Friday
Time for our monthly book club meeting! Thanks to Jackie for hosting.
Our selection for the month was How to Be Parisian Wherever You Are by Anne Berest, Audrey Diwan, Caroline de Maigret, and Sophie Mas. To honor the book's theme, there was much French-inspired food to share. Lots of wine and cheese, of course! Other French contributions included quiche, caramelized onion and goat cheese crostinis, and pot de creme. I brought this lentil salad recipe, to which I added feta cheese. As if we didn't have enough cheese already, right? Hey, cheese makes everything better (even if it was Greek cheese at a French-themed gathering). =)
Saturday
I ran the Race to Wrigley 10K!
I had a total blast, despite very nearly DNS-ing the race due to weather concerns. Read my full race recap here.
In honor of the race, check out the fun cookbook that I very coincidentally happened to find at the library afterwards!
The book is filled with lots of down-to-earth, homey recipes like Ryne Sandberg's chicken tacos or Kosuke Fukudome's ginger pork. I'm going to have a lot of fun playing around with this collection!
Speaking of the library, here are two other selections that I also checked out:
The Pioneer Woman's cookbook caught my eye because I've seen her show on the Food Network so many times. In addition to recipes, the book offers a lot of fascinating insight and pictures about her life on the ranch. I appreciate that Ree Drummond pulls no punches when it comes to being honest!
What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty is next month's book club selection. I've heard a lot of mixed reviews on this book - it seems that a lot of folks like Moriarty's other books better? We'll see how this goes.
On Saturday night, Adam was watching the secondary ticket market to see if he could find any last-minute deals on Blackhawks-Predators Game 6 at the United Center. Unfortunately, ticket prices were too high. The Hawks' ever-rising popularity never ceases to amaze me! We settled with watching the game from the comfort of our living room.
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| Photo is from the Blackhawks Facebook page |
I was so happy (and relieved!) when the Hawks closed out their series. More on that, plus my Round 2 playoff predictions, coming later this week.
In the meantime, check out this awesome video showing the Hawks' recent pre-game on-ice display. It is mesmerizing!
Sunday
Maggie hosted a clothing swap at her place (thanks again, Maggie!)
I love clothing swaps! Such an amazing way to repurpose and reuse. I made out like a bandit!
The rest of the weekend was filled with lots of relaxing, hockey-watching (most of the other playoff series), blogging, cooking, cleaning, working out, and getting ready for the upcoming workweek.
Looking ahead - Adam is starting a new job today! Additionally, I am excited that the NFL Draft Town festival starts this Thursday in Grant Park!
How about you, how was your weekend?
Glad the clothing swap was fun! I never got around to cleaning my closet this weekend, so maybe next time! Also I'm interested to see what people think about What Alice Forgot. It was good, but her other books are SO good that it dulls a bit in comparison in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteKatie, it was a bummer that you weren't able to attend! I do understand that it takes some time to clean out your closet - I was still pulling items from my dresser minutes before I headed out to attend the swap, LOL. Hopefully next time the timing will work out better for you.
DeleteI have heard a lot of folks say the same thing about What Alice Forgot vs Big Little Lies, etc. At this point, I feel like I should go ahead and plan on reading some of Liane Moriarty's other works just for comparison!
What a fab weekend! I hope Adam has a great first day! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Kim! I am excited for Adam's first day, too - it's always so great to start fresh at a new company with new culture and new coworkers. =)
DeleteThe weather was dreary around here, but we made the best of it! Beat the rain Saturday morning with an 8 mile run. The highlight of my weekend was a massage yesterday. It was great and I needed it so badly!
ReplyDeleteGood job on your race! It sounds like a lot of fun and the location and theme added a unique flair to the event!
Congratulations to the Blackhawks for clenching round one!
Ahhhh, a massage!!! Very well-deserved for you - I am really glad that you got it!
DeleteThanks for the kind words on the race! Usually, I grumble when I have to get up so early on a weekend to do a race or run. But then, once I get there, I remember why the effort is worth it. =)
Woo hoo Blackhawks! Did you end up picking them for the Finals in your bracket, btw?!?!?!? ;-)
The clothing swap was so fun! I'm actually wearing one of the scarves I got today :) Such a great concept, and so much better than buying a ton of new clothes (in my shopping-averse opinion, at least haha).
ReplyDeleteClothing swaps are seriously the best thing ever! Not just the "clothing" but also the awesome running gear, too. I can't wait to try out the new heartrate monitor that I got from you! And hey, don't forget to take a picture of yourself wearing your new scarf and post it with the #maggiesclothingswap hashtag. ;-P
DeleteI'm happy to hear that the clothing swap was good! I missed it sadly, due to not having cleared out my closet and also needing a "no stuff Sunday afternoon."
ReplyDeleteLauren, I was bummed that you weren't able to make it! But I certainly understand the need to unwind. It feels like the calendar can become disastrous in a heartbeat, doesn't it? Next time. And we do need to get together sometime very soon since it's been so long since we've caught up!!! Thanks again for the shout-out on your post last Friday, you are too kind!!!
DeleteI really enjoyed What Alice Forgot; can't wait to see what you think! I love that y'all shared French-inspired recipes for the get-together this month; what a great idea! Congratulations on your race and thanks for linking up with the blog today!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Tara, and thanks again as always for hosting this link-up! It's always so great to hear about everyone's varied weekends, whether busy or relaxing. Glad to hear that you enjoyed What Alice Forgot - if you've read any of Liane Moriarty's other books, would love to hear what you thought of those, too!
DeleteThat's Hawks' pre-game video is amazing. I wonder how long it took for someone to realize that the ice could be one big movie screen and then for the technology to be able to project something that vibrant and not blind everyone sitting in the first few rows! :)
ReplyDeleteAgreed, the Hawks video is a work of creative genius! The Blackhawks have absolutely incredible staff - the in-game experience is unparalleled by any other team in the NHL that I've ever seen. Can you imagine how many man hours must have gone into creating that video? Using the ice as a giant screen actually makes me think of Disney. It's very much something they would do at the Disney parks, too!
DeleteYeah, maybe they hired some Disney video projection consultants! :)
DeleteLooks like a fun and full weekend! Ugh the weather Saturday was pretty ugly. Did I miss your race recap?? PW is one of my favorite cooking shows to watch while on the mill. That and Cupcake Wars. Haha! Yes to the Hawks finishing off the Predators!
ReplyDeleteEnter the rain magnet, always bring precipitation to any race that she runs! =D I posted the race recap yesterday - http://emmers712.blogspot.com/2015/04/race-to-wrigley-10k-recap.html
DeleteCupcake Wars is some serious business! Those people are no joke! I only wish I had that kind of talent to create such imaginative cupcakes under those time constraints and limitations. Whew!!!
My friends host a similar swap but they expand it to household goods. What did you think of the book? It sounds interesting and I like how your club incorporated the theme into the night. Jennifer @ Run Jenny Run
ReplyDeleteThat's a great idea to expand the swap to household goods! I've got about a zillion spatulas that could be probably be put to good use elsewhere, LOL. The Parisian book was a VERY light, very quick read. I would describe it as entertaining, but a lot of the other women didn't like it very much. If you read it, please let me know what you think as well!!!
DeletePlease tell me you went home with that cute bag listed in the upper right photo!
ReplyDelete