Not Just Friday Favorites

I've been out of town all week spending time with my daughter2 and her very busy, very chatty littles. They wake up and it's game on. My son-in-law was working out of town all week and having some extra hands in the house is a blessing. 

I'm linking today's post with Erika and Andrea for their Friday Favorites hop. 

I was supposed to drive over to TN on Monday morning, but that flat tire we had on Sunday ended up with me needing a brand new tire. My tires are only a year old, so super aggravating, and getting said tire took the whole ding dong day. I know I sound whiny but I truly am so thankful the flat happened Sunday and not on my drive over the mountains. 

They finally had the car ready at 4 PM so I got a very late start. It's a little over three hours drive time, but since the sun doesn't set until 8 PM right now I knew I could make it before dark. I guess I'm old. I don't like driving curvy mountain roads in the dark. 

I travel a back way to my daughter's house which is great because I bypass Atlanta traffic completely, plus it's beautiful, but it is very curvy and you have to really pay attention. As my hubs says whenever we make this drive together, 'you have to drive every inch of the miles'.  fyi-hubs was at home with the little brown dog so it was just us girls which is what we had planned. 

You never outgrow the need for mother-daughter time. 

I made it to TN just in time to jump on a Zoom call with my siblings. Literally I pulled in at 7:35 and the call was set up for 7:45 so it was a little crazy but it worked. Arriving right at bedtime is never ideal, but it couldn't be helped. 

That would be the kids bedtime, not mine just in case that wasn't clear-ha! 

Once my call ended D2 and I settled in to start our Great British Bak Off binge watch. We only watch one episode a night because actually our bedtime is not that much later than the kids. We're just now watching the most recent season which I think aired in the fall. 

The next season (not sure when it comes out) is going to have a new judge. Prue Leith is leaving and Nigella Lawson will take her place. We love listening to Nigella talk and I told my daughter we need a bingo card to mark her use of words like pungent, luscious, and unctuous. We like Prue, but we're really excited for Nigella. 

This was what we did every evening I was in town, once the kids were in bed. We settled in to watch the baking challenge together. We love it and it definitely makes us want to bake. 

Tuesday morning the little guy had preschool, so once we dropped him off we went to a nearby coffee shop that is new to me. They make their own pastries and they are decadent. We shared a cheese danish and a sausage and egg bagel, and Sugar thoroughly enjoyed every last drop of her cold hot chocolate. 

After breakfast we went out to the Carter's outlet to look for an Easter dress for Sugar, but they didn't have one we loved. I did buy her a cute set of overall shorts and a tee to go underneath, so not a wasted trip. 

Have granddaughters so you can buy all the cute clothes. 

We came home and while Sugar napped we watched more baking. We're trying to squeeze the whole season, or most of it anyway, into four days and we did a good job of it too. We picked up little man from school, played outside, walked the dog, and then had a nice dinner at home. 

Wednesday my daughter had arranged for a babysitter. We've not done this before but she wanted us to have lunch out and do a little bit of shopping sans kids. It was such a nice day. We love the babies, but shopping with your girl without having to keep up with little ones is a real treat. 

We went to the absolute loveliest home/gift shop where I could have bought a hundred things but settled for just a couple, and then to our favorite children's boutique in that same shopping center, where I did find a sweet Easter dress and also a coordinating shirt for brother. Can't go wrong with Beaufort Bonnet-

We had lunch at CAVA which is a chain, but I'd never eaten there before. It was so good. We both had bowls with rice and salad greens, grilled chicken, tzatzki, eggplant, and whipped feta. It was filling and neither of us needed dinner that evening.  

After lunch we moved on to several more stores including the J Crew Outlet which is almost as good as the actual store here, but half the price. We got back to the house about 2 and once Sugar was up from her nap we drove out to a nearby farm that also grew tulips this year. 

This is the last week to come pick and quite a few are bloomed out, but still plenty to choose from. 

 

We cut a dozen to bring home and the kids had fun feeding the cows. 

You could buy a small sack of feed so the cows were friendly. 

Thursday was another school day for sweet baby J and another coffee and breakfast out for us girls. From there we went to Wal Mart and picked up some Easter goodies, plus I impulsively bought some seeds and will see what happens. My girls both have raised beds and I got swept up in all their gardening-growing excitement. 

It was a beautiful spring day so after the school pick up we decided to check out the local Farmer's Market. It sits behind a plant nursery so we walked through and browsed their huge selection of plants, garden fountains and accessories too.   

I was sitting on the couch watching my daughter finish up the dinner prep Thursday evening, when I felt a wave of tenderness and nostalgia wash over me. Not that long ago (okay, more than a decade) she was my college student, home on spring break. And now here she is married, running a home, helping her two little ones grow and thrive, greeting her husband after work with a kiss and a 'how was your trip'. 

In this season we create our own version of 'spring break'.  Now I’m the one who drives to her, and we fill our days with playtime, little outings, doling out snacks (so many snacks!), books, baths, and all the small and steady things that make children feel safe and loved. 

It's not a sunny beach in Florida with twenty of your closest friends, but it's still a pretty wonderful spring break.