Monday, April 21, 2025
It’s Monday and that means it’s time to link up with Sarah and Holly. Let’s go back to Thursday. I was off Friday so Thursday was like my Friday and I treated myself to an Egg McMuffin – no butter, no cheese, add an extra egg. I didn’t miss the cheese and butter as much as I thought I would.
We had houseguests coming and I snapped a picture of my baby. My hall bath has not been this uncluttered for some time so it deserved a moment of appreciation. I still love the stuff I chose. Oh, and I added a funeral plant after I took this photo.
I got home from work at 4:00 on Thursday and they were coming at 5:45. So, I decided to finish cleaning and do tapas instead of trying to cook a full dinner. I had strawberries, lemon slices for the drink, Easter kisses, jellybeans, manchego and havarti cheese, serrano ham from Spain, little crackers shaped like baguettes, olives, pistachios, potato chips, and stuff for pan con tomate. They have been living in Vermont this year so I think they appreciated the Spanish stuff and they ate it up!
Rafa and Pili are the parents and they are 43. Gabi is the little boy and he is 7 and in first grade.
We sat on the patio from 6:30 to 9:00 and it was lovely. When they first arrived we all walked around on the playground with Eddie Otis and they could stretch their legs from being in the car for a couple of hours. They drove from Vermont, but made stops to visit friends along the way.
While we were sitting at the table chatting, I ordered pizza for our dinner. They had not had pizza recently and love it so they were really happy.
Rafa taught Spanish at my school in 2007 with a special program from Spain and we instantly became friends. He is exactly 10 years younger than me. We kept in touch all these years and this is the first time he has visited since!
Friday morning we just ate breakfast at home. They were super easy houseguests. Then, we drove around, looked at the river, went to my sister in law’s boat business, saw waterfront park and talked about how high the flood had been and saw remnants, saw some places of interest in the downtown…
ate lunch at a hot chicken place in NULU and then shopped and looked around. Gabi couldn’t wait to get back to new best friend Eddie Otis (it was mutual!). We found out Eddie is good with kids.
We shared these and they loved them!
We visited Clayton & Crume because he also taught one of the founders!
We got a special tour of the upstairs which used to be Ali’s gym!
If you are a Real Housewives of Beverly Hills fan, Clayton and Crume just visited Kemosabe in Aspen and are selling some goods there!
I talk about this a lot, but it’s such a cool story. Clay and his roommate from college started making those leather embroidery fraternity belts while in college and now it’s hit the big time!
We asked a passerby for a group photo!
We came home and Gabi got to play with EO again and then we walked to Ballard and it was time to say goodbye.
EO says, “don’t leave, new friend!”
It was time for me to put my feet up. For dinner we had leftover pizza and the salad I forgot to make for the company! Oops!
Saturday morning I started a new book. It’s kind of like Eleanor Oliphant if she were an air traffic controller.
I took my iced coffee with protein (proffee) out to do errands with me. I also took a baggie of Fiber One cereal. This was several hours after my breakfast and I think it’s good to be prepared in case you get hungry. I find it very hard to get my protein in without a 30 g shake.
One of my errands was Easter baskets!
Tom’s:
Mason’s:
My sister Molly said it looked like a basket for an 80 year old man. What can I say? Mason is an old soul.
Jack’s:
I filled my bird feeders and had lots of visitors when I sat outside in the afternoon. It was going to rain and the air was nice and cool. I spent a few hours reading.
Then, it was time for three of us to go see the other one in Macbeth! It was in a really cool old chapel and was BYOB so I brought red wine – communion vibes. But, Tom and I ate a baggie of jellybeans, too. I just don’t enjoy Shakespeare. There I said it.
We got home really late and I got up later than normal. We woke up to a beautiful Easter day. I had lots of thoughts of my mom.
I started a brisket. I also bought a ham.
One of my Saturday errands was a Kroger pick up.
I sent this to Tom Saturday – forgive me in advance.
Hope you had a nice weekend and a happy Easter if you celebrate!
Amy
P.S. – I think WordPress (my blog host) had a commenting problem on Friday. When I still had no comments by 8:30 a.m. I started thinking I had offended someone and I felt very unloved. I have my regulars that comment first and I started to be worried about them, too. Are they ok? Anyway, sorry about that! I think it is working again!
Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa 
You are such a great and thoughtful hostess. Looks like such a lovely time together. Love the Easter baskets – and the Peppa Puzzle 🤣
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Aww thank you! You were able to comment! It might be only fellow WordPress people! Arggghhh – still having problems.
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I hate when WP throws me for a loop!
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I couldn’t comment on Friday :(. How fun and nice of you to host friends. It can be awkward at first when you haven’t seen someone in a long time but it sounds like if this visit contained any of that, it was gone instantly. We had great weather for sitting out and reading as well. Love the pictures of your boys’ baskets! I forgot to include pics of my kids’ baskets. I do love selecting items that they’ll love! The old man comment is funny- I put Barbie dolls in my girls’ so it may seem that I was trying to infantilize them but really I was not!! Have a great Monday!
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Shoot! I’m sorry! So true and I was nervous. It turned out that I didn’t need to be. This weekend was so nice! And, we thought it would be a wash out. Tom made major progress on our deck.
That is funny to have the contrast between the Barbies and the adult child things. I am sure they loved them!
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I couldn’t comment on Friday on a couple of blogs, so figured it was on the technical end of things. That Peppa Pig ‘puzzle’ lol. Looks like you had a nice couple of days with your guests and enjoyed time together. We had gorgeous weather all weekend which was very welcome. My girls would be happy to see Stroopwafels and tea in an Easter basket too. Have a nice week!
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Yes! I hate when technology doesn’t work. Put that Peppa pig in my quiche! We really did. Ahhh I love spring. Right? I thought that was a nice adult Easter basket touch.
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I tried to comment on Friday and couldn’t. Happy Easter! Looks like all of you had a good time visiting with old friends. I love doing Easter baskets! I can get creative with them. Have a great week!
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Sorry about that! Thank you! We did! I really didn’t do much on the baskets this year – I phoned it in! But, they enjoyed them.
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I wondered if you ever got the comment issue resolved. I’m glad it’s working today! That Peppa Pig jigsaw puzzle made me LOL! What a great weekend with your friends and doing other fun things. I don’t enjoy Shakespeare either, but I did somewhat enjoy the Comedy of Errors play I saw on the square last fall with a couple of my friends. I feel bad for saying that, but it’s true! I love a play and culture, but I need it to be more modern. This doesn’t surprise me about Eddie Otis loving kids; he’s such a good and handsome boy! I am sure your friend’s wife was head over heels in love with him by the time they left. I hope you have a great day, friend! Reentry may be difficult today. I’m counting down until Friday when I get to hug you!
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Awww the hug comment made me tear up.
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The Peppa puzzle….LMAO!!!!!
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I love that y’all had wine and jellybeans :). So fun you have Easter baskets for everyone. I’m so glad the hosting went well with your guests. Looks like you did great! Enjoy your Monday.
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I don’t know how anyone could dislike you! Lol!! I figured you were having issues. That’s awesome that you have remained friends with Rafa. Looks like you had a great weekend with his family (and EO too!)
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It sounds like you had a wonderful visit with your company. I don’t enjoy Shakespeare either (the only time I did was with & Juliet which is basically poking fun at Shakespeare!). I couldn’t comment on ANYONE’S WordPress blogs on Friday morning so I think it was just a weird glitch that seems to have resolved itself.
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What a fabulous hostess you are and glad that Easter was terrific too for you!
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I was able to comment, but I don’t know if you got it on your end. WordPress has been giving me fits! Loved the photos of your guests, especially with Eddie Otis! My kids get Easter baskets, too. At first, I thought those were really little puzzle pieces! Have a fantastic week!
https://marshainthemiddle.com
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That Egg McMuffin looks so good and I love your bathroom, especially the shower curtain!How lovely to have houseguests. I imagine that they loved the tapas. It sounds like you had a great time together!Good job with the Easter baskets, they look fab!
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You are an awesome hostess, and I’m so glad EO likes kids. We had family over on Sunday, and I was a proud mama when Mollie didn’t jump on anyone. You are an extra nice wife to make an Easter basket for Tom. (I haven’t done that in awhile for M.) I try to like Shakespeare because my daughter loves it, but it’s hard. The basket for Mason made me smile…my kids would both love that too. See you soon!!!
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Great weekend, so glad your houseguests were easy! Looks like they had fun and EO was in heaven with Gabi.
The Peppa Pig puzzle cracked me up!
xo,
Kellyann
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