A Marvelous Labor-FREE Weekend

Happy Labor Day!

While I know we technically still have [only] three more weeks until the first day of fall, I can’t help but associate Labor Day with the end of summer. The sun is setting sooner, the temperatures are cooling off, leaves are starting to change…that’s right folks, pumpkin season is right around the corner!

But before we start pulling out the carving knives and candy corn (ick), it’s nice to enjoy those last few weeks of summer that we have left?

I know most of you have today off from work and/or school and will be enjoying family time, BBQ’s, and maybe even some fireworks, but as of last night, it’s back to the grind for me…but please, save the pity…I’m getting time and a half!

Chaaaaaa-CHING! πŸ˜€

And besides, my weekend started on Friday, and I did my best to make the most of it!

Be sure to hop on over to Healthy Diva Eats and check out everyone’s marvelous link-ups…maybe, just maybe their weekend rocked as much as mine! πŸ˜‰
 

It all began Friday morning with a GREAT lower body workout in an almost EMPTY gym…gotta love holiday weekends to give you more space in the weight room! After that,Β there was just enough time for a shower, breakfast, and a quick post before making my way out for a little road trip!

Any guesses as to where I ended up?

Ohhhh, yes…it’s been TOO long!

But I didn’t drive all the way to Nashville just to stuff my face with a trough of Whole Foods salad bar options or to load up Elvira until my wallet started to whimper…oh no, I had an even BETTER reason!

Love this girl!

And these two little munchkins!!
Totally stole this pic from Heather’s Instagram feed!

After a MARVELOUS lunch filled with deliciousΒ food (omg, so many levels of YUM in that box) and LOTS of catching up, Heather headed home to feed the babes, and I began the mission to murder my wallet in broad daylight!

Stay tuned for a post later in the week for pictures of the carnage! πŸ˜‰

But the fun (and deliciousness) didn’t stop there…

Saturday I woke up early, made my weekly trip to the farmer’s market, whipped up a quick summery salad

And headed off to my parents house for something special.

…Hmmm, I wonder WHO could that be for?…

Daddy Broccoli’s Birthday!

We made it a nice stress-free afternoon, creating a quick and easy lunch of fresh corn on the cob, my cucumber, tomato, and onion salad, and smoked chicken from my dad’s favorite local BBQ joint.

Now if that plate doesn’t scream SUMMER, then I don’t know what does!

The rest of the afternoon was spent lounging on the couch and chit chatting while drooling over shows on The Cooking Channel and Food Network…yeah, my parents know how to get me to stay awhile! πŸ˜‰

Then it was time to dig into that cake!

I’m not usually big on cake (must I remind you of my cookie love lust?) but holy mother of fluff…this was one of THE BEST cakes ever! I can still taste the perfectly creamy, sweet, but not too sweet icing! And thankfully, I packed my Lactaid, because that ice cream was the icing on the….oh, you know what I mean! πŸ˜‰

While I’m not typically a cake person, PANCAKES are of course a whole other story!

In the final hours of my fantastically labor-FREE weekend, BB and I got up early and went to our favorite place for celebrating Pancake Sunday

BB ordered the “Fluffy Pancakes” stuffed with crushed Oreo cookiesΒ topped with powdered sugar while I went plain with the silver dollar pancakes…

But that was just the beginning…those pancakes were but a blank canvas…

Ahh, yes…topped with a dollop of peanut butter and a fresh nectarine that I totally brought from home and then drizzled with just enough maple syrup…it was enough to [almost] make me swoon!

But there was something missing…so halfway through my plate, I made a request of our waitress…

Cinnamon makes everything better!

DELICIOUS!

Good food, good company, and NOT a single hand lifted toward chores around the house…not THAT is what I call a successful Labor Day weekend!

What fun and delicious things did you get into this weekend?

What are you looking forward to in the upcoming fall months?

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40 Responses to A Marvelous Labor-FREE Weekend

  1. YOU GOT TO MEET HEATHER?! I’m so jealous. she was like the FIRST blog I ever started reading! That’s really what got me into blogging (and into getting a vitamix haha)

    That sounds like so much fun πŸ™‚

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Haha! Yep, I actually had my very first blogger meet-up with Heather not long after I started blogging. I was SO nervous since I fell in love with her blog from the moment I first saw it…she seemed almost like a celebrity to me…but she is so REAL and down-to-Earth that minutes after we said hello, we were chatting like we’d known each other for years! She’s the best!

  2. I love that you brought your own nectarine and nut butter from home. Totally something I wold do. πŸ˜‰

  3. What a great weekend girl!! So glad you got to meet Heather. She seems so sweet!! Happy Birthday to your daddy!!!

  4. lindsay says:

    there you are with your kiddo again. JK!!!! You two are adorable (you and heather). And i love you both. And i love your laborless weekend.

  5. katie says:

    Love the title of this post! I have to say you did have a marvelous weekend!

    How nice you got to see HEAB again! Her twins are adorable! I am so happy for her and the family! I am sure Summer is a great big sis to them!

    You wore your BLEND shirt! How sweet! πŸ™‚

    Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, places that are also known as heaven πŸ™‚

    Love ya girl and hope your day was good today too! <3

  6. Kelsey says:

    Wow! That cake looks incredible!!!

    My fun weekend event was a “Fest of Ales” at a local brewery. Sooo cool.

  7. julie says:

    awww what a fun date with heather! and her little munchkins are adorable πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚ i’m sure the WF was just the second best part!

  8. Emily says:

    YAY! What an amazing weekend!
    Happy belated Birthday to Papa-Broccoli! It looks like you guys had a fun celebration together and I’m sure he appreciated getting to spend his special day with his family.

    I LOVE that you brought your own pancake toppings to the restaurant. I’ve definitely done that before and basked in the glory of my waitress’ awkward stares. haha.

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      “…basked in the glory of my waitress’ awkward stares” <- Bahaha! LOVE it!! It's funny, when I first started blogging, I would get so nervous about people looking at me when I was taking pics/pretty-fying my plate...now I don't care in the least! Lol

  9. Wait.. what? Pancakes stuffed with -Oreos-??! How did I not know that something like that exists?! Those sound fabulous, but then again, your dressed up pancakes aren’t looking too shabby either… I definitely wouldn’t throw them out of bed! πŸ˜‰

    Unfortunately, this weekend wasn’t labor free for me. I had plans to go to the lake and have one last summer BBQ, but the weather had to rain on my parade and I ended up staying home and cleaning my place. Not a bad trade off, eh? Hehe but it wasn’t entirely bad. I got to spend some time with my family and friends, ate some delicious food (hellooooooooo fluffy cheesy buns and pizza), and feel pretty rested for the upcoming week. Seriously, though… I can’t believe that summer is basically over. I love Fall, with its colors, scents, foods, and fashion, but I’ll miss those carefree summer days… especially when the snow starts falling! Brr.

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Oh honey…did you miss these? http://kissmybroccoliblog.com/2012/03/11/cookies-n-cream-pancakes/ You SERIOUSLY need them in your life! The ones BB ordered were ok, but my version is soooooo much better! πŸ˜‰

      Pretty rested, huh? Well that’s surprising! Especially since I SAW that weekend workout you did! Haha! How about next weekend, you come over and “workout” at my house? I’ll make you pancakes!

      Ugh, don’t mention the “s” word! Loathe…despise…abhor!!

  10. Lizzi says:

    This looks like the greatest weekend in the history of great weekends! LOOOVE the look of those pancakes! So excited for summer + summer fruit here – my boyfriend’s mum gave me a little baby peach tree for my birthday, so I’m excited to get those bad boys involved in some hardcore peanut butter + pancake action (a trifecta of Ps!).

    Happy birthday to your dadda!

  11. Glad to hear you had a fab weekend, lovely lady! That cake and icecream looks divineeeeeeeeeee.

    I’m looking forward to it being Spring here in Australia! Finally I can get my white legs out to see the sun hahaha.

  12. Jessie says:

    you really had the perfect weekend in meals.. whole foods, bbq dinner, cake & that breakfast!! I’m not quite sure it could get any better πŸ™‚

  13. Looks like you had a great weekend girl! Blogger meet ups are always the best, especially when they involve WF. πŸ˜‰ And happy birthday to your dad! That cake looks all sorts of amazing. I’m not usually a big cake fan either, but I do love my icing… and that icing looks good!

    Haha I love that you brought your own toppings to the restaurant. I totally do that too. But that’s only because I’ve never found a breakfast place that offers soy nut butter! πŸ˜›

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Now THAT is something I’m gonna keep in mind for future reference…you know when I start up my pancake restaurant ;)…I’m TOTALLY going to have a WALL OF NUT BUTTERS! There will also be peanut flour, coconut flour, and assorted freshly made jams and fruit butters! Oh yeah, and some pure maple syrup for the “traditional” customers! Yep, my place will be what breakfast places dream of being! Lol

      “Blogger meet ups are always the best, especially when they involve WF” <- Ahhhhhh-GREED!

  14. Yay for hanging out with HEAB!
    I also love that you brought your own accessories to breakfast…. definitely something I have done many times! Why not have it the way you want it, right? πŸ™‚

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      EXACTLY! If I’m paying money for something to eat, I’m gonna have it the way I want it! Next time I’m busting out the coconut flour sauce! Lol

  15. Kendra says:

    I really need to get over to the Whole Foods salad bar one of these days–SO many bloggers talk about it, and I haven’t been there yet. Not even once. I feel like I am missing out on something amazing:D Those pancakes look fantastic!! And such an artistic picture as well; I love the nectarine “petals” and the dollop of peanut butter in the middle:) Last night I went with my family to Sweet Tomatoes, a buffet-style restaurant. There is SO much delicious food there–a huge salad bar, soups, pasta, pizza, baked potatoes, fruit, and desserts. The price is a bit high (about $10 a person), but it IS all-you-can-eat, which is always a plus when there are 6 people eating! Some things I am looking forward to in the upcoming fall months are: my other 3 college classes starting, my Nutcracker rehearsals/performances, delicious fall food ( butternut squash, pumpkin, lots of stews/chili), the beautifully colored leaves, and many more!

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      “I feel like I am missing out on something amazing” <- That's because YOU ARE!! You don't even KNOW there's a hole in your soul until that first trip to a WF's hot bar has filled it up! Total and absolute deliciousness! And when you DO try it, if they have the cheesy squash casserole, you HAVE to get it...you can thank me later! πŸ˜‰ That buffet sounds incredible...so many choices! And I love ANY buffet that offers pizza! Yum! Ohhh, the nutcracker! How fun!

  16. Oreo cookies in pancakes?? I’m thinking I need to try this immediately.

  17. That does sounds like a fab weekend! I have YET to visit a Whole Foods…It’s on my bucket list lol…I was never a cake person either, but the past 2 years or so it has really [unfortunately] been growing on me!! p.s. could those babies be any cuter?? Glad you had such a nice holiday and happy bday to your Dad! xo

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Oh my gosh, my life was not complete until my first Whole Foods experience! I swear I spent like THREE hours in the place, skipping up and down every aisle! Lol

      And all I can say is…it’s a GOOD thing I got out of the house before my mom offered me cake to take home! πŸ˜‰

  18. Allie says:

    Cinnamon DOES make everything better. I buy the huge things of it at Costco…and then go through it at the rate I’m sure other people go through the small containers πŸ™‚ And yup, I labored on Labor Day…for 1.5x pay as well. I’ll take my PTO later, extra cash now please ;D

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Oh my gosh, me too! My mega-container probably last 6 months at the most…and that’s only because I force myself to eat other things besides breakfast 24/7…cinnamon was just MEANT for any and all breakfast food!

      Make dat mo-nay girl! Woo hoo!

      • Allie says:

        I’ll admit, I’ve made oatmeal or pancakes before just so I have an excuse to put cinnamon on something πŸ˜‰ And Moroccan food? Cinnamon in savory dinners, oh yeahh.

        • kissmybroccoli says:

          I’ve actually never had Moroccan food…I really need to expand my palate! And I think I’ll be heading up…er, DOWN to Nashville more often so point me in the direction of that Ethiopian place! πŸ˜€

  19. Pancakes stuffed with oreos?!? That is brilliance on so many levels.

  20. Um yeah, I really can’t get past the Oreo stuffed pancakes…next time we meet up, I vote G’s! πŸ™‚

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