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Weekend Recap – Father’s Day 2020

written by Parita Leave a Comment

Friday

Friday, like every day, started off with a little Kaiden time. I love cuddling with him on the couch. Then I went grocery shopping. For some reason, I ended up with like 8 bags which meant four round trips to get all our stuff upstairs. I was so tired afterwards!

After putting everything away, I took a call with my boss and did some work.

The rest of the day involved a short nap (for Kaiden), some Frozen (because I just couldn’t say no to his sweet request), and pizza for dinner.

I’m sharing the ‘recipe’ on my IG page today!

Saturday

Saturday was interesting because I definitely fell asleep on the couch the night before and only made my way to our bed at 1 am. Where was Vishnu you may be wondering? He was working a moonlighting shift at the hospital. This is what happens when he isn’t home! This totally messed me up because I woke up at 6 totally exhausted and unable to fall back asleep. On top of that, I started my period. Recipe for disaster!

BUTTT…it ended up ok, other than all of us being tired. I was a little out of it most of the day. Kaiden didn’t nap, which left him cranky by the end of the day. And Vishnu was exhausted from his 14 hour shift as well.

We did end up having fun goofing around the house. Kaiden may have asked for Frozen again to which I said N.O. Ha! Luckily, he understood!

Other than that, the day was kinda…normal. Kaiden has been moving into threenager territory lately, and while it’s annoying, I still think he’s the sweetest little boy ever. I could do with a little less whining, fewer meltdowns, and no bedtime shenanigans (i.e. calling me back into his room at least 3x). But I LOVE HIM TO PIECES!

SUNDAY

Sunday, Father’s Day, started with breakfast. We then got ready to head outside to kick the soccer ball around and hunt for sticks (K’s fav thing to do right now).

We then came home and ate breakfast for lunch – hash browns, biscuits, and scrambled eggs – because our dad loves breakfast foods! A huge hit!

The rest of the day was pretty low-key. We talked to our own dads and hung out at home reading books, kicking balls, and generally wreaking havoc. HA!

I did manage to squeeze in a little nap that was much needed. Don’t know why, but even after a full night’s rest, I was EXHAUSTED!

Anyways, that was our Father’s Day 2020 weekend in a nutshell.

For those of you who may be new readers, I share a lot of our weekends in a recap style post for two reasons – 1. I’m selfish and love having a written recollection of our days with Kaiden and 2. To show that not everyone lives a glamorous life. Normal is beautiful and normal is good and normal is magical in its own way. Remember that!

Written on June 22, 2020 Related:Uncategorized, Weekend

Weekend Report – Bombshell, Art Project and an Impromptu Brunch

written by Parita Leave a Comment

I love normal, go with the flow kind of weekends. Not too hectic, no real lulls. And thankfully, this weekend was one of them!

Let’s get right into the details…

Friday

This Friday was a little different from the rest. I ran to TJs, Target, and the Library (of course!). And then I came home and ate an early lunch while catching up on the latest episode of A Million Little Things. SO SO GOOD!

Then I had a work call for about an hour.

And then I went to Costco to get our tires changed. I also shopped a little and got some pictures printed. Man I love that place!

I came home and meal prepped a little bit (creamy orzo and baked chicken) before going to get K from school.

The rest of the evening was pretty routine – play, eat, bath, books, bed.

Once K was down for the night, Vishnu and I settled in to watch Bombshell. OMG! If you haven’t seen this yet, you need to ASAP. This movie was so intense, and it totally fired me up too. Robert Ailes and Fox News are just disgusting (and that’s putting it lightly). I was ranting all the way until I closed my eyes and fell asleep. Even though it made me so mad, I definitely recommend watching it. The acting was spot on.

Saturday

Saturday started a little earlier than I would have preferred. K was up at 5:48, but when I offered to sleep on the floor next to his crib until the ‘yellow light’ came on (7:00), he laid back down. Unfortunately, he didn’t want to wait until then, so he was back up and asking to go outside at 6:20.

We played for a little bit, I made some breakfast, Vishnu woke up, and then V + K headed to the Children’s Museum. I debated going with them, but I had a few big things I wanted to get done, so I stayed home. But don’t worry I went to soccer on Sunday!

While they were away, I worked out, meal prepped, and started on a little art project we’ve been wanting to work on for a while. It’s for Kaiden’s room and involved his daycare artwork from over the past 2 years. I’ll share more in my Friday post, but I love how it all came together!

After Kaiden’s nap, he and I went to Mariano’s to pick up a few groceries I couldn’t find at Trader Joe’s. K’s been asking for chocolate ice cream for a couple of days now, and it’s not a treat we go out for often, so I grabbed Ben & Jerry’s Half Baked for the fam! It has chocolate in it, so K should be satisfied…(P.S. we haven’t opened it yet…but that’s a story for a different day).

The rest of the evening was pretty routine for a Saturday.

Sunday

Sunday morning started at 5:45 again, but this time K didn’t want to stay in his crib for that long, so we were out in the living room a little past 6. The first part of our morning was spent watching Daniel Tiger, playing with our balloons, and eating breakfast.

Then we all got ready for soccer (yes, even me!) and headed out.

Watching K on the field is so fun. His little personality really shines through. I’m excited to see him start the next class even more because that one starts to get into more skill and independent playing.

After soccer, we stood around chatting with our friends (who’s son is in Kaiden’s daycare and soccer class). Vishnu suggested we go to brunch, so the six of us walked to a nearby restaurant for a delicious meal. Surprisingly, our toddlers were fairly well behaved too!

The rest of the day was spent cooking, reading (I finished The Silent Patient – SO GOOD!), and negotiating with our little guy (they should really teach a negotiations class for parents of toddlers).

Anndddd…that was our weekend in a nutshell! Hope you had a good one. 🙂

Written on March 2, 2020 Related:Uncategorized, Weekend

Weekend Tales

written by Parita Leave a Comment

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!

Written on February 10, 2020 Related:Weekend

Weekend Recap – Food, Fun, and Whines

written by Parita Leave a Comment

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!

Written on January 13, 2020 Related:Uncategorized, Weekend

Home for the 2019 Holidays

written by Parita Leave a Comment

It’s not too late to talk about our time in Atlanta, right? I hope not because I’m doing it!

So, as I mentioned in a previous blog post, we spent the days leading up to Christmas and a few days after in Atlanta. And if I’m being honest, this was one of my favorite trips home since Kaiden was born. HE was just the best – fun, playful, and just so damn cute! Even my mom agreed that this trip was fun because he was in a good mood 99% of the time.

So K and I flew down to Atlanta the Friday before Christmas. The flight was ok, as in Kaiden didn’t nap but he was fine (just a little seat kicking, but I’ll take that over a meltdown/tantrum). My parents picked us up from the airport. It took us almost 2 hours to get home! Atlanta traffic is no joke!

Our days at my parents’ house were filled with no real schedule but lots of good food, lots of playtime, and lots of fun! I was also able to squeeze in a couple of friend dates – dinner with some of my close college girlfriends and coffee with one of my besties!

We also squeezed in a visit with Santa at the mall. Get this, it was the same Santa as last year! Also, when asked what he wanted for Christmas this year, Kaiden said ‘yogurt.’ HAHA! Where do they come up with this stuff?!

We left my parents’ house on Christmas Eve and made our way over to Vishnu’s parents’ house. He actually arrived late in the evening that day, so Kaiden and I got a few hours with his parents until then.

We celebrated Christmas at Vishnu’s brother’s and fiance’s place, Niel and Neelam, with my parents, my in laws, and the majority of Neelam’s family. We ate some delicious home cooked food and sang karaoke. It was a blast!

The rest of our days were spent hanging out around the house and eating more yummy food!

I attended a cookie exchange party at my best friend Roshni’s house one night. So much fun! I made The Table of Spice’s eggless chocolate chip cookies. This is what dreams are made out of, people!

The next morning, we headed back out with K in tow to visit with Alina, Roshni’s baby girl! She was born back in September, but I hadn’t had the chance to hang with her yet! She’s just THE cutest!

And that pretty much wraps up our trip home at a high level! I’m so glad I had another week before work started back up because I definitely needed a vacation from our vacation!

And now we’re days into 2020! How did that happen? Let’s make it a great one!

How did you spend your holidays?

Written on January 8, 2020 Related:Family, Friends, Holiday, home, Uncategorized

Time at Home + Q&A with Ba and Dada

written by Parita 2 Comments

We are back in Chicago after a fun week in Atlanta where we spent time with my parents, my grandparents, my in-laws, and my brother-in-law and his girlfriend.  We also got to squeeze in a little friend time here and there.

We also attended my best friend’s baby showers, both of which were so special and fun.  Well, the official shower on Saturday was not so fun for me because Kaiden was being a stage 11 clinger.  But it was nice to see so many old friends. 

We played, we ate, we slept (!!), and now we’re back to the grind!

One of the other things I made time for was ‘deep’ conversations with my grandparents.  I wanted to take advantage of the one-on-one time I had with them to ask questions about their childhoods, their families, the marriage, motherhood, fatherhood, etc.

To be honest, I think they had more fun with this than anyone else.  Their faces lit up whenever I’d ask a question.  Makes me wish I had started doing this sooner!

I thought I’d share some of the more interesting things I learned.  And hopefully, this inspires some of you to do the same with your grandparents/older aunts and uncles. 

My grandmother’s overall message was that when you get to be her age you won’t remember the hard times. Only the love and fun you experienced.  And this is coming from someone who’s had her share of not-so-good times.  She said she honestly doesn’t remember the bad times in detail because she chooses not to focus on that.  “At this age, what good does that do me?”  Love my ba!

Growing up, neither my grandfather or my grandmother lived lavish lives.  There was always one person in the family who worked and brought home money to take care of everyone else.  My grandfather is one of 13, and my grandmother is one of five.  However, cousins and other relatives often lived with them too.  Essentially, the money coming in had to be stretched to feed everyone.  In fact, my grandfather recalled the days where they studied by candlelight.  Electricity was a want and not a need in those days!

With that being said, I also learned that ba’s father worked in a fabric mill, and my dada’s father owned a small restaurant in their village.

My ba loved to study, but when it came time to further her education, the decision was made for her that she would stay home to help with the upkeep of the house.  Personally, I found this to be really sad because I know how smart my grandmother is.  She could’ve done so much if she was born in a different time.  I also know from previous conversations with my mom that my ba also wishes they had travelled more.  She wanted to see the world, and while they have been to London and different parts of the US, she knows there’s more than just that and wishes she could’ve experienced it. 

In that same vein, my grandparents had an arranged marriage.  They were introduced through an uncle or something, and while it wasn’t love at first sight, I think they both same something in the other which led them to agree to the union.  My ba did say that she didn’t feel like she really could’ve said no if she wanted to because of the way the introduction was made.  Again, it makes me so mad that women in that time had so little control over their own lives.  GRR!

Even though there is some regret for the things not done, I think my grandparents have had a pretty good marriage.  Their marriage advice to me was to compromise and approach my marriage with understanding and patience.  If you can do that, you’ll be ok.

They also said to always live within your means.  And finally, don’t ruminate on your past because you can’t change it.  You can really influence what’s happening right now.

So thankful for the time I spent with ba and dada and can’t wait to see them again so that I can bombard them with more questions!

Written on August 22, 2019 Related:Family, Travel

Weekend Rehash – Home Sweet Atlanta!

written by Parita 1 Comment

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. 🙂

Written on August 12, 2019 Related:Family, Weekend

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