The Banshee Tree

Annapolis Croquet 2011

2011-05-02T07:28:00.000-07:00

It happened, we were there, see the photos here.

DC Weekends

2010-11-16T13:57:00.000-08:00

These photos are two weeks old now but it was such a fun weekend that I can't let them just sit in a folder somewhere. We visit Capitol Hill quite a bit now, and it makes for a pretty convenient home base for fun activities such as the beautiful Eastern Market and rallies!

We've actually been to the Eastern Market a few weekends in a row - and since we have our CSA we're usually all stocked up on produce so it's kind of torture to pass this stuff up. We do take advantage of the wonderful cheese booth (we got limburger to try for the first time and it smells like death but if you plug your nose it's delicious) and a great artisan meat booth (we picked up sage and white wine flavored rabbit sausages that were amazing).

We headed in to DC super early to beat the rally crowds and we were so glad that we did. The city was just a zoo. Yay fall.

We keep getting ornamental squash like these in our CSA, they now cover half of our dining room table because we don't really have room for extra ornaments in our apt. I'm considering the time consuming task of cutting them up, tiny as they are, and cooking them because it's getting absurd but I don't want to just throw them away.
After crepes and coffee at the market we joined the stream of people headed down to Colbert/Stewart Rally to Restore Fear and/or Sanity.

I don't really like to talk politics since it seems to bring out the uncivilized side of people and this was a rally for people like me. It was humorous, and just the right kind of serious - acknowledging that we can all have our own strong opinions and still truly be nice to each other and have a discussion - no need for the biting sarcasm and extreme partisanship and complete ineffectualness that characterizes the two political parties. It was an inspiring afternoon for me and a wonderful event to be a part of. My brother phrased it well when he saw the photos, "It’s fascinating to examine my gut reaction to any photo where someone is waving a sign – instantly defensive – and then to read the signs and have that feeling unknot." And I'm already feeling more politically vulnerable than I like with just those few sentences so I'll leave the rest of the rally description to the photos (If you don't like politics either, even ones advocating moderation, then scroll all the way to the bottom for a glimpse of the Tooth Fairy).

The day after the rally was Halloween and we got completely cuted out with all the kids and their sweet costumes at a party on the Eastern Shore. This was the only photo I snagged before dark, the prettiest little Tooth Fairy I've ever seen.

Fall Fashion - Day 6

2010-10-30T03:40:00.000-07:00

Today we're headed to DC for the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear - it should be quite interesting, no one knows what to expect other than a lot of people. We'll probably stay the night there at my sister's house on Capitol Hill so I think this is my last day of fashion week. It's been so fun meeting all the other fashionistas and remembering what I have in my closet. Until next time!

Shirt: James Perse thrifted

Belt: Thrifted

Pants: Hand-me-down from friend

Boots: Ruche

And Kelly's last day of vintage fashion at my other blog.

Fall Fashion - Day 5

2010-10-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

I'm telling you it's been really hot this week. I picked up spiced apple cider and cinnamon cheese and a pear tart to have a cozy fall evening the other night and I had to sit in front of the air conditioner just to drink the hot cider.
Shirt: Forever21
Belt: Forever21
Skirt: Thrifted
Cowboy boots: Thrifted

Check out the hub of fashion week here and more fashion at my other blog here.

Fall Fashion - Day 4

2010-10-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

Everyone else in this fun carnival is getting to wear all sorts of snuggly layers and tights and we've been hit by a heat wave out here. Like muggy if I walk ten feet I'm sweating heat. Even this outfit was almost too much for this weather.

Shirt: A dress from H&M

Belt: Forever21

Skirt: Thrifted

Oxfords: Forever21

Earrings: H&M clearance

More fashion at Emery Jo's blog, and my other blog.

Fall Fashion - Day 3

2010-10-27T08:05:00.000-07:00

Today is rainy and dreary (but rather hot) and I'll spend it at work and then cozy at home reading Ulysses for class tomorrow. For all of you who have left sweet comments about my chandelier - it was very easy to make. I bought an old gold chandelier on Craigslist for $10, spray painted it black and had some nice guys at a light store tell us how to convert it into a plug-in light with about $10 worth of parts. Cheaper than buying a lamp!

T-Shirt: James Perse, thrifted
Cardigan: Charlotte Russe, thrifted
Belt: On loan from Axon who couldn't use it for a while
Skirt: J.Crew, thrifted
Boots: Ruche

Check out all the fashion week participants at Emery Jo's blog, and if you want more Annapolis fashion Kelly's rocking it at my other blog.

Fall Fashion - Day 2 - Date Night!

2010-10-26T18:53:00.000-07:00

I'm not too sure how my husband will feel about this shirt. I'm not too sure how I feel about it - it's a risk for sure. But I've been trying to take more of those lately and when I saw this little number at Goodwill I figured I'd give it a try. At Urban Outfitters this type of thing sells for $70, at Goodwill it was $5. The great thing about it is that I can keep my ID, chapstick and an extra sweater in the sleeves, that's handy since I don't have a matching 80's vintage sequin purse.
Tonight we get to secret shop a local restaurant - we sneakily keep track of how long we wait for appetizers and how nice our server is, and get our meal paid for! I've never done that before, I'm a little worried that we'll be paying so much attention to remembering the temperature of the food we won't enjoy a free date, but we'll see!

Shirt: Passports Pier1 from Goodwill
Skirt: GAP from Goodwill
Shoes: ?? from Buffalo Exchange in college

Check out all of the lovely participants at Emery Jo's blog and Kelly's daily fashion at my other blog!

Fall Fashion: Day 1

2010-10-25T04:52:00.001-07:00

It's time again! Time to dress up and get all posey and take a million photos of myself while my boy sits just out of the frame laughing at my contortions. But I get to meet so many nice people through Emery Jo's fashion week! Head over there and join the fun if you'd like!

Shirt: Anthropologie clearance
Skirt: F21 from Oliver's Buy, Sell, Trade
Shoes: Anthropologie clearance
This week I'm rolling out my new photography blog with a series of late summer fashion photos of Kelly from Oliver's Buy Sell Trade in Annapolis - pay a visit if you want to see some true workin' it!

Favorites: 2 Day Old Babies

2010-10-24T20:07:00.001-07:00

Auden Parker - born on Friday.

I think it's OK to say, because her Mama said so first, that it's terribly adorable when she cries.

My Favorite Things: Granta

2010-10-19T20:22:00.000-07:00

I'd been asking for a subscription to this venerable magazine for ages, so I was absolutely thrilled this Spring when it showed up in my mailbox - it took a bit of sleuthing to figure out I had my dear friend Elizabeth to thank for a year of Granta coming to me.

Since it's start in the late 1800's Granta has managed to discover some of the brightest stars who later became well known - A.A. Milne and Sylvia Plath were first published in Granta. Since then they get regular contributions from known and unknown writers alike.

It's not just stories, they also feature beautiful photography, poems, paintings and even these drawings by Dave Eggers. It's kind of a random mishmash of wonderfulness, I think of it as The Believer for grownups.

I get so excited when I get a new issue in the mail and it's the perfect thing for me right now with school, I can just read a little story before bed without committing to a whole book.

Favorite Things: When My Boy Comes Home

2010-10-15T11:08:00.000-07:00

He travels for work a lot these days. And unfortunately I've gotten kind of used to my time alone. I hate that I'm used to it. And I hate that I eat potato chips for breakfast and popcorn for dinner when he's not home. But I do love how fun it is when he comes home and that first kiss after days apart and talking til late about our weeks and not having to make my own coffee in the mornings.

My Favorite Things: Surprises In The Mail

2010-10-12T19:44:00.000-07:00

Isn't an unexpected goody in the mail one of the best simple pleasures in the world? Tonight I came home from work to a lovely surprise on my doorstep: a refrigerated box from Wanders Artisan Chocolaterie.

Last week I met with a potential CPA to begin sorting out the craziness that comes with starting a new business. Today he sent chocolates as a 'Great to meet you, can't wait to do your taxes' gift. Needless to say he has our business.

My Favorite Things: 4 Day Old Babies

2010-10-08T09:40:00.000-07:00

Frances Eleanor Beck born last Saturday - so beautiful and the softest hair I've ever felt.

My Favorite Things: Thayers Slippery Elm Lozenges

2010-10-06T18:58:00.001-07:00

These guys saved me this week. Most lozenges just coat the throat with a minty slick, but Slippery Elm actually reduces the inflammation of a sore throat, so when it feels better it actually is better. Sweetened with Maple Sugar instead of HFC, and a cute box, there are lots of things to love about these lozenges. (Available at Whole Foods and many other places)

Late Summer Camping

2010-09-02T19:17:00.000-07:00

Even though school started back up for me again last week we took our last Summer vacation over the weekend. My dear friend Axon is a trooper, she was determined to not let seven months of pregnancy slow her down so she planned the whole trip and wrangled a toddler and braved the heat and cooked almost all the meals. Meals consisting of butter, bacon, steak with butter, potatoes with butter, french toast fried in butter, roasted salmon with Yummm Sauce and other such deliciousness. Gourmet camping would sum it up.

I have an absurd number of pictures of Ro, because he was in his element and just too cute. He was all boy and free spirit and couldn't get enough of the dirt, bugs and fire.

Look at that face! No matter how many times he got a cleaning he was covered in dirt minutes later.

These people were there too.

There were caterpillars constantly falling out of the trees, and Rowan loved them to death, usually literally.

This was our favorite - it reminded some of us of an Indian chief and some a Vegas showgirl.

Ro and I spent a lot of time collecting acorns.

We mostly just sat around the campsite reading in between meals, a few quick trips down to a little lake for Ro to play in the sand.

Hopefully we'll continue the tradition next year with the addition of a Parker (and any other friends who can join :)

Birthday

2010-08-31T05:16:00.000-07:00

I've always loved this song, but this year lyrics are especially apropos.
Happy Birthday my love.

Late Summer Music

2010-08-27T13:42:00.001-07:00

Today the Annapolis Sound features my favorite late summer songs.

Links

2010-08-27T10:00:00.000-07:00

Boots that I badly want.

I once turned down a job a Trader Joe's, this article has me contemplating seeing if I can take it back.

Porn for neat freaks (Axon and Zeb, I'm lookin' at you).

I was completely moved by Christopher Hitchens' thoughts on being diagnosed with cancer.

Dreamy photos (film of course).

My sister had a very cool extra Interpol (the band) concert poster lying around that she gave to us. We don't particularly like Interpol but it was so beautiful it's now hanging on our bedroom wall. It got me thinking about other band posters we could use as art - here is a great selection.

More affordable art.

Lots and lots of good summer playlists.

Beautiful photos capturing rural Russian culture before it dies out.

A comic for font geeks (timely as I search for a perfect photography biz font).

A laugh for graphic design geeks.

A Winner

2010-08-20T19:45:00.000-07:00

A winner. I found myself saying that phrase at least four times tonight in regards to this sandwich. We've had a bit of an eggplant explosion lately in our CSA. Unfortunately the boy isn't a fan of the eggplant. I've tried eggplant ragu with smoked mozzarella, disguising it on pizza with peppers and onions and he can still always pick it out. But this, this is a winner. Zeb said it's a 'wonderful combination of flavors' as he gobbled it down, my sister kept groaning which I know is a good thing. I want to eat it for breakfast. It's a winner.

Eggplant, Mozzarella, Prosciutto Sandwich

Not much to direct here.

Just slice the eggplant thin and grill it first (so that it's not mushy). Spread butter on pieces of bread and layer mozzarella, a slice and a half of proscuitto (not to overwhelm the other flavors) and the eggplant slices on the bread, top it with another buttered piece of bread and grill the whole thing.

Witchy Stuff Fail

2010-08-09T11:00:00.000-07:00

Lest anyone get the impression that around here it's all natural sunshine and compostable rainbows, I'm here, today, to tell you about two colossal failures in the witchy stuff category. I'll get the most embarrassing out of the way first.

The story goes: I had a tiny blemish. In the past I have used tea tree oil or witch hazel to treat such blemishes - both are astringent and healing and slightly drying and regenerative and all sorts of good things. I figured both together would be doubly effective and certainly zap my zit. Instead it burned my face. A jumbo cotton ball sized burn that has taken two weeks to heal and incited countless 'What happened to your face???'s, every one totally deserved. I've heard it said, but now I believe more than ever that herbs are powerful. You have to know what you're doing. Now I know that tea tree oil and witch hazel should not be used, together, full strength, on bare skin. Don't do it! And if you think I have a photo to go along with the disaster you're crazy, I spent the week shunning everything with eyes, mechanical or human.

Next up, not quite so embarrassing but perhaps more costly. I saw this post about making one's own lotion, and since I've become a bit more concerned about what I rub into my skin lately (see Oil Cleanse Method) I thought it would be worth trying. It's basically just olive oil in a more manageable form. So I ordered the emulsifying wax and, admittedly jumping the gun, starting collecting a million little bottles that I could fill with wonderful herbal handmade lotion and give away as Christmas gifts (Yeah, you see the label right, almost every Friday night my boy brings home a pair of shots, and after enjoying my shot I rinse out the bottles and save them. Last year we filled them with flavored salts for all the fam. This year they've been saved for the handmade lotion).

On a rare afternoon that I was feeling caught up with life and ambitious I made up the lotion. It's as simple as the homemade deodorant, and takes about 5 minutes, and the cooling lotion looked so promising.

But I'm here, today, to tell you, that you might as well smear straight olive oil on your skin, that would be less gloppy and soak in better than this lotion. It was terrible, it coated my skin with an oil slick impenetrable layer on an already humid day, and I ended scraping it off because I couldn't stand it. I'm sure there are good lotion recipes out there. But this is not it. I'm going running back to my Trader Joe's Midsummer Night's cream, and I'm up for suggestions on what to do with my million whiskey bottles.

Tony

2010-08-02T11:43:00.000-07:00

This is probably only of interest to Annapolitans, but the Annapolis Market House has become a real symbol of local government corruption and inefficiency. The Annapolis Sound has been covering the current saga and I did a photo essay on the all but abandoned market - you can see it here. This photo didn't get included but I love it. This gent's name is Tony, and he told me he lives on a bench outside The Market House. He also told me that if I sell this photo he would like a 10% commission and to be my agent. I told him I'll work on it.

New York

2010-07-29T18:00:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago we went to New York City for what I hope becomes an annual summer trip. Last year we met the Julians there and tried to get tickets to Shakespeare in the Park, but even though we were in line at 5 am we missed it. It was closing weekend and Anne Hathaway though, so it was understandable.

This year Ben and Anna joined us for another try. Ben and I woke up to get in line at 3 am. It actually wasn't a bad way to spend the morning, sleeping in the shade and reading and having Zeb and Anna bring us drinks and treats before we got our tickets at 1.

In case you don't know what I'm talking about, Shakespeare in the Park puts on wonderful performances with a famous cast for FREE! You just have to stand in line to get the tickets. We were 250 in line, with 600 behind us, and we got the last few tickets of the day. But this year, it was Al Pacino playing Shylock in Merchant of Venice, thus the line that started the night before.

When we finally got our tickets we felt like we'd been handed gold because we'd slept so little and sat so hard for them. And they fetch a pretty penny on Craigslist. But selling them didn't even cross our minds, much.

That afternoon we found one of the food carts that I had been excited about, The Jamaican Dutchy. I had the stewed goat and it was wonderful. I knew that the food carts in NYC are world-famous, and they even have competitions for them, so I compiled a list of the top 30 ahead of time and we sought them out when we got hungry.

Then we went to the MoMA because it's free on Friday nights. I'm crazy about modern art in general, but there are a few that I go, 'Really?' I know Ben shared my sentiments, and I didn't ask him but he might have been thinking that about this piece. This looks to me like one of those retro speckled countertops. In all seriousness, though, it's quite pretty. I really had a problem with the blue square. I don't think it evokes any immaterial and boundless utopian views of the world, but maybe that's just me.

(Photo by Anna)

Then back to Central Park for the performance that night.

It was easily the best performance of any kind that I've ever seen, or hope to see. The dialogue was so completely natural and the whole thing just flowed so beautifully that I couldn't believe when it was over already. The sets were beautiful and sparse and the tone of the whole thing was haunting. Al Pacino blew us away, I got chills over and over. And Alec Baldwin was in the audience with us so I got my star sighting out of the way.

The next day Brian and Mel joined us.

Staten Island Ferry

(Photo of S+Z by Ben)

Remember this scene from last year? I feel a series coming on. Also, I went back to the spot with the graffiti wings from the Val photo last year to try to reproduce it with Anna and they had torn it down and put in an Anthropologie! I've never been so disappointed to see an Anthropologie.

Highline Park.

(Photo of Mel+Sarah by Zeb)

The Meatpacking District.

All day subway passes.

The food cart I was most excited about, the one I'd heard the most about, was N.Y. Dosas. A dosa is a crepe made of a lentil and rice or cream of wheat batter and then in this case stuffed with lettuce and veggies and topped with a delectable coconut chutney. It was so good, if a little spicy for my taste. But I'm a wimp about spicy. We ate our dosas with chilled coconut water with big chunks of coconut floating around in it. Perfect.

The dosa cart parks at Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village.

We did lots of other things like the Met which I liked OK, and Zeb loved because of all the sculptures and ancient armor. He loves those things.

(Photo by Ben)

We ended our trip with a trek through Chinatown to Little Italy for Lombardi's pizza, supposedly the best pizza in New York, thus the world. It is credited as the first pizza place in New York at any rate. It was fantastic, it deserves its reputation.

(Pizza photo by Ben)

Speaking of New York's best, one night we all decided to stay in at the flat we were renting and we ate fancified Mac'nCheese and Brian and Mel bought a cheesecake from Two Little Red Hens Bakery, supposedly the best cheesecake in New York, thus the world. And it was amazing. I was so full but I couldn't stop eating it.

Baby hands on the subway. And cousins.

And that's the last of our fun trips for a while.

Michigan

2010-07-28T21:57:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we hopped in the Shaffer minivan around 6 pm and with 3 babies and 4 adults drove all night to Michigan for Jon and Kim Pt. 2 (The strategy worked wonderfully well, the babies slept almost the whole 13 hour drive). Our family has been going to a cottage on Glen Lake for our whole lives and it has always been my favorite place in the world.

Since Jon and Kim had a tiny backyard wedding with just immediate family, our trip to Glen Lake was a chance for another party with the whole family. Aunt Mimi was in charge of this one and she went all out. The details were incredible. Our little cottage and beachfront was absolutlely transformed into this gorgeous lakeside, DIY, delicious, barefoot party.
Aunt Mimi made all the decorations, we spent the morning arranging fresh-cut wildflowers in blue-glass jars, we snacked on cherry everything (Northern Michigan is all about the cherries), we took breaks to go swimming.

Jon and Kim came straight from their honeymoon. They're still all glowy.

We cousins are very close, we all like each other so much and we keep in touch and hang out as much as we can. Almost everyone was at the lake this year, it was wonderful.
Glen Lake trips are chock full of traditions and things we always do, but one of the more recent traditions is putting the boy cousins through a 'gauntlet' before in order to deserve their bride. This year's gauntlet was pretty light-hearted, and this particular task involved Jon rowing to a few different rafts to find a candy ring for Kim.

The Nike Club is an ancient secret society founded with the purpose of ...no one knows what. But it's a big deal and is resurrected every year at the Lake in one form or another.

Obviously I didn't take these last pics, but they are of the day after the reception before we hopped back in the minivan to come home. I miss that place when we're not there. I wouldn't mind living in Northern Michigan. Not at all.

Ohio

2010-07-22T12:56:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago the boy and I took what I'm referring to as our second honeymoon. Just us and no internet and no cell phone coverage in a cabin in the Ohio hills. We've never had even an overnight trip, just the two of us since we've been married. It was absolutely perfect.

The house frame was ancient, but totally re-done in a kind of rustic modern style. Elegant butcher block counters combined with a huge massaging showerhead with an original stone fireplace and quirky little details. Sometimes I get scared of the overly-floral bed and breakfasts out there, it's really hard to find a modern tasteful one, and this one was perfect, we couldn't have asked for more.

Matches for the grill kept in there.

There were so many porches and little outdoor spaces, I spent every minute I could reading or eating or drinking outside, just soaking up the green and clearing my mind.

We drank that champagne on a perfect rainy afternoon. I have a problem with saving things forever, and I was determined to go ahead and drink this, in an effort to enjoy life minute by minute, before it turned to vinegar. I'm not going to say it blew my mind, but maybe it should have. Having never had anything so fancy my tongue had no idea how to process it, I think. It was really really good. It was miles above anything I've ever tasted before, but it wasn't pure nirvana. In the end it was a nice champagne for sipping on a tree-top level porch with my love. I wrote down a lot of thoughts about what it takes to drink a bottle of champagne like that, kind of Gourmet Rhapsody style, but I will save that for another time.

During the daily thunderstorms we would grab a glass of something nice and go out onto the porches and talk. I learned some new things about my boy, stories, thoughts and opinions that I had never heard before. Sometimes I forget that we don't know every single thing about each other. We only entered each other's worlds a few (ten!) years ago and there are whole lives full of experiences from pre-us. It's so crazy and fun to learn something new about him and it keeps happening, all the time.

I would kind of like to live in Ohio now.

It's always been our goal to eventually live on some kind of land, and this just reaffirmed how good that would be for our souls.

The only bad thing about the location was the lack of good food (for any trip to be worth its beans it must have great food in my book). We did our best with Wal-Mart's finest, and I hope I'm not offending anyone when I say that their top of the line steak and crab legs were pretty terrible. The best meal we had was a little pasta made with produce and herbs that I'd brought from home. If we did actually live in rural Ohio I guess we'd just have to grow our own steak and crab legs.

I hated to leave, hated it. But gosh darn that real life calls and we dove right back in.

It's The Little Things

2010-07-14T13:34:00.000-07:00

I never cease to be amazed at how much I can gripe about things that go wrong without equally stopping to be thankful for the things that go right. Those good little things just pass me by with nary a notice, but the minute something mildly wrong happens you won't hear the end of it. But when I sit down and look at it the good really does outweight the bad if I'll only take note of it.

Just this week:
1. Bad - my camera's focus system broke at the beginning of a wedding (panic). Good -Canon fixed the poor thing in just 5 days and for free! Yay for good customer service!
2. All Good - Free asian pear ginger kombucha. My coworker bought it, took one sip, and declared she couldn't stand it. I gladly took it off her hands.
3. Bad - three years ago when we got married we bought the cheapest mattress Ikea carried and our backs have been ruing the purchase ever since. Good - the mattress in the cheap rented NYC flat we stayed in this last weekend was even worse, making us actually look forward to getting back to our own comparatively cushy bed.
4. All Good - I am lucky enough to have a friend and a sibling who work at our local concert venue so courtesy of them today I get to see Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros over lunch and also The Cowboy Junkies tonight. I'm giddy about both.

5. Bad - the air conditioner in our house in Boise broke. Good - the new tenant is an HVAC guy and he can fix it cheap!
6. All good - our homeowners insurance premium is actually going down. That like never happens.
7. All good - squash blossoms in the CSA. Those are fun.

Things That Have Made Me Cry Lately

2010-07-14T08:02:00.000-07:00

Things that have made me cry lately:

Act Three of this episode.

This story (via Kelly).

Home birth photos (NSFW).

A few of the things Bonnie said when I interviewed her for the Annapolis Sound.

This movie.

Good news in the family.

My cousin's wedding.

Summer Solstice

2010-06-22T05:24:00.000-07:00

It's hard to know what to blog without referencing the photography explosion that has taken over my little world. I thought summer would bring reading in the sun on the lawn and a re-do of the dining room and grinding my own flour and porch dinners with friends, but instead it's brought jobs, a different kind of blessing. In the last six weeks I've shot seven weddings as well as numerous other projects for The Sound in addition to my day job which I don't like to speak of. I don't want this blog to turn into a catalog of photography jobs, yet that's about all I have to show for myself right now. Another blog is in the works dedicated to photography work (though I might still show a few of my favorites here) but even though photography as a job depends on personal investment I want to figure out some boundaries, especially among my blogs. For now the personal is on hold a bit while I'm lucky enough to be working my tail off.
This weekend the boy and I are combining a wedding with a little second honeymoon of our own at a cabin in the Ohio hills. After I download the the photos I'm going to try to keep the computer off and spend a few days at a more quiet pace before diving back into July. I'm tired but it's good, it will all even out eventually so I'm trying to be as grateful for the busy as I will be someday for a lack of work if that's what life brings.

Mr. Kutler

2010-06-19T18:08:00.000-07:00

This is my favorite photo that I took this week, of one of my tutors for a new feature over at the Annapolis Sound.

A Look Back at a Big Week

2010-06-10T19:47:00.000-07:00

Tonight's drive home was spectacular in so many ways. There was the sunset, as seen here. And the fact that the boy and I, for the first time in our whole relationship, drove fast with the windows down and old Wilco blaring from the stereo. The fast and windows down part are nothing new, but until this week we've never had a working stereo so we usually drive to the tune of our own conversation. Which isn't bad at all. But nothing quite compares to the mood created by the music you love. Especially enhanced by a warm dusky evening on the Chesapeake Bay.

This week was big in some ways. I had a birthday, my 29th to be exact. And almost all my favorite (local) people came out to help me celebrate with a major fancy picnic. I didn't get a single photo, I just soaked it in. As I write I'm reliving it through leftovers - 'The Birthday Sequal: Birthday Harder' Zeb called it tonight - blue cheese, truffle honey, homemade bread, an olive assortment, rosemary olive oil cake and champagne.

A day later we hit 3 years of lucky in love, and we spent that day buying our first joint car, a traumatic, funny, and ultimately bonding experience that I can't imagine we'll top in terms of memorable anniversaries. We took breaks from the pushy salesmen to wine taste in Virginia, and ended up at a 10 pm dinner at Ceiba with our new ride.

Tonight, driving back from an Annapolis Sound job, in that new ride with the windows down and this sunset and those tunes and my husband of three years I felt my mind calm a bit, and remembered how good life is right now.

Spring Cleaning Music

2010-05-25T09:10:00.001-07:00

I'm cleaning out my to-do list right now, but this also works well for cleaning house.

A Made-Up Recipe

2010-05-08T10:13:00.001-07:00

I made up a recipe. I have never done such a thing so I'm pretty proud. Now this recipe involves liver, and I realize that liver makes some of you gag. For your sake I will not make the photo large, and because even I don't need to look at liver large scale. I have loved liver ever since I remember, and for a while I was convinced that those who didn't share my love just needed the right recipe to persuade them. I've made such people Calves' Liver with Honey, and what I think is a delicious liver Pate, and yet they remain unconvinced. This is not the recipe that will convince them. It does taste like liver barely masked by a sweet, rich, earthy combobble of other flavors. This is basically just how I like liver lately, as in every day for lunch this week.

Liver Thing

2 strips bacon, chopped

1/3 red onion chopped

4 chicken livers, or about 1/4 lb, chopped

An earthy herb like marjoram, sage or thyme (I used about 10 sprigs of chopped sage flowers because that's what came in our CSA this week)

Salt and Pepper

Dash of Balsamic Vinegar

Half an Avocado

A Slice of Bread

Sautee bacon, onions and herb together (don't add extra oil yet, the bacon fat will give off plenty) for a few minutes. Add the liver, salt and pepper and sautee for another few minutes (maybe add a little olive oil if it's looking really dry and sticking). At the very end of the cooking add a few dashes of balsamic vinegar to just deglaze the whole thing. Turn out onto a slice of bread smeared with avocado.

In retrospect a sage blossom or two on top of that would have made it a bit more appetizing, but there it is. Liver goodness. (If any of my local girls want liver from Springfield Farm let me know and I'll order extra.)

Lists

2010-05-07T12:02:00.001-07:00

Last night I turned in a whopper of a Hegel paper which means my first year of graduate school is almost over (one more week of some easy readings). I still woke up at 4 this morning panicked about typos, but I'm hoping that soon and very soon that pesky stress will begin to wear off. I am so looking forward to this summer. In preparation I'm making myself lists:

To Read:
The Lost Ravioli Recipes of Hoboken by Laura Schenone
The Original of Laura by Nabakov (I must admit I started this a few weeks ago, I was too curious)

Gourmet Rhapsody by Muriel Barbery
Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes

A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh

The Line by Olga Grushin
The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
Gravity and Grace by Simone Weil
Food Rules by Michael Pollan
I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb
The Mind of the Maker by Dorothy Sayers
In the Beauty of the Lilies by John Updike

Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro

To Cook:

(The boy's been a doll for cooking all year but our deal was if he cooked real food it could be plain jane. I've been filing recipes away all year for the day I take back the kitchen.)
Whole Fried Mushrooms on Toasts
Celery Root Risotto (I will make this up based on a dish we had at Cinghiale last week)
Straw Potatoes with Lemon Salt (put to use all the flavored salt I made for Christmas gifts last year)

Morning Couscous with Almonds and Coconut
Rosemary Potato and Chicken Pizza
Polenta with a Leek and Mushroom Ragu
Hashed Sprouts with Hazelnuts and Fried Capers
Kale Salad
Red Pepper Mousse with Garlic Toasts
Creamed Chard and Spring Onions (with steak on the side?)

Chickpea of the Sea Sandwich

To Do:

Picnics, picnics, picnics

Spa day at the Aveda School

Attempt Shakespeare in the Park again (Al Pacino's playing Shylock!)

Learn to drive a stick shift

Start herbal medicine course again

Learn to sail

Reorganize every room in the house

Keep doing yoga

Purge my wardrobe then restock it

Have lots of people over for cocktails on the porch

Sew pillows for the couch

Catch up on baby and wedding gifts

Take a second honeymoon

Make lotion

Make a big fancy dinner that includes the use of antique napkins, decanters, mother of pearl caviar spoons and port sippers

Sew pompoms on the curtains

That should keep me busy for a while.

Fried Eggs on Greens on Bread (Or Lunch, All Week)

2010-04-26T04:29:00.000-07:00

Our CSA restarted last week and I've never been so happy to see Kale. I remember when we first started getting local greens a few years ago it was an adjustment, they were too flavorful. We joked that they just went out to a field and picked wild grass for our salad mixes, it tasted so potent and earthy. Now when we buy a bag of spinach and arugula from TJ's it just tastes like nothing to us. This winter break was hard, we dutifully bought vegetables from the grocery store but they were not fun to eat - all bland and kinda wilty. So yaaay for Maryland beet tops, and swiss chard and radishes! I am thankful for them.

Here's what we did with them all week - the greens (including the stems) are sauteed, or stewed, or braised somehow, then heaped over a slice of spongy bread, with parmesan sprinkled somewhere in there, and topped with eggs lightly fried in olive oil. I like the eggs over medium so that the runny yolk contributes to the whole delicious mess. We've fixed the greens several ways before but this recipe is my current favorite. The original idea came from, of course, Orangette. I don't love her boiled kale recipe as much as some others, but it's still great. If I don't have much time I just sautee cubed pancetta for 30 seconds, then throw in the greens and wilt them down with the fat and some salt, southern style. Any way you cook it the basic idea is a winner and now I can't wait for lunch today.

Wedding Season: Meg and Rafael

2010-04-22T19:08:00.000-07:00

We are in full wedding mode now. Gearing up for another tomorrow, I realized I haven't even shown my favorite photos from the last!

This is my favorite photo from the whole day. My husband has insatiable tech lust, and the only way I can get him to second shoot for me is to buy him big fancy equipment, even though he doesn't really know what to do with it (yet). He had that flash on the camera all day, and used it, even though the room was gorgeously naturally lit. He likes to carry both my camera bag and his at once. And he always puts the hood on to make the lens look twice as long as it already is. It's so cute. It makes him feel like a stud. And he is.

As mentioned, the light in the lofty brick room where this breakfast wedding took place was just gorgeous. I loved all the colors it produced.

Meg and Rafael were so fun, I've hardly ever seen two people laugh more, and they wanted their wedding to be just a really low key, fun party and it was!

Yes, this was a breakfast wedding. These folks know how to party.

The food was amazing - gourmet brunchy/bar food. Red Star Bar and Grill. Go there.

They were so happy. I started crying during their ceremony, it was all just so beautiful and they were so darn giddy about getting married. I don't know when I became such a sap, wait, yes I do. It started when I couldn't stop bawling walking down my own aisle, I now always always cry when I go anywhere near a wedding. It's kind of ridiculous. During the ceremony Meg actually looked at me wiping a tear in the front row and laughed at me.

The pretty Baltimore Harbor will be making an appearance in quite a few photos this summer I think.

This group of women talked quite intensely about something for hours as general merriment surrounded them. I thought they were so cute.

And on to the next one!

St. John's vs. Navy: Croquet 2010

2010-04-19T06:38:00.000-07:00

It was quite something, as usual.

For those who don't know - every year St. John's College challenges the Naval Academy from across the street to pretty much the only sport that they can beat them at: croquet. This year the Johnnies won 5-0. But the sport is not really the point for most of us.

The event draws current students, alums from both schools and townies, this year over 2000 of them, to the Great Lawn at St. John's for an all day picnic with some croquet on the side. There is swing dancing, a Navy band, champagne, cigars and usually a first sunburn of the year. The dresscode is something like "Great Gatsby, seersucker, bowties, feathered hairpieces, and hats."

I was quite enamored with the boys' fashion this year. They really go all out.

Johnnie Boy vs. NavyBoy Style

Johnny vs. Navy Couples Style

Sonora couldn't get enough dancing.

The Navy team wears a traditional sporting uniform each year, only switching out their ties.

The Johnnies change outfits every year and it's a huge secret until the moment they walk out that door.

I'm not sure what these guys are called - "croquet caddies"? They stand around, one for each member of the navy croquet team, holding beer while the players take shots.

Intense.

A pretty face and Mr. Franz...

Johnnie alums.

I made pickled grapes with mustard seeds, black pepper and cinnamon again.

Lucky Middie.

Happy Middies.

Nathan - mathemetician and gentleman hipster.

Another pretty faced Johnnie alum.

And a common scene toward the end of croquet day...

We're always so sad when croquet is over so the only thing to do is start shopping for next year's dress.

Annapolis Goes Beyond Organic

2010-04-15T12:26:00.000-07:00

My first article is up at The Annapolis Sound!

Slow Spring Morning Music

2010-04-14T10:25:00.000-07:00

A mix of old and new for waking up to cool air, sunshine and coffee.

Almost That Time

2010-04-12T13:01:00.000-07:00

They're practicing on the front lawn every day now...

Birthdays

2010-04-11T20:42:00.000-07:00

She says this pretty much sums it up these days. And she wouldn't have it any other way.

If I had a picture of the other birthday girl that would mean I'd seen her recently and that would be a wonderful thing.

Happy Birthday to two of the most beautiful and graceful women I know.

Fashion Week: Day 7 - Easter

2010-04-04T05:23:00.000-07:00

A creature of certain habits, I always wear white on Easter. This was the dress I wore to my rehearsal dinner almost three years ago.

Dress: TJ Maxx, probably (it was all a wedding blur)

Belt: F21, as seen on Friday

Boots: Thrifted in Idaho, as seen on Friday

What a fun week it's been - so many new-to-me blogs partcipated and so many people stopped by. Check out Emery Jo's blog for all the other participants.

Fashion Week: Day 6 - The Weekend Edition

2010-04-03T08:46:00.000-07:00

Ah Saturday. My second favorite day of the week. My plans include a lot of lying on the couch and reading (mostly Hegel but I'm not complaining).

Tank: Old Navy clearance, as seen on Tuesday

Jeans: Seven for All Mankind, thrifted ($6.50 - yeah baby!)

Shoes: None because I probably won't leave the apartment today

Visit Emery's blog for all the other participants!

Spring Fashion: Day 5

2010-04-02T06:08:00.000-07:00

It's Friday thank goodness.
Dress: Thrifted in Baltimore (It was 80's mid-shin so I hemmed it)
Belt: F21
Boots: Thrifted in Idaho

That's a breakfast bulge, not a baby. Don't worry, I wouldn't tell you like that. Or maybe I would. But I'm not. It's just oatmeal.

Fashion Week Day 4: The Silk Sack

2010-04-01T05:57:00.000-07:00

This is the kind of summer dress that my husband hates because it's not tight (I do love it when he objectifies me like that). It's precisely because it's not tight that it's the kind of summer dress I love. I'll do most anything to make him happy, but when it comes to clothing touching my body in the deathly humidity of summer I draw the line. I like to think that ruffles and pintucks help, but essentially this is just a silk sack and that's why I bought it.

Dress: Anthropologie from Oliver's Buy, Sell, Trade
Boots: Thrifted in Idaho
Necklace: Some tween accessories store

Spring Fashion: Day 3 - Here Comes The Sun!

2010-03-31T06:01:00.000-07:00

I'm in a bit of an accessory desert right now, a little wooden cigar box full of earrings and rings and brooches has disappeared, years worth of collecting all gone. I feel a bit lost trying to keep it interesting without little doo-dads, but for this outfit I would probably keep it simple anyway.

Tank: H&M
Skirt: Thrifted
Shoes: TJ Maxx from college?

Head over to Emery Jo's blog for all the other participants!

Spring Fashion: Day 2 - It's Still Raining

2010-03-30T06:33:00.000-07:00

I forgot to smile. Tuesday is actually my favorite day of the week though you wouldn't know it from my face.
A few months ago when I Facebooked that I bought-formal-high-waisted-shorts-and-what-would-the-Fug-Girls-think Summer asked me how I'm wearing the shorts since she just bought a pair too. I forgot to get back to her until now. This is how I wear them.
Tank: Old Navy clearance
Sweater: TJ Maxx ten years ago?
Shorts: Anthropologie clearance
Cable knit leggings: Target
Cowboy Boots: Thrifted in Idaho

Click here for the hub of blog fashion week.

Spring Fashion Week: Day 1

2010-03-29T06:15:00.000-07:00

It's that time again! Emery Jo is coordinating Spring Fashion Week. Visit her blog for links to all the other participating blogs!

It might technically be spring, but it's raining and misting through the cherry blossoms here.

Sweater: Forever 21 clearance
White T-Shirt: Forever 21
Skirt: Thrifted
Thigh Highs (rolled down): Target
Hunter Boots: Nordstrom
Necklace: Modcloth (birthday gift from Zeb)

Anna

2010-03-17T06:46:00.000-07:00

These photos have been a long time coming. Last Thanksgiving I coerced my brother into wardrobe consultation and set styling for me, Anna into modeling, cousin Becky held extra gear, and Aunt Mimi, Jon and Kim carted furniture up to an ancient, abandoned mental hospital on the top of a hill in Athens, Ohio. Since then I've gone back over and over again to the over 700 photos we took over 2 days, and re-edited them a million times, trying new tricks and and changing my mind. With lots of other shoots coming up it's time to send a precious favorite few, finally, out into the world. We had an absolute blast with the location, the outfits, and lots of props that didn't end up making it into all the pictures (we had vintage satchels, birdcages, a book of Audubon's bird plates, tartan wool blankets and more). Anna was a super and sometimes saucy little model and we're already planning more fun for her and other senior cousins this fall!

Lentil Loaf

2010-03-08T11:39:00.001-08:00

Not that it's gourmet in the slightest, but it is good, I posted the recipe for our favorite Lentil Loaf over at The Gutenberg Gourmet.

Homemade Deodorant

2010-03-02T06:36:00.000-08:00

Warning: TMI Ahead! (Is there a delicate way to talk about deodorant and all that goes along with it?)
A few years ago something in my body chemistry changed (it coincided with the entrance of one Zeb into my life so I think it was a influx of happy hormones) and I became a stinky girl. I'm highly sensitive to smell so this was mortifying. In the ensuing years I've tried all sorts of deodorants, all sorts. I wanted so badly for the natural and organic ones to work, but they didn't, so I ended up with a triple strength men's formula that coated my skin in a layer of gunk that I had to scrape off in the shower each day. It was completely disturbing but it mostly kept the stinky at bay and that took priority. A year or so ago I stumbled upon this post about a homemade deodorant that seemed promising so last June I made up a batch and I've been using it ever since. I love that it has few and pronounceable ingredients and I don't have to worry about things like aluminum, but I'm thrilled that it is the first deodorant to do what it should - keep me deodorized. Even on the worst of our swampy mid atlantic days I'm stink free with just one application. For quick reference here is the recipe I use:

3 Tablespoons shea butter
3 Tablespoons baking soda
2 Tablespoons corn starch
2 Tablespoons cocoa butter
2 vitamin E oil gel caps (puncture and squeeze out the oil)
About 20 drops of essential oil (optional)

Over low heat melt together all the ingredients except the essential oil. Turn off heat and add oil, pour into container and allow to harden.

This lasts me about eight months.

A few notes: I get shea butter and cocoa butter from Mountain Rose Herbs because I couldn't find the raw butters without other things mixed in at Whole Foods.

I used no essential oils the first time and it was fine, just a totally neutral smell. This time I added lavender and clary sage since both have antibacterial properties and bacteria is the cause of smelly pits in the first place. The oils add a very light fragrance, not even enough to conflict with perfume.

The first two weeks that I used the deodorant last summer my lymph nodes became very inflamed. That was not uncommon with regular deodorants, so I wasn't too alarmed. I switched to an every other day application, and found that was sufficient -this stuff is effective - and the swelling subsided.
I also experienced a bit of itching and redness/irritation in the first few weeks and off and on since then. I'm pretty sure this is because baking soda is a bit abrasive and in strong amounts causes itching, so I could cut down on the amount I use in the concoction, but I just switch to every other day when it's a problem and I'm fine. Also, I try to not apply it to freshly shaved skin.

This is not an antiperspirant. I still sweat, it's just not stinky sweat. But I'm OK with that, sweat is just a fact of life in the summer here, even with a drugstore antiperspirant.

About the ingredients: Some people recommend just using a mixture of cornstarch (for light antiperspirant) and baking soda (for deodorant) brushed onto the skin. I tried that and it didn't work for me. In this combination I think the butters help the powders stick around, and the vitamin E oil acts as a preservative.

I wouldn't say this leaves a 'residue', but sometimes it leaves a light dust that is easily brushed off. But that residue is far less than that left by even clear gels I've used in the past.

This has the consistency of a solid creme. I usually just scrape a bit off and warm it between my fingers before I apply it so that I'm not tugging at my skin too much.

Though the ingredients cost a bit to start up, I think in the long run this is much cheaper than drugstore deodorant.

So there you have more than you probably ever wanted to know about my personal grooming habits, and hopefully something helpful about homemade deodorant.

Tuesday

2010-02-23T14:26:00.000-08:00

Funness in the mail - the concoction kit for my Herbal Medicine course. Unfortunately I've sort of dropped out of the course for the time being so it will be a while before I reach the assignments that use all these treasures. But soon enough, for now I'll just take it one or two other things at a time.

Monday

2010-02-22T23:22:00.000-08:00

School: Now (as opposed to Then)
I finish up my homework around 9 pm instead of starting it

I can study over a glass of wine
I start papers two weeks ahead instead of two days
I line my books up with the edge of the desk
I work harder but don't take it all so seriously
Now and Then Aristotle is not my friend

Sunday

2010-02-21T19:43:00.000-08:00

Two evenings in a row with the babies. That's a pretty good weekend right there.

Saturday

2010-02-20T20:22:00.000-08:00

An update of sorts: I still use, and love, the Oil Cleanse Method. For toner, during the summer, I was using either straight up Witch Hazel extract or a combination of green tea and apple cider vinegar. When the weather turned cold and dry a few months ago I found both to be a bit too harsh and drying. I had picked up this rose flower water at the grocery store because I thought the bottle was quaint though I had no idea what to do with it. Somewhere along the way I heard of using rose water as a toner. I tried it and found it left my skin incredibly soft not to mention beautifully smelly. I don't know whether this particular rose water is organic or mixed with any other dangerous chemicals but I ignore that concern because all the words on the bottle (aside from 'Rose Flower Water') are in French and like any girl who likes stripes and messy buns and Amelie I'll buy into anything French.

Friday

2010-02-19T05:37:00.000-08:00

Lime tree in bloom. I'm taking this to mean I haven't killed it yet.

Thursday

2010-02-18T05:05:00.000-08:00

'To recognize reason as the rose in the cross of the present and thereby to enjoy the present, this is the rational insight which reconciles us to the actual...There is less chill in the peace with the world which knowledge supplies.'
- G.W.F. Hegel, Philosophy of Right

I start out so well, reading every sentence carefully and underlining and making my notes in the margins and I feel like I might actually be understanding it. Then I realize I've only read two pages in an hour and I have 18 pages to go and far less than 9 hours in which to do it. Should I skim the rest (guaranteeing I have nothing more than 'huh?' to say in class)? Or should I wake up at 4 am (guaranteeing I'm too exhausted to contribute to class)? Or should I become overwhelmed and watch a movie instead of it all? These are the truly great and timeless questions that my studies make me wrestle with.

Wednesday

2010-02-17T18:00:00.001-08:00

Breakfast this morning: a fresh chocolate croissant straight from Paris flown in late last night by Mr. and Mrs. London-Gray.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T10:16:00.000-08:00

(via Le Love)

Another Blizzard

2010-02-06T11:53:00.000-08:00

This fellow describes today pretty well (although I think we're over 22 inches and still going strong):

Weatherman Freaking Out Over DC Snowpocalypse
by TheDlisted

Bean Griddle Cakes

2010-01-28T20:55:00.000-08:00

Kristen started a great collaborative cooking blog and I totally crashed it and begged her to let me talk about beans. She said yes. Read my bean and cookbook rave here.

Barter

2010-01-26T05:52:00.000-08:00

I recently discovered the barter section of Craigslist. In that section I found a non-drinking family who was given a bottle of 1998 Dom Perignon as a gift. Who doles out once in a lifetime champagne without researching whether or not the recipients are teetotalers? A strange situation that I believe one encounters only in classes above my own. Lucky break for me though, I offered a family portrait session and they accepted. It was not exactly a fair trade since my services are not even remotely worth the $175 + that the champagne is. On the other hand, they did cram 3 families into one session so maybe it evened out. At any rate I'm not arguing. And I'm not saving it for years for the perfect occasion as I usually do. A 3 year anniversary seems to me to be the perfect occasion and that's coming up this spring.

Filing...

2010-01-14T11:13:00.000-08:00

...is always, always an issue. It's crucial to organization and living life smoothy and basically being an adult since that state somehow comes with loads of important paperwork. Yet it's a total drag. Paying the bills is exhausting enough, the last thing we want to do is unearth the file boxes from the dark front hall closet and cram endless pieces of paper into their slots. So the papers pile up and we forget what's in the pile and then I respond late to my jury summons and it's a mess and I don't just mean the pile of paper (on the bright side, when we finally sorted this stack, we discovered a hefty check we didn't even know our escrow account, whatever that is, refunded us!)

I've thought long and hard about how to make filing if not fun at least easier. I thought if we had some kind of file cabinet/furniture out around the house we might be more inclined to pull open a drawer and deal with stuff as it comes. But if you've ever tried shopping for file cabinets you know the beautiful ones cost two months worth of grocery budget, and the ugly ones are so ugly they're only fit to be shoved in a closet and then we're back in the original predicament. But something had to be done about the stacks of paper around our house. So we improvised.

An antique dairy crate was $10, casters were $10, matchy green file folders were $4 and we have a new file box.

It sits out in the open, because it's cute, and right by Zeb's chair where the finances and 'dealing with stuff' happens.

The mundane made beautiful. We have no excuse to put off filing now, may we never deal with cluttery stacks of paper again.

The New Year's Goals Post

2010-01-10T15:38:00.000-08:00

Well boy howdy did I need that break. Three weeks ago I was contemplating giving up on this whole graduate school endeavor so battered I was by the end of the first semester. I felt out of touch with friends and myself, exhausted and discouraged. And here a few wonderful weeks later I'm refreshed, regrouped and ready to start again. I cooked incessantly from my favorite new cookbook (thanks Ax!) and organized and entertained and sold clothes and bought new clothes and got a haircut (11 inches!) and went on some wonderful dates and celebrated holidays and read novels (see above) and played with new Christmas toys (Photoshop!) and held babies for hours. My sister asked, a few days ago, if I'd gotten ahead on my reading over the break and I realized I had never even considered spending my break on advance homework. All I wanted to do was rest and have fun. And I did. I soaked up rest and fun. Tonight, facing the prospect of school starting tomorrow, I'm not panicked, I'm ready and even excited.

I took a lot of time to think, in the last few weeks about why I'm doing all this and what I want out of life and run through alternate scenarios in my head to test out whether or not I'd be happier with something else. Aside from realizing happiness is mostly something I choose rather than something that happens to me, I've pretty much decided I'm right where I want to be. That's a funny thing to decide at the beginning of a year where I'm supposed to be cataloguing a list of changes to implement starting January 1. I've done that in the past, but this year I didn't feel the need for the fresh start that I have in the past. I feel the need to persevere in the goals I've already set, to keep working toward them with a cheerful attitude and diligence. Aside from small things such as learn to sail and really truly this time start doing yoga, I set goals instead of resolutions. Actually, the boy and I set goals together because it's all a team effort anyway. They're things like paying off debt by June and then rebuild our savings, by the end of the year be living on one income, and get me degreed. They're big picture goals but they've got us so excited for the possibilities ahead, and where we might be one year from now. We're ready to hunker down, eat lentils, work hard and relish it all with our goals in mind. So there you go, two diary-like entries in a row. I'll post something more characteristically trite tomorrow.

Christmas

2009-12-27T16:16:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas but for my purposes it might as well be Thanksgiving. Or a combination of the two. I'm thankful and I'm committed. The details are fuzzy, but both are to God, I know that.

It almost seems, lately, the more fuzzy the details the more firm the basics, though of course what's considered a basic is a fuzzy detail. But I can never get out of my head and heart, no matter how much Cartesian doubt I employ, that there is a God and it's his side I want to be on, whatever that means. I'm hoping that 'want' counts for a lot in his book.

I can also not deny that my grievances against the world, others, myself and therefore ultimately God, are disproportionate and unjust. No matter what one lacks in relation to the world, others or self (and even the relatively rich in these lack, relatively) it could always, always be worse. If I can ever get myself to truly realize that then the beautiful flip-side is thankfulness.

Christmas, I suppose, is a chance to remember, re-commit and thank. There's a deep contentment in that whenever I can do it.

Blizzard '09

2009-12-21T08:29:00.000-08:00

I'm back! I finished school a few days ago (I wouldn't say with flying colors, but at least I finished) and we weathered a weekend blizzard and Christmas gifts are almost in line (I even managed a few handmade gifts) and we had company (Val and her BF) over for the first time since this summer and we're in full holiday mode now.

This school term kind of wreaked havoc on our lives. I have not done laundry for a month, have hardly seen my local friends and haven't called my long distance ones, haven't filed any papers since August and there's a stack on my desk to prove it, I haven't cooked anything, in short I haven't kept up on any of the little mundane details that I've grown to love so much (laundry excepted). Zeb has been a trooper househusband, never once complaining and in fact apologizing if I ever feel the urge to clean the bathroom that he didn't get to it first. But I miss those things like sweeping and writing letters and hosting dinners. When did I become so domestic? Don't get me wrong I love the philosophizing that took over my life, but I wish it didn't have to take over to the exclusion of all else.

I must confess I'm a bit worried about next semester. The work will be more difficult, and yet nothing else in my life can give way any more than it already has yet somehow I'll be needing more hours in the day.

I'm trying to not worry about it, and trust that the resources will be there when I need them. In the meantime I'm going to relax hard, play in the snow, make eggnog and chicken liver pate for Christmas, hold babies who've changed so much I barely recognize them, and read M.F.K. Fischer instead of Freud.

And Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-24T15:55:00.000-08:00

I'm sure it's obvious - I'm stressed. I wish I were as jolly as a jar of Lebedik Lollies. But my nails are nubbins. That hasn't happened for years.

Last week included 3 family portrait sessions, a headshot session with an opera singer from Boston, and shooting an Upsherin ceremony - today I completed one major exam for school, tomorrow we travel to Ohio for an epic family Thanksgiving, next week brother and sister come to camp out in our living room while I work on a Descartes term paper, all while continuing normal work hours and a regular school load don't even get me started about all those handmade Christmas presents I was going to make. I know better than to complain - almost everything in my life is there because of my choosing but have I mentioned before I'm a complainer by nature? So complain I do. And Zeb just makes me tacos and cleans the bathroom and I'll shut up now and eat tacos and maybe be back next week to complain some more.

2009-11-20T12:33:00.000-08:00

So overdue there's no point in even apologizing, here are some pics from our trip to the Appalachian Mountains a while ago.

Most of you have seen these on Facebook already, but Dad never remembers to check Facebook, so here you go Dad!

Bev and Randy graciously invited us to crash their family getaway, and since the boy and I have been trying to do a cabin in the mountains type trip ever since we moved here were were thrilled to get a chance to tag along.

The cabin was right off the Blue Ridge Parkway, not another house in sight, and was infested with ladybugs. Of all the bugs to be infested with we figured ladybugs were pretty darn charming.

The food and drink were incredible. We had steak, seafood linguine, gourmet cheeses with salami and olives, wine that cost more than our usual $7/bottle, and huge cowboy breakfasts including Irish Coffee with Jameson's.

Bev and Axon make quite a team in the kitchen. And in general.

We hiked the Appalachian Trail. Since some of you (ahem, Mr. and Mrs. London-Gray) have hiked the whole AT I'm not going specify the exact distance we hiked, but let's just say it was enough to tick it off my list of life goals.

These beauties had me dreaming, again, of joining our local mycological association. What say you, Ax? This spring?

See, it wasn't just a random path in the woods. It was the AT for real.

I took a lot of pictures of him. Because he melts me with that look.

Fall is his color.

The view from my seat on the porch.

I took a lot of pictures of him too. Because all of a sudden he became comfortable with a camera right in his face and he gave me lots of cute poses.

I find these weeds beautiful. Someday maybe I'll do a series on beautiful weeds.

Next post maybe I'll catch up on the last month and a half. Maybe not.

Craigslist Outdoes Itself

2009-10-28T13:24:00.000-07:00

As I've mentioned, many times, most of my home was furnished through Craigslist. Many of my Craigslist finds have been cheap and essential, such as a dining room table, but until this weekend my favorite find was this antique cabinet that we now use as a linen closet. It was free. Every time I look at it I feel lucky all over again.
Until this weekend when I begged, twisted arms, inconvenienced multiple parties and scored 3 citrus trees. For free.

One bitter orange (seen here), one lime, and one lemon. A citrus tree, just one, has been on my Christmas list for years, and here were three five year old, dwarf trees for the taking on Craigslist. I could hardly sleep I was so excited.

Those are oranges growing in my dining room. They are miniature and tarrrt. Try one when you come over. My sister had to drive 2 hours to go get them (why my sister was involved is part of the twisting arms part - she was such a good sport). She drove Lisa's truck, so Lisa got the lemon tree by way of reimbursement.

That lime? That is growing in my living room, and will be plunked into a frosty gin and tonic this weekend when its fully ripe. Its friends will be made into salsa and mexican chicken soup. And more gin and tonics.

Here's another baby lime on the way. Now the trick will be, of course, to keep them alive. Given my track record with plants that will be difficult. I'm super motivated about these, I'm reading Gardenweb.com (thanks Aunt Mimi) and everything. But if anyone has any experience or tips please help me out.

Twins at 2 Months

2009-10-26T10:48:00.000-07:00

We spent a lovely weekend in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and while I had every intention of finishing Fashion Week with a picture early Saturday morning and late Sunday night, it was just a little too much. Besides, so many pictures of me was freaking me out. I'd rather look at babies.

Specifically Mia.

Or Mia and me.

And that's the end of Mia because Honnah proved herself more cooperative that night.

Mia's not quite smiling yet but Honnah sure is.

Man oh man, they just melt me.

Fall Fashion Week Day 4

2009-10-23T12:33:00.000-07:00

Friday (inspired by Lisa)
Top/Dress: From Double Dutch in Baltimore
Belt: Thrifted

Pants: Old Navy
Shoes: Dolce Vita

So many fun new ladies have stopped by here because of the Fashion Week, thank you for all the nice comments! Here's a list of others who are participating:
Laura @ Every Path
Mama Bird @ Three Birds
Kalle @ Growing C's
Marla @ Today is Mine. Tomorrow is not my Business
Katy @ Trying to Live for Today, While Looking Towards the Future
Jilian Dee @ Jilian Dee & Dexter too
Amanda @ Lullabies to Terrorize
Marianne and Baby Penny @ Ancora Imparo

Indy & Summer @ a shot in the dark
Christina @ he.makes.all.things.new
Rita @ Me & My Shortloffs
Mrs. Boo Radley @ just like camping

Fall Fashion Day 3

2009-10-22T12:05:00.000-07:00

Thursday
Shirt: F21
Dress: American Eagle clearance
Leggings: F21
Boots: Gift from Zeb (thrifted)
Earrings: Made by me
Glasses: Zenni Optical

Note: I am standing straight up in this picture. The bookshelves, all askew behind me highlight the fact that our building is tilting toward the sea, if it weren't snuggled right up to the next house over it probably would have fallen over by now.

Fall Fashion Day 2

2009-10-21T17:30:00.000-07:00

Wednesday
Dress: H+M clearance (I understand the clearance part now that I see in this photo that the hem is uneven. Details, details.)
Tights: Target
Shoes: Anthropologie clearance

I don't think there's a single room in my house big enough that the camera could get me in one shot. So here are the shoes. They hurt. So bad. I switched to flats for the rest of the day. If that's cheating don't tell me.

Charlie

2009-10-20T23:21:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of spending this afternoon with Mr. Charlie Hartman. Charlie is my friend Sarah's son. I was itching to try out a new lens, so in typical me overkill style, I shot about 200 pictures of Charlie over the course of a few hours.

I still don't know how my lens works though.

These first few pictures of Charlie are rare ones, because he's almost always smiling. He's a dream baby, always happy as a clam.

Valerie was his nanny for the first year of his life, she came over for some Charlie love.

Charlie's into saying hi to everyone, cheerios, and kissing things.

This, this is typical Charlie. He cracks up at everything. He'll just look at you and laugh. Or maybe it's just my face.

Next up - the twins at two months!

Fashion Week Day 1

2009-10-20T17:24:00.000-07:00

It's never too late to jump on a bandwagon, right? Marianne and Summer started fashion week yesterday, but I didn't read about it until today. I love street style fashion blog stuff! Even better if it's people I know! I have to play along! Luckily today my sister was around to help take the photo, tomorrow I'll have to figure out the timer on my camera.

Tuesday

Shirt: Charlotte Russe clearance rack

Pants: Anthropologie clearance rack

Shoes: Garage sale

Scarf: Target

Accessory: Charlie (on loan for the afternoon)

At Last

2009-10-17T18:47:00.000-07:00

Goodbye Fuji FinePix.

Hello, new love.

Here we go!

Zeb Was Right: Salsa Edition

2009-10-09T05:58:00.000-07:00

I love it when Zeb turns out to be right in the end. After I fight him tooth and nail over some trifle, to be finally proved wrong has just a touch of bitterness, for sure, but mostly just strengthens my admiration for the superior being I married. Such was the case with salsa.

When I'm gone for an evening Zeb tends to eat chips and salsa for dinner and I used to feel guilty about it and pester him to eat something 'real.' I'd always thought of it as boy/junk food. 'Boy' because I've known quite a few who think salsa is its own food group, and 'junk' I suppose because of the slimy version that comes with Mexican fast food. Z kept insisting that salsa was good for you and I kept scoffing when he said it. Then one day he broke it down for me - fresh tomatoes, fresh garlic, fresh onions, fresh herbs, maybe some black beans - and a light went on! I believe in all those things. Salsa is good for you!

The remaining issue for me was taste - slimy fast food salsa had left a bad one. But one day the CSA was brimming with tomatoes and peppers and Zeb found a recipe that changed my mind about salsa forever.

Salsa
(Feeds a boy and his wife for several hours)

3 large tomatoes, seeded and chopped

1/2 - 1 tsp salt

1 medium mild or sweet onion, chopped

2 fresh jalapeno peppers, chopped

Juice from 1 lime

3 T fresh cilantro, chopped

Mix.

This salsa knocked my socks off. Not too spicy, amazingly flavorful, highly addictive.

I know, I know, I'm probably the last person in the world to discover the joy that is a good simple salsa. Zeb was so right on this one. And he didn't even rub it in, he just welcomed me to the salsa club and asked if I'd prefer plain or Hint of Lime Tostitos. Now, if he knows what's good for him he'll rest content in this victory and lay off the campaign for the frozen mini tacos.

Sail Picnic

2009-10-07T11:05:00.000-07:00

Axon pointed out that my blog's pretty quiet right now. I'm choosing to not feel guilty about that, but it's hard.
That whole staying on top of things? That went away. But things will slow down again soon, I know it. It's all fun and good stuff, I just have to prioritize. Last weekend sailing was a priority.

It's crazy how, doing Euclid again, I see triangles and angles in everything. I'm pretty sure there's a proof for the Pythagorean theorem somewhere in these sails.

So...I'm really good at choosing recipes, and Zeb's really good at cooking the recipes I choose, I'll share some of those soon. But this is it for the moment.

Rob + Therese

2009-09-17T11:10:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago a co-worker asked if I'd be interested in snapping some candid shots at her sister-in-law's wedding. They couldn't afford a professional, and I'm not good enough to charge anything so we were a good match! I wanted to use the event, though, to really learn and practice so I recruited a hunky assistant named Zeb, borrowed two cameras, and ordered extra memory cards and we made a day of it!

They ended up contributing to my 'camera fund' after all, so it was kind of like my first professional gig.

We had an absolute blast. I can imagine that the fun of it, for the photographer, could all hinge on the bride and her mood. This bride was so pretty and chill, she just wanted to get married and have a good time. So we just photographed a pretty girl and her friends having a good time and it was great! The groom even insisted that my assistant have a beer while on the job. That's grounds for firing in my book but if I fired him who would make me coffee in the morning? So I let it pass. And I had a sip of his beer.

I made some mistakes. But learned from them and tried to work with them. I was scared of low light and indoor situations so I shot most of the photos on too high an ISO. When they came out a tad more grainy than I would have liked I decided to go with it and edit up the vintage, sunshiney look, my favorite look anyway.

I hope that's the look she likes.

She looks so happy! She was so happy!

These photos were all taken about ten seconds before the sun went down and we didn't have flashes, so I'm kind of amazed, and grateful for how well they turned out. It could have been a disaster.

Then we moved indoors and they just kept dimming and dimming the yellow florescent lights. It got hard to get any shots at all. Real photogs - how do you do it? Black and white does help salvage bad lighting.

I love it when they make the groom do a little dance before he gets the garter. It's so funny. She thought so too.

My co-worker caught the bouquet. Her boyfriend, the bride's brother, caught the garter. They put on quite a flirtatious little show before he finally put the garter back on her.

And finally they dimmed the lights so totally low that all I could get was a shadowy blur, but that's about how it was in real life anyway.

It's taken me almost two weeks working at it every day to edit all the photos. I have a newfound understanding of why wedding photographers charge what they do. And I'll do it all over again the next chance I get.

A Post Saying Not Much

2009-09-04T15:39:00.000-07:00

I'm still here, alive and kicking, not swamped yet, loving my schoolwork, adjusting to new roles around the house and in the marriage, and trying out yet another camera here (Nikon D40). Life is more full, for sure, but I still feel just a step ahead of it. We'll see how long that lasts. This weekend I shoot a wedding, and get paid for it! Breaking out sweaters, a dinner party tonight, and editing a million photos along with a long Lucretius reading and an herbal medicine test - it's a good thing Monday is a holiday. Happy Labor Day to everyone!

Back to School

2009-08-27T04:43:00.000-07:00

Today I start graduate school. Finally.

In the past few years I've pursued one direction after another. I've looked at everything from Biblical Theology to Ultrasound Technician to Publishing and announced those choices here and you've all been supportive and excited with whatever I've come up with. I've thought long and hard about what I want from a graduate degree - personal enrichment, a good job, or it doesn't matter as long as I check this goal off my list.

In the end I've come full circle beginning the Graduate Institute at St. John's College, the ostensible reason I moved to Maryland in the first place. Deciding factors: I thought it would be cute for Zeb and I to have matching degrees. And we already had the books. Also I get really jazzed about those books in a way I never did about Ultrasound Technology (sorry Natalie!).

I've been nervous, though, finally deciding and tying myself down. I like having my options open, and I realize that after this I probably won't get to go back and do something else for a long while. But as soon as I opened my first reading (coincidentally Descartes who I started Gutenberg with ten years ago this fall) I calmed and realized this is a decision I don't think I'll regret. Not that Descartes is calming, in fact some of the things he says are quite alarming, but this program will only strengthen my mind and hopefully my soul. That's never ever a bad thing. And I need it, I think my brain's gone soft lately, too much Apartment Therapy and not enough Arts and Letters Daily.

On the arguably more practical side, in my spare time, I've also begun a course in Herbal Medicine. It won't lead to a 'degree' because there isn't one available, but at the end of three years or so, if I make it, I'll be a Certified Herbal Therapist. It's a correspondence/online course that can flex around other life commitments. The thoughts behind that decision are many, and growing all the time, so I'll probably save that for a different post. So far, though, I've loved the ideas I'm encountering and the very practical skills I'll walk away with. Even if I never use it professionally, which would be my hope, it's good to know how to brew up concoctions for sore throats and ear infections.

Life will certainly change. Zeb, the dear, will be taking over most of the cooking and cleaning duties in order to free me up for homework. As grateful as I am, I think it will be difficult for me to relinquish control of those things, I'm used to feeling connected to my life through the rhythm of household duties, and also I'm very particular. It will be good though. I've promised I'll be OK with two ingredient meals like chicken and rice over and over again, and he's promised he'll at least cook it all from scratch.

So, now, of course, I must rush off and re-skim readings before my first class this morning. That will probably be a common end to posts from now on. Yay!

The Last Weekend of Summer

2009-08-26T07:18:00.000-07:00

Last weekend felt like a last hurrah of sorts as the Julians came down for their summer visit before school starts for some of us (more on that later). So we went peach picking.

We had in mind jam made in our bread machines, and the peaches in wine that's on the menu at Delancey, and mascarpone stuffed french toast with peach syrup, and learning to can. Such summery things.

The boys did much more than stand around holding baskets and bags, but this picture was too cute with all their goofy, deadpan and quizzical expressions.

After two baskets of peaches, a not very glamorous amount of sweat, some peach cider and farm-made ice cream, we headed to Naylor Winery in Pensylvania for an expansive tasting and a picnic by the vineyard.
The next day, after our requisite tour of Baltimore, especially the ghetto, we opened some apple wine and set to canning. Melanie was the experienced teacher and she assured us Botulism isn't nearly the threat Zeb fears it is.

While we canned the boys did this:
Brian was busy taking pictures of us.
Rowan begins to perfect Zeb's carefully taught 'Mad Face.'

I tried not to think too much about things like 'last free weekend' and 'summer's almost over' because that would make me panic and forget to enjoy myself. I, of course, feel like summer just got started even though it has been rather full and wonderful. The only thing that consoles me is remembering how much I like fall, and that there will be another summer before we know it.

Honnah and Mia

2009-08-18T13:06:00.000-07:00

They arrived last night. I don't really have words for how amazing the whole thing was, much to my surprise. Everything started in earnest around 5:30 and at 6:21 Honnah was born into a rose petal bath. Lisa was so strong and dignified and beautiful, most of her rushes were just a flicker of pain across her face. And along came this perfect miniature person. There are three hundred pictures on the camera but I love this first one taken in between contractions as Lisa looked at Honnah to gather her strength for Mia.

Two hours later Mia was born with a loud yelp. It all happened perfectly and (relatively) quickly and with dim lights and Over The Rhine playing and Sonora sneaking in to give a goodnight kiss. Two hours later Lisa was laughing and nursing in her own bed and eating spaghetti. I might have more pictures or words later, but right now I'm just overwhelmed with what I witnessed and with love for those two little girls.

This Weekend That Tim Gets Married

2009-08-15T06:54:00.000-07:00

My boy is off in Canada this weekend being a groomsman for an old friend and the cost of travel necessitated I stay home. That, and the fact that there will probably be babies this weekend. I don't want to miss that.

This house without Zeb is so strange, I hope I never get used to it even if there are prolonged times apart to come. I keep thinking he's just quiet in the other room and then remember he is not and I'm alone. I still sleep on only my side of the bed and wake up throughout the night wondering where he is. I'm eating pre-packaged meals instead of cooking. But this is not going to be another post about how I can't live without Zeb, we all know all about that. It's about the projects I rounded up to keep me from just wandering circles around my house this weekend.

I really love giving gifts, and my notebooks and tumblr and Etsy favorites page are just full of gift ideas for birthdays, Christmas, weddings and babies. Of course, I usually adore the $70 angora baby blanket and I know exactly where to get the $70 dress Axon is craving and at that rate it just takes a few special events before we've spent the whole year's gift budget. So I've been on the lookout for things I can make for gifts. I do have more time than money at this point.

I've always loved papercuts, or scherenschnitte, and even more so since I found the breathtaking creations on Elsa Mora's blog The Heart Of Papercutting a while ago. I had no idea how easy they are to do yourself until I found the Free Template Tuesday series on Cindy Ferguson's blog this week and thought why not try it? Between the two blogs I borrowed (I hope that's OK since I won't be selling them and I'll more than give credit for the sources) all these patterns I've cut in the last few days.

I seem to do very well with tedious tasks. In junior high I was very into making Ukrainian Eggs - an utterly useless and very very time consuming craft. I kind of like stuffing envelopes for mailings. I didn't mind folding hundreds of napkins as a server. I had a feeling that scherenschnitte would be right up my rote alley. These papercut patterns are not hard, they're just time consuming.

I'm behind on boy baby gifts, so I picked mostly boy themed patterns to start with.

The materials required are a self healing cutting mat and an x-acto knife with #11 blades, and of course the paper with the design printed onto it. All in all the cost for supplies came in at around $16.

The cost to my back, however, is another story. The accumulated hours spent hunched over each one of these in the last two days leave me feeling, well, in a lot of pain. Yet the addictive fun of it leaves me contemplating ibuprofen so that I can do just one or two more. That is only impressive if you realize that I hate taking ibuprofen and hardly ever do.

Another thing I'm doing this weekend, when my back absolutely needs a break, is reading the wonderful book Ina May's Guide to Childbirth in preparation for aforementioned birth that will hopefully take place this weekend.

I'm also watching movies Zeb has no interest in such as The Triplets of Belleville which is very delightful and quirky.

I'm also practicing low light/night photography, for aforementioned birth, and many of these photos are the result of my practice. I'm very pleased with what that camera can do in low light without a flash. If it's even possible, I'm even more in love with that camera than before.

I should probably also scrub that moldy grout in the shower this weekend. But I probably won't.

Home

2009-08-10T21:37:00.000-07:00

A little while ago Summer posted a mosaic of photos from her home and challenged others to do the same. You've seen corners of my home before but here are more (I'm back to my Fuji FinePix with these, though there are more of the Canon photos coming soon).

I really love our home right now. We've been about to move for years now and all of a sudden we've decided to stay for a while. So I got out some pictures I'd been saving and I hung them, I got a magic eraser to at least scrub the scuff marks off the dingy walls, and I'm even thinking of doing some re-grouting in the moldy shower. This has been the only home the two of us have made together so far, and the day we give it up will be, in some ways, a close to this first stage of our lives. So I'm glad to stay for now. The whole house and all the furniture lean toward the East, the sea, and when the weather changes the building smells like mildew or cats, depending on the season. The wood floor has a few several inch holes (into which I've been known to sweep the dust pile) and they say that George Washington slept here. There are tall ceilings and huge windows and for those I can forgive the lack of dishwasher, air conditioning, hot water in the shower, laundry, and the leak in the roof. Everything we own was gathered for these specific rooms so it feels like this little apartment has had more say in shaping our 'home' than I have. At any rate, it's my favorite place in the world, as long as the boy's here, and we're settling in.

(Please, others, share corners of your home? Summer pointed me to Big Huge Labs to make the mosaic, so fun!)

Canon Rebel: The Results

2009-07-31T18:30:00.000-07:00

Well I think it went well, all things considered. All things being that I'm not a professional photographer. I didn't expect much of myself and the session and I was pleasantly surprised. That camera is magic. I absolutely hated to give it back this week.

After Sonora was born Jon and Lisa decided that instead of buying one fancy portrait session they would buy a fancy camera to take those portraits themselves (or have a friend do it). I think that is such a good idea. I'm totally doing that when we have kids. Or sooner. Like this Christmas (Zeb? You listening?)

This girl. This girl is pure sunshine.

Lisa is due August 28, but since she's got twin (girls) in there she really expects them any day. Sonora is so excited about her sisters.

Jon is perhaps my oldest friend. When I was an infant through toddler his family and mine lived together and Jon and I shared a room. We walked down the aisle first with each other (that was even a trivia question at his wedding - so funny!) as flower girl and ring boy for Aunt Amy and Uncle Tim's wedding. I tried to set him up with all my close friends. He reciprocated with his friends (neither worked). I was Jon's date to his Air Force Academy Graduation Ball. We were bridesmaid/bridesman in each other's weddings. And now, through a wonderful twist of fate and FBI bureaucracy, we live 20 minutes away from each other.

Jon went and married this incredible girl. She's a down to earth southern belle if there ever was one. The first time I met Lisa, when I flew out to be her bridesmaid, I didn't realize that if you're in the South it's a huge faux pas to not paint your toenails. Mine were all raggedy and gross and I thought she must think I'm an idiot. Turns out she couldn't care less about my toenails and now we're fast friends.

Together they produced the most freaking adorable and sweet little girl - a little girl who, at 2, is distraught when she sees anyone else crying, and who thinks ice cream makes the world go round, and who wants only her Uncle Beb to read books to her. She has my heart completely.

I don't even know if I can handle two more if they're half as wonderful as Sonora, and I'm pretty sure they will be.

Jon and Lisa have chosen, this time, to have a natural birth with a midwife, a decision that I've loved to hear them processing. Most midwives will not do multiple births, but Lisa found the one in Maryland who will and after a lot of thought and research she's determined that to be the healthiest option for her babies. I can hardly wait.

Back to the photos: I love what the camera allowed me to do. I was surprised, though, to see how all over the map my editing is. I use both Photoshop and GIMP, and actually I'm a bit more impressed with the free GIMP than the spendy Photoshop at this point. Though really both are so user friendly that it's just a matter of my consistency. My aesthetic mood seems to change day to day and I warm or cool photos, contrast or overexpose them accordingly.

I love love love editing photos, but I was extremely frustrated today as I opened photos in several different programs or viewers, or on different computers and found that the perfect white balance I'd achieved on my home computer looked completely sallow/yellow on my work computer or vice versa. I'm not quite sure how to resolve all that yet but I'll definitely be working on it.

At any rate, though, I'm still overwhelmed by the results - far from professional but so far above what I'm used to.

This family, in this narrow sliver of time, is something beautiful to watch and capture. But still, I can't wait for the next phase.

A Canon Rebel XTi

2009-07-24T17:44:00.001-07:00

A few days ago my cousin handed me his Canon SLR camera with an array of lenses, gave me a crash course in how to take pictures in any mode other than 'Auto' and told me he'd be back this Sunday for a portrait session with his wife and daughter. I have never before used an SLR. I have heard the terms 'aperture' and 'shutter speed,' but I had no idea how they work together. My work is cut out for me. I wish all work were this fun. This camera is pure bliss. I have no idea what I'm doing and these pictures still look a hundred times better than what my little fully auto camera can produce. They're so good (to me) I'm not even tempted to tweak the tiniest thing in Photoshop yet, just marveling at their raw quality.

I've been picking Summer's brain with stupid questions like 'What shutter speed should I be trying for?' since those are all things I would get a feel for with time, but right now I don't have time. I need all of her expertise as quickly as she can email it to me, especially since these inanimate objects are nothing compared to the active toddler I'll be trying to capture in a few days.

Cantaloupe salsa for tomorrow's baby shower...doesn't that look like Bon Appetit?!!! I think I know what I'm requesting for Christmas.

Even the gross grout on my kitchen sink looks dreamy with this camera!

Or maybe in the camera love rush I've lost all perspective. Probably that.

Last Weekend

2009-07-19T15:30:00.000-07:00

I seem to be perpetually a week behind lately. A few highlights from last weekend - Val, Z and I met the Julians at the halfway point between our homes - New York City.

The point of the trip was to snag tickets to Shakespeare In The Park. This year's show was a modern Twelfth Night starring Anne Hathaway with an original score by Hem. Tickets are free for this event but that means you have to line up early, we heard around 6 am to receive tickets at 1 pm. It was closing weekend so to play it safe we woke up at 3:45, were in line by 4:30 am and we still missed it by a long shot. Around 6:30 they told us that we didn't have a chance and to go home. The first people in line had brought air mattresses and started camping out at 8 the night before. We would have gladly camped out in Central Park and saved the price of the hostel, but we did not know that was legal. Next year that'll be our tactic.

(Central Park at sunrise)

We were very disappointed, but we quickly readjusted and started on a grand tour of the city.

Meatpacking District early in the morning.

A fountain in Greenwich Village

Subway on Broadway (we saw a huge rat!)

Val-girl.

Chelsea Market before hours.

Ground Zero

The Flat Iron Building

Unfortunately all my pictures of Mel and Brian are blurry. But they were there too, trooper traveling companions. The Maryland group had never been to NYC before - shameful, really, considering how long we've lived here and how close it is. We found the city wonderfully easy to navigate and we have never, ever met more friendly people. Every single time we stopped to pull out a map at least one, maybe two people would stop and ask if they could help us find something. Every single time. We walked until our feet were so sore we wanted to cry, and we think we saw about half of Manhattan. So...only nine more trips and we'll know New York, right?

How To Get Shot By The Sartorialist

2009-07-13T13:13:00.000-07:00

Returning last night from a weekend in NYC I found this clever flowchart by Refinery 29 absolutely hilarious and true. What does it take to get The Sartorialist to notice you? In my travel clothes and clunky walking sandals I knew I didn't stand a chance (or really any time for that matter), but I can't say it didn't cross my mind as we walked through Greenwich Village. (Click to enlarge)

The Oil Cleanse Method

2009-07-09T15:41:00.000-07:00

Skin care regimes, I've found, can be quite tyrannizing. From childhood through college I used to just wash with water and from time to time dab lotion on my face. About the time I decided to start shaving my legs (yes, after college) I figured I should start paying attention to my skin. It seemed like part of growing up. But really it was downhill from there (not the legs part - that was a good decision). Trying to find just the right combination of cleansing, toning, exfoliating, replenishing, and moisturizing lands you with a cabinet full of marginally satisfying products. Not only is this expensive, but it's confusing and complicated. And my skin never achieved the Cate Blanchett dewy flawlessness no matter what product I used.

A little over a month ago, on a morning when I was already researching making my own deodorant (more on that later) Melanie fortuitously emailed me a link to The Oil Cleanse Method. The premise intrigued me, I tried it that night, and I might, I'm not promising, but I might never go back to traditional skin care products.

The oil cleanse method is what it sounds like - you wash your face with oil. It's so counter intuitive, I know. I was terrified the first night I smeared oil on my face. But there are some basic principles behind it that make a lot of sense to me:

* Oil dissolves oil. Apparently that's something you're supposed to learn in science class? I don't know the why and how, but I remember when I was little and we would put that heavy white clown makeup all over our faces or stage makeup for shows we cleaned it off with mineral oil. That mineral oil dissolved the makeup and cleansed our skin somehow.

* Many people experiment with different oils but it seems that the most successful combination is some sort of drawing oil (googling 'drawing oil' always leads to Castor Oil) with a carrying oil (olive oil, coconut oil, grapeseed, jojoba etc.). Castor oil is a deep cleanser with slightly disinfectant and healing properties, and is actually a bit drying. It is supposed to draw dirt and clogged oil to the surface of the pore where you massage it out and away with your fingertips and a warm cloth. Whatever oil you pair it with will provide moisture and vitamins to your skin during that deep cleanse.

* So many of the vitamins and antioxidants they tell you are essential in a skin care product occur naturally in fruit and nut oils or juices/vinegars or herbs. I noticed as I searched Sephora for 'the perfect product' that I was drawn to adverts like 'A moisturizer with antioxidants derived from pomegranate juice' or a toner with 'Organic vinegar that will flake off dead skin cells.' In other words I was more willing to trust the product the more raw natural stuff it had in it. It dawned on me that I could eliminate the middle man (and maybe some harmful chemicals) by going right to that pure good vitamin packed stuff, the straight oils (and vinegars and herbs).

* The Oil Cleanse Method (in various forms) is recommended on many acne treatment sites as the best cure for regular and cystic acne (those white raised bumps beneath the skin that never erupt into a pimple - I realized I have that), for smoothing out age spots and uneven skin, and for gently cleansing sensitive, dry or aged skin. It truly is an all skin types system.

* It's cheap!!!!

My method:

I started with fifty/fifty Castor and olive oil. After about a week I noticed drying spots even after toning and moisturizing. I switched to one third Castor and two thirds olive oil with a few drops of tea tree oil (a disinfecting oil to help with those cystic acne bumps). That combination seems to work perfectly for me. I gently massage the oil around (on dry skin! If you wet your skin first it will repel the oil), press a hot wet cloth to my face for a little bit to open the pores to the oil, then gently wipe it off.

I happened, at the same time, to switch to using a mixture of unfiltered apple cider vinegar, green tea, and water as a toner. Many sites recommended that combination and I remembered that, as I mentioned above, what drew me to the pricey Origins toner I'd been using was their 'Made with Organic Vinegar' advert. I consider the toner a beneficial extra step because with it I feel confident that I remove any last traces of oil. Also, vinegar is supposedly very exfoliating and softening to the skin. Many people say that with the Oil Cleanse Method toner is unnecessary and that might be true. I'm just more comfortable using it.

My verdict: I'm not going to lie - my skin still doesn't look like Cate Blanchett's. But I've accepted that I have pores and it's OK if you can see them. I could be imagining it, but I think you can see them less now. I don't think I'm imagining that. At any rate my skin is incredibly soft. I never need to use an exfoliating scrub. My skin feels lightly moisturized right after I wash it, and it's no greasier twelve hours later - it feels balanced all day. It's easy, cheap, and I think it's working as well or better than anything else I've tried so I'm sticking to it for now.

A few more notes: I found my Castor oil at Rite Aid on the bottom shelf below the laxatives. Finding organic Castor oil would be preferable but if you just want to test it with cheap Castor oil check a drugstore.

It seems that everyone needs a different proportion of oils. It might not work the first time but hopefully with some adjustments anyone could find combination they like.

Some people recommend the OCM as a deep cleanse once a week, I do it every night but I don't do the long steam every night, just depends on what I have time for.

There are a lot of articles, forums and blog posts devoted to The Oil Cleanse Method. They explain it much better than I did. If you care so much about skin that you're still reading this post you should read other more informative posts as well.

I know at least two of the people reading this have also switched to The Oil Cleanse Method. I hope they share their thoughts as well.

Vacay - The Result

2009-07-03T11:31:00.000-07:00

Home now. Eleven days held almost more vacation than we could handle and we're still sleeping ten hour nights in recovery. I know how much fun I had by the lack of pictures. Here are all six (only showing a fraction of the people we saw and things we did).

We hung out with tons of cousins on both sides. We love how our cousins remain some of our closest friends as we grow older - our lives, goals, and interests still seem to match and intersect.

We stopped in for a quick cocktail at the Hotel Lucia where we spent our wedding night so I had to take a picture in remembrance.

My brother in law Daniel just moved into a concrete dome in the Oregon hills, everyone appropriately calls it 'The Hobbit Hole'. He'd been telling us about his 'dome' but we had no idea how awesome it was until we saw it.

Living room with sleeping loft above and kitchen through the arch.

View from the living room - and above those windows is a rooftop porch. Head up there on a cool evening with a glass of Daniel's home-brewed Kolsch and watch the meadow views. It's absolutely perfect.

After the Eugene weekend we spent four days with Zeb's family at Black Butte Ranch. I got two pictures - tennis at twilight...

And wonderful Em reading to the freakin adorable kids.

The next weekend in Boise we said goodbye to the 'Little Wierenga's' who are moving to Illinois, we saw Joe and Lauryn get married, we stayed at my parents luxe new house, and we saw a bit of the better side of Boise. There's quite a bit more there than I remembered. It probably helps that I'm over 21 and have a driver's license.

It was wonderful and a whirlwind. We loved every minute but we're a bit glad that we're home again. I guess that's just about right.

Vacay

2009-06-18T18:09:00.000-07:00

Out for ten days. Might pop in, might not - we're on vacation baby!!!!!

P.S. Too funny - Pride and Prejudice Twitter Style

Bread

2009-06-18T13:50:00.000-07:00

Some people amaze me. They seem to be calm, stylish, and able to do every interesting thing in the world at once. You know, the mom who has 2 babies, helps her husband with his business, is writing a book, keeping up two blogs one of which chronicles her efforts to read 200 books a year, cooks from scratch, writes for local magazines, and will be starting graduate school in the fall. Seriously, she's real, her name's Amanda, she's my twitter friend though not real life friend yet, and she talks about life here and here. There are many such people in my life. Yours truly, of meagre margins, attempts to not quite keep up because that would imply a fair race, I grab a coattail and hope I get dragged into neat things. Which is what happened with the bread. Women and men I admire bake bread and they got me all intrigued. So I now bake my own bread. I have 6 different types of flour and two different types of gluten. I'm really into it.
Bread is such an impressive tool - you offer to bring homemade bread to a gathering and you get an appreciative ahhhh. It's quite gratifying for moi whose sink is full of dirty dishes and who still has to finish wedding thank you's two years late BUT I HAVE FRESH BAKED BREAD!

No one needs to know that it is actually made with a bread machine, except now everyone will know because everyone I hang out with reads this blog. Unfounded or not I feel that making my own bread is a feat and I'm going to stick to that, no matter how it happens.

I've got this wonderful huge cookbook and from it I've made Brioche (pictured) Proscuitto Mozzarella Bread, Black Olive Bread, Halepeno Bread with Longhorn Cheese, Beer Bread with Cheddar, Roquefort Cheese Bread with Walnuts, Ricotta and Fresh Chive Bread, Italian Lemon-Ricotta Bread, Chickpea Flour Bread as well as numerous others.

Marianne over at Prepare to Eat challenged readers to make their own bread in May. Marianne's method is a distant dream for me at the moment. She soaks her flour, she hand kneads everything, she doesn't use much white flour or any sugar. Sigh. I like to think that someday when I'm home for more hours of the day than I'm at work I, too, will do bread the ideal way. But really, won't I just find other excuses (kiddos, the sink of dirty dishes, Arrested Development on Hulu?) I'll probably still use the bread machine. But I'm OK with that. I don't think it's cheating, it's just a different way and I'm still coming out ahead. Those fancy loaves that I mentioned above would have cost approximately $6 per loaf here in the DC area, and I make them for half that or less. A cheap loaf of bread makes a meal of lentils actually filling. And all the ingredients in my bread I chose and I can pronounce.
One of the best parts is that I now have a perfect and designated use for one of my favorite wedding gifts - the bread/cutting board handmade by Aunt Mimi and Uncle Gary who are, themselves, die hard every day Zojirushi bread bakers. Also I finally got to buy the little butter dish I've been wanting.

Honfest 2009

2009-06-17T07:08:00.000-07:00

When the Parkers decided to move to Baltimore they exhaustively researched every neighborhood before they decided on colorful Hampden. They immediately felt at home. Hampden is traditionally a very working class neighborhood but hipsters and yuppies have moved in and the together they form a delightful mishmash of genuine Baltimore. Last weekend we caught the best of it all at the HonFest.

The Honfest or Hampden Festival has something to do with honoring Hampden's roots with outrageous sixties housewife style costume (former Hon Queen on the left). There are also bands and sidewalk flea markets and funnel cakes and all that.

These Hons sang in four part harmony.

They set up Glamour Tents where anyone could get a beehive 'do.

You're supposed to say 'Hon' (short for 'Honey') after everything.

Like: I said 'Thanks for letting me take your picture.' She said 'Sure thing, hon.'

The guys don't get costumes. They just get burritos and beer. They were OK with that.

The Best Crab Cakes

2009-06-12T20:25:00.000-07:00

Six years ago I lived in Tennessee and I visited Annapolis for the first time for a teacher training conference. What impressed me the most was not the perfectly preserved Colonial streets and buildings, though I was charmed by those, but a meal I had at a waterfront restaurant called Phillips Seafood. The crab cakes were recommended so I dutifully ordered them with a glass of chardonnay. They were absolutely amazing (and cost a small fortune at $29 for two small cakes with no sides!) Everyone claims that their crab cakes have hardly any filler, but at Phillips it was true. These crab cakes were really something else. Four years later I moved to Annapolis and I knew I wanted to work at that crab cake place. And I did, for years, until a few months ago. Privy to the inner workings of the prep kitchen I got a pretty good idea of what was in those famous cakes. The exact recipe is closely guarded but here is my best adaptation (with Lisa's help using our leftover meat from the birthday feast) based on stolen glances over shoulders in the back of the house.

The Best Crab Cakes

(An audacious claim I know, but I'm just repeating what everyone around the table said.)

2 eggs

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons crab seasoning ( I prefer Phillips Seafood Seasoning rather than Old Bay and I'm not just saying that)

2 teaspoons fresh parsley chopped

2 heaping tablespoons mayonnaise

1/4 teaspoon dry mustard

1/4 teaspoon dijon mustard

2 pounds jumbo lump crabmeat, picked over

2 cups Ritz crackers, crumbled

Mix all the ingredients except the crab meat. Carefully add in the crab meat at the last minute. Form into 2 inch balls and place on a cooking sheet. Refrigerate for an hour. Broil (or bake at 550 degrees) for about 7-10 minutes or until the tops are browned.

The Birthday/Crab Feed

2009-06-10T18:29:00.000-07:00

First off, we opened that bottle of wine. It took two strong men and an assortment of knives and wine openers. But they prevailed.

Val thanked them. OK, we all thanked them. We managed to finish the wine and now I can't let go of the empty bottle. It's so neat. And useless. I need a Throw Away That Special Yet Empty Bottle of Wine Day next.

The Chesapeake Blue Crabs were amazing. A local fisherman caught us a bushel of crabs that morning, steamed them that afternoon and delivered them to us hot.

We poured the Old Bay and hammered away.

The wonderful thing about blue crabs is that it takes hours. They're nothing like king or snow crab legs or even bodies. They're smaller for one, the flavor is different of course, and there are techniques and toxic body parts and it's laborious and extremely rewarding. The crabs are delicious hot when you start out and still hours later when they're cold. You dip them in Old Bay and butter. And it's a very drawn out and relaxed event. You just sit and talk and pick crabs and eat potato salad and coleslaw and talk and drink beer or wine and melt more butter and pick more crabs as the sun goes down.

Molly's 'Please give me more crab meat' face?

And things wind down.

Tadd's stories keep us laughing.

There's really nothing picturesque about crab bones and guts, but there it is, how ends one of the best birthdays this 28 years has seen.

P.S. I couldn't decide - we had both avocado and sweet corn ice cream for dessert, both yummmmm!

Year Two

2009-06-09T07:54:00.000-07:00

It just keeps getting better and better.

Cooking and Menu Stuff

2009-06-06T14:59:00.000-07:00

I wrote out my first menu plan on April 29, 2008. I filled in the categories of Lunch and Dinner and Extras (we're nibblers for breakfast) and I wrote the sources for my recipes and I wrote the cost of each week's groceries. The menu plan was an attempt to be more thoughtful and frugal about the food we bought and then tried to consume before it turned bad. It has since then turned into a sort of record of our lives (thank you Ax for the idea). I can flip pages and see my cooking style evolve and streamline. At some point I began to write in meal events such as 'Parents and in-laws all for dinner for Zebulin's graduation' or 'Goodbye dinner for Mel and Everett, and goodbye picnic for Billi and Daniel' (both in one week - it was cruel), or 'Val's first meal back in the U.S!' I've been able to track the cost of menus and as I've found my rhythm that bill has thankfully gone down (though it's still staggering compared to other parts of the country!).

Subscribing to a CSA just reinforced menu planning even more. Perhaps it's possible but I can't imagine how I would make sure to use up all those random items in a week without being very deliberate about it. Our CSA joined Twitter (thus finally convincing me to join) and they post our share the day before so that I can start planning before we pick it up. We also have a Yahoo group where members share their ideas and recipes for the produce each week. It's a challenge, for sure. I've said before it's like a puzzle - figuring out what to do with all these pieces you've been handed and stick within a budget and the time frame of a week. I love it. I still get excited when I find out what's in our bag for the week. And I'm still proud when I manage to use it all up efficiently and deliciously before the next batch comes in. Every time I have to throw a languishing bok choy away I vow to plan better for next week. In short, a lot of effort goes into this. One of my organizing tools has been this blog - a little sidebar section that links to most of what I'm cooking each week. I just added a list of what we actually get in our CSA each week above the recipes I use it all in. In a glance I have a summary and online catalog of recipes for all the planning I've scribbled in my notebook. But a disclaimer: if you ever peruse that section beware that not all recipes are tried and true. Often times I get a repeat in my CSA (lately it's Basil!) but there is always some new thing and its recipe is a shot in the dark. If a recipe/link stays up more than a week it was a winner. That sidebar is my way of letting you know what I'm attempting, as well as keeping me straight when I look at a fridge full of pieces.

On a side note - Axon and I went to see Michael Pollan (author of The Omnivore's Dilemma and the mover and shaker of the Slow Food Movement) speak at the BCPL a few weeks ago. The evening was informative and inspiring and sobering and we agreed with most of the things he said. But one thing in particular struck me. In a question/answer session someone asked him what his favorite part of the 'success' of The Omnivore's Dilemma was. He seems a humble and sensible man and he stumbled over what to say to that question. I don't remember his answer. Later a farmer got a hold of the mic - he introduced himself as the owner of Springfield Farms - the farm that Zebulin and I order all of our pork, beef, eggs, and chicken from. He said 'I just want to speak on behalf of farmers, I want to say thank you, thank you for your book and for what you've done, you've brought people back to our farms and it has made all the difference.' I started kind of tearing up and then Michael Pollan said 'That is my favorite part of the success of 'The Omnivore's Dilemma', hearing people say things like that.' Gee, I'm kind of crying again just typing it out. All that extra menu planning - it's so worth it.

The Perks of Working in Restaurants

2009-06-05T09:25:00.000-07:00

Free delicious food, free end of shift drinks, fast easy mad money, exercise built into your job, invitations to other restaurant openings, and contests with wonderful prizes. Why did I quit again? Case in point - the obscenely large bottle of wine on the right was my prize for selling the most Sebastiani Chardonnay over the course of a three month contest. I was presented with this bottle on December 31, 2007. I was so impressed with the size of the bottle and myself for winning it that I haven't had the heart to drink it yet, waiting for the perfect occasion (and enough people gathered together). It's a bad and absurd habit, I do it with new clothing, my favorite vinegar, and certainly with wine. That one on the left is another candidate for Open That Bottle Night this year.

But recently, in a life cleansing type mood, I decided to put an end to that bottle of chardonnay this weekend. At my birthday party. Which is an all out Maryland style crab feed. And there will be plenty of drinkers to help me out.
The wine's probably a year past its peak anyway, and it will go out in style, and I'll try to stop saving my prized possessions.

The Hot Time of Year...

2009-06-03T18:06:00.000-07:00

...begins and the aforementioned summer wardrobe panic sets in. Somehow, with human nature at the reigns, it snowballs (or should I say tumbleweeds?) and I find myself wanting to consign it all and start over. Not rational. For example - this is theoretically lovely:

The problem is me not the duds.

Can I consign myself and start over?

Strawberry Tomato Gazpacho

2009-05-30T18:24:00.000-07:00

For Dinner Tonight:

1 # Fresh Strawberries

1 # Fresh Tomatoes

4 oz. Olive Oil

4 T Balsamic Vinegar

A Handfull of Basil Leaves.

Puree. Chill. Serve.

( For variations add raw garlic, a few slivers of onion, some salt, substitute sherry vinegar, add a cucumber).

This is delicious and rich, perhaps serve as an appetizer. It's perfect with a dry rosé.

2009-05-29T15:05:00.000-07:00

The state of my tumblr versus my blog is a pretty good indication of my inner life these days. The blog that's supposed to be for informing friends and family of goings-ons, and for sharing interests and inspirations is pretty blank. And the tumblr, full of my useless web wanderings and my endless wishlist is still alive and kicking. I've got the gimmees, I've got the oughts, and I've got hardly anything done lately.

The last few months have been hard. The good news is that we've installed wonderful renters into our dated little Idaho home, but only after half a year of paying its expensive mortgage, utilities, repairs and yard work bills in addition to our own expensive historic district rent and bills. The toll on our credit card and lifestyle has been quite staggering and frankly, I'm tired of lentils and the recurring news of another hole worn through the elbow of another of Zeb's shirts. I've spent so much of my energy in the last few months shopping for a stainless steel refrigerator that I'll never get to use and creating a legally binding lease and worrying if we will survive that I didn't have much left over. In addition we've decide to rethink our life direction, because that's always a fun thing to do. Philadelphia and that shiny English and Publishing degree might be out for me. I'm considering more down to earth degrees (ones that might land me a money job instead of a hobby job). Zeb is considering a career that could send us anywhere in the U.S. At the moment we have no idea what we'll be doing or where we'll be in six months. For a seven year plan gal like myself that is stressful. It's also probably very good for me.

Memorial Day weekend was wonderful.

We had cookouts and we went to the beach.

And we made stuff.

I felt my many month headache begin to melt away. Three days away from the brain dead-ness that work requires gave me hope that I might be able to clear out these cobwebs and get my game back. Making stuff helps, so I'll be doing more of that and posting progress here. Cooking helps and I'm always doing that (loving Thai Style Chicken and Rice Soup, Axon's Lentil Salad, Black Bean Quinoa Salad, and Orangette's Meatballs). Not giving myself goals helps. Not writing much.

Living in the moment is so difficult sometimes. But I'll try my darndest because really, in spite of myself, these moments are not so bad. They're actually quite wonderful if I can just let them be.