This weekend was everything I needed and more— family time, rest, exercise, and good food. God is so good.

Linking up with Katie on this Marvelous Monday!

‘Twas a snowy and icy weekend here in New York. Everything was getting cancelled left and right— no dance, no Sunday school, no babysitting. Part of me was thinking “darn,” but the other part of me was doing a jiggy dance because that meant I had more time to unwind and spend time with my family. The latter part of me was dominant. 😉

Luckily, company’s evening at Alvin Ailey on Friday was not affected by the weather. My friends and I took a train down to the city for our 4:30 Horton technique master class with Milton Myers, a prestigious modern dance teacher who is currently on faculty at Juilliard and Alvin Ailey/Fordham! Our dance school has been incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to take a class with him every year for a while now, and it’s always amazing! The class is open to company members and anyone in the senior master class program.

Passing through Columbus Circle en route from the subway to the studio.

Selfie before class. Don’t let my wide eyes fool you— I was trying to nap.

Milton is in the middle of the standing row. His super talented demonstrator, Aiya (<— not quite sure how to spell her name), is to my right in the bottom row. (Photo compliments of the executive director of my dance school.)

We quickly changed into normal-people clothes and walked over to Bocca di Bacco for a delicious Italian dinner. Some of our family members (seated at a different table) also joined us for dinner and the show.

Most of the company girls!

I was on the verge of being ravenous by the time we got there, so I was in the mood for a nice big bowl of pasta. I decided on the squid ink pasta (!) with crab meat, arugula, and tomatoes:

It looks scary, but it was very tasty and I left the restaurant FULL.

The final portion of our evening was the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performance! Like I said in my last post, these dancers are my absolute favorites. I seriously believe that they are some of THE most talented dancers in the world.

Intermission selfies.

It was a fabulous show, and I cannot recommend this dance company enough!

Saturday was a full day of snow, so everything was cancelled and I just chilled out at home until we went to church in the evening. I think we were going at the rate of a slug when we were driving there. The snow was that super fluffy, slippery kind that would be awesome for sledding. The good thing is that shoveling was a breeze since the snow was so light!

He thinks we’re on the beach or something.

I, on the other hand, was an Eskimo.

This kind of weather called for some hot chili and cornbread! I used Jenn’s recipe for fluffy cornbread muffins, and they were de.lish.

I had a wimpy bowl of chili because I was too full from cornbread muffins. Being the baker and getting to eat them fresh from the oven is a blessing and a curse.

Despite snacking on cornbread muffins all evening, I guess I wanted more muffin action because I decided to whip up some banana nut muffins. While I baked those, we popped in Baby’s Day Out for a family movie night.

These were so gooooood. A little crispy on the outside, crunchy from the walnuts, hearty from the whole wheat, and just sweet enough.

Creepin’ as we watched the movie. They looked at me after I took this picture and I tried to pretend nothing happened.

Sunday was also a laid-back day because it was icy outside and Sunday school was cancelled. I finished up some homework, did a couple workouts from PurelyTwins (I LOVE their workouts— short and sweet and perfect for when you’re staying at home!), and went to H-Mart and Trader Joe’s with dad to pick up some goodies for dinner and dessert. There were way too many ‘and’s in that previous sentence. Sorry to all my elementary school teachers.

Pinterest did its job yesterday because I spotted a picture of monkey bread, showed it to my mom, and then she and I got the urge to eat it. So I made some. It was healthy monkey bread though! We also had fajitas, which I think were my dad’s idea.

Trader Giotto and Trader José. I just love how Trader Joe has different names.

Pork fajitas hit the spot.

Monkey bread was oh so good even though I failed at taking it out of the pan in one piece.

I’m also revisiting the Slow Down Challenge because I think the root of my insomnia/anxiety is that I worry way too much about what I need to do and what I expect of myself (like, “I need to be ready and energetic for school, dance, etc.). I can sleep well on the weekends, but as soon as I start thinking about the week and what is upcoming, I put unnecessary pressure on myself to be in total control, which makes me nervous and tense, especially when trying to fall asleep. Knowing this will hopefully be helpful for me to patiently and prayerfully address the problem. Thank you all a million times over for your prayers and suggestions 🙂

Have a marvelous Monday!

So tell me: Did it snow where you live? Have you ever seen/heard of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater? What was the last thing you baked? Do you like monkey bread?