Mother’s Day Weekend

May 13, 2014

Such a wonderful weekend spent with family and loved ones. We decided to spend Saturday with my mom to celebrate with her. It was wonderful as always. I told her I would cook and she would be in charge of the beverages. I made shrimp and grits and this salad.

My Dad took over beverage making and made delicious margaritas.

My Mom has some beautiful gardenias growing. They smell amazing.

We ended the day watching Little Man play golf on the green behind their house. I hope he enjoys golf as much as we do.

Sunday we spent the day celebrating my sweet Mother-In-Law. It was a great time with yummy barbecue (I forgot to take a picture) and mimosas.

It was a perfect weekend and I just love the Mother’s in my life. I hope you enjoyed your weekend and showered your Mama’s with love.

Friends and Family Weekend

May 5, 2014

What an absolutely fabulous weekend. My best friend Kristyn came into town with her husband and adorable baby. He is already four months old and this was our first meeting!! He stole my heart. Such a sweet baby. Look at this face. I couldn’t stop kissing it.

Friday night we celebrated their visit. We ate, drank and talked too much. It was perfect.

I guess I had Cinco de Mayo on the brain. Shrimp and Carnitas tacos, rice and lots of yummy toppings.

Plenty of drinks too 😉

It was a fabulous night with the girls I love and their families. I couldn’t ask for better friends in this world. Love them dearly.

Sun and Fun

April 30, 2014

I can’t believe it has taken me until Wednesday to do my weekend post. Such a busy week so far and it is only going to get busier! Sheesh!

This weekend was exactly what I hoped it would be. We grilled and chilled and had a great time. We were able to spend most of the weekend at my aunt and uncle’s taking advantage of the great company, awesome backyard and pool. The weather was beautiful and the pool was the perfect temperature for the kids (still a little chilly for me).

She is showing her muscles because she scaled the whole perimeter of the pool using her hands. She doesn’t know how to swim very well yet, but she finds a way to get around.

We grilled hamburgers topped with Chipotle Gouda and White Cheddar. Grilled buns, veggies, pasta salad, and sweet potato tots. Perfect warm weather meal.

Spot the avocado?

Just as good as I remember.

The kids watched from the driveway as a neighbor drove a remote controlled car.

Grassy toes.

Another great one in the books. Looking forward to this weekend. I will need it to get here quickly, this week has been a bear!

Easter Weekend

April 22, 2014

Hope everyone had a great Easter weekend. Ours was jam-packed and I can confidently say we are still recovering.

Friday was date night so sushi it was. This is one of our favorite places and we never leave disappointed-or hungry. Sheesh, I think we ordered everything on the menu.

Saturday was Tee Ball and a lazy afternoon. Getting us all ready for the festivities on Sunday.

My sister had us over to their house for the most amazing brunch.

Bloody Mary Bar anyone?

Mimosas too!

Sweet things.

Not so sweet things (but equally amazing). These chicken sausages were awesome.

Steak which was also delicious.

I had a little bit of everything on my plate. There was also bacon, eggs, corned beef hash, croissants, fruit and a hash brown casserole my sister made that was incredible.

The kids had such a blast!

It was a great weekend. Hope your Easter was just as fun!

Birthday Weekend

April 15, 2014

This weekend we celebrated my Mom’s Birthday. It was a great day filled with great food and even greater company. We even got to play with this sweet little face.

Cheese and fruit appetizer.

Then the main event. My Mom decided she wanted a seafood boil to celebrate her special day. Ours had crab legs, shrimp, sausage, corn and potatoes. The guys manned the fire and it all came together pretty quickly. Every 10 minutes something new would go in the pot.

Potatoes first.

Then the corn.

Sausage and lemons next.

Finally the shrimp and crab. They turned off the heat and let steam for about 10 more minutes.

Time to eat!

We finished the evening off with a few different desserts from our favorite bakery. Cheesecake, Carrot Cake, Rum Raisin Bread Pudding and Mom’s favorite Tiramisu.

It was such a great day celebrating my wonderful Mama!

Love you Mom!!

Another Weekend Here and Gone

April 7, 2014

In what seems to be the new norm, our weekend was full of food and fun. Here are some highlights.

We headed to the beach after Tee Ball on Saturday. Perfect day for it. The water is still way too cold for me but it certainly didn’t stop the kids from jumping in. When we were done with sun and sand, we grabbed a bite to eat.

These nachos definitely hit the spot.

My husband ordered this Pizza Burger. It was no joke. Had mushrooms, pepperoni, cheese, black olives and tomato sauce. Perfect pizza-burger love child.

Sunday I took the kids for an early lunch before heading to a friend’s birthday party. I had egg salad on an everything bagel and it was delicious. Potato salad on the side.

Bounce House fun

Since we were near my parents house, after the party we stopped by for a visit. I love going to my Mom and Dad’s. The kids love it too. We had so much fun and ate well of course.

Burgers.

Cookies too 🙂

Needless to say we were tired and full come Sunday night but it was so worth it. Another great weekend.

Too bad today started with a dead battery in one vehicle. Happy Monday to us. Hoping the rest of the week is smooth sailing!

Hope your weekend was great too!

Weekend Fun

March 31, 2014

Happy Monday and happy end of the month. March is over? Really?

We had a great weekend. The weather was a little scary Saturday afternoon (crazy thunderstorms), but Sunday was absolutely gorgeous, so the weekend wasn’t a complete wash-out.

Here are a couple of eats and drinks from the weekend.

Sunday we met my mom, sister and her family for pizza. We went to Mellow Mushroom. We all shared a couple of appetizers, a salad and two pizzas. I also had an Orange Blossom Pilsner and it was delicious.

Mellow Balls

Meatball Trio

Holy Shiitake

Philosopher’s Pie

Greek Salad

This was the best part of lunch though. I can’t take it. They all love their Gigi so much!

We also celebrated my cousin’s birthday. The food was great as always. My family likes to cook!

Ribs, pulled pork with coleslaw, smoked chicken, baked beans, garlic bread, salad and macaroni and cheese.

Can’t forget the Strawberry Lemonade Gelati.

It was a beautiful afternoon spent with friends and family.

We ended the weekend watching The Walking Dead season finale. It was such a great episode. Very intense! I can’t wait for Rick to kick butt in the next season. I just hate that I have to wait so long!

Hope your weekend was wonderful!

The Weekend and St. Patrick’s Day

March 18, 2014

So another weekend in the books for good ole 2014. This one was nice because we were able to get a lot done and were also able to relax a little.

Saturday was Tee Ball again. Little Man just keeps getting better and better. I am so proud of him. After the game we were pretty hungry and went to a close-by pizza place with some of his teammates and their families. We were able to sit outside and it was absolutely beautiful. After that we spent the afternoon at my aunt and uncle’s house and this crazy (I repeat CRAZY) child went in the pool. It couldn’t have been more than 65 degrees!! He is nuts!

Kids Pool Snacks

Sunday was pretty lazy. The Princess and I did some shopping and got the ingredients to make side dishes for our St. Patrick’s day dinner. We decided to eat it on Sunday since the weekdays get so hectic.

I made Caramelized Onion Scones and Colcannon. I used this recipe for the Scones from Savvy Eats. They were really yummy. Sometimes my scones can get dry, but the onions actually add moisture so these were perfect.

For the Colcannon I just mashed about 3 lbs of Yukon Gold potatoes and mixed in sautéed kale, bacon, milk and butter. They don’t photograph all that well, but they sure taste good.

It was a great ending to a nice weekend. Hope your weekend was wonderful and your St. Patrick’s Day lucky. 😉

This is from a couple of years ago. No green beer this year for us.

Weekend Things

March 10, 2014

This weekend was busy again. It was filled with family and fun, my two favorite things.

We went to my sister and brother-in-law’s house with my parents and some friends. The kids had a ball and so did the grown-ups. Talking, eating and just spending quality time together. The night ended with s’mores so you know it was awesome.

Sunday I woke up super-hungry and decided to make a yummy breakfast. We had leftover pork roast so I sautéed that with the last two eggs we had, mushrooms, onions and a chopped jalapeno. I put this over top of a corn tortilla that I fried in coconut oil. Topped it all with a little feta, a roasted tomato slice, half of an avocado and hot sauce. It hit the spot. I also liked that it cleaned out the refrigerator 😉

Lunch was a restaurant that has great New England style seafood. I had the fried shrimp with hush puppies. The portion was huge!!

As you can see, the hush puppies were popular.

I also managed to get our back porch all cleaned up. I am ready for dinners outside now that the sun will be out longer and the weather is absolutely beautiful.

Hope your weekend was great too.

Busy Weekend

March 3, 2014

Hard to believe it is already Monday again. This weekend was jam-packed for us. We decided to take advantage of the weather and spent almost the entire weekend outside. Here are a few highlights.

Saturday morning started with a trip to the bakery. We have tried going to this bakery before but we always seem to think of it on Sunday’s when it is closed. So Saturday we woke up early and I took the kids to check it out. This will definitely not be the last time we go here. They have so many different things to choose from. We got two cinnamon rolls, one maple bacon cinnamon roll and a berry cream galette. Everything was awesome especially the maple bacon cinnamon roll. Make sure you get there a little early because I think they sell out of them pretty quickly. I certainly know why!

After that we had the first daytime Tee Ball game of the season. There are so many players this season that we actually have two games a week. One during the week in the evening and then another on Saturday. We are definitely going to be at these fields a lot over the next couple months.

The weather was perfect and the kids had a blast. Little Man had two really good hits. The Princess and I cheered them on.

Goldfish break

After the game we headed to the coast again. It was really windy but the kids had fun again walking on the pier and playing in the sand.

I know this is out of focus but I couldn’t resist. They are so crazy.

Beach Toes

Sunday was all about the Florida Strawberry Festival. We got up somewhat early and made the drive which took a little over an hour. It was really busy and really hot. The kids had such a fun time though. We decided to get our Strawberry Shortcake first as the lines tend to get really long once the day wears on. So delicious. The rest of the afternoon was spent riding rides, eating Amish donuts, corn dogs and more lemonade than I’ve had in a year. It was a really great time, although I’m hoping next year we can sneak over during the week when it isn’t as crowded.

“I want to go on the America-Round”

“Mommy, I see you in my glasses”

So as you can see we had a busy weekend of family fun. Now back to work and a healthy meal/exercise plan to make up for all the shenanigans this weekend.

How was your weekend?

Anyone ever been to the Florida Strawberry Festival? What was your favorite part?