Hello, hello! How is it already August?
We had some (unwelcome) excitement this weekend when we didn’t have power for 36 hours due to some big storms that blew through the area on Saturday afternoon! The good news is the heavy duty backup battery Matt researched + bought for our sump pump held strong and we did not have 2 feet of water in our basement like last time we lost power for this long (<- see number 4 in that post for an insane photo of the flood)…
It was unfortunate timing to not have a functional fridge as we were hosting a BBQ on Sunday afternoon/evening for some friends to celebrate Matt’s birthday, but we made it work. The grill was working fine, after all, and we mostly just stayed outside and thankfully it was not too hot out (unlike last week).
To keep the food fresh, Matt got a bunch of ice and stuffed the fridge with it, which worked well although our fridge ended up being a very soggy situation by the time the power came back on super early Monday morning because of all the ice slowly melting (it was all in bags, but they weren’t totally leak-proof and there was a ton of condensation too)!
I took the kids up to my parent’s house for most of Sunday as they had power and that way Matt was able to do his thing at the house to get things ready for the party without children all over him.
We had fun – my dad set up a sprinkler in the backyard and the kids loved it, and I brought stuff so Wes could have his nap there, too, so we didn’t have to rush home (and also because our bedrooms were quite hot without a/c).
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As for the party, Matt grilled up some burgers and hot dogs for us, and we also had some boiled corn and tons of watermelon, which I forgot to get a picture of!
I started with a burger with some sautéed mushrooms, cheese, lettuce, and pickle, plus some corn:
And then moved on to a hot dog, plus some unpictured watermelon. We had pie and ice cream for dessert but I forgot to get a picture!
It was hot sleeping in the house Sunday evening so not exactly a restful night; we were thrilled when we heard the power come back on at 4am on Monday morning!
Summer has been feeling both slow and fast for us. This is already the last week of summer camp for Riese, and our final week with our part time nanny who we’ve had since Wes was 5 months old.
We have a big transition coming up to completely out of the house childcare and as I mentioned in my recent day in the life with a 2 year old post and I am very ready for it! It feels like it’s time for that new phase.
But first, we are going to head up to Pittsburgh for a couple weeks to hang out with Matt’s parents and bridge the gap between camp and school starting back up!
We’re leaving Friday, but Matt unfortunately will have to come back to DC for most of next week for a work event – womp, womp. He’ll be busy during the days, but I’m kind of (very) jealous he’ll be home with the house to himself in the evenings…
Anyway! Let’s get into some recent eats and fun outings.
Recent Eats of Note
We’ve had some good eats lately at home!
First up was this Asian-y noodle dish with tofu that reminded me of my Creamy Peanut Butter Noodles. It was a Blue Apron (<- FYI that’s an affiliate link and they have a big flash sale happening this week if you’ve been wanting to give them a shot) meal – we’re still getting their boxes most weeks to help make our evenings easier!
Another yummy Blue Apron meal we had recently was this salmon with orzo and olives. I love a good lemon-y orzo and olive situation!
I also made one of our family faves recently, my Honey Mustard Slow Cooker Chicken Drumsticks. I don’t use the slow cooker that often in the summer but this dish had me wondering why not – it’s so nice to do all the prep earlier in the day and then not have to worry about dinner in the midst of evening kid chaos!
I used frozen drumsticks and just thawed them for about 30 minutes beforehand so I could easily get them out of the package. Came out great (I added more sauce after this pic)! Enjoyed with some sautéed garlicky spinach and rice.
Recent Outings
I’ve had some fun outings in the past month! I spent an afternoon at a winery with some friends recently (without kids) which was lovely – we went to Potomac Point Winery which was new to me and beautiful!
We ended up inside since it was quite hot out and I spent so much time outside in the heat during the week walking around and at playgrounds and such with the kids that I was totally happy to be inside in the air conditioning.
Another recent fun outing was a special lunch with my mom at Cafe Milano in Georgetown for her birthday! We went on a day when I had childcare, just the two of us, and it was really nice to have some time together.
The food at Cafe Milano is phenomenal, too. Above is the tuna tartare that I started with, and below is the lobster pasta dish I had as my entree. Both would wonderful!
One other outing of note that I remembered to take pictures of: a girls’ night from a few weeks ago with my friends Jen and Kristin.
We tried a new to us spot called Seamore’s in Arlington and the food was quite good! Oysters + bubbly to start, my favorite:
For my entree I had a salad with scallops on top. Very yummy!
My friend Jen and I have been having fun going to yoga classes together – we sometimes go before our girl’s nights with Kristin, but we didn’t that night due to logistics on my end. But we did make it to a really fun weekend class together recently that had a lot of fun handstand playtime involved!
Here’s a pic from after class when anyone who wanted to was invited to stick around and play with inversions. I’m getting better at balancing without needing a wall!
And that’s all I have for you today! I’ll leave you with a couple kid pictures – first up is Wes with his spray bottle, which is his latest obsession. He likes bringing it to the playground and out on walks and spraying all the things:
And as for Riese, I’ve been working on my French braid game – getting decent at them now with all the practice (Riese has been very into braids lately)!
One last thing before I go – I’m excited to share that I was interviewed for the Food Blogger Pro podcast earlier this summer and the episode is now live! I’ve been a fan of that podcast for so many years – since before having kids! – and it was such an honor to be invited to come on as a guest.
I had so much fun chatting with Bjork, the podcast host, about all things blogging and life from my 14 years (!) in this industry! Check it out if you’re interested: Ep. 419: Balancing Life, SEO, and Income Streams Over 14 Years of Food Blogging with Anne Mauney.
Have a great week, friends, and I’ll see you back here on Friday with some recipe inspiration!
And in the meantime, check out my Summer Salad Recipes and Tasty Recipes with Summer Fruits + Vegetables round up posts for some cool and crunchy food ideas for this warm weather.
Until next time, friends!
