Rest, recharge, renew — and play!

All three components of the title were much-needed, and the past five days have been fun, with more to come!

On Friday morning, we waved goodbye to Gabriel and my MIL — they’re having their own fun in Florida (including a holiday boat parade, a sighting of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Dolphin, and a run-in with a gold-coin-dispensing pirate) while we enjoy a child-free week here in St. Louis.

On Friday night, we went to the student showcase performance at Bumbershoot Aerial Arts, aptly named the Holiday Glitter Ball.  There was plenty of glitter and sparkle, plus a wonderful variety of aerial acts, all set to Christmas music.  With slightly different line-ups every night, I was tempted to go back for an encore performance, but we had other weekend plans.

We spent Saturday doing some much-needed cleaning before shifting gears to cooking for the Candy Cane Lane Potluck and Bike Ride we were hosting.  I made black bean soup and a version of this slaw, but with sriracha instead of curry paste.  The slaw was a huge hit!

With full bellies, we took to our bicycles for a nice, easy ride to enjoy the lights of Candy Cane Lane, Snowflake Street, and Angel Avenue.  We were joined by friends, including a family with three girls, and the youngest was my companion on Big Blue.   She’s right around G’s age, and it was fun hearing her reactions to the lights (I felt a little like I was cheating on Gabriel, though).  After immersing ourselves in the lights, we returned for cake and hot chocolate ice cream.  Did I mention that it was almost 70 degrees for our ride?  My initial plan was dessert and hot beverages, but that seemed rather silly with our weather — the ice cream our friends brought was perfect!

Early Sunday morning, Matthew took off for a work trip to D.C., leaving me as a bachelorette for three days.  Despite the dreary rain encouraging a home day, I went out and was rewarded with an energizing Advent service at church.  The rest of the day was spent in good rainy-day fashion, including a nice long nap.

I worked on Monday and Tuesday, but it was not all work and no play, as I hosted a small group for dinner on Monday night.  I wrapped up my work for the week on Tuesday so Matthew and I could enjoy some stay-cation time during the second half of the week.

I had initially looked into destinations within an hour or two for a little overnight getaway, and while there are some nice options, I wasn’t finding anything I loved, so we opted with the tried-and-true Lou — plenty of great restaurants and activity options.

Yesterday we did some shopping, along with a visit to the garden for a fabulous mid-December harvest, before returning home for a dinner of homemade pasta and an evening at the ice rink.  The bike ride to and from the rink provided an opportunity to enjoy some of the Christmas lights on The Hill, and we enjoyed less-crowded, weeknight ice skating with the lovely Christmas lights at the rink.

The fun continues into Saturday with more plans for food, friends, and festivities — and hopefully a few more naps!