New Years Weekend

We are into the New Year and I am very excited for what 2017 has in store for us. We had a pretty good weekend. We are easing back into the blogging schedule, work and the massive snow storms that are to come (every day all week).

Let's get right into my weekend.

Friday we worked all day (holiday weeks mean no half day Fridays), hit up the grocery store, took down our Christmas tree, baked cupcakes, made dinner and prepped the house for the girls' party in the morning.

Saturday morning, I made spicy meatballs in the crockpot, ran to Whole Foods to pick up a few last minute items for the girls party, finished cleaning and prepping for the party. We decided to have a few people over for to celebrate the girls birthday. We had a couple friends and some family over. It was perfect. Small and easy to manage. Plus I was able to enjoy the entire party and not cook and clean the whole time.

We had a brunch at 11 am. I decorated minimally. And I made a few dishes (and had family bring a few things).

Birthday Menu:

Spicy Meatballs
Rolls
Meat and Cheese Tray
Fruit and Fruit Dip
Pastries from a Local Bakery
Chips and Dip
Quiche
Cupcakes
Mimosas
Orange Juice
Sparkling Cider
Water

And the bad blogger in me didn't get a ton of photos. We do have some on my nice camera, but none of the set up really. I was too busy enjoying the party and I don't regret that at all. But I did manage to snap some photos...

 The girls really loved opening presents this year

 Funfetti cupcakes with vanilla frosting

 Sutton is obsessed with her ball pit

And a few snaps of the decor that I got.

 There were way more cupcakes, but I snapped this late in the game.

 All decor is from Hobby Lobby

The girls didn't take a nap until 2 pm when everyone left. They normally nap at noon. They slept for an hour and a half and I cleaned up the house during this time. I also put together their toddler table which they LOVE.

We played, ate dinner and put the girls to bed. Then Rory went out and grabbed a pizza since I had no desire to cook. We capped off our evening with some wine and the movie Blackhat.

Sunday morning we went out to breakfast to one of our favorite spots. The waitresses know the girls so well since we have been coming there since the girls were in the NICU. They came over and sang Happy Birthday to them and added a little extra to their french toast.

Sunday afternoon we finally got the girls to ride on their rocking horses. They have been afraid of them since they got them on Christmas Eve, but they finally rode them and loved them.

Sunday evening, we had our first date night of 2017. We haven't had a date night in a long time. Either we go out with friends or not at all lately. So it was nice to have a date night. We started off at Roxy's for martinis. I had a Reno 75 which has pear vodka, champagne, rock candy syrup and lemon juice. Rory had a dirty martini with onions. It felt so good to have adult conversation and catch up with my husband.

After drinks, we headed to La Strada for some Italian food. We had the calamari and then I had their signature mushroom raviolis. Rory had the mushroom risotto which was out of this world. We had a bottle of wine and capped it off with pistachio gelato and fresh berries. Everything was sooooo good.

While waiting for our Uber, we ran outside to take a photo in front of the Reno arch since we NEVER go downtown anymore.

It was the perfect date night to start off 2017.

Monday was an off day for us. The girls woke up at 6 am and were going full force until 10 am when they took a nap. I don't remember the last time they napped at 10 am. They napped for two hours and then were up for a long time which meant cranky toddlers. Plus it was too cold to go outside since it was windy and snowing all day long. Total cabin fever.

We watched a bunch of bowl games, sat by the fire and played with all their new toys. They were exhausted by 4 pm, but they managed to stay awake until 6:30.

I made dinner from my Cravings cookbook and it was amazing. It was the first recipe I made out of the cookbook since I got it when my kitchen was being renovated. If this dish is anything like her others, I am going to be hooked and make them all. I made Vegetable Tortilla Stew and it was so good. Hearty, but healthy.

We capped the evening off with the Bachelor. I watched the whole thing because I didn't want any spoilers. And the girl in the shark costume....wow just wow. I can't wait to watch next weeks. Did you watch the Bachelor?

And that was our weekend. How was your weekend?