4th of July weekend
Hi friends! Happy Monday! I hope you had a safe, fun and festive 4th, considering the circumstances. I thought I’d pop in and share a little recap from our adventures.
(Friday has been sourdough day lately)
Friday morning, our babysitter came by for a couple of hours so I could get caught up on some work stuff. I mentioned before that while I love having the girls home all the time, juggling work has been a bit of a challenge, especially since the Pilot is gone so often. Our wonderful babysitter from the past year moved to Phoenix during all of this and camps aren’t running this year. We needed to figure out another option, and I felt comfortable asking for some help a couple of times a week from a good family friend (who’s actually related to us in an extended way). The girls adore her and it’s been a huge help to have a block of time to get work stuff done. If we need to, we’ll continue this in the fall if the girls aren’t back at physical school, or if we decide to homeschool.
After work stuff, the girls and I picked up groceries (I hope that the curbside pickup situation lasts forever), came home and made the Pilot’s favorite dump cake to surprise him when he came home.
While it was in the oven, we tie dyed a bunch of dish towels! I thought it would be fun to give some to my mom, stepmom, nana, and MIL.
Lunch was an open-faced turkey sandwich on sourdough with mayo, lettuce, tomato and a little sea salt on top.
The girls played downstairs while I caught a quick BODYCOMBAT workout, and then we got ready to head to the pool. We often meet up with a couple of friends since it’s an easy spot to social distance but we can still chat and hang out a bit.
My favorite salad in the world:
It’s greens, blueberries, grapefruit, mandarin oranges, raspberries, candied pecans, blackened salmon, and poppyseed dressing. I could eat it every single day.
The girls played and splashed for a couple of hours and we brought them home for bedtime and Hamilton!!! I’m totally outing myself as a giant nerd, but I’d been looking forward to this for a couple of months. (The calendar is blank squares, so anything to look forward to is a huge win right now.) It did not disappoint. We had the opportunity to see it live in Chicago a couple of years ago, but it was such an incredible treat to see the original cast perform. I had a question for my fellow Hamilton fans out there: how do you interpret Eliza’s gasp at the end of the show? I have my own theory – I’ll leave it in the comments so I don’t put any spoilers into this post- but I would love to hear your thoughts.
For the 4th, we all slept in, and made pancakes for breakfast. The Pilot and I worked on our bedroom for a couple of hours – we messed up some of the paint and had to add another coat lol – and the girls and I made a flag cake for America’s birthday.
(The cake recipe is here and buttercream is here.)
I also made the best pasta salad!! I used some vegan feta for this one and it was amazing (the Violife brand). With our suits and festive food in tow, we headed to madre’s house for swimming and backyard dinner.
The girls swam like little fish (we swim every day and it’s been SAVING ME because we can be outside despite the heat and get fresh air while the girls get out some energy), and had a feast: madre made chicken drumsticks, potato salad, and pork to go with the chicken burgers and pasta salad we brought over. Dessert was cake and a couple hours later, popsicles and/or s’mores. 😉
Sunday, I filmed a couple of new videos (yoga and a new one-song workout on the way) and we had Ina’s lemon chicken for dinner.
This week, I’m looking forward to finishing up our room and sharing some new workouts with ya. I’ll also be putting a 4-week plan together to email out if you want to sign up for my email list here.
Have a wonderful day and I’ll see ya soon! Thank you so much for stopping by the blog today.
xoxo
Gina
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I made the pasta salad yesterday. And you’re right ~ it is the best pasta salad ever. 🙂
Those chicken breasts look good.
yesss so happy you liked it, too!
Hey Gina, I have heard a few interpretations of Eliza’s gasp, that she is seeing the audience for the first time, that she as taking her last breath, but I wasn’t quite sure what it meant when I watched it. Did the gasp happen in the show when you saw it in Chicago? I also heard Lin Manuel describe the gasp and he was kind of vague about the exact meaning. Either way, I loved everything about the movie performance. Amazing show that sticks with you!
i think the gasp happened in chicago but i was already sobbing by that point so i had no idea!
i love that it’s up for interpretation. my thoughts are that she’s seeing the audience for the first time
I can imagine seeing it live would be incredible, worthy of many overwhelming tears!
Re: Eliza’s gasp, I thought it was her seeing her son again. :'(
oh, i love that!!
i think that lin is showing her the audience and she gasps to realize that we’re all watching the story that she helped to preserve and share after all of this time
Hi, was checking out the cake recipe, what kind of vegetable oil, specifically, would be best to use for this kind of cake? The oils I usually cook with are olive & coconut, not sure if they’d alter the flavor though, thanks!
honestly i used avocado oil (it was all i had on hand and it was such a small amount) and it came out awesome!! i think that olive would be too heavy and coconut would make it taste coconutty. maybe just use extra butter instead?
I took her gasp as her last breath before she died. Her eyes look up as she does it and she sees her loved ones.
I saw the show in Boston and the woman playing Eliza chose not to include the gasp. However, I am a musical theater nerd so I had heard about the gasp beforehand. Phillipa Soo has only described it as a transcendent moment so it is definitely left up to interpretation. Makes me want to watch it all over again 🙂
apparently some of the other elizas reach up as they gasp so that could totally be it. i think that lin is showing her the audience in the final scene and she gasps as she realizes the impact of her work to preserve his legacy
such a powerful show <3
My theater-loving teenage daughter says that Eliza’s gasp is her “breaking through the 4th wall” – she’s singing about whether she’s done enough to preserve Hamilton’s legacy while she’s preserving his legacy by singing about his story.
I LOVED seeing them perform it, especially with the closeups, but I think it helped that I had already seen it in person. My only quibble at all with the TV version is that you couldn’t always see the whole stage.
yes i think that could absolutely be it! i think that lin is showing her the audience and she gasps to know that her work to preserve his legacy wasn’t in vain
and i totally agree! there were some parts that i wish i could see the entire stage, especially with all of the dancing
My husband surprised me last night by doing Lafayette’s rap from “Guns and Ships” haha! It’s one of my favorite moments that I’ve been rewinding and rewatching since Friday.
I think Eliza is breaking the 4th wall… They sing “will they tell our story? …. will they tell my story?” and then she sees the audience, and gasps with realization that their story has been told to more people than existed in the entire world when she was alive!
Or, she’s seeing heaven with her loved ones…. Either way it’s beautiful and perfect!
oh my gosh- how did he learn it?! i’ve tried so hard but it’s so fast. definitely one of my favorite parts of the show
i think that could absolutely be it. i think that lin is showing her the audience, not hamilton . and yes, either way, it’s beautiful and perfect
Looks like an amazing weekend! I’ve got serious swimming pool envy. Our neighborhood pool is crazy busy and not socially distanced. That really is the most amazing pasta salad, I make it for special occasions and bbqs with friends, it never fails me and always taste even better the next day!