SUMMER LIST

Summer has just begun and I already have full blown anxiety about it ending too soon. Such is the trial of summerphile who loathes the cold. Less than three more months! is the worried cry in my head.

There are so many things I'm looking forward to this summer. At the top of that list is spending time with my girls. They are interacting and playing together so well now, it's a new dynamic when it's the three of us or the four of us. I love being a part of that! 

On Memorial Day a few weeks ago, Ken and I had the day off work and I made it my chief goal to not plan anything. I actually wrote on our calendar, "Home", with the intention that we would stay at home all day, and we did. I was meal prepping most of their afternoon, but other than that, we took things slow (I think I even read a book for an hour, uninterrupted) and just enjoyed being together at home. I snapped these photos of the girls that day to capture their sweetness and togetherness.

We opened the pool that Monday too. It has been such a big pain in the butt, but we are going to make it worthwhile this summer. After the pool guys had come and finished their thing, the girls took their apples and lounged like this in the sun room, chomping away and enjoying the view.

Later that afternoon, while waiting for Ken put away his winter clothes and organize the closet so that they could go swimming, these girls had the BEST time dancing and falling over in our bed. Being in their presence and watching them in their bliss made me so happy.

I'm hoping for more "Home" days this summer, and I've also written up a summer bucket list to help me assuage some of the anxiety about summer being over before I can really take stock of it.

1. Spend quality time with the girls 
2. Enjoy our trip to Ohio during the first week of July to celebrate Karen's wedding 
3. Celebrate all the summer birthdays (Logan's, mine, my dad, my BIL, SIL, and Sloane's)
4. Celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary 
5. Spend as much time with my and Ken's family as possible 
6. Lots of pool time, especially with friends. Help Sloane get comfortable with swimming 
7. Keep working on our podcast
8. Jazz at Dogwood Dell's festival of the arts 
9. Go to the beach at least once 
10. Go peach picking
11. Get stronger, lift heavier 
12. Make a lot of cocktails, and drink them

Also some house related to-do's that I will list up here and then check back in later to see if I actually accomplished any of them:

1. Touch up paint on kitchen cabinets 
2. Pull out dead bushes in yard
3. Paint the frame of the sunroom
4. Put curtains up in girls' bedroom and playroom
5. Find rug for dining room 

BEST BLUEBERRY MUFFINS EVER

This is a PSA to share the recipe for the best blueberry muffins ever! I know about these because of my friend Mignon, who is a baker extraordinaire.  Since she introduced me to them, I have made these about four times and have loved it every time. Here is the recipe from Mignon below, it is slightly adapted from Jordan Marsh's recipe first published on The New York Times Cooking blog. You guys, it's so good! 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

2 cups unsifted flour

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 cup milk

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2-1/2 cups large fresh blueberries

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons sugar (for top of muffins)

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy; add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.

In a second bowl, combine all dry ingredients. (You can use an electric mixer to combine the dry ingredients thoroughly at this point so that you won't need to overmix once the wet and dry ingredients are combined.

Gradually add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter and sugar mixture along with the milk and vanilla.

Spray a 12 muffin baking pan with Baker's Joy (or other non-stick spray). Fill greased muffin cups.

Sprinkle sugar on top of unbaked muffins.

Bake at 375°F for 25-30 minutes. Cool in pan. Run a knife around the edge of each muffin after several minutes to free it from the pan and cool on wire racks. Muffins may be brushed with melted butter and sprinkled with sugar, if desired.

FRIENDS AT FOREST HILL PARK

This was the first week in what feels like many weeks where I didn't awful!  There is still this sinus thing that is lingering but I feel restored for the most part. I even went to our crossfit gym two weekdays in a row and would have gone for a triple except I opted to take a long family walk instead on Thursday (Lola is obsessed with family walks). I really do love feeling of health and ability in my body and the warm weather only helps me feel more in tune with my body. I even feel happy to be sweating.

Speaking of sweating! Here are some more photos from our afternoon at Forest Hill Park, this time of the kids. It was hot and muggy but the kids didn't seem to mind one bit and they were just so stinking cute together Laura and I had a hard time tearing ourselves away.

Photo by Laura! Sloane wore that dress (from Old Navy) for three days straight. 

I love these next series of photos. I love these girls!

WHAT I'M READING V. 24

The Vanishing Velaquez by Laura Cumming

I LOVED this book. Laura Cumming, an art critic in London, tells the story of a man named John Snare in 1845 who comes across a painting that he suspects might be a long-lost Valazquez, and becomes totally obsessed with trying to verify it's history and authenticity. This was intriguing because I do love his painting, "Las Meninas" and Cumming really made me feel why someone might be obsessed to this level. I loved all the detail and story-telling, and although the ending is not entirely a satisfying one, the read was very satisfying. Also, now I badly want to go Madrid to see some Velaquez paintings in real life! If you're interested, here is a great article by Laura Cumming explaining how she came to write this book in the first place. 

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin

I had been on the waist list for this one for a while and it was worth the wait. It's a 1963 book by Baldwin containing two essays: ""My Dungeon Shook — Letter to my Nephew on the One Hundredth Anniversary of Emancipation," and "Down At The Cross — Letter from a Region of My Mind." I was totally captivated by his writing (I love his clear, precise, yet moving style), and also stunned and saddened by how relevant so much of his words are to our society today. 

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

This is another one by a Korean author (the other recent one I read was Nowhere to be Found) that was a fast read. Throughout the first half of the book I was thoroughly creeped out, and I attribute that to the skill of the author depicting this woman's plight. I wish I had gobbled this all up in one sitting; I read the first half quickly and then had to put it down for several weeks and by the time I picked it up again, some of the spell had dissipated. I'm still thinking about it though and looking forward to discussing it with my brother-in-law (who lent it to me). Also, for some reason, I get chills when I think about reading this particular one in Korean. I think that would make a different and deeper sort of impact.

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion 

This was a largely popular book and it seems very suitable for a beach read - fun, easy, and sometimes funny. At first, I was a little too wary of how it seemed sort of gimmicky - a genetics professor who has Asperger-like symptoms (obsessed with organization and schedules, poor social skills, highly intellectual) finds himself in a romantic comedy situation, so all usual plot points get an easy twist. And admittedly, I sort of trudged through the first half, but the second half picked up speed and I got swept up by the momentum. There is apparently talk of turning this into a movie, if that tells you anything about it, and I'm sort of hoping it does get made into one.

THE AGABAS - FOREST HILL EDITION

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!  We tried to slow down the pace these past few days and it was exactly what I needed. Before heading back into the work week I want to share these photos of the Agabas that I took on Saturday. We met them at Forest Hill Park, one of my favorites because of the trails and lushness, and Laura and I took turns taking photos for each other's family. It was so much fun and I really like how these turned out. Little Etta Mae keeps blowing me away these days with how quickly she is growing and changing so I loved getting the chance to capture her exactly as she is right now.