Penny's Passion: Weekending - July 29, 2016

Monday, August 1, 2016

Weekending - July 29, 2016

Welcome Monday -- and AUGUST!  July flew by and I really hope August lasts a little bit longer.  I'm just not ready for summer to be over.

This past weekend was a great one and so, so fun.  The weekend with my friends Linda and Sharyn had been planned for months, but still seemed to sneak up on me.  I didn't really get everything I had planned in my mind completed before Friday came.  And you know what, it all turned out fine.  Maybe it's my age, or maybe it's I love my friends, but I just don't stress about the little things quite as much as I once did.  The house wasn't perfectly cleaned and I didn't have a typed itinerary.  Fun was still had.  LOTS and LOTS of fun!  One thing I did manage to get done was the goody bags.  I love leaving a little bag of treats for my guests to discover on their bed when they arrive.


So, are you dying to know what we did?!?  Let me tell you!

Friday night we started with dinner at Prasino's in St. Charles.  Since so many things on the menu sounded good, we decided to make it a tapas night and share a bunch of stuff.  A salad, two small entrees, a flatbread, two desserts, and a bottle of wine later -- we were pleasantly full and ready to head to the movie.  By the way, their calamari is fabulous!



We joined the crowd seeing Bad Moms and LOVED it!  We thought it was hilarious.  As a matter of fact, several times I was laughing so hard I know I missed other funny things.  If you're looking for a cute movie with lots of laughs, I highly recommend catching this flick.



Saturday morning we headed out for breakfast at La Bonne Bouchee.  Their bakery is a site to see and their food is great.  We all ordered something different and no one was disappointed.


When we finished eating, we strolled through a little farmer's market set up in the parking lot then headed to our next stop - Schnuck's Cooking School.  Of the three of us, I was probably the most excited to take a class on Garde Manger.


What the heck is Garde Manger you ask?  Well, in case you were like us and didn't know, it is the cold kitchen where salads, cold desserts and ice creams are made.  But what we were learning about was the fancy garnishes that are also made in this side of the kitchen.  We made swans out of apples and an entire arrangement in a watermelon.


Best part -- after we put down our knives there was wine!


After taking our arrangements straight to my refrigerator (to be used at my Final Rose party on Monday), we relaxed over some martinis at Peel and did a little shoe shopping.

Saturday evening was the main event for our girls weekend -- The Doobie Brothers and Journey concert!


People passing us on the highway had to think we were half crazy as we were dancing in our seats and singing at the top of our lungs.  It does a soul good to get a little crazy every now and then.   We got our fill of that on Saturday!  It was a beautiful night to sit outside and enjoy the songs we all knew by heart.  Took us all right back to high school when we thought our lives were so hard.  Little did we know!


We ended the night by going through the White Castle drive through at 1:00 am.  I would share the things we thought were so funny, but they probably wouldn't seem as funny now as they did to us then.

My heart was happy when my two friends joined me and Eric for church on Sunday morning.  Afterward we all went to Eckert's for some great home style fried chicken.  Nothing quite like a good Sunday dinner!


When Sharyn and Linda pulled out of the driveway on Sunday afternoon, my heart sank a little.  Thank goodness I was seeing another set of friends on Sunday evening.  I quickly got some chores done before heading over to Tracy's house to enjoy more girl time.  Perfect ending to a perfect weekend!  No pictures from this portion of the weekend.  :(  Wish you could have seen the Mexican feast Tracy made and her oh-so-tasty sangria!

The late part of Sunday evening was spent getting ready for the Bachelorette's Final Rose gathering I'm hosting Monday night.  I'll have to show you the JoJo, Robby and Jordan accents I put around the house on a later post.

Enjoy this first day of August!  Hope to see you back soon!

Check out what others were up to this weekend.
Bella and the City
The Quinntessential Mommy
How To Get Organized At Home
Over the Moon


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7 comments:

  1. I'm dying to know what you put in your gift bags you creative person! :)

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  2. Sounds like a fabulous weekend! So many fun things and great food/drinks. I can't wait to see what you made in your class and hear what you thought about the Bachelorette finally!

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  3. That cooking school looks like so much fun! Gosh I have to do something fun like that sometime. :)

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  4. That food all looks great! And I'm so excited to see Bad Moms, glad to hear you liked it!

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  5. Love the goodie bag that is such a nice, thoughtful thing to do for your guests. It sounds like a fantastic fun weekend. As a mom we kind of forget to make time for friends. This reminds me to take time to nurture the friendships. Thanks for sharing at the over the moon link party

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  6. All that food looks so delish. Sounds like you had a good time with your gal pals. I watched Bad Moms in the theater. I don't normally care for comedies but I laughed, and laughed and laughed. Very good movie, for sure!

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  7. Sounds like a wonderful weekend. I would have loved the cooking school.
    Thanks for sharing at Over The Moon Party,
    Bev

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