Hi friends! I’ve been all about the sunsets lately. Remember when I used to be all about the sunrises?
Yeah, that feels like a long time ago. These days I do often catch a sunrise, but it’s through a window while a small child crawls all over me… not quite the same vibe as my sunrise run days (<- check out that post for the most amazing early morning run sunrise ever), but oh well.
Last week, Matt and I had a really fun date night – our friends Kathleen and Zach joined us and we all went for a post-workday kayak ride!
I always love kayaking – it’s so calming to be out on the water, and it’s a fun way to mix it up when meeting friends, too.
We wanted to rent kayaks from Belle Haven Marina again to show Kathleen and Zach the beautiful marshy area down there and the bald eagle nests, but unfortunately their hours have shifted and the last kayak rentals go out at 5 pm, which was too early for us to make it there with work and babysitter logistics.
But luckily Key Bridge Boathouse down in Georgetown was open for kayak departures until 6! So, Georgetown it was. It was still lovely! I hadn’t been in Georgetown in forever.
The four of us had a great time kayaking around for a little over an hour, taking in the sights and catching up.
Remember how Matt rafted the Grand Canyon back in May? Well, Kathleen and Zach just did the same trip (the longer version) in late June/early July!
We saw them right before they left so Matt could give them some tips, and since they got back we’ve been trying to plan a meet up so we could hear all about it, but our schedules have been hectic! Last week was finally the week it worked to meet up. So fun to hear all about their adventures!
After our kayaking fun we walked over to the main waterfront area of Georgetown and had dinner at Tony and Joe’s on the boardwalk. I hadn’t been to Tony and Joe’s in many years – not since my 20-something happy hour days – and it was fun to be back in a (much) more chill way. 🙂
I forgot to get a picture of my meal, but I had one of their super delicious crab cakes, plus a Blue Moon which sounded refreshing (and it was). I did get a picture of the beautiful sunset we were enjoying while sitting there with our food and beers, though!
The other really nice sunset I caught recently was at a late dinner with some neighbor friends here in Del Ray – we went to Cheesetique one evening for a girl’s night!
We enjoyed some unpictured spinach artichoke dip (theirs is soooo good), and for my entree I had their seasonal shrimp, watermelon, and feta salad with quinoa. It was super good! I always love anything involving watermelon and feta.
(See also, my Watermelon Salad with Feta & Arugula recipe!)
It was also fun to get dressed up for the occasion since I almost never dress up these days… I treated myself to a Stitch Fix (<- affiliate link for $25 off) box recently and ended up keeping everything because I loved the items so much!
This dress was one of those items. The back is fun and super strappy and it’s really soft and comfy, too. Total win.
In other news, Riese has officially started school again and I am LOVING being able to commute via foot again instead of via car! We are not loving packing snacks and lunches again, though (her camp provided meals which was amazing).
Here are a couple of her snack boxes (I forgot to take lunch box pictures, whoops) from last week – I’ll keep posting these pictures if you find them helpful, just let me know! And be sure to check out my Healthy Toddler Snack Ideas blog post for more, too.
String beans, pretzels, and hummus:
More string beans, blackberries, and some leftover pancakes, plus Wes clinging to my legs because he is not a fan of being put down these days:
Riese has also been really into chickpeas lately (not the dried kinds which she finds too dried, but rather regular canned chickpeas just rinsed and plain), so we’ve been putting those in her snacks lately as well for a nice protein option! It’s tough as she’s fairly picky these days about protein in particular.
For lunches so far we’ve been doing half a bagel with cream cheese, turkey and cheese sandwiches, yogurt, lots of carrots and bell peppers, and various fruit. Nothing too creative to be honest – it’s so hard to come up with ideas!
If you have kids, what are some of your go-to’s for packed lunches and snacks?
We finally bought some sunflower seed butter so we can do sunbutter + banana or sunbutter + jelly, so that will be nice to mix it up. Riese’s school is peanut and tree nut free and also her specific classroom is no boiled eggs or shellfish, which limits options quite a bit.
For dinners lately we have still been doing our usual meal kits for a few meals a week (if you’re on the fence about doing a meal kit service and want to explore options, check out this post for a comparison of the main ones we’ve tried: Blue Apron vs. Sunbasket vs. Hello Fresh).
We’ve also been doing a fair amount of stir fry for dinner lately. Here’s a yummy one we made with tofu and a frozen stir fry veggie blend (frozen veggies are so convenient – here’s a post that might be of interest: Best Frozen Vegetables to Buy), and served over brown rice.
You can find some of my go-to sauces for stir fry in this blog post: Healthy Stir Fry Recipes.
We also had one of my favorite meals the other night with my parents – my Sheet Pan Mediterranean Chicken Thighs with Veggies.
You can’t go wrong with roasted chicken thighs, olives, feta, zucchini, and cherry tomatoes! Plus some orzo. So good, and we got to take home the leftovers, too. Thanks, Mom!
Have a nice week, friends! It’s a steamy one over here – my runs lately have left me very red faced and ready for fall. Anyone else?!
Until next time!
