My mom came to stay with us the day after our accident, which was so helpful because I was still a little sore and had a lot to do--we're going to California for a week on Saturday!

Once she cleaned my whole kitchen, made our bed, and got the embarrassingly large amount of laundry I hadn't folded all put away (which would have taken me days and only took her an hour), we spent a few days just hanging out, which was so nice. We grilled out every day and drank wine and even went to the pool for a bit. I made a big brunch at home--which included my Paleo sweet potato hash browns recipe, and we drank a ton of coffee on our patio.

On Saturday, Rob and I met up with our friends Paige and Justin to try out a new cidery in our neighborhood, which was really fun. Ender had two playdates with pups that totally wiped him out, and we ended the weekend with a trip to the mall and a whole lot of 30 Rock episodes.

When we stay put but also manage to have busy weekends, I feel so incredibly at home here. It took a while (we've been here almost a year), but Charlotte really feels a lot like our place these days. Not too bad at all. 

Happy Monday! This weekend was a slow one at home and we really needed it. We didn't make any plans, so everything we did all weekend was pretty spontaneous, which made it really fun. Rob and Ender and I walked to our first Food Truck Friday for dinner after work; and on Saturday afternoon we had some neighbor friends over for a glass of wine, which was really fun. I went to barre and we did some grocery shopping at a farmers market and ate every meal outside.

I made iced coffee and wore skirts and tried really hard to take in the magic that is Charlotte in the springtime.

We slept in on Sunday--which means Ender woke me up at 7:30 but once we went out he jumped into bed with us and we all slept again until 10:00, which was amazing. And then, of course, we ended the weekend with the first episode of season 5 of Game of Thrones! I'm so happy it's back (and so glad to see Tyrion with a beard).

After a few crazy weeks of busyness and travel and the possiblity of even more travel in the future, a quiet weekend at home was exactly what I had been longing for.

I hope you got everything you needed, as well.

It's been forever since the last time I shared a Life Lately According to Instagram post, but I thought this would be perfect because we had such a great weekend but I didn't pick up my camera even once! Here's what we were up to the past few days:

1. Woke up Friday morning at our friends Tina and Michael's in Richmond. I got to have coffee and breakfast with them in their kitchen before they headed to work and out of town themselves for the weekend.
2. Had a blast modeling in my sweet friend (and wedding photographer!) Ashley's workshop at Tuckahoe Plantation. It was cold and a little rainy but I think everyone participating got some good shots! It was fun getting all dolled up and posing with Rob. You can see a sneak peek here.
3. Rob and I met my friend Emily for coffee in Richmond (not pictured) before heading to Charlottesville for lunch at The Whiskey Jar with our friends Patrick, Emma, and Bryan. Then we drank more coffee and I took this windy photo with Patrick on the downtown mall.
4. Took Ender out for his first dog park experience at Chris Green Lake. He had the time of his life.
5. Mas Tapas for dinner, because it's not a trip to Charlottesville without Mas. Even if it takes four hours. My friend Melissa and her husband Kyle met us, which was so fun because we haven't seen them since our wedding last year!
6. We spent the night at Emma and Bryan's, where Ender met their dogs Ghost and Giselle. Ghost (pictured above) is a 120-pound Great Pyrenees who was pretty confused to see a real-life puppy. They were so cute together.

It was such a great few days, but I'm exhausted and I have a busy week ahead! Looking forward to being home and enjoying some nice weather. How was your weekend?

Life Lately According to Instagram is a once(ish)-monthly feature in which I showcase my favorite Instagram shots. You can follow along with me in real time if you'd like--I'm @mflynnpete.