girls weekendddd!!

a trio, reunited

A day late but for good reason!

Our dearly beloved Kris was out of town this weekend for a board meeting - Mr. Fancy Man! And as much as I wanted to go to Kansas City and hopefully run into our best friends, Taylor and Travis, I needed to stay home for something much more important: GIRLS WEEKEND.

As you, my readers, are mostly women (except for my dad, hi dad!), you’re all familiar with the concept. Also the name makes it pretty clear, no? There’s something euphoric and nostalgic about spending a weekend with two of your best friends, even before it begins you know that you already cherish the memories.

I’ve spent a lot of weekends with these two over the past 10 years. From Dallas, to Asheville, Nashville, La Paz, Aspen, Destin, and beyond. Even DC right after I moved 5 years ago and knew nothing about anything. Mary Charlotte moved home to DC almost a year ago and Caroline flew in from Dallas for the weekend. The plot twist: Caroline is very pregnant!!

We went into the weekend with the following outline:

This girls weekend itinerary feels quite different from what we would have planned 5 years ago. I wanted to include plenty of built in flexibility and time to just sit and yap. We didn’t want to eat every meal out or be over-booked and chasing timelines.

Highlights of our weekend:

Getting to make dinner for two of my favorite people (more on that later!). Picking up a bottle of non-alcoholic rosé for Caroline beforehand. Sitting at the table and yapping about what’s changed and feeling happy that so many things have but the important things have not. Life in two different cities, hardships, celebrations, hopes for the future, and random things we’ve learned on the internet. Kris surprising us with a floral arrangement delivery topped with a “welcome little one” balloon which prompted Caroline to give me permission to marry him (phew!). Telling a restaurant that we need a booth because ‘my friend is very pregnant.’ Picking up coffee and browsing around Crate + Barrel deciding how we’d decorate hypothetical rooms and asking why chairs are so low to the ground. MC discovering that both Caroline and I had not seen “The Princess Bride” and then promptly fixing that.

It reminded me of the saying “Joy shared is doubled, sorrow shared is halved” and how true I’ve found that to be in my adult life.

To have friends who have seen 10 different seasons of your life and are excited to be part of the next 10 is as rich as a person can get.

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Before I sign off, here’s a peak into what I made for dinner on Friday night - I will be sharing full details over the next week or so!

Chicken skewers: chicken breasts cut into chunks and marinated with honey, paprika, ras el hanout (a Moroccan seasoning blend), dijon mustard, avocado oil, and lemon juice. Grilled over medium high burners for about 12 minutes.

Baby potatoes: tossed with avocado oil, pepper, and a garlic onion salt blend. Double wrapped in foil and cooked on the grill over medium low burners for 30 minutes, flipped at the 15 minute mark.

Tzatziki: Standard recipe with greek yogurt, shredded and strained cucumber, dill, olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon zest.

Cucumber + Tomato salad: roughly cut persian cucumber, heirloom tomato, very thinly sliced red onion, mint, olive oil, lemon zest, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes.

Carrot Ribbons: carrots peeled into ribbons, tossed with homemade ranch dressing and extra dill.

Tzatziki, Chicken, Carrots, Potatoes, and Cucumber Salad

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Coming up this week:

• Salad I made on a whim that turned out to be my new favorite salad

• I want to grill salmon over a bed of lemon slices, or maybe tuna steaks

• Instagram has a new “series” feature and I need to learn how to use it

• Hopefully signing a contract with our venue and wedding planner!!!

• A trip to Dallas for Caroline’s baby shower

So if you’re not subscribed, now would be a good time to change that.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!!!

xoxo,

Anna

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ps: if you saw my BLT w/ Basil Aioli recipe in your inbox yesterday, I meant to post it but not email it so SORRY but I hope you enjoyed it anyways.