I ate too much.

Happy Monday, everyone. How was your 4th of July? I don't think I've eaten so much since Christmas, but for that reason and others it really felt like a holiday this year. I'm going to drink a lot of water and eat some salad with lettuce and fresh veg this week, as opposed to this kind of salad (which I can highly recommend from recent experience).

What did you eat/drink/blow up?

Good people, good food, good times

Lunch with mom at Sitka & Spruce

Fresh flowers at the Melrose Market

Vivace Coffee and Salted Caramel (where else than) Molly Moon

Pike Place dinner for dad's birthday at Seatown

Beachside picnic in Fidalgo Bay (read: waiting 3 hours for afternoon ferry)

Funny people and a crisp ferry ride

A surefire sign you're in the PNW

Views from Orcas Island

Lots of laughter

I love Orcas people (a 5 minute solstice parade!)

Take a look at this composition :)

Breakfast at Allium on Orcas

Views from the wedding ceremony

There's an app for this

Wedding treats

We had such a great weekend in Seattle and Orcas Island, I only wish it could have lasted about 18 more days...

The weather was typical: cool, partly cloudy with sunny patches, misty, breezy, fresh and clean. Although it's summer and I know Seattleites are desperate for sun and warmer temperatures, the break from the heat in B-more was soothing, refreshing and just what I needed.

I felt so lucky to have been able to see my parents and some great friends, to not waste a moment/potential meal by enjoying some of my very favorite Seattle restaurants, and to be part of C & V's special day on Orcas Island (what an awesome wedding it was!). We had so much fun laughing with friends and being reminded of the incredible beauty and life that exists in the Northwest. I can't help but miss living there, but am also so thankful for the adventure and change that living across the country has brought. As it's said, part of me never really knew what I was missing until I left. 

For now, it's back to work and back to life at home in Baltimore. Guess I'll just have to bring everyone from Seattle to me! Who's game? 

Summer, so far

Walks around our new neighborhood 

Happy hour, spent swinging

Salads with farmers market veggies

Poolside meals and margaritas

Nightly swims

Celebrating 3 day weekends

Adventures in West Virginia 

Campfire meals and cold beer

Beautiful roadside stops 

So far, so good, I'd say. How's this summer for you?

Robo-baby

I just spent the weekend with my lovely friend Meg who is 6 months pregnant. She braved a cross-country flight and the 90+ degree heat of B-more to come visit, so needless to say I am thankful and honored for her visit- the last time I'll see her before she's a mom, whoa. We celebrated the first day of her 3rd trimester by eating copious amounts of ice cream right out of the container.

Isn't this robot alphabet chart that she found great? Love you MNG!

Down time

I'm a bachelorette this week with Ryan being out of town, so each night provides a dose of time alone that I don't often get being a married woman. I notice the amount of time we spend together, since earlier in my twenties I preferred to get quite a lot of time by myself. Whether in college, when I lived with roommates or while traveling, I used to go on long drives home between Seattle and Leavenworth alone, spend hours in coffee shops reading and writing alone, visit gardens and parks or other indulgences or was generally wandering away from the crowd to get some air and space to think and breathe.

Moving to a new place together where we didn't know a soul changed our lives in many ways. The increase of dependence in our relationship manifested itself in a noticeable way: boatloads, lots-a, tons-a time together, which, surprisingly- against all odds- turned out to be a wonderful thing. After three months living together it occurred to me, "Ryan is the only person I hang out with! Whoa." That changed once we got to know some friends and started eating taco's every Tuesday at a local pub, but in general, we ate, breathed, slept and did everything as a couple. And we still do, really.

At this point in our lives, I truly enjoy doing all the little parts of life together. I know that might change, but I think of it as a gift that we can spend this much time together. I love running errands together, him walking to the train station with me as I leave in the morning or picking me up after work, and going to the grocery store together (even though some of our worst fights occur in the aisles, generally due to my wandering and indecisive nature and his lack of patience for said behavior).

So here I am, alone on the sofa in our new apartment with free time and wondering what it was I meant to do then next time I had time alone... Cooking and music are always staples. A few phone calls are in order. A bit of housework... But what else? I feel a part of myself that needs reconnecting to a side that doesn't get much attention these days.

I can't imagine how women with babies find any time for themselves, but I wonder if that's a natural part of life's cycle? Learning to be with and around others. There's surely a balance to all of this, but for now, my quest remains in how to optimize having a little time by myself this week. Is optimize too objective? Perhaps. Maybe I can just be, sit, breathe, and enjoy. That feels optimal.

{photos by Jonathan via all the mountains}

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Love and miss you! Have a wonderful day today! xo

Lately

More work, better weather, cross-country travel and life in general have come before the my time writing for this blog as of late, but I'm still here- are you? It appears there are still some of you out there reading on occasion, and I hope that despite my lack of attention to this space that you'll swing by from time to time.  

I'm excited to report that on Easter Sunday (tomorrow morn) we will be moving to a lovely little oasis in the city of Baltimore known as the Clipper Mill. It's a renovated mill/foundry that has been turned into condos, galleries and artist studios, and most importantly- home to the city's best known and tastiest restaurant, Woodberry Kitchen.

We're excited -and a bit exhausted- but thrilled about the move. More to come on that adventure soon...

Happy Easter, all. xo

p.s. This great photo up above had to be taken somewhere near Napa/Sonoma, yeah? We've been dreaming of buying a little plot of land in the wine country and popping a little pre-fab house on it in an effort to live the dream... Give it a few more years of dreaming first.

{photo via a cup of jo}

Spring

Spring is my favorite season.  I find that most people name fall as their top choice for a season, but I'd have to say otherwise. I love butternut squash and wool sweaters just as much as the next person, but there's nothing like this time of year when life arises from the most unlikely places, almost as if from the ashes of the cold, dark oppression that is winter.

Springtime offers hope and life in its longer days, blooming trees and early flowers.  The faint pink of dogwood trees, bright yellow of the daffodil and the vibrant red of the tulip make me gasp with excitement inside-- knowing that life carries on, that the earth is living and breathing and that new days are ahead.  I'm so glad for that.

P.S. On my walk at lunchtime I put my favorite seasons in order: spring, summer, fall then winter.  So, according to this rather natural progression, things are about to move in fairly ideal direction.  How bout that!

weekend yum

Over the weekend, I spent some quality time in the kitchen. We were out of my much beloved bouillon, so I made a big, fresh batch, enough to have plenty in the fridge and freezer.  I even made a small batch that included fresh ginger and portabella mushrooms, for use in Asian recipes and in my new favorite soup, a lovely Spring Minestrone recipe from Super Natural Cooking.  I also tried my hand at making ghee (clarified butter), since I've only recently heard of it's health and cooking benefits.  If nothing else, it spreads on toast like silk and melts even faster than butter.  Next, I made a nice carrot soup, which was delicious served with fresh, plain yogurt dolloped on top.  

Sunday morning's inspiration came from the image up above and the discovery of this incredible blog.  I tried my hand at shirred eggs, but instead of using ham in the croquette like many recipes call for, I sautéed garlic and shitake mushrooms and sprinkled Parmesan cheese on top.  Delicious, but coma-inducing.  Even though it was 11:30 AM, I considered getting back into bed thanks to the heavy cream baked into the eggs.  Luckily, Ryan forced me outside for an afternoon walk to get some fresh air and to walk off the many calories I'd gained from breakfast.   

A lovely few days off, indeed.  

Happy days

The guy I live with is pretty rad.  What a nice little Saturday night we had eating French cheese, sipping Spanish wine and munching on California almonds. (The caveat being some kind of rodent squealing in the kitchen in the middle of our conversation.  Whatever, we barely noticed.)

P.S. Those are my special pickled beets on the left, yummm.

I want a greenhouse.

Yesterday, we went to the local arboretum and saw beautiful, flowery plants growing inside the warm walls of the greenhouses.  It was refreshing to see a place filled with life and color in the peak of winter. 

I found this website that gives instructions on how to build a greenhouse out of old windows. Wouldn't that be lovely?  I have little inclination to take on a project anytime soon, but having my own greenhouse is definitely on my "list".

Home alone

Remnants of a Wednesday Night, by STG

Step 1: Pour last glass from yesterday's bottle of pinot grigio, grab crackers to eat with new favorite cheese, eat/drink while staring blankly into fridge in hopes of finding dinner-for-one inspiration.

Step 2: Turn up speaker volume to hear KEXP playing new Bright Eyes album.

Step 3: Make garlic mashed potatoes with asiago cheese for dinner; grab hoppy beer (since white wine bottle is now empty) and pour into champagne flute. 

Step 4: Watch Portlandia clips online and feel weird hearing myself laugh out loud when no one else is around.

Step 5: Thumb through Julia's Kitchen Wisdom, for a daily dose of cooking know-how. 

Step 6: Eat remaining truffles sent from mother-in-law in Canada.  

Step 7: Consider watching HOWL since it's here via Netflix, but pass since the dream sequences in the first 20 minutes were too cartoony.

Step 8: Finish tax return, feel slightly productive, eat spoonful of chocolate gelato, write blog post and go to bed.

Recap: Mashed potatoes as a meal, beer in a champagne glass to make life a little fancier, chocolate truffles, chocolate gelato and some other stuff in between.

If we had kids...

...this is what they'd say.  

I love my husband's great taste in beer.  :)