Taking back Sunday
(sadly not the band)
Hi friends! Happy Monday! Howโs the morning going? I canโt believe that Winter Shape Up is over (unless youโre repeating the fun for an additional 4 weeks). Thank you again to those of you who participated, and for your awesome check-ins, support for each other, and fantastic energy along the way. I hope you experienced some awesome results from your hard work!! Stay tuned for more workout plans for Summer Shape Up, and as always, I have a couple of other things up my sleeve in the meantime. ๐ A special thank you to my WSU partner in crime, Anne, for sharing her amazing grocery lists, recipes, and meal plans. <3
Congratulations to the Sabra winner, Kariann! (Winner was emailed last night)
It was the perfect weekend mix over here: relaxing, fun, productive, and lots of time spent outside. Itโs been cool and cloudy lately!
So I have a weird story to tell you. I am horrified to work while flying on an airplane. It used to be a great chance to me to get caught up on emails and and the background stuff of blog life (three cheers for GoGo In-flight WiFi), but the last time I was being super productive was when we made an emergency landing from full altitude. I was working along, the WiFi went out, and all of a sudden we were descending as the pilot let us know we were having engine trouble and would be landing in Dallas instead of Atlanta. The next thing I know, the lady next to me is telling me sheโs good with Jesus and if we go down, itโs ok with her. My heart rate is elevating as I type this. Iโve never been a fan of flying, which is hilarious since that one thing my husband does for a living, but now, Iโm also superstitious about getting computer work done. Because I was working, I broke the plane. You can laugh now. ๐
Anyway, instead of being productive, I now rely on TV (Shark Tank and TED talks make the time go by quickly), the Kindle, and a small stack of magazines. For my last flight, it was US Weekly and Real Simple.
Real Simple gave me an awesome tip: take back Sunday. We usually do the bulk of our chores on Sunday, which makes the weekend seem much shorter. We decided to try to do most of our grocery shopping and chores on Saturday, so we can use Sunday for whatever the heck we feel like. Iโm a big fan so far. Bonus: Trader Joeโs is much less chaotic on Saturday than Sunday. ๐
Sunday, we meandered around down by the beach,
(fo shizzle)
and also ended up at Hodadโs for lunch. The veggie burger wrapped in lettuce is EVERYTHING.
Sunday night was Oscarโs (did you watch?!) and straight chillinโ. It was glorious. (PS. John Legend and Lada Gaga were my favorite parts. So so good.)
Some more weekend pics and adventures:
Posing with the giant mixer outside The Cravory
Painting at the Childrenโs Museum
a giant bowl of oats while watching Livi dance ballet
tiny braid
churros and the carousel
and some lovely begonias. ๐
Hope you had a wonderful weekend, too! When do you do most of your chores and grocery shopping for the week? We tend to run errands during the weekend, but I have a cleaning chart I try to stick to during the week. Did anyone run the Disney Princess races this past weekend?! Iโd love to hear about it!
Enjoy the morning! BODYPUMP time for this girl.
xoxo
Gina
Something to do: these cookies and this workout. You can pick the order. ๐
Your weekend looks like the perfect mix of lots of great things.
For me, it really depends on what plans I have going on over the weekend. Sometimes I make the extra effort to do chores/shopping/laundry throughout the week so there is nothing to be done on the weekend and pure enjoyment/relaxation can ensue ๐
love that. that’s the goal for this week!
Sounds good!
You will feel like you have so much time on the weekend to enjoy other things, it’s so worth it.
I’ve tried lately to take care of my “to-do” list earlier in the week and finish stuff up on saturday so I can have Sundays free. I like being able to just relax before going back to work.
amen!
Ooh yes I’m big on the taking back Sunday thing too! I like to front-load my weekend so that the things I need to get done mostly happen on Friday and Saturday, leaving Sunday to do whatever I like. Unfortunately this was not one of those kinds of weekends though, so I’m feeling a little flustered this morning! Looks like you had a really fun one and OMG I love your Livi hairstyles! ๐
thank you!! hope the rest of your Monday is seamless ๐ xoxo
Oh my gosh! I just blogged about the chore chart! I started one last week and I can’t believe the difference it made in getting things done. I even added activities to do with my 2 year old. So great!
I have been shopping on Sunday’s. It’s not that busy because I go before noon. The thing is, I LOVE grocery shopping haha. So it doesn’t seem so much like a chore.
Glad you had a great weekend! Your oats look amazing!
let me know if you have any good activities! livi is awesome at picking up toys and making her bed, but I would love to teach her some more little things she can do
Ha! What a good idea to get her to pick up toys and make her bed! Yeah, totally missed that boat. Thank you for the idea!
I just plan different activities for each day. Like today, Monday, is letters, numbers, and shapes. Tuesday is reading, sounds, and singing and then so on throughout the week. I use his toys, markers, crayons, and different things to teach him. He learns and enjoys the engagement. You probably do all these things with your daughter already. I needed a schedule though haha.
i love that you have a schedule! we should do something similar; i tend to wing it around here, but we trace letters and read every day
I love the idea of ‘taking back Sunday’– it definitely takes a lot of ‘effort’ but is worth it!
I definitely prefer to do all my chores on Saturday so that I can have Sunday free to do whatever. I can’t relax if I have a messy house or long list of to-dos, so if I get it all out of the way before Sunday I feel much better!
I’m not religious at all, but I’ve always believed Sunday should be a day of rest (and fun). Sunday is usually the day I stay in my pjs til noon haha
you win at sundays ๐ that sounds wonderful
If I saw that sign hanging outside of a restaurant you better believe I’ll be dining there. They got swag!
right? it cracked me up!
We’ve been trying to take back our Sundays too! Trying to fit in chores, grocery shopping, food prep, and cooking dinner on Sundays got to be too much. We’ve been fitting in these other activities on week days or on Saturday. Sundays are much more relaxing now! ๐
totally! it’s funny what a difference it makes. the weekend feels much longer!
After spending yesterday doing chores and standing on line at the food store taking back Sunday sounds like an awesome idea! Will have to keep that in mind.
We typically do our chores on Sunday, but I like the idea of doing them Saturday instead so that I have one relaxing day before I go back to work on Monday.
I try to pump out my to-do’s first thing every morning. HUGE list maker over here. I actually find cleaning therapeutic :). And then after dinner it’s TV, red wine, and family hangs by the fire.
Have an amazing day, Gina! Living vicariously through that beautiful San Diego weather.
that sounds like the perfect evening ๐ I like to crank through things during the day too, so we can chill at night. doesn’t always work out that way though ๐
Taking back Sunday is such a brilliant idea! I know I am so guilty of trying to get everything done on Sunday and not really using it to rest and chill out. Next week, I’m gonna be all about getting things done before the weekend starts!
Also, I’ve been flying a lot lately since my boyfriend and I have been doing long distance (fun fact: he is also a pilot), and I feel like the more I fly, the more worried I get about having something go wrong. I totally understand the idea that your work made the plane break ๐ My one thing is every time we take off I put away whatever I was reading or doing so I can just breath and look outside. I don’t really get it either…
Have a great Monday!
same! the more I go, the higher the chances of something going awry. also, when tom is with me, i’m FINE. it’s nice to know he could land the plane if he needed to ๐
I totally hate flying as well and had to fly on Saturday. I was on pins and needles the whole flight. I wish I could read or work but I find I’m too nervous to concentrate so I just rely on music and trying to get myself to sleep. I love that you just enjoyed your Sunday. I caught a bit of the Oscars and loooooved Jennifer Aniston’s dress!
ahh that feeling is the worst! and yes, Jennifer aniston is AMAZING
Looks like you guys had a storybook weekend! I do almost all my chores Staurday and even grocery shop Friday night when I don’t have plans. There is never anyone there. That plane story is hilarious. I’m crazy superstitious about weird things too like a rattlesnake in the toilet.
hahah i’ve never heard that one but would freak me out too!
We usually grocery shop on Saturday too! 12-3pm is when Whole Foods has out all their samples!
I love Livi’s top-knot! So adorable!
oohhh good to know ๐
Sounds great! I have some friends that are always doing amazing things on weekends (little getaways, camping, snowboarding, etc.) and their secret is that they grocery shop and do their chores on weekday evenings! Somehow I still manage to be grocery shopping and cleaning bathrooms every Sunday, but I aspire to be like them! ๐
same! I like to do a deep clean over the weekends (or get anything I missed) but i’m trying to shuffle it around so sunday really is a day of rest and fun
real simple always has such great tips ๐
I’m with ya on taking back Sunday! I try to get stuff done on Friday night and Saturday (while having fun) so Sunday doesn’t seem like such a rush…AND OMG John Legend and Lady Gaga!? Totally stole the show ๐
I’m so with you on this, I try to get chores done ahead of Sunday as well! Hope you have a great day, Gina! ๐
what adorable pics of livi in this post, so precious – especially her braid ๐
thank you! she is such a funny thing ๐
Thank you for the wonderful workouts and plan during WSU! I enjoyed it so much I plan to repeat it for the next four weeks!
We do our food shopping on Saturday or Sunday, depending on the weekend. I prefer to do it on Saturday so we can have a super lazy Sunday, but it doesn’t always work out that way ๐
I am a full-time student so I grocery shop on Monday AM and TJs is EMPTY! It is glorious. Trader Joes anytime on a Sunday in San Francisco…well, the lines are through the aisles, no joke. I avoid it like the plague ๐
I try to run errands over my lunch hr during the week, but often end up doing chores Sat. or Sun. afternoon. Those “chores” usually involve cooking or baking so it’s nbd.
Livi is too stinkin’ cute!!!
I like your post about taking back Sundays. I live in Europe, and everything is closed here on Sundays. We aren’t even supposed to do loud chores like mowing the lawn on Sundays. When we first moved here, it was really hard for me to get used to not being able to do things on Sundays. Now I really love it. People have big lunches with family on Sunday and take walks in the afternoon and greet each other as they pass on the street or forest trail. I try to get the errands done during the week because Saturdays are the big shopping day here, and as you can imagine, the stores are crazy then.
And that is why I love Europe! haha
where in europe are you? i love that so much. europe wins at sundays, wine, and siestas (and quite a few other things) ๐
I am in Luxembourg, a small country nestled between Germany and France. It’s been such a great experience, and yes, the wine is good…and cheap! ๐
we have friends there! so cool!
I love the idea to take back Sunday!! I’m blessed to be a SAHM and let my chores wait until Monday. I like to thoroughly enjoy my kids when they’re home from school ๐
Thanks again to you and Anne for all the hard work you put in to WSU!! xoxo
love that so much!
thank you again for participating!! xoxo
And I’m sometimes the ONLY person in TJs on Monday morning at 8am when it opens ๐
I love shopping on weekend mornings at Trader Joe’s. If I’m there before 9:30 am, all is calm and all the shelves are completely stocked. It’s amazing!
I am absolutely crazy/paranoid about flying. I wont even get up to use the restroom because I feel like I will throw off the balance of the plane. :/ Makes total sense.
haha! even though i’m sorry you have to deal with a weird plane thing, too, it’s nice to know i’m not alone ๐
This has nothing to do with today’s post but I had to share this adorable link with you: http://yoganonymous.com/yoga-instructor-mom-wows-the-internet-posing-with-her-babes-photos
You and Livi should do something like that ๐ I LOVE their matching leggings.
oh my gosh. the outfits are so good! i actually got to meet laura sykora at the sedona yoga festival; she is AMAZING
I would be superstitious about the wifi too! In Jan, we were flying from Dallas to Honolulu and our plane had to make an emergency landing at LAX bc a backup instrument wasn’t working. I’ve always been a super nervous flyer, so I thought what are the chances that will ever happen again? Um yeah. Flash forward 4 hours. Almost everyone gets on the replacement plane. It takes off and it doesn’t sound.. right. Then, the captain comes on and says that one of the wing flaps didn’t come up so back to LAX we go, since we obviously won’t make it over the ocean. Then, he casually mentions that the plane is really heavy and full of fuel and that he’s been flying 27 years and has done this before so he’s 96% sure that things will be fine. I had been hoarding this box of brown rice crackers in my bag and I suddenly decided they were bad luck so I left them on the plane! Makes total sense to me ๐
oh my goooossshhhhh. i would have been so freaked out!
and 96%?! where’s the other 4%?!? ahhhhh!
I just read this article! 2015 is my year of decluttering so cleaning can be easy and quick. I’m blogging about it to keep me accountable and to encourage others who are taking small steps for lasting change.
I love Sacred Sundays! All about sleeping in, wandering around the city and having fun. We always have our Sundays as a day of just resting and fun stuff – I think it is an awesome practice. You look like you guys took full advantage <3
Yay for taking back Sunday! Sunday has always been date with myself day for me (obviously I don’t have kids or anything otherwise things would prob be a tiny bit different haha) and I love doing yoga and going to the library and eating sushi! Good times ๐ oh my goodness, so scary to read about the plane with the emergency landing!!! Horrifying! Glad you’re ok! I’m also glad I read this AFTER my big flight back to nz ๐
Her braid is so cute! I just recently started throwing braids into my daughter’s hurr! Need to try that pretty one out. gah! I’m such a Taking Back Sunday lover and honestly, just started re-listening to them a lot a couple weeks ago!
Love the concept of taking back Sunday though. Such a good idea. Also, love all the activities you have Liv in. I need to get Nia in some more!