Penelope Post Blog

homemade date rolls

2012-02-07T16:17:00.001-05:00

I've been buying these amazing coconut date rolls at the grocery store, but they are super-expensive ($6 for 6 of them!). Why do they cost so much? They're just dates and coconut. But I've been willing to spend the money because they are so good and they're something healthy to snack on. (I didn't realize how obsessed I could be about healthy-satisfying-snacks-that-you-can-hold-with-one-hand until I started nursing. When that kind of deep hunger strikes, carrots sticks just won't do!)

But these date rolls are breaking the bank. I decided to try and make them myself at home and see if that would be any cheaper. Turns out they are much cheaper and they are super-easy to make too. I just made a batch with Amelia in the sling. (She watched the whole thing and her favorite part was when I turned on the food processor. What a great white noise!)

Here's the recipe I made up. It's probably not exact, but you get the idea. Next time, I'll probably experiment with different nuts and flavors (pistachios and rose water? yum!) but the walnuts are pretty dang good. (It's important to use fresh dates in this recipe, not dried. My grocery store stocks them in the produce section.)

Homemade Coconut Date Rolls

10 fresh Medjool dates, pits removed
1 1/3 cup shredded coconut, plus more for coating
1/3 cup raw walnuts
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon orange flower water (or another flavoring of your choice)

Put all of the ingredients into a food processor and process for several minutes until the mixture forms a thick, smooth paste. It will be sticky. Portion out a generous tablespoon of the paste and with your hands, roll it into a ball. Dip the ball into some of the coconut and roll it around to coat. You can keep it as a ball or roll into a log like I did. Repeat with the rest of the mixture.

Makes about 1 dozen rolls.

she smiles

2012-02-07T15:47:00.002-05:00

This was taken a little over a week ago, when Amelia was 5 weeks old. It was one of her first smiles. Now she's doing it all the time!

the working mom thing

2012-02-03T18:02:00.001-05:00

The saying goes... "A lot has changed since I was your age." I realized this the other day as I was showing my mum how my breast pump worked. She just couldn't believe the high-tech contraption before her eyes. She exclaimed, "We didn't have those when I was nursing." Whether or not that's entirely true I can't say, but in any case, she raised three children without one and breast-fed us all. I asked her how she managed to do such a thing and she told me a story of one time when she was at a basket weaving class and my dad had to bring my sister down to the class because she was hungry and needed to be fed.

Have you ever heard of such a thing? Of course, my mother wasn't working at the time either.

In fact, I know a lot of people my age whose mums stayed at home when they were kids. I was chatting with my friend Nicci about this the other day. Growing up, neither of our families had a ton of money but we were happy and somehow our parents just made it work. Why can't we do that? Why does the stay-at-home mom thing seem so out of the question?

Well, for one, there's the money thing. Oh that. Yes, we'd have half the income if I quit my job to stay at home. But we wouldn't be destitute. We'd manage. We'd have to sell our house and move out of Burlington, yes. We'd have to change our lifestyle dramatically, but we could do it. If we really wanted to.

Thing is, after several long emotional discussions, neither Colin or I felt like it was the right thing to do. So we made the decision that I would take my maternity leave and then return to work after 12 weeks. We lined up childcare—we lucked out with a really great part-time nanny (my sister!) and an amazing daycare center for the rest of time. We felt good about it.

But all during my pregnancy I felt this guilt over the fact that I'd be returning to work after 3 months. I had these nostalgic visions about my own childhood at home with my mother and sisters. I look up to my mother for teaching me how to read and for inspiring me through art and nature. Will our children miss out if they have to go to daycare instead? Will they have the same amazing childhood experience as I did? Will they have the nature walks? The art sessions? Will they read their primers on a blanket on the front lawn with their picnic lunch?

Now that my maternity leave is more than half-way through, those doubts have been resurfacing lately. But then I read this great blog post by Momastery and was reminded that I will probably feel guilty no matter what I do, so I should stop wasting my time worrying about it. And yes, they will go on nature walks!

Beyond helping out a working mom, that breast pump represents a certain freedom. Maybe that's something my mother and other mothers back then always wished they had more of. I love nursing our baby girl. And that breast pump means that Colin can also enjoy (nearly) the same feeding-bonding experience, while I take a couple hours to myself to go get a hair cut or go to yoga or maybe even a basket weaving class.

Do they even have those nowadays?

over the river and through the woods to Mindy's house we go!

2012-01-28T12:31:00.000-05:00

A part from the few doctors visits, I have not been on a real car ride in over a month—Amelia never has. So yesterday, after a few false starts and wardrobe changes, we set out to visit our friend Mindy who lives in Jericho, a half hour away.

This was a new adventure that would require getting on the interstate and then driving on several back roads in the middle of nowhere with Amelia in the back seat. Thirty minutes seemed like eternity on the way out, and I gripped the steering wheel so hard, I had white knuckles by the time we got to Mindy's house. Amelia the little angel slept the whole way.

Mindy and her mom had prepared a delicious lunch for my sister Emma, all the kids and me. Lucky for me (who has given up dairy for the time being to see if it helps with the spit-up sitch), Mindy is a vegan cook with a delicious assortment of meals in her repertoire. She made us butternut squash lasagna with a creamy bechamel sauce made from almond milk, herbs and pine nuts. It was out of this world! Mindy's mum made a warm spinach salad with mushrooms that we gobbled up. Sapphie's favorite part was the tangy shallots that had soaked up all the dressing. For dessert, we had chocolate chip protein bars, which I've started making myself at home for a healthy snack to nibble on during the day. (Here's Mindy's recipe below.)

After lunch, we sat by the fire to chat. Mindy's expecting her first baby in March and as we sat there, her baby started kicking. I felt nostalgic for my pregnant days (I loved being pregnant!). Mindy and her mom had lots of questions about what they'd need during the first few weeks. I replied: Burp cloths! Diapers! Lots of onesies. And of course, my trusty sling. I'd be lost without it. Amelia slept the entire time to make up for the night before and everybody got a chance to hold her. She slept the whole way home. Oh, and she even took her pacifier for the first time! What was I even worried about?

Here's Mindy's power bar recipe:

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Protein Bars
Yield: 24 Bars

2 cups rolled oats 
1 cup almond butter 
2/3 cup hemp protein powder  
¼ cup maple syrup
1 t vanilla extract 
½ cup applesauce 
¼ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (dairy-free)
 1 teaspoon cinnamon 
Pinch of salt

1. Roast the oats in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 350 F.
2. Cool oats, then combine all of the ingredients and stir well.
3. Spread the dough in a greased 9 X 13 glass dish and bake at 350 F for 20 minutes until golden brown. Cool before cutting.

a few things

2012-01-24T17:01:00.001-05:00

There are a few things I'd like to jot down in history (my mother said I should be keeping a journal of these things):

Amelia turned 5 weeks yesterday.

The stars aligned and for the first time she slept a whole hour in her bassinet this morning, giving me the freedom to glide around the house in my bathrobe making coffee, pumping breast milk, feeding the cats. Oh, the luxury of it all! (Thank God for the butt pat technique handed down from my sister that really does the trick.)

She's also started smiling the last few days, but not yet on cue, so I'm not sure if it really counts.

I finally put my maternity clothes away in the basement, which felt really good, except that now I don't have any clothes that fit me. (Well, not until my online purchases arrive in the mail. I promised Col that's the last of my late-nite online shopping binges. I really neeeeeded new clothes.) Online shopping and iPhones are a godsend to newly minted breastfeeding moms.

I gave up dairy yesterday. (Oh, the horror!) See, we have a spit-upper. I mean really. And several sources suggest dairy might be the culprit. So, I'm giving up milk and Cheddar and butter and everything cow for a 2-week trial to see if it helps our little one keep down her dinner. It's not so bad. At least there's goat cheese.

Finally, Col and I celebrated our 2-year wedding anniversary. Well, we didn't quite celebrate yet. He is in Utah for work, so we will have to put that off for a bit. But he did send some beautiful flowers. And my mother treated me and Amelia to an anniversary brunch at Penny-Cluse. Later she cooked us dinner and we had the family over for bangers and mash. (It's one of Col's favorite dinners—too bad he had to miss it!)

I lie to my doctor & other confessions of a new mom

2012-01-20T14:33:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, we had our one-month appointment with the pediatrician. It went great! We've got the code figured out. By now, I'm realizing that every time we see the doctor, they tend to ask the same standard questions to make sure we're following all the right rules, and I always provide the same proper answer to confirm that yes, we are good little rule followers. See here:

Q: How's your mood?
A: Great! Things are going great!

Q: Do you always put your baby to sleep on her back?
A: Yes.

Q: Where does your baby sleep?
A: We have a bassinet in our bedroom (notice we don't ever answer this one directly)

Q: Are you giving her vitamin D drops?
A: Yes.

Q: Did you have your car seat fitted by a professional?
A: Yes

etc.

I'm not usually the lying kind of person. My guilt gets the better of me. But yesterday, I realized that I'm lying (slightly) to my doctor, because I can. And because I want to. And I don't feel guilty about it. I feel empowered! Here's what the above conversation would look like if I answered the questions honestly:

Q: How's your mood?
A: Great! We have our ups and downs... I cried to my husband this morning, but things are going great!

Q: Do you always put your baby to sleep on her back?
A: Yes. Sometimes. She really likes sleeping on her side too. We like to sleep on our sides facing each other. This morning I woke up and she was asleep with her face planted between my boobs. I checked to make sure she was breathing ok and went back to sleep.

Q: Where does your baby sleep?
A: See above. We have a bassinet in our bedroom. She likes to lay in there while I take a shower, but doesn't sleep in it. Ever.

Q: Are you giving her vitamin D drops?
A: Yes, I've given them to her once or twice. Does she really need them? Can I just stick her face in the sun for a couple of minutes?

Q: Did you have your car seat fitted by a professional?
A: Yes, my brother in law. He's a pro at that kind of stuff.

There, I've confessed. Can you imagine the wonderful conversation that might ensue with my doc if I really spoke my heart?

proud papa

2012-01-18T13:38:00.001-05:00

Since the arrival of our little one, most of our attention has been diverted to her. Not all of it though. The two of us, Col and I, have also developed a new sense of admiration for each other. I was worried that the lack of sleep, the frustration of not knowing what to do with a crying baby, and not much time to nurture our relationship might diminish the love that we have for each other. Not so! (Or at least, Not so fast!)

My boy is a wonderful father! And only one month in, despite my constant hovering and advice, he has found his own style of parenting and bonding. Where I have boob, he has patience. Where I have experience, he has inventiveness. When I am at wits end, he has the ability to sooth.

Amelia has established a good nursing routine, so last weekend, we decided it was time to give Papa a chance to do the feeding! While he and babe were napping my sister came over and gave me a tutorial on pumping. How glamorous. She also gave Col some pointers on bottle feeding using a teddy bear to demonstrate (what would we do without her?!). I filled a bottle full of milk and then we waited for Amelia to wake up.

Emi advised I leave the room during the event so as not to distract baby (or Papa!). I was a little worried about that part. I'd heard introducing the bottle to a breast-fed baby could be a real challenge. But Col wasn't worried. He was excited. Of course, I knew he would figure it out one way or another. And in the end, our little piggie made the transition quite easy. She latched on right away and started happily suckling in Papa's arms. I snuck in the room only long enough to snap a photo.

Since then, of course, Amelia hasn't let me figure out a way to get a pump in edge-wise. But we're taking baby steps, right?

papa papaya

2012-01-12T11:18:00.000-05:00

Colin is working from home today, which meant we both lingered in bed a little longer this morning. He was happy to hold Amelia, while I went into the kitchen to make us coffee and breakfast. I've been ripening a papaya on the counter all week and it finally looked ready (which means it looked and smelled rotten on the outside!).

I look forward to simple kitchen rituals, which I'm quickly learning are few and far between with a newborn on my hands. I relished cutting into the stinky fruit to reveal the honey-tasting orange flesh inside. Perfect! I scooped out the black jelly seeds from the center, peeled off the mottled yellow skin, cut up the insides into irregular little squares and tossed them into a pretty bowl. Usually I squeeze lime juice on it to bring out the flavors, but we had none in the fridge, so I used lemon juice instead. It still tasted wonderful.

Papayas always remind me of Papa Roger, my grandfather. He was master of knowing exactly how long to ripen them on the counter. Papaya prepared by Papa Roger always tasted good. Come to think of it, he was master of cantaloups too. And avocados.

I don't often buy papayas, but have started the custom of having a ripe papaya on the counter for Christmas breakfast. Just because we're with family and it's nice to honor passed loved ones when we're all together.

This year, I bought the papaya the day before I went into labor with Amelia. One week later the fruit was perfecty ripe. When we cut it up for our Christmas fruit salad, I thought to myself, that papaya has been in this house longer than our baby!

Like I said, I look forward these simple kitchen rituals. It's not really about the papaya, is it? It's about cutting into a piece of fruit, which inspires me to write these words, inspires me to remember my grandfather, inspires me to note a moment in time when our new baby was just one week old—about how long it takes for a just-okay supermarket papaya to ripen into a wonderful little morning treat with my coffee, while Papa gets his quiet time with our little daughter.

my baby hides cheese curds in her neck rolls

2012-01-10T10:56:00.003-05:00

When people talk about "the way a baby smells" are they referring to spoiled milk? Because that's how my baby smells. Even her bath towel smells like cheese! Miss Amelia can drink anyone under the table. Problem is, she just doesn't know when to stop. She drinks and drinks and drinks until that stuff they call Liquid Gold overflows from her little mouth and dribbles down her cheeks, behind her ears, into her hair and into even the deepest crevices of her little pudgy neck.

At that point, she'll pluck her head dramatically off the watering hole, bobble her head a few times like a drunken sailor, then proceed to boink her face repeatedly into me until she finds her place again at the tap. I get such a kick out of watching the episode, that I often forget to wipe her chin (it's so difficult getting in those neck rolls anyways!). So the milk is often left there to dry and ripen into little stinky cheese curds. I wonder if there's a market for the stuff in some cultures?

For now, though, it just means Bath Time!

finger nails

2012-01-07T09:32:00.000-05:00

That's it. I've learned my lesson. I'm never cutting my baby's nails again. I let my guard down for a split second—for one fleeting moment, I let myself feel confident that I was getting the hang of this mothering thing. I finally found a carrier she likes, that doesn't make her scream or hunch or breathe funny. Here she was, this little angel asleep in the sling at my breast, fingers spread in gentle baby trust. And I thought to myself, "Oh perfect, I will clip her nails!" Those gnarly snaggy things have been scratching and catching on everything. I went and found the special little baby nail clippers we had bought just for her!

I sat down, opened the clippers and without much ado went straight for the thumbnail—the scratchiest of all. Just one clip and I couldn't take it back. Along with that little piece of baby fingernail, I had inadvertently snipped off a piece of my little baby's thumb. Well, ok, yes, I exaggerate! But there was blood and my little cooing babe let out a very sad drawn out cry.

I suddenly felt the instinctual need to hold her so tight and tell her Mama was sorry and would never do it again. She had already moved on and was back asleep at the boob moments later.

But not me. I will never do that again. Colin will have to do it. Or we will let them grow long until they curl around her fingers.

it's a girl! and we will call her Amelia

2011-12-30T21:00:00.003-05:00

We are parents! We welcomed our little baby girl Amelia last Monday night, just a few days before Christmas. Everyone but my mother was betting on a boy. What a surprise she turned out to be. Amelia was born with a full head of black hair—just like her mama!—a full 8 pounds 6 ounces and 20 3/4 inches long. Not a tiny little thing. Already she has stolen our hearts with her suckling and little cooing noises.

People wonder where her head of hair came from. Well take a look at the picture my sister Emma found from our childhood. (That's me in the middle.) Look at that hair!

the babby room

2011-12-15T11:00:00.001-05:00

We don't have a ton of space in our home, so when it came time to decide where to put our babby and all the babby treasures, we had to make a tough decision to give up the space in our beloved den to make room. We would move the sofa and T.V. out into the great room. The idea of it made me a little nervous. (Put the T.V. in the same room where we cook and eat? Ack!) But it was better than putting it in the bedroom. And after we came up with a design plan, we both felt pretty good about things. Then when we actually moved the furniture and set up both rooms, we wondered why we never did it this way from the start.

Here was the den before:

And here's our new nursery, which we love:

due date

2011-12-14T11:01:00.000-05:00

Today is my due date. I had a doctor's appointment this morning, which went well. This afternoon, I have a prenatal massage scheduled and the EatingWell holiday party. But there is no sign of babby yet. Could be 2 more weeks. I don't mind. It is a good day.

a pregnant pause

2011-12-12T17:17:00.001-05:00

Where have I been the last 9 months? I've been pregnant. And something about the experience has caused me to direct my focus inward, rather than to externalize. I haven't been drawn to my writing for some time now. But I know that my writing is a part of me and as I near the end of my pregnancy, I feel the pull to my keyboard once again. Perhaps it's the knowledge that this little rumbling, tumbling meatloaf inside me will not be my own anymore as it leaves its world of one (me) and comes outside for the first time.

When that happens, I hope that I will want to write even more. For now, I am writing to use up time. Isn't that terrible? I never have enough time, it seems, and now that I've stopped working, and have all the time in the world to myself, I wish I didn't have soooo much free time.

Anywho, all the veterans say to make the most of these quiet, restful days alone before the baby comes. So I'm doing my best. I will go to as many yoga classes as I can. I will get a massage. I will get my toes done. I will bake cookies.

I most certainly will not vacuum or mop or clean the tub. Well, maybe I'll clean the tub. We'll see...

Since I haven't been posting, I thought I'd do some highlights over the next few days if it's still just me and the couch. Last month, Col and I took a trip to East Hampton, New York to surprise my friend Brooksie at her baby shower. We called it our "baby moon—the last hurrah—and got a nice room at an inn in town. We visited the beach and just enjoyed ourselves. Col convinced me to dip my feet in the water (in November!). It actually wasn't that cold when it was just my feet, but then all of a sudden, a big swell came in and soaked me up to my knees. Kind of exhilarating actually (thank goodness we weren't too far from the car).

July, she will fly

2011-08-15T19:07:00.000-05:00

It's a chilly rainy day—one of the first we've had since spring. On my drive home from work tonight, I passed a maple tree that was half orange already. An early changer, but could it be that fall is so close when I haven't even posted my pictures from berry picking from July 4th weekend?

Every year right about this time of year I am reminded of that old Simon and Garfunkel song that I love so much April, Come She Will, a love song to fleeting Time. This year Time seems more fleeting than ever. But I am cherishing these days.

So, yes, we did go berry picking in July. We picked strawberries and I made jam. We picked blueberries, which I froze. We celebrated birthdays, spent time with family. We did our annual picnic & concert on the Green at Shelburne Museum. It was a full, wonderful month.

in search of the perfect creemee

2011-07-28T19:28:00.002-05:00

It's official. I'm pregnant. This week marks the halfway point, and all I have to say is, "holy cow, that went fast!" and "where's my next creemee coming from??" What a lovely summer it's been—hot and sunny. Perfect creemee weather actually. And the little pea and me need all the calcium we can get right now. So hey. I tried the creemee made with fresh strawberries at the Charlotte Berry Farm. That was quite lovely. I tried the creemee that everyone's been talking about from Cookie Love in Ferrisburg. Verrry creeeeammmy. Mmm! I even had a soft serve from McDs when we were on the road. Hey, it did the trick. But the best creemee I've had so far this summer? The mocha creemee from the Bluebird Tavern kiosk on Church Street. A. ma. zing.

Are there other creemees I need to know about?

my best friend

2011-06-18T07:46:00.000-05:00

In a couple of weeks, Col and I will be celebrating our 6 year anniversary since we first started dating. Sometimes I feel like it's been twice that long. But honestly the whole trip has been a real breeze. That's because my boy makes it so easy. Even if I TRY to pick a fight with him sometimes (now, why on earth would I do that??) he always knows how to talk me down off the ledge. He's so patient with me. He makes me laugh. He inspires me to step out of my comfort zone—and that keeps life exciting!

Col has taught me so many things. And not just how to be a better person. He taught me how to snowboard so that we could spend our weekends together in the winter and now I'm good and I love it and I can't wait to go again.

He has tried to teach me things that I didn't end up loving. For example, he tried to teach me how to surf once on Nantucket, but I had a panic attack while I was on my board thinking about sharks and drowning that I had to go in. But at least with surfing, we can still be together. I can sit on the beach and watch him on the water and say to myself, "That's my boy. He loves life so much. And that makes me love him even more."

after a long silence

2011-05-30T17:45:00.002-05:00

You've probably wondered where I've been. For forty days, I've been silent on my little online journal. It's not for lack of things to say. On the contrary. But sometimes, when happenings are so large and intense that they overwhelm the senses, it takes a good dose of thoughtful reflection to absorb and appreciate them. And then to be able to describe them.

I've always been moved by Wordsworth's poem I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud. In it he describes walking into a vast, neverending field of dancing daffodils. At the time, he gazes at the beauty, but it isn't until much later, in quiet reflection, that he comes to truly appreciate all of the richness that experience brought him. And it isn't until that point of quiet reflection and realization that he is moved to write about it.

I feel like I haven't given myself that time to reflect. And thus, no reason to write about it.

But this week, I am not going to work. I am not putting any pressures on myself. And I am taking time to be by myself and to reflect. We should all be so lucky to do this every once it a while. I am counting my blessings!

spring scenes in the city

2011-04-20T18:12:00.001-05:00

I'm a country girl of sorts. But I find beauty in cities. There's something about a metropolitan skyline, juxtaposed with earthly elements, that just heightens your awareness of the natural beauty around us. A pink sunset reflecting off a glass building. An apple blossom canopy over a dingy old fire hydrant. Yes, there is beauty in these things.

Here are some images that I took recently (on my phone no less), one in Burlington, a couple in New York. Perhaps it's the dirty, man-made city stuff framing Mother Nature in such an unexpected way that makes her look even more charming and awe-inspiring.

running in the rain

2011-04-13T18:55:00.000-05:00

For many people, I think inclement weather is considered good reason enough to put off a workout. Not me though. I don't even need that excuse. For me, a mere "I'm tired," is enough to keep me from putting on my running shoes.

But the rain, I could run in the rain all day. I love the cool, wet on my face. The sound of puddles splashing as I pass by. The verdant landscape all around me that seems to pop with a bright spring green in big contrast to the gray skies above.

I think this rain-running love started way back when I was training on the ski and cross-country teams in school. When you're training, you don't just not run because it's raining. Your coach will see to that. So you learn to enjoy it.

But like I said before, it's not bad weather that holds me back. It's my excuses and lack of motivation. Without a coach around to hold me accountable, I'm realizing that I need a support system to keep me going when "I'm too tired" seems to roll off the tongue so easily these days. So the other day, my sisters and I decided to be each others' support systems.

But today, on the first day of the new motivated me, I texted them to see if they wanted to go running with me after work. Turned out neither of them could make it. I was feeling sorry for myself. For a little bit. But the thing about a support system is this: when all else fails you need to be able to support yourself.

So tonight I left work with all intentions to go running. I got home, fed the cats. I was hungry, so I had a snack. I could feel the urge to run waning with every minute I stalled. So I bargained with myself: "just go for a walk and if you feel like running, you can." That was enough to get me out the front door. But as soon as I got outside it started raining. A good, solid, steady rain. "I can't walk in this," I thought to myself. So I started running. I ran the whole way and got home drenched and hot and chilly all at the same time. But it felt so good. And I was so proud of myself for just doing it. All by myself. So I wanted to celebrate this little moment somehow. So here it is: I went running. Yay!

springish pasties

2011-04-05T18:01:00.000-05:00

The kind of spring we've had this week—the cold drizzle and whipping wind, the smell of damp earth, the robin redbreast hopping about the mud puddles—reminds me of England. In particular, it reminds me of a walk along a certain Dorset footpath and through the wild windswept pastures of Worth Matravers, which slope down to the sea in a disquieting fashion.

It was after (or before? I can't quite remember) that walk, we stopped by the local pub for some of what our Uncle Richard told us were the best Cornish pasties and cider around. They certainly were. It was on that day that many traditions unfolded, not the least of which our famed Butterboots. I often think upon that day with such fondness and nostalgia. I would love to go back... But in the meantime, here is the Cornish pasty recipe that I tried to recreate with mixed success and which I'm thinking of trying again for a pasties & cyder night very soon.

powder on the mount

2011-04-02T11:26:00.003-05:00

One of the popular courses of discussion at my work, besides food of course, is the weather. That probably goes without saying at many a workplace. Especially with such a snowy winter as we have had. And what I've noticed from these kinds of conversations is that you can immediately detect the skiers and riders from everyone else. They're the ones that, when April 1 rolls around and the weather service puts out a winter storm warning predicting 6-8 inches of snow, are crossing their fingers for powder. Whereas everyone else just gets depressed. I belong to the former group.

So yesterday at work, when the only wet coming from the sky was a cold, damp rain, and some anti-snowy colleagues began to gloat, "I knew that forecast couldn't be true," I found myself slightly annoyed. "I'll show them!" I thought to myself and set my alarm clock for 6:45 a.m. this morning (Saturday). I dragged myself out of bed and called the Stowe line. They had 6" of fresh snow! With Colin on the other side of the world and my snowboarding friends out of town, I packed up my stuff and went to Stowe solo.

I found a quiet untouched corner and had powdery trails all to myself. "Where is everyone?" I wondered. I guessed they were probably back at home cleaning up their yards for spring. Or taking a run in the mud and puddles. Not me though, I was enjoying full-on winter up there.

I took some pics with my phone and texted them to Col. "Pow! Wishing you were here." He was just about to have dinner in Hong Kong. "Having pre dinner drinks overlooking HK," he texted back. (That text'll cost $0.25). I was about to ride a trail that's only open when there's lots of snow, because of all the rocks and drops. First time I tried it was with Col during the epic March snowstorm. Second time was now, by myself. So I sent another pic to prove I was doing it. He wrote back, "Wow... that's unfair! Shred the pow pow!" (Another $0.25, but so worth it: I miss my boy and having that little conversation was the next best thing to having him there with me.)

I wish I could say I stayed there all day, but after a couple of hours I was tired and ready to go home. And by that point, the snow was getting chunky and wet and slow. No, didn't last long, but it was long enough to get outside and enjoy this beautiful paradise we live in.

As I drove back to Burlington, the snow began to recede. It was a totally different world and climate less than an hour away. I walked up to my back door and noticed that the huge pile of snow that had accumulated on top of our garden is almost totally melted. I picked up a couple of stray papers that had blown around onto the yard and underneath one of them I found fresh green 2" shoots sprouting out of the dead chive patch from last year. My chives are up!

Winter at the mount, spring in the valley. I can live with that. It's the best of both worlds.

from scratch: homemade pizza

2011-04-01T21:25:00.002-05:00

I'm trying to make more things from scratch. But, you know, I'm such a perfectionist, I've had this mental block with certain things that are out of my comfort zone. Like pizza dough. Active yeast? Scary. But as soon as I tried it a couple of times and experimented with different flours, I started feeling more comfortable with the process. I even found a great recipe from work that you can make in your food processor (even the kneading!). Here's my creation that I made for dinner tonight: homemade dough and fresh spring veggies, including spring garlic from the hot dudes at Jericho Settlers Farm, shitakes from the guy in Colchester, spinach and arugula. Yum!

a rickety, but creative, process

2011-03-28T21:35:00.000-05:00

During both pregnancies, my sister Emma had her baby bump set in a belly cast as a memento. Hannah painted a scene of an African savanna on the first one.

When Em told me she wanted me to paint the belly cast from Teo, I was at the same time excited and nervous. I didn't want to mess it up. And it's been a reaallllly long time since I've done any painting.

Emi asked if I could do a marine life scene. So at first I thought I might do the same color scheme as Hannah's painting, but instead of silhouette, I would make the water dark and the fishies bright and colorful. So I started with a bright yellow base coat.

Then I painted on the deep blue sea...

I had turned my dining room into a studio. I was getting in the groove again. It felt good.

But then I got stuck. I knew I wanted to do mamas and babies. But suddenly school bus yellow seemed totally wrong for the whales, basking in some sun rays from above. And I wanted to make the dolphins blue too. The palette was turning tonal. "That's okay," I thought. "I'll do a coral reef and tropical fish at the bottom and they be bright and colorful." Colin even started helping me by painting some of the coral reef.

Problem was, I didn't like it. Something didn't feel right, no matter how much I painted and painted, but I couldn't put my finger on it. So I put it away for a while. I sort of forgot about it for a bit, though in the back of my mind, there was a gnawing feeling. Must. finish. that. painting.

Then inspiration manifested itself in the most unexpected place. I was at a dinner party, where my friend Kadina was painting faces. The electric green animal print she painted on my face was super-cool.

Hannah snap a photo on my iPhone and we carried on with our night. But the next day, I looked at it again and suddenly I had the inspiration I needed. I pulled out the belly cast and all of my paints and art supplies and I got to painting. Green, lots of green. I muted the sea turtles. I painted over the fire orange sea horses. I green-tinted the crabs. I even covered up the yellow strips on the angelfish. The last to go was the coral reef. I left just enough coral-colored coral for a little pop.

Now, the only yellow that's left are little specs of the undercoat peeking through the deep blue water. It looks like electrified plankton drifting through the sea.

Dang, that felt good. It's done. I gave it to Em & Kev yesterday. I'm pleased. Here it is.

inspiration: buy local art

2011-03-26T09:08:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year again: tax return time. Col and I decided that if we did get any money back this year, no matter what we did with it, we wanted to use at least some of it to buy some art. We've both been pining over a couple of paintings by Greg Mamczak, a Burlington artist who used to share a studio with our friend Isaac. He does these awesomely vivid paintings in his paint-by-number-style that has you looking for hours. So we got in touch and one of the paintings we liked was still available—it's one of his simpler ones from 2006. Greg dropped the painting off yesterday and we were so excited. Not only because we love it and we're adding to the art in our house, but also because we're supporting a local artist. So here is our Untitled 2006. yay!

the radish

2011-03-24T18:14:00.001-05:00

It's been a while. So let's ease back into things with something simple. A photo perhaps. Here's one of a watermelon radish I picked up at the farmers' market. I always thought I hated radishes. Maybe it was one bad radish that ruined the lot. Maybe it was because growing up "do you want the radish" meant "you're on thin ice." It was a warning more than it was a root vegetable. Any-who.

Now I've discovered I actually love them and I especially love watermelon radishes, which have a gorgeous hot pink inner core. They're peppery, which makes salt the obvious condiment. (Hannah and Richard got me hooked on this snack.) Here I've sprinkled slices with smoked sea salt that I bought in Kauai last year. It's the last of the lot. This is one bite that makes my mouth water!

a year and a month later

2011-02-20T08:39:00.004-05:00

Our one year anniversary came and went and until now I've neglected to make any record of it in writing. To celebrate our inaugural year of matrimony, Col and I had decided that we wanted to try and recreate our wedding weekend in Stowe.

It was a frigid weekend, starting in the single digits, then plunging even colder. First, we nutcrackers decided we would go snowboarding. Brrrr! After two runs in the chilling temps and feeling stiff on icy terrain, we thought the Trapp's outdoor hot tub sounded much more appealing. So we left the mountain and drove over to Trapp to check in.

The views from that hilltop never cease to give me pause. And having had been to Austria just a couple months prior, I remarked to Col, "It really does look like Little Austria up here."

The folks at Trapp had left a bottle of bubbly in our room for us with a card welcoming us back. We popped it open and enjoyed a glass while we looked through a book of our wedding weekend that I'd made for Col as an anniversary gift.

After totally reminiscing about that magical day, we went to the hot tub to soak in some steam while contemplating the view of the frosty green mountains.

Later that night... dinner at the Lodge. In symbolic reference, I wore my white felted wedding shrug and my green suede wedding shoes. We ordered a bottle of our favorite wine Morgan, which we had special ordered to serve at the wedding and which was now magically on the wine list. We enjoyed a rich, satisfying feast and finished with our cake topper, which had been made fresh for us as a one-year gift from Trapp. Chocolate and vanilla speckle cake with maple cream filling and maple cream cheese frosting. Oh my! I especially liked that they had recreated a miniature version of the snowflakes as well.

Next morning was even colder if you can believe it. Too cold to ride. Lucky for us, Colin's parents had ordered us up some morning massages. I can't remember the last time I was that relaxed. I was in a quiet, reflective stupor for the rest of the day.

oooh, bébé!

2011-02-19T22:09:00.002-05:00

My sister has been pregnant for the last 9 months, so it should go without saying that eventually she would have a baby. But for some reason, it just didn't really register to me this time. The due date came and went; and we just kept going about our normal business. We went snowshoeing together, we went out to eat, we got sister pedicures.

A week after her due date, I was getting off the chair lift with a couple of friends when I got a text from Emi: she seemed to think the baby might be coming soon... the next thing I know, I'm back at home later that night watching Lady Gaga hatch out of an egg on T.V. and we get the call, "it's a boy!" A boy?! And he's here?! Oh my goodness! And it was Emi on the phone; she had just barely given birth and sounding amazingly well. The babe's name is Theodore Laurence and, in honor of his Spanish and Italian heritage, they're calling him Teo (pronounced tayo; the Spanish/Italian nickname for Theodore).

I've met him three times now and I think I can say with surety that, for one, he is real and he is here and secondly, that I know we will be great friends. Welcome baby!

in the woods

2011-02-12T21:49:00.006-05:00

It's official. I'm a snowboarder. And the other officialness is this: (Mummy, Joan, please avert your eyes) today I rode the Butt Crack. That's right, the Butt Crack.

Up until now, I've been all about the powder, the little jumps here and there. I'm not about the speed. I just like to play in the snow. That's what I like to do.

It all started a few weeks ago, when Col and I met up with Taylor one day snowboarding and the two of them convinced me to go in the woods. They picked out a trail that was totally mellow and nice and flat. They let me take my time. I was scared. The turns are faster and tighter, but I couldn't believe how much snow was in there. All that powder!

A couple of weeks later, Mark and Kathleen came up for the weekend. We all decided it would be a good idea to do that woods run again. It was a good idea. It was fun and Kathleen couldn't get enough of it.

So as of today, I had only been in that one part of the woods a few times. But I hadn't been in any other woods. I just didn't feel ready. Col and I had a really fun morning riding around all over, meeting up with friends, grabbing powder wherever we could find it. Then we went inside for a warm up and in the middle of stuffing his face with samples of Cabot Cheddar cheese, Col said to me, "I think you'd really like Butt Crack."

I said, "I will do it if you really think I will like it, but the thought of it really scares me." So he suggested we take a trial run in some steeper woods. It went well and after that, he said, "I think we should do it."

"Who named it the Butt Crack?" I asked. "And why is it called Butt Crack?"

"I dunno, some old schoolers, probably. It's called Butt Crack because the shape of it is like a gully and you can snowboard up and down the sides of it. You'll love it."

I was intrigued. And well, as I mentioned before, we did it. It was awesome. We were the only two people there the whole time and I did pretty well for a first-timer. At the bottom, we arrived at a little stream, which we had to jump over to get back to the main road. I suggested we take some photos as proof. So here's the proof. I can't wait to go back to the Crack :-)

I'm different than I was

2011-02-10T21:04:00.000-05:00

I realize that I've changed. I'm different now than I was 10 years ago, 5 years ago, even 1 year ago. Some of the change is represented by tangible things. Things I can measure and say, "Well 10 years ago, I would have done X, but now I do Y." These have to do with the way I spend money, the way I spend time, the things I yearn for, the way I prioritize my social life. Stuff like that.

But there are other ways I've changed that I can't quite put my finger on. There's a deep pit in my belly that tells me, "things are different now" and "I'm different now."

And then every once in a while, the pit deep in my belly will say to me, "I think you're in the middle of changing RIGHT NOW," and I'll feel butterflies down there in the pit and I'll feel sad and nostalgic for a bit. And then I'll feel excited, because whenever things change, after the sadness, there is newness.

more snow

2011-02-06T20:06:00.003-05:00

Finally, a good snow storm in Burlington. Make that two. One on Wednesday and one last night. The storm last night happened in a matter of a couple of hours. It was absolutely dumping. Emi and I went snowshoeing out on the golf course (the snow was blowing sideways!). Then Hannah and Richard and Isaac came over and we all had family night dinner (sans Col who was en route to Germany for work). Kev made us barbecued ribs. And Hannah and Richard made the most amazing ice cream sundaes with warm stroopwafel cookies and strawberry sauce.

During our meal, it was thundering and lightening AND snowing! By the time dinner was over, the roads were a mess, but I was determined to drive home. I dropped Isaac off at his place, made it all the way to my driveway and then proceeded to firmly stick my car into a snowbank with my car protruding out in the middle of the road. Scary! Dangerous!

But by good fortune and because I live downtown and it was Saturday night and there were tons of people walking about, going to parties, enjoying the snow, I was able to get some help within seconds. It look three groups of people banding together and a person with a shovel to dig/push me out. But finally they did it!

I couldn't get in my driveway and I couldn't park on the street cause of the parking ban, so I waved them all a thank you goodbye and, with hands still shaking from the traumatic experience, drove back to Emi and Kevin's to park my car. Hannah and Richard were still there. The three of us walked home together.

The weather got rough during our walk. By the time we got to my place, it was after midnight and we were totally covered with icy chunks of snow. I could not wait to cozy up with the kitties and go to sleep.

Next morning, I woke up super-early and Kev and I drove to the mountain for some fresh powder. The conditions were amazing. We rode and skied hard all morning. We discovered new hidden trails I've never been on before. It was great to spend some quality time with my bro-in-law.

Later in the day... I met up with my two amazing sisters for a due-date pedicure. That's right, it's Emi's due date today! But she's still as preggers as ever. Which means that we sisters can keep on bonding and hanging before bk2 comes along. Wonder when that will be...

relishing winter

2011-02-03T21:20:00.000-05:00

I'm back from my little sojourn of the mind. January was mostly spent, if not burning retinas behind a computer screen at work, then burning brain cells in front of Seinfeld. I have no guilt. I put so much pressure on myself all of the time, I made a conscious decision not to do so after the holidays.

Lately on weekends, I've been, not vacuuming or grocery shopping or doing other mundane chores. I've been at the mountain snowboarding with Col, with friends. Having fun, enjoying winter, enjoying life.

Ah January. This time last year, we were resting our weary bods under a Kauaian sun. Now... we relish the fresh snow.

a december to remember

2011-01-04T20:44:00.001-05:00

We hosted Christmas at our house this year. The experience gave us a whole new appreciation for our parents (ahem, mothers) who've done it every year since before we were even born. Amazing. It's not that it was a stressful situation. In fact, it was extremely relaxing and comforting and rewarding. It's just that some people (ahem, me and my husband) set very high expectations on the holidays. It's our favorite time of year. It has to be perfect.

If I don't say so myself, it came pretty close. Starting with our traditional Christmas Eve sushi dinner at Asiana House with the sistas and bros. Mummy and Papa came later that night. Mummy brought the figgy pudding and Cornish pasties for Christmas breakfast. Papa brought venison steaks for Boxing Day. And of course they had prezzies!

Christmas Day was lovely. We opened stockings and prezzies in the morning and then had Christmas dinner later in the evening. Auntie Lucy and Uncle John and Richard's mother joined us too. I roasted my first pork loin. A 4 1/2 pound beauty we got from the farmers' market the week before. Mummy showed me how to truss it and I rubbed it in garlic, rosemary, lemon zest and olive oil. I roasted it in our new oven with built-in meat probe thermometer.

We ate the meal, we lit the pud on fire, we snapped the crackers and donned our crowns. It was lovely.

On Boxing Day, Richard and Hannah made us eggs Benedict for brunch and Papa grilled up the venison on the grill on our new stove. It turned out very well.

On Monday morning, Mummy and Papa headed home in the snowstorm and Col and I got in the car to head down to New York for our second Christmas with at the Algers. It was their fourth Christmas and so it was pretty mellow all around, which was fine by us. Jill and Jeff came with Lily the first night. There were deviled eggs and lots of prezzies. Lily played with the wrapping paper. Joan got her new wind chimes, 2 or 3 times over. Col got a lot of toys! We made sure to get some pictures of the house all done up. Who knows what or where our next Christmas will be?!

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memory tree

2010-12-12T17:11:00.003-05:00

I think one of the main reasons why Colin and I get so excited about our Christmas tree every year is because we are both very nostalgic people. Moreover, when you get engaged and then married around the holidays, there are more things to remember and be nostalgic about. So it goes, we're now into the third year of going to Paine's to cut our tree after a day of snowboarding. It's now an established tradition in our household the weekend after Thanksgiving. So we went last weekend—we were still in our snowboarding clothes. We did our traditional hike to the furthest most corner of the farm. We did our traditional hum and hawing, back and forth, inspecting shapes and branches, measuring heights. Finally, we found our beauty and got to work.

At Paine's, they have a tractor circling the property so that when you've got your tree, they help you haul it back. The tractor came just as we found our tree. An older man and a young boy dismounted and seeing the size of our girl offered to go get the chainsaw.

"No thank you, it's kind of a must we do it by hand," we explained. "It's a tradition." And then we told them the story about how we got engaged there at the farm two years prior. Both the man and the boy were those kind of old time Vermonters, stoic and reserved. Outwardly, they didn't seem to be very moved by our lovey, dovey story, or so it seemed anyways. But they were very helpful with the tree and we (er, Colin) sawed it down in record time.

The boy and his father drove us back to the lot. As we were dismounting the wagon, the man came up to us and dug around in his pocket. He pulled out a small ornament and handed it to us. It was a metal casting of a car with a tree on the roof rack. It was engraved with: Paine's Christmas Trees 2010.

He had few words, but they said a lot, "Because of your special story," he said.

We had got our garland and paid and were heading to the car when he found us again. "We had just one left," he said handing us another ornament. This time it was a metal star etched with a Christmas tree in the middle and the words: Paine's Christmas Trees 2008. The year we got engaged there.

We were so touched and full of gratitude. I think I even blushed. We thanked him warmly, got in the car and drove home with happy hearts.

I will remember that story every year when we hang those ornaments. Just as I will remember our trip to Paris when I hang the Eiffel Tower man, or our honeymoon when I hang the green and yellow pineapple, our wedding when we hang the paper cranes, or Austria when we hang the wooden star.

Later, that night at home when we were trimming the tree, every ornament that we pulled from the box brought back a certain memory, a wonderful memory. We would reminisce a bit, then pull another ornament from the treasure chest.

"It's like a memory tree," Colin declared. He positioned his traditional hand-made star on the tippy top and we stood back and admired our girl. She's may not be as tall as last year's or quite as special as our love tree from 2008, but she is a beauty and we love her.

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whirlwind Austria weekend

2010-11-23T22:29:00.007-05:00

Colin was in Austria for work last weekend and our luck so aligned that I had the chance to fly out and meet him for a long weekend. I took off Wednesday afternoon. Ran into some minor travel troubles, which resulted in an unexpected detour to London and some uncomfortable negotiating with a German shuttle driver. But finally, three flights and a 3-hour shuttle ride later, I made it to Innsbruck Thursday night just in time for dinner.

It was dark and cloudy when I arrived, and so I didn't really see the breathtaking landscape around me till the next day. Innsbruck is an old European city tucked amidst the looming, jagged Alps. The peaks are soooo high, they took my breath away.

We went snowboarding at Stubai Glacier. We had to take a gondola ride up and up and up over 9,000 feet just to get to the base lodge. There was powder, powder everywhere! My thighs were burning, but it was so amazing.

When we got back into town, we went to visit the Burton store in Innsbruck and went and settled in to the apartment we were staying in above the store. Then we went into Old Innsbruck to explore the Christmas Market. Let's just say we went a little crazy with the ornaments.

On Saturday, one of the highlights was having sausage for all three meals. Amazing. And we walked up to the Alpenzoo and saw tons of amazing Alpine creatures—wolves, brown bear, otters, eagles, vultures.

And then it was time to go home.

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who's afraid? not me

2010-11-14T22:07:00.000-05:00

This week is the week of overcoming fears. Why now? It just so happens I have the opportunity to go outside of my comfort zone. So I am going to break my routines and try some new things. Some big, some not so big. This is going to be life-changing, whatever the outcome. Anyways, I started small today with a couple of things...

Fear #1: Car Repair
Status: Conquered squarely
Okay, so I know that my engineer grandfather is going to roll over in his grave when I admit this, but I have this strange fear of fixing anything on my car myself. It took me years to even feel comfortable pumping gas. I think it stems from the fear of doing something wrong and causing the whole thing to blow up. Any-who, speaking of blowing things up, I have never even blown up the tires myself. Until today, I didn't even know how to figure out what pressure they were supposed to be. But one of my tires was low and Colin is out of town. So I thought to myself, "You know, this is one thing I can probably do."

I looked in my car manual to find out the pressure. It told me to look inside the gas flap. And, tad-dah! There it was. There were two sets of numbers, 1 for front, 1 for back, 1 for heavy load, 1 for light load. Well, the first one was easy: Front! The second one I just picked one: that part caused my heart to beat a bit faster. But not nearly as fast as when I drove to the gas station, turned on the air pump and tried attaching the dang thing to the tire. (Again, I was picturing explosions left and right.) But finally I got it to work. I even figured out how to use the pressure gauge. And I did it! Done! Cross that one off my list.

Fear #2: Home Repair
Status: Still out to jury
Again, I think this one stems from the fear of doing something wrong and causing the whole house to fall down. But is a crack in the tub really that scary? Only if I do nothing about it and it starts to leak and cause the entire floor below it to rot. So I went to the hardware store and got a tub epoxy repair kit. Ok, the "epoxy" part sounds scary, but I'm planning to do it tomorrow night. Fingers crossed.

Fear #3: Traveling alone in a foreign country where I don't speak the language
Status: It's all happening
Let's get one thing straight: I am proud to say I've done quite a bit of foreign travel by myself. But it's always been to a country where I spoke the language. If not, I've always been with someone who does. Well, I'm going to have to just get a little brazen and assert my English, because soon I'll be going to Austria for a few days. And while I will be meeting my lovely husband on the other end, I first have to arrive in Munich, Germany, find the shuttle that goes for 2 hours to some tiny village in the Alps, make sure they have my reservation and get on the dang thing. Then I have to find my husband in that tiny village. But that seems like the easy part somehow.

Fear #4: Wild card
Status: Still to be determined
While I'm in Austria, I want to do at least one, maybe two things that really make my heart beat. What will they be?

gtg, always and forever

2010-11-13T16:10:00.002-05:00

Let me tell you a little bit about my husband. He's in a gang. That's right: the Good Times Gang. He and his close group of friends have been in this gang together since they were practically tweenagers. GTG is about good times, all the time. It's about laughter, friendship and silliness. The guys are prolific in their silliness. They make movies together. They don crazy awkward costumes. They make tee-shirts. Some of the guys even started a band, Enormous Fun, to further the GTG cause (even though most of the songs in their repertoire are pretty depressing).

As a GTG girlfriend, and now wife, I've seen the GTG boys and wives live through a lot over the last few years. Through new jobs, new cities, weddings, children... there's been messy stuff too, but I won't go into that. This is, afterall, about Good Times.

Last weekend, the last of the GTG boys to get hitched, Spence, got married to an amazing gal, Court. We all went down to Newport, Rhode Island for the weekend to celebrate. It was as off-the-hook as we all anticipated. Not just because it was a gorgeous wedding with a gorgeous bride, or because the food was fantabulous and the dancing was insane. And the guests were so fun. It was all of those things. But it was also a GTG reunion. And when those boys get together, crazy things happen: Chewbacca might show up on the dance floor, a cardboard box and a guy in a 70s leisure suit may give a speech. 5 Fly Crew might show up and break dance at the reception. Your husband might do the worm. Or walk on his hands. Yes, it all happened.

Everyone's hearts were so full of happiness.

There are some people who might be intimidated or annoyed by their husband's friends. Not me. I hope GTG stays together forever, because they're keeping us all young (and goodness knows I am prone to turning into an old fart if I'm not careful). They may grow older, but they'll never grow up. And that's fine by me. Love you guys (and wives!).

find a new recipe, cook soup

2010-11-01T20:19:00.000-05:00

My mum has been sending me an email every day, with updates on how her "home therapy" is going... It's been inspiring me to keep going, even though I'm having a hard time finding the motivation. So on Day 9 (last Thursday), the task was to find a new recipe and cook dinner. I didn't do it. And I didn't do it Friday night and I didn't do it all weekend.

Isn't that strange? I mean, I love cooking dinner. And I love trying new recipes. Heck, my job is all about that. But even I get in a rut sometimes. Plus, I get preoccupied with other things. (Sometimes I get annoyed that we humans must eat every day. Do you? It just really takes up so much time!) But finally I got my inspiration back tonight.

Mummy had brought me a pumpkin and a butternut squash from her garden a couple of weeks ago and I really needed to use them up. So I found this recipe from work that I've always wanted to try: Roasted Pumpkin Apple Soup. I peeled and seeded the pumpkin. I peeled and seeded the squash. I cut up some apples. I roasted them all together with some sage, salt and pepper. Then I pureed them up into a yummy soup, not unlike my Autumn Elixir. Col made grilled cheeses to go with.

It was nice and simple. And now we have soup dinner for the rest of the week. And (hopefully!) roasted pumpkin seeds too if we can get our act together.

over the weekend

2010-11-01T19:58:00.000-05:00

I'm a little behind with my 20/20 cure project, but for good reason. Col's sister and brother-in-law came up from Connecticut to stay with us this weekend. They brought their baby girl "Wiwy" as little Snaffers calls her. We didn't do a lot cause of the cold weather, but we just hung out and, it turns out, that's just what we all needed. It was great to seem them, and, as always, we thought, "We really need to do this more often."

Lily is a very happy, mellow baby. She just sits there and laughs and says "Hi" all the time. She's also very curious. And she loves her Uncle Ollie.

After they all left yesterday, Colin and I were feeling kind of being homey. We put in the storm windows and washed them all. We cleaned and vacuumed. Then we went to Burlington Furniture company to get some inspiration for the house.

Rewind a little bit: on Friday, I was supposed to make a list of the top 6 thing our home needs. It could be items, it could be fixes, it could be something more aspirational. Here's what I came up with:

1. Lamps for the basement bedroom
2. Paint all of the bathrooms
3. Paint the rest of our bedroom
4. Fix the cracking paint on the hallway ceiling
5. Fix the drawer in the guest loo
6. Switch out light bulbs in the master loo

I could go on...

Well, we had some lamps we were thinking of getting at Ikea next time we went south, but we found some really cool ones at Burlington Furniture Company for almost as cheap. So we bought the last two in stock. Here:

Our basement's really coming together now.

this natural shampoo smells like orange creamsicles (and it's made in Vermont!)

2010-10-27T20:42:00.008-05:00

Like many people, I try to be eco-conscious when I can. In a place like Burlington, it's pretty easy to eat local, to find "green" cleaning products, to recycle—even compost—almost everything. Some things are still a challenge. Like finding a natural deodorant that actually works (any suggestions?). I mean, even though I want to use natural products, I still want to feel and smell pretty. (That's my vanity showing through right there.)

My latest obsession has been finding the perfect sulfate-free shampoo that doesn't make my hair feel like straw or, worse, look like a grease slick. I've tried a lot of "natural" shampoos, but not with much luck. Recently, however, a Vermont-based body care company Flourish has popped up and their products are becoming more available around town—at Healthy Living, at The Green Life. My sister Hannah gave me a bottle of their honey blossom shampoo and I'm totally obsessed and so is Col. It smells like orange creamsicle!

Tonight, they had a little sample party at the Green Life, another Burlington store obsession of mine filled to the brim with lots of tasteful, design-ey, eco-cool stuff. I went and stocked up on shampoo samples, sugar scrubs and little guest hand soaps. I am a product junky, and I would probably buy it for the nice packaging alone (yes, I know, that's very Consumer of me) but this stuff is really great! I just had to spread the word.

And have you been to the Green Life yet? If not, you should go. If not for all the crazy cute baby clothes and accessories, then for the yummy candles and wool felted Christmas tree ornaments shaped like mushrooms and gnomes.

Photo: flourishbodycare.com

how to: get your husband to cook you dinner

2010-10-25T21:57:00.003-05:00

When it's Monday night and you're both feeling blah and you don't want to even lift a finger, you say to him, "Hey, do you want to make pizza for dinner tonight? I'll get the dough out of the freezer... We can even make it with BBQ sauce if you want."

That's it. It's as easy as that. Then he'll say, "Yeah!" and proceed to start shredding cheese, chopping veggies and rolling out the dough before you've even had a chance to say the next part, which is key: "Should we eat in front of the T.V. tonight? And should we watch a movie?"

He'll be so excited about that and about all of the amazing toppings he's going to put on his half of the pie—blue cheese, celery, Frank's Red Hot... (oh, yes he did!)—that he won't even notice you've moved out of the kitchen and sidled up to the counter to watch him work his knife skills like the pro you always knew he was.

He may even want to pour your drink and set out the place mats on the coffee table and maybe even rub your feet. And give you the remote control.

Don't push your luck with that one though. You gotta keep the magic going. Pick a feel-good classic that you'll both like. Something like Pee-wee's Big Adventure should do the trick.

the year of tarragon

2010-10-23T11:16:00.004-05:00

I tend a small kitchen herb garden by the back entrance of our home and every year it flourishes. My lavender especially. By whim, this year, I decided to plant some French tarragon. It's pretty and I thought maybe I could use it in some recipes (even though until now I hadn't used it very much at all).

Over the summer, I became obsessed with its sweet licorice flavor and started snipping it into everything from fresh green salads and dressings to lemony pasta and mussels steamed in white wine.

My other herbs got the cold shoulder this year, but I believe they've have their fair share of time in the sun. This year is the year for tarragon.

And it's still flourishing—even amidst frosts and snow flurries.

This morning, I discovered a new sweeter side of tarragon and my taste buds were just blown away. I was making myself a breakfast parfait with a chopped honeycrisp apple, some banana, plain whole milk yogurt, a touch of maple syrup and some granola on top. I wanted to snip some basil in, but the basil in my garden has gone by and there's no mint either. But tarragon? Yes, there's still tons. And I thought to myself, "This might be crazy, but I'm willing to give it a try!"

And you know what? It was really quite wonderful.

Now I'm sitting here typing and nibbling on some fresh tarragon leaves—tastes just like candy!—and I felt the need to share my obsession.

autumn elixir with mumma

2010-10-22T17:25:00.006-05:00

I put other things aside last night to have dinner with my mummy. It was sort of a last minute thing. I can't remember the last time the two of us spent time together, just us. She's been staying with my sis this week, so came over as soon as I was done work. We chatted as I cut up squash, onions and apple to roast for a soup.

I told her how inspired I've been by this whole 20/20 cure project. [Update on that is here: Yesterday's task (day 4) was to give one thing away. I actually have 3 things to give away (a chandelier, a small table and some chair covers), but I'm waiting till tomorrow to bring them to Recycle North. Today's task (day 5) is to get some "green" home cleaners. That wasn't hard, considering I try not to keep a lot of chemicals in the house. And the one bottle of bleach I do have scares me. I keep it hidden away in the basement...]

Mummy got inspired just talking with me about it, and said she couldn't wait to go home and clean out the storage room in the basement. Here's hoping you do, Maman!

It didn't take long for the veggies to roast, then I sauteed up some other yummy tidbits, added some spices, grated some fresh ginger and turmeric, and blended the whole thing into a flurry. I just happened to have a few candied walnuts leftover from my friend Elisa. I sprinkled those on top. We ate it simply with some warm baguette. It was just the ticket.

It was apparent that all beings in the house felt warm and fuzzy all over. Even our timid cat Suki came out of her social nut-shell and gave Mummy the special treatment, purring and rubbing up against her leg.

The soup, by the way, was delicious. I e-mailed Mummy my makeshift recipe (I realized it's not that easy to do when you're just throwing things in the pot). She replied saying, "This is the new name for your amazing soup: AUTUMN ELIXIR!!!"

Penelope's Curry Ginger Roasted Butternut Squash Soup (AKA Autumn Elixir)

Roast one butternut squash (cut in half, scoop, cut sides down on oiled pan, 40-50 minutes at 400)
In a Dutch oven or other big pot, saute: a chopped onion, a couple of chopped celery stalks, and some chopped garlic till tender and fragrant
Add 1 tsp curry powder, dash each of cumin and ground coriander
Add 1/2 bouillon cube and a few cups of water (or broth)
Add the cooked squash
Then grate in at least a teaspoon, I like more, fresh ginger. Grate a little bit of fresh turmeric too if you have some. Then cook it a little bit more.
Puree (Here's where my magic wand is really handy. What are they called? Immersion blenders?)
Add salt, pepper, honey to taste

Last when I made it for mummy, instead of doing halves, I peeled and diced the squash, then tossed it with a chopped onion, 2 or 3 whole garlic cloves, a chopped apple, some olive oil, salt and pepper. I cooked at 450 for 20-30 minutes...

day 3: feeling saturated & inspirational photos to sooth

2010-10-20T21:16:00.005-05:00

There's something magical that happens when you first open a tube of watercolor paint, squeeze some of the saturated pigment into a dish, soften it slowly with water and a paint brush, then sweep it in light strokes across a piece of cotton paper. By way of the water, saturation inherits clarity and airiness. It becomes accessible and approachable.

I don't think this is necessarily a good quality that I have, but I tend to fit too much in. I have a hard time saying no to requests and invitations, I make commitments, and on top of that I set unrealistic goals for myself. Does this sound familiar? I think we've all just become really good multitaskers. It all seems to work out, though, in some uncanny way.

I know I'm over-saturated when every spare moment is spent (yes, even spare moments are spent doing something!) looking for moments of asylum and clarity.

I need something to water me down.

This 20/20 cure thing I'm doing is really helping in that regard. Today's task was to find inspirational photos for our home. It was perfect actually, because this month's Elle Decor was in my mailbox when I got home and I had no trouble flipping through and finding tons of photos to inspire.

Colin and I decided that our next project is probably going to be turning the basement into a guest suite. We're inheriting an amazing bed from Kevin's parents. For colors, we're really feeling warm earthy tones with lots of airiness to balance it out.

I keep thinking to myself: how would I want it to be if I were going to stay there for a weekend myself? I would want it to be a quiet get-away: an asylum; a calming space to wash away some of the saturation and turn it into a watercolor. Sounds lovely, right? I want our basement bedroom to be an airy watercolor painting.

These pictures make me think of that.

day 2: flowers before and after

2010-10-19T08:28:00.005-05:00

I'm the kind of person who thrives on small goals—and deadlines. I get satisfaction from writing lists and checking things off. So, feeling the need to feed my creativity, I decided to do the 20/20 cure on Apartment Therapy as a way to get inspired to beautify the space around me. Every day, for 20 days, there is a simple assignment. Things like clean 1 room or hang artwork. I can do these things!

Today is day 2 (yesterday, day 1, was clean 1 room; I chose the bathroom. Now it's clean!). Today's assignment: buy flowers. Well, I didn't buy flowers, because I have some gorgeous lavender blooming out back. And so this, morning, I made myself a few minutes later than usual for work so that I could refresh a dead bouquet that's been sitting on the coffee table longer than I'd care to admit. It was well worth being late for work.

Hey, I'm putting myself out there posting these before & afters. Now you know one of my dirty little secrets: I have bouquets of dead flowers sitting around the house. But this morning, I dumped the dead flowers, cleaned out my beautiful bud vase and filled it with a fragrant bunch of purple buds. There, now I feel so much better...

Before:

After:

some cheese please! (argentina style)

2010-10-18T20:11:00.006-05:00

These days, Mondays have been living up to their sour reputation. I don't know if it is the chaos at work, the shift in weather, the dry air and itchy skin. Or if it's my attitude or other people's attitudes. Or maybe all of the above. Today, on the drive to work, the pledge drive on VPR didn't help. I love VPR; I'm a sustaining member. Heck, I even listen to the pledge drives out of solidarity. But on some days, when I'm already feeling cranky, little quips about artist mugs and "today is the day" really rub me the wrong way.

(At this point, if he were here, Col would be saying, "do you want some cheese with that whine?" and I would say, "yes please!!!")

On days like today, my defense mechanism is to be as mechanical as possible, to try to be professional (even if I don't feel like it), to sit through meetings, get my work done, and leave when I've accomplished what I need to. But that takes a lot of discipline. By 4 pm, I had already hit an emotional brick wall. By 6pm, I was delirious. "Can't wait... for... couch..." The drive home was tolerable though and the 6pm crew was well on their way to making their $10,000 goal by 7. Go public radio!

But I had barely walked in the door and still had my coat on when I got a text from my sister Hannah, "do you want to grab dinner @ duino?"

Omg, are you serious? I wanted to lay on the couch and stay there all night and be anti-social. But I rarely see my sister, and I meet her for dinner even less than that. And I've really been wanting to go back to Duino Duende. Not for the amazing tostones—as amazing as they are—but for Argentina night. Hannah's friend Richard has been doing an Argentinian themed menu on Sunday and Monday nights for the month of October and I have yet to check it out.

After ordering a huge mug of mulled cider for each of us, we started with a grilled provolone cheese that was drizzled with honey and had little slivered apples and a few arugula leaves sprinkled throughout. Maybe some fresh thyme as well if I remember right? There were some pieces of baguette underneath it all. It was very simple; very delicious. It sort of reminded me of my favorite salad that I get at Trattoria Delia sometimes that is grilled mozzarella atop arugula and grilled eggplant and zucchini. Only this was much cheesier. And gooey-er.

Then we ordered and shared two main dishes: one was a handmade squash and sweet potato gnocchi with a roasted green pepper and tomato sauce. It had a light smoky charcoal flavor that was very lovely—not too much, not too little. The gnocchi was very tender, like little pillows of fluff that just melted in your mouth.

The other dish was a flatbread made with lots of yummy caramelized onions and other fall veggies. Lots more gooey cheeeeeese. And each slice was topped with a triangle of traditional flat bread made from chickpea flour. I think it's called fainá. That dish was my favorite. It had a slightly floral herbacious undertone—I think maybe it was fresh oregano? Lovely.

Then dessert was was traditional cake made with cornmeal, then topped with dulce de leche and toasted coconut. It had this crazy anise flavor, too, which, together with the corn cake, was just very new and exciting.

Somewhere in between all this, Hannah and I decided to start a writing club. And she reminded me that I have a humidifier (yay) and I should start using it tonight and it will solve all my problems.

And there. See? I feel so much better now. That was definitely worth scraping up the energy to leave the house instead of indulging my bad 'tude. Good food and good company really does nourish the soul. If you think about it, the Monday night special thing really is genius. It gives us something to look forward to!

So, I think next weekend is the last weekend for the Argentina menu, but maybe Richard will be doing some more special nights featuring another country's cuisine? I'm not sure.

me vs. the machine

2010-10-17T11:10:00.007-05:00

We got a slow cooker as a wedding gift. Colin has really wanted a slow cooker for a while. He doesn't do a lot of the cooking at home, but he does make some pretty fantastic soups, stews and chilis. And he thought the slow cooker would expand his horizons even more.

I, on the other hand, was dubious. I don't know what it is with me and slow cookers, but I just haven't learned to embrace them. I have a mental block figuring out how it is that they actually save people time... and how anybody with a day job can fit in all that prep work before going to work. I have this image of me multi-tasking in the morning (as if I don't do that enough) making coffee, feeding the kitties and chopping onions in my pjs. It just doesn't work.

But my friend and co-worker Michelle can't stop talking about how her slow cooker has revolutionized her life. Some days, she'll have two going at once making tons of food that she can freeze for later. She even got me a cookbook that was recommended to her by one of the foodies at work: Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook. It's filled with 350 unbelievable-sounding recipes from Thai Pork with Peanut Sauce to Carrot Cake (yes, really!). I've leafed through its pages several times in search of inspiration, only to read a few recipes and feel totally overwhelmed by the logistics and planning needed. Needless to say, we've had this machine for a year and have only used it once—that was Colin; he made baked beans. They were delicious.

But my other co-worker recently gave me some helpful advice (yes, we do talk about slow cookers that much at work): keep it simple and just use it on the weekends.

This morning, I didn't have a choice: I had volunteered to make chili for Sunday family night only to remember too late that our stove is not really working right now. Well, the baby burners work, but that won't cut the mustard with my Dutch oven.

So I took a deep breath and searched for vegetarian chili in the index of NYMSCC. There were two. The first recipe called for soaking beans overnight. Dang. That's where the planning would really be helpful. Luckily, the second recipe called for canned beans. And it looked pretty simple.

I dropped Col off at the airport around 11:15, went straight to the store to pick up some ingredients and got home a little before noon. I boiled water and soaked the bulgur, chopped and sauteed onions, peppers and garlic. I opened tons of cans, strained beans. And measured tons of spices. Now it's quarter after 1 and the chili is simmering away. It still took me about 45 minutes to prep, but that's okay with me. It's Sunday. And now I have one recipe under my belt and maybe this is just the beginning.

I guess the real test is how good it tastes, but I won't know till later... it's slow cooking afterall.

favorite fall weekend, v. 2010

2010-10-16T20:48:00.006-05:00

Tonight at dinner, Col said to me, "maybe you should get back into your writing again." It's true, I've been thinking the same thing, but in response I used my normal crutch and said, "I know, but lately it just seems like a chore, when I get home from work and am feeling drained... the last thing I want to do..."

But he bounced right back and said, "maybe you should try thinking of it more as a treat, rather than a chore, as something you can do after dinner when everything else is done."

So I said, "Does that mean you'll wash the dishes from dinner so I can go write?" Ha. Trapped. He's washing the dishes now (which is fair, I mean, I did cook the dinner).

Col's traveling again this week. He was in Puerto Rico last week and in Japan a few weeks before that. Now he's going to the West Coast for work. California then Seattle. It sounds like it's going to be a hellish week. Any-who, we decided to spend an amazing day together before he takes off tomorrow morning.

Shelburne Farms closes this week, and we haven't been all summer, so we went for our annual fall brunch at the Inn. You know, it's on this amazing piece of property by the lake, but we've been having a Nor'Easter for the last couple of days and the Lake was in turmoil, churning and frothing and boiling, Col was so excited, he almost went home and got his surfboard and wet suit to try and ride the breaks. It was that intense.

But we went to breakfast instead. Which was lovely and we got the typical farmhouse breakfast.

Afterwards, we met up with the Kouri fam at the petting farm and saw lots of tame and fluffy animals. Sapphie couldn't get enough of the chickens. My favorite part was the little hut with the mama pig and all of her little piglets.

It then starting pouring on us and we cut our visit short, but not before we visited the cheese-making room, where I reminisced about the summer I worked at Town Farm Dairy in Simsbury, Connecticut. And my main job was cleaning the glass bottles, washing the pails and various parts from milk processing. And stirring the curds. I often forget about that past life...

Anywho, tonight, I cooked a date night dinner for Col and me. I made a Vindaloo Curry with my new spice mix from the Teeny Tiny Spice Co. It was very good! Col said it was like something you get in a restaurant and I couldn't bare to tell him how easy it was. Then I made a yummy Autumn salad and I feel like I should write down the recipe so I don't forget it.

Salad:
Chopped Boston and romaine lettuce
Some chopped spinach leaves
Slivered raddichio
All of these cut into slivers/matchsticks: hearts of palm, a couple of radishes, crispy apple
(I've also added slivered hard-boiled eggs and chopped pistachios to this salad and it's very good)

Dressing:
Garlic clove crushed
Juice of half a lemon
Couple tablespoons rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon grainy mustard
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/2-1 teaspoon honey
Salt & pepper to taste
Couple to a few tablespoons olive oil

At least I think that's everything. I always change up my recipes, but this is what I remember from tonight. Put everything but the olive oil into a lid jar and shake like crazy till honey is dissolved. Then add the oil and shake like crazy again.

Oh and Col's contribution? Some amazing tropical fruity drinks to tame the spice. Yummy, yummy to my tummy!

new food discoveries

2010-10-13T22:23:00.002-05:00

I've been wanting to write about a couple of new food discoveries I've made in Burlington for days now, and now that I'm sitting down to do it I can only remember what one of them was. Shame on me!

Bluebird Tavern recently opened up a kiosk on Church Street where you can get some basic sandwiches and pastries, but the stuff you really want to try is their coffee. Holy cow. I got a double cappuccino the other day with whole milk and it was seriously out of this world. Neck in neck with Sapa's Vietnamese coffee, which was previously my favorite, but they're totally different animals. You know I try to spread the coffee love, but that I can't stop thinking about the capp I had 6 days ago...

I still can't remember the other food discovery, but in other local restaurant news, I'm so glad to say that our beloved Smokejacks locale has finally re-opened as Church & Main, a new restaurant on the corner of, well, Church & Main Street. We will have to go there soon. Love that Burlington finally has places to eat downtown again.

kachumber cooler

2010-10-08T17:14:00.007-05:00

Hey y'all. My, my. Well, well, is it the weekend again already? So, I was in New York City on Wednesday for work and before we flew back, my colleagues and I grabbed dinner at Tabla, an Indian restaurant on Madison Avenue. The food was pretty good, but what I haven't been able to stop thinking about is the cocktail I had that was out of this world: cucumbers, green chili peppers and gin. Are you kidding me?! I decided to try to find a similar recipe online and I actually found the recipe from Tabla on thekitchn.com. Yay! Friday night delight.

Kachumber Cooler
 makes one cocktail

2 half-inch slices of cucumber
 8 leaves fresh cilantro 
2 quarter-inch slices of fresh green finger chili (any medium-mild chili, such as jalapeno or Anaheim can be substituted) 
1 3/4 ounce gin (Tabla uses Plymouth, I will use Hendrick's)
 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice 
1/2 ounce simple syrup

Muddle cucumber, cilantro, and chili in a cocktail shaker or mixing glass until well broken and slightly mashed. Add gin, lime, and simple syrup and shake vigorously. Strain into a double rocks glass, half filled with ice. Garnish with a slice of cucumber.

the blessing of the simple sandwich

2010-09-28T18:17:00.005-05:00

A few weeks ago, when I was driving home from work one night, a man on NPR mentioned cucumber sandwiches in a commentary on polo culture or English culture or something to that effect. The commentary itself was irrelevant. All my senses latched on to those two words: cucumber sandwiches. Just hearing it sparked a craving for those wonderful little treats that I drove home and made them for dinner that very night. I shaved delicate slices of cuke with my very special vegetable peeler Col bought me on a work trip to Seattle. I layered them atop thinly sliced pieces of maple oat bread, spread with a barely-there layer of mayonnaise. Then I ground fresh black pepper on top, with a pinch of sea salt. That is all. And it was perfect.

Tonight Col called me when I was leaving work, and the conversation led to food. What was for dinner, I asked? Everything seemed too complicated. What about egg salad sandwiches? I suggested. Col's reaction was just about on par with my own and the cucumber sandwiches. Any other dinner suggestions fell on deaf eggs, I mean deaf ears. Now, I'm writing this as I wait for the eggs to boil and in a few minutes, we'll have our sandwiches. And I'm wondering why don't we do this more often?

And what other sandwiches are we not having for dinner that we should be having for dinner because they're so easy and because they taste so good?

end-of-summers

2010-09-06T20:37:00.003-05:00

When we were kids, I remember being on the road a lot. On the road to visit family. On the road to move. On the road to visit old places we once lived. Oftentimes, those road trips happened towards the end of summer. At this point though, my memories of those hours upon hours of riding in the car sort of blend together into one long road trip. On that road trip, Mummy points out the flowers growing on the side of the road. "End-of-summers" she used to call them. They were a soft periwinkle and waved to and fro in the breeze, still warm from the late summer sun. Tilting softy leaving a long shadow in start contrast on the gray pavement below—a still-life paradox that evoked joy and melancholy at the same time.

Only fitting, then, that to this day, my summers "end" in a road trip get-away. It's bittersweet. Only this year, we had two trips: one to Maine and one to Cape Cod.

Last weekend was Maine, Hannah, Brian, Isaac, Kevin, Emi, Sapphire, Colin and I hit the road on a Wednesday night and headed back to our old stomping grounds: Boothbay Harbor. We rented an old 1800s house on an inlet on Southport Island, just off of Boothbay. It was right near Hendricks Head beach where Mummy used to bring us girls as children. (Hendricks Head is where she brought us to see the jellyfish spawning at night and where we played "let's pretend" on Commercial Rock.) I haven't been back there since I was 7—over 20 years ago. Can you believe that not much has changed?

It was quite something to bring Colin to that place to experience with him some of those old memories—the handmade taffy machine in Boothbay Harbor, the sour apple flavored popcorn, the town trolley, to watch him jump off Commercial Rock into the seaweed beards below. We made new memories. Here's my favorite: the house where we stayed was called Watersong II. It was over 200 years old and still had a lot of the original plaster and wood work. It had character for sure! Hannah and Emi were convinced that there were ghosts in the attic. Any-who. The house sat perched on a slope leading down to a dock right on an inlet that led on one side to the little bay at Hendricks Head and on the other side towards Boothbay Harbor. There were two kayaks that we were welcome to use so long as we wore life jackets.

On the last day of our stay, Hannah and Brian had left early, but the rest of us decided to go to the little beach down the road from the house. Colin and I took the kayaks there. It was low tide and as we maneuvered toward the beach, through a maze of rocks and seaweed beards, we arrived at a place maybe 5 feet deep where the water was so clear and crisp and cold that you could see every living thing at the bottom. It was mostly rocks and mussel shells. But I spotted an empty sea urchin shell that was just gorgeous and pristine. I wanted it. But it was impossible to pick it up with the paddles and we decided to keep going and try for it on the way back.

We hung out at the beach for a while. The tide came in. By the time we got back to the place where I had seen the sea urchin, the water was so deep that we couldn't even touch bottom with the paddles. But we could still see the shell! All of a sudden, Colin did something that really surprised me. He handed me his phone, paddled up to one of the rocks, used to ledge to hoist himself out of the kayak and dove into the frigid water clothes and all. He did all of this before I even had time to react and resurfaced with the beautiful shell in hand.

"My hero!" I proclaimed. "But how on earth are you going to get back in the boat?" He managed though and we paddled back, me with the sea urchin nestled between my knees. My heart was throbbing with a new kind of admiration. The whole thing was just so romantic—like out of a cheesy rom-com. And now I have my beautiful shell to prove his most amazing manliness.

Still no sign of the End-of-Summers though. That didn't come till later...

unplugged, almost...

2010-08-31T18:10:00.003-05:00

At this point, I’m not sure which is worse: my television, my computer or my iPhone. They’re all bugging me right now—and stealing way too much of my attention—but seeing as the computer is my avenue for writing, I’ve picked that poison tonight. But I'm only giving myself enough screen time to write, publish and be done with it. I need to unplug for a little while. I wrote “No T.V. Monday” onto a scrap of paper and taped it to the television screen in case I forgot and wandered into the den in a moment of weakness. Then I realized that it's actually Tuesday and that Rachel Zoe is on tonight. Dangit! This is going to be tough, but I know I can do it. Just for one night.

We just got back from our little mini family vacation on the coast of Maine. I have pictures to post, stuff to write about, but just can't bring myself to do it tonight. Time to unplug!

In the meantime, Emi & Isaac posted pics and stuff on their blogs, so take a look. I'm unplugging now! Don't call me tonight because I'm not picking up.

my love is like a red, red rose sorbet

2010-08-20T15:53:00.005-05:00

The other day, my sister Hannah brought me some fresh red currants she'd picked up at our parents' house in the Northeast Kingdom. She presented them to me with strict instructions to make a special sorbet. Special? Okay, here is my attempt, inspired by the champagne cocktails they used to serve at our favorite old (now gone) restaurant Smokejacks. They spiked them with rosewater and prickly pear juice to make them hot pink! Ooh, that gives me an idea: I bet this would be really good with champagne too. Instead, I added a little bit of gin (you could skip the gin, but the smidge of alcohol helps to give it a smoother texture when it's frozen).

Red Rose Sorbet

1 1/4 cup fresh red currants
1 cup fresh red raspberries
1/2 cup sugar (this is for a sweet-tart sorbet; if you like yours sweeter, by all means add more)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
A pinch of salt
1 teaspoon rose water (my local store sells it right by the vanilla)
1 teaspoon Hendrick's gin (optional)

Remove any stems from currents and rinse. Puree currants, raspberries, sugar, lemon and salt in a blender till smooth. Pass through a mesh sieve. Add rose water and gin, if using, and stir to combine. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to your machine's instructions. (Mine usually takes 20-25 minutes). Transfer to a lidded container and put in freezer till firm.

snow in august

2010-08-14T15:01:00.005-05:00

It's wedding season, and I can't help but feel nostalgic about our own. Colin and I finally went through the photos from our photographer Sabin Gratz a couple of weeks ago. It was like reliving the whole weekend all over again. Some of my favorites are from the shoot we did out in the snow before the ceremony. For months, we hummed and hawed about whether or not to do it, since doing so would mean seeing each other before the I-Dos, and we certainly got lots of advice NOT to do it. But in the end, we decided to go against the grain—we realized that having photos of us in the snow was a must. (I was sure to keep most of my dress covered the whole time, so at least that was a surprise later on!)

Months later, I'm so glad we did. Here are some of the my favorites from the shoot. Sabin did an amazing job. He submitted some of these to Vermont Vows magazine and this first one got picked to be in the Fall/Winter 2010 issue!

wild plum & raspberry sorbet

2010-08-05T20:29:00.002-05:00

wild plums from the plum lady + raspberries we hand-picked from the berry farm + magic sprinkles & smiles =

hazy

2010-08-05T19:04:00.002-05:00

This town has settled into another humid haze. It hovers like a thick swallow in my neck, then down, down, low and heavy around my hot feet. All I hear is the slow, steady squeak of the fan as it sways back and forth, pushing the hot air this way and that.

I'm tired just thinking about it.

Relief will come later this evening—just as soon as my wild plum and raspberry sorbet finishes churning in the ice cream maker. I'll have it for dinner, let it cool my hot throat.

Then this weekend, relief again as we leave the city for the cooler hills in Southern Vermont—my old stomping grounds—for a quick visit to see Auntie Lucy and Uncle John. Then a wedding at Stratton. Hopefully a stop at Mother Myrick's and the Vermont Country Store on our way home on Sunday.

That's the best I can do for inspiration at the moment in this steam machine...

back to the berry farm

2010-07-23T15:21:00.000-05:00

Bluebug season is in full swing, so we went back to the berry farm bright and early this morning before the clouds burned off to pick a few pounds. We went with Emi, Kevin and Sapphie. Our friend Mindy is staying with them for the weekend and she came too. Then we met up with Michelle and G-boy when when we got there. It was a fun little party!

The blueberries were so prolific that all you had to do was cup your hand under a bunch, jiggle your fingers a bit and catch the harvest that tumbled down. Colin developed his own technique for this and gave me a lesson. We picked 8 pounds in less than an hour.

When the parents were cashing out, I hung out with kiddos by the Imagine boat. Then we all booked it back to Burlington to hit up the Farmer's Market and get to the Plum Lady before she sold out. It was actually the Plum Man this time. And his son whose job it is to cut off bits of plum for people to sample. I always take a bite even though I know I'm going to get some. Some of them are still a little tart, but soo0 good...

hamptons, friend time and some magic party fun

2010-07-23T14:22:00.010-05:00

I realize that if I'm not careful this is going to become the blog of Penelope posting her pictures from different beach locations. So be it. It's summer, we're not taking a real vacation since we had the honeymoon and so to the beach on the weekends we go!

Our latest weekend trip was more than just your typical car-ride to visit friends. For one, we went a little further to East Hampton to visit my friend Brooskie and her husband Chris. For two, we didn't drive. We flew to New York and then took the train out to the Hamptons! How very grown up of us.

We brought the sun gods with us. And spent hours upons lovely hours lounging at the beach, dipping in the ocean, people watching. There was a lot to see, that's for sure. And on Friday, after a day soaking up sun and salt water, we were just craving some fresh seafood.

So we went to a local chowder house, ordered tons of yummy takeout and brought it to the beach where we built a fire, ate our dinner and sipped on champagne all under a beautiful moon with the waves crashing nearby. Yes, very magical! Afterwards we made s'mores.

Saturday: more beach, more swimming. Later, Chris busted out his Shelby Mustang and took us for a ride. Holy Cow! We rode that baby to their friends' house. The friends with a ton of kayaks. They took us out on the bay where we watched fireworks.

Could this weekend get any more magical? Why, yes it could!

Turned out that our friends Becca and Henry were out in East Hampton the same weekend. Becca was there for work doing some PR for Paul Rudd and his new movie Dinner for Schmucks. She put us on the guest list for the premiere afterparty, so after kayaking, we tailed it back to East Hampton in the Shelby, threw on our party outfits and showed up at an oceanside mansion UNfashionably late since the party was almost wrapping up, but we got a good hour in catching up with our friends, drinking free drinks and spotting celebrities (none of whom I knew or recognized, except for Paul Rudd who was sporting a gnarly beard).

The next day, Col and Chris woke up early, since there were finally waves and got a good morning in surfing. Meanwhile, Brooksie and I drove to Amagansett to the Hampton Chutney Co. and got breakfast dosas (an Indian crepe-like wrap with egg and cheese and lots of goodies plus chutney inside). For a drink, I got an iced cardamom coffee, which was pretty much one of the most amazing coffees I've ever had.

On the way back, Brooksie pointed Kelly "NYC Housewife" Bensimon's house (we saw her in person downtown just a few minutes later). Did a teeny weeny bit of shopping. Then went to Georgica beach to get a few more sun-hours before hopping back on the train to go home. Col and Chris surfed some more. I tried to read, but really all I wanted to do was lay there and soak it all in—how lucky we are to have such great friends, to be in such a beautiful place, to have the means and the time for little weekend get-aways like this. Amazing.

Here are a bunch of pics that Brooksie & Chris took. We were took busy doing nothing to take any of our own:

cape cod pics

2010-07-13T20:00:00.006-05:00

We went to Cape Cod for 4th of July weekend to spend time with our friends Mark & Kathleen. What a beautiful weekend: got lots of beach time, biked from town to town, cooled down with shaved ice, finally met M&K's dog Miller who is awesome, saw The Graduation for the first time and saw this gigantic moth by the front door.

a goodbye & a good day

2010-06-29T20:58:00.008-05:00

It's not often I make friends. I mean really good friends. I just don't have that outgoing personality. It takes me a long time to build relationships. I've learned that about myself. I guess I just guard my feelings a little too closely. So the friends I have—they mean a lot to me.

It makes it really hard to see them go. But I'm resigned to the fact that Burlington is a transient town. People just don't stay here forever, do they? It's a half-way house or stepping stone on the way to somewhere-town-not-here. Wonder if we'll go away too at some point?

I had to see one of my closest and dearest friends leave yesterday. She moved away for a bigger and better life in Chicago. I didn't actually see her leave. I couldn't even say goodbye (I hate goodbyes!). But we texted for a bit on Sunday and I'm glad we were texting and not talking so she couldn't see or hear that I was sobbing the whole time. I was a wreck. Dripping salty tears into the potato salad I was making for dinner...

My world here is shrinking, but hers is just opening up. So, there she goes. I don't blame her.

That was on Sunday. It was Colin's birthday. He had flown in from the West Coast that morning and was taking a cat nap during the whole episode. I washed my face with a cold washcloth. Then I woke him up and suggested we get out of the house and go do some fun things for his birthday. Like go pick out an old-but-new-to-him bike for his birthday at Old Spokes Home. We found a super cool yellow and black one that I had actually eyed the day before when I was scoping out the options. He loved it and we took it home then and there.

Then we went to the Berry Farm in Charlotte. That place is magical. It was the tail end of strawbug season, but we still managed to pick 7 pounds worth. Somewhere between the 3rd and 4th my mind was finally clear—and I was feeling better. After that we went over to the raspberry bushes and picked 3 pints there. I froze most of the berries at home. Blueberries are already ripe so we'll have to go back again soon, which is fine by me.

All weekend, I'd been planning and cooking for a special family night birthday dinner for Col—with all of his favorite foods. I got some grass-fed steaks from Laplatte Farm and marinated them in his favorite bourbon marinade. I grilled them to perfection if I don't say so myself. I made his favorite aforementioned creamy potato salad and Caesar salad with a homemade dressing. And that wasn't all! I made homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream from scratch. And it was dang good.

So all in all, after the goodbye, it was a good day. One friends goes (yet will stay in my heart!), and one friend returns to stay with me forever.

I'll miss you, my friend!!

fresh cherries

2010-06-22T21:47:00.002-05:00

Check out the fresh Vermont cherries I found at the market tonight. So yummy!

my little ham

2010-06-21T06:07:00.003-05:00

Lil Sapphie hamming it up these days for the camera...

family weekend

2010-06-20T20:14:00.005-05:00

Colin and I just got home from a weekend visiting his parents in Katonah, NY and the rest of the fam in Fairfield, CT. We try to get down there a few times a year, which never feels like enough. Because every time we go down, it feels like so long since we've all seen each other. And the kids are so much bigger than they were the last time.

Still, I always think that one benefit of those trips is that we get to see everyone all together in one weekend. It's like a big family reunion every time and feels so special.

And here is little Lily, our newest niece, who last we saw was just a little lump and is now a little person (mistaking one kind of bottle for another!)

I think I take for granted having my family so close. My sisters and I live in the same town, just streets away. Because I have my family nearby, I forget sometimes that Colin doesn't. It means so much to him to makes these trips to see his family, to show me the places he used to hang out with his friends. To invite me into his favorite childhood memories.

Leaving on Sunday is always difficult—and always comes too soon. So we try to pepper the journey with fun and interesting things. This time, Colin brought me to one of his favorite pizza places Portofino's to get a slice before the drive. I've never seen such a humongous pizza slice in my whole life. They were at least a foot long. This is just two slices but they had to cut them in half so we could eat them.

As we neared Burlington the sun was just about to set over the Adirondacks. A beautiful view to welcome us home.

calm before & after

2010-06-06T13:41:00.003-05:00

I just realized that I never posted these photos from a thunderstorm we had a couple of weeks ago. It was a lovely evening so Colin and I took a walk down to the waterfront for date night. But as soon as we arrived, we noticed some ominous clouds drifting in rather swiftly. Then thunder, then lightning, then crazy strong winds. We took shelter at the boat house and were literally stuck there till the storm passed. I tried to get pictures during the storm, but it was nearly impossible. The best I could do was the calm before and after...

After which we decided we needed a nice warm supper. So we went to Leunig's late-night.

cultivating spontaenity

2010-06-06T12:40:00.007-05:00

That may seem like an oxymoron, for the very word "cultivating" assumes a certain level of premeditation. However, I have always been a planner and that's the way things go with me. Still, I am trying to welcome spontaneity these days, because, as my sister Hannah and I were discussing on Friday: spontaneity is the essence of real living.

And so it went: on Friday evening after work, I was stealing a few quiet moments on the front porch reading my book, having a drink, trying to decompress before the start of the weekend. Colin was somewhere with friends. Hannah and Isaac stopped by on their way to other things. We were chatting and such. When all of a sudden a very shiny Mercedes pulled in rather abruptly into the driveway of the apartment building across the street.

"Ooh," I said, "he's going to scrape bottom." (Every car that pulls into that drive scrapes bottom, as I've discovered sitting on this porch.) And sure enough, his shiny new car scraped bottom quite nicely. "Oh no! We all moaned." Soon after that another very nice shiny car pulled up to the drive, only this one was a mint-condition convertible from the 50s with pristine white-walled tires. He was about to pull in just as abruptly when we moaned, "No! Don't do it!" loud enough for him to hear. He slammed on the breaks and inched his way past the potholes relatively unscathed.

When the two men got out of their cars, they were looking over at us kind of funny. Questioning all the ruckus I suppose. "We just didn't want you to scrape bottom with that nice car," we explained from our perch on the porch. Turns out they were friends and the one in the antique car owns the apartment building there. So they were using the lot as free parking for a night out on the town. The older Mercedes gentleman pulled something from his pocket and started waving it towards us.

"I have two extra tickets to the Arturo Sandoval concert tonight at the Flynn and I'll sell them to you dirt cheap." (It was the opening night of the jazz festival and in my new not-plan-anything mode, we hadn't gotten tickets to any of the sure-to-be-amazing shows in town.) Hannah and I looked at each other, said, "Sorry Isaac," and then, "We'll take them!" to our new best friends across the street.

We quickly made the transaction in the middle of the street. Then ditched Isaac to run inside and freshen up. The show started in less than 30 minutes, but we were ready in 15. Hannah and I walked down to the Flynn giddy at the thought of our good luck. But getting to go to that show, we realized, was more than a spontaneous piece of luck . It was providence.

Even though I didn't know his name or music, I quickly discovered that Arturo Sandoval is a jazz trumpet icon from Cuba; he was a protege of Dizzy Gillespie way back when. This was going to be good!

As I watched and listened with awe to the width and breadth of his talent (he's also a renowned classical pianist) and the talent of his band members, I was thinking to myself, I don't think I've ever been in the presence of such greatness and so much talent and awesome movement. I was moved.

Sitting there in the dim lighting of the concert hall, I had the same sort of surreal feeling you get when you get off the airplane in another country, another language, another timeline. When a few hours before you were at home, drinking coffee, watching T.V. or whatever. It's exhilarating and unbelievably freeing.

An hour before I was on my porch waiting for the possibilities of the night to unfold. And that is how they unfolded: spontaneously and spectacularly.

design inspirations

2010-05-26T17:35:00.009-05:00

It's been a while since I posted any updates on what we've been doing around the house. We haven't done much painting, but since the wedding, we've acquired some lovely art and pieces of furniture.

Our block print and quilted pillow from Kauai:

Our new photo from Sabin Gratz (sorry about the glare):

Our new glass table, which I absolutely love:

A new/old chandelier we found at a local consignment shop:

A lovebird print for the master bedroom:

And more to come! Including an amazing peacock painting from Isaac...

retrospect?

2010-05-18T22:16:00.002-05:00

I just realized, I never got past 1998. I will finish; I must finish! One of these days... Middlebury, Paris, Arles... and Burlington of course... so much to tell!

in the herb garden

2010-05-18T21:58:00.005-05:00

They say you shouldn't plant your garden till after Memorial Day, but we live in Vermont's banana belt for heaven's sake and I just couldn't resist picking up a few things at the garden shop this weekend when it was SO nice outside. I had to extend the garden in order to fit all of the new goodies (rosemary, French tarragon, salvia and pineapple sage—that was Colin's pick) and am quite pleased with the result.

Colin helped me excavate some rocks from the back hill (he worked on the stone border while I worked on the plantings). I even found some forget-me-nots literally growing on top of the gravel in the parking lot. So I transplanted them to a delicious new home in my garden with lots of compost, dirt and pine mulch. And a good dose of water too. There, all pretty now!

two new favorite coffee spots

2010-05-15T13:27:00.005-05:00

There are quite a few great places to get a good cuppa coffee in Burlington: the good ol stand-bys are Uncommon Grounds, Speeder & Earls, Muddy Waters, Radio Bean, even Lake Champlain Chocolates serves some really good espresso. They're all worth a try and deserving of our patronage. I love coffee so much and I love all of our coffee shops so much, I like to share the wealth and give them all some love every now and then.

If you really want some special coffee, it's worth it to go a little off the beaten path to find it. There is a wonderful little tea and coffee shop on Center Street right around the corner from Church where the army navy stored used to be called Sapa Tea & Coffee. I'm pretty sure is the only place downtown where you can get Vietnamese-style coffee: a strong brew in a demi-tasse traditionally served with sweetened condensed milk (I like it with half & half). The flavor is nutty, chocolately and smooth. They also serve madeleines (French tea cakes) which are pretty good. And the atmosphere is a welcome low-key get-away from the crazy Saturday bustle of Church Street. I went there for Mother's Day last week when my parents surprised us for tea time. I enjoyed the coffee so much, I brought Colin back today after the farmers' market. Here's my picture of the coffee and then Colin's artsy pics below.

Oh, and our second new favorite place to get coffee? Village Wine and Coffee in Shelburne. They have this cup called the Ultimo, which is a strong brew of espresso with half & half and maple syrup. It's pretty much speed in a cup and it's amazing.

lil update

2010-05-11T22:29:00.002-05:00

Mid-May is here and with it more snow and frigid air. I've yet to go out and play in the garden. Will my little herbs survive such fickle weather?

Despite the cold, we had a fun little weekend. Yes we did. Impromptu BBQ with friends. An afternoon with Sapphie. First farmer's market of the summer (HELLO fresh asparagus, spinach, rhubarb and more! Hello spring quiche and rhubarb compote).

Colin found a beautiful chandelier at a local consignment store and bought it on a whim. Installed and wired the thing as soon as we got home. It worked on the first try and looks so beautiful and perfect in our bedroom.

Saturday night met up with the girls—quelle soiree indeedy!

Yours truly had a fun (little) bathroom demo on Sunday morning. And I successfully caulked a bathtub! Why oh why it was never done in the first place is beyond me. But there you have it.

And then my parents surprised me on Mother's Day (shouldn't it be the other way around?). They "popped in" for tea right around tea time. We went to the little place by the daily planet and had some of the best coffee I have ever had in my life. Note to self: I MUST go there again.

Already in to another crazy week at work. They seem to melt all together these days... And trying to keep up with friends/family/reading books/cleaning house/making dinner. Oh yeah and relaxing too!

pics from my iphone

2010-05-01T15:48:00.010-05:00

Oh yeah, did I mention I have a cell phone now? Colin got me an iPhone for my 30th birthday. Pretty nifty huh? I told him that going to the AT&T store gave me more anxiety than the actual big 3-0 itself. But once all was said and done, it felt pretty good to be all growed up. So... I'm addicted now. Here are some pics from the last couple of weeks. It's been a weird weather kind of week. We had a snow storm a few days ago. Burlington only picked up an inch or two and it melted in less than a day, but they got a foot at my parents' house in Derby and even more than that at Jay Peak. (Jay even opened back up again for the weekend—Col went there today with Kev and Isaac.) So here are some pics from my iPhone:

Sapphie eating a grilled cheese at Al's French Frys:

Au Lait enjoying the sun:

Sapphie pushing her stroller down Church Street:

Col waiting for lunch before we went hiking at Mt. Philo last Sunday:

Freak snowstorm this week:

Snow in the garden:

Pretty sunset:

Retrospect: Newport 1990-1998

2010-04-22T17:20:00.007-05:00

Welcome to the fourth installment of the first-three-decades-of-my-life-in-chapters: Newport, Vermont. I was 10 years old when we arrived and 18 years old when I graduated high school and left home to go to college. Papa got a job preaching at the Newport Church of God (that's why we moved there in the first place). Twenty years later, he's still the preacher, only the church is in Derby now—the next town over. I've been putting off writing this chapter, because not only did I live there longer than any other town, but also because these years include some of my most important and formative moments. So you can probably imagine all of the memories I have. Here are just a few:

The first house we lived in was on Pleasant Avenue. We all had our own rooms. My room had a door up to the attic, which we used as a playroom.
There was a garden shed outside that we called the turret, because it was shaped like a castle turret. We used that as a playhouse too. There was a stone chimney in the turret. One day, my friend Courtney and I wrote a fake love letter and hid it behind a loose stone in the chimney. I wonder if it's still there?
Mummy and Papa had their biggest garden yet at the house on Pleasant Avenue. Mummy let me have my own plot. I was really into fairies then, so I called it my fairy garden and grew mini roses for the fairies.
The elementary school was about a 20-minute walk away. I was too shy to take the bus, so I walked home every day. One time I really had to go to the bathroom, but I still had about 5 minutes left to go. I didn't make it. :-(
The Junior High School was in Derby, so I eventually had to start taking the bus. Then I started making more friends. Maybe sometimes my friends and I weren't the best influence on each other. One day Monique and I were making fun of our teacher and she yelled at us and said that we were mean and would never have any friends.
Another time, Monique and I got in trouble for prank calling the sheriff. We didn't know it was the sheriff at the time. And the prank that we did hit below the belt... The next day, the sheriff came to our house (they had call waiting!) and Monique and I hid in the attic. But Mummy and Papa made us come down and apologize.
But for the most part, I was an angel. My sister Emi hated me and called me a "little princess" because I was perfect all the time. (She was always getting in trouble.) And indeed, I always got straight As. But getting good grades and being a dork does not a perfect princess make.
High school was back in Newport and I got to ride with Emi from then on. (Hannah had moved to Florida by then.) Emi and I started bonding little by little. We eventually became very close.
Freshman year, I was going to try out for the soccer team, but had major anxiety about the try outs and decided not to. So when I found out my friend Mandy was joining cross country skiing, I decided to do that instead. (Who knew that Mandrake was such a skiing machine?!) No matter, it was the best thing I could've done.
I also joined chorus and make the select choir sophomore year (or was I a junior)? I went to Allstate 3 times as a Soprano I and senior year I made it to New Englands. I can't even remember where it was that year. Maybe Providence? But I was very proud. My try-out song was O Shendoah. I had to record it and mail the cassette in to the judges. I still think of New Englands and Ms. Douglas coaching me whenever I hear it.
I was a much better singer than I was a skier.
But I did meet my boyfriend Kyle on the ski team. We dated for two and a half years. We went to 2 proms together.
Sophomore year, we moved to the house on Shattuck Hill Road overlooking Lake Memphremagog. It was a great little house.
I also got my first car that I shared with Emi: a red 1993 jetta. Great car that one. Except that every time it rained, the engine would squeal.
I graduated as the valedictorian of a class of about 250 kids. Not bad!
I only applied to 2 colleges—Dartmouth and Middlebury—because Kyle and I were still dating and I wanted to stay near home. I got waitlisted at Dartmouth but got into Middlebury. So I decided to go there. It had a much nicer vibe I thought. Kyle and I broke up pretty soon after I left, but I never regretted going there.
Fall of 1998 I moved to Middlebury for my first year of college and never moved back home after that.

blowing out the candles for my big 3-0

2010-04-19T20:22:00.003-05:00

Guess this means I'm all growed up now...

More Retrospect installments to come!

Retrospect: Pittsfield 1987-1990

2010-04-12T18:09:00.004-05:00

Welcome to the third installment of the first-three-decades-of-my-life-in-chapters: Pittsfield, Maine. Maine's a pretty big state and Pittsfield is a small town kind of right in the middle. Read: land-locked. Read: not close to the beach at all. Read: what's a kid to do there? But at this point, we were used to living just about anywhere. And it turned out, Pittsfield was kind of rad in its own way. I was 7 years old when we arrived and 10 years old when we left. Here are some key points that I remember:

We lived in the parsonage right by the big old church on Mason Street. I really liked the church in Pittsfield. It was old and beautiful and had wooden pews. Most of the parishioners were older and they liked to sing the good oldie hymns. We sang a lot in church. That's when we girls got better at singing. And I still love hymns.
We had a huge garden out back. As soon as the cucumbers were big enough, I remember plucking them off the vine and eating them dipped in salt and vinegar. They were so good, still warm from the sun.
Papa taught me to fish on the Sebasticook river. I caught a pickerel there once. There were lots of pickerel in that river. Bony and teethy, but tasty too! Eventually I got my own fishing pole. It was smoky blue and shiny. Papa’s was black I think.
There was never a lot of money in those days, but I never felt lacking for things to do. On special occasions Papa would get us Hawaiian pizza for dinner with cream horns for dessert. And Moxie to drink. Moxie was the soda of choice in our house (if we ever did have soda in the house). It was Papa’s favorite, but we would sneak sips too. I always thought it tasted like a sweet rusty penny.
My best friend was Kristi. We did everything together. I had another friend, Yuri, who lived next door. We both collected stickers and we would do sticker trades. I had a tan album with a baby dear on the front. It had sticky plastic sheets to protect the stickers.
There was a department store downtown called Reny's. They sold Whatchamacallits for 25 cents each. I used to save up my paper route money and use it to buy toys at Reny's. My biggest and best purchases: a barbie Hawaiian beach hut and a purple Fashion Star Filly.

Retrospect: Boothbay Harbor 1985-1987

2010-04-10T08:31:00.004-05:00

Yesterday, I started a rough catalog of my life in honor of my 30th birthday coming up. Here's the second chapter: Boothbay Harbor, Maine. I was 5 years old when we arrived and 7 when we left. For the first year, we lived in the bottom of a big old house right on Main Street in downtown Boothbay Harbor. Growing up by the ocean at that age was a dream.

I started school in Boothbay—Mrs. Williams was my kindergarten teacher and I loved her.
I made a Christmas ornament at school: it was a little stuffed pillow that said "Soe 1985." I still have it.
I learned how to swim—in the ocean and at the YMCA
I learned how to read—Mummy would put a big blanket out on the front lawn and I would read through the Primers that we had sounding out words like "mat," "cat," "hat" and "sat "The cat sat on the mat!"
Boothbay Harbor was such a cool town and it was all within walking distance from our house. There was a bakery nearby called The Crunchy Snail. They made glazed claw donuts called "Lobster Claws." They were my favorite. There was a restaurant that looked like a giant boat. There was a salt water taffy shop where you could look in the window and watch them pulling taffy. They were all different colors: green, pink, orange and green.
There was also a old-fashioned trolly that went around town. One day when my friend and I were hanging out at the house and Mummy wasn't looking, we decided to catch the trolly and take a ride around town. Only thing was it was summer and we weren't wearing any shoes. The trolly driver thought we were orphan runaways. So he called a policeman who took us to the diner for a meal and then when we told him that we had a home, he brought us there. My mother was so worried—especially when she saw the policeman. The policeman was just confused.
The second year, we moved out of the house on Main Street and into a trailer out on a country road. We were all pretty depressed about it, but Mummy built a gigantic garden in the yard (although I'm pretty sure it turned to mud) and we had lots of room to play.
That was the year my birthday fell on Easter and I got a bunny basket for a present.
That was also the year I took Hannah's bike and road it down the dirt road. As I was turning the corner, a car was coming in the other direction and it hit me! The bike went under the car and was crushed, but luckily, I just rolled onto the hood and didn't even get a bruise. The little old lady driving the car got quite the fright though.
Oh yeah, here's another memory from the trailer. Hannah decided to have a "seance" in her bedroom. She made a bowl of eyeballs out of grapes or pearl onions or something. And another bowl of cold spaghetti was supposed to be guts. She made us put our hands in the bowl in the dark. When Papa found us, he was not happy. We were all grounded!
Oh my gosh, there are a lot of memories from Boothbay, from the time we forgot Emi at the beach to the spawning jelly fish to playing with the sea cucumbers at the aquarium. All of the friends we had. All of the friends we left behind.
Papa got a new preaching job in Pittsfield, Maine and so we left Boothbay in 1987.

Do I really have no photos of Boothbay? Mummy do you? I'll keep looking.

Retrospect: Pawlet 1980-1985

2010-04-09T17:43:00.016-05:00

I'm turning 30 in a few days. I'm fine with the 30 thing. But certainly a lot has happened in 3 decades and so I think this is a good opportunity to take a look back. I did a little digging to see what pictures I could find. There weren't many from those early days! But I did find a few that bring back great memories.

Wow, I've led a pretty nomadic life, with my family and then later on my own. From humble Pawlet, Vermont to Paris, France, I've lived in more houses than I can count on two hands.

I'll start with humble Pawlet. Here's what I remember:

Here's where I grew up from 0-5 years. I was the youngest of three little girls.
In the winter, the snow was always above my head.
My mother might say I had issues as a small child. I got into naughty things like pills and rat poison. But somehow made it through ok...
When I was less than 2, my mother took us girls back to England to live while my parents' marriage was on the rocks. Luckily, Papa got a grip, he and Mummy patched things up and we moved back to good old Pawlet.
We started going to church—all the way in Glens Falls, New York!
Our house burned down. We lost most of our belongings. But it meant we got to build a shiny new house! While the new house was being built, we stayed in our friends the Winpennys' sugar house for the summer.
I loved leotards—I wore them all the time.
I loved the color purple.
I loved drawing and still remember what I got for my 4th (?) birthday: a carousel filled to the brim with Crayola crayons. I will never forget that.
My best friend Aura Joy lived next door. One day I cut all of her hair off. Her mom was mad.
I liked to cut my own hair too. That's why I always had short hair.
I fell off the rope swing behind the house. It knocked the wind out of me.
We had sheep outside. When our sheep Jemimah gave birth to a little lamb, my parents let me name him. I named him Butt Lamb because he would run after you and try to butt you like a goat. Butt Lamb was dirty white with a black face. I loved him. Whatever happened to butt lamb?
In 1985, Papa got offered a job preaching at a church in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. So, we packed up our belongings and, on my fifth birthday, we upped and moved away.

pics from the weekend

2010-04-08T20:25:00.005-05:00

Last weekend was Easter weekend and we planned to go up to Newport to spend the weekend with the rents. Colin got in from a work trip late Friday night. So we decided to wait till Saturday to head out of town. On the drive up to the NEK, we met up with Kev at Jay Peak to get in some spring riding & skiing. It was a hot weekend and hit near 80 degrees at the base lodge. But they still had tons of snow on the slopes.

We were in tees and snow pants. But some people were in bikinis. This girl was posing in her hot pink one:

We got a few good runs in. Colin convinced me to try the mini park. It was so fun! He said not to worry about jumping, just to go over the roly poly bumps. But after a couple, I got the hang of it and got some good air off a couple—I even got some hoots from the chair lift. It was so sunny and so hot, that we had to keep taking breaks to drink water and rest. Here's Kev:

Finally, we headed home happy and tired, tired, tired. It was so warm outside, we ate our Easter dinner outside on Saturday night. Papa roasted some of the coffee beans we got him in Hawaii and made us a special brew. Next morning, the Easter bunny definitely came (after church of course!) and showered us with treats. Lovely!

nyc yippeee

2010-03-29T18:33:00.007-05:00

The last time I was in New York was over a year ago to celebrate Mark and Kathleen's engagement. Over a year! They're married now. Now we're married too. We went back down to New York last weekend for another engagement party—this time for Spencer and Courtney.

I love going down to New York to see Courtney & Spence. They always show us a good time and bring us to some tasty restaurants.

On Friday night, we got in to the city and went for a late dinner at The Redhead. It's this tiny little gastropub in the East Village specializing in southern comfort food. We got snacks at the bar while we waited for a table: bacon peanut brittle (yes, believe it!), house-made potato chips and french onion dip. For dinner, I got a green goddess salad with fresh spring asparagus and peas. Then the most amazing shrimp and grits I've ever had, albeit a tad salty (Oh well, a little swell in the feet won't hurt, I reckon.) Colin got fried chicken and cornbread. Spence and Court got burgers.

And we all shared a taste of the buffalo-style sweetbreads. Tasted just like chicken! Mmm. I actually liked it.

Saturday morning for brunch, we went to The Breslin at the Ace Hotel. Another gastropub kind of meal, but with more of a Brit style. It was super excellent. Get this: segmented grapefruit with ginger sugar and mint. Grilled 3-cheese sandwich with ham and toad-in-the-whole egg. (That's what Spencer & Colin got. Insane.) I got yummy poached egg atop curried lentils. Can't remember what Court got.

We shopped around for a bit to walk off brunch. Walked through a farmer's market. Courtney left us to get ready for the party. It was hot and sunny—even in mid-March. I had to strip down to a tank top.

Lots of walking. Visited the Burton store in SoHo so Col could flex his muscles. Grabbed some Cuban coffee on the way home—iced cafe con leche. Papa would've loved it.

Then it was time to get ready!

We dolled ourselves up and headed to Gemma at the Bowery Hotel for the engagement party dinner. The others were there when we arrived. Everybody looked so pretty and dapper and ready for a good time. Couples were seated opposite each other. Very proper. We decided to get tons of little plates and pass them around. Perhaps I was distracted by the company and conversation, but I can't really remember much of what I ate. The one thing I do remember was the chicken pate, which was very good. And the atmosphere was lovely.

After dinner, we went to the Bowery Electric for the party. When we arrived, there were buckets with champagne all set out in a private room. There were cute little napkins printed with Spencer and Courtney's names. There were other guests too. We danced and danced and danced. Spencer's sister earned the official title of Breeze, rightfully so. I couldn't live up to that performance. Everything else went off pretty much without a hitch with some excitement mixed in: the prom queen bachelorette entourage crashing our party, a late-night excursion up to the rooftop, some karate kicks, a few cuts and scratches, and a purse full of hot sauce:

(I can't believe that's the only photo that came out from the entire weekend.)

Woke up the next morning. Grabbed some bagels, some hot coffee. And it was time to go. Already. Boo! We'll have to go back again real soon. Love you guys.

me day

2010-03-27T07:32:00.003-05:00

Ah, finally a Saturday morning at home. I can't remember the last Saturday when we stayed home and relaxed. All winter, it's been either out-of-town or to the mountain as soon as we wake up and, while I bet it could be a good day of snowboarding today, I'm taking this day for myself.

Colin's out west for work. This is his first work trip since we got married—the first time away. I always miss him when he's gone, but after a couple of days, I do eventually get off the couch, dust myself off and do as many ME things as I can fit into a day.

For now, that means lots of fresh coffee and 3 new magazines I've been saving to look at. It's a sunny day. I'll sit by the window and soak it in. And later, I might walk into town. Or go to a sugar house. Or cuddle with the cats.

date night tostones

2010-03-18T19:55:00.002-05:00

Col and I went out on a limb last night for date night and, forgetting that it was St. Patrick's Day, decided to check out a new restaurant in town, Duino Duende. It's new small restaurant next door to the Radio Bean that serves street food from around the world. We didn't have a reservation, but come on, it was just a Wednesday night. Well, wouldn't you know, the wait for a table was 40 minutes. We decided to wait.

But it didn't feel like a wait at all. We went over to Radio Bean to hear some funky avant garde jazz music and have a drink. We were very relaxed; we chatted about the day. It was lovely.

Finally, we were seated at a window table (so the wait was worth it!) and guess what was on the menu? Tostones! Papa makes these for us—they're plaintains that are sliced into chips, fried, squished and fried again. Well, let me tell you, Papa, yours are great, but the ones at Duino Duende will give you a run for your money. We ordered some for an app and they came with a smoky aioli dipping sauce that was out of this world.

For dinner, Col got the ceviche, which he liked. I got the Korean noodle soup, which was so spicy that my nose started running and I started sweating. But I powered through and finished the whole thing. Dinner for two, plus beer, was just $32. Not bad!

Really, though, I would go back any night of the week just for the tostones.

in the middle

2010-03-16T18:52:00.002-05:00

Lately, in the last few days, I've been sitting here—in my big chair by the window—wondering what I should do next. I get home from work and it's still light out. I sit down and grab my lap-top with ambition, only to realize that there's nothing that I must do right now. What a strange feeling. I don't have my check-list I've gotten so used to over the last year. It's too early to go out in the garden (isn't it?). Too late to go running before dinner (isn't it?). And then it occurred to me: maybe I should get in the habit of writing again. I used to do it every day! Can you believe it?

Now that I think of it, there are other things I'd like to do (is it weird I always get that nesting feeling in the spring rather than the fall?): I'd like to paint some more rooms. Start some tomato plants. Make a photo book from the wedding and honeymoon. Start drawing again. We'll see how long these goals last...

In any case, see? I just wrote 2, now 3, paragraphs about nothing.

At least I wrote. There's 4.

fresh Vermont maple syrup, mmm, that's pure livin'

2010-03-03T22:32:00.005-05:00

Can't believe it's March and the chimney stacks at the sugar house are chug-chugging to high heaven. That's a sure sign that the sap is flowing and the first fresh batches of maple syrup are on their way.

Lots of Kev's farmers boil sap, so when he does his rounds this time of year, instead of stopping by the farm, he stops by the sugar house. Today, at one of those sugar house stops, one of the guys collected a water bottle full of maple syrup from the vat and gave it to Kev as a gift to bring home. Kev was so kind enough to share his treasure with us tonight after a yummy dinner of lamb stew and crusty bread.

"First maple syrup of 2010," Kev said as he brought it out to the table for dessert. "This stuff is so fresh; it never even went to the barrel."

If you're lucky enough to get your hands on syrup so fresh (which is easy enough, by the way, if you stop by a sugar house when there's smoke coming out of the chimney), the only thing to do—the proper thing to do—is to drink it straight up. So you can enjoy it's every complexity and sweet, caramel nuances.

So Kev poured us each a shot. We clanked our glasses together and toasted to maple syrup, the sugar season and to the farmers too. Chin chin. Mmm that stuff is good.

little black book

2010-02-23T18:30:00.004-05:00

I'm staring at a small black notebook—a journal filled 30 or so pages deep with my own handwritten scrawl. I bought the notebook at a bookstore in Kauai so that I had something to write on, besides a hotel notepad, without having to open a laptop on our honeymoon. I wanted to write it all down. Write down every feeling, every emotion and sensory moment of the wedding weekend prior, before the moments were left to the fate of my own fickle memory.

And then, of course, I planned to bring the book back and post all of my musings for the world to see. But I didn't.

For all the stuff I've posted out there in the ether, and for such a public event as a wedding is, why am I now feeling that I want to keep this moment private? I want to move on and start writing about other things. I want to keep the book to myself and Colin, my husband.

Is that okay?

For the record though, I will post a small summary and one of my favorite photos from the weekend by our friend Isaac. He took a bunch of pics that weekend and you can see them here. (Note to self: for all private feelings, emotions, sensory moments, please see Little Black Book)

Colin and I were married on January 23, 2010 at Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vermont. A beautiful chill and sunny day—the sky blue like a swimming pool, mountains cloaked in icy white hoar frost. A rare kind of day, not often seen in Vermont winters. As dusk approached, guests gathered in the candlelit Mozart Room of the lodge.

Both sets of parents were present, as well as siblings and their spouses, a few aunts and uncles and close friends from near and far. My bridesmaids were my two sisters and my 2 best friends from college, Bibba & Brooksie. Colin's groomsmen were his brother, brother-in-law, and 2 best friends. My father officiated. My mother and sisters sang a song that they had written together. Auntie Lucy read a poem: Colors Passing Through Us by Marge Piercy. Colin's sister Kristen read a poem: A Birthday by Christina Rossetti. There were tears. We exchanged vows in front of a fireplace. We exchanged rings. Kissed. My mother played Edelweiss on the classical guitar during the recessional. Then we celebrated. We ate amazing food. We cut the cake. We danced and danced and danced all night long.

Lots of people told me before this day to expect my wedding to be a blur and that I might not remember many of the details. I was determined not to let this happen and in the end the entire day played out like a movie—like a long, romantic, perfect movie. And everything still remains as clear in my mind as the crisp blue sky that day. It was magic.

And now we're married. And I say to my new husband, Grow old with me, the best is yet to be.

our wedding soundtrack

2010-02-12T19:33:00.003-05:00

We got the idea from our friends Brett & Elisa to make a mix for our out-of-town wedding guests to listen to at the hotel and on their trips back home. Every song or band we picked to go on the mix means something special to us. We had a lot going on the wedding weekend and forgot to include play lists in the welcome bag. Well here it is. Best soundtrack ever. :-)

L'autre Valse d'Amélie – Amélie
Lisztomania – Phoenix
New Theory – Washed Out
With You – Stars of Track and Field
This Charming Man – Stars
The Dress – Blonde Redhead
Night Time – XX
Inní mér syngur vitleysingur – Sigur Rós
The Funeral – Band Of Horses
Heartbeats – José González
Anything You Synthesize – The American Dollar
Love's Lost Guarantee – Rogue Wave
Strange things will happen – The Radio Dept.
Yours to Keep – Teddybears Stockholm
Pretty In Pink – The Psychedelic Furs
Hey You – Pony Pony Run Run
Vanished – Crystal Castles
Don't Ya Know? – Moonbabies
Help Help – Mates Of State*
Green Grass of Tunnel – Múm
Till There Was You – The Beatles

*going to see them on Wednesday at Higher Ground! So excited.

and we're back

2010-02-10T18:55:00.002-05:00

Post-wedding. Post-honeymoon. So much to tell... but how to do it in just a few words? The whole thing was magic. I want to write more and post more. But later.

For now, Isaac took some really nice pictures and put them on his site. Here they are. Thanks dude.

Tata for now,
Love, Mrs. Alger

my best girls

2010-01-17T22:54:00.004-05:00

My friend Kim just sent me this picture from last night. My sisters threw me the most amazing bachelorette dinner party with all my Burlington girls. I was on a cloud the entire night.

We all dressed up to the nines. Emi brought out her fine china and crystal. Emi & Hannah prepared a 5-course gourmet meal and each course was paired with a wine from a different country/girlfriend. It was very, very special. I feel so lucky. Love to all my girls. xoxo

2 weeks

2010-01-09T09:45:00.004-05:00

This is the countdown for real. 14 days till the wedding and I'm feeling surprisingly calm. Just a few last-minute details, but for the most part everything is all set. See? Being such a planner has its perks. I'm trying to take everyone's advice and just really ENJOY this time. Colin is secretly planning our honeymoon trip. 2 weeks in Kauai! I can hardly wait. But first: the wedding, getting hitched with the man I love, seeing family and friends, music, dancing, good food, seeing all of our creative planning come to life. Then: a well-deserved vacation for the both of us. Yay!

snow, finally, snow

2010-01-04T22:41:00.004-05:00

Well, it took a little patience, but we finally got our first big snowstorm of the season. Burlington got the most out of anywhere and they reported record snowfall at the airport—30 some odd inches. (I don't know what kind of measuring stick they were using over there; we got just around 2 feet at our house downtown.)

The entire weekend was a-snow. But there was a quiet moment around midday Sunday and I walked into town to run some errands. I couldn't believe all the snow piled high on Church Street! And there was still more to come...

Later last night, before family night dinner, the girls took a dusk snowshoe across the street at the golf course. Sapphire was tucked in snug as a bug. The snow was past our knees, but light as a feather.

It was even higher than the dogs. They got tired pretty quickly and stayed in the path the whole way back.

Yay snow!

sapphire sketch

2010-01-02T13:42:00.003-05:00

Happy New Year! I finally had some down time this week and spent a couple days doing something I've been wanting to do for months: draw. So I did a portrait of my niece Sapphire. I think it came out pretty well considering the last time I drew or painted was years ago. (So sad!) It even kind of looks like her. Anywho, here's a scan of the Sapphie sketch. Watercolor pencils on paper.

a quiet morning

2009-12-27T09:42:00.008-05:00

Today is Sunday, December 27. We go home today. We've been at Colin's parents in Katonah, New York since Thursday. I'm laying in bed, the sun is shining so bright into the window. And I'm thinking about the last week, the last month, the last year and, wow, I can't believe it's all over.

It's been a very good year, crowded mostly with wedding bells ringing in my head (but that's a good thing!). If I had to encapsulate this year in a single word, it would be: family. We've watched Baby Sapphire, a blessed child, grow and smile. Hannah came home. I've become closer with Colin's family and he with mine. We started family night—a weekly dinner every Sunday night with Emi, Kev, Hannah and sometimes Sapphire when she's awake, sometimes Isaac, sometimes others—that I believe has made us closer. Despite one special family member passing the year before, I've seen more of my auntie Lucy and uncle John—and that makes up for it a little bit.

Some friends have become family: my girlfriends, the Kouris (Kevin's clan) opened their doors to us for Sapphire's dedication, Thanksgiving and many other times too. Friends and family had babies, got married, got engaged, got pregnant. Colin and I have just a few weeks left and then we will be married.

As for special memories and accomplishments: one of my favorites is the road-trip that Colin and I took to Prince Edward Island this summer for a friend's wedding. The trip was long, the stay was short, but all in all fantastic. I will never forget that trip. We worked on the house a little bit more, painted more rooms. I became a better snowboarder. My sister Emma got her Ph.D. Hannah began a new phase of her life: on her way to become the best hair stylist ever. At work, I've never worked so hard since Middlebury. We launched a new Website and had a relatively good year despite the economy. Still Colin and I weren't totally immune: there were budget cuts and pay freezes, but we made it through okay. We still feel so lucky and blessed to have amazing jobs, a beautiful home and supportive family on both sides to help get us through any challenges.

Next stop: Wedding Central, and I can't wait!

good ol' bubble & squeak

2009-12-14T21:52:00.005-05:00

Now that I'm eating a little meat every now and then, I've revived the bubble & squeak dinner of my childhood: bangers and mash (sausage & mashed potatoes) with a side of steamed cabbage. I made it tonight for a quick dinner and Colin proclaimed it his second favorite winter meal after chili. The twist on the original is that I use the Al fresco chicken sausages. (The teriyaki ginger & apple maple flavors are the best.) This time, I steamed the potatoes and cabbage together (added the cabbage halfway through) and that worked out swell. Mashies with just a tad of butter, milk, salt & pepper. Cabbage with the same.

And of course, I served mustard alongside. Colin likes the grainy kind of Dijon mustard. Me, I like Coleman's Hot English Mustard.

Mmm, so good!

another week whizzes by

2009-12-13T12:41:00.005-05:00

This one was chock-full of good stuff (and a few misses). Meeting with our photographer Sabin to go over details of the wedding. That got us very excited! Colin was at Stowe pretty much all week to prep for the Burton winter sales meeting, which is today. (He works so hard!) Our friends Mindy & Bobby flew in for the sales meeting and we were going to all have dinner together on Wednesday night, but they ended up coming a day later because of the snow storm.

Sad about not seeing them. Happy about the snow. Not happy about summer tires still on. Icky commute.

Hosted my annual cookie swap on Thursday night and made these yummy thumbprint cookies from work. They were a big hit. In fact, everyone's cookies were amazing. We did a vote to see whose were the best. Mandy's & Lauren's were neck in neck. Both were the classic buttery kind—of course! But Lauren's festive ball cookies won, so she got the prize—a tin of mini star cookie cutters. I'm pretty sure everyone was jealous.

Friday night I hung out with Sapphie while Em & Kev went to a work function. Actually that's a lie. We didn't really hang out since Sapphie was sleeping the whole time. And I was too, pretty much.

Col was still in Stowe and didn't get back till Saturday evening. Just in time for us to don our finest threads, down a shot of espresso from our awesome new machine and jump in a stretch limo to head over to our friend Sheehan's party. The party was in this insane loft apartment in Winooski—our friend Ben lives there. It was super fun. Saw lots of people we haven't seen in a while. Saw a bunch of new faces, which was refreshing. I danced with my sisters. Sheehan and Ben had bartenders, a DJ, a door man and the limo driver.

Really, if you're gonna host a fabulous holiday party in cold weather, do it like Sheehan & Ben do: rent a limo for the whole night and have it pick up all of your friends so no one has to drive or walk outside in fancy shoes. Now that's fabulous!

Sunday cozy inside with the kitties. Christmas lights on, blustery and snowy outside. I like this feeling. Mmm I think I'll go make some guacamole for family night dinner. Byebye.

one year later

2009-12-07T18:56:00.011-05:00

I still can't believe it, but it's already a year ago that Colin and I drove out to Paine's to cut down our Christmas tree after a day of snowboarding at Stowe. A year ago that Colin got down on his knee and proposed to me, out in the woods in the middle of nowhere. It's been a great year. A fast one and a great one.

We drove back to Paine's this weekend. There wasn't as much snow as last year (none!) and the mountain hadn't opened yet. But at least it was chilly and my toes got cold. We walked all over in search of the second perfect tree. They have acres and acres of trees on that the farm. But finally after at least an hour of walking to and fro, we found a big fat tree, right in the same exact spot as last year's tree.

That spot is magical, I swear. As soon as we looked at each other and said, "this is it," snow flakes started falling.

We got to work. This tree must be fatter than last year's tree. The trunk is ginormous and it measured over 10 feet tall! This year, I wasn't so preoccupied with my ring finger, so I lent a hand. A little hand, anyhow. It still took us a half hour to cut it down.

The man on the tractor came and picked us up. Heavy tree!

The men back at the tree stand wrapped her up in twine and tied her to the car. Big bendy tree! We got lots of funny looks from people passing us on the interstate. It snowed almost the whole way home.

She was curvier than we thought. It was a challenge to get her in the stand without swaying to and fro, but finally we did. And Colin made a new star for the tippy top. And here's the tree.

girly nonsense

2009-12-01T19:57:00.006-05:00

With our wedding now less than two months away, it's the only thing on my mind. I'm totally obsessed. Which means that if I write anything at all, it's most likely going to be wedding-related. (Sorry!) So here's an indulgent girly post:

I was never the kind of girl who fantasized about her wedding. But I did love to dress up. I used to sneak into my mother's closet and put on her wedding dress and attached the pretty opal costume brooch that her Gramsy gave her to wear on her wedding day. I didn't dream about ballgowns or white roses or limousines, but I did covet that brooch. So one day, I snagged it from my Mum's jewelry box—and I've been keeping watch over it ever since: I too will wear it on my wedding day. (Mum, I promise I'll return it afterwards!)

So now I've been searching for some earrings to match. Hannah and I were going to make some, but when we figured out that it would be cheaper to just buy them, I went straight to Etsy (of course!) and found the perfect pair of earrings from Marie Wu designs. Here they are, aren't they lovely?? At first I felt guilty about buying them, but then Hannah reasoned that I can pass these down to my daughter on her wedding day (or at least to Sapphie if I don't have a daughter). She said: It's your wedding day, afterall! And I said, You're right! And I'm so excited about these babies:

a dinner to help heal

2009-11-21T09:30:00.003-05:00

We all have our ways of taking care of people we love. For me, it's cooking for them. It's the ultimate form of nourishment—for the body AND spirit. So when I found out my girlfriend was going through a rough time, I decided to host a little dinner party with her and another girlfriend to get her mind of things.

So tonight, my friends are coming over for dinner at 7:30. (Colin's now in London with Mark lucky goose). I'm making homemade sweet potato ravioli with sage and brown butter sauce (that's Lauren's amazing recipe!) and my absolute favorite EatingWell salad recipe, a spinach salad with warm maple dressing (I add an apple for good luck and use Shelburne Smoked cheddar cheese). And for dessert, I'm considering breaking out my torch for some creme brulee. Sounds good huh?

The nice thing about cooking for other people is that the cook gets to enjoy it too. :-)

Puerto Rican lasagna

2009-11-21T09:22:00.002-05:00

Mummy and Papa came to town on Monday so we could all have dinner together and pull names for Christmas. Papa made the most amazing dish, which he called "Puerto Rican Lasagna." It was like a lasagna in that it was a layered casserole with cheese, but instead of noodles, he used fried plantains (Mmmm!) and instead of tomato sauce, he used picadillo, which is just a ground meat mixture with lots of spices and seasoning. It was so yummy—even baby Sapphire couldn't get enough.

Colin will be sad to have missed it (he's been in Austria this week for work). But word is that Papa's bringing some moose meat for day-after-Thanksgiving breakfast. So ALL IS GOOD.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, I need to go find me some Brussels sprouts at the farmers' market. Byebye.

montreal lunch

2009-11-08T16:22:00.007-05:00

Well, we didn't get up at sparrow fart, but we did go to Montreal for a late lunch yesterday. We arrived around 1 and went straight to Rue St. Denis for lunch at L'Express. I've always wanted to go there because I've heard such great things about it. The ambiance is like a traditional French bistro—we felt like we were back in Paris. And just an hour and a half drive away! The menu offers all of the classics: croque monsieur, chevre chaud salad, steak frites... but we weren't blown away by the food. In fact, I think the best part of the meal was our espressos at the end. But we didn't really care. It was the perfect getaway.

Did a little shopping after lunch, hopped in the car and we were back home before 8pm.

Seriously, I don't know why we don't go there more often. It's so close and so refreshing. Every time we go, we say, "We should do this more often."

yes, which way?

2009-11-06T23:32:00.005-05:00

I'm trying to figure out what to do with my weekend now that it's here. The responsible side of me was planning to stay home and clean and do errands. But the wild side is feeling bored with being responsible and working and doing things just to cross them off the list. So maybe I should just have fun for once?

I kinda just want to hop in the car at sparrow fart and drive up to Montreal for the day. Maybe...

hearts of palm

2009-11-03T23:24:00.004-05:00

I've been thinking about my grandmother a lot lately. It comes and goes in phases.

She used to put hearts of palm in her salads. And she had a special secret salad dressing recipe that I just loved. Hearts of palm in your salad are just amazing. They kind of taste like canned artichokes hearts. But they're more tender and slightly more tangy.

Anywho, tonight I had dinner with some of my girlfriends. Elisa made a yummy salad with hearts of palm. It reminded me of Mama Sonia.

I thought: that's funny, when you've got someone—or something—on your mind, it seems that reminders of them just pop up everywhere. Or maybe I'm just searching for them. Like the hearts of palm in the salad.