Hola Monday

Hello friends and hello June. We're halfway through the year which seems crazy because I feel like Christmas was yesterday, but here we are. Question-is it a sign of aging when you constantly talk about how fast time is moving? Possibly. 

We had a nice weekend and here's how that looked-

The sun shone and that seems worth mentioning. Not every minute, but there were some really pretty moments. 

Friday morning I made a trip to the grocery for a few things then spent the afternoon in the kitchen. I did not take many pictures because when I bake I get caught up in whatever I'm doing and forget. True story. I baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies (using m & m's) to give away, and also a blueberry pie to take to dinner at the neighbors. My neighbor asked me to bring dessert and the blueberries are really good right now. 

I make my mom's recipe which instructs you to mash one pint and leave one pint whole. I think this makes the pie so good, because you get some actual berries mixed with the fruit filling and the texture is delightful. This recipe also calls for a whipped cream topping as opposed to a double crust and I definitely prefer the whip. 

Do I have a picture? Sort of. Here's proof I use my pie weights-

My neighbors had a childhood friend and her husband in town and invited us to join them for dinner. The weather was nice and we ate on their porch, then played our favorite card game inside. 

And ate blueberry pie of course, of which there is no picture. Carry on. 

Saturday morning hubs and I went to a funeral, a lovely service for a truly lovely woman. We got home and hubs left pretty much right away to go to a real estate open house. I read some, then did more cooking for a dinner I was dropping off later that evening. 

My son-in-law and the boys were at the house when we got home from the service which is always a sweet surprise. They were paddle boarding, then my daughter dropped by a while later with Little Miss and we sat on the porch chatting for a bit. Such a treat to have a daughter close enough to drop in. 

Sunday was a sweet sweet day. We went to church, then right after Daughter1 and I left in my car to go into the nearby city to celebrate her birthday. I truly cannot remember the last time I got to celebrate a birthday with her in person, and we made the most of it. Her birthday isn't until next week, but her hubs made plans for them on her actual birthday, which is also nice. 

Almost as nice as an afternoon out with your momma. 

This girl has always been a gentle graceful woman child who loved ballet. She's the one in front, so serious about her dance. She started ballet as a tiny tot and kept at it until she graduated from high school. Other forms of dance too, but the last few years focused solely on ballet.  I always loved watching her dance. 

For her birthday this year we had a girls day. We started with brunch in the nearby city, or jazz and Jesus as my daughter called it. There was a jazz trio playing and singing in the lobby of the restaurant and their playlist featured jazzy versions of some very well known hymns. I've never heard a jazz version of Blessed Assurance before, but we did on Sunday and it was good! 

We toasted to another year with this venue's version of a Bellini. Not quite as good as Harry's in Venice but still delicious. We couldn't make up our minds about what to order and decided to split two of their entrees. Both were wonderful. 

I ordered the crab cake Eggs Benedict with pepper jack grits (yum!) and my daughter ordered the lavender scented brioche style french toast with an espresso mascarpone cream, maple syrup and bacon. We both love french toast but knew we'd want something savory to cut the sweet and the eggs were perfect. I will definitely be trying to recreate that espresso cream at home. 

The french toast was a lot and even splitting the order we only ate half. After brunch we walked a little, browsed the downtown bookstore for a bit, then walked over to the nearby venue to see the International Ballet's performance of Don Quixote. 

The music was wonderful and the costumes were colorful and so so lovely. And the dance was just amazing. They make it look so easy and we know it's not easy. 

It's been too long since either of us have spent an afternoon getting lost in a ballet, too long since we had a mother-daughter day date. We loved every minute. I know we were celebrating her birthday, but it felt a little bit like a gift to me too. 

Linking today with Holly and Sarah for their regular Monday morning weekend recap party. So what were you up to this weekend?