Weekend highlights

In many of my 'Weekend highlights' posts, the entire weekend is a string of highlights. We often manage to have full, fantastic weekends! This past weekend... not so much.

We spent the weekend back in VA. As usual there was plenty of family drama in several forms, but since that is not a highlight, I am not getting into it here.

The 1st highlight was dinner on Sat night. Spouse & I took his mother with us and picked up my aunt Mary. We went to Coastal Flats because Mary told me about a dish she'd eaten there that she thought I'd really like: grilled jumbo shrimp with Mediterranean orzo salad, goat cheese, and roasted tomatoes. We arrived at 6:00 (relatively early for dinner in that area) but still had to wait 45 minutes for a table. It was fine since part of the reason for getting together was to talk and catch up, which we did while waiting for our table. For starters we shared the deviled eggs with spiced pecans and sugar-cured bacon. Yum!! Mary & I both ordered the shrimp and orzo dish which was unbelievably delicious! The orzo had diced veggies, capers, olives and herbs in it and was so fresh. Spouse had Mahi mahi over creamy 3-pepper polenta, and his mother had a crab cake with sweet potato fries and cole slaw. The 4 of us shared a single dessert: banana pudding with candied vanilla wafers, caramel and chocolate sauces, topped with fresh whipped cream. Wow! We had a great meal and a great evening.

Another highlight of the weekend was seeing our dear friends Kerry & Hugh. We met them for lunch on Sun and talked and ate for 2 hours. We had not seen them since March, which is an usually long stretch for us. We got caught up on the comings and goings in their lives and vice versa. It felt good to reconnect with them and we had a great visit.

The 3rd highlight of the weekend was seeing Spouse's niece Anna on Sun afternoon. In the spring she was accepted into all of the prestigious schools to which she'd applied, but chose the closest one (only 30 minutes from home) for several reasons. When it came time to go to move into the dorm Anna seemed a little reluctant. I was afraid her perception of life as a college student in a dorm might be a little scary to her. But when we saw her yesterday afternoon, after a full month at college, she seemed very happy. She likes her roommate, she's making new friends, and said she was doing well in her classes. At that moment it was hard for me to remember the little 4-year old girl I met shortly after meeting Spouse.

I hope everyone can find highlights from their weekend, even if they were just bright spots among the drama.

Crush du Jour: Trent Davis