Weekend recap: food, shopping and manual labor

Oh Memorial Day, the "unofficial" kick off for summer. And to celebrate this long weekend, I was back in Wisconsin, where it was a balmy 50 degrees by the lake and I was left with one coat, one pair of closed-toed shoes and a plethora of short sleeved tops. FAIL. It was like my packing fail for last year's BlogHer in San Francisco.

Despite the not-very-warm weather, I dialed the "relaxation" up to 11, stopped wearing make up and did a whole lotta nothing but bonding with my parents.

In fact, we bonded over four things: food, manual labor, shopping and television.

So let's recap the bonding that occurred this magical weekend.

Television/Movies

Due to my power outage last week, I missed Fox's Glee pilot, but thanks to iTunes, I downloaded it for free and enjoyed it this weekend. And OMG I'm obsessed with this show. I cannot WAIT for it to start up in fall.

First, Jane Lynch is one of the funniest people on TV right now. Woman steals every scene she's in. And along with my serious crush on Finn, here is my favorite part of the show:

I love Journey and I love the glee club version of Journey even more. It makes me want to rock out. If you haven't see this show yet, go download it right now from iTunes and enjoy. 

I also started watching The Fashion Show on Bravo. It's my short-term Project Runway-knock off fix. Kelly Rowland is tragic, Isaac Mizrahi works but I'm really shocked by the lack of talent from most of the contestants. Half of them can't sew? WTF? But I like that they focus on sell-ability, which PR doesn't do. 

Oh we also rented Taken with Liam Neeson. Damn that movie was intense. It make me want to kick someone's a** much like Liam did. Watch the unrated version, it's heavy but good. 

Shopping

My stepmom is the DEVIL to shop with because she is the biggest enabler I know. I learn from her! 

So we went to the outlet malls on Saturday and I got a little too close to sales of at least 40 percent off and a JCrew outlet store. It wasn't pretty. But here is a picture of my favorite new item, a gold scarf, which looks awesome with my new blue shirt and of course, the Coach sunglasses.

Manual labor

Nothing says "I love you," like manual labor. And that's what I got roped into doing this weekend. After we shopped and watched TV, it was time to work! The hardest job was bringing inside this new cabinet from the car. The thing is massive and weighs as much as I do. Fortunately I don't have to bring it upstairs. That will SUCK.

Food

In our house, Memorial Day = lots of cooking out. And because I don't have a grill in Chicago, I was ready for some grilled goodness.

Join me on my Memorial Day culinary journey.....

Friday: Swiss and mushroom cheeseburger (mushroom and cheese is stuffed inside the patty) with a pretzel bun, ketchup and mustard. 

Kettle corn from the outlet mall shops. I know, sounds crazy, but it was really good. Sea salt and sugar on kettle popped popcorn. Healthier than movie theater popcorn and just as good

Sunday: Sirloin steak on the grill with cooked mushroom and au jus sauce plus Yukon Gold potatoes with light butter, salt and sour cream. Truly amazing. Num.

Dessert: Brownie mix with Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips and nuts. I must stay away from this pan.

And after all that eating and activity, I basically laid around like a beached whale on a chaise lounge, couch, bed, chair, really any surface that allowed me to spread out. Heaven.

How was everyone else's Memorial Day weekend? Do anything or fun or grill out? Or did you go see any good movies?