We had an interesting weekend as there were few things that were not usual on our weekend schedule.
Saturday: It was rest day for me, and I took it truly restful. I did 20 min stretching yoga before meeting the girls for breakfast.
Lizzy had golf lesson in the morning, so daddy left with her mid-morning. Meanwhile I planned the week ahead while Sofia did her homeworks (kumon, piano). At 11:20am, I walked Sofia to her friends’ house (10 min walk) as she’ll ride with them to swimming practice. Then I prepared lunch for Lizzy and hubby, and got “mentally” ready to have a playdate with Lizzy. Sofia had a long birthday party (2-8pm) so to make Lizzy alone time feel special, we planned a playdate at home.
She first finished her homework (this girl takes forever to finish her math worksheet), then we played board game for a while until I asked her for 10 min cat nap. It was a rainny day and I was super sleepy, so I just lied down for 10 min and went back to the game.
Then we spend an hour and half reading. She got cozy up with dog man books, a lot of pillows, and snacks. I read few chapters of cities of girls, my first fiction for a while.
Then daddy got home with groceries, we packed away, made her macaroni cheese pasta from a box, so easy!!! She watched Sing for the 2nd time, while I watched few episodes of a chinese TV series.
I was really sleepy by 8:20pm, but Sofia was not home yet, so I fought to stay awake until her friend’s dad dropped her home. The moment she stepped in, I fell asleep.
What made the day special: solo time with Lizzy. She’s so easy to hang out with. She’s excited to do the most mundane things (like putting groceries away became an adventure), and always gives me big silly smiles.
Sunday started with solo 10 miles run as Sofia slept in. I was not expecting to see any runner on this day as most of the people are fasting. Obviously its hard to exercise when no food or drink is allowed. Yet, I saw many runners, probably half of them foreigners thought. It was a great way to shake of a bad feeling I had.
Girls had tennis lessons 9-10 and 12-1pm, because I couldn’t book the court for consecutive hours, fortunately the coach is so flexible and was willing to come back few hours later.
Morning was a mix of food prep, reading, tidying up, then lunch was leftovers. I took 2 hrs to rest after lunch, continuing my TV series, before started cooking dinner at 3pm with the help of hubby to chop the veggies, and the girls to tidy up the house.
I invited the family of Sofia’s classmate. They are a Korean family with 3 kids. I don’t usually hang out with people from school but this family is super friendly to us, and I liked them without knowing them much. So one day I had the idea of inviting them over. It is nice to chat with expats that are not from my work.
Dinner spread: garlic bread, empanadas (ordered), salad, sweet potato with marshmallows, roasted chicken with veggies, salmon, broccoli, and a sausage veggie soup.
We chatted for almost 3 hours, lingering around food and drink, while 5 kids ran around and shouting around. We all enjoyed the company, confirming my prior of this nice family.
I want to host more as I enjoy meeting new people with homemade food, learning about their life experiences and values, so interesting. I want to create a set menu for hosting to make it easy to plan. So far, crowd favorites are garlic bread, salad with sesame dressing, the salmon. I just need to find an easy meat dish, and we are set!
What made it special: hosting dinner to a new family was fun and nice. I know I won’t like all of them, but if I don’t try, I’ll never find new people to get inspired.
Do you have a set menu for hosting? How often do you host?
Our New Journey 
It is hard to meet new friends when you are older so good on you for putting yourself out there! I lived in Istanbul for a while (it turned out to be only about three months in the end, but that was not the original plan) and it took me a while to find a group (book club) and contact them and then actually go and meet them! Of course, this was pre-social-media so I am not sure if things would be easier or different now. However, I ended up having a great time and it was so freeing, as I was kind of “scared” to put myself out there, but it was not bad at all in the end!
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I love having a go-to meal plan for company. I regularly make a chicken curry dish + cornbread OR if the people visiting have young kids I often make homemade mini-pizzas and set out a big range of toppings so everyone can pick exactly what they want. That is always a hit!
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I am so impressed with how chill you are about hosting new people!! This is something I’m really not comfortable with. I always worry.. what if they don’t like what I make, what do they eat, what do they drink, etc. I don’t really have a go-to meal, as we don’t have company too often for meals. We have had some friends over for casual, “around our bar”meals and drinks in the basement before, and my husband will usually make big sheets of his homemade nachos- those are usually a huge hit, and everyone wants to know how he makes them. Haha. But that’s for a more casual gathering, not a sit down meal at the table.
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We host all the time, because we have two young kids and going out with them is a bit stressful. Its much easier to cook at home, also, my husband loves to grill, and I am big fan of fresh organic farm-to-table produce. On a few occasions when hubby and I get out for lunch, we can’t find the restaurant comparable to what we can put together at home. So home cooking it is. My husband is Asian, so he can put together Chinese or Indian flavors at a whim. His most requested dish (by our friends) is Butter Chicken Curry and rice. I usually put together a nice salad or a veggie plate, and clean the house before and after the party, and the guests always bring dessert and some drinks. It gives us so much freedom to eat and chat, while the kids are safely running/playing around, which would be impossible in any restaurant.
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