Birthday Re-Do

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Hey friends! Our weekend was busy but fun. We kicked things off on Friday with a little beer garden happy hour with Riese… there’s a new-ish one walking distance from our place and we had been wanting to check it out. It was awesome – even had a kid play area!

Weather was great Friday evening, too. We grabbed dinner there – I had the BBQ chicken panini with a side salad, plus some beer of course! 

On Saturday morning, Matt and I decided to do a run date – gotta make sure we are ready for the Marine Corps 10k in a month!

We drove over to Old Town Alexandria and parked on the waterfront so we could run on the nice trail there and then end with food in Old Town. Matt did the first mile of stroller pushing (which included a big hill – oof)!

And then I did the next 3 miles – Matt wasn’t feeling super energized after being sick for a lot of the week, and I was feeling okay so I took one for the team. ;) 

Stroller running is tough but I’m getting better at it now that I do it more frequently (on weekday mornings – usually once or twice a week). 

I’ve also mastered the art of handing snacks and/or water bottles to Riese without stopping running. ;) #momgamestrong

4 miles – done! Our longest stroller run yet!

Riese got out of the stroller when we were done and we all walked to Virtue Feed + Grain, our local fave, for lunch. 

Salad to start:

And then I had their salmon with creamy quinoa, which is my absolute fave. Plus a bunch of Matt’s fries – Riese and I were both stealing them. ;)

Matt and I had back-to-back training sessions with Paul from Capital Energy Training during naptime – I hadn’t had a session with him in months so it felt great to work on some strength and mobility… need to do more of that!

We met some friends that have kids around Riese’s age out for happy hour on Saturday evening, and then brought Riese back home at 6 when my mom came over to babysit for my birthday re-do dinner date with Matt! We were supposed to do this on my birthday last weekend but Matt was sick, so we decided a re-do was in order. :)

We started with drinks at the “adults only” (18 years+) sushi bar in Del Ray – we love that most of the places in the area are kid-friendly, but figured it would be nice to go somewhere without kids on our night off. ;)

I had their take on a moscow mule – yummy!

And then for dinner, we had a late reservation at The Reserve, which is a cute and cozy one room restaurant that’s upstairs from Del Ray Pizzeria. We had no idea it was there until a friend told us about it – it’s kind of hidden!

Bubbles to start:

We shared the burrata salad (wrapped in melon – pretty!) and the quinoa salad to start. Both were delicious!

And then I had the crab stuffed salmon. Yummm.

Such a fun dinner and a nice treat! 

Sunday morning we had pancakes (made using the Simple Mills mix):

And then we met our friends Shane, and Jackie & Aaron and their toddler, for a little walk in the woods.

Riese was into it. ;)

And Freyja was living her best life sitting in the water and then rolling around in the dirt. She definitely got a backyard bath when we got home!

We came home and had salads for lunch that I forgot to get a photo of, and then had a low key afternoon and evening.

We hit the grocery store, then came home and made tacos for dinner. Riese helped, and snacked on some peppers. :) She’s still in her obsessed with daddy phase – must be glued to him at all times and heaven forbid I try to play with her or pick her up if he’s around. It’s both super cute and super annoying…

These tacos hit. the. spot. Hard shells stuffed with ground beef cooked in Mexican spices, sauteed onions and peppers, cheese, chopped spinach, guac, and some fresh tomato. Plus chili garlic hot sauce, of course!

Matt will be out playing soccer tonight after work so Riese and I are going to have the leftovers for dinner… I think I’ll make some rice and have all the fillings atop salad this time to mix it up! 

And now, I will leave you with some life advice from Riese: always take time to stop and smell the flowers. :)

Have a great day!

from Verdure http://bit.ly/2nWiOpw