I’m not sure if I’m the only person like this, but I guard my weekends. I place a lot of emphasis on being able to relax, to laze about, to do nothing and watch bad TV. I get itchy when I see my calendar filling up, because I worry that come Monday, I won’t feel relaxed enough to face the week ahead.
This weekend, I took the opposite approach, and while I still had a lot of downtime, I was a busy bee.
On Friday night, we hosted our housewarming party, which was absolutely lovely. There were snacks galore and plenty of drinks, and so many of our friends and family in one room. It was lovely. Parties like that tend to be a bit overwhelming, because it’s so hard to talk to everyone, but I think most people enjoyed themselves. I looked around at one point and felt so grateful that we have so many friends and loved ones in our life.
Saturday was full of downtime, which is just what I needed. I spent time reading, and finally finished The Help which was just as amazing as so many people had said. I loved it, and couldn’t put it down at some points! I also finished Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food, which was also awesome. I also ventured out to buy some new notebooks from Urban Outfitters. I’m a picky person when it comes to paper products, and Urban really has the best notebooks. Sadly, they also win the award for most annoying staff and hipster clientele, and I felt ancient because after 10 minutes, I wanted to off myself. But I got my notebooks, darn it! Kyla and I caught up a bit via G-chat, and I signed up for the lovely Leigh Ann of Freckled Nest’s Home Ec class, something I’m super excited about—sewing sounds so fun, plus with any luck, I’ll be able to cross of Life List Item #71—sew something I can wear! On Saturday night, I introduced Andrew to one of my favorite restaurants ever, Zelda’s pizza. It definitely did not disappoint and we enjoyed the delicious Chicago-style pies.
Sunday morning was for sleeping in, doing a little bit of work and cleaning the apartment. The afternoon was perhaps the best part of the whole weekend. Andrew and I rode our bikes to a local bar, L Wine Lounge, where we had glasses of wine (sparkling Chenin Blanc for me, and a flight of reds for Andrew) and unlimited pizzetas. Pizzeta are small, flatbread pizza, and on Sundays at L Wine Lounge, you get unlimited pizzeta for $12. These are no ordinary pizzas: we have one topped with half meatballs and corn and the other half potato and green olive, and the next featured caramelized peppers and goat cheese. For dessert, we were treated to one with strawberries, chantilly cream and powdered sugar. We somehow managed to ride our bikes home without toppling over from all the yumminess. When we arrived home, we decided a dip in the pool sounded perfect and spent time in our apartment complex pool, literally steps from the door.
All in all, a picture perfect weekend. Maybe because it was the first weekend since March when I haven’t been fretting about my job situation. Maybe it was because it was the perfect blend of loved ones, down time, mini-adventures in our neighborhood and sunshine. Maybe because I didn’t fritter the hours away doing nothing.
All I know is that I will be looking for many more weekends just like this one, because it was good for my heart and soul.
Tell me, what did YOU do this weekend?
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I also had a lovely weekend, dinner with friends, finishing a good women (A Short History of Women) and climbed a mountain with some other good friends. If only every weekend could be so much fun.
Back when I worked regular hours, I was much the same way. Saturday was for chores and grocery shopping, and I tried to keep my Sunday super relaxing.
Anyway, right now I’m halfway through my “weekend”. BF and I went out to play pool, walked up to the shops and had dinner, and watched a movie. Tomorrow, I’m going to ice my cupcakes, play guitar, do some laundry and then we’re having dinner with my parents. Perfection
Ohhh, sounds like such a lovely weekend!! I can’t wait to host a housewarming party in my new place, just so I can have that experience of looking around and seeing so many faces of those I love.
Now, let’s hope this week ahead isn’t too painful after such weekend bliss…
I keep trying to read this in full, but I get to the part that reads “pizza with caramelized peppers and goat cheese” and I get so hungry for my favourite foods I can’t go on!
This sounds like the most amazing time! It was great to catch up with you and I can’t wait to do home ec! *dances*
i screwed up beef stroganoff.
i saw my little from big bros/big sis’s of america.
i went to dave & busters and bought pop rocks with my winnings.
i watched true blood
I feel you on the weekends. I hate having anything planned. it makes me feel cheated.
OMG endless pizzas at The L are my FAVORITE. The first time I went I had six slices!!! SO GOOD. They also have free wifi….we should plan a blogger/pizza meetup
I LOVE that you just wrote that you guard your weekends… I never thought about it that way and I think maybe I should start.. This weeked was awesome though. I had my best friend come visit and we spent the weekend finding new coffee shops in the city and “reworking” our lives.. it sounds kinda crazy to sit down with a bunch of markers and paper and fix your life.. but it actually works!
Best,
Hannah Katy
That sounds like the perfect weekend!
I am guarding my weekends, too, because since I work long days, they’re the only time where I get to do what I want to do…
I had a busy bee weekend myself – lots of things planned, but still enough downtime to not be too overwhelmed.
The L Wine Lounge sounds really good – I haven’t been, but I think I need to change that!
Sounds like you had a wonderful weekend – the perfect balance of being busy and relaxing. My weekend was all relaxation, a bit of a recuperation since my past few weekends have been on the busier side.
Sounds like a loverly weekend! Sorry we missed you par-tay!
My weekend consisted of lots of driving and lots of reading. Good times!
I guard my weekends too though lately I’m not so great at guarding them. They seem to go by too quickly but I’m learning to embrace the busy times and enjoy the friends/family that I’m fortunate to have around me. The next few weekends will be low key because August is all sorts of crazy busy with nary a free weekend!
Sounds like such a lovely weekend, Amy. I too enjoy my downtime but unfortunately, don’t get as much of it as I’d like. On Friday, I had a visitor arrive (boyfriend) who drove in to see me and the pup for the weekend. He now lives three hours away and is going to dental school, so spending some quality time together is a precious thing. We spent lots of time with our dog Loui–dog park, Petsmart, cuddle time, long walks and of course, playing fetch. We went out for some delicious meals, did some shopping and saw our families. It was delightful but too short, as always. Have a GREAT week!
I’m a little sad that the only apartment I lived in didn’t have a pool. I’d love to be able to take a dip so close to home!
Holy wow, your weekend sounds perfect! I want those pizzetas now, please and thank you!
yay for housewarming parties and finishing ‘the help’, i adored that book. seriously sounds like a lovely busy weekend!
I’m the same way with my weekends. I guard them & try to keep them as low-key as possible, so I can just recuperate and prepare for the week ahead. But then there are weekends that are just so pack-full of stuff to do & it’s seriously awesome. I think a good balance of busy weekends & low-key weekends is good.
This weekend was low-key for me, just relaxing, cleaning, & learning Spanish!
I love that photo! And even more than that, I LOVE lazy weekends. Just like you, when I have a bunch of stuff/gatherings to do/attend, I kind of feel sad that my weekend will go by WAY too quickly. I had an action packed 3 day weekend though (b-day celebration!): Disneyland, Huntington Beach, Concert, lots of driving! <3
I can tell you this about my weekend: it lacked sufficient pizzeta. MUST TRY.
Your weekend sounds awesome. Especially the food parts
I usually cram my weekends WAY full so once things settle down with the move I am super excited to enjoy a few do-nothing weekends!
This weekend, we went out for dinner (steak!!) and to see Eclipse. I started the new Jennifer Weiner book, went running and played some tennis. We also had a meeting with our lawyers to sign off on the mortgage and we visited our in laws. Busy busy…
Sounds like the perfect weekend! Ahh, I really want to sign up for LA’s Home Ec class. I’d LOVE to learn to sew, especially with my first niece or nephew arriving at the beginning of next year.
I get a little panicky too when I see my weekends filling up with endless engagements and activities. I like my downtime. But, then I remember that, on their own, I’m usually pretty excited about those engagements and activities so there is no reason to be antsy about them; they will be fun. But, I still need to remind myself that every once in a while.