Family Times are the Best Times

Hiiiiii!  I've just come back from a whirlwind 4 day visit to PA!  We had a bunch of family things going on and my sister and many of my cousins came in from out of state.  It was wonderful and I was so sad to leave last night.  It makes me so happy when all of my sisters, cousins and extended family are reunited.  I love the times when we can all come together.  It reminds me of when we were little and we used to do things together all the time, before everyone grew up, spread and out and moved away.

Ok enough sappiness.  On to the recap!  Warning: picture overload ahead.

The weekend started out with a surprise 90th birthday party for my grandfather!  He is truly the patriarch of our family, and the person who instilled the notion in all of us that family comes first.  Holidays and parties were always hosted at my grandparents house when I was little, and there is nothing my grandfather loves more than having his whole family gathered together.  He walked into the party totally surprised!  (Probably because his actual birthday isn't until October! HA But we planned the event when everyone could fly into town.)

Here are a few pics from the party:

My grandparents and their grandchildren

My grandparents with my family

 

Sisters!

My 5 nieces and nephews!

 

 

I would say the party was a raging success (without any actual raging, of course).

 

The following day was my niece's Christening day.  My sister asked me to be Godmother.  I now have 4 Godchildren!  Each time I'm asked, I feel so special that the parents have chosen me to serve that role in their children's lives :)  After the Christening there was a big party at my parents house.  It happened to be the HOTTEST day of the year so far, so most people stayed indoors. Which meant my parent's house was pretty much bursting at the seams!  Ah well, the more the merrier. 

My new Goddaughter

 

The next day we took the kids to an amusement park.  I can now successfully cross that item off my summer bucket list! Yee haw.  This particular park was one that my parents used to take us to when we were little (Knoebels), and it was the first time we had been back there in 20+ years!  It was also the first time I had been to an amusement park at all in years.  Something about being there kind of makes you feel like a kid again.  Who am I kidding, I pretty much feel like a kid every day.  HA  #nannylife

 

We spent all day there which wore the kids (and adults) OUT!

 

Post flume-ride AKA soaked!

 

 



Other highlights from the extended weekend include:

 

Picking giant zucchinis from my parent's garden:

 

Spending more time with my newest nephew who is now 1 month old!

And of course, some Vegan Treats (cake batter & chocolate soft serve):

Someone recently told me that my family sounds lovely from the way I speak about them and it's true. I love them.  I cherish the times when we are all able to be together.  Especially my sisters.  I miss them both often and wish I could pop over to see my nieces and nephews any time I wanted!  Time really does seem to speed up as you get older.  I guess the best we can do is to enjoy the moments we have together and hold them in our heart until the next time.  Kind of like what I do with summer to get me through each winter :)

I hope you've all been well and making memories of your own!


What were you up to this weekend?

Are you close to your family?

When was the last time you went to an amusement park?!

I Have a New Nephew!!!

Before I get into a weekend recap, first things first.  I HAVE A NEW NEPHEW!!!

I had mentioned in my last post that my sister was overdue, and I was hoping she would go into labor while I was home this weekend.  And she did!  My nephew must have sensed from the womb that his favorite aunt was in town!  The 'little' guy was born on Saturday, all 9lbs 14 oz of him!  (<----yes really!)  I can't wait to spend more time with him this summer.  I am now Aunt to FIVE nieces and nephews.  I hope my sisters never stop reproducing. 

It's hard to top a new addition to the family, but the rest of my weekend was not too shabby either.

I made it back to PA Friday evening just in time to head to a birthday party for a dear old friend:

We clearly love each other

 

Many moons ago, before I moved to Baltimore, I used to work with this crazy ginger!  She is one of the funniest, wildest, spunkiest, and also loveliest people I know. She was probably one of my favorite people ever to work with.  Every day at the office was a party with her.  She is the kind of person who makes friends everywhere she goes and I feel like she missed her calling as a comedic actress.  I hadn't seen her in probably 10 years?!?!  And we picked right back up where we left off!  I'm so glad I made it to this. 

 

I woke up the next morning to cooler temps and wanted to take advantage of the great running weather.  I wasn't sure how I'd feel after that night of debauchery, but I actually felt GREAT!  Fueling up with cocktails will be on my next training plan.  I got 6 miles in around my parents neighborhood, which is the longest I've run in weeks, since I've been focusing on more strength and cross training lately.

 



One thing that's always a certainty when I go home, is that there will be 10x more food there than at my place.  My dad's garden was in full bloom so I'm pretty sure I ate several pounds of these over the weekend:

My sugar snap pea picking strategy goes like this:  Pick one, eat one, pick one, eat one.  Like a 5 year old.

The reason for my trip (other than subconsciously willing my nephew to make his appearance) was to spend Father's Day with my daddio.  I spent some time in my parents' basement over the weekend going through old photos which was really a good time.  There is nothing better than reliving moments like this:

The 80's were a great decade.  Everything was bigger back then.  The cars, the hair, the glasses.  It's pretty clear to see where I got my striking good looks and sense of style.  My Keds and crop top are on point there.

I biked 13 miles Sunday morning and then we had dinner at my parents' house with my grandparents and Aunt before I headed back to Baltimore.  You think I'm kidding when I talk about the quantity of food my parents prepare, but I do no such thing. The list of items consumed include: salad, grilled veggie kabobs, asparagus, sweet potatoes, garlic bread, shrimp cocktail, bacon wrapped filets, and angel food berry shortcakes.  HELLOOOOOO.  Do any other families still do Sunday dinner?

I hope you all had great weekends celebrating your Dads and the longest day of the year yesterday.  YAY for Summer officially being here!


What were you up to this weekend?

Did you enjoy the 80's as much as I did?!

What's your favorite summer produce?

MDW in the ATL

I'm baaaaaaaaaaack!  I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday weekend.  I had a great time down in Atlanta, and I'm happy to report the integrity of the surprise was preserved!  My sister had no idea I was in town until she opened her garage door and there I stood :)

I usually make time to visit my sister and her family a few times a year, but somehow I had not been down there since her third child was born last September.  Needless to say, there was much catching up to be done.

I didn't take a ton of photos or spend much time on social media while I was down there and that suited me just fine.  I enjoy the chance to unplug a bit when I'm away and love being able to spend QT with my nieces, nephew, sister and brother-in-law whom I don't get to see nearly enough.

Here are a few highlights from the trip with a few pics I did manage to snap.  Enjoy!

Visited Zoo Atlanta:

 

 

Spent an evening out (sans kids) in Buckhead where we ate at Seasons 52 and listened to some live music at Park Bench:

 

Branzino (fish) flown in straight from Greece! 

 

Twinning!

 

 

Hung out with the cutest kids south of the Mason Dixon:

 

 

No bias.  They are just legitimately adorable :)

 

 

And spent some time at the pool:

 

 

 

In between hanging out with the kiddos, I did manage to fit in some workouts.  My sister (who looks INCREDIBLE btw!) is also very active so we spent a lot of time working out together.  She goes on long walks every evening (which I joined her on) and has started adding some running into the mix as well!  She also lives very close to the Silver Comet Trail so we went biking there twice while I was visiting.  The trail is a great free, well maintained paved path that's 60+ miles long in North Atlanta.  We were out amongst many other bikers, runners, walkers and families and it was great to catch up, chat and enjoy the scenery on our bikes.

 

And in a surprising turn of events, she invited me to participate in her Friday morning yoga class which I actually enjoyed?!  If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know I've tried yoga a handful of times and can just never get into it.  However, my sister takes a class which is taught by a mom privately in her home studio.  On Friday morning, the two of us were the only students in class so we got lots of personal attention.  The instructor told us she combines yoga/Pilates into her practice and I really enjoyed the flow of moves.  I'd love to find someone similar in Baltimore who offers small sessions like this because I feel like I'd learn much better than when I'm in large classes at the gym (and have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing).  It was also much more peaceful being the only ones in class. 

 

It is always wonderful to reconnect with my sister and her family.  I don't get to see them nearly as often as I'd like, so every trip becomes a treasured memory for me.

 

This was my first vacation all year and getting back to the real world Tuesday morning was rough!  Hope you all had a better time of it than I did.  And now it's nearly June?!  I dk what is even happening to 2015.

 

Have a great day!

 

 

How did you spend the holiday weekend?

 

Do you have family that lives far away?  How often do you get to visit?

 

On a scale of 1 to 10, how big does my hair look in that restaurant pic?!  Ha







Surprise!

I flew into ATL early Thursday morning to surprise my sister!  She had no idea I was coming (I hope!)

I'll be hanging out with these 3 little monkeys for the next few days:

So I'll catch up with you next week.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

A Sprinkle, Pickle Juice, Mother's Day, and a Double Rainbow

Hiii!  I hope you all had a great Mother's Day Weekend! I was back in PA for a few things, and I'm going to break it down in pictures for you today.

On Friday, I drove straight from work in Baltimore to a restaurant in downtown Bethlehem for a surprise 'sprinkle' for my sister, set up by her husband!  My normal 2 and a 1/2 hour commute took 4 hours (Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!) so needless to say I was a bit late.  But I made it and I'm glad I did :)

My sister was gifted some really nice things for her second baby, including some handmade items.  We also had some delicious food.  I ordered giant sea scallops which were phenomenal.  I wish I would have taken a picture, but after driving for 4 hours in bumper-to-bumper traffic, I was famished and nearly inhaled them.

Both of my sisters have looked great before and after all of their pregnancies!  I hope the good genes carry on for me someday.  When this baby is born in June, I will be an Aunt for the 5th time!

Since we were downtown, I had to stop by Vegan Treat after the party for some of this:

Only my favorite flavor ever: CHEESECAKE!  I want to swim in a vat of that one day.

The weather all weekend was perfect.  80's, sunny, and warm.  Maybe a bit too humid but I'll take that over WINTER any freaking day.

On Saturday, I went out for a 5 mile run around my parents' neighborhood.  It's so lovely when you're not training for a race, and you can make your long runs any 'ol distance you want!  I forgot to snap a pic so here's a sweaty run from last week:

I felt kind of nauseous during the run, so after I got home I drank some pickle juice straight from the jar!  Haha  I'd actually never done that before, but I love pickles so it was yummy. I guess Snooki and I have that in common.

On Sunday, I went out for my first bike ride since the Fall.  I have a mountain bike at my parents' house that I've had since high school or college (?!) and it's still in great shape!  I never knew how long my route around their neighborhood was, so I took my iPhone and tracked it with MapMyRun.  It came out to almost 14 miles.  Good to know Beanie.

Afterward, we headed over to my sister's house for a Mother's Day cookout where I got to hang out with THIS GUY:

We celebrated all the moms in attendance, including my very own:

It was such a summery, outdoorsy, fun, family weekend and I loved every minute.

To top things off, I caught this DOUBLE RAINBOW on my drive back down to Baltimore on Sunday night.  Good sign?  Oh I think so.

SUMMER IS HERE!  Let's do this.  I'm so excited for the next few months!

Have a great week everyone!


How was your Mother's Day weekend?

Is it summer where you are yet?

What does a double rainbow mean?! Double good luck!?

The Big Surprise

Last Thursday morning, unbeknownst to my sister, I boarded a plane headed south to the Big Peach.  Later that day, I stuffed myself inside a box and waited outside her house until she came outside to find the surprise her husband had planned for her.  It was epic!  Even after I popped out of the box my sister was still so confused as to what I was doing in her front yard!  Hahaha  I blame it on the pregnancy brain.  (I have a video but unfortunately, when it was sent from my brother-in-law's phone to mine, it got all blurry and scrambled.  And it's also too long to email for some reason, so I apologize but I unfortunately won't be able to share this magical moment with you.)

A little background here:  My sister is currently 36 weeks pregnant, a mom to a 1 year old and 4 old and literally JUST moved into a new house (like a week ago).  To say she has a lot on her plate right now is an understatement.  My brother-in-law knew she was feeling super stressed lately and so a month or two ago he approached me about coming down to surprise her, help her and just generally lift her spirits as only a sister can do!  And dare I say it was a raging success!

I had a few goals for my 5 day visit, number one being to get the crib for the new baby assembled.  Mission accomplished!  I put this crib together with my own two hands.  Credit also goes to my 22 month-old nephew who assisted with his plastic hammer.  Definitely a key factor :)

I also helped her out by watching the kids while she ran around like a nut trying to get things done in the new house!  Hanging out with kids is just what I do, so no arm twisting required there.  Plus, I mean, how can you resist these faces?!?!

Jillyruns/IG

The answer to that question is that you can't. 

Bedtime selfie!

 

 

We ran a lot of errands while I was in town and it never ceases to amaze me, every time I'm in ATL and out with my sister, the number of 'twin' comments we get.  Literally every sales clerk at every store we were in asked us if we were twins.  A woman in Lowe's actually shouted across the aisle - 'Excuse me.  Excuse me!  Are y'all twins?!'  Hahaha I dk what the fascination is there.  Even more interesting is that SEVERAL of my sisters friends, who she sees on a very frequent basis in her neighborhood or at my niece's school, actually thought I was her, that I had delivered the baby, and returned to my pre-baby body all in the span of less than a week! HAHAHA  Someone actually called her to congratulate her on having the baby and she was like WHAT?!  

 

This pic is from a visit last year.  We didn't manage to get a pic together this time around.

 

 

My sister is a big smoothie fan and during our visit, she introduced me to my new favorite concoction.  It is delicious and super easy and once again, I forgot to take a pic :(  It contains only 3 ingredients:

 

Coconut/Almond milk blend

1 frozen banana

Generous scoop of Hershey's unsweetened cocoa

 

Try it! You won't be disappointed.

 

Oh I also found these cookies, in a gas station of all places down there.  I had heard about these for awhile but never came across them in Baltimore.  Vegan.  Protein.  Chocolate.  All wrapped up in a giant cookie.  SOLD!  Now I just need to find them up here.

 

 

 

While down in Atlanta, I also had to keep up with my half-marathon 'training' (I use that phrase loosely here since this has been the shortest training schedule ever).  With the heat and humidity down there, I honestly wasn't sure how I'd make my last long run happen.  I wanted to get in a double digit run since we are literally less than 2 weeks away from race day (let that sink in).  So far, I've squeezed in multiple long runs (a 10mi, 11mi, 11mi the last 3 weeks) so I've been feeling pretty good about the race, but I wanted one last long run 2 weeks out. 

 

I decided to run at night, after the sun went down since the daytime temps were about 97 degrees and 75% humidity!  I've visited my sister many many times over the years and knew her old neighborhood well, but I knew zippo about her new one.  In hindsight, setting out alone in the dark in a place where I had zero sense of direction may not have been the best decision but my lord it felt great!  That night I had one of the best double digit runs of this training cycle.  I absolutely loved running by the light of the moon.  I'm a night owl naturally (definitely not an early morning runner) and running in the dark was so peaceful.  I did 10 miles and my legs felt light the entire way.  I honestly felt like I could have run several more miles but it was already after 10pm so I decided to call it a night.  When I arrived back at the homestead I was completely drenched from head to toe.  I don't think I've ever run in humidity like that!

 

 

I always have a great time when I visit my sister.  It doesn't matter if the trip is more about business or pleasure, I'm just happy to see her and her fam.  I hope having me around for a few days gave her some sense of peace and lifted the stress she had been feeling lately.  In hindsight, scaring the crap out of a nearly full-term pregnant lady by popping out of a box on her front yard may not have been the smartest plan, but it sure was fun!

 

 

 



 

What have you been up to the last few days?

 

Ever surprise a family member in a big way?