around the weekend
(+ why is Mexican food so bad here?)
Hi friends!! How are you? Hope you’re having a wonderful morning. How was the weekend? Ours was low-key, and a lot of fun.
Monday morning, I was able to hit up the gym for a quick weights circuit. I’m starting to feel more and more *normal* and while I’m not lifting heavy -I’ve been sticking with 10-lb weights- it feels so good to use my muscles again. Whenever I do strength now, I FEEL it the next day. (Not in a bad way! It just feels good to be a little bit sore, and to sweat again.) I did 20 minutes of walking, and a quick circuit of lunges, upright rows, squats and biceps curls.
(Still loving the new Brooks!)
Friday night, the Pilot worked late, so I wanted to take the girls to do something fun. We go to Wild Adventures, the jumping castle place, and the park all the time, so in an effort to switch it up, we went to the mall to play games in the arcade.
They picked out necklaces from Claire’s,
and we grabbed takeout from Friend’s for dinner. The perfect girls’ night. 😉
After the nuggets were in bed, I caught up on Grey’s Anatomy and finally finished season 13. YOU GUYS. It was insane. I don’t want to post any spoilers or anything like that, but whoa. I had a hard time sleeping because my adrenaline was through the roof haha.
Saturday morning we all slept until 9 (!) had breakfast here at home, and took the girls to a birthday party. The rest of the day was chores around the house, and then we went to El Toreo for dinner. I used to call El Toreo “TGI Viernes” (like TGI Fridays) last time we were here. It has similar decor with the hanging lamps, and it’s pretty bland Mexican food. To be totally honest, the Mexican food here in V-town is pretty terrible. (If you’re local and know of an awesome spot, please let me know!) And that’s not me just being silly because my family is Mexican and I’ve had the good stuff, but because I don’t want Velveeta cheese in my enchilada.
At least it’s hard to mess up chips, salsa and a margarita. 😉
Oh, and you can’t mess up fried ice cream.
Sunday morning, we had breakfast at the country club,
(that little bun!)
and it was our first time trying out the buffet. They had so much good stuff! I grabbed a salad, veggies, and salmon, and then went back for an egg scramble and piece of pecan pie. <— gotta get ready for Thanksgiving
I made a blog recipe -can’t wait to share it with you tomorrow!- and read more of Lilac Girls. It’s such a powerful read, and beautifully written, but it’s been heavy on my heart. I need some fluff reads in my life asap.
There weren’t a ton of pics on the phone from this weekend – I’ve been trying to unplug Sundays a bit more- but here are two random ones:
a kids’ cheese plate
and maybe one of the best pics ever.
Saturday was an off day from the gym, but yesterday, I took a 30-minute Peloton spin class in the garage. A few people have asked me which Spin bike I use. It’s this one! I got it when they replaced the spin bikes at the resort in Tucson (they let fitness instructors purchase them at a discount) and it’s been an awesome at-home cardio option. The spin class was an 80’s pop class, and it was SO GOOD. They even played my all-time fave song: Come On, Eileen. #80schild
Followed it up with two of these energy bites:
I hope you had a wonderful weekend, too!
What was the highlight? What’s your favorite song of all time?
See ya in the morning with a new festive and protein-packed recipe.
xoxo
Gina
Looking for a workout? Try this HallowLEAN workout!
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Excited about the pancake recipe! We had alll the birthday parties this weekend. #momlife
Love the little bun! I’ve been into Peloton so much lately. Their classes are so fun and I like the option of selecting my own ride. This weekend was my son’s third birthday and party! It was an amazing weekend celebrating for days with friends and family.
ohh happy 3rd birthday to him (and birth day to you!)!
Sounds like a nice weekend. We finally got to a corn maze/pumpkin patch, and it was a lot of fun.
oh that sounds amazing!
Velveeta should just be outlawed. It’s so gross!
i mean if someone likes it on their mac and cheese or nachos, i’m not mad at them, but just keep it away from enchiladas haha
Sounds like a good weekend! I love P’s shoes in the first photo!
hope you had a great weekend, too! those are my favorite shoes of hers 🙂
Fun fact about Lilac Girls – Caroline Ferriday’s country home, “The Hay”, is in the town next to where I grew up. It’s now a historical home and my brother and his wife got married in the gardens! My SIL and I both just read the book this year and had no idea the history behind it. Very cool to have this piece of history right next to us!
wow, that is so awesome!!
I’m from California, have also lived in Arizona, and now live in the midwest. Food in general is awful here. I was so spoiled in California and just didn’t realize it. Mexican and any type of Asian cuisine in particular are exceptionally bad.
california has amazing food! in san diego, everywhere we went was good! we had good means and then meals that blew us away, but nothing that was meh or terrible.
I am interested in the Peloton. Can you use any bike? Do you pay as you go? Thanks so much!
yes, you can use any spin bike! some gyms have them over by the cardio equipment or you can go into the spin room if you don’t have your own. it’s so awesome to use! you pay monthly (i think it’s 12.99 a month?) and can pick from so many different classes, and hop into live classes
Yay for low key weekends!! Ours was low key as well….mainly because of gloomy weather. We have 4 inches of snow on the porch this morning. Yikes. Let’s go bring back SUMMER!!!!
We live in Steamboat Springs, CO and are so lucky that we have some really good Mexican food. Who would have thought?!
snow!! omg i can’t believe it’s snowing already!
glad you can warm up with a real enchilada and beans haha 🙂
Try La Taqueria (across from base attached to a gas station) and La Jalisco. Not Tucson but better than El Toreo 🙂
thank you!! i’ve driven past la taqueria and forgot about it
el torero was awful hahah
Went to Taqueria Hermanos Chavez in Tifton this weekend – also worth checking out if you’re up there!
Looks like a fun weekend! Mine involved a fun fall-themed bridesmaid brunch at my friend’s house (she’s the bride, not me! super fun to get all of us together) followed by apple picking at an orchard not too far from us in Connecticut. I now have a ton of fresh apples, apple cider, and most importantly: apple crumb pie!!
that sounds like the best fall weekend!
OMG, when I saw that picture of Liv on your IG story, I legit DIED. Way too funny!! Did you get it??
For some light and fluffy reading, if you haven’t read these yet, I recommend the Crazy Rich Asians series. There are now 3 books out and they are quick reads… but fun and definitely on the indulgent side!
she is such a nut hahah. no, we didn’t get it, but i’ll be laughing at that picture for a while
thank you for the book recs, too! i’ll check those out now 🙂
OH man, I don’t think you can beat the Mexican food in Arizona, even when I lived near LA it was terrible. San Diego is better but the rest of California sucks!
your family is literally the cutest!!! i have yet to catch up on gray’s, as in i’m about 2 years behind, but i know it’s so incredible and really need to find the time to binge watch!! also that hot dog costume is amazing and i’m going to seek out a version for adults…haha
thank you so much!!
and YES that’s how i was on grey’s, too. i hadn’t seen it in years and got hooked.
I feeeeeeeeel you on the Mexican food situation in Valdosta. I felt so deprived of it while we were there, that I’m embarrassed by how many nights I suggested going out for Mexican during our first weeks in Tucson. I second the suggestion on checking out La Taqueria and El Jalisco above!
ok i will check those out! please eat all of the delicious tucson mexican food for me!!!
have you been to little poca cosa yet?!
Your weekend sounded awesome…especially the sleeping in part!
I am back to hosting my legendary Champagne Sunday brunches with my divas. This time the theme was “La Vie en Rosé” so everything was French/French inspired. And…since it was fall, I kicked it off with a pumpkin french toast casserole (ah-mazing!). Have you ever tried the vanilla & chocolate macarons from TJ’s? The vanilla one topped with a fresh raspberry is divine! Needless to say I had tons of carbs (croissants, baked brie, apple tart) and lots of bubbly!
Now I’m back on the struggle wagon trying to get into a good workout groove!
can i please invite myself to one of your brunches? that sounds AMAZING
and no, i will be on the lookout for those macarons
Oh…you are always invited…maybe one day you’ll be in the DC area…hint hint! We have Andrews AFB not too far… Hahaha!
Here is the recipe to the pumpkin french toast casserole…I used day old challah, subbed pecans for walnuts, added a 2 Tbsp more flour to the crumble mixture along with a touch more pumpkin pie spice.
Omg the pic of the girls with their Claire’s necklaces…brings me back to my childhood!
Ew, velveeta in mexican food…y tho
right?! so fun <3
and YES. i'm like why would you ever do that to mexican food?