My Inner Shakti

finding strength in everyday things

Weekend Report

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Friday

Friday followed the usual formula with a couple of exceptions.

I made a Trader Joe’s + Marianos run to grab groceries for the week. After coming home and putting everything away, I meal prepped by making some pesto (my own recipe), The Chutney Life crack sauce, and Cookie + Kate enchilada sauce.

I then showered, got ready, and did some work while waiting for Vishnu to get ready. Ready for what you ask?

Welll…while night float sucks, there is the advantage of going on Friday day dates, which is exactly what we did. Vishnu made a reservation at 3 Arts Club Cafe inside Restoration Hardware a couple of weeks ago. You guys, let’s just talk about the space. It’s beautiful and really open and airy. I really felt like we were sitting in a European cafe. The food was equally good. I got a soft scramble plate with avocado and sourdough toast. And I couldn’t pass by on a oat milk latte, so I ordered one of those too!

We then walked around Restoration Hardware designing our future (like waaaay in the future) home. To be honest, most of the furniture didn’t jive with me. Just not my style. Oh well. I guess we’ll have to pretend shop somewhere else. Haha!

After we got home, I headed to my annual doctor’s appointment (all good here)! Then I came back home and watched the latest episode of A Million Little Pieces. Man, I didn’t love this all that much for the first season, but I’m so glad I stuck with it. It’s so so so good!

Then I picked up K and we followed our normal weekday evening routine – play, eat, bath, books, sleep!

I then cleaned up and did the dishes before crashing on the couch!

SATURDAY

Saturday started a little earlier than I hoped – 5:45 am. And nothing could convince K to ‘wait for the yellow light’ [on his alarm clock].

So we started our day, and by the time Vishnu got home, we were almost ready to head out to the Children’s Museum. If you’re thinking, “How can you go to one place so many times?,” you really need to check out your local museum. This place is amazing and has so many different areas to explore. Anyways, because I wanted Vishnu to sleep for a bit, K and I headed out to the museum around 8:45 and stayed until about 11:15.

Once we got home, we played for a bit before eating lunch and going down for a nap (all K!).

While he napped, I did a Barre3 online workout I found on YouTube. It felt so good to move in a different way again. Love me some Barre3!

Once K was up, Vishnu played him so I could prep dinner for the boys…enchiladas! I used Cookie + Kate’s sauce, my own sweet potato + onion filling, and The Chutney Life’s Crack Sauce (as a topping). You guys! This simple dish turned out so so good!

I then headed out to my sister’s place for a belated Galetine’s get together with some of my favs! We talked, we laughed, we ate, and we watched To All the Boys: PS I Still Love You. Such a fun night and a reminder that we need to schedule these more regularly.

I didn’t go to bed until almost 12:30 am. Who am I?!

Sunday

Well that late bedtime didn’t serve me too well come morning. K was up at like 6:04 am. Was really hoping he would sleep until at least 7, but that was a no go.

We spent our morning playing, making pancakes, and generally wreaking havoc until it was time to go to soccer class. Vishnu and K headed out for that while I went down to our gym to work out. I then showered and did laundry.

K was super tired after soccer, so you can only imagine how the next 1.5 hours went. Lots of meltdowns, whining, etc. In fact, I made him this delicious plate of food for lunch, including pineapple, a toasted PB sandwich, and PB + banana bites, and he ate…the pineapple. I decided to put him down for an extra early nap because the crying would not stop and we couldn’t figure out why he was so crank (other than the fact that he was obviously tired). That was the best decision because he passed out immediately.

After nap Kaiden was happy and eager to get to the park since it was a beautiful day in Chicago. Once Vishnu got home from the gym, we made our way over and met our friends who then came over for dinner.

Toddlers are fascinating, I tell ya! Kaiden had a somewhat ‘off’ evening after a great weekend. He wasn’t himself and we have no idea what to attribute that too.

Ah well, tomorrow’s a new day…

Hope y’all had a great weekend!

Weekend Shenanigans

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Oh man! What a weekend. I’m wiped but happy! This one wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, and while there were several ‘I want to pull my hair out’ moments, there were plenty of fun/sweet ones too!

With that, here’s the breakdown of our weekend shenanigans.

Friday

So Friday started as it usually does – Trader Joe’s and the library. I got two new books and am already half way through one. It’s so good…will definitely share more soon!

I came home worked out, made these muffins because I know Vishnu loves them, and made some chicken fingers for V + K. Guess who wasn’t a fan?!

Anyways, Vishnu and I were supposed to grab lunch together on Friday afternoon, but when I went to wake him up (he’s working nights right now), he looked so out of it and tired. I suggested that we cancel and eat lunch at home.

I then watched the latest episode of ‘A Million Little Pieces.’ SO SO SO GOOD!

I headed to K’s school around 4:30p for Kaiden’s class Valentine’s Day party. It was like most of the others, except this time, K was more social and actually wanted to do the activities. He also ate a ginormous cookie, which totally ruined his appetite for dinner. Ay ay ay!

The rest of the evening was spent doing a little bit of work and reading.

Saturday

The first half of Saturday was a lot of fun. Kaiden and I woke up and hung out for a bit until it was time to leave for the Children’s Museum, where he had an absolute blast! He ran around so much – thankfully, it wasn’t too crowded either. We saw his school buddy Roger there too, and the two of them had so much fun climbing and running around the castle exhibit.

I read some during K’s afternoon nap, which is when Vishnu came home. I told him to stay at my sister’s place after work so he could sleep. Worked out perfectly since my sister and BIL are out of town this weekend.

The rest of the day was spent playing and whining and laughing and crying…rinse and repeat!

Once K was down, Vishnu and I settled down to watch Parasite. You guys! This movie was so good on so many different levels. Definitely a must watch. Vishnu said it was now on his top 5 favorite movie list. It’s THAT good!

Sunday

Sunday looked a lot like Saturday, except sub soccer with the museum!

When K went down for his nap, so did I. I was SO tired…like couldn’t keep my eyes open tired. I think it had something to do with not sleeping well the night before. I remember waking up a few times…and once I was so wide awake, I thought about just going out in the living room and reading some until K woke up. It was 3:45a. Glad I decided to give sleep another chance.

Like I said, this day looked a lot like Saturday. Not much to report!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend!

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Weekend Tales

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I love reading about people’s weekends. Mainly because it gives me some ideas for how to better structure ours!

I was pretty regular about posting about ours (mainly because I love reading back about how we spent our time), but the Sunday night blogging habit dropped off. I’m hoping to pick it back up whenever I can because I know future Par is really looking forward to these posts!

With that, I present to you our weekend…

Friday

Friday was a pretty productive day. I dropped K off at school, headed to TJs and the library, came home/put away all the groceries, watched A Million Little Things, went to a HIIT class at the gym, showered/ate lunch, went to Costco and Target, napped for an hour, cleaned a bit, and prepped for dinner.

That is Friday in a nutshell!

The rest of the day involved Magnatiles, a spaghetti dinner, and Instant Family

Saturday

Saturday morning started a bit later than usual. Kaiden didn’t wake up until 7:00!!! What a great way to start the day!

Then, before lunch, we had two Care.com sitters coming over to meet us. I’ll share more about the who, what, when where, and why about Care.com, but both sitters were great!

Kaiden attempted to nap for a full hour in the afternoon, but he just wasn’t sleepy enough to actually fall asleep!

Let’s just say the rest of the day was a little hit or miss with Mr. Kaiden. He was either really happy or in a mood.

Vishnu and I debated whether or not we should go to dinner with my sister and BIL as planned because of Kaiden’s mood, and ultimately decided we would because we really wanted to see A&A and we really wanted to try Rickshaw Republic, a new to us restaurant.

Thankfully, dinner turned out fine. K behaved for the most part and even ate some food (ha!). In fact, he was good enough that we walked over to Insomnia Cookie so he could have a coooooookie! You guys should’ve seen him. He was literally in heaven.

My sister and Adarsh came back to our place afterwards where we were all met with Kaiden’s sugar high…they hung out for a couple of hours towards the end of which I fell asleep on the couch (oops!).

Sunday

Sunday was just as if not more relaxing than Saturday. Except Kaiden woke up at 6 am (beats 5 am!). We played and ate and then it was time to go to soccer class. My little soccer player (that’s what he calls himself) got ready and headed out with Vishnu while I used that time to go to the gym and prep our dinner (My Heart Beets Butter Chicken except with tofu).

Then we had our last sitter come by to meet us right before lunch (she was awesome too).

Kaiden ate/played with his lunch and then went down for a nap. Boy was tired – no nap Saturday, earlier wake up time on Sunday + soccer!

The rest of the day was spent indoors since there was a snow storm brewing outside!

Vishnu started his last (at least in residency) 2 weeks of nights, so our days will look and feel a little different for the next 14 or so days, but we’ll get through it!

I hope y’all had a great weekend!

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Weekend Recap – Food, Fun, and Whines

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I haven’t done a ‘weekend recap’ type post in a while. Mostly because I have no energy to sit down on a Sunday night and recount everything we did. This weekend I committed to blogging a little bit every night so that my Sunday night, all I need to do is put the finishing touches on this bad boy and hit schedule.

Still didn’t get my s*** together enough to post on Monday morning. As K would say, ‘ay, ay, ay!’

Anyways, let’s dive right in…

Friday

Friday was a lot of fun. The morning started the way most Friday’s do. I got up, made breakfast, got Kaiden ready, got ready myself, and went to Trader Joe’s. After coming home and putting all my groceries away, I put some lentils on the stove for the falafels my sister and I planned to make for lunch. I also made a batch of these blender muffins…sooo good! I then headed to the gym for a 30 minute HIIT class. #sohard!

My sister was over 30 minutes after I got home from the gym, which gave me some time to shower and relax. After she got here, we started making lunch. She tackled the actual falafels (for the sandwiches), while I got the veggies ready for roasting and made the sauce.

When we finally sat down to eat (my BIL was also over at this point), I was in heaven. This was such a satisfying and delicious meal. The falafels themselves were so flavorful, and the sauce is perfection – so creamy, a little tangy, and just finger licking good! A must make recipe IMO!

After lunch, we headed to our annual optometry appointments. No change in my prescription…phew!

After we got home, I made Chocolate Covered Katie’s Deep Dish Brownie Pie. You guys. Make this. It’s so good. You can’t taste the black beans…I promise!

Then it was time to pick Kaiden up from school. When we got home, he was so excited to play with his masa, masi, and dada. We ended the night just the two of us since my sister and BIL went home, and Vishnu went to his program’s holiday party.

And that was Friday in a nutshell!

Saturday

Looking back, Saturday started off a little weird with K, but I just assumed it was something that would pass and that we should just roll with our plans. Vishnu even called it out as we were getting ready. Like, “K doesn’t seem like himself. He’s extra whiny.” I figured we should keep with our plans and he would adjust like he usually does.

I was wrong. We went to the library to return books, play and pick out some new ones. About 30 minutes in, Kaiden started acting a little too rowdy. We reminded him where we were (the library…shhhh!) and what would happen if he continued acting the way he was (re: we would leave). Guess what…we ended up leaving with a screaming toddler in tow.

He ended up calming down in the car a bit, so we headed to his haircut appointment. The library must not be his thing because he was a gem for the duration of his haircut.

We got home, gave K a bath, ate lunch, and then napped…all of us!

We spent the rest of the afternoon/evening playing, dancing, and hanging out. Once Kaiden was down for the night, Vishnu and I finished the last two episodes of The Americans. If you need/want a new show to watch, make it this one (it’s on Amazon Prime). SO GOOD!

One note – make this Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup if you own an Instant Pot. It tastes like Thanksgiving in a bowl!

Sunday

Sunday started with soccer (K still loving it) and a trip to Costco (also still loving Costco).

And again, when K napped, mama napped. I was tired!

Our afternoon/evening was filled with books, music, a little TV, and some dinnertime fun with salads!

Overall, it was a fun weekend with little bits of whines and cries! Man, toddler emotions are just…so tiring! And I can only imagine how K feels…haha!

Oh well. It’s a new week. Let’s make it a good one!

Weekend Rehash – LDW: One Good Thing a Day

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Labor Day weekend 2019 is done and done! And it was a good one. Lots of family time, lots of friend time, lots of delicious food, and lots of fun.

But you guys know me. I like to keep it real. While the weekend was a great one, there were some tantrums and early wake ups. But that’s normal and expected when you live with a 2 year-old! 🙂

With that, let’s dive right in…

FRIDAY

On Friday night, I got ready and headed to Beatnik on the River to meet up some of my favorite Chicago Instagram mamas. It’s always interesting meeting people for the first time, especially when you’ve connected online. You know so much about them already! In fact, I actually knew two of the girls from previous play dates/meet ups.

Anyways, we had a lot of fun chatting on Beatnik’s riverfront patio. The drinks were awesome and the space wasn’t too crowded.

We then headed to Rooh for dinner. You guys, if you live in Chicago or are visiting, this place should definitely be on your list. The food was fantastic. In my own personal words, the food can be described as Indian with a twist. Think Tandoori Mushrooms on Upma Polenta. So so delicious.

I got home around 12:30, went to bed a little before 1, and K was up at 5:20. Fun times all around!

SATURDAY

Despite the early wake up cry, Saturday was a good day.

The highlight was dinner at RPM with friends (their son goes to school with K). It was there first time and my tenth, and I was so happy to introduce them to my favorite Chicago restaurant. I, of course, ordered the eggplant parm (to share). It’s seriously the best!

Kaiden and their little guy stayed at their place and were watched by one of their former teachers (one of K’s favorites). They had such a good time! K and R were giggling like crazy when we got back. About what? Who knows!

SUNDAY

Vishnu worked a 12 hour shift on Sunday, so it was mostly just me and K all day.

Until my sister came over that is!

We had a blast with Aekta Masi – playing and dancing and laughing! It was a nice little break for mama too. Always appreciate the extra helping hands!

MONDAY

We were all home on Monday, so that was a nice pace of change!

If K was writing this post, he’d say Monday was great because he got to go to the park twice!

I thought it was fun because of my fantasy football draft! It’s held on Labor Day every year, and there’s always such good food and decor because my friend Thea is a huge football fan, and she wants to make the draft as fun as possible for all of us! It was so fun catching up with friends too. That’s probably my most favorite part…aside from the delicious food!

And that’s a wrap on Labor Day weekend 2019! I hope you guys had a great one as well. 🙂

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Weekend Rehash – Home Sweet Atlanta!

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As I’m typing this post, I’m sitting at my parents house with my laptop in my lap and my feet propped up. It feels good to be home!

Is it just me or do you guys also feel a little more dependent when you go home? Like I run the show in some ways in Chicago, but when I’m home, I ask my mom for her opinion about every little decision.

Anyways, we’ve had a great start to our visit. Lots of outdoor play and delicious food.

Let’s backtrack a little and rehash the weekend!

FRIDAY

I know I sound like a broken record, but Friday started off in the usual way. As soon as Vishnu and Kaiden left for school and work, I headed down to our apartment gym for a quick workout. I then made my way to Trader Joe’s and Target.

As soon as I put everything away, I got a message from my sister giving me the green light to pick her up at Carmax. There’s a bit of a backstory to all of this…instead of retyping it all here, I’m going to direct you to today’s post on Instagram. So many emotions!

And here’s to my sister and BIL buying their first car together!

I quickly got my act together upon getting home and made food for the week for Vishnu – lasagna, My Heart Beet’s Butter Chicken, and rice. All set for the week!

I also packed on and off throughout the day. As I was putting things in our bag, I thought about unpacking and audibly groaned. Ugh!

The rest of the day/night followed the usual flow – playtime, dinner, bath time, reading/getting K to calm down, bed time, and a little downtime with Vishnu.

SATURDAY

Saturday morning started at 6 am because we wanted to be out the door and on our way to the airport at 7:45. Thankfully, we managed to do just that.

I plan to share my tips and tricks for travelling with a two year old (when toddlers get their own seats) in a separate blog post, but let’s just say our <2 hour flight had plenty of ups and downs. The downs mostly revolved around the fact that K wanted to sit in my lap vs. in his own seat. Not great when the seat belt sign is on.

Anyways, we eventually made it out of the plane, on the train, up the elevator and to my parents who were happily waiting for us. Then came the one hour drive home. Haha!

By the time we got home, I was so tired. I fell asleep on the living room floor! My mom woke me up in time for my pedicure appointment. #muchneeded

The rest of the evening included badminton in the backyard and Zheel’s delicious Spinach Dhokla that my mom and ba whipped up. A must try recipe if you’re a dhokla fan (and even if you’re not!).

SUNDAY

Kaiden was up and ready to go at 7:30 (YAY!!!). We played and hung out on the shaded part of my parent’s patio until my in-laws arrived. They came to spend the day with Kaiden.

Sunday can be summed up in one word – FUN and lots of it. With all four of his grandparents present (plus his great grandparents), Kaiden was getting spoiled from all sides. He danced, played, ran around, kicked balls, took a 1.5 hour nap…rinse and repeat!

Here’s to an even better week ahead! Happy Monday. 🙂

Weekend Rehash – Family Time

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What an awesome weekend! Like I mentioned in Friday’s post, Niel and Neelam, my BIL and his girlfriend, visited, and we had a blast.

Let’s start from the beginning…

FRIDAY

Friday started off with the usual routine – drop K off at school, work out, Trader Joe’s run.

But then for 1.5 hours, I deviated from the norm and met up a blog reader and new friend, Mira. We met up for a coffee and probably could’ve chatted for another hour. We talked about everything from new motherhood to mom guilt to making mom friends to everything in between. It was such a refreshing meet-up because we were on the same wave length about so much. I’m so happy we made the time to meet. Here’s to next time and more authentic friendships.

I spent the rest of my afternoon cleaning and prepping dinner (lasagna!). Vishnu got home a little earlier than normal, so we hung out before it was time to get Kaiden and before N&N arrived.

The rest of the evening was spent eating, playing, and talking. Even I went to bed a lot later than usual!

SATURDAY

Saturday morning started with made from scratch pancakes (sharing the recipe soon).

We then got ready and headed to the post office to submit an application for K’s passport. He’s doing some international travel later this year!

After finishing up there, we got some coffee, walked around the River Walk, and then headed to Sienna Tavern for brunch (so yum!).

Kaiden fell asleep on the walk home for like five minutes which obviously means he didn’t have to nap at all the rest of the day. Grrrr…

It all worked out because we rented a boat for the afternoon with Niel, Neelam, my sister and my BIL, so while K was tired, he still rallied. If you’re ever in Chicago, I highly recommend renting a pontoon boat and heading out on the river. And guess who captained our boat?! ME! My sister took over towards the end because my back hurt, but it was a ton of fun!

We planned on playing some games after K went to bed, but our Door Dash order never showed after 1.5 hours, so the evening went a little south in terms of that. Still a fun day overall!

SUNDAY

Vishnu and N&N took Kaiden to the park in the morning so I could clean, cook, and have some alone time.

Luckily, Kaiden took a 2.5 hour nap which means the rest of us did as well. This mama was tired!

We then scratched our afternoon plans to visit the beach and headed out to get some gelato instead. Perfect idea on a hot Chicago day!

And now we start a new week with new adventures! Happy Monday, y’all.

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