weekend recap

this weekend my baby girl went to stay with her grandparents

(it's safe to say i needed the break!)

 

 

and my baby sister celebrated her 24th birthday!

 

 

i knew we'd want the weekend to ourselves

 (and that my sister would have her own plans)

so last week we had the whole gang over for an early birthday celebration

we had an easy dinner of steaks, pasta, and garlic bread

and for dessert i made these cupcakes 

they were so easy and a nice change of pace

i used my Gramma's cream cheese frosting recipe

(which is standard cream cheese frosting but with a bit of orange zest)

i wanted to get the adorable pumpkins like Muffy used but not badly enough to drive across town with an overtired toddler...i think the sprinkles are cute enough and, as an added bonus, i've been putting them on SG's morning yogurt along with her chia seeds and blueberries.

 

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on saturday i took advantage of a rare child-free afternoon and ran a few quick errands

while i was gone, CJ took a trip to Home Depot and surprised me with his fall decorating skills

i can't wait to get more pumpkins and carve them with SG

 

 

we subscribe to San Diego Magazine so when we can,

 we like to check out their featured restaurants.

 since we had the time, we took a drive up to Encinitas to try Fish 101

 

 

Fish 101

 

we split; clam chowder, a dozen oysters, the grilled shrimp taco plate, steamed mussels,

 and a side of bacon & brussels. CJ tried a few IPAs and i had a glass of the verdemar albarino.

this is CJ's favorite kind of restaurant: you order at the front and seat yourself, the food was good but completely unpretentious, and the service was quick & efficient. we sat on the back patio and when it started drizzling we just opened up the big ole red umbrella and barely missed a beat. i wish this place was in my neighborhood. on our way home we stopped by Bardot for an ice cream bar

 

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Rancho Santa Fe Farmers Market

 

sunday morning we made our way up to the farmers market

it was a rainy day so i was so tempted to stay in bed all day

but after months of miserable heat, i was glad to get out and about and enjoy the day

 

 

i think the rain kept some of my favorite vendors away but we still scored some great stuff!

lots of fresh produce, mexican chocolate almonds, fresh kombucha, coffee, pastries, and i ordered a sweet dress for SG. afterwards, we headed over to del mar for a quick lunch by the water before driving back down to the real world.

 

when we got home it was still cold and rainy so i decided to whip up a quick soup, with some of our fresh produce finds, while CJ gave SG a bath and got her settled back in to her routine

 

Skinnytaste kale and potato soup with turkey sausage

 

my mother-in-law makes this soup and her recipe calls for a little splash of cream at the end but we're all feeling a little bloated and blah so i made the skinnytaste version, which isn't as flavorful.

but i'd give anything for a video of SG eating this soup. just imagine her slurping big ole spoonfuls, then licking her lips and making that "ahh" sound that people sometimes make after they take a drink of something. i mean, where does she learn this stuff? that girl cracks me up

 

i appreciate these child-free weekends so much

but i'm always so happy to have my sweet girl back home

and to have our little family back underneath the same roof