Hello hello & Happy Fridaayyy!! Spooky season has fully commenced & I am going to do my darnedest to get out these autumnal posts before it passes us by!
I am fully invested in Stranger Things at this point (thank you all who endorsed that decision) & am currently listening to a Dateline podcast. I don’t listen to true crime stuff year round, but this time of year I tend to dip my toe in.
Onto fluffier fall things! Saturday September 24th we surprised DJ for his bday. This was his big 3-0, so I was wracking my brain of how to make this extra special. He made me promise not to plan any surprise parties, so that was out of the running. But he said nothing about surprises in general ;). DJ has mentioned several times this year how he can’t wait for us to have more time to make it to Lakeside. This is probably his favorite place on Earth, and we were only able to make it there once this year for the 4th of July. I organized with some of our family who have a cottage at Lakeside to use their home for the day for feeds. My mom and Pete also were excited to come along and help watch Quinn.


































That night we had football on in the background & enjoyed an easy pizza night- meat-lovers for the guys and vegan for me & my mom.


I had been here once before with Rachel, and noted how yummy their brunch sounded! We actually had planned to go to another brunch spot that was closed, but this was a good back up plan. I designated this DJ’s bday brunch too (even though his birthday was still technically a couple weeks away).

I started with some sparkling water with a little lemon and lime.

For our mains- DJ got their Rise & Shine burger with an 8-ounce brisket and short rib burger on brioche bun, bacon, American Cheese, fried egg, and pommes frites. We both agreed the french fries were maybe the best part of the meal!

I had their veggie omelette which was very much… a veggie omelette lol. The side of potatoes left much to be desired. But overall- even if the food was not the best, it was still sustenance, great company and nice to get out together :).

Once home, Quinn continued to sleep on my mom while I finished laundry and prepped everything for work. Usually this would take all day, but it only took about an hour or so with that uninterrupted time.
For dinner that night, I made air fryer filets with lemon garlic broccolini, sautéed mushrooms, mashed potatoes for the guys (I cheated with the mashed potatoes and used Bob Evans) & sweet potatoes for my mom and me.

Unfortunately, this day my mom got pretty sick with a gnarly cold so she went to bed early. They left the next day & it just felt like the time wennt wayyy too fast. Great memories as usual though <3. Can’t wait for them to come back!!
Questions for you:
- Does your coffee order change with the season?
- Do you like surprise parties?
<3,
Mackenzie
Patio Donuts! Lucky you! And Lakeside, too! Loved all the photos- Quinn is so adorable! Happy Birthday to DJ.
It’s hard to beat Patio donuts!! Thanks for stopping in 🙂
I absolutely love this! What a lovely way to celebrate Dj and to make memories with family. I am so sorry your mom caught a crummy cold, but what a stellar time! Those donuts. Wow! I just love sweet Quinn – she is unbelievably adorable! Girlfriend has such a perfect personality and smile, friend. Love all of your family photos!
Thanks so much, Kori!! It was treasured time for sure 🙂 <3. I really wish our girls could get together for a playdate- the two of them with their awesome personalities would just ham it up together, I know it !!
Oh they would!! I can just hear them babbling together, and I know they’d smile big. 🥰😍
Yes they would!!! 🥰
I love the harvest decor and those continuing big, wide smiles by Quinn. What a cutie patootie!
Thanks, Linda!! 🙂
Hi there! Long time, no talk, I am glad to see you are doing well! Congrats on the new baby!
What a cute little town! The food (especially the donuts) look delicious! Makes me miss NE Ohio!
Hi Diam!! Oh wow so good to hear from you, friend! How have you been?! Thank you for stopping in!!
Omg happy (belated) birthday to DJ! He’s about a month older than I am, I turned 30 this year too it’s kind of bittersweet lol. We didn’t do anything for mine except go out for breakfast, did some shopping and played video games all day 🙂 if the weather was nicer we definitely would have gone out lol
I also love the look of Lakeside, it looks like such a cute place with so much goood food 😀
Thanks, Rossy!! Definitely bittersweet, but I hear 30s are just the best from so many people that are in them 😊 I know you’ll thrive!
That sounds like a wonderful birthday!
It really is so stinking cute. It’ll be fun when Quinn is old enough to really enjoy all it has to offer! Thanks for reading 🙂
Thank you 🤗
I cannot wait to see your adventures when Quinn gets older. They’re so cute when they’re small and you just want to keep them that small, but when they get older too it’s so fun 🥰
So true!! I love that there is a new found joy in every phase of growth! It makes it a little easier to leave the last one