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Weekend Roundup – Paw Patrol, Celebrations, Football

Ok guys, I know I’ve said this before and then left things hanging, but I’m really trying to get better about blogging here. This space used to be my everything, and understandably in the past few years, it’s fallen off my priority list. However, as I was running errands this morning, I was thinking about the things that bring me true joy, and MIS is definitely one of them. And with IG feeling like an abyss right now, good old fashioned blogging sounds so fun and refreshing. Finally, I still LOVE to go back and read old posts. In a way, this space is really my portal into the past, and I want to say that years from now as well.

Anyways, to make an already long idea short…I’m going to try my hardest to be a semi-regular blogger again!

With here’s a roundup of weekend, which ended up feeling both packed and spacious at the same time somehow!

FRIDAY

Friday was a typical weekday, however, I did make some delicious black bean burgers by Vegan Richa that the whole family enjoyed. I ended up making bowls for me and Vishnu with some quinoa, salsa, sour cream and cheese, and for the kids, we did quesadillas (always a fav).

I honestly can’t remember what we did after putting the kids to bed. Vishnu was on call on Saturday, so I’m pretty sure he got in bed a little after me.

SATURDAY

Like I said, Vishnu was on call on Saturday (in his case this means he goes into the hospital for a 7a-4p shift (but usually it’s more like 7a to 5:30/6p)).

Kaiden, Mila and I enjoyed a slow morning. And then around noon, my BIL and SIL came to pick up K and take him on an adventure of a lifetime! My BIL got tickets to the Paw Patrol Live show. You guys have no idea how much fun Kaiden had. He was living out his wildest dreams – Marshall, Chase, Ryder and the gang along with a side of cotton candy!

Later, my dad came over, we ate dinner (one of my favorite chole recipes!), and then after putting the kids to bed, Vishnu and I headed to a close friend’s 40th birthday party.

The party was so fun. We really did luck out with our group of friends. There’s never a shortage of laughter and fun conversation. And the taco bar was on point too – #chipsandquesoforlife!

We didn’t go to bed until about 1:15 so there’s that…and of course, K was up at 6:20 am. I got him to lay in bed with us until about 6:50 but even that was pushing it!

SUNDAY

So yeah…Sunday started early and with very little sleep!

Regardless, it ended up being a fun (and full) day.

I signed our family up for a local organization that plans cultural events and classes throughout the year, and the first class after signing us up was one about the flavors of India. So Kaiden and I headed there around 10 am. I wish I could tell you he had a blast and warmed up to the experience quickly. Neither of those things happened, but I’m glad we joined because it’s so well run and everyone was so kind. AND, as we’ve learned over the past year, our kid takes time to get used to new things. There’s nothing wrong with that…we just have to help him through it. I’m happy we have ample opportunities to do just that.

After we got home, Kaiden ate a snack and then we headed to our friends Jay and Chitra’s house or lunch and football. It was the Falcons opening game, which they lost…boo! But it was fun and entertaining watching the kids run around and be crazy!

Once we got home, I quickly pulled dinner together, and we got the kids ready for bed. Vishnu and I stayed up a little bit to talk, but I was definitely passed out by 9:30.

Like I said, we had moments of free time and space to just hang out, but the days felt very full in mostly good ways!

Girls Weekend in Asheville

written by Parita 2 Comments

A couple of weeks ago, I went to Asheville with six of my girlfriends, and it was an absolute blast! We laughed, we talked, we ate, and we slept. Glorious!

In addition to it being a girls’ weekend, we were also celebrating two of our friends 40th birthdays! So this was an extra special trip!

We chose Asheville because it’s a short (ish) drive from Atlanta. There’s great food. And if you’re into it, the hikes and natural beauty of the city and surrounding area are majestic!

Also, and maybe most importantly, the spa at The Omni Grove Park Inn is quite spectacular. We thoroughly enjoyed our half day of hanging out and getting massages.

Where We Stayed

We stayed at The Omni Grove Park Inn because that’s the only way to access the spa right now. The property itself was beautiful and definitely had a lodge feel to it. The grounds are also well kept and really pretty. The rooms were just ok in my opinion. They felt a little outdated, but they were clean and sometimes that’s all you can ask for! I will also say that this hotel has quite a lot of original features – paintings, memorabilia, and even elevators that are manned by someone. It was a fun experience overall!

What We Did

Biltmore Estate – As soon as we arrived in Asheville we had lunch and then. headed straight to the Biltmore Estate for a wine tasting. Priorities! We then drove over to the Biltmore House and walked around the gardens before dinner.

A quick note – if you want to see more of the Estate, plan to spend 6-8 hours on the property. We didn’t have that kind of time, so we chose a couple of things and stuck to those.

A hike – There are so many beautiful hikes of all levels in and around Asheville. We wanted something low key and chill that got us out of the hotel and moving. We hiked Richmond Hill Park and enjoyed it. It’s not the most scenic hike but it was enjoyable. Definitely do your research and get out there if you can.

The Omni Grove Park Inn Spa – This spa experience is what our whole trip revolved around. We checked in around noon on Saturday and left at 5:30-6pm. It was just the medicine each of us need to feel pampered and relaxed. We indulged in most of the spa’s pools and rooms (re: sauna, etc.). We also each got an amazing massage, that if I do say so myself, was the highlight of the trip (well, the whole spa experience)! If you’re staying at the OGPI, definitely don’t skip the spa!

Elaine’s Piano Bar – Elaine’s is located in the OGPI, so it was an easy after dinner activity…and fun too! There was plenty of space, and the two pianists were a blast to watch as they dueled their way through different songs. And while you can put in requests, I will say that most of the music fell on the country side of the spectrum, so don’t expect anything too wild and crazy!

Where We Ate

White Duck Taco Shop – Tacos of all kinds (vegetarian options were plentiful), delicious and refreshing drinks, and lots of fun sides to indulge in too. I especially liked the low-key, fun vibe of this place. 100% felt like we were in Austin (one of my favorite foodie cities!). Definitely time your visit right because the lines can get long at peak times.

Plant – This was one of my favorite meals of the trip. Plant is a vegan restaurant that serves delicious, fresh, and unique dishes that anyone and everyone will love. HIGHLY recommend checking this place out. Oh and don’t skimp on the dessert – it was DELICIOUS!

Curate – I wanted to love Curate but honestly found it mediocre. The menu includes a good number of vegetarian tapas, however, the food was nothing to write home about. It was good but not great. One positive thing – you can’t beat the location – right in the heart of DT Asheville.

RosaBees – Rosa Bees was one of my favorite brunch experiences EVER! It’s a Polynesian restaurant so definitely didn’t know what to expect, but everything we ordered was scrumptious! The egg dishes were perfectly balanced, the biscuits were buttery and so soft, the banana French toast was sweet, dense and dessert like, and the drinks were super refreshing. HIGHLY recommend making a reservation here.

And now I miss my friends and our fun weekend in Asheville! I hope this is helpful if you ever visit the city and need help planning.

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?

St. Patty’s Day/Weekend in Chicago

written by Parita 3 Comments

This past weekend was an absolute blast – our besties, Roshni and Samir, were here, we celebrated our first St. Patty’s Day in Chicago, and this preggo partied with the best of them!

I’m honestly not sure why Chicago celebrates this holiday a week early (if you know, please leave a comment!), but either way, this city sure knows what it’s doing. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it out to watch the river turn green (maybe next year), but everyone (but me) enjoyed lots of green beers!

But let’s back up for a second…

We started the weekend with some DELICIOUS pizza at Coalfire with Aek/Adarsh and Roshni/Samir. You guys, alongside Piece, this stuff is among my favorite when it comes to Chicago pizza. I love the thin, crispy crust and fresh toppings. At Coalfire, the whipped ricotta takes an already delicious pie and puts it over the top. So much yum and so much fun conversation. Who knew that Samir, Vishnu, and Adarsh were such fans of the Bachelor?! Ha!

The next day started bright and early with the hopes that we would make it to the river, but instead, we drank breakfast shakes and talked. Oops!

After breakfast shakes came the breakfast beers…green beers at 10 am at that. Again, I obviously didn’t partake, but it was still fun to watch everyone else enjoy themselves!

A couple of hours later, we took our party of six to a local bar. And that’s where this preggo thrived. The music was so good even I had to get up and shake my bump! We then met up with my sister and her friends and headed to another bar where we danced and ate some more before calling it a night…at 6:30 pm. #soold Of course, there was more good food involved at this point. We stopped at Magnolia Bakery for some banana pudding before heading home and eating Opart Thai and Bombay Wraps (the things that appear when Rosh is in charge of dinner!) for dinner.

Sunday came a little quicker than I would’ve liked. We had until about 4:00 with Rosh and Samir, so we got up, chatted over more breakfast shakes (sans alcohol), got ready, and eventually headed to brunch at Hutch. By the time we got home, it was almost time for them to leave for the airport. Luckily, our next reunion is only two short months away!

And that, my friends, was our first St. Patty’s day/weekend in Chicago!

*I clearly failed at taking fun pics this weekend. Oops!

Your turn – do you celebrate St. Patty’s Day? Green beers galore?!

The Halloweekend That Wasn’t

written by Parita 5 Comments

Halloweekend 2016 wasn’t very Halloweeny, but it sure was fun!

Roshni and Samir’s flight was delayed by about an hour on Friday night, so Vishnu and I watched the Cubs game until it was time to head to the airport. After picking them up and dropping their bags off at home, the four of us headed to Duck Duck Goat for a very late dinner that was worth every delicious bite. We shared six different things between the four of us, including green beans topped with crispy shallot and cashews, gyozas, veggie fried rice, spicy tofu, a pineapple dessert, and a few other things. In my opinion, the fried rice and pineapple cake stole the show!

Our friend Rohit, who also stayed with us this weekend (his brother rented out their place on Airbnb for the Cubs games this weekend), met us at the restaurant. The five of us sat around and chatted for a while before heading home to talk some more and finally fall asleep around 2 am.

Needless to say, the next morning started much later than any of us anticipated. By the time we left the house, it was 3:00 pm! Our first stop was Oven Grinder for a late lunch. A late lunch that turned into dinner because of a 3.5 hour wait.

We didn’t wait around the restaurant for 3.5 hours though. We grabbed a bit at Del Seoul and then walked around Lincoln Park for a bit. Our main objective was to find Halloween costumes for me, Rosh, and Samir. Vishnu figured his out late last week. We finally settled on a Dr. Seuss theme for the three of us (Dr. Seuss himself + two cats). Not too shabby for a very last minute costume search.

So after all that, we headed back to Oven Grinder for dinner. *A word of caution to those who haven’t eaten here yet – try to go at an odd time (apparently the best time is 9 pm on a Sunday). The wait is ridiculous. Not always over 3 hours, but you’ll almost never walk in and be seated immediately. Be ready for that!

Dinner was awesome. I’m not a huge deep dish pizza fan, but I love the saucy Oven Grinder pie. With the exception of Vishnu who went for the meat sauce, the rest of us got 1/2 pounders with light cheese, veggie sauce, and a white crust. YUM!

So this is where our plans veer off track. We were supposed to go home, get ready, and meet Rohit and a few of our other friends for a fun Halloween night out. Instead, we got home, sat down [for a supposed minute], turned on the Cubs game, and passed out! OOPS!!! In a roundabout way, it all worked out because Roshni had a cold that took a turn for the worse, and it probably wasn’t a great idea for her to be out until the wee hours of the morning. In all honesty, it worked out for me too. Due to some lingering stomach cramps, I wasn’t feeling too hot either. Such is life!

The next morning started fairly early since we all got 13200948730 hours of sleep! We ate breakfast and watched football until everyone was hungry again for some Seoul Taco (not to be confused with Del Seoul!). So good!

Then, before we knew it, it was time to drop Samir and Roshni off at the airport. 🙁 But not before we took a picture (the only non-food pic of the weekend)…

Even though this Halloweekend turned out a bit differently than planned, I think we would all agree that it was pretty delicious and lots of fun!

Can’t wait until R+S come back to visit (hopefully sooner rather than later!).

Your turn – did you dress up for Halloween?

Weekend Recap – The One Where We Stayed Up Way Past Our Bedtime

written by Parita 8 Comments

You guys! This weekend was a ton of fun, but I’m exhausted. Like I probably need 12 hours of sleep exhausted.

Let me explain…

On Friday, I finished up work and cleaned our apartment because one of my best friends from college was coming down for the night AND because my sister and four of her med school friends were staying at our place over the weekend.

Once Sweeti got to our place, we chatted for a bit and then headed out to dinner at De Cero, a Mexican inspired restaurant in the West Loop neighborhood of Chicago. The three of us (me, Vishnu, and Sweeti) agreed that while the food was far from authentic, it was delicious and very filling.

After dinner, we went to a bar (I can’t remember the name for the life of me) for a few beers. We sat and talked for another 1.5 hours before heading home.

Aekta and her friends were at our place when we got back. We chatted for a couple of hours before heading to bed. It was 2:00 am by the time we went to sleep!

The next morning started much later than anticipated for obvious reasons! Vishnu and I had a lunch date on the books for 12:30, so we headed out a little after 12. I won’t share too much about this meal because I want to do a more comprehensive review on the blog. But I really loved Summer House Santa Monica – the ambiance was beautiful and really reminded us of a beach house. And the food was pretty good too!

Summer House Santa Monica – Chicago, IL

Vishnu and I stopped for some after lunch coffee and ended up hanging out for another hour or so. I love it when this happens!

The rest of the day was spent lounging around doing some loose research for our trip to Hawaii.*

Later in the evening, when everyone was back from their Saturday adventures, we ordered pizza, played games, including flip cup and Cards Against Humanity, and got ready for a night out on the town! You guys, we went to not one, not two, but three different places over the course of the night. We started at a restaurant bar, made our way to another bar, and then finally ended up at a club. We got home at 3:30 am!!! Who am I? Exhausted and tired that’s who!

Anyways, because of our wild and crazy (says the girl who didn’t drink) Saturday night, our Sunday was super low-key. Aside from basic to dos (cleaning, laundry, etc.), we napped and watched TV.

And just like that, it’s Monday again! Make it a good one. 🙂

*Any and all recommendations are more than welcome for both Maui and Kauai!

Weekend Recap – 24 Hours in Naples

written by Parita 11 Comments

Another fun weekend in the books! This one involved some downtime and a trip to Naples.

But let’s start from the top…

FRIDAY

I can honestly say that my Friday evening was one of the most unproductive nights I’ve had in a long time. I literally did nothing except paint my nails and watch TV. There were things I wanted to get done, but for some reason, I couldn’t get myself to do them. Even dinner was simple…Publix organic frozen pizza (btw, SO good!).

I felt a twinge of guilt as I was going to bed but shook it off because work has been pretty busy the past few weeks. I figured I deserved a night of nothingness. AND I cleaned the apartment on Thursday evening. That has to count for something, right?!

SATURDAY

I had every intention of waking up early and going for a run on Saturday but instead opted to sleep in. Vishnu got home at 7:45 and woke me up by rolling me over and sleeping on my side of the bed. We chatted for a little bit, and then I got up, made us breakfast, and got ready to head to Naples.

Roshni and Samir flew down from Atlanta to visit Ankita and Jayesh for the weekend, and I decided to drive down and spend a night with them. Unfortunately, Vishnu couldn’t come with me because of his work schedule. 🙁

After I arrived around 11:30, we sat around and chatted for a bit before heading to The Crust for lunch. Vishnu and I ate here the last time we were in Naples, and it was even better this time around!

This is a recycled picture because I forgot to snap one on Saturday!

After lunch, we went back home and hung out. And by that I mean we watched the Masters and YouTube videos, played putt putt in the living room/kitchen (don’t ask!), and talked some more!

A couple of hours later, we headed to the Ritz for drinks on the water. You guys, when it comes to Florida coasts, the west coast is the best coast. I mean, check out this view.

And the beach itself was SO clean.

A couple of drinks later, we were all ready for some food…Thai food! You wouldn’t think that Naples, Florida has delicious Thai food, but it does! We ordered and shared a few different dishes – fried rice, Pad Thai, and Panang curry. Everything was so good!

We followed dinner up with a little sweet treat from the ice cream shop next door. Ankita and I shared a PB + chocolate ice cream. YUM!

Surprisingly, our night ended pretty early, and we were fast asleep by 10:30. #thenewnorm

SUNDAY

Sunday started bright and early for me, but that’s not surprising given that we went to bed so early.

After everyone showered and got ready, we headed to brunch. Again, delicious food…

I headed back to St. Pete afterwards, and what was supposed to be an easy two hour drive turned into an almost nightmare. About an hour in, I found myself in standstill traffic. Thankfully, I was right next to the concrete area that connected to the other side of the highway. Ten minutes later I put two and two together and found an alternative route home. It took me 30 minutes longer, but I made it with time to spare.

The rest of Sunday included recapping my trip for Vishnu before he headed back in to work, a great run along the water, and Oh She Glows African Peanut Stew (from her cookbook and not her blog).

And now it’s Monday, and I’m crossing my fingers that it’s a great one. 🙂