Thank goodness it was Friday!

 

What a great day! I spent the afternoon with some lovely ladies and it was so much fun. It was a little mama/baby meet up, and we enjoyed lunch, lots of girltalk, and topped our day off with sweets and cupcakes. Perfect.  My friend Natalie is due so soon, so it was great to be able to see her adorable and pregnant. We did lunch at Joe's Farm Grill out in Gilbert and I can't say enough good things about this place. It's a really interesting restaurant. It's surrounded by farmland, and they use local, fresh food that's in season whenever possible. You can learn more about the Agritopia project and the Grill by clicking here, and I definitely recommend doing so- I was fascinated to find out the concept of this whole area. Super neat. And back to the food, last time I was there I had the grilled chicken sandwich and sweet potato fries, and today I had the hamburger and salad- it was delicious! I really, really need to remember to bring my Nikon when I go places and actually take a few minutes to snap some good photos- I'm starting to get annoyed with myself so I am not going to make that mistake again! But anyway, after lunch we walked over to The Coffee Shop to enjoy some sweet treats (my pal Chelsea actually blogged about it yesterday if you'd like to hear more about it). Natalie and I split a birthday cake cupcake (so good). It was really just the best day- it's refreshing to be around a group of mothers who are super like-minded. I'm not religious by any means and most of the Mom's groups I've encountered are more religion-based, meeting via church, etc...which is absolutely not for me. I have a few friends who are in Moms groups like that, and like I always say- to each their own, but that kind of thing just isn't up my alley whatsoever. With that said, I'm looking forward to hanging out again soon with these wonderful gals!

After lunch I hurried home to Prescott so I could get ready for our date night, and was greeted by a mysterious package at the front door. Upon further investigation I saw it was from one of our dearest friends Alex, and it then hit me why he asked me the other night while we were texting, "do you like presents?" haha. Oh, Alex. When Hank got home we opened it, and inside was an amazing amount of sweets from his bakery in San Francisco, Miette! OH LORD was everything good. And yes, don't worry, I sampled one of everything.

So, after getting super full on sweets, we dropped Henry off at Hank's Mom's and went over to Wild Iris for tea and (more) sweets. I indulged a bit too much (okay a lot too much) today and let's just say I'm already looking forward to a long walk tomorrow with Henry. Yikes. But anyway, it was so much fun. We spent two hours just drinking our coconut tea, splitting a slice of citrus cheesecake, and talking about everything and anything. I feel so lucky to be married to my best friend, and I love that we can sit and talk for hours and hours. While there I also ran into two old students which is always wonderful too- they were pretty much the cutest things ever and it warmed my heart to see them doing well. All in all it's been a really great night.

Tomorrow morning Henry and I are heading downtown to enjoy breakfast with my sister-in-law before she moves to Portland for a month for floral school. How neat is that?! I'm excited for her and I know she is going to have the best time. So tomorrow is a bit of a farewell breakfast before she heads to the airport. Afterward you can find Henry and I walking around town, trying to work off some of the sugar I consumed today. ;)

Here are some photos, taken with my point and shoot Canon and my phone.

present from Alex, thank you again sweet friend! Love you tons.

sunset from our front yard this evening

coconut tea, seriously AMAZING! Adie introduced it to Hank, who introduced it to me...and I can't wait to drink it a lot more often. Love it.

the citrus cheesecake. Yup.

I hope you all have a fantastic Saturday! Until next time, xoxo!

Wednesday/Thursday

 

I feel like I'm finishing up a great weekend, but no! It's only Thursday, and I'm loving it. One thing I am really, really grateful for is the freedom being a stay at home mama gives me. I'm able to kind of do as a please, and come down to Phoenix to see friends and family whenever I want. It's the best. And speaking of, this week something incredibly exciting happened for my darling Sarah...she got engaged! I am just beyond happy for her and Andy. Sarah has been one of my closest friends for a long, long time now, and we have one of those relationships that has grown and changed so much over time, and luckily, through all of it we are still here, together. It's amazing to see her so happy, and their wedding is going to be one for the books! So of course I had to come down and celebrate, and that's exactly what we did! We ended up going to Pita Jungle for dinner and spent a couple of hours talking and talking as usual. We talked wedding plans, engagement stories, future hopes and dreams...there were happy tears and it was just an all around amazing night. We got so wrapped up in conversation (and the good food!) that I forgot to snap photos of us, but I did manage one of our delicious dinner. Sar got the Macro platter (one of my all-time favorite dishes) and I got the Mediterranean salad. Now comes all the fun wedding planning, and I am so excited to be a part of it. Between my sister, Shirley, and now Sarah, my bridesmaid's card is full for 2011! So no one else go and get hitched! ;)

and here's a photo of the future Mr. and Mrs. Leubner just because I love them! Aren't they a gorgeous couple? Their babies are going to be beautiful.

Then this morning Henry and I woke up and headed over to the Phoenix Children's Museum to meet our sweet friends Anita and Natalie and their little ones, Lola Birdie and Victor. I'd driven by the museum before and had always been curious about what was inside...and now I know!  I absolutely loved it and can't wait to go again, hopefully when Hank can make it because I know he'd love it too. There were so many different rooms, things to climb on, interactive tools, art everywhere, both to admire and create...in one word: awesome! It's a total kid's paradise and I can only imagine how much Henry will love it when he's a bit bigger. Even now though, at 3 months he was perfectly content to walk around and take it all in with wide, wide eyes. It was adorable. It was also great to have some good chats with Natalie and Anita, and I foresee more fun playdates in our future. Love it.

Here are some photos from our morning:

 

Super Bowl Sunday, on a Monday

When we bought this house in the fall, one of the first things Hank said was how excited he was to finally be able to have a proper Super Bowl party. Although we've watched it every year, we've always lived in old, historic homes that were too small for any large gathering. So, this year was the first of many Super Bowl parties and it was a great time! I absolutely love having people over, throwing parties, and just having our friends all in one place. Nothing's better, and I was so happy all day to be surrounded by so many people I adore. And to top it off, it was a great game and the team our house was rooting for won. Awesome!  Here are some photos from the day:





 Adie and me...and a fork.
Adie and Addison's avocado pie. I was scared to try it because Erin compared it to an avocado/key lime taste (weird right?!)...but it was incredibly delicious. Pleasantly surprised.


Mike and Tom...and Tom's hat. ;)


Addison: "magic"


Adie and Marilyn reading


The Sandbergs came! I was so happy to hear Lisa's voice as I was in the other room feeding Henry. "Is there going to be ANYONE over 30 here?!"


JP and Addison


little family picture- Henry is huge!


 Silvia (with baby James in her belly), Marilyn, Adie and me


Henry sleeping on his Aunt Brooke


Brookie, H., and me. Thanks flash for making me look like a ghost.




We brought the couch from the front living room into the family room...awesome idea.

Wonderful weekend

I had such a great, great weekend that was jam-packed with plans, people, and fun.  Saturday I had a sweet girl date with my friend Anita and had the best time.  We left both of our babies at home with their grandparents, and it was basically the first time I'd really done that. It was nerve-wracking but also fun to be able to go do something on my own outside of a quick run to the gym or the store. It was a great night- so much girl talk, so much good food...and cupcakes too!  We ate at Joe's Farm Grill- I got a chicken sandwich and fries, delicious- and followed it up with sweets from the bakery next door. I adore Anita and it was immeasurably fun to actually spend time with her. I can't wait to do it again!

When I got home Henry and I fell asleep around 8:30pm and slept the night away. He woke up once but for the most part sleep really well and I felt great on Sunday morning. I had a full day planned today so I was really grateful he didn't pick last night to end his amazing sleeping streak. We're at my parents, so I thought it could happen being in a different environment, but nope! Thank you sweet Henry! So we got up this morning, got ready, and I headed over to Shirley and Nate's for a girl's/bridesmaids brunch, followed by shopping. My parents graciously agreed to watch H. so of course I was excited to go spend the afternoon with my ladies. These girls are some of my oldest and dearest friends, and it's always always a good time, filled with laughter and silliness.

So we brunched and chatted for awhile, and then we all headed to Chandler Mall to check out some of the shops in the hopes of finding black bridesmaids dresses. The last time I went to the mall with five other girls I think I was 16, so I had to stop and kind of smile to myself as I watched all of us walk into Nordstrom together. So funny. We walked around and visited different stores (hello J. Crew, I adore you and so wish we had one closer), and then Emily suggested we look in White House Black Market.  Lo and behold, we found the dress!  It's the perfect black dress- it has a classic, vintage look to it and we will absolutely we able to wear it again. Pretty awesome as far as a dress goes, and really, really awesome that we get to wear it as a bridesmaids dress. We all purchased it right then and there and it's nice to have this detail out of the way. Now, onto finding Shirley's dress!

So yes, the afternoon was really lovely. I've said it before and I say it again- I feel incredibly lucky to have so many wonderful, positive girlfriends in my life. My heart is incredibly happy today, from my dinner with Anita to today's festivities. I'm looking forward to all that is to come in the next few months, and especially for my sister's wedding, which is on March 12th- so soon! Her bachelorette party is next weekend too, and although I am forgoing the barhopping, I am joining the ladies for dinner. I can't wait. It's funny because while I was pregnant we laid so low- even this blog reflected that. Lots of quiet weekends at home, not much hanging out...but now I feel like we're back into the swing of things and I'm having just so much fun. I think Henry has been enjoying meeting so many people too, and I love that he is such an easy baby in terms of traveling and being in new environments. He never ceases to amaze me, that boy.

I need to get to sleep now in sweet anticipation of going home to Hank tomorrow (he had class all day Saturday) but I'll leave you with some photos from the weekend. Happy, happy Monday and have a wonderful start to your week!

in my sister's old bedroom, getting ready to head out to dinner- don't know why this photo is so red-tinted!

Anita and me

birthday cake cupcake. This was so.good.

Anita!

Sunday morning, getting ready for brunch

H for my Henrys :)

the bride-to-be/hostess with the mostess. Love Shirley so, so much.

Shirl's sister Erica and Autumn!

yummy apple spice muffins Emily made...I wish I had one right now.

quiche, fruit salad, muffins, mimosas, and coffee.

Em and me- and Maxon in her belly! Cutest pregnant gal ever.

the bride and her bridesmaids, minus two!

the dress