Weekend Update – May 7th
Whew, what a weekend!! My weekend started early with a fun trip down to Florida and ended with laid back quality time with my family, so all in all I’d say it was a great weekend!
Pre-Weekend
My cousin graduated from the University of Central Florida with an Industrial & Systems Engineering degree and I’m just so proud of her! She and my Aunt (my mom’s sister) live in Winter Park and it’s SUCH a gorgeous part of Florida. The majority of my dad’s side of the family lives near by in Altamonte Springs, which is right outside of Orlando, so I was able to fly down Wednesday afternoon and spend some time with them as well. I had dinner at my Grandfather’s house and got to visit with several of my Aunts and Uncles (my dad is one of eight and 6 of them live in Florida).
The next day, we woke up early and headed over to UCF to watch my cousin walk. She decorated her graduation cap with the Friends frame and it was SO CUTE and also made it easy for us to spot her amidst the sea of graduates.
I picked up the cutest gingham jumpsuit at Target (<– affiliate link) and decided last minute to pack it for the trip. I’m so glad I did because it was so comfortable in the Florida heat AND didn’t wrinkle at all, despite being packed in a carry-on! And…it has pockets!!
After the ceremony, we headed over to the Alfond Inn in downtown Winter Park. This was my second time at the Alfond Inn and it seriously is the most beautiful hotel ever. It’s a boutique hotel that’s actually owned by Rollins College – net operating income from the Inn is directed to The Alfond Scholars program fund, the College’s premier scholarship fund. It has an incredible collection of art throughout the hotel and I love that each piece is so different and unique. If you live nearby or are traveling to Winter Park soon, you definitely have to check it out!
We spent the rest of the afternoon with my mom’s sisters and my cousin and drove around Baldwin Park and downtown Orlando. It was so fun catching up with family and we had a blast seeing my cousin’s new apartment and where she’ll be working!
Friday
I flew back home Friday morning and once I landed, I drove straight to pick up Luke! This was the first time I’d been away from him overnight and I missed him SO much! He gave me the biggest smile and was giggling when I picked him up, and it just completely melted my heart. Blake got home from work a little early, and the three of us spent Friday night catching up and relaxing after a busy week. Luke officially turned 5 months while I was gone, so we took his 5 month pictures Friday! He’s so curious now and putting everyyyything into his mouth, so I was able to snap a few good ones before he discovered the elephant and blocks at which point, the photoshoot was basically over 🙂
Saturday
We all woke up pretty early on Saturday and headed downstairs for coffee and a bottle. I headed off to a barre class at 8:30 and man did it kick my butt! I hadn’t been in awhile and I was reminded just how much those little isometric moves make a difference. I was sore as soon as I left! I grabbed a quick shower when I got home and then we ran a few errands, including a trip to the grocery store to pick up some items for a Cinco de Mayo themed dinner. We (Blake) ended up making a HUGE plate of dairy free nachos and made-from-scratch jalapeno grapefuit margaritas. The margaritas were out of this world amazing! They were so fresh and the jalapenos gave it just the right amount of kick.
We ended up watching Mean Girls (I still love that movie haha) on the couch while we devoured the nachos and then tuned in to the Kentucky Derby. The rest of the night was spent cleaning and catching up from being gone earlier in the week. After Luke went to bed, Blake and I had our margaritas and turned the evening into a little date-night-in!
Sunday
Blake woke up early Sunday morning to go workout, so Luke and I stayed home and snuggled on the couch until he was fully awake and wanted to play. He is so active and curious, so after he’s been sitting for awhile he wants to be up and moving around. He loves his little command center/jumper and will happily play there for about 10 minutes while I get some things done around the house. After Blake came back, I got ready for the day and headed off to Church and ran a quick errand before coming back and spending the rest of the afternoon at home. My mom came over to spend some time with Luke, and then we finished laundry and got ready for the week before eating ribs that Blake had been smoking for a few hours on the Big Green Egg. We also made Kickin’ Kentucky Mules from our favorite cookbook, Date Night In (<– Affiliate Link) and sat outside on our back deck enjoying the beautiful weather as the sun went down. I’m hoping the weather stays like this for awhile before it starts to get really hot as we head towards summer. The three of us went on a walk through some neighborhoods near us – Luke started facing out in his carriers and it’s been a GAME CHANGER. He doesn’t fuss at all and just looks around in awe wherever we go!
And that basically brings us to Monday! It was a great weekend and I’m excited for this week. We don’t have too much planned so will just spend most of our nights together as a family after being apart for a few days this past week. Hope everyone has a great week!!
xoxo,
Lauren
