scenes from the weekend.

Friday after work I headed out to my friend Kelsey's house for an Olympic's Opening Ceremony party. She outdid herself food wise. There was Swedish meatballs, Jamaican jerk chicken, Greek salad, Mexican layer dip, French vanilla cupcakes, sugar cookies in all kinds of shapes. After stuffing ourselves we had a few little minute-to-win-it competitions ourselves before we settled down with White Russian cocktails to watch the interesting opening ceremony. 

We had a sleepover after the party but then I had to rise bright and early to head to Young Life Work Crew training Saturday morning. For those of you not familiar with it, work crew is where high school students pursuing a relationship with Christ can volunteer to wok at a Young Life camp for one month session. And it's hard work. They serve in the dining hall, they maintain the camp grounds, they wash sheets and towels, and clean cabins, and help out with all the behind the scenes stuff that goes into making camp the best week of a campers life. It's a chance for kids to live out their faith, to serve God while serving others. And what a testimony that is for those campers to see other high schoolers giving up their summer vacations to serve them. 

After work crew training I came home to take a nap before my roommates and I and their boyfriends headed out for a fun dinner. We went to Palladar which none of us had tried before. It's a "Latin kitchen" with a really fun vibe. We  got there in time to still enjoy happy hour. I got a mojito and we all shared guacamole and a salsa trio in the bar. These were served with assorted tortilla and plantain chips which were really tasty. 

We were pretty comfortable so we decided to just stay in the bar area for dinner. I was pretty full from all the chips and dips so I decided to order the tilapia and avocado ceviche. This would be perfect to share as an appetizer but was plenty for my entree. I love ceviche and this one did not disappoint. It had that tart citrus flavor I love, with an added sweetness from the crushed peanuts sprinkled on top. Everyone else got different kinds tacos (grilled sweet potato tacos, rio style chicken tacos, and cuban braised beef tacos). Next time I will have less chips and salsa so I can have room to try the fish tacos or maybe the coconut curry vegetables... is it lunch time yet?? 

We tend to be more "stay at home eat ice cream and watch netflix" kind of girls, so a night out for fun dinner with friends, and cocktails, and an excuse to take pictures, reminded us that we need to do this more often. 

Sunday we all made our way to church. The service I attend starts at 11 which is great because I can sleep in a little bit and it's not close by. But by the time it gets out I am starving and yesterday I happened to be craving eggs benedict. I stopped at the grocery store on the way home and picked up a few things then hurriedly whipped up my own version. It was an easy yummy brunch at home and I think I'll do a recipe post another day because I'm always surprised by how few people know how to poach an egg. 

The rest of the weekend included laundry (finally getting things put away from my Canada trip), The Walking Dead, and a few too many of these Dove chocolates. You'll notice that the wrappers say milk chocolate but that's because I ate all the dark chocolate.  They are the best. 

Hope everyone had a great weekend and that Monday treats you kindly.