sunday has always been one of my favorite days of the week. while saturdays were reserved for sporting events and social activities, sunday always offered a slower pace –which as a homebody was always a welcomed reprieve. as i’ve gotten older, the once comforting sundays have become filled with the monotonous routine of adulthood -loads of laundry, trips to trader joe’s, food prep for the following workweek. not that i don’t find a bit of joy in those seemingly mundane activities, but when parts of your weekend are spent working (in its most enjoyable sense), i would often arrive back at monday feeling tired and somewhat depressed as if i had never been afforded the opportunity to rest and recharge for a new week.

i remember reading this darling article about shaking up your normal sunday routine to keep the blues at bay. recently, S and i have actually put a few of the tips into practice -particularly as it applies to weekend chores and grocery shopping for the week. we’ve started splitting the chores between the two of us over the course of friday night and saturday morning. while i’m away teaching barre classes on saturday, S will run to sprouts and trader joe’s so by the time i get home at 10:30, we’re ready to enjoy the rest of our weekend uninterrupted by boring domestic duties. i can’t tell you how much it has opened up the rest of our weekend for day dates/nights and spontaneous adventures.

so with the chores moved from sunday to saturday, we’ve been on a mission lately to take back our sundays (which is part of the reason adventures with shawna leeann was created -which btw, i hope to bring back that series soon!). especially before regular football season starts again (september 7th -eek!).

 madewell bow tank (on sale!) || j.crew shorts || soludos shoes

madewell bandana || urban outfitters sunglasses

natalie borton tassel earrings (c/o) (now available in black!)

this past sunday we visited a NEW local gem, the goods doughnuts + coffee shop in the heart of downtown carlsbad. with the most instagrammable decor (see wall below) and an array of uniquely flavored homemade doughnuts (including gluten-free!), along with stumptown coffee-based beverages, it should come as no surprise that this sweet little shop is already a favorite among my friends. in fact, according to instagram stories, i was one of at least three families that also made a doughnut run on sunday!

the goods opens at 7:00 a.m. and remains open until that day’s batch sells out. even though we couldn’t get there until nearly 1:00 p.m., lucky for us, there were still plenty of doughnuts to be sampled and creamy beverages to be consumed (flat white for S, iced almond milk latte for me).

following our afternoon treat, we stopped by park 101, a restaurant, bar, and local hangout just a block away from the beach. seeing as we had just had a snack, we didn’t end up staying, but i loved the laid-back vibe and we’ll definitely be back! our day date ended with a stroll down the boardwalk along carlsbad state beach. despite the gloomy conditions, the beach was still packed with locals and tourists alike soaking up every last bit of summer.