Happy Easter Monday/April Fools day!
1. Is Easter Monday actually a holiday? I know elementary/high schools get the day off and banks are closed, but pretty much everyone else is back at work/school, right?
2. April Fools’ Day scares me a little. I’m terrible at pulling pranks, so I just try to hide and hope that no one tries anything.
But long weekends are pretty marvelous, no? I have somewhat of a love/hate relationship with Mondays, but I figure it’s better to look at the positive side.
Yup, I’m jumping on the lovely Katie’s MIMM bandwagon. I’ll save Friday for later, but I will show you some fun Saturday/Sunday things!
You know what’s marvelous? Easter chocolate.
This is why my chocolate stash will never die. As soon as I’m running low, people give me more Between Eric and I, there’s four chocolate bunnies, a chocolate rose, and a box of cereal.
My mom told me that when she saw this at the store, she had to pick up a box for me because she loved the name so much. I’ve fallen out of cereal love lately (those eggy oats have my heart right now), but this is one way to return me to my cereal loving roots. Loooove this stuff.
She also managed to find me a chocolate bunny with sprinkles in him. Seems pretty appropriate.
Chocolate bunnies in a cage. That is some good presentation, at least.
It’s pretty marvelous to have a mom-cooked Saturday breakfast!
Eggs, bacon and rye toast – one piece with butter, one with honey. I love rye bread, but I never think to buy it!
A yummy Easter dinner is marvelous:
Saturday dinner with Eric’s family: an appetizer of little veggie roll sushi things (how’s that for a description?), a full turkey dinner, and Black Forest Cake for dessert. I’m pretty sure the last time I remember eating black forest cake was about 6 years ago, but that stuff is good. Chocolate, cherries and a ton of whipped cream. Amazing.
And something that is EXTREMELY marvelous:
Blogger meet ups!
Devon was in town visiting a friend for the weekend, so of course, we made plans to meet up. I’ve been talking to Devon for a while and she’s such an awesome girl, so I was thrilled we could meet up.
When we were trying to figure out where to go for lunch, I suggested Indian – it’s been a while since I’d had it, and she’s pretty much an expert on the stuff We went to The Raja in downtown London for their Sunday lunch buffet.
I think buffets have to be my favourite approach for Indian food…there’s so many different options that I like having the opportunity to try a bunch of different dishes.
so we’ve got:
- some sort of salad/salsa stuff (I’m doing really well on the food descriptions today, aren’t I?)
- tandoori chicken (always one of my favourites)
- channa masala (chickpeas)
- sag aloo (spinach and potatoes)
- an onion bhajee
- some sort of okra dish (the first time I’ve ever eaten okra, actually. Might be picking it up again, I liked it!)
- mystery chicken (it wasn’t labeled. It was good though)
- basmati rice
When it (finally) came around, the naan bread.
I always judge an Indian restaurant based on their naan bread. My ideal naan bread is buttered but not too greasy, and stable enough that you can use it as a proper scoop. The Raja passed
Dessert round:
Fresh fruit and a gulab jamun (which are basically little fried, syrupy dough balls of delicousness)
So basically, lunch was awesome, but the company was even better! Devon and I just talked for hours about everything from blogging to travel. We have a ton in common, right down to the matching nose rings We were probably getting a bit of a stink-eye from the staff, we lingered for so long!
Fortunately for me, she’s only about an hour away so I will be making the trip up to see her again soon.
Being the awesome person that she is, she also gifted me some PureFit bars.
She recommended them on her blog a while back, but I haven’t been able to find them anywhere in my area. They look awesome – anything that’s supposed to taste like cookie dough is good in my book.
Thanks for the bars, and for an awesome lunch Devon!
I just need to take a moment to gush about how fortunate I feel that blogging has lead me to some amazing individuals that I would not have had the chance to meet (or ‘meet’) otherwise. There are some wonderful people in this community, and I’m so happy that I get to talk to you guys regularly and consider you my friends!
Oh goodness, the marvelous-ness. Have a great Monday!
<— Are there any cuisines you love but find too intimidating to cook? I love Indian food, but I’m afraid to actually attempt it from scratch. Same story with sushi!
<— Tell me something marvelous about your weekend!
April 1, 2013 at 7:24 am
I think I’ve only had Indian food once.. I can’t even remember, but I’d be all over the naan ! ;D blogger meet-ups are seriously the best. Happy Monday, love!
April 1, 2013 at 8:09 am
The naan may just be the best part 😀 Have a good one Brittany!
April 1, 2013 at 7:53 am
Oh my goodness you and Devon got to meet!!! That’s so awesome! Now both of you just need to come down to the states to hang out with us down here 🙂 that cake looks amazing and I love that you decided to eat it. Chocolate bunnies- the best. I’m glad it was such a great weekend for you!!
April 1, 2013 at 8:10 am
It was a great meetup! And we definitely will have to one day :-p
And I’ve learned that I just don’t turn down chocolate cake. It is fabulous 😀
April 1, 2013 at 8:20 am
I sure am impressed by your Indian food knowledge :)! Your weekend sounds lovely and you guys put up quite a spread, am especially eyeing those spring rolls! As delicious as black forest cake is, have you ever tried white forest? If not, it’s basically white chocolate and peaches instead of cherries….too die forrr 🙂
April 1, 2013 at 8:27 am
..google may have helped 😀
And I haven’t! That sounds pretty fabulous though, I may have to get my hands on some of that.
April 1, 2013 at 8:47 am
Sounds like a great weekend!! Love the “veggie sushi roll things” 😛
April 1, 2013 at 9:36 am
lol they were delicious :-p
April 1, 2013 at 8:48 am
Ahhh soo jealous of that meet up (but also really happy for you two 😉 )! Looks like you had an awesome weekend, girl! I love sushi but would be terrified to make it haha…and i still need to go to an indian buffet…i keep telling joe i want to go and he keeps saying ok and then we don’t make it…sometime in the next two months we will!!
April 1, 2013 at 9:36 am
You need to do it! Seriously amazing.
April 1, 2013 at 9:12 am
Lots of marvelous! Love the rockstar bunny, haha! Too cute!!!
Glad you had a fabulous weekend! Saturday dinner looked delish and so does the indian! I love indian food and naan! ❤
April 1, 2013 at 9:37 am
I thought she picked out a good one :-p
April 1, 2013 at 9:16 am
At first I thought it was a real bunny in the cage haha.
April 1, 2013 at 9:37 am
lol! I don’t know what I would do with real bunnies.
April 1, 2013 at 9:40 am
Probably tapas. My bf and I love it but to actually make that many dishes for dinner I just don’t think we would ever do ourselves.
We actually get the Monday holiday here in Australia so that was pretty marvelous having a 4 day weekend 🙂
April 1, 2013 at 10:26 am
Ohh neither would I! Tapas are fun, but the dishes would not be worth it.
April 1, 2013 at 9:44 am
Yee! Totally agree that it was an awesome day yesterday, so glad I got to meet you! April Fools scares me a little too. I’m sitting in the Starbucks in the Masonville mall right now and I’m seriously worried that my ride back to Guelph is about to call me and be like “April Fools! You can walk home!” Reeeaalllly hope that doesn’t happen 😉
April 1, 2013 at 10:26 am
lmao that would be pretty terrible!
April 1, 2013 at 10:19 am
Fallen… out of cereal love? 😥 I’ll pretend you didn’t say that because I’m not all too sure that my heart can handle it. At least you’re still a chocolate lover, though. And black forest cake! That sucker is seriously the epitome of my growing up years. My mom would make one from scratch for pretty much every birthday/special occasion and it aways brings back such good memories. That being said, there was no BFC for Easter this year… we had to settle for cheesecake 😉 And I couldn’t agree with you more about the blessing that is good blog friends… especially ones made within the last week or so ❤ ❤
April 1, 2013 at 10:28 am
haha I’m confident that Leapin’ Lemurs can revive that love.
I remember eating it a lot when I was a kid…actually I remember for my 16th birthday in high school, walking over to the grocery store at lunch with a bunch of friends and buying one to eat under the stairs at school. We were a cool bunch.
And yes, you are definitely a large part of that statement! ❤
April 1, 2013 at 10:21 am
Omg I love Lemurs! What a cool cereal! I enjoyed reading about your weekend. You have a great energy!! I had a good weekend of exercise, good friends and good food. Have a great day!
April 1, 2013 at 10:29 am
Thanks so much Lauren! I hope you have a great Monday too 😀
April 1, 2013 at 11:06 am
That cereal sounds fantastic!! I love the combination of peanut butter and chocolate :).
Indian food is one of my favorites!! Channa masala is SO good, and you seriously cannot beat the tastiness of naan. I am jealous of that meal!
April 1, 2013 at 11:14 am
I kinda wish I had another one just like it, it was delicious!
April 1, 2013 at 11:35 am
I’m hoping no one plays any prank on me, I’m not a fan since I’m so gullible.
I know here, lots of people don’t work today. None of my friends are and both my Parents have the day off work as well…hmm. I’ve heard others don’t get it off which I find weird, since Easter was always a 4 day weekend for us.
I’m feeling the non cereal love too, sometimes I just dislike cereal haha. It’s hard to make me full, but I may attempt again.
Looks like it was a great weekend for you!
I wish I lived near you guys so we could meet up too! Jealous. I swear no bloggers live by me.
Happy Monday love!
April 1, 2013 at 1:18 pm
Just means that we have to find an excuse for you to come out to Ontario :-p
Have a good one Lisa!
April 1, 2013 at 11:46 am
I had to hop-on the positivity bandwagon myself this morning. I told myself Monday was nothing to have an anxiety attack over! Yahoo for all of your weekend eats, I indulged quite a bit & it was so delish & worth it. I too have never made Indian food, maybe need to put that next on my “list”. Happy Monday Sam!
April 1, 2013 at 1:22 pm
It definitely is not worth an anxiety attack!
Glad you had an awesome weekend!
April 1, 2013 at 12:08 pm
That’s so awesome that you and Devon got to meet up! I’ll have to crash one of your meet ups sometime. 😉 And ditto to what you said about blog friends – I feel so lucky to have met so many great friends that I never would have met if it weren’t for blogging. And I’m so glad you live so close! If only everyone else lived close to us too. 😛
I really love Italian food, but I’m too intimated to make homemade pasta or homemade pizza dough unless I have my dad’s help. I really need to get over that fear though because homemade pasta is SO much better than the boxed kind.
April 1, 2013 at 1:23 pm
We were talking about how disappointed we were that you were in Burlington for the weekend! We will definitely plan something for the three of us sometime. Pretty sure Guelph is the halfway point between Brantford and Toronto :-p
April 1, 2013 at 12:35 pm
I have loved Indian food the few times I have had it, I have been wanting to make it at home but in still kind of intimidated by it. All your Easter chocolate looks amazing!
April 1, 2013 at 1:33 pm
I’m excited to dive headfirst into it :-p
April 1, 2013 at 1:50 pm
Sounds like such a great weekend and I looove the sprinkled Eatser chocolate! I totall feel,ou on ‘meeting’ great personalities here in the blogger world! I am chatting with ladies I found on here and couldn’t be more happy about it. I spent the weekend in Berlin which was fantastic!!
April 1, 2013 at 4:50 pm
Me neither, there’s definitely some fabulous people in this part of the internet.
Glad you had so much fun in Berlin!
April 1, 2013 at 3:32 pm
Long weekends are definitely marvelous…but boooo I didn’t have one! haha and I love leapin lemurs! So good…and that’s awesome that you and Devon got to meet up! Looks like you guys had a great time!
April 1, 2013 at 4:51 pm
We did!
April 1, 2013 at 4:20 pm
My sisters LOVE Indian. I just think it’s okay….isn’t that sad?!
But it looks like a super fun meet up! Have a lovely monday 🙂
April 1, 2013 at 4:51 pm
haha I think you need to work on that :-p
You have a great one too Annette!
April 1, 2013 at 5:15 pm
That sounds like an awesome weekend Sam, very cute choc bunnies!
April 1, 2013 at 8:10 pm
I’m excited by the sheer amount of them :-p
April 1, 2013 at 5:58 pm
Devonnnnnnnn! <- That was me when I got to the pic of you guys! Haha! Yay, two of my favoritest bloggers together! Love it! I think I need to replace my stud nose ring with a hoop and pop up there for a visit! 😉
That is the cutest cereal box ever! And well, the cereal sounds pretty cool too! And seriously, you TOTALLY made up for the food descriptions with the gulab jamun…um, I want a little fried, syrupy dough ball of delicousness please!!!!
I've only had Indian food once…and I got the mildest one…and it gave me indigestion! Ha! I keep saying I'm going to try making it at home since I can control the amount of spice in the dishes, but I'll admit I am a little intimidated by all the flavors/ingredients! Have you ever heard of Aparna's blog Not a Leaf? She has some of the BEST looking Indian recipes! (http://notaleaf.com/category/food/Indian/)…I'm especially eyeing that Paneer Tikka Masala! Looks amazing!
And funny you should mention sushi because I've ALWAYS been too scared to try it until recently…but really it's not as hard as you think! I mean, mine might not look all that pretty, but after experimenting last week, I'm definitely ready to make more!
My weekend was of the low-key variety, but the most marvelous thing was getting to see some of my extended family for Easter dinner yesterday! I haven't seen a lot of them since Christmas!
April 1, 2013 at 8:11 pm
haha yes!! Nose ring triplets? I love it 😀
And I’ll definitely have to take a peek through those recipes, thanks for the tip!
April 1, 2013 at 6:36 pm
Ahhh so many things I feel the need to comment on in this post! That is certainly a good thing 🙂 First, what a great chocolate stash you have going on now. The bunny with the sprinkles seems pretty darn ideal to me and it goes along nicely with the title of your blog hehe. That cereal sounds legit too.. there is a Puffins cereal like that but I never buy it because it’s literally 5 bucks for a box. It’s not that good for that price! I have got it on sale before though and my favorite way is to eat it dry, nice and crunchy. So yeah, you’re mom is awesome for getting you such easter goodies and the breakfast too, yes to rye bread! Pumpernickel is a bread I like as well, but forget about it like you with the rye.
Yay for blogger meet ups, they are just great! I agree about how blogging connects you with people you would never have normally met. I have met a few bloggers over the years and it’s been a true delight each time. On that note, can I PLEASE meet you in person one day? Because yeah, it pretty much just needs to happen 🙂
April 1, 2013 at 8:13 pm
Haha seemed pretty perfect considering the blog.
And ohmygod, Yes, yes you can – in fact, please do!!
April 1, 2013 at 7:22 pm
Nature’s Path makes THE BEST cereal! I love the peanut butter panda puffs.
April 1, 2013 at 8:13 pm
My second favourite Nature’s Path :-p
April 1, 2013 at 9:50 pm
do need to learn more Indian cuisine foods, as we do like their flavors. need to get over that fear.
marvelous about our weekend was being able to just relax with family 🙂
April 1, 2013 at 10:03 pm
Such a great thing to do on a holiday weekend 😀
April 2, 2013 at 2:10 am
I’ve fallen in love with the sprinkle bunny! I’m pretty sure they exist in this country, but I sure wish they did, because holy fun yum. The stash of Easter treats your mom brought made me smile–especially the Leapin’ Lemurs cereal! I’ve seen it at Whole Foods, but it’s never made its way into my cart. Curiosity has the best of me now, though. 🙂
Your mom-made breakfast looks delicious (hello, bacon!), as does Easter dinner. Black Forest cake is one of my favorites! A good friend of mine is German, and a few years ago she made me a homemade cake–complete with hand-shaven Lindt chocolate–for my birthday. I think it was the best cake I’ve ever tasted.
I’m so glad you and Devon were able to meet up! Love her! Indian food intimidates me, too, which is probably why I’ve never tried to cook it at home. The same goes for sushi, Thai, and Ethiopian (which is really popular in DC).
Hope you enjoyed your last long weekend day today! ❤ xoxo
April 2, 2013 at 7:28 am
The sounds of that cake have me drooling a little!
I’ve never even tried Ethiopian food…it’s on my list though!
Have a good one Sara! ❤
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