birdsandtrees

I'm here!

I figured it was time to do a blog post when my mother started counting the months since I last posted!

I thought I'd share some pictures from my phone, since that really shows what I've been up to. 

Since my last post, school has ended.  It was our last year for the school to be at our house.  This next school year, we're going to rent some space at a beautiful, historic church downtown.  I'll get into more details later, but I thought I'd share a present that the parents of the school gave me.  Bryan Johnson, our friend and neighbor (whose oldest son goes to our school), took school pictures for us this year (see all the school pictures on his website...they're amazing!)  He put this together and gave it to me on our last day.  I may or may not have cried. 

After school ended, I went with James to San Diego (he had to go for work). If you ever need some garden inspiration, San Diego is your place.  All I wanted to do was get home and start gardening! 

While we were there, we went to the zoo.  Even though the price of admission makes you gasp when you see it, it's totally worth it! 

Our favorite animal of the day was the meerkat.  I could have watched them all day.  You can see one of them standing guard...the zoo is a dangerous place, so you have to always be on the watch for predators. 

There was even a baby hippo!  You can spot him in the upper right corner of the picture, sitting next to his mom. 

Other than our trip to San Diego, I've been working for Bryan at his studio...doing anything and everything that he needs me to do!  He and the rest of his family have been in China for the past week or so adopting their daughter Finley (here's his post about it here).  So while he's been gone from the studio, I've been working on a little "spruce up" of his studio space.  It was so much fun!!

Lastly, I also "catered" a friend's wedding.  I made LOTS of cupcakes, several small cakes, and her wedding cake.  James even made his famous iced coffee for the event.  I'd say it was a success. 

So there you have it.  Now we're off to the beach with my family.  But there will be more to come, I promise!!   

Seattle

James and I had an amazing time in Seattle.  He had to go for work, so I was lucky enough to tag along thanks to those frequent flyer miles.  The weather was beautiful- a little drizzly the first day we were there (but to be expected, of course!), but then sunny, breezy, and cool. 

We were also lucky to have a college friend, Azurae, to show us around part of the time we were there.  

 

Azurae is someone I wish I could be around everyday.  She's just fun to be around.  She steered us in all the right directions (including a sushi dinner where the three of us GORGED ourselves).  We also got to meet her adorable daughter, Juniper, who celebrated her first birthday that week. 

Another good thing about Azurae is that she knows her coffee.  She took us to her favorite place - Vivace. 

 

Doesn't that look good???  

There were a couple days where we were on our own, so we were given ideas and tips from our trusty tour guide.  So one day, we headed out to Pike Place and explored. 

 

Right in there is where they throw the fish.  It's a lot of excitement for flying fish, but I couldn't stop watching.  But deeper inside the market was my favorite part - all the booths and markets set up, like this amazing fruit stand.  I bought a delicious plum and some dried strawberries that were fantastic. 

 

We also ate at The Pink Door.  Such a cool place!  Very romantic and cozy.  

We also went to Orangette's restaurant, Delancey.  I was really excited for this meal.  I've been reading her blog for a couple years now and talk about her book quite a lot!  So when we walked in and I spotted her husband making the pizzas, I was pretty happy.  Too bad she wasn't there that night!

The restaurant is a little bit outside of downtown Seattle.  We had some time to wait before our table was ready, so we walked around the neighborhood a bit - it was a beautiful night and spring was everywhere!  

 

We even got to see some wildlife. 

 

If you are ever in Seattle, you really must go to Delancey.  It was one of my favorite meals.  They only make pizzas.  And they make them well.  It's so so good.

 

It really was a wonderful trip and I have tons of pictures but it's really hard to narrow them down.  Just a wee bit overwhelming.  Here are just a few more I'll leave you with, from when we took the ferry to Bainbridge Island.  So beautiful! 

 

 

  

Sweet Home

We're home! We got back last night from a week in Seattle.  More pictures and highlights to come!

Food.

Before December starts, I wanted to share some pictures from our time in New Orleans last week.  If I could sum up our trip in one word, it would be: food.  Food, more food, and a bit more food.  I feel like I need to go on a Thanksgiving detox or something.  My parents treated us to some amazing meals (if you're in the city and need a restaurant for a special occasion, go to Brigtsen's....it was incredible!!!).  Here are some snapshots of our visit:

My mom always sets a beautiful table, but this one was one of my favorites. 

My mom also likes to be REALLY organized and makes REALLY detailed lists.  I had to take a picture of the SPREADSHEET she made for our Thanksgiving meal.  She's crazy. 

 

Here are the sides for our meal  - I'm not sure if we could fit anything else on that counter.  It was a lot.  But so good.  I forgot to take a picture of the gumbo - that was our first course (which is really a meal in itself!).  On to the meat....

 

Oh yeah.  You know you wanna try it.  And as if that wasn't enough, we also had...

  For those unfortunate ones who have never had a turducken before, let me tell you - it's GOOD.  Really, really GOOD.  I know there are haters out there and people raising their eyebrows at it, but you need to try it! It's a chicken in a duck in a turkey.  Sigh.  I love our country.

 

Add two pies and one cheesecake and we were pooped by the end of it all. 

But very happy and very thankful. 

New York, New York

So, New York.  Sigh.  I love that city, or rather, I ♥ NY.  For this trip, we packed as much we could in five days (in some record high heat, I might add), including a couple of days with our friends Amanda and Stacy, who we met up with on Sunday (we had been there since last Thursday).  Sparing you the details, I thought I'd share some of the highlights:
- going to Purl and buying fabric and yarn...I love everything about those stores, including the sign on the door!  It's so fun going there because you see all these projects from their blog and book, just casually strewn about the place.   I also loved their window display, with the cutest dress that I want to make someday!  See?

- eating blueberry pancakes from Clinton Street Baking Company...these were the best pancakes I have ever had.  They were so good that we actually went twice!  I'm not sure if you've seen the show, Throwdown with Bobby Flay on Food Network, but Bobby threw it down, blueberry pancake style,  with the chef of this restaurant.   After watching the episode, I added it onto our agenda and I'm so glad I did.  We are going to go here every time we visit the city from now on.  Take a look:

I wish I lived in the city and could ride my bike there in the morning.  I'd have a basket on the front of mine, and I'd put the book I was reading in there so that I could sit by the window and read and eat blueberry pancakes and just be happy.  I digress....
- Stacy took us to one of his favorite restaurants, La Mela, in Little Italy.  Stacy lived in New York for a couple of years and this is a place he and his friend discovered and kept coming back to it.  Wouldn't you if you could see these guys?

Instead of ordering off a menu, they bring food to you "family style."  Which basically means they bring you large platters of food until you need a forklift to be carried out.  But it was delicious and so much fun.
- we also ate lots more food (made the usual trip to Pastis and Billy's Bakery), shopped, went to Central Park, and went to two museums...at Moma, I loved this frame of wallpapers...I thought it was a good idea for some art at my house- just combining different swatches of wallpaper (or decorative paper/wrapping paper) that semi-coordinate- see what I mean?

- even if we didn't go to any of those places I just mentioned, I would still be happy simply just people-watching.  I love people-watching, and New York just feeds it to you with a spoon!  I saw the cutest old lady at the Met- she was about 4 feet tall, pants pulled up high, and I think British.  It would have been way to obvious if I took her picture.  But I barely snuck in this picture of another couple at Central Park:

What is she saying to him?  Maybe describing a large meatball she just ate?  Not sure.  Maybe about to break out the tickle monster. I wish, but don't think so.  Reenacting a scene from The Terminator?  Unlikely. 
But one thing I do know for sure is that I love New York and I want to go back soon! 

Spring in New York

 

James and I just got back from enjoying spring in New York- more tomorrow!

New Orleans Part Deux

While we were in New Orleans, we all went to my favorite theater and saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.  I knew it was filmed in New Orleans, but I didn't really know anything else about it.  In the elevator on the way to the theater, I made the comment to my mom that I hoped it wasn't going to be a sad movie because I didn't really feel like crying.  Well, I was sadly (no pun intended) mistaken.  It was sad.  I cried sobbed.  My mom sobbed harder.  But the movie was beautiful.  It felt special to see it in New Orleans (Katrina is part of the plot as well)...during the movie, people would whisper places they recognized and you could feel the emotion when clips of Katrina weather reports were shown.  But I'm really glad I saw it.     
I will also say that the movie made me like Brad Pitt a lot more.  The whole leaving-Jenn-for-Angelina thing always bothered me, so I was on Team Anniston, but now- I have a new respect for Brad.  Way to go, buddy. 

 

The day after we saw the movie, James, my mom, and I were shopping uptown and James did a little research and found the house where they filmed the movie -it's in the Garden District right around the corner from Commander's Palace.  The house is a big part of the movie.  We pulled up to it and there were several other people taking pictures.  It is a beautiful house in a beautiful part of New Orleans. 

So all these pictures are the house...isn't it nice?  This is the front entrance, leading up to the porch.
We tried to see the back, but it's hard to see, with a huge wall and gate in the way. 

If you look real hard, the back steps are right in there, where Benjamin's dad left him, and many other scenes took place back there.  Brad and Cate hanging out together, no big deal. 

The house is for sale...around 3 million if there are any takers out there. 

Go and see it and let me know what you think! 

Our Weekend Trip to Murfreesboro, TN

This past weekend we visited with our friends Amanda and Stacy.  We had a wonderful weekend-
here are some of the things that we did:
We celebrated James's birthday with really good chocolate cake- and Amanda's parents made an appearance which is always a treat. 

Stacy sang his "signature" happy birthday song.  I wish everyone could have a chance to experience that. 

We sat in front of the fire.  A lot.  It was nice. 

Molly liked it too.

She likes to pose for the camera. 

We played "Dutch Blitz" every night. 

I tried really hard to beat Stacy.  No such luck, though.

The next day we headed out to Lynchburg to a barbecue festival.  After finding a parking spot, we loaded the bus and headed to the festivities in the town square.

I tried to take pictures of the general store while bald men unsuccessfully tried to get out of the shot. 

It was an incredibly lovely day. 

Nice, huh?

I started to pretend I was in Stars Hollow.   The town felt a lot like it (minus the insane amount of bikers in leather chaps).  I kept my eye out for Luke's Diner and skillfully avoided seeing Taylor. 

On my hunt for the town troubadour, we stumbled upon this scene:  an old woman playing the accordion amidst a group of people sharing their testimonies.  Only in the south, people.

We then headed to the Jack Daniels Distillery, which was just right around the corner.  Our tour guide was this guy:   

He is busy telling us all about the process of making whiskey.  Important stuff, apparently. 

It was a cool place, though.  I admit that. 
Lastly, I made a mental note to make this arrangement with pumpkins next year.  Amanda had them on her front porch- I love them!

A good time was had by all.

Have you ever seen goats on the roof of a restaurant?

Yeah.  Didn't think so. 

Chicago

Before James and I headed off to Door County, Wisconsin, we took a slight detour to Chicago.  Neither of us have ever been there and have always wanted to check it out.  We were given some advice to go to the Museum of Science and Industry and go on an architectural boat tour- we did both of those things, and I would tell anyone going to Chicago to put those on your checklist.  The city was beautiful, the weather was on the cooler side, and the food was just what we wanted (especially the pizza).  Here are some pictures from our quick trip there:

A church on Michigan Avenue that I loved...

The view from our hotel...


The entrance to the Navy Pier...

And the ferris wheel in the distance...

And now some pictures from our boat tour...

(Above) Condos by the water...

Another building that created its design from the curves of the water...

And my personal favorite....the buildings that were on the cover of the Wilco album, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.  Parking on the bottom, condos on top.  I'll take one, please!

And one last thing about Chicago- they love them some revolving doors.   They are everywhere.
Pictures of Door County to come...