Weekend Recap

Friday was pretty much a perfect SAHM day. These are RARE. Let's be honest: most of the time, my days are filled with raising a child, taking care of dogs, cleaning, cooking and just generally worrying about all things that didn't get finished. But Friday? Friday was a day off from the grind.

Little Junior woke up early, which was fine, but after his morning bottle we had a lovely cuddle / nap in bed. Blissful. Then I met my friend, Beth, and her son August, at Starbucks for a coffee date. Beth and I met at our first Garden Club meeting - we were both the super pregnant ones - and we've clicked since. We hung out at Starbucks and chatted, laughed, drank lots of caffeine and watched the babies coo and nap. After about 3 hours, we realized we probably should get going since she was leaving for Florida and still needed to pack. Otherwise, I think we could have spent the entire day there.

We came home for an hour and then turned right around, loaded up the stroller and walked down the street to our neighbors house to spend the afternoon with Kelly and her girls Charlotte and Sophie. Here's what I love about where we live: the neighbors! We never had anything like this in Pennsylvania and in only a few short months here, we've made some really good friends and they're all within walking distance.

Kelly and I sat outside in the backyard in the sunshine, drinking tea, sharing a piece of cake and watching the girls run around. When the sun started to set, we moved inside where we took one look at the clock and decided it was close enough to 5pm to justify opening a bottle of wine. I suppose the large glass of wine went to my head because before I knew it I was hiking the hill home with a fussy baby ready for dinner and I'd completely missed Stations of the Cross. Fail.

Friday night was low key with pizza on the sofa and an HGTV show about Extreme Log Cabins. Don't judge. It was just what we needed and we've decided we're going to retire to an extreme log cabin in Colorado to spend the rest of our days skiing. Escapism at it's finest friends.

Saturday was really low key. Mr. B let me sleep in to try to shake this never-ending cold and we spent the day cleaning and organizing. On Saturday night, we had friends Laura and Travis over for drinks before we went to the Cafe for dinner. They have a little baby two months older than Little Junior so that was fun to watch them....sleep(!!)....while we chatted, had some wine and ate nibbles. We went to dinner and got home way too late.

And, of course, Sunday morning came way too early. I woke up at 3am and could. not. go. back. to. sleep. Around 4:30, I gave up and got up to start a quiet morning by myself. By the time everyone else was up, I was ready for a nap, but it was time for church. It was a special mass for Lent and the Scrunities so I dressed Little Junior up in some spiffy Sunday best: blue checked button up shirt, red tie and his Gap 1969 jeans. (His khakis are still too big so he got a "jeans at church" pass.)

And then we had a meltdown. When it's time for a baba, Mama needs to get the camera out of his face and get to work!

Sunday afternoon was spent at the Just Between Friends sale. I was introduced to this by my friend Tiffany when I moved here and I am so glad she let me in on the secret. I'll spend an entire post recapping the deals we found there but let's just say I stocked up on the cutest outfits (about half brand new, half gently used) for next to nothing. Yall. A green gingham smocked (mallard ducks!) jonjon for $2. Vive Le Fete brand too. So, yes, I was on a total bargain high all Sunday afternoon.

Little Junior had some extra energy to burn off so we popped him in his new Johnny Jumparoo and he was so content to hang around and watch us. After about an hour, Mr. B caught this epic photo which just cracks me up. I mean, it's really hard work being so awesome.

Sunday night I took the girls to the ball field to play fetch and enjoy the last bit of warm, dry weather and take advantage of the extra daylight. Clem was worn out.

Sunday night, once Little Junior was asleep, Mr. B and I spent the evening organizing our calendars for the next few months and we've come to the realization that with the exception of one weekend, we're booked up through June. That's awesome. And, we decided to go ahead and spend all those Marriott points Mr. B's been racking up with all his traveling. We're headed to Vail in February 2014 for a ski vacation. Who cares if it's a year away? I'm already counting down.

Not so sure I can bear to leave this loyal friend for a week when we're off to London next month. Dear Clementine, you are too regal.

Happy Un-Halloween

Mr. B and I aren't really the Halloween types. Don't get me wrong, we love a good costume party (scratch that, we just love a good party!) but the past few years have been "off-years" in terms of celebrating Halloween. Which means the off-years are starting to become the norm and Halloween seems to pass without a blink of an eye around here. Bummer. That really needs to change. 

When we moved into our new digs last year, ALL the neighbors asked us what we were doing for Halloween. I thought they were just being nice and making small talk, but it turns out Halloween is a really big deal around these parts. Main Street is blocked off from all traffic; spooky luminaries line the streets and sidewalks, one neighbor sets up a haunted house in his barn, and the local farmers bring all the local kids in on their tractors / hayrides. It's totally awesome.

Last year, we sat out on the porch with a glass of wine and warm chicken soup, played Michael Jackson's Thriller on repeat and gave away full-size candy bars. (Here's how big of a deal it is around these parts: we gave away 150 full-size bars and still had to tap 4 bags in to our candy reserves!)

Even without little kiddies, we had a total blast looking at all the costumes and watching the kids run back and forth across the street to collect their treats. We saw a kid last year who tripped in our yard - he was of course fine - but we found his silver plastic gun this spring! Guess it got lost under leaves and snow and we didn't find it till everything cleared out. Too funny.

This year, Mr. B. is away (see tomorrow's blog post for more) and I'll be scaring the crap out of greeting the kiddos alone. I'm not sure I have time to score 150 bars this late in the game, but hopefully Target will still have some candy left. And not the crappy kind. I refuse to be that house that gives away the crappy candy.

Hope yall have a fun Halloween!