EASTER WEEKEND
My Easter Weekend
This Easter weekend was my favorite one to date. Sarah and I went to my parent's home for the weekend and dove into some gratifying, yet modest Easter activities. Despite fighting a dreadful sinus infection and being forced to incorporate lots of rest and relaxation, we enjoyed our mini vacation away from home. There's something about being just a couple hours away from your daily routine (i.e. the gym, work, traffic) that makes all the difference.
Friday morning, we put the finishing touches on our luggage and cruised down I-26/95 through the misty rain and arrived at my house mid-morning. Being stubborn as I am, I set out to the gym immediately to "get back on track" after not working out for a couple days due to my sickness. I woke up Saturday morning lightheaded and feeling a million times worse, yet still carted myself to a spin class.. Readers, do as I say, not as I do; working out has prolonged my illness and has proved to be a major setback, despite thinking it would boot the germ out of my body. Aside from my not-so-thoughtful decision, Friday was a great diversion from my day-to-day life in Charleston. One of those being a luscious Easter recipe that Sarah and I made from scratch. Thanks to the amazing food blogger, Fit Mitten Kitchen, Sarah and I were introduced to vegan/paleo/gluten free mock Reese's eggs. You are about to learn something very important about me. A) Chocolate and nut butter might as well exist as their own food group in my mind, and B) Despite now being vegan, Reese's eggs were my single most coveted Easter treat, aside from Robin Eggs. Needless to say, I was super stoked to make dark chocolate and almond butter shaped eggs for a healthy, yet indulgent Easter treat. Not unexpectedly, they turned out absolutely delectable and will be savored well into this week.
A quick note about the house I grew up in: The sunsets there are divine. From the backyard, you can capture an essence of the wisp of clouds bellowing in an array of patterns while the kaleidoscopic golden, rose, coral, mauve and cyan hues steal the show in the sky. So while preparing dinner Friday night, we were taken back by the simple essence of nature's elements. Apart from enjoying dinner while watching tv in the background, the night was fairly relaxed and simplistic.
The following day consisted of a spin class, led by an incredible instructor, appropriately named Rebecca. Although I walked away with my legs feeling numb and my head spinning, I'm so glad I got to experience the class, as I cannot wait to attend future spin classes with her. The later part of Saturday was quite low key, as I regrettably got Sarah sick. What an awful feeling it is to wake up with a burning, raw throat; to that end, I have myself to blame for spreading my germ. Regardless, we made the most out of the day. My mother left marble Easter egg dying kits for us to utilize, and while I momentarily thought of googling to check if dying Easter eggs is a vegan-like thing to do, I decided it was better to not know and do it, rather than know and do it anyway. Although let's face it.. I pretty well knew the answer. But if you know me, you'll know there's few things in this world I enjoy more than marble print. The combination of dying Easter eggs with pastel colors AND creating a marble print excited me possibly a bit too much. So as it would happen, we partook in dying eggs in a variety of lovely pastel shades. To be fair, my parents would have cooked and enjoyed the eggs in the refrigerator regardless is we had died them or not.
The later part of the night was spent watching the Oscar-nominated and Academy Award winning movie, The Shape of Water. Scene transitions are incredibly articulated as both Sally Hawkins and Octavia Spencer are phenomenal actresses who are seemingly born to play their character's role. I think acting without having a voice as Hawkins did was so admirable - throughout the movie, I came to realize that it must take more effort to convey actions rather than words as an actress/actor. Truthfully, I have to give it up to the director, Guillermo del Toro, as I was captivated from beginning to end by a movie that I typically would not inclined to watch.
On Easter Sunday, we were greeted by lavish azaleas adorned on a wooden cross on the front lawn of my church. Inside, we were praised by our incredibly talented choir; each person in the choir has a voice that seems to reach Heaven each time they open their mouth, so, combine their lovely voices with a talented violinist and pianist, and the melody was unearthly. The service was indescribably flawless and touching. It has marked my favorite Easter Sunday service to date.
After basking in the Easter sun on the church lawn and taking pictures, we enjoyed a small homemade lunch, then packed up our belongings and headed home to Charleston. While we hated to leave and return to reality, it's the joyful moments that make you appreciate life's small gifts. It seems like such a simple weekend on paper, and it really was. But what I loved most about it was how loved and content I felt the entire weekend.
How did you spend your Easter weekend? Thanks for reading!
