Surprise Family Reunion

Yesterday turned out to be a surprise little family reunion at my sister's place in Philly. My stepdad Bruce took a drive down to rural PA from Vermont to visit his daughter Chelsea and her boyfriend Mike for the weekend, and they decided to come over and visit with me and Amanda for the day. Bruce had brought down a few boxes of my sister's childhood items to drop off, so we had fun sitting around going through all her old stuff and reliving kid memories. After a while we were all hungry and decided to head out for lunch at Fall's Taproom, the gastropub we went for lunch with my cousins last summer.

Sisters! It's been at least 6 months since all three of us have been together at the same time, and it was so great getting to catch up. Especially since it was a total surprise visit. Riker had a great time visiting with his PopPop too. :)

Gastropubs are right up my alley - great beer, and fresh, creative foods with lots of vegetarian options. Falls Taproom even has vegan "wings"! You can't go to Falls Taproom and not get a beer; I originally ordered a PBC Kenzinger since I wanted to try a local brew, but it was really disappointing. It didn't have much flavor and I felt like it was a waste to drink it, so I set it aside and went with a tried & true...the Fegley's Hop'Solutely. Always a winner.

After nibbling on a few fried pickles we ordered for the table, I ordered the mushroom & cheddar beer sandwich for lunch.

The fried pickles were so unique and some of the best I've ever had. They were super salty and vinegary, and only lightly breaded. My sandwich was pretty good too, but I only ate half before calling it quits. That thing was enormous.

I also tried one of my sister's rosemary pierogies, which were amazing.

I ordered Riker a flatbread, but he only ate a few bites before realizing that Mike was digging into a bowl of homemade bacon mac & cheese. That boy loves his cheesy macaroni so we had to give him some. 

I'm pretty sure he ate at least half that giant bowl. ;-)

After lunch we all said our goodbyes, and then Amanda and I ran a few errands before relaxing back at her apartment for a few hours. She made a plate of coconut chocolate chip cookies (actually from a jar mix I gave her in a Christmas goodie basket) for a late afternoon snack and sugar fix, which we enjoyed while simultaneously watching Harry Potter and Riker chasing Amanda's cats all over the apartment.

Mmmm. Two cookies and a second cup of coffee later, and it was time to get back on the road to go pick up Matt and his friends.

Lunch was so filling that dinner never made it onto the agenda, which was fine since we didn't arrive back home until around 9:30 PM after dropping Matt's friends off and picking up Butters. We were all exhausted and ready to crawl into bed. I tried reading a few pages of my new book, Switched, but I'm pretty sure I only made it three sentences in before my eyes drooped shut. It was a full Saturday, for sure!

***

This morning started with Sunday bagels & lox, followed by a family shopping trip.

I needed to get a gift for a bridal shower I'm attending next weekend, a gift for Matt's mom's birthday and a few things for Riker, so a trip to Bed, Bath & Beyond, Babies R' Us and Target were in the cards. I also wanted to exchange some Sanuk shoes I got last week since they were the wrong size. Love the Roxy summer slip-ons I came home with. I love winter, but seeing all the summer shoes and sundresses out is making me itch for warm weather.

Riker just went down for a nap so it's time to clean up around the house and wrap some gifts. We're going to Matt's parents' later today for a small family birthday party for his mom, so gotta make sure I'm set for the week ahead before we head out. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!