What I did This Summer: May and June

Growing up school always started the day or two after Labor Day.  Some teachers would have the students write a summary of their summer break; probably as a way to see our writing, grammar and spelling skills while gently transitioning us to working. 🙂

Since I didn’t blog much this summer (and I’m expanding this timeframe to May) this is my end of summer summary of what  I did the past four months.

May Highlights

There was one big event in May and that was the shower for my youngest son’s future wife.

It was hosted by F’s aunts at the Fig & Olive restaurant in Newport Beach.  One of them had made the beautiful table centerpieces.

At each seat was a package of homemade lemon-rosemary cookies.  I shared these with Steve when I got home.

The food was outstanding.

I’m not normally a fan of salmon but this was cooked perfectly.  After dining, F opened her gifts.

There were a lot of items from their registry and only one “sexy” gift.  Before leaving, we took photos.

This is the bride with her future mother-in-laws (far left is my son’s stepmom) and her mom on the far right.  Below is the entire group including her nonna, friends and family.

It was a lovely afternoon celebrating a wonderful person.

Rest of May

A surprise this year was this beautiful rose bouquet from our son, J,  and his wife.

The future groom and bride closed on their new home.  Stella helped them celebrate.

No, she didn’t drink it!

Last but foremost in our hearts, May brought the one year anniversary of losing our only daughter.  It’s still hard to wrap our heads around the fact we won’t see her again but we’re adjusting.

June Highlights

June got busier with a couple of business trips and a long weekend in Austin to attend KetoCon.

Michigan

I made two different trips to Michigan; the first to Flint and the second to Holland.  We had rain both trips.

In Flint, my preferred hotel was sold out so we stayed at a Wingate; the staff was great but it wasn’t the Hilton experience I’m used to.  One restaurant standout was Redwood Steakhouse Brewery and Grill.

 

The cocktail was yummy and the frozen flower was a surprise but I can’t remember the name of the drink.  The star of the evening was the steak.  I had beets for my side instead of potatoes.  Very good!

Two weeks later I was in Holland, Michigan which is a very cute college town on Lake Michigan.  The restaurant highlight here was  Seventy-six.  The only problem with this restaurant is it’s popularity.  We had to share a high top table with another couple of diners to avoid a long wait.

The food was fantastic and my coworker and I knew we’d want to bring the rest of our team here while in Holland for our next onsite meeting.

Father’s Day

We celebrated Father’s Day in between my two Michigan travels.  Steve picked Miguel’s Cantina for brunch for the outing.

If we had cocktails, I didn’t take pictures.  Steve went with the lobster while I had the surf & turf omelet.  We were both happy with our choices.

KetoCon

I registered for KetoCon, held in Austin, Texas, almost a year before it was held for a bargain rate of $100.  It was a great conference for those following or interested in a ketogenic diet (spoiler alert; I have since discontinued eating this way).

I stayed at the Hampton Inn in downtown Austin and had a good stay.

My best meal was at Coopers BBQ, a block or so from the hotel.

I mixed leftover meat with eggs at the hotel buffet one morning for a great breakfast!

Shopping

We spent a lot of money clothes shopping for the July wedding. Steve last bought a suit for our wedding —- 24 years ago.  So we I decided it was time for a new one.

We were both happy with the purchase and service at Men’s Wearhouse..  He also needed new dress shoes which we found at Macy’s.  I purchased my dress, shoes and handbag from Amazon.

It was my first experience with Prime Wardrobe and I loved it.  I ordered five dresses to try and as long as you return within 7 days of receipt, you’re not charged.  I returned four and kept the one above.  It looks much better in good lighting!

In an upcoming post, I’ll share July and August which were even busier and include the wedding.  How was your summer?