good things of the weekend
May 26th, 2009 @ 6:07 am | life | Post a CommentTechnically, a three day weekend should be 50% better than a two day weekend. No so, though. This weekend was about one thousand and fifty percent better. I think it’s because on a normal weekend it’s possible to successfully accomplish two out of the following three things: relaxation, productivity, and fun. On a long weekend it’s easy to do all three! Here are some things that made me happy this weekend:
Homemade iced coffee. Despite my insistence that I will not get addicted to caffeine, I, ummmm, well, I’m addicted to caffeine. Honestly, I work so much better with some iced coffee in the mornings. However, I’m too cheap to spend $2 a day on the stuff. For the last few weeks I’ve been drinking half of a Starbucks grande per day, which makes it only a dollar a day habit, but still…too much. Here’s my new system: cheapy french press from IKEA, cheapy ground coffee beans from the grocery, lukewarm tap water. I mix them together before bed, let it brew overnight, and in the morning room-temp coffee is ready. Add milk and ice cubes and it’s just as good as the expensive stuff for about thirty cents.
Homemade chimichurri sauce. Oh yeah, I’m kicking it up a notch from 3-ingredient iced coffee. For Andrew’s birthday this year my mom bought him some nice steaks. We finally grilled them this weekend and dipped them in a homemade chimichurri sauce. There are dozens of recipes online, but it’s basically a combo of parsley, cilantro, garlic, red pepper flakes, pepper, red/white wine vinegar, and olive oil, all blended up until it has the consistency of pesto. Lovely for a very flavorful dipping sauce for steak, or, as I made for the husband last night, a steak/caremelized onion/goat cheese quessadilla.
Babies! I got to spend quality time with my favorite 9-month old on Sunday, and then my friend Jessica’s cute cute baby K today. Talking with their parents about how babies make you wake up at 7 am even on the weekends makes me appreciate not having them even more!
Gingko Gardens. This morning when I woke up my front yard (I use that word loosely, it’s 45 square feet) was full of: weeds, weeds, more weeds, a few snapdragons, dead daffodils, and two hydrangea bushes. We spent about 25 minutes and $80 at Gingko Gardens, a great little neighborhood plant and flower store, and about 2 hours weeding and planting at home, and our yard is now full of lovely perennials that should bloom and grow all year long. We got several kind of phlox, lamb’s ear, something else I can’t remember, and herbs like thyme, lavender, basil, and rosemary. The best part was that we got completely awesome customized expert help in picking out each plant and where to place it.
$5 sunglasses. I never, ever wear sunglasses unless I’m at the beach. (I’m just finicky like that.) But this weekend I bought two pairs because they were only $5 at NY & Company. I also picked up some tank tops, a beachy skirt, and new sandals. Vacation begins in less than ten days…
It was a lovely weekend, fun, productive, and restful. How was yours?
Re: your iced coffee.
As a barista, I shuddered to think of you drinking coffee that’s sat with the grinds overnight in a french press(supposed to be a 4 minute “brew” at most). If you like the way it tastes, then I guess that’s good, but I there are much better ways to make homemade iced coffee if you’d like. You can double brew (ie, 2x coffee grounds, same amount of water) so that when you pour the hot coffee over ice, it doesn’t dilute it all. Or, you can make the coffee ahead of time and refrigerate it. You can make several batches of coffee to cool and then just add ice and milk in the mornings. I wouldn’t let the “pre-made” coffee last longer than few days.
written by Holly
May 26th, 2009 @ 9:09 am
I have managed to stave off the siren call of caffeine, but sugar is still my vice. Pick your poison, right?
I only buy cheapo sunglasses because I usually lose them immediately. But my current ones were $4 at Forever 21, and I’ve had them for over a year, which must be some kind of record.
written by RA
May 26th, 2009 @ 9:29 am
jealous of your weekend! it sounds amazing
written by Jessica
May 26th, 2009 @ 11:06 am
Ooh, I’d love to see pictures of your front yard! I’m in the process of ripping out my entire front yard and planting perennials and the whole picking out what to plant where thing is totally fun but also a wee bit overwhelming.
written by sprizee
May 26th, 2009 @ 11:17 am
It rained and poured here all weekend so we were not a productive (so weird for Colorado!) Glad you had a great weekend. I’ll make you a delicious iced coffee when you come to visit, mine can’t be beat!
written by the ambitious mrs
May 26th, 2009 @ 11:21 am
I only buy cheap sunglasses because I can never hang on to them for longer than a season–they’re always broken or lost by the end of the summer! Sounds like a fantastic weekend
written by Angela Noelle
May 26th, 2009 @ 1:10 pm
Since I have a Tassimo it’s really hard for me to make my own iced coffee… lol
But I need to figure something out because I am spending way too much money on coffee!
written by Julie
May 26th, 2009 @ 1:11 pm
hey I saw those $5 sunglasses at NY&Co when I was there on Friday! Too bad I already bought a pair a couple of weeks ago when they were $9. A good deal, but not as good as $5!
written by Jen
May 26th, 2009 @ 2:14 pm
Mmmm…iced coffee. And what a cute name for a plant – lamb’s ear!
I had a lovely 5-day weekend and now time for a 2-day work week. I like how I planned that!
written by lesli
May 26th, 2009 @ 7:23 pm
that sounds like a perfect long weekend to me. love it all. and yay for cute babies!
haha.
written by katelin
May 27th, 2009 @ 1:16 pm
I recently bought some of the syrup they use to flavor lattes, and that helps to stay out of Starbucks too!
written by Jackie
May 27th, 2009 @ 1:53 pm
I think there may be lamb’s ear in the bridesmaids bouquets! Also, definitely lavender. I want to see pics of your front yard!
written by alexa
June 2nd, 2009 @ 6:08 am