Gettin' ready

The Holidays are here—the only reason I can get into winter! Now, if only NYC could get some of the snow that everyone else seems to be getting. (Just for a day or two... then we can be finished!)

Summer Fest 2009

1. I love food. I love shopping for it, preparing it, smelling it, eating it!

2. I love finding new seasonal, delicious recipes to make with J and share with our friends and family.

3. I love sharing these ideas with others... like minded or not. Maybe I can help them see that cooking at home doesn't have to suck. Or that eating seasonal isn't really a burden, it's a blessing!

4. I love MattBites. I find Matt to be insightful, hysterical & a real source for inspiration as an at-home cook & especially because I'm a designer for a food magazine! His food photography & his husband's styling skills are some of my all-time favorites.

All of these things said. I'm really excited to keep up with Summer Fest 2009 to learn what other bloggers and foodies are doing with Summer's bounty! (They'll feature herbs, stone-fruits, beans-and-greens, & a whole week dedicated to tomatoes... yes please!)

*Do yourself a favor and read Matt's post on herbs in cocktails. I already bought my rosemary to make a Rosemary Salty Dog. A Greyhound is one of my all time favorite beverages but I rarely drink them anymore having moved on from vodka + juice combos. I can hardly wait to get home and mix things up with a new take on an old friend!

joy.

Insipred by rockstar diaries... a list of 10 things that make me terribly happy:

10. fireflies at camp
9. the silence of fresh snow at night & the glow it creates
8. waking up with my husband
7. sitting outside with blankets & coffee
6. the first time I wear a scarf in the fall
5. the first time I wear a sun dress in the spring
4. holding babies (animal or human)
3. red wine
2. old friends
1. my sisters

Once I got rolling I found this little exercise to be really refreshing & I didn't want to stop. So here are a few more for good measure!

the smell of fall // fires in the backyard, or camping, or in a fireplace // going thrift store shopping... alone (I find this incredibly inspiring) // falling in love with a new album // wearing J's flannel shirts // the smell of my friend Lacey's bedroom! // listening to Patty Griffin and baking, alone. // hugging my dearest friends... for a long time! // a great massage // sitting around the coffee table with all my favorite ladies... in pj's! // linen. // perfectly folded laundry // a little sunburn // salty beach hair (or Guad hair) // Martha's Vineyard. // getting water from a stream. // waking up with the sun // seeing the sunset over Manhattan from my roof. // listening to & smelling rain though an open window while I shower. // opening all of the windows after a spring rain // italy // paris in the rain // driving off of the caprock on a roadtrip listening to good music // hand lettering // embroidery // sewing. // OUTDOOR SHOWERS! ... that's a good one to end on!

*if it's gloomy where you are I recommend writing your own list, it does help! photos by me.

Happy Friday

I'm off to a photo shoot today. We're shooting berry pies (among other things) so I've got pies on the brain. I'm wishing that I had a beautiful antique cooling rack like this one in Petrina Tinslay's photograph via d*s.

Have a great weekend darlings!

for the love of Irish Beer!

I think I've mentioned that we shop at the Co-op... and I love to bake. I picked up a Guinness Bread mix as a little surprise for J. I made it this weekend. It's dense. Almost ridiculously so. It's a fun idea but I can't say that I recommend it.

*OH, and Happy St. Patrick's Day! Personally, I'm only about 1/16th Irish, but I married a McNamara! Cheers!