My Weekend Routine

We do a fair amount of traveling in the Misadventures household. I usually attend at least one local food or travel event during the week and I go to restaurants (or take out from them) for lunch everyday and the hubby and I eat out for dinner a couple of times a week. But when it comes to the weekend, unless I am off exploring, my routine is pretty consistent. Refined over many years, Mr. Misadventures and I have it down pat!

Generally on Saturdays, we get up fairly early and drink a cup of coffee (these days it is an almond milk latte) and get in some computer time in. Whether that is social media updates, paying bills, researching upcoming trips or writing a blog post…like this one!).

Then around 10 we head out the door to our favorite dimsum place. We are dimsum fanatics and go nearly every weekend. We don’t eat the same thing every time, there are some core items that we order, and then we mix in new things. Sometimes that works out, sometimes it doesn’t (like when I accidentally ordered frog fallopian tubes!).

After dimsum, if there is a new movie that catches our attention we will head over to our local theater. It’s a pretty cool spot, the center’s architect has designed beautiful places all over the world including Namba Parks which we visited when we were in Osaka.

After the movies we head back home. We love our home. And we are total homebodies. I am an introvert and I use the weekend to re-charge!

For the rest of the afternoon, we will read, maybe watch another movie, do some trip planning, or housework. I try not to be back on the computer on Saturdays for long periods of time, I might pop in to check social media feeds from time to time, but I try to do a partial digital detox.

Around 3 I start to get a little hungry! So while Mr. Misadventures starts doing his mise-en-place for dinner (he is the chef in the house), I make a nice little snack. In a francophile household, that usually means wine and cheese, sometimes it means foie gras and champagne,if we are feeling especially indulgent! I always like a vehicle for my cheese (or foie gras) and for the longest time it was a baguettes or levain bread, but that becomes really filling and that’s lots of carbs. My hubby likes Wasa crackers, but I find them to be too dry.

Then we found nirvana.

On a trip to the San Juan Islands a couple of years ago, we stopped into the Whole Foods in Bellevue to buy groceries for the house we rented. We love all the islands in the San Juan chain, but when it comes to grocery options, there just aren’t that many, so we prefer to stop and pick up supplies on the way to the ferry. While picking out cheeses I noticed boxes of Raincoast Crisps which just by their descriptions looked amazing!

We picked up a couple of boxes along with some cheese and wine and food for other meals and carried them on our way to the islands. After a long day – Oakland to SeaTac – Whole Foods Bellevue – Ferry station in Anacortes – arriving in Lopez Island – picking up our house keys – unpacking, etc. We decided to relax on our porch with a beautiful view of the water and partake of some wine and cheese. I served them with our newly acquired Raincoast Crisps and we ate two entire boxes in one sitting! We were totally hooked…but wishing we had maybe paced ourselves so that we could have enjoyed the second box on another night!

The house we rented on Lopez Island.

When I returned home to the Bay Area we found the crisps at our local Whole Foods and happily at Berkeley Bowl where we do our weekly shopping! Generally speaking, they are almost always in the cheese section.

Today, after dimsum, I stopped there because we are running low on cheese (in our house, that means we are down to only 3 or 4 varieties!). I picked up some Fiore Sardo, which is a sheep’s milk cheese from Sardinia. We’ve been on an Italian cheese kick since returning from Florence, although our cheesemonger said depending on where you are from, you may not call Sardinia, Italy (it’s like the Corsica-France debate).

No matter where it is technically from, it was up on deck with this new ume jam made right here in Berkeley by Ayako Iino. It is home made with ume and apricot which paired perfectly with the Fiore Sardo on a salty date and almond Raincoast.

I also picked up something new, they are always getting in new cheeses at Berkeley Bowl! A baked lemon ricotta, that was teamed up with a fig and olive Raincoast and a dab of my cousin’s (Aloha from Oregon) apricot pepper jelly.

Throw in a bottle of pinot noir (the Misadventures with Andi household favorite) and it was a perfect way to wind down the afternoon and ease into the evening.

I drink alone because Ms. Misadventures is in the kitchen, don’t worry he has a wine glass in there with him.

Saturday is topped off by dinner from chef honey, some TLC for Jessica and then a movie before bed.

Sunday is a writing day for me. I work on several posts in various state, do research and content curation and prepare for the week. Mr. Misadventures makes a lovely poached egg and prosciutto on a slice of levain for breakfast, we have salad for lunch and some sort of soup for dinner. Mr. Misadventures makes a big pot for dinners throughout the week.

No stress, quiet and restful and a great way to get ramped up for the busy week ahead.

Why am I telling you all this?

One reason is that Katie and Jen said they wanted to learn more about me and thought others would be interested too, but here is my secret….I’m kind of boring! This is what I do every weekend I am not traveling. Every.

The other is that whenever I am going to work with a brand on a project I like to write about how this brand is part of my life, what’s my story. We all have affinity for brands. When I work with brands that are products I use or food I eat I want to share why so that you know I am real, that I am not trying to sell you something and that I believe in what I am sharing with you. I have done that with brands like Godiva on projects that I was compensated for; or projects like the Westfield Tastemaker, where there was no compensation. Or when I shared my coffee story when I wasn’t even working on any project.

Food really is a big part of my life. Along with travel. And the in stories I tell, and in the memories I have, there is always food, there is always travel.

I have been selected as a Lesley Stowe Raincoast Crisp ambassador and while I was not compensated for this post, there will be some coming up that I will be compensated for and I wanted to share my normal, everyday, non-traveling weekend routine, a peek inside my life and an opportunity for you to see what my Raincoast Crisp story is.

But enough about me, what’s your weekend routine?