things i'm grateful for right now

• that dan calls me at work to tell me that i made him laugh-- hours and hours later.
• summer nights with the doors and windows open, listening to the radio, dan playing guitar, me crafting.
• farm share veggies- especially patty pan. my new favorite food that they just don't sell at the grocery store.
• new craft project.
• new and improved knitting skills
• that my niece is practically crying because she'd just LOVE to come with me (in my car) that badly.
• a clean house
• great summer gatherings to look forward to
• new babies
• co-workers who "get me"
• oodles of blog inspiration

creative juices are flowing

i both love and hate these days when i am so excited about all-things-creative that i feel like i could literally jump right out of my own skin! i have so many ideas flowing through my head and not enough time or energy to put it all together as quickly as my brain would like.

and so i thought if i could even get the ideas of these creative masterpieces out of my head, i might actually get some sleep tonight (unlike last night).

these gorgeous flowers

i made some over the weekend and am whole-heartedly in love. big. small. in between. they make my heart happy. now to find things to adhere them to :)

yet more amazing flowers!

i know. sense a theme? i love flowers! especially those that involve fabric but no real sewing (since i don't know how)

this particular design excites me because the instructions show how to completely cover the barrette. brilliant!

knitting.

this baby blanket pattern :: my friend ryan found this online and it is making want to dive back into another blanket... ironic since i'm desperately trying to finish a blanket now so that i can move on to something different-- namely one of the oodles of projects i'm hoping to knit in time for holiday gift giving! :) oh and did i mention i cast on a sweater about a month ago and am still only a few inches in because i keep starting projects for gifts... but the prospect of bringing that to fruition also excites me to no end.


photography.

i have 2 photo shoots coming up. an engagement shoot for my co-worker Dave and his fiancee Cara. and a baby shoot for Dan's cousin's due-in-October baby girl! both purely for fun and practice but i am excited about the prospect of challenging myself. what does this mean? i am scouring the internet for ideas for poses and settings... i am totally inspired by Carla Ten Eyck
who did a maternity shoot for my good friend Amber and this West Coast Photographer who did the photography for one of my favorite bloggers Elise Blaha which she turned into a gorgeous, graphically stimulating engagement album.



so many ideas.
so little time.
hoping to do more with the flowers tonight. maybe having one project finished will help settle my creative nerves ;)

The Smaller Waists- Bigger Smiles Challenge!

Like many people out there, I struggle with my weight. It's not a matter of hundreds of pounds and for that I'm lucky, but still... every few years I find myself back in this same position, feeling unhealthy and lethargic and like its time for a change. Lately I've heard a lot of other people expressing the same thoughts and figured why not do this together?? I am not going on a diet- I need to eat healthy and exercise more. Would you like to join me?

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Have you been trying to lose weight, knowing that you've done it before and that you can do it again, and still its not working? Want to be and feel healthier? Join my Biggest Loser style challenge-- The Smaller Waists- Bigger Smiles Challenge!--- and find your way to fitness with a huge amount of support, some friendly competition and the chance at some really great prizes!

Details:

• 14 week Weight Loss Challenge (starts Monday September 6th and ends Sunday December 12th)


• $25 Entrance Fee (all money will be paid out to winners of the competition. I am not making money off of this)

What are you responsible for?

• The entrance fee (please see me in person or mail me a check before 9/6. No moola, no participation). Just think $25 is what you'd spend on maybe 20 minutes with a personal trainer... or what you'd waste on 10 bags of chips or 5 pints of ice cream...


• Join the message board. I have created a private message board. Only those participating will have access so anything you post there will stay strictly with the group. We can use it as a place to chat and cheer each other on. It will also house some helpful information about getting healthy, recipes, exercise tips etc, and I'll post updates on weekly progress. (Once you sign up, I'll send you the information on how to register).


• Take a photo of yourself prior to 9/6 and email me the file. The picture should show your whole body, and please wear something that will at least mostly show what your shape is right now. Ok ok, I know, this may not be so pretty, but think how much incentive it will give you to get your "after" photo to look fantastic and slim! Regardless, its mandatory. If you wanna to play, play by the rules :)


• Take a photo of yourself the week December 6th and email me the file. Remember each week that we WILL be looking at the "after" photos and use that as motivation to get your after-self looking hot!


• Submit food and exercise logs each week by Monday at noon. I will send you a simple template. Fill it out- even if you didn't do all that you wanted. Even if you cheated and had some pepperoni pizza and skipped the gym to boot. Send it in. No one will be judging the logs, but it will help you to know that someone will see it. It works. I promise. And you'll get a chance at a prize, so keep track :)


• Weigh yourself on the same scale on the same day each week (choose, Friday, Saturday, Sunday or Monday morning). Calculate your percentage of weight loss (see formula below and email me the result/post on the message board by Monday at noon.


• (Initial Weight-Actual Weight) / Initial Weight * 100=%

No, I will never ask for your starting weight or the actual pounds lost. We are using the honor system here; if you cheat, you're really only cheating yourself. I'm only inviting those that I trust to take this seriously and I ask you to respect that.

What do you get out this?

• Weekly emails/posts from me with motivation, tips, and recipes.


• Motivation! Competition is a great motivator, but so is knowing that you've got other people in this with you. We can share tips and ideas, struggles and set-backs. Doing things together is always easier than doing it alone.


• The potential to win some cash!
  $20 from each participant's entry fee will go towards the prize for the participant who loses the highest percentage of weight by the end of the challenge. [Note: If more than 10 people participate, we will award cash prizes to the top 2 winners- #1 receiving 70% of the pot, #2 receiving 30% of the pot]
  $5 from each participant's entry fee will go into a kitty. For each week that you submit your food/exercise log (by Monday at noon) you will be entered into the raffle to win the whole kitty. If you submit your logs each week you'll have the best possible chance of winning.

{Just think- you could use the money to buy some new, well-fitting clothes for your slimmer self}

If you're interested, please let me know as soon as possible so that I can plan accordingly. Also, if you have any links to great articles, tips, books etc re: exercise, weight loss, being healthy etc, please feel free to forward them along!

a stormy night adventure

Krissy and I made plans to get together for dinner on Thursday night. She had just gotten back from her family reunion (5 days away from MA), and we wanted to try out some new recipes with our farm share veggies, and... well who really needs a good excuse to get together with your best friend? So we planned for Thursday. She'd come to our house and bring the kids.

When she arrived a few minutes after 5p I'd already changed into my favorite sundress (hand sewn by Mom more than 30 years ago) to keep as cool as humanly possible, and I'd whipped some tomatoes, onions and hot peppers into fresh salsa for our snacking pleasure. Krissy, wearing her recent favorite sundress too, settled in at the island with me.

Aila instantly took over the house in the way that only a very adventurous, precocious 15 month old can. Within 5 minutes she'd found the one definite no-no item in the vicinity- the hard stone hearth surrounding the fireplace. She grabbed Uncle Dan's Indian Playing Card Tin, walked right over, sat on the hearth and put her arm up on the mouth of the stove. Thankfully- its summer!

She and Willy made themselves at home (and away from the stove) in no time, playing with legos and whatever else they could find behind the couch.

Kris and I talked about the past week and plans for the future, munching on salsa while I tried to mentally calculate our plan for the dinner risotto. And as soon as I took the yellow beans out of the fridge, the power went out. We forgot about dinner for a few minutes thinking it might pass (silly, really, since the thunder came nearly every 3 seconds and it was pouring something fierce) and lit candles to brighten up the kitchen. After about 10 minutes Willy asked "Auntie Jen, can't you turn the lights on now??" nope. I explained that this was going to be an adventure night. "Yes, this IS an adventure, Auntie Jen!" It comes in handy that he's so ready to agree with me about this stuff.

When the rain started slowing we revised the plans, filling pans and prepping veggies to make a go of things on the grill (which, for the record I've only ever used once in my life). We put the risotto on the burner to the left of the grill and started that to simmer. Chopped tomatoes (a large orange blossom variety and some small purply looking almost-cherry tomatoes), onions, garlic and olive oil went into our old grill pan and onto the grill. Then we put the sliced patty pan (think summer squash but with far more, delicious sweet flavor- see photo below) and yellow beans into a grill basket. Finally, thin slices of eggplant with olive oil and balsamic vinegar went directly on the grill.

(patty pan photo care of google images)

It took a lot of back and forth, and keeping the kids within eye line but somehow everything cooked, and even finished nearly around the same time. It was too hot to stay inside and the rain had stopped, so I recruited Krissy to help me carry the huge handmade, very solid wood dining table that Bill made outside so we could try to enjoy our dinner. No sooner did I get the chairs out then it started to rain again. Just sprinkles this time- so we moved the table to the front porch where it would be covered. Yes, we are very much overdue for purchasing some deck furniture... but at least we made it work.

An attempt to get some water for Aila reveled that we'd used the last of the water in the pipes and that clearly the electric pump for the well would not be helping out any longer. Awesome. Still, we had some organic strawberry lemonade to quench our thirst and a table full of food. As we sat down I was so sticky and hot and starting to think I was insane. Wouldn't a salad, or a delivered pizza have sufficed? Was all this really necessary? But the first bite of eggplant, patty pan, yellow bean, 2 kind of tomato, garlic, onion and parmesan cheese screamed out to me "YES! It was well worth it" and just like that I relaxed into that chair and enjoyed every bite!

Krissy was just as delighted by our cornucopia style meal and Willy even ate a little- trying the beans and squash even though he claimed he didn't like them. I think Kris and I agreed that the patty pan is our favorite new veggie. So much flavor and fewer seeds than summer squash. Willy told us about all the animals he'd seen at the zoo in Pittsburgh (a roaring lion, tigers in the water, a seahorse [at the aquarium part], giraffes [which he says are "my favorite too Auntie Jen"], elephants, and alligators)...and Aila squawked for her freedom which wasn't going to be granted until we finished eating. I think Uncle Dan saved the day there, arriving home and ready to play with his niece and nephew.

We had hoped to grill the last of last week's peaches but some of them had started to turn and so we nixed that idea, eating the last of last week's homemade ice cream alone (or in Krissy's case with the Stonewall Kitchen chocolate peanut butter sauce). I think Aila ate most of my dish and then proceed to attempt to lick both the inside and outside of the frozen ice cream tumbler clean! But it kept her entertained while Willy relayed the animal sitings to Uncle Dan.

Willy and I took a walk through the backyard and I taught him about our compost bin which of course fascinated him. He declared it to be "the PERFECT compost bin," and loved that when the food breaks down you can use it for soil "and then you grow more food right?" he asked, remembering what I'd explained.

Then it was time to bring the dishes inside... for what reason I don't know- with no power I couldn't wash any dishes yet... The kids got their pj's on (by candle light and lanterns). And finally around 8p the power came back on again. I started the dishes. Willy and Dan ran laps and giggled- through the livingroom, out the slider, around the deck, back through the front door. Repeat as necessary. Then it got buggy and we retreated inside. Dan taught Aila to say his name and though I'm not sure if she knew what she was saying- she was definitely saying Dan! :) Big girl!!

Finally around 8:30 Kris got the kids packed up and they headed out. Bellies full and hearts content, we ended a stormy day on a very wonderful note.