The Week Between

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Gooooood morning and happy Monday, friends! I hope you had a great weekend. I’m loving this Monday because it’s really like my weekend. I had some clients and hours over the weekend and today is my first day 100% off in a while. Even though I had a few days off of work with my parents here, it was still a lot of exhausting running around so I’m just relishing every minute of this slow day.

Wednesday, Nathan’s mom gets into town and she’ll be staying with us through Sunday which gives us exactly 1 week to recover from my parents! We’ve been enjoying the easy meals at home, taking a break from the drinks, and trying to get back to normal before we start all over again.

Despite my work schedule, we still had some relaxing fun over the weekend. Saturday when I was finished training, we went over to the farmers’ market to load up on some fresh produce. We threw together lunch when we got home, including a delicious apple-fennel salad that I can’t wait to make again! I’ll definitely have to share the recipe soon. The dressing tasted like a sweet vidalia onion dressing. So good!

I digress. We packed up our lunches and made our way back to Mountain View Cemetary where we took a walk with my parents on Tuesday. This time, however, we hiked all the way to the top and the views were stunning. Lunch in the 70° sunshine with these views was the perfect way to spend the afternoon.

Sunday was another slow day. After work, we took a trip to Trader Joe’s to stock up on the food we needed to make it through the next few days and had a nice walk around the area. Like I said, a nice, quiet and relaxing weekend. Just what we needed to refresh ourselves. And now to prepare for more craziness!

Weekly Meal Plan

Sunday – Lemon Moroccan chicken with asparagus & za’atar roasted cauliflower couscous

Monday – Vietnamese pork bowl
Tuesday – Greek Chicken Souvlaki
Wednesday – Saturday – Nathan’s mom is in town so we’re going out!

Food for Thought

Do you usually need recovery time after guests?

A Quiet Weekend for the Win

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Good morning! Happy Monday! I hope you’re all feeling as rested up as I am. We had a really quiet weekend despite plans to get out and explore yesteday. Sometimes you just have to give into the tired feeling and spend some quality time with the sofa. Am I right?

Friday was a lot of running around, but definitely in a good way. I kicked off my morning with an awesome HIIT workout at Sweat with my friend, Melanie. This was my second time going to Sweat and I love it; these workouts make me push myself in ways that I don’t always when I workout on my own. And I definitely feel it the next day!

After my workout and kicking other peoples butts in the gym, I met Nathan for happy hour. It was such a nice night [pretty much as always..], we opted to sit outside. I swear he was there too 😉

We hit up a new-to-us place for dinner—Summer Kitchen & Bake Shop—which was good, but nothing to write home about. That said, after dinner, we shared a [freshly made] waffle cone of rosemary-pine nut-praline ice cream from our favorite shop, Ici. They have the most creative flavors and 9 times out of 10, they taste as incredible as they sound!

Saturday, the weather was supposed to be rainy so we planned on running errands. I guess if you’ve never seen rain before, you’d consider what we had to be terrible weather. It turned out to have drizzled some before we left the house and there were some clouds in the sky. Ugh, just the worst! Ha. California “weather” makes me laugh all the time! Our errands took us out to Tender Greens for lunch and it was wonderful! I had the albacore tuna plate with double roasted veggies. I love fall/winter veggies!

After lunch, we popped into World Market for the first time. There was a lot of fun stuff there but we made it out with only a couple single serving packets of Barney Butter. I’ve never had it before so obviously when I saw the Cocoa + Coconut and Vanilla Bean + Espresso squeezies, I had to get them. And because I can’t get enough nut butter, I decided Saturday night was the right time to make these protein brownies with almond butter swirl.

I’ve never been one for brownie edges. I like the gooey middle pieces.. though I think I could have taken these guys out of the oven a minute or two earlier. Next time!

Yesterday was super quiet. It was a day for the gym, groceries, and cooking dinner together. It was a true team effort; I love when that happens!

We had plans to go for a hike, but we both pretty much decided that would be way too much effort for a Sunday! It’s nice to start the week feeling rested.

Weekly Meal Plan

Sunday – Seared skirt steak with peppers, onions, mushrooms, and roasted kabocha
Monday – Spicy BBQ Chickpea and Crispy Polenta Bowls with Asparagus + Ranch Hummus
Tuesday – Greek Chicken Souvlaki with spiced roasted carrots
Wednesday – BBQ margarita chicken with mango slaw
Thursday – Leftovers
Friday – Out!
Saturday – Leftovers

Food for Thought

Are you a middle brownie fan or an edge/corner fan?
Did you do anything exciting over the weekend?

Liquid Diet

Hi friends! Hope you had a great weekend. We certainly did over here.. it started out a little like this:

We hit up a new-to-us restaurant for happy hour called Eureka! I planned on sticking with the 1 glass of wine but when I saw they had a Bear Republic Racer 5 with a shot of rye, I couldn’t pass it up. And I’m so glad I didn’t.. what a great combo! After dinner, we made our way over to another bar where a little more beer, a shared slice of pizza, and gelato happened. So much for sticking with 1 glass of wine, huh? 😉 It had been quite some time since Nathan and I went bar hopping and it was a really fun night.

That night that subsequently resulted in a nice, quiet Saturday morning.

Got myself all snuggled up on the couch before hitting up the farmers’ market, wandering Berkeley, and having a relaxing Saturday that ended in our favorite Indian food.

And if we didn’t get enough on Friday, we had a nice Sunday Funday. We made our way into the city and grabbed brunch at Pork Store Cafe.

The mimosa was a surprise.. Nathan decided to order them and I put up no fight at all. Besides, it paired perfectly with the fabulous benedict with avocado and grilled tomato. Yesssss! We took to some more relaxing, this time in Dolores Park.

Never forgetting our sunglasses again! Haha. The day started a bit gray, as usual these days, but turned out to be perfect weather. It was so nice to just sit in a park and enjoy the day and people watch. It was a really great weekend and I’m sorry to see it end. But it just means we’re that much closer to heading home again! 🙂

Weekly Meal Plan

Sunday – Grilled balsamic chicken thighs, roasted brussels sprouts, & balsamic basil heirloom tomato salad
Monday – Smokey Peruvian chicken with roasted carrots
Tuesday – Char siu pork bowl
Wednesday – Greek chicken souvlaki with side salad
Thursday – My birthday! Going out!
Friday – Leftovers
Saturday – Big birthday dinner at NOPA!

Food for Thought

What fun things did you do over the weekend?