On Friday afternoon, I ventured to Longwood to meet with my thesis advisor and then spent a few hours hanging out with my brother while he set up for his band to play a show later that night. It was warm and sunny and so good to see him.

Back in Charlottesville, it's cloudy and cold, but yesterday my mom came to visit for the night along with my childhood friend Patrick's mother, and we spent the evening eating and drinking and laughing. Rob has been super busy with end of the semester work, and it was so good to not spend the afternoon alone at the computer again for a change. My mom and I packed some things up after lunch and coffee, then reunited with Patrick, his mom, and his fiance for a nice dinner at one of our favorite places.

Who doesn't love spending time with great people? It's been a good few days.

Charlottesville hasn't really felt like home yet. It's where we live, and we've been here for eight months, but I still refer to my parents' house at the lake as "home." Rob and I go away a lot on the weekends. But this weekend, we stayed put.

We hung out with friends both old and new. We sat outside for afternoon drinks. I ended up with a fever on Saturday, and spent most of the evening in bed. We had Chinese takeout delivered, we ate in bed, we went out for a very non-Paleo milkshake that my sore throat and I just had to have. And when I woke up on Sunday morning, I made coffee, picked some flowers for myself from a bush in our little yard, and sat down at my computer to work, really feeling like I was at home.

Sweet Deidre. We have brunch together every Friday.

And Anita. Fellow barista and member of the Friday Brunch Club. 

Hangar Hound for me: vodka and a fresh squeezed grapefruit. 

Moonshine Punch for the girls. Don't ask me what's in it, all I know is that it comes in a jar with blood oranges. 

Stephen (left) was in town for the weekend. Rob has a strange shadow on his face. 

Steamed veggies and chicken with garlic sauce for one pitiful girl. 

I can't wait for this bush to fully bloom. 

Earrings c/o Found by Marie. 

Blackberry Italian Soda on a Sunday afternoon. 

My dear friend Patrick (who just got into grad school!!), looking dapper as always.

Charlottesville is a temporary home for me and Rob, but I think it's been pretty good to us so far.

After the recent holidays, I feel like I've barely actually stayed at our apartment in Charlottesville for a weekend in weeks. But this weekend, we stayed put. We spent time together. I cooked a lot. And baked! Our apartment is spotless and amazingly, we managed to keep it that way. I've never been so proud.

I made breakfast. I went to work. We went out to lunch. I made dinner. We watched LOST. I read. I woke up early and worked on my thesis. I made breakfast again. Shawna and I went for another run--we're on a roll! And then Rob and I spent Sunday evening in sweatpants with takeout from Buffalo Wild Wings. He watched a football game on television and I looked on from my computer. Then the Red Carpet coverage of the Golden Globes happened, which reminded me that I care way too much about some celebrities. We then watched the awards, ordered some more food, and went to bed.

We were lazy this weekend. It was nice. Sort of the perfect way to spend the last weekend before Rob starts class again and our apartment building fills up with noisy undergrads returning from winter break for another semester. 

A weekend morning at home means I finally got to break out my new espresso maker.

Cutting carrots for beef stew.

Paleo-friendly Brownies. I can't stop eating these. Recipe courtesy of The Paleo Project.

Sunday morning productivity. Word document is open. Just doing a little research on Mean Girls.

Sunday morning procrastination. I made all this food for the two of us after I started getting antsy at my computer.

B-dubs on the couch and some football. Rob's really cute. I like him.

What did you do this weekend? Do you have work or school this MLK Day?

Happy birthday, Dr. King!