I'm not going to lie, April was a bit rough. I'm so happy May is almost here, not only because May 1st my birthday but because April was so hectic and draining. I blame April's stress on the changing seasons, full moon, and mercury retrograde, haha. While some really exciting things happened in April, the stressful stuff unfortunately took more of my time and energy. I'm happy the month is coming to an end but for now, let's recap whats I was up to this April!
Happy Happenings
Mark and I had a few fun things happen in April. We went to LA twice, once for a wedding and then again for a relaxing weekend in Marina del Rey. I also had my last dietetic intern of the year and committed to taking more dietetic interns next Spring. We also went with some friends to two events at the Nirvana Food and Wine Festival and had so much fun! Two weeks ago Mark and I finally became Costco members and are now obsessed with their wine selection. I'm glad we took our time getting our memberships because we truly don't have any extra pantry storage right now.. but our new house will be big enough for all the bulk things we would ever need!
Sadie on Steroids
Sadie, our four year old Weimaraner, threw us for quite a loop last month. She has had valley fever for over three years and while the medication was working for a while and her levels were improving, recently her levels have started to plateau. About a month ago she had some form of a seizure (which could be the valley fever spreading) and more recently was having severe jaw pain. They tested her for some major autoimmune and heart issues but luckily everything came back normal, except for the valley fever. Right now she has been on some pretty heavy steroids to help with the jaw pain but unfortunately she has to wear diapers because the medications are making her pee when she sleeps. Honestly though, i'll deal with anything as long as it takes her pain away! Luckily her jaw pain seems to be getting better with the steroids and for the first time in a month she started playing with her ball again, which made me cry uncontrollably, haha.
Home Build Update
Our new house is coming right along. What was once a dirt lot is now a framed up, wood structure with all the electrical, plumbing, sprinkler systems, and insulation in place. It's so crazy to watch the house come together. Sometimes it feels like construction is taking forever, then you realize what they were able to do in one week and you know the house will be ready in no time. Next is dry wall, which will really make our wood frame feel like an actual house. We still don't have an official close date but we might be able to move in around late July to early August!
A few weeks ago we started boxing up some of our stuff and ended up donating quite a bit to Goodwill. Going through the house and getting our place ready to be put on the market has been a little stressful. It's like the pre-packing before the real packing. You know you need to start putting stuff in boxes but you don't know what you still might need and what can be packed and stored for the next three months. We try to live pretty minimally and use everything we have, so I've already found myself digging through packed boxes trying to find something I already packed away!
Surprise Birthday Trip
Mark always plans the most epic birthday surprises. Two years ago he took me to The French Laundry for the most incredible dinner of my life. Last year he took me to Alinea for a night of pure edible magic - an amazing dinner I still intend to post about! This year, I told him I really didn't want to do anything but sit in a hammock and not have to think about moving, packing, or cleaning. So, he thought of the perfect trip - 3 days in San Diego where we can stay at the hotel, sit by the pool, and do absolutely nothing. He also made dinner reservations at Trulucks (similar to Mastro's) and it's all I've been thinking about! We went to Trulucks for the first time last year in Austin and whenever we travel, we always try to find their other locations. I've been craving a 'do nothing,' 'hang and relax' type of weekend for a while and I am beyond excited for this weekend!
With all the April craziness over, I am excited to see that May has in store. I'm excited to celebrate my birthday tomorrow and am looking forward to getting back to my normal life of cooking in the kitchen and working on the blog.
More recipes coming soon!
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