celebrations

This weekend – though cold and snowy – was a fun-filled weekend of celebrations. From my sister-in-law’s swearing in as a U.S. citizen to my friend Nicole’s baby shower, we had a a few fun reasons.

Friday started with the swearing in ceremony. More than 50 people were sworn in as citizens in the ceremony, including my sister-in-law, who is from Finland. It was a pretty cool ceremony to be able to see, and it was amazing to feel part of so many people’s emotional journeys.

The ceremony lasted a little over two hours, and B and I had taken the day off, so afterwards, we went out to lunch – just the two of us. We don’t get to do that often, and it was nice to have a relaxed grown up meal and drinks (or a sip for me).

We were planning on going to the movies after lunch, but we were both so full and in a semi-food coma, we decided to go for a walk instead. We visited the Towpath for a 4+ mile walk in the snow. The path was paved, so it was at least pretty.

We then spent some time reading and warming up in a coffee shop. These are all things we used to do all the time before FW, so it was nice to get out and do them once again.

Then, it was time for the first celebration- off to a bar for my sister-in-law’s celebration in honor of her new citizenship! We hung out for about an hour with FW before it was time to head out.

AND we picked up my favorite local pizza on the way!

Even FW ended up having a few bites (he is picky and hasn’t been liking pizza).

Saturday ended up being a pretty low-key, yet productive day. It included some cleaning, reading, piano playing, and baking.

baking – buckeyes!

And a quick stop to our favorite local chocolate shop for some goodies before dinner. Fun fact- chocolate covered pretzels are pretty much my FAVORITE.

For dinner, B made us homemade pasta with potatoes. I made the pesto. It came out SO good!

FW had grilled cheese – but also a peanut butter macaron for dessert! It was his first macaron and he wouldn’t put it down.

Sunday morning started with my friend Nicole’s baby shower! She’s due a little before me with her first and it was fun to celebrate with her. Isn’t she adorable?

She is also part of my Ladies Craft Beer Society – so naturally, we did a craft at her shower!

That afternoon, despite the snow and cold, the sun was out, so we got in a short walk with FW in the backpack.

And then it was time to go out to celebrate my mother-in-law’s birthday. We went out for Italian food to celebrate.

And that was it – 3 celebrations in one weekend 🙂 Some questions for you:

Is it still snowy near you?
Do you like chocolate covered pretzels? Or what’s your favorite chocolate treat?

I’m linking up with the weekly wraps!

Friday at 3 p.m., I shut down my laptop and put my phone on the Out of Office Mode. I had changed my Out of Office email to read, “I’m in Atlantic City for Petefest 2012 (don’t ask). I’ll be back, and checking email, on Monday, March 12” and my weekend was ready to begin!

This weekend, B and I traveled to Atlantic City in honor of Petefest 2012, the celebration of B’s cousin’s 21st birthday. Though I’d been to Jersey many times before (being from NY and Staten Island, I obviously have family that lives there), including the Jersey Shore (Seaside Heights, what what!), the only impression I had of AC was from Sex and the City. Who doesn’t remember that episode where it’s Charlotte’s birthday and they go to Atlantic with Richard right after Miranda has had a baby? I digress.

We hit the road around 4 p.m., picked up B’s sister, and headed on the 9 hour drive to New Jersey. We pulled into Atlantic City right around midnight, passing by the skyline – larger than I had expected. We arrived at the beach house about 10 min away from AC that B’s Aunt Marie had rented, and caught up with half the group (the other group was out gambling), including the birthday boy, who had returned from a day of celebration. We stayed up to celebrate a little, but then decided against hitting the casino and instead headed to bed, as we had a 13.1 training mi scheduled for the next morning.

The next day we woke up early, ran our half marathon training run (more on that here), and then joined the rest of the group for a day of celebration.

half marathons make me sleepy!

After a quick nap (13 miles tires me out!) I put on my Petefest Shirt and joined the others in some games, including the longest game of Kings EVER and a heated game of Bunco (not to brag but my team may have won).

Aunt Marie prepared a pretty awesome meal of cavatelli and meatballs, and then we all got ready to head out for the night. Aunt Marie’s friend Bev did my hair – Jersey style of course!

We headed to the Legends Concert – the birthday boy’s request – and saw a rocking show of Tina Turner, Elvis, Ray Charles, the Blues Brothers and Liza Minelli. We then headed to the casinos to gamble and party some more.

The group with the Blues Brothers

What a fun night! When the birthday boy got tired, B and I headed back with him, knowing we’d be getting up at 7 (really 6 a.m. with the time change) to drive 9 hours back to Cleveland for B’s mom’s birthday dinner. But not without a stop in Philly to meet some college friends for brunch! Mitch (who had visited us a few weeks ago) had suggested the famous Philly brunch spot Sabrina’s, but after finding out there was a 1.5 hr wait (which would make us late for dinner), we headed to Hawthorne’s and enjoyed a delicious brunch! My eggs benedict with smoked salmon were AWESOME. We chatted it up with our friends, then headed back to Cleveland, and made it to dinner at 6! We were home by 10 p.m. and crashed from great weekend of 18+ hours in the car, 13.1 miles of running, fun, family and big hair.