Currently...

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"I love daisies...they're so friendly.  Don't you think that daisies are the friendliest flowers?"

{name that movie!}

I can't believe it is July!!  We have had so much going on around here time has completely gotten away from me.  Hopefully, my blogging break is now broken ;)  Here a peak into what we are up to right now....

Currently...

....... there is only 35 more days until we leave for Europe!!! We are so excited we can hardly stand it.  My luggage is sitting in our dining room, with the tags still on it.  I decided to go with a 25" suitcase so that I won't have to worry about the weight limit. I also have a shoulder carry-on that my purse fits in.  It just needs a monogram on the front!  I know the hardest part will be leaving room to bring things back...

........Wesley surprised me with some purple daisies (^) a few weeks ago. So sweet...

........I'm re-reading all of the Harry Potter books before our trip.  Right now I'm finishing up The Order of the Phoenix.  I haven't read the books in years. As much as I love the movies....the books really are better!

.......my favorite snack is a sliced cucumber with salt and pepper.  Yum!  We are getting so may from our garden I eat 1 every day....

.......I'm helping set up satellite offices at work.  It's hard work, but so rewarding.  It's the first time in a long time where I have like my job more than Wesley likes his....

.......we are getting ready to celebrate!  Our nephew Jacob is due any day now and our good friends Andy and Rachel are getting married next weekend.  Can't wait!!

.......while waiting for our fall shows to return, we are watching Smallville.  Yes, we just might own all 10 seasons on DVD ;)  Tom Welling will always be Clark Kent to me!  And, we just started Parks & Rec.  So. Good.  !!!

......Penny is still obsessed with her bunny....its been over 3 weeks since we have had an actual sighting, but she still checks her "rabbit hole pipe" every time she goes outside...

.....I am trying hard to be good about making dinner when I get home.  We have gotten into a BAD habit of just going out to eat.  It seriously needs to stop....like 2 months ago.  So far, so good this week!  We've had breakfast for dinner, beef fajitas, and twice baked potatoes...3 for 3!  I can't wait for fourth of July...we've got spicy Dr. Pepper shredded pork, roasted corn, and lima beans on the menu...

.....I am working on a few fun sewing projects that I will be sharing soon....stay tuned!!

Linking up with Shanna

Kate Stone

I fell in love with another artist while we were in Charleston.  Kate Stone blew me away with her figures and still life. Here are two of my favorites:

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Of course, I had to look her up as soon as I got home.  I fell in love with her even more when I found this amazing interview of her and her husband.  They are both artists (dream life, right?!?) her definition of art blew me away:

"Anything can be art these days, but personally I feel that good art should succeed in at least two of the following: it affects the viewer, either with positive emotions or unsettling ones; it inspires respect for its technical execution; it is beautiful, either in a conventional or sublime way; or it resonates with the time period and culture that produced it."

Could not have said it better myself!  You can check out the full interview {here}

Down the Rabbit Hole

For the last couple of weeks, Penny has been obsessed with a rabbit that has been living in the drain pipe in our back yard.  Well...I use the term living pretty loosely.  She has seen it come in and out of it at least once...and in her mind, apparently, once is enough to expect it to happen again.  Last week, she had been out for about 2 hours, and Wesley and I peaked out of the window and saw this (^). She even at one point, just laid down in the grass and stared at it. 

We laughed about it for a while, but it got me thinking.  We had a pretty tough week last week.  Everything that could of gone wrong, seemed to go wrong. By the end of the week, we were physically and emotionally exhausted.  All of the positive attitudes we tried to have seemed to burn out after a few days as things just kept going wrong.  For the first time in a long time, our life didn't feel like ours.  It's like we had gone down the rabbit whole into a terrible version of Wonderland and we just wanted to get out.  

My family came up for a visit this weekend, and the sweeter parts of our reality became more clear.  The weekend felt like a fresh start and instead of continuing to "stare" at what we wished had happened last week, we moved forward.  I know that this week will be much better.  Maybe one day Penny will realize her rabbit is not coming back...but until then every time I see her waiting near that pipe, I will always be reminded to not do that myself.  ;)

Hope you guys had a great weekend!

The Little Things

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We have been loving the little things around here lately.  Like how Penny sits outside close to the back door, but always stares off into the yard...she can't ever be too far away from us but will never miss an opportunity to chase a squirrel out of her yard.  Or, trying to make hibachi at home a few weeks ago.  We pulled out the magic bullet for the first time in forever and made the white sauce from scratch.  And I've been day dreaming about putting floor to ceiling bookshelves in our loft once we bequeath the couches that are in there to my sister and her apartment this fall.  We also could not have been more excited to learn that the Piano Guys are really coming to Raleigh in November and we scored sweet orchestra level seats!!

Life is as grand as it's little moments...don't you think?!?

Linking up with Falling for Friday

Perfect Mac & Cheese

Ok, let's talk for a minute about one of my favorite comfort foods...mac & cheese.  Seriously, does it get any better than this?  I will admit that it took a million several attempts to make it from scratch.  Let, me tell you...it was well worth the effort.  You know you have a recipe right when you stop looking for different versions of it.  This is that mac and cheese for me.

Mac & Cheese
serves 6

1 lb bow-tie pasta or elbow macaroni
3 T butter
3 T flour
2 c chicken broth
1 c milk
1 t Worcestershire sauce
2 dashes hot sauce
1/2 t paprika
1/2 t black pepper
8oz colby jack or cheddar cheese, grated

Cook pasta according to package directions in salted water.  Heat a large saucepan over medium heat and melt butter.  Once melted, whisk in flour for 1 minute.  Whisk in chicken broth and bump up the heat to medium high and stir until thickened.  Add milk and whisk until thickened.  Add Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, paprika, and black pepper.  Stir until combined.  TURN OFF HEAT and stir in the grated cheese.

Once the pasta is done, drain, and add to cheese sauce in saucepan.  Stir to combine.  Adjust seasonings and serve immediately.

David Hettinger

I think if Monet lived in our day, the subjects of his paintings would be a lot like these.  David Hettinger is a painter from Illinois and I'm in love with his style.  I saw these two paintings at a gallery in Charleston and fell in love with their intensity of color, Impressionistic brushstrokes and modern subjects.  The first one is titled Pink Pillows and the second Reading and Texting.  Yes, that's right, texting is now a subject in paintings. 

Once I got home, I had to look up more.  These were two of my favorites that I found:

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Girl with a Textbook

Oil

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Autumn Landscape

Oil

Beautiful, right?!? Makes me want to pull some paints out and go to town!

Charleston

 
 

Every year for our anniversary, instead of exchanging presents, we go on a trip.  It is a tradition I hope we can always keep up, even if it is a staycation.  The last two years, we've gone to DC, but this year we found ourselves wanting to go to Charleston.  So glad we picked it!  We stayed downtown at the Mills House, which is in walking distance of everything.  I loved spending lazy afternoons at the hotel, and I loved not having to ride around trying to find parking (which is all I felt like we did our first time to DC!).  We toured Magnolia Plantation and Gardens.  The weather could not be better, without a drop of humidity in the air.  We spent time at the downtown market and pier, took a dungeons and graveyard ghost tour...and of course, ate a lot of delicious food. Brunch at Poogan's Porch and dinner at 39 Rue de Jean were our favorites! Yes, leave it to us to find a French restaurant in Charleston.  We downloaded the Open Table app, which turned out to be a life saver because we could book all of our lunch and dinner reservations through it, and never had to wait for a table.  

All in all, it was a great trip and we had a blast!