cupcakes | Racing Bananas

Happy Monday all!

I have to say, this weekend was pretty great! I got to spend quality time with friends, ate well, and actually made some progress on the packing front! Before I jump into my weekend, I just wanted to give you a heads up about the blog. You may have noticed that I did not post on Friday. I felt super guilty about it at first, but realized I didn’t want to write a post if I didn’t have the time to really put it together thoughtfully. Since my personal life and work schedule are just short of ridiculous over the next two weeks, I may not post regularly every day. This is partly to maintain my sanity, as well as to make sure I’m only writing about things I’m passionate about. I just didn’t want you guys to think I forgot about you! Once the big move is over, we’ll be back to daily posts!

On to the weekend…

This weekend was jam-packed busy, which is fairly unusual for me. On Friday, I worked for a few hours before meeting my co-workers at Sushi Morimoto for a farewell lunch. One of my colleagues is leaving for a new opportunity and it’s tradition for our staff to get together for a goodbye lunch. Since I already ate sushi twice last week from TJ’s, I opted for the hanger steak with Asian BBQ sauce, with a salad covered in ginger dressing. No pics, but it was AMAZING! After lunch, we stopped at GiGi’s Cupcakes – I got a Candy Bar cupcake. It was incredibly decadent and worth the splurge!

Friday night I headed over to Heidi’s to catch up a bit and watch the Grey’s Anatomy season finale. Anyone watch? It started off slow, but the ending was definitely a SHOCK (get it?! hehe). We also may have shared a bottle of wine. Que sera, sera!

On Saturday, Charlie woke me up bright and early. After laying on the couch because I was feeling a tad under the weather, I made some breakfast, showered, and headed over to see EG. She turned 5 this week! When I last saw her, she told me she wanted balloons, a Polly Pocket, and a slinkie for her bday. I got it all for her and she was thrilled! We had a great day playing at the park and snuggling.

As a side note, has anyone seen Polly Pockets lately? They’re huge – totally not pocket sized anymore!!

After watching EG, I raced home to clean, walk Charlie, and eat dinner because one of my closest friends from high school, Ashley, was staying the night. Ashley just got her dream job and will be to a different state, so we wanted to see each other before she left. It was just like old times – we snacked on some crab ragoon and watched season 5 of Friends – aka the BEST season of Friends!

friends “They don’t know that we know that they know we know!!!!”
“The messers become the mesees!”
Anyone know what I’m talking about? Best episode!

Sunday ended up being super productive! After Ashley left, Charlie and I went for a long walk around the neighborhood and then I got to work! I ended up packing almost all of the upstairs – this means that I really only have the kitchen and living room to pack. I’m feeling pretty good about my progress, though emotionally I’m a bit of a wreck and tear up A LOT every time I think about it. I’m sure it will get easier.

After packing, I pulled out the gift Jessi got me for Christmas. It’s called “Sandy Paws” and it was a kit that helped me make a plaster print of Charlie’s paw. It took a little finesse, since I’m not super crafty, but I think it turned out well. It will be nice to keep a piece of him once he’s gone.

Pretty cool, huh? I’m still working on getting all of the sand off.

Saturday afternoon, Charlie and I hung out on the patio, basking in the sun. I started reading a new book, Falling Into You, today since I finished Silver Linings Playbook yesterday (which I LOVED!). We were out there until it randomly began storming. We then moved into the sunroom and listened to the rain. It was great.

This is a young adult book, but I’m hooked.

For dinner, I met Heidi at HyVee. Do you guys have HyVee (it’s a grocery store chain)? They just built one on the west side of Madison and it is amazing. We got dinner – Mongolian Beef – at the Chinese buffet then did some shopping. I found this awesome carving of Bucky Badger in cheddar cheese (ONLY IN WISCONSIN!) and was thrilled to find they have an extensive bulk food section. Score!

Go Bucky!

Mmmm, quinoa, oats, granola, and more!

Other than that, Charlie and I spent Sunday night snuggling and watching some TV. I caught up on Scandal and the finale of the Office (haven’t watched the Office in years, but it was a great ending). It felt really good to have a busy weekend in Madison, not rushing to drive back from Milwaukee. Slowly but surely, I’m beginning to feel excited about being in Madison again. I went through a tough time here, but things are beginning to settle down and I’m feeling like this is home.

Your Turn!

Did you catch up on TV this weekend? See Scandal or The Office? What did you think?
Read any news book lately? Or have you read Silver Linings Playbook?
Favorite Friends episode?

Happy Monday all! And it is a very happy Monday indeed. I’m going to be completely honest – I had an awesome weekend. It was a combination of the weather, walking my butt off (about 20 miles!), eating healthy, and the company.

This weekend was exactly what I needed.

I feel really refreshed and excited for the summer. I’m also feeling good about myself, which is a really good thing to feel.

So without further ado…here’s my weekend, mostly in pictures!

Friday

Friday was great. I went on FOUR walks – three with Charlie and one over my lunch break with a co-worker. It felt good to get out and move and not be chained to my desk or the couch all day.

He’s not thrilled I interrupted his walk for a picture!

Friday night I decided I was in a baking mood. So I made s’more cupcakes. Graham cracker crust, chocolate cake, with marshmallow filling and topped with s’more frosting and graham cracker crumbles. OMG. Yum. I would include the recipe, but it’s from a box. Still good!

Seriously, how good do these look?

Saturday

Saturday was beautiful. I started the day by making birdseed (aka homemade granola…recipe tomorrow!).

Charlie and I spent A LOT of time outside. I didn’t realize until mid-afternoon that I was wearing all orange. Whoops!

I also made ice cream this weekend! I’ll include the recipe because it’s incredibly easy. I took 1.5 frozen bananas and put them in my Vitamix. Then I blended until the mixture turned into an ice cream consistency. Then I topped with chocolate chips and a teaspoon of peanut butter. OMG. New favorite dessert – I’m going to start keeping a ridiculous amount of frozen bananas in my freezer! (I adapted from this recipe on Two Peas and their Pod).

I spent Saturday night with EG. After dinner, she jumped the wagon and I pulled her ALL around the neighborhood. We made a pit stop at the park and had fun running around the playground. No lie, I was completely physically exhausted by the time I left. Wagon pulling and playground playing is a pretty good workout! My arms were definitely feeling it on Sunday!

Sunday

Sunday was absolutely beautiful! 70s and sunshine – it was pure bliss. I started the day by taking Charlie to the dog park (the Prairie Moraine Dog Park in Verona, if you’re curious) for the first time this year. As you can see, I went a little camera happy (this is just a handful of the pics I took…). Charlie and I walked about two miles. Halfway through our walk, we came across a tennis ball and Charlie went nuts! We played fetch for a bit and I swear, I haven’t seen him run so fast and so far in ages! It was great.

Isn’t this last picture great? I swear he’s smiling!

After we got home, I made a quick lunch and then “set-up” my patio. Pathetic, right?!

I was planning on a quiet afternoon reading when Heidi called and asked if I wanted to go the terrace and grab a beer. Yes, please! We spent some time catching up at the terrace and then went for a walk. First we walked ALL the way up Bascom Hill (if you didn’t go to UW, Bascom is a RIDICULOUSLY huge hill in the middle of campus). After making it to the top and realizing it maybe wasn’t as bad as we remembered it to be (ha!), we headed down to the Lakeshore path. As you can see, it was a gorgeous day!

I got home, took Charlie for another walk, and made myself dinner. I had to take a picture because it tasted as good as it looks! Whole wheat pasta, with steamed butternut squash and goat cheese. It was fabulous.