Happy Monday!  My weekend went by way too quickly as it usually does.  This past week, I’ve been super busy getting stuff ready for the baby and finishing up other things I wanted to get done before the baby comes…like finishing our wedding album. So I took a little break from blogging this past week to focus on that.  It’s almost done.

On Friday, I celebrated my mom’s birthday by going taking her to Lululemon and buying her her first Lulu top, dining at Via on Downer, and finishing up with some frozen yogurt at My Oh My.

We started our meal off with the Crostino Milano appetizer with gluten-free bread.  On top of the bread was spinach infused with olive oil, garlic, basil, tomatoes and goat cheese.  It was very good and just what I needed.  I’ve been skimping on veggies the past few weeks because they just haven’t appealed to me in the raw sense, but this was very satisfying.

For dinner I went with the pizza.  They have some of the best gluten-free pizza I’ve tasted.  LC and I visited their sister restaurant a few months ago, and enjoyed it so I knew this place would not disappoint.    I went with the La Bella pizza and added chicken and goat cheese.  The last time I was at Via, I had a pizza with their garlic sauce and it won my heart so I ordered another garlic sauce based pizza.  My heartburn hasn’t been too bad this pregnancy, but I wanted to err on the side of caution and forgo a tomato based sauce.  The pizza originally came with artichokes, cheese, and onions.

After dinner, we headed to a new frozen yogurt place in Milwaukee.  In the land of ice cream and frozen custard, I’m so happy to see a frozen yogurt shop.  There were tons of them in Chicago and I’ve now seen two pop up in Milwaukee.

I loved the way this place is set up.  We walked in and a girl offered us little sampling cups so that we could try whatever yogurt we wanted before we decided.  It’s self serve and their flavors change daily.  I decided on 1/2 dolce de leche and 1/2 NY cheesecake.  I topped it with some strawberries and was on my way.  You can also top your frozen yogurt with whipped cream at the cashier’s station.  The yogurt was very good and I would decide to have this over ice cream any day.  Lately, ice cream and I haven’t really meshed well.  Last time we went to Culver’s for frozen custard, I opted for a lemon Italian ice instead.  Baby really prefers fruity and cold  My mom said it was the perfect ending to her birthday

On Saturday I went into work for a little bit and then came home and cleaned the house.  I finally understand this “nesting” stuff.  I’m constantly cleaning up our house every chance I get and I’m starting to drive my husband crazy.  After my cleaning frenzy, we went to El Fuego for dinner and headed down to the lakefront to watch the Festa Italiana fireworks.  It was the first fireworks show that I’ve seen all year.  We missed the 4th of July fireworks due to the drought/dry grass this year.

On Sunday, I had my girlfriends over for a girls brunch and some pool time.  It was nice catching up with everyone and getting together just for fun without it revolving around a baby shower, wedding shower etc.

For brunch I made a crustless quiche and overnight baked french toast.  A friend of mine also brought over a fresh fruit salad to share.  After brunch we headed over to the pool to sit in the sun and swim around.  It was the perfect afternoon with my girls and will probably be the last time I see some of them before the baby arrives.  We all agreed that we don’t get together often enough, but when we do we pick up right where we left off.  As we get older, life gets in the way.  I’ve been extremely blessed to have the same group of girlfriends since middle school (16 or so years?).  Two of them are also pregnant and due in December.  They both recently found out that they’re expecting girls, which makes me even more anxious to find out what we’re having.  EVERYONE keeps telling me that I’m having a boy (my sister is sticking to her guns and saying girl).  And last night I had a dream that I gave birth to a boy. In the beginning, I had dreams that I was having a girl and I’ve also had a few dreams that it was a boy.  Maybe that’s because it’s what everyone is guessing that I’m having?  Who knows, but we’ll know soon enough

I’m off to the craft store for a DIY project for the baby’s room and I’ll be back later with a pregnancy update!

Something to talk about: In my opinion, summer goes by way too quickly as an adult.  What’s your all-time favorite memory of summer as a child? My grandma was a teacher’s aid, so I remember spending a lot of time with her in the summer.  We’d spend time baking, going to the library, movies, and the little wading pool in our neighborhood.  I also remember making homemade GAK with her