This weekend was a blast! It’s not often that Eric and I have Memorial weekend of, heck this is the first time in many years. It was so nice to be able to spend the day together… but also not have a heck of a lot planned. I think life gets to crazy sometimes and it’s hard to stop and pause and enjoy things. I’ve honestly been thinking about that a lot lately and how important it is to be in the moment and live life. Today in fact, I was talking with my friend Natalie’s husband, also named Eric, about the very thing. How it’s important to “go into your cave” and just “be”. I know pretty out there for me to say but as I grow older I recognize how much we’re hit with things and just “going through the motions” of life and not really living. I mean, I’m guilty of it. You know, the go to work, come home, turn on the TV, make dinner, eat, watch more TV, go to bed.. get up and do the same thing the next day.  Well this weekend was really to break that cycle and just live and do things that I wanted and not feel guilty that things around the house weren’t getting done.

Friday night we went to dinner at Jenny and Jessica’s house. Those two girls are somethings else. Both are the sweetest every and Jenny is a cooking rockstar. After I finished work we headed over for some visiting, good food, and of course dessert. I have to share a super funny story though.. hope you don’t mind Jess. Ok, so we’re hanging out in the kitchen while Jenny cooks dinner and Jessica says she’s going to make dessert but she can’t remember what the dessert is called. She knows that it’s Italian and these light, fluffy cookie like things that you top with cream. We came up with all manner of Italian things.. but none were right. Then, out of the blue, Jessica says, “I know eclairs!” Without hesitation Jenny, Eric and I all looked at Jessica with “that look” that says.. “what .. are you nuts?”. Yeah, OK. we told Jessica they’re French.. not Italian. We all had a great laugh at that and in the end.. decided to head to Pix for dessert. Yummy French macaroons.

Saturday found Eric and I in our PJs, sitting on the couch, drinking the great lattes he’d made and reading our books. Yeah, ALL DAY! It was so awesome. I loved just sitting there in my PJs all day without a care in the world and enjoying my book. I have to do that more. I remember being able to do that when I was younger but I think now I just think of so many things that need to be done around the house.. or garden.. and feel guilty taking that time for me. I wish I could do a better job of switching off the type A in me because I enjoy the break and it does recharge my batteries. Between reading my book, cat naps, and having the cat sleep on me.. the day was made and not an ounce of guilt was felt. Note to self… DO THIS MORE!!!

Sunday morning we got up and did much of nothing until about 2 in the afternoon. I

figured we really need to leave the house if for no other reason that to get some air and see the outside. We ended up hitting NW 23rd with our friend Stephanie. The three of us cruised through Pottery Barn and found some great glasses for Steph. While we were there we also checked out the various couches. I really want to sell our couches and get a four seater sectional so we looked at them. This one Steph is sitting in was one of my favorites because of the colors. Of course the cost was crazy and it’s not the top priority right now but it was fun to look. Later in the day we ended up at this great Peruvian restaurant for happy hour. Oh, wow was the food great. I wish I could remember the name of the place. It’s right across from Ben and Jerry’s and down the street from Cost Plus. Eric would know. In any case.. super good food and drinks.

Today found me hanging with my friend Natalie. We hit Fabric Depot for fabric so I can finish her quilt and then of course I needed fabric for a quilt I’m working on. As like any other time.. Natalie and I found a ton of fabric we loved and some great patterns so now I have her quilt to finish, a couple of shirts for myself, a couple for Natalie and a couple dressed for her too. I love having projects to do. After Fabric Depot we headed to NW 23rd and the Crepe place for coffee and crepes. Natalie finished the sweater she made me while we were there so now I have a new sweater. It is the MOST AWESOME sweater ever. I can’t wait to wear it to work tomorrow. I’ll take a picture in the morning and try to remember to post it so you can see it. It’s green.. of course.. but it’s not just one tone.. it’s several different strands. She made the yard.. just for me so it’s a one of a kind. How special do I feel.. SUPER SPECIAL! Now I need to finish her quilt and things.

It’s been a busy weekend and yet pretty quiet. I have to say I’ve really enjoyed it and I’m ready to get back to work tomorrow. I’ve learned a lot about how to relax.. now I just need to do it with more frequency. Perhaps I’ll blog more.. journal more.. and just be.

So today was Memorial Day…. a day to honor those that have fought in wars to keep us free… a day off from work. So what did you do today? I’d love to say I did a whole bunch of things. I’d love to say that I got all the cleaning done in the house, all the floors vacuumed, all the clothes washed oh, and all my pictures scrapbooked.

BUT… I didn’t do much today. I didn’t get up until late but I did get the laundry done, got the toilets cleaned and then it was off to work on my blog some more. The more and more I work with Typepad, the more I like it. It’s so much easier than LiveJournal.

I even made it to the gym today to meet my trainer. I really like my trainer she’s the best. Today she “shocked” my body. Basically she was saying that when you plateau you body is so used to your routine that it can do the same things it did before but more efficiently so you’re not loosing any weight. So we did weights today and on some I used light weights but lots of reps, for others it was high weight and low reps then, it was cardio. Let me just say I hate the elliptical machine. I really hope I start seeing some pounds drop off. It irritates me that Eric can loose so easily and I have to work at it.

This weekend is another crazy weekend for Eric. It’s Memorial Weekend which means a long, hard weekend for the winery. Everyone has to work because a lot of people start the touring season Memorial weekend. So why the title “Mexican”? Well, that’s what I did this morning, actually it started last night. Eric helped me shred chicken and get the bean in pots to soak over night but today I made it all. I had told Eric a few days ago that I’d bring him lunch while he was working today. Well, after thinking about it, I decided to make lunch for everyone working at the winery. I love the people at Oak Knoll, they’re so nice to Eric and I both. He’s very lucky to work for a great place like that. SO we started last night and then I finished this morning. I got up and started cooking about 9am this morning and didn’t stop until I was loading the car with the ‘fixins”. I made two pans of chicken Enchiladas (one hot and another not so hot), re-fried beans (homemade), black beans (homemade), Spanish rice and then for dessert I made the little tartlets that I make at Christmas. This time I made lemon ones, chocolate ones, port soaked fig ones, coconut ones, vanilla ones and just plain ones. SO I cooked all day and timed everything just right so I could take it all out hot to everyone working. Once I got there I had Eric help me bring everything in and I set the table with everything so people could dig in. Lots of the people there were very happy and thankful that I’d gone to so much trouble. One of the older ladies even told Eric he needed to join the masons so I could help her when they made food for functions. I stayed for several hours talking to people and just hanging out. It was nice to meet the new people working with Eric in the tasting room. It was nice to make food for such a great group of people.

You know it’s sort of funny too that I cooked like crazy today and last night and yet I’m not tired and the day was very enjoyable. I forget sometimes how much I like to cook and bake. It is a real stress reliever. I think what makes it so nice for me are the times I choose to cook rather than the times I have to cook. I had a great day.

Oh, another tidbit. I’ve been working on my scrapbooking space in the office, trying to make it more functional and fun. I’ll post more about that tomorrow with pictures.