Dana Burland

We've been dedicating a lot of our winter weekends to family. I'm cool with that and I think they are too. This past weekend we made it across the state to attend a friend's baby gender reveal party . I'd never seen a reveal where the to-be-parents smashed eggs on their foreheads, so not only was it fun to learn our pals were having a boy, but it was entertaining to watch too. Beyond that we were mostly on the run around town to see family. We did carve out some good lounging time on Saturday. That felt great. We got home much later than usual on Sunday. Thank god for grocery delivery-I made my list before we left town and about 20 minutes after we walked in the door my groceries landed on my door step. Modern living. It's so great.

We had family in town this past weekend which meant our time was a blur of baby cuddling, getting help on house projects and lounging around. My father-in-law mounted a reclaimed wood shelf for me which just about made my weekend. I found this specific piece of wood from Re.Dwell , it was exactly what I was looking for—kinda funky and local. We made it to dinner out with the family at NOCO Provisions , a local place I’ve been waiting to try which ended up being about a 7/10 on a scale of yummy. I carved out time to do an abbreviated Iron Strength workout, which reminds me I gotta get back into that routine. Now we’ve got the Olympics on while the kitchen begs to be cleaned. I made these Jambalaya Foil Packets my brother found online. If you find a not-too-salty cajun seasoning, double the 3 teaspoons it calls for and add a hefty shake of garlic powder and oregano, they turn out great.

Remember our fireplace construction project ? It's… done? It's mostly done. The construction is done. Kind of. The crew that re-tiled and re-did the mantel for us is done. Next up is a series of visits from a different crew who will get a gas line run, logs installed and fireplace doors added. I think all that will be wrapped up by early March. We still need to work some magic with cord hiders. I've got 'em, but we haven't found the time to tackle this yet. At about 80% done we're way happy with how it looks, and way excited for everything to be completed. 

Saturday morning we hosted a baby story time at the house. In our basement we had one friend (who happens to be a local librarian), five babes, eight parents. I made this crockpot hot chocolate recipe , put out biscotti and fruit and crossed my fingers inviting new neighbors, good friends and newer friends would pan out. It was so. fun. My librarian friend lead us through songs and rhymes, then we all read “ The Belly Button Book ” together and finally played with a bin of toys. The babes were fascinated (and perhaps a bit overwhelmed, poor C) and the parents were quite amused by it all. I had major flash forward moments of these boys in sleeping bags giggling during sleep overs in the same basement. It’s all too much. Later in the weekend we celebrated a good friend’s 30th birthday party in Detroit. It’s been a minute since Ben and I were out late with friends sans Cam. I tried not to talk about or think about him the whole time and while I might have failed at that I succeeded...

One day a week Ben has a night class for his Masters program . This past week I had a girlfriend coming over to keep Cam and I company while he was away. I needed a fast, no fuss, dinner so our focus could stay on baby cuddling and wine drinking. Pasta is easy; those one pot pasta recipes that flooded the Internet a while ago are even easier. I Googled for one quickly and with a modification or two made it work. It was simple, yummy and something that deserves sharing--especially so I can find it again later. One Pot Tomato Pasta Ingredients   Half a pound of pasta (spaghetti or fettuccine) 1 can diced tomatoes 1 can chicken broth 1 clove minced garlic 1 teaspoon basil 1 teaspoon oregano a pinch of red pepper flakes Directions 1. Combine the pasta, diced tomatoes with liquid from can, chicken broth + 1/2 a cans worth of water, garlic and spices in a pot. 2. Cover and cook for 11 minutes or until pasta is done.

It was good timing to have family in town this past weekend. We had a birthday to celebrate, the Super Bowl to watch and some house projects we needed help with. Our fireplace construction wrapped up just in time for my mom and brother’s visit. Over the weekend we painted, mounted the TV and installed window coverings. It was really helpful to have extra hands here. We ended up getting what seemed like a foot of snow over 2-3 days. That made for some mega-cozy time inside where we kept a candle burning and stayed wrapped up in soft blankets almost all day for maximum hygge. Pre-storm we ventured out to Westside Social , for lunch. It was stop-if-you’re-in-the-area-but-don’t-drive-all-the-way-out-just-for yummy. Later we made Super Bowl snacks including my brother’s fav chipotle mango guacamole and Ina Garten’s Mocha Ice Box Cake —to balance the football with Food Network. It never feels like quite enough time when we’re with family, but this weekend was really great.