:: weekend things ::

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine’s weekend!

other than the freezing cold and snow, it couldn’t have been more perfect.

we had so many flowers in the house, thanks to my sweet husband, and I can’t wait to stare at them and smell them all week!

I saw my hair girl and gossiped about Bravo and got my highlights back in order.
always an important day.

Saturday I kicked off the day at Pure Barre with one of my girlfriends.

I thoroughly liked it. Luckily there was a girl in front of me that was a tiny little thing and a pure barre pro so I could stare at her to figure out what to do ~~(and also stare at her as motivation. two birds one stone.)~~ but that part above, where we had our backs against the wall and push against the bar really hard with your hands…… I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing it.
the rest of it was great though and the backs of my thighs are killing me.
i’m actually debating getting a class package…. but you know my feelings on leaving the house to work out soooooo not so sure about that.

then we went to brunch with kips parents at one of our favorite spots, Summerhouse.
I love this place so much. And how bright and sunny it is in there is truly the greatest joy when living in the frozen tundra hell that is wintertime in Chicago.

For dinner, I always recommend the calamari to start and the enchiladas for dinner.
This was my first time having brunch there, and I went with the lemon cottage cheese pancakes, which sound so strange but were SO DAMN GOOD. some of the best pancakes ever.

their cookies are to die for always. the sea salt chocolate chip did not disappoint.

we decided to make dinner for valentine’s day this year.

I kicked it off with Ina Garten’s Caramelized Bacon to start.

for dinner, we decided to try to make one of our favorite meals, chicken pad thai.

it was an easy recipe and we really, really loved it.

for dessert, I wanted to recreate kip’s grooms cake from our wedding.

I made an insanely delicious cake and I’ll share the recipe tomorrow : chocolate cake with mocha frosting. kip said it was the best chocolate cake he’d ever had, and it definitely was for me too. the cake recipe will be my new gold standard.

recipes to come tomorrow for crack of the week!

sunday was filled with TV, food, heat and blankets, and more TV.
i’m writing this before watching SNL 40 and The Bachelor, but you can assume I loved them.

Comments

Courtney @ Courtney Living says: February 16, 2015 at 1:40 pm

That cake looks so good! I can't wait to hear your thoughts on The Bachelor, they always make me laugh!
My Life as A Plate says: February 16, 2015 at 3:03 pm

Looks like a great weekend, your V-day dinners looks incredible. If you liked Pure Barre, but don't want to leave the house, you should check out the Pure Barre videos.
BLovedBoston says: February 16, 2015 at 4:13 pm

What an amazing weekend and way to go with that cake!!! Love how blonde your hair is!! xo, Biana – BlovedBoston
Pink Flamingo Style says: February 16, 2015 at 7:34 pm

That is hilarious about not knowing what to do when your sitting on the ground at Pure Barre. I used to go like 4-5 times a week and I swear I never figured it out. I just assumed you really need to have a 6 pack to feel any type of workout when they have you down there doing that. I personally just used that as a time to kinda take a break from exercising. WHOOPSIES!!
KatiePerk says: February 16, 2015 at 8:30 pm

Your hair looks gorgeous!! SO does that cake.
Ali says: February 17, 2015 at 4:35 pm

Sounds like an awesome weekend! My first Pure Barre class was… less than stellar and actually made me feel worse about myself because everyone was tiny and a pro and of course all I could see in the mirror was that cartoon hippo in the ballerina getup a la vintage Disney. And thanks a lot now I want bacon.