Hello there! Happy Easter!
I had a great weekend. I am pretty much ready for my cruise! Meaning, I have all my clothes picked out for the trip. You know, I have my priorities in order. 
Saturday
We had our monthly book club on Saturday. This month’s book was Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.
I swear, I end up not finishing the books more times than not. It was a good story, but I just seemed to have ran out of time.
We planned out the read for this month so we could see the movie out in theaters.
Ok, I did not like this movie. I felt like Rob and Reese didn’t have that great of chemistry. (Not like him and Kristen. 
) Lately, I am feeling like the tone of books we choose has been slightly grim. I am hoping we choose a lighter book here soon.
After the movie, we decided to have dinner and discuss the book. We chose Balboa Pizza Company for some tasty pizza.
The weather was just perfect so we decided to sit outside.
We started with an order of the Maui Waui Fries. The fries are combined with jalapenos and onions. We finished off our order..oh yes we did!
Since there was 6 of us, we decided to do 2 pizzas. Swanky sister, my friend, and I ordered the Napa Valley Roasted Veggie Pizza.
The pizza had eggplant, tomatoes, squash, and peppers. Super yum!
There hasn’t been a pizza here that I haven’t loved.
Sunday
The “easter bunny”, aka my mom, got me a treat for Easter. Since my sister and I are older, my mom got us some lotions and things.
She made sure to still include dessert…
Can’t wait to dig into these!
Later, I went over to my parents for an Easter brunch. There was lots of food!
I wasn’t too hungry so I stuck with the salad bar.
My mom made the most amazing poppy seed salad dressing. It MADE the salad.
Oh, and a roll…or two. These rolls are addicting.
Such a great weekend! I am hoping this work week flies by since I leave for my vacation on Saturday! Yay!
How was your weekend? What did you do for Easter?
{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }
Happy Easter gorgeous! I saw that movie as well and usually Reese always has chemistry with who she works with, but there was none what so ever. I was completely disappointed! Loving your Easter “basket” very cute!
xo
My book club also just read and went to see Water for Elephants!! I LOVED the book – but thought the movie didn’t do it justice. What book is next on your list? I voted for “The Help” since that movie is coming out too – but I got veto’d
We are going to read The Help later a few months down the road. It’s funny cause I recommended it a while back and I also got shunned. I am glad that are coming out with the movie since I always so much fun to read the book then watch the movie.
Next up is “The Other Queen” by Philippa Gregory. Not too sure if I am going to read it.
I thought The Help was a great book, we read that last year too. I hope you can convince your clubs to read it, they won’t be disappointed, and the subject matter makes for a great discussion
We are reading The Alchemist this month.
We are actually going to read it later on in the year! I have heard great things about it.
We read The Alchemist a while back. I really enjoyed that book!
Tell your mom that I do about 1-2 gatherings at my house a month (even yesterday!). I am now going to make it a ritual for me to have a “salad bar.” what a great idea.
I am reading Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom for my book club and it is AMAZING!
Book clubs are great but can be a lot of pressure. Ok those fries look a little too good. Where are you off to on your trip? Have fun. Happy Easter. Adorable that your mom still gets you Easter treats.
My friend and I are heading to California. We are leaving from there on a cruise that heads to Catalina and Ensenada. I can’t wait!
oh that pizza looks incredible and what a cute “easter basket”!
Now that’s an Easter basket I’d love! And that pizza looks so good. What great toppings. You must be soooo excited for the cruise. You’re going to have a blast!
I’m reading “Water for Elephants” now, because I wanted to read it before seeing the movie. I’ve heard mixed things about the movie, and I’m about a third of the way through the book and I’m not loving it yet :-/
Yeah, I can’t say too much about the book since I didn’t finish it. But overall, I just didn’t like it. Let me know what you think when you are finished.
Omg, I hope you have such a wonderful time on your trip!!! Im glad to hear the movie wasnt too great. It was on my “maybe I’ll see it” list. So I think now i’ll wait till it comes out on netflix or something. Great looking eats as always. Those PB bars look incredible. Yummy! I hope you had a great Easter!
Yeah, I have a really hard time finishing books as well. I can’t tell you the number of books on my shelf that have only been read half way through. :/ I didn’t know Reese Witherspoon was in that movie. I haven’t seen the movie but just the two of them together just sounds weird. That’s funny that they would cast them as a couple.
That pizza looks delicious! So does that salad. Yum! Looks like did have a wonderful weekend! I had Easter dinner with my roommate’s family and had a blast! They always make me laugh.
The book is on my to-read list, but the movie isn’t anything i’m interested in seeing – eek! The pizza looks awesome! We had a great Easter weekend, hosting both of our families!!
I downloaded the kindle version of “Water for Elephants” based upon your reading it for your book club. I have heard good things about it, but sometimes just another reminder is all that is needed.
For Easter, since my husband and I are thousands of miles from our families, as are our co-workers, our principal hosted a dinner at her house for all the staff members. I brought along a veggie nugget dish that I had seen on another blog. They turned out quite well.
Hi Kristen, sounds like a FANTASTIC Easter weekend (despite the lack of chemistry between Robert and Reese) Love the bunny gifts your Mom gave you! Have a great week!!
I loved that book! I think it was a little slow, but the whole circus theme was just unique.
I’m excited to see the movie, though I’m sure I’ll be disappointed.
For Easter, I went to brunch and then church with my family. We had my dad open birthday presents, and then I headed back to Ohio. Mark and I passed one another on the highway, so our Easter dinner was at Applebees. LOL!
Happy Easter!! what great gifts- that chocolate looks DELICIOUS!
I love your vibrant salad too. French fries are my total crave worthy indulgence- nice job polishing them off! sharing is caring….
Your Easter brunch looks delicious!!! We had a crawfish boil Friday & BBQ on Sunday. We ended up playing volleyball for about 2 hours on Sunday with the family
I have Water for Elephants on my shelves but haven’t read it yet.
For easter, I was at my in-laws house in NJ – we went out to dinner. There was 23 of us. Crazy – we then went back to my in-law’s house for more food.
I ate so much.
Happy Easter! Thanks for your opinion on Water for Elephants. I haven’t read or seen this movie yet. It’s so nice you’re involved in a book club. Wow, that veggie pizza looks soo yummy!!!
You need to share your mom’s poppyseed dressing recipe!
It looks like your parents know how to throw a party!
She actually found the poppy seed dressing on Food Network. It was really yummy!
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt plus more to taste
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
1/2 cup vegetable oil, like soy, corn, or peanut
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
Your pics are so great! I’m with you on wanting more upbeat fiction. I *know* the really good deep stuff is often a downer… and I think I’d rather something a little LESS good just not to want to drown myself when I’m done!