The Fabulous, Relaxing Weekend

Happy Monday, friends!  We had a wonderful weekend, and as sad as I am to see it go, college football starts this week, so the week can’t be that bad!   

Thursday, I picked up some new bows for Olivia… she was in desperate need since she’s been wearing her same newborn bows forever.  I found the best consignment shop here in town who sells new bows that won’t break the bank… I don’t know about y’all, but I just can’t bring myself to pay $6 - $10 for one bow, so it was quite a score to find brand new bows for $2 - $4!

Friday, Jacob’s new school celebrated all of the summer birthdays with a class party so I took a late lunch break to join him.  It’s always such a special treat to see my Boo during the middle of the work day!

Friday evening, my cousin from Brooklyn was in town with her two littles, and her mom and dad (my aunt and uncle) invited us over to their house for dinner and to let the babies play together.  She and I were preggo at the same time with both of our babies, so Jacob and Leo are only two months apart, and Olivia and Clara are only six months apart.  We only get to see them a couple of times a year since they live up in good ol’ NYC, but it’s always a fun time when they come down to visit.  The kids get along great, and I hate it that they don’t get to see each other more often. 

The weather was perfect – cloudy, cool, and not very humid, so we had dinner al fresco on the balcony – spaghetti, salad, bread, and red wine.  Perfection.  The kids had a blast together as always, and it was the perfect end to the work week.  So relaxing.

Saturday morning I took Jacob to a birthday party for one of his friends at his old school, so after two weeks at his new school, he got to see all of his old buddies!  They were all thrilled when he walked in the door… he got some huge hugs and the joy on his face was priceless.

Saturday evening, our baby-sitter came to care for the nuggets, and Brian and I went on a DATE NIGHT!!!!  If you read my Five On Friday post, you probably saw that he and I had our twelve year dating anniversary on Friday, so it was nice to get out sans kids and celebrate.  

First up, we cranked up the Fly station (channel 47) on satellite radio for the car ride to the restaurant.  Have y'all checked this out yet??  They play hip hop and R&B from the 90’s and 00’s.  If you don’t know, and you’re in your late 20’s to early 30’s, you must check it out.  It will bring back memories from high school and junior high (and maybe earlier than that).  Best station ever.  Just make sure you don’t have your kids in the car.  ;o)

Anyway, we cranked it up and sang along with Ja Rule, DMX, and Coolio all the way to the restaurant.  Our restaurant of choice?  A new local Italian Steakhouse that just opened in our downtown area.  Our friends have been raving about it, and now we totally understand why.

It’s in an old building from the 1800’s in our downtown area, so it has high ceilings and exposed brick.  The ambiance is perfect for a date night and it gives off a very hip vibe.  Great music hummed in the background – Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, and John Mayer – to set the mood.  Brian and I both ordered their center cut angus filet topped with fried garlic in an herbed butter sauce, served with mashed potatoes and grilled broccolini garnished with a lemon wedge.  I paired mine with a Cabernet and Brian paired his with a beer.   

You guys, everything was completely out of this world.  I’ve had a lot of good filets during all of our travels over the years, but none of them even compare to the one that I had Saturday night.  It was divine.  And I ate every single savory bite.  Who knew that the best filet in the country exists right in our home town? 

The best part of dinner?  Having an hour and a half of uninterrupted conversation with my favorite person in the world.  Priceless. 

After dinner we had some time to kill before our movie, so we walked around hand in hand downtown.  We stopped by a craft beer market that we’ve been meaning to check out for quite some time, and we picked up a couple of things – some Not Your Father’s Root Beer that we’ve heard is amazing, and some Kentucky Pumpkin Barrel Ale for me, because, fall, duh.  Oh, and because,10% alcohol.

It started to rain, so we cut our walk short and headed back to the car.  We stopped by a gas station to load up on candy for the movies – a Kit Kat and Airheads Taffy for me, and some Peanut M&M’s for B – and then we headed to see Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.  It was really good – action packed and never a dull moment!  

Sunday morning we brought the kiddos into our bed and snuggled for a while before getting up… I think they missed us!   

After breakfast, I did it… I busted out the Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin candle and pulled out the fall décor boxes!!!!  Our whole house is now filled with pumpkins, and fall leaves, and everything cinnamon scented.  It looks and smells wonderful!

This is our mantle before I decorated... I'll be sharing the "after" soon!

For lunch, we took the kids to Panera, and then we went to a Dinosaur Exhibit that was here in town for the weekend.  Jacob was in heaven… he kept saying, “I’m going to love this, I’m going to love this,” over and over on the way there.  It was so sweet!  And he did love it. 

After that, it was naps for the babies, and I was left alone in my office to organize pictures with Michael Buble and Steve Tyrell, and a Pumpkin Cheesecake candle burning in the background.   

Have I mentioned that I loved every second of this weekend?! 

We topped off the weekend with dinner at my parents’ house – a home cooked meal, a bottle of wine, and good music with my favorite people. 

I feel so relaxed. 

And now Thursday night is the first game of college football… we don’t even care who’s playing… we’ll be cracking open a cold one (pumpkin for me!) and watching anyway!  Cheers to the work week!

And since I finally found someone who has a weekend link-up, I'm linking up with B Loved Boston for Weekending.