Hey, hey, hey there!
I don’t think I can possibly express just how perfect this weekend was, but with words and pictures, I’m going to try.
The weekend kind of/ didn’t really start on Friday night. “Friday night” should be understood as the loosest form of the word, because as soon as Russ got here, he fell asleep. At 9:00 pm. So yeah, Friday wasn’t anything crazy, but we were both exhausted and it gave us some energy for the rest of the weekend!
We were up fairly early on Saturday morning and started the day with a workout together. I did 20 minutes of cardio, while Russ used the weight machines and then we did a body-weight cardio workout for a little under an hour. I don’t know if it was the workout, or all the dancing from the night before, but my back, abs, and shoulders were sore on Sunday.
After our workout, we decided to get brunch before showers. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that it was “Preview Day” on campus, so the food in the dining hall was like 325 times better than it usually is. SURPRISE! The food is never this good! We took advantage and each had multiple plates. Some had more than others…
His:
Hers:
Cottage cheese with orange slices, scrambled eggs with parmesan cheese and tomatoes, mushrooms and a baguette slice, (x2)
Stuffed and happy, we got dressed and headed out for a short hike. I did say that I wanted to enjoy the fall weather, didn’t I? We originally planned to go apple picking, but the orchard is pretty far and picking apples from the supermarket is almost as much fun. Am I right?!
Russ complained a lot, but I think he enjoyed walking through the woods just a little bit, even if he won’t admit it. I, on the other hand, love the leaves and the air and the sunshine. It makes me sad to think that the leaves changing is already mostly behind us. Sniff.
After our mini-hike, Russ and I drove to Temple were we spent much of the day doing homework. You would think I would be able to get a whole lot done in 4.5 hours, but I was so distracted by everything other than the work that I needed to do. So I did the natural thing…I took a nap 🙂
Russ woke me up around 8:30 and we quickly got dressed to go meet up with some friends and bar-hopping. SATURDAY NIGHT WAS SO MUCH FUN!
We met up with our friend Ancy, and her boyfriend, Chris. I haven’t seen Ancy in months, so it was great to see her and get to know Chris! We started the night at Banana Leaf, a BYOB Malasian restaurant in downtown Philadelphia. The restaurant was absolutely packed, which is always a great sign. I was starving by the time we got there and was happy to start the meal with appetizers. We ordered two order of Homemade Roti Canai, which is like a stretchy, doughy pancake. It came with a curry dipping sauce that I would have slurped from the bowl, but you know, some people don’t think it’s appropriate.
For the main meal, we ordered three entrees and shared them. Russ and I ordered a sort of spicy basil pad thai dish with huuuuuge noodles, as well as an eggplant dish. Ancy and Chris ordered shrimp lo mein.
(Excuse the iPhone photos) Everything was so good and we really had no problem finishing all the food. Although we were stuffed at the end of dinner, we all knew that it was completely necessary to try the fried ice cream with fried bananas.
Oh. my. gosh. I had never had fried ice cream before Saturday night, but I’m not sure that regular ice cream will ever be the same again.
We hung out for awhile, talking and finishing our drinks before making our way over to Rumor, a club in downtown Philadelphia. After we walked in, we realized the cover was $20 (!!!) so we walked out. $20?! That better be an AMAZING club for a price like that! Luckily, Pulse, which is basically next door had no cover and a dance floor. Check and check. We stayed there for a while, dancing and being crazy. My friend Angela and her boyfriend, Michael, joined us and it was so, so, so fun. It was news to me to find out that people were dressing up for Halloween this weekend?! Isn’t Halloween…next weekend? At first, I thought there were some really strange looking people in the bar, but I quickly realized they were in costumes. We saw two people dressed as crash dummies and I really liked their costumes! Russ and I still don’t know what we’re going to be…Chris, Ancy, Russ, Me, Angela, Michael
Anyway, Ancy and Chris decided to head home after Pulse, but Russ and I stayed out with Angela and Michael. I know, WHO AM I?! I was able to keep my eyes open later than usual! I’m glad we stayed out, because we had a lot of fun with them, too. We tried to get into Howl at the Moon, but it was too late, so we stopped in Bar. Think dive bar, fully equipped with a ton of cigarette smoke, grungy people and cheap drinks. Welcome to Bar. And we loved it! We hung out there, talking over a couple more drinks and then tried to get home. I say “tried” because it proved to be quite difficult to find a cab home.
We succeeded, eventually, and made our way back here. It was 3:30 before I got to bed. That’s the latest that I’ve stayed up in…years? I’m a wimp when it comes to staying up so this is a major accomplishment! I grudgingly set my alarm for 8 a.m. because we had a big Pumpkin Brunch planned with the family. More than anything, I wanted to help my dad put everything together. So, completely sleep deprived and with a hungover boyfriend in tow, we headed back to my house.
Russ immediately went back to bed, but Dad and I got to work putting together The Big Pumpkin Brunch.
Don’t believe me? The Menu:
- Pumpkin Pancakes
- Pumpkin Waffles
- Pumpkin scones
- Pumpkin Coffee
- Fresh Apple Cidar
- Homemade Pumpkin Butter
- Homemade Grape-Apple Jelly
Ahhh, I think I’m pumpkin-ed out. So much pumpkin. So much yumminess.
- More than the food, what I really enjoy about Sunday Brunch is getting to spend time with my dad, working on something together. Something that is all ours. Making waffles and pancakes and scones together is so much fun, and makes me so incredibly happy. I think it makes him happy, too.
As for the food itself, the waffles and scones came from a mix made by Trader Joe’s. We picked up the mixes a couple of weeks ago. I wasn’t a huge fan of the scones, but I liked the waffles. I still think homemade is so much butter, but they were good nonetheless. The pancakes were made with real pumpkin from my Dad’s farm, so naturally, they were awesome. And the pumpkin butter- there is nothing better than simple pumpkin and sugar. The jelly? As a family that enjoys twigs and berries, it was perfect. We enjoyed that fact that there were, quite literally, twigs in our jelly. Mmmmmm!
After brunch, I meant to take an hour long nap and then slept for four hours. There is nothing better than sweat pants, a cool fall afternoon, no homework to do, my bed, my family, and hours to just sleep. It was great. When I woke up, I went out for a two mile walk to try to take some pictures of the last of the fall flowers. The next time I’m home, they won’t be the same.
Dinner was ready when I got home. Homemade eggplant parm, made with fresh tomatoes, eggplant and mozzarella. So, so good. Served with crusty bread and a side salad. And the best people in the entire world.
Seriously-a great weekend that once again reminds me of how lucky I am to have these people in my life, and do all of these fun things.