May was jam-packed with celebrations, visitors, and other adventure-y goodness that I don’t want to forget, so grab a cup of coffee, and reminisce with me for a minute…

I happen to love the seasonal marine layer that’s to blame for San Diego’s “May Gray & June Gloom,” because it’s cloudy and cool enough to enjoy endless time outside: at the parks, hula-hooping, scootering, making chalk art, and picking dandelions — a new favorite!

Another highlight of May is “my weekend,” because my birthday always falls on or around Mother’s Day.  Just like last year, Jared and Liv helped me celebrate by encouraging me to indulge in all of my favorite things, starting with running, yoga, and coffee.

On Mother’s Day, we saw Jungle Book, which Liv was bored with after an hour, but I loved — Bill Murray stole the show as Baloo!

We had Chipotle one night, PF Chang’s another, and on my birthday, we took a family trip to Costco!  Seriously, all of my favorite things, ha!

We waited to go to our all-time favorite pizza place, Sammy’s, when Jared’s parents arrived from Chicago for a week.  Nonny and Poppy showered Liv with endless love and presents.  They spoiled me, too, watching Liv while I ran and/or did yoga every single day.

There were walks around the neighborhood, trips to the park and the lake to feed the ducks, family movie nights, Liv’s first theater experience to see “The Little Mermaid, Jr.,” and quality time with cousins!

And we continued the tour of my favorite restaurants with Claire’s on Cedros and Native Foods Cafe.  Like I said, I got spoiled, too!

(*These reunions always leave me daydreaming about relocating back to the Midwest.  But we sure do love San Diego living, sigh…)

Mid-May brought warmer weather, sunny adventures with her neighborhood bestie, Shay, and a trip to the city to visit her “second mommy,” Suzie, on her birthday.  Liv demanded a manicure, after jumping on her bed for an hour, and eating all the apples off the tree in her backyard, haha!  Happy birthday, Suz…

Just days after saying farewell to Jared’s parents, his brother’s family arrived from NYC for the weekend!  Living so far away from Adam and Leigh, we’ve spent very little time with their happy little guy, Jacob, who turned one in January.  It was so awesome to see Liv and Jake together.  We even set up Jake’s pack-n-play in Liv’s room for her first “sleepover.”  No lie, it was the easiest time I’ve ever had putting her to bed.  Ever.

We enjoyed brunch at Mama Kat’s in between a couple beautiful days at the San Diego Zoo, the Safari Park, and Stone Brewery.

And then, Liv came down with the stomach flu… quickly followed by me… then Jared.  Ugh, it was the worst…

It took us a full week to get back to “normal” after the stomach bug tore through our house, but we survived with the help of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and countless loads of laundry.

Recovery was especially rough for me as I wasn’t able to run or drink coffee for a WEEK (!!!!), but I managed to finish out the month with as much yoga as I could squeeze into Jared’s and my six-days-a-week work schedule.  Looking back, it’s hard to believe we packed in as much as we did without taking any time off of our jobs!  Work hard, play hard, I guess.

I have so much to say about yoga, but simply put, it’s been so good for me.  I wish I had unlimited time, money, and childcare to do more, but for now, I’m grateful for the best hubby ever, who supports me in going when I do come across a great Groupon!

Welp, that about does it for May… Life sure is good, guys!