes better the next day),

and Liv and I watched some of The Babysitter’s Club on Netflix. Thank you to those of you who let me know that it was a good choice! It kind of flew over P’s head, but Liv was into it. I ordered some of the novels for her with pictures to see what she thinks. 🙂 BBS was such a huge part of my childhood, so it’s fun to share this with her. (I always wanted Claudia’s outfits.)

Friday night was our weekly “dinner at the pool” party. I look forward to this ALL WEEK because it means I get a margarita and I don’t have to cook. Wins all around.

I also watched some Zac Efron… I mean Down to Earth. 😉

Saturday morning, Liv and I cranked through her summer packet while P practiced her letters, and we spent the afternoon at my dad’s house swimming. The girls love going over there – they built the kids the most gorgeous playroom and my stepmom always has fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies – and I love getting to sit in the backyard and chat with them. It’s been extremely hot and muggy lately, so we take any chance we can get to be in the water.

Snapped a quick pic of my lunch because it was so satisfying:

(Siete tortillas with hummus, leftover roasted eggplant, Violife feta, kalamata olives, and spinach with a side of strawberries)

Dinner was turkey lentil loaf, white sweet potatoes with butter and cinnamon, and salad.

(Not the most appetizing picture but it was so good.)

Sunday was nana’s birthday! I put the call out on Instagram for ideas on how to make it special during such a weird time and received so many thoughtful suggestions. From getting sporadic deliveries, to yard signs, to a family video message montage, mariachis (we did this one a couple of years ago and truthfully I really wanted to do it again), the girls creating a choreographed dance for her, etc. SO many great suggestions! In the end, donut party in the yard won. The girls and I brought a couple dozen donuts from Dunkin’ and madre brought a carafe of coffee. The kiddos played hide and seek in the driveway and looked for seashells while the adults sat under the carport and talked. It was low-key and perfect.

Afterwards, we came home to hang out for a bit, I caught a quick workout and put the meal plan together for the week. We spent the evening at my mom’s house, eating dinner in the backyard and swimming.

(We brought the best pasta salad ever, the cake from Nadine’s bakery, and a bottle of wine. Madre made amazing salmon, grilled veggies, cheesy potatoes, and chicken meatballs in the slow cooker. It was a feast!)

While things are absolutely different this year, we’re still finding ways to be together outside. I’m so ready for all of this to be over, ya know?

Happiest birthday to someone we’re so lucky to have. <3

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, too!

I’m off to record a podcast interview and catch a Peloton class before the day’s adventures. Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today!
xo

Gina