Birthdays, Easter & New Things

Man do I suck at posting lately. Going home really took me off my game (in a lot of ways) but here's what's been going on since my crappy run:

Books -- I finished The Passage and Gone Girl. Gone Girl made me feel REALLY weird. The author was creepily good at writing about those psychopaths. Today I started reading Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. Super interesting so far. This will be my 7th book of 2013 -- a little behind where I would like to be but not a big deal.

Okay so back to last Friday -- I was lucky enough to be home for my sister's birthday so I got to spend it with her for the first time in way too long. We went out to dinner at Calle Ocho in NYC and it was awesome. Tom and I split two ceviches, then I ordered the paella for dinner:

Way too bright but you get the gist

Happy birthday Liz!!

On Saturday morning I had an amazing brunch with some friends from home. I had thrown the idea out there not thinking it would be anything more than bagels, but everyone came through and we had an awesome spread! Here was my plate:

Later in the day we colored Easter eggs (yes, we still do this):

And then I forced my little sister to pose for a picture before her sweet 16. So grown up, I can't take it.

On Sunday it was Easter! This year the kids (meaning me, my sisters and my cousin) decided to take over the Easter dinner. I put a menu together and sent it out for everyone to decide what they'd be doing. Here was the menu:

Appetizers:
- deviled eggs
- chips & salsa
- hummus, crackers & salami

Main:
- baked ziti
- meatballs
- turkey with gravy
- asparagus
- mashed potatoes
- mashed cauliflower
- salad

Dessert:
- fruit salad
- birthday cake (for Liz!)
- vanilla pudding pie
- egg bread

We were responsible mostly for making the sauce from scratch (using my grandma's recipe, making meatballs and the baked ziti. Me and Tom also make some awesome deviled eggs which I'm very proud of!

I headed back to Boston Sunday night and since then have been doing fairly okay with my eating. Here's a recap of the past few days:

I also have gotten some new things (as hinted at in the title)!

New glasses from Warby Parker:

A new work laptop! Woo woo!!

And new kicks for my trip to Europe...

...which I'm leaving for in THREE DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!