It was kind of a rough week around here. We’ve all been a coughing, sneezing, cold sweaty mess this week. The whole house has been battling the common cold in one form or another. Fortunately for us, it only presented itself as stuffy nose for Elise. Michael and I had mild fevers, sinus headaches, stuffy and runny noses, the whole sha-bang. Poor little Ava, although she took it like a champ, she was down and out for over a week. We decided it was best for all of us that we played it easy all week and rested as much as possible. Plus, we didn’t want to spread our germs to anyone else. It was disappointing that we had to cancel dinner plans with family earlier in the week but it was the best for everyone. Yesterday was the first time that the girls and I had much activity all week.
Ava went shopping with Daddy at Costco in the morning while Elise and I stayed home and cleaned the house and did laundry. After Michael and Ava returned with a load of booty from Costco I headed out to the grocery store to fill in the gaps for our nights dinner and daily needs. We all spent the rest of the day either napping (the girls) or preparing for our evening. I finished cleaning and setting the table and Michael jumped into the kitchen and began his mise en place for dinner. We all hosted our first dinner party since moving back!
It was a “Girls Night In” with Chef MP. Included, by the handsome Chef, was an all night playlist from our favorite artists and a digital menu. Yes, a digital menu. Michael put together the menu that morning and then designed and coded it and sent a link out to each of our guests. It was so cool. Here’s a link if you want to see what we enjoyed: www.pellegrinipage.com/menu It was a delicious seafood feast that everyone loved. It was not an easy task to accommodate all of the dietary needs at the table. Michael did an awesome job making everyone happy.
Our guests for the evening were some old friends that we’ve been wanting to connect with for far too long now. It’s frustrating how easy it is to let life get in the way of making time for good friends. Julianne and Penny two ladies that we love and admire. These woman have been in our lives for longer than the two of us have been together. They are practically the reason that Michael and I became a couple. I could go on and on about both of them but I’ll just say that they are old (in time, not age), dear friends and it was a pleasure hosting them. Our beloved friend, Laurel joined us as well. She has known JJ and Penny for a long time but has not seen either of them since our wedding, more than 3 years ago.
Lucky Michael, spent the night with 4 women, 2 little girls and a female dog. He pretty much hosted the whole event on his own (he did all the hard work). We enjoyed a nice, long, leisurely 3 course dinner at the table. Sharing wine, good memories and stories of recent adventures. We ended the evening with the girls both asleep and all of the adults curled up on the couch enjoying dessert and laughs with Planet Earth playing in the background. It was an awesome night.
Today we are all at home relaxing like we love to do on Sundays. This week I start back to work on Wednesday and will be working 4 nights in a row. Its likely going to be a little rough to work that many nights consecutively after over 3 months off but I’m sure I’ll be fine. I’m not sure what my schedule is going to look like every week but my hope is that it’s usually only 3 nights a week with Sunday and Mondays off. We’ll see. I have mixed feelings about going back but am looking forward to a little time out of the house with some more consistent adult interaction. My reservations are only because I worry that Michael will struggle to get homework done on nights that I’m gone. I know that we will all figure things out and find a routine that works for us, I just find it hard not to worry in the interim.
Michael is off school for one more week. His classes start back up next weekend. I imagine that he will spend as much time as possible on his new project (the recipe site) this week. He is really enjoying putting it together and I love being able to be the middleman and help out a little. We’ve already had some great things sent to us. It will, no doubt, be a great site. Keep all the recipes and stories coming.
Here are a few pics of our friends getting a little snuggle time with Elise. I think that she loves to be held more than anything. It’s always a sweet, special moment to witness someone you care about meeting your child for the first time. Simple pleasures.
Julianne and Elise
Penny and Elise