Weekend Recap: Taste of Single Life

This weekend was out of the ordinary but felt like my old "ordinary" weekends. Because "what I did" lists complete with "what I ate for breakfast" tend to feel a little...dramatic, so I'll just say that the overall theme was: "So this it what it feels like to be single again."  It wasn't glorious, it wasn't bad - it felt like a natural weekend. A weekend I used to know so well.

Friday Highlights: 

• Wine over lunch with friends turned into champagne over pedicures that turned into "let's just get one more drink." 
• After a quick break, my best friend and I reconnected to continue our celebrating. We sorted through Ingrid's old clothes and took breaks to watch amazing videos like this one. 
• The night ended with me dancing the night away in a stocking hat because I was too tired from drinking all afternoon to bother with details like "my appearance."

Saturday Highlights: 

• Started with an overly-ambitious four-mile run. I was reminded Chelsea Handler's books - the one where she talks about those rare energetic mornings after a night of drinking. At some point in the day you say to yourself "How did I end up in this canoe?" Sorry for trying to quote Chelsea - that was painful. But, at one point I looked at Harper, blissfully running on the shores of Lake Michigan, rain hitting her fur, and wondered out loud: "How am I two miles from home?"  
• Dressed up as the AppleJax pony from My Little Pony for my friend's daughter's third birthday.
• Celebrated her birthday with multiple cocktails and bacon-maple cookies. It was the best third birthday party ever!

Sunday Highlights: 

• There's a Dunkin' Donuts on my way home - and it's a drive through! 
• Emotionally draining Listen to Your Mother second rehearsal. I continue to cry during these stories. Thank goodness I'm reading third, less of a chance of looking like a giant hot mess. 
• Food court treats with the LTYM cast members. Turns out they are even more amazing than there five - seven minute stories. Wow. 
• Mad Men. I can't even contain my thoughts on the new season. Peggy - what a bad ass! These reviews were spot-on and thought-provoking last year. I can't wait to read these every Monday.

Between packing, laundry and these highlights the weekend was pretty wonderful. I wish I could tell you that I needed a weekend to myself or that I miss Dan and Ingrid like crazy but that's not the case. It was wonderful to spend time with old friends, best friends, new friends, Harper, my DVR, and myself. That's it. Nothing profoundly interesting or dramatic - I guess that IS what I needed!

Weekend Recap: Comfort Zone, Kid Zone

Happy Monday! So, we have another snow storm coming up this week. Maybe it's because I'm back on caffeine, but I really don't have a strong opinion about this weather. We live in Wisconsin, it snows. Perhaps I'll even dust off the cross-country skis and enjoy the weather! Mmm, I have my money on leaving the skis in the attic and warming up to some hot chocolate.

Side Bar: How do you give your toddler hot chocolate? Because Dan and I just give just give it to Ingrid in a bowl with spoon. I'm assuming there's a sippy cup for hot liquids out there somewhere, I've never come across one. Ingrid really enjoys "hot chocolate soup." Which is fine, I guess. And, a little weird.

This Weekend: was relaxing. Laundry was half done. I became a fan of the lazy girl's gym workout: swimming, hot tub, sauna. Fancy! And we celebrated Dan's birthday with some classic Funfetti cupcakes and gifts that will be arriving in 3-5 business days.

Comfort Zone: Have you heard of Listen to Your Mother? It's a pretty interesting event, a national series, where moms from all walks of life share their stories in a public setting. One of my fellow bloggers at Milwaukee Moms invited us to audition and I said "Yes" before understanding what I was getting myself into. On Saturday I sat in front of two women and told them the story of how I became to be a mother. It was nerve-wracking but not terrifying. I surprised myself when I teared up and congratulated myself for getting through the speech without stumbling (too much).

I didn't expect to get so much out of the experience. The whole jist of the event is that every mother has a story to be shared and heard. It was powerful and exhilarating to just verbalize my story to strangers. 

Now, I hemmed and hawed over sharing this with you because, what if I don't get selected for the show? There are many of us auditioning for 12 spots. Honestly, I'm just excited that I had the guts to audition. 

Kid Zone: On Sunday we took Ingrid to the Betty Brinn Children's Museum (did you like my natural transition between these two events?). As Ingrid ran from exhibit to exhibit, her eyes got wider and wider. She couldn't get enough of the slides, cars and Mr. Potato Head. Oh, that Mr. Potato Head. Girl is in L-O-V-E with him! 

Weekend Recap + Monday Morning Happiness

This weekend was just what the doctor ordered. Dan got over a weird head cold. Laundry was attended to. We looked at some houses that looked promising online. Then, we treated ourselves to the best corned beef hash and Bloody Marys in town because, the houses were not promising, at all.

Ingrid enjoyed some quality time with her Aunt Lauren and was thrilled to watch movies this weekend. She getting a little bug (from Dan, we think) but that little trooper can barrel through it all. I think she has a higher pain tolerance than most and she needs reminders to slow down. Or, are all toddlers this way?

This morning, I stumbled upon this gem of a video, The Scared it Scared. I love it. You'll love it too.


the Scared is scared from Bianca Giaever on Vimeo.

Wintery Weekend

Hey, how 'bout that power outage? I know, I know - it's old news at this point but last night's game was seriously entertaining and I was happy to see the Ravens (and Beyonce) take home a win.

This weekend's theme: Take it Easy. With a teething toddler, a sick pup and two mildly hungover adults we didn't get much done but, we did manage to enjoy time with each other. And when all is said and done, isn't that what weekends are all about.

Here are some highlights:

Double-fisting.

Whipping up some lunch.

Harper is in heaven.

Happily exploring the snow.

Happy Monday! What were your weekend highlights?

What Weekends Are All About

Don't you love when you kind of fall into a weekend? Maybe the holiday hangover is finally going away - but this weekend felt peaceful and restorative.

Weekends are for reconnecting: Ingrid and I spent some serious quality time together (aka, playing with babies and reading every book in her library). That girl's attention span is no joke. I had to stop myself from rushing from one activity to the next. She would be immersed in blocks and I would catch myself suggesting we color a picture. We spent time "booping" noses together and giggling over peek-a-boo. Seriously, toddlers are hilarious (insane - but also hilarious).

Weekends are best with friends:  On Saturday, we got together with our favorite friends who also have little girls. I love seeing Ingrid's eyes widen as we tell her where we're going and who we'll be seeing. She would wheel her stroller and baby into the living room every few minutes with a smile that radiated happiness. Her squeals of delight over every Packer touchdown made the loss somewhat bearable. I'm lying. That game was terrible and I'm still bummed.

On Sunday, two of my favorite ladies came over to watch the Golden Globes and eat crappy pizza. I loved that they both wanted to come over before Ingrid's bedtime to spend time with her. We talked through most of the acceptance speeches and commented on the best dressed. I loved the simplistic styling this year and thought Claire Danes and Jessica Alba both looked amazing!

Weekends are for not showering: For me, it's always been easy to muster up the energy to workout on the weekends. I'm never in the mood to shower so, why not go for the gold and head out for a run? On Saturday I ran to our community center for my weekly abs class (where we're adjacent to the Senior Step Class and Toddler Karate). The whole "run to-and-from" class makes a lot of sense in theory, as it's only a mile or so from the house. But, it normally turns into a leisurely walk home because hey, I just worked out for a solid 40 minutes!

Weekends are for baking: Ingrid might not understand the concepts of measuring or whisking - but the girl loves to sprinkle and "dump" (anything from one bowl to the next). In an ideal world, we would have made Honeyed Grapefruit Scones (a seriously wonderful  breakfast). I wasn't in the mood to (further) dirty the kitchen and made some Snickerdoodles (from a box mix) instead. Ingrid was covered in cinnamon-sugar and magically remembered that she can't eat cookie dough (how long do you think I can keep that lie going?).

via

Weekends are for the great outdoors: Somehow a walk through the park on Saturday took just as long as a walk around the block on Sunday.

Yeah, we can go outside.
Just let me just wrap up this phone call quick.

Ingrid in awe over the "icy berries"

She was allowed to take two "icy berries" home.

Weekends are for reading (and for online shopping, vodka, crock pots, yoga pants, trashy TV and movie watching, unlimited cups of coffee): I had been craving an afternoon of "me time" (such an eye-rolling inducing phrase, by the way). On Sunday afternoon, Ingrid took a three-hour nap and I took full advantage: made a fancy coffee, caught up on Housewives while reading an enormous stack of magazines (while thinking about doing laundry - and hey, isn't it the thought that counts).

I hope your weekend was wonderful and your Monday was painless!


(Inspiration for the post came from Joy the Baker)

Weekend Recap and Thoughts

At least mentally, my weekend started on Thursday. Dan and I laughed along to Louis CK at The Riverside and then joined friends at Boone and Crockett for a whiskey-ginger beer (me) and White Russian (Dan).

I could say that it was nice to be out of the house in heels, or that the drinks or Louis were extraordinary, but in reality - it was really, really nice to sit next to Dan for a few hours and just drink and laugh. 

He's been working on his business, internship and schoolwork non-stop since September and it was nice not to have a conversation about schedules or bills. 

This weekend was rainy and dreary, perfect weather for getting stuff done around the house. 

Perfect setting, sure.

But, that's not what I did. 

On Saturday, Ingrid and I ran painless, mildly-annoying, errands. On the way home we drove by Purple Door Ice Cream and Clock Shadow Creamery. After an awkward and abrupt U-turn, it was decided that a hearty dose of dairy in the form of Salted Caramel Ice Cream and seriously squeaky cheese curds was in order. 

A truly delightful little shop. 

That night I went to The Smoke Shack for dinner with one of my oldest and dearest friends on her way back home to Chicago. There's something truly therapeutic about spending time with an old friend. We don't talk that frequently, but when we get together, it's as if we saw each other yesterday. Instead of rehashing relationship woes or talking about our careers, we discussed skin care for about 45 minutes and then laughed about the fact that we talked about skin care for about 7 minutes. 

Today, we went for family walk and then I attempted to muster up the energy to do more.

"More" for me, meant doing laundry, going grocery shopping with Ingrid, roasting veggies, making this fantastic Turkey, Kale and Brown Rice Soup while munching on these wonderful Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies: 

recipe and photo via

And, I randomly had left-over cream cheese frosting in the freezer just waiting for this merry occasion.

In hindsight, this sounds like a perfectly enjoyable weekend. It was a perfectly enjoyable weekend. Yet this afternoon, I was "shoulding" all over myself (current or not, one of the best Sex and the City quotes). 

I should go running. 

I should change the laundry. 

I should do something with our budget. 

I should work on Ingrid's Halloween costume. 

I should make a meal/work-out plan for the week. 

I should remove my nail polish. 

I should really go change the laundry. 

And even though "life goes on" with chipped nails, I was annoyed with myself for not having the energy or motivation to get out nail polish remover. 

As we sat down to watch the Packer game (with our cheese curds, natch), I realized that I had a full, wonderful day with my family and reminded myself to get over whatever weird expectations I had for myself. 

I was able to relax with Ingrid. Laugh with Dan. There's a fridge stocked meals for the week and my running shoes, chipped nails and laundry will all be there tomorrow.