Friday in a nutshell

Last official day of my break before classes and orientations start up... what better way to spend it than shoving food in my face?

First things first -- healthy type things:

♡ Jog with the pooch

♡ Dutch Country Farmer's Market

♡ Awesome catch up with Mama Willi (wish we didn't live so far away)

Then it was on to dinner with Miss M. I've been raving about our neighborhood sushi place, Yuraku, and was really excited we finally found time to go. We got to dinner pretty early, but that definitely worked in our favor because there was a line out the door by the time we left.

Early birds need to unwind a little...

Onto the good stuff!

This little beauty isn't even on the menu: "salmon nachos" — (from the top down) avocado, sashimi salmon, thin apple slice, spicy tuna, tempura rice, honey, nori. It is insanely delicious!

7 color rainbow roll - 5 different fish, crab, and octopus(!) in soybean paper.

Titanic roll - tempura lobster with avocado, crab and cucumber.

Kanikama - crab stick (mmm)

Deeelicious!

Maybe not the most "logical" choice for dessert, but certainly the most obvious if you're dealing with me. Helllllo, Yogi Castle!

The already lovely evening was topped off with a trip to Sugarloaf cellars and 7/11 for some goodies before some much-needed Arrested Development viewing. Thank you, Netflix!

Looove Fridays!

*PS - Blogger's worst nightmare: my beloved camera has died. Currently using Amwilli's until I find a replacement. Please excuse the 1970s quality of my photos in the meantime :)

Saturday in a nutshell

Fact: life is busy.

But every once in a while the stars align, schedules mesh and wonderful little get-togethers are born. This was the case Saturday!

Preparations began early, and after running around like a chicken with its head cut off all morning, I got a nice stop-and-smell-the-roses moment courtesy of Amwilli:

Now onto the menu. Of course the entrée is always easy—carryout (cue Timbaland and JT)— but dessert requires a little thought. I went with Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars from the lovely folks over at Southern Living.

1 cup flour

⅓ cup packed light brown sugar

4 tbsp butter

Mix until dry ingredients are well coated and in crumbles.

Spread into 13 x 9 inch pan, bake til golden brown.

24 oz cream cheese

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

⅓ cup sour cream

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Mix til fluffy and delicious.

Spread over the crust, bake til it sets.

Still testing the theory of not actually needing egg yolks— so far, they're completely unnecessary. Nice!

Melt some chocolate, swirl it over the finished bars et voila:

Not as pretty as the picture in the recipe, but tasty, light and airy. Fantastic Summertime treat!

Onto the most important part of the evening: before...

and after...

Why yes, that is a large batch of Mon's beer margaritas on the counter ☺

Highlights: After stuffed bellies and probably THE most competitive two rounds of Taboo the world has ever seen, the Teeb decided to start wooing Joe.

This little munchkin was showing off allllll night! Thank goodness she's not a devil dog.

Highest Light Food, Friends, Funnnnn... I ADORE YOU CRAZIES ♡

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Lowlights: Being shunned by Mathew because I *may or may not* have thrown a pen and stained his shirt during the aforementioned Taboo incident.

This face. Smile next time!

Lowest Light: Forgetting a bottle of wine in the freezer, which subsequently cracked and slushified. Perhaps a sign to finally get one of these babies.

Us by the end of the night. Hosting is hard work.

Siiiike. Way too much fun. Come over more often!

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Saturday in a nut crabshell

Saturday was one of those days that started out great, but ended up that much better. Being a full-time everything right now isn't really conducive to those days, so when they come around I just sit back, let the goodness roll and try to soak it all in.

It all started with a trip to the mailbox on the way home from Friday night activities. I adore surprises, and Mr. Willi is really outdoing himself lately (see Date Night).

US Open, here we come!

Breakfast: Way to a man's heart/way to say thank you for being awesome— is definitely through his stomach.

Who knew bread, egg whites, vanilla and cinnamon could be so ridiculously tasty together?

Can't forget the bacon— thick cut, applewood. We don't play.

What a delicious way to start the day.

After breakfast Amwilli was off to the races (aka a little league tourney), and a little while later I was off to spend the evening with Amy, Minta and several unfortunate crustaceans.

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Nothing says Summer in the DC area like fresh steamed crabs; the stuffed-to-the-gills paper bag with pooled steam bubbles and one liiiitle claw sticking out just builds the anticipation for the feast yet to come.

But first, the essentials: Newspaper ☑

Awesome side dishes? ☑☑

Refreshments? ☑☑☑

Time to feast!

They didn't stand a chance.

All that was left. Sorry little dude.

Highlights: EVERYTHING

Highest Light: Fantastic nights with best friends make my heart sing. Now, let's make this Miami trip happen! ♡♡♡

Lowlights: see above.

I hope everyone is having a fabulous Fourth of July weekend!

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Saturday in a nutshell

Saturday was a fantastic day full of food, friends and fun. Here's the rundown—

Food: lunch courtesy of Lola Café and Bakery in Rockville. Argentinian empanadas and quiche. The empanada shell is unreal and the quiche is quite decadent— good thing they're on the small side!

Next up, Barefoot Contessa red velvets. Normally I'm not into prepackaged baked goods, but this was a lovely gift, and I wanted to take some goodies to the ladies. I ended up tossing the frosting mix that was included and making my own just to feel a little better. In any case, if you're looking for a quick red velvet fix, this is definitely the way to go!

Friends & Fun: Miss Mac was in town for the weekend so we headed to J & J's for a much-needed get-together. The girls stayed in and the boys went out on the town... oh my, how girl talk has evolved from when we were 14-year-olds!

Quotes of the night, in no particular order, and without any context (to maintain a little mystery, of course):

"We can talk about the boys, or talk about babies." "Is that what our lives have become?" "How sad."

"Wow, that's a large amount of hair down there!"

"She's the mother of my children, the flowering garden of my... gardens."

And in honor of my favorite quote of the night, which (sadly) I cannot post due to it's graphic content...

Highlight: We named it "Sunshine."

Highest Light: Seeing the loves of my life!

Lowlight (deliciously low, but low nonetheless):

Lowest Light: ALL the cupcake tops I ate when I got home. Yeah, that's right—TOPS only. I was like a frosting junkie. I blame the André!

I L♡VE seeing you girls! More pleeease.

xoxo