Can you believe it’s already Monday? Last week flew by … and it was great. Spring was here in full swing, with warm nights, warmer days and sunshine all around. I took advantage of the weather – and even started off my Monday morning with a little sunburn (just kidding Mom, it’s just a little tan).

Here are some highlights from last week:

Thursday I had my final Bridge Builders session before our presentations. It was one of my favorite sessions by far, with part of the day of reserved for civic engagement activities. I was in the Ohio City group, which meant that one of the places I visited was Ohio City Farm.  I learned how to dig up day lilies and learned that the local farm is the second largest urban farm in the U.S.! And it’s open on to the public starting next month so you can even walk around and check it out for yourself when it’s open. And buy some fresh, local produce!

Friday, our office spent some time beautifying the local street. Each year we adopt a spot outside our building and do some planting. That’s right – two days in a row I gardened! And probably more gardening than I’ll be doing for another year.

Friday night, B and I decided to spend the night out on East Fourth – we enjoyed dinner at Saigon (I am obsessed with their chicken cabbage salad and their lemongrass tofu) and then headed to Hilarities to see the comedian Dom Irrera. He was great – definitely a comedian I enjoyed seeing and pretty funny.

Saturday, B and I went for a run. I did a 5k by myself and then B and I did 4 together, making for a nice 7 miler to start my day. Post-run, B hit the West Side Market for our weekly groceries, and since the weather was still looking nice, we decided to catch an Indians game. I’m glad we did – they ended up winning and it was a beautiful day!

Saturday evening, we visited the Cleveland Asian Festival, and then ended up getting Vietnamese food takeout to enjoy on our patio. Yes, we had Vietnamese food 2 nights in a row. I’m only slightly ashamed.

Sunday we got up early. No, you may recall that I wasn’t running the marathon or half marathon, but I still woke up around 3 a.m. – to drive to Notre Dame for B’s sister’s graduation. It was a long day, and made me think of my gradation from BC. The night before, it’s a tradition for the seniors to stay up – all night – and watch the sun rise over the Boston skyline. Sentimental? Yes. Cliche? Maybe. But I loved every minute of those last few days, spending time with my friends, cooking out on our Mod lawn, staying up all night, and barely making it through the commencement without falling asleep.

I don’t know if the students have a similar tradition at ND, but as spectators we enjoyed listening to the commencement speaker, sat in the sun for the outdoor ceremony, then got brunch, and finally saw his sister get her diploma in a smaller ceremony indoors on campus at the end of the day. We then headed home – meaning we got home around 8:00 so it was another night out for dinner. I decided not to have Vietnamese food for the third night in a row … but instead Lebanese! I opted for Taza, and enjoyed every second of it.

It was a crazy, fast, nonstop weekend with little sleep and little downtime, but I loved every minute of it.  What did you do?

Some thoughts to ponder:

• Do you remember your college graduation? Did your school have a tradition?
• What’s the earliest you have set your alarm recently? 3 a.m. on a weekend was rough. But at least I could sleep in the car!
• What’s your brunch drink of choice? I love bellinis! I’m not a mimosa fan – I don’t really like OJ. 
• Do you have a green thumb? Not at all. A few of the actual farm workers at Ohio City farm redid the day lilies that I potted. Whoops!
• It’s that time of year — did you watch any baseball games this weekend? What’s your baseball game snack of choice? We had peanuts!