Appreciating Family Time in San Diego {Weekend Recap}

Hi there!

I haven’t done a fun little weekend recap in awhile, and since I had a great weekend a couple days back, it seems like a good idea to share what I was up to with you guys.

After having a great day of meetings and health coaching sessions on Friday, I kicked off my weekend with a long walk at the park with my pup, then made some veggie orzo soup (my favorite lately!) to enjoy with my hubby. It was the kind of day that feels productive and busy, yet fun at the same time.

After taking care of some work and cleaning my entire house on Saturday, the family-filled part of my weekend began!

My cousin Michelle, who lives a few hours north in Long Beach, drove down to spend the night at my house. I made homemade pizza and farro Greek salad, and we drank wine, caught up, and watched crime shows. We both are into murder mysteries, which she refers to as “murder porn.” My husband is always rolling his eyes at my TV and movie picks – but can’t stop, won’t stop!

Sunday morning, we headed into Del Mar to meet up with my cousin Noelle and her friend Courtney. Noelle and I grew up together in Jersey, and she recently moved to the San Francisco area. She flew down for a long weekend, and I was happy to get to finally see her! We hadn’t seen each other since Christmas 2015.

We first grabbed brunch at Snooze, where I had the most indulgent pancakes. They were sweet potato pancakes topped with homemade caramel, candied pecans and ginger butter. I only ate one pancake out of fear of a serious sugar coma, but they were OUT OF THIS WORLD MY FRIENDS! Snooze had a lot of other dessert-ish pancakes that sounded heavenly, including one that had some sort of chocolate ganache topping.

Afterwards, we headed over to Torrey Pines to go for a hike. The sky was dark and gloomy at first, but luckily the weather held out & it wound up clearing up as we hiked. I haven’t been to Torrey Pines in awhile, and while it is pretty touristy and crowded + dogs are not allowed, it definitely is a pretty spot to take visiting family.

We explored the beach and got a nice workout in, hiking for a couple of hours before heading back to our cars.

Next up for my Sunday Funday was the Super Bowl! I prepped for hosting the game by throwing together some awesome snacks to nosh on: bruschetta on toasted sourdough, guacamole with black bean tortilla chips, chocolate chip banana bread and a chocolate peanut butter fruit dip with lots of yummy fruit. Everything was vegan and turned out well! I also whipped up Moscow Mules with an apple twist, which were yummy.

During the game, we ate, drank, watched, chatted, played with my pup, and relaxed by the fire. Besides the fact that I cannot get over the Patriots comeback and really was pulling for the Falcons in the end, it was a blast of an evening.

Spending time with my cousins last weekend got me to thinking about appreciating family time. I grew up with a tight-knit family and the belief that family is everything, and though I live far from my family now – besides these two cousins – I love being able to stay connected and close with my relatives. Long distance relationships must have been a hell of a lot harder before cell phones, texting and email! 😉 But I treasure in-person family time, and felt thankful to have a lot of it last weekend. My brother is getting married this spring, so I’ll have a lot more family time coming up in the next few months. Family time is good for the soul!

Tell me… Do you live close or far to most of your family? How did you spend your Super Bowl?