home again

we had a wonderful family vacation to seagrove beach. sb has been our go-to-destination for the past 15 years or so. it is such a wonderful area and the beaches are beautiful. all of the little beach towns are fairly close together, so it is really easy to town-hop for shopping, beaching, eating, etc. on our way down there, we heard the weekly forecast and it looked very very dim. rain. every day. for the next week. but somebody else had different plans in store for us... it rained ONE morning. that's it. the rest of the time was sweet, sweet sunshine.

on the one morning that it did rain, mom and i went out for a walk and got caught in the downpour on the way back. we finally got back to the condo and looked like we had entered the most intense wet t-shirt contest ever. we felt pretty hardcore.

highlights:

1. reading beachside. finished twilight and started the fountainhead. talk about opposites :) i've been telling myself i'll read the fountainhead for some time now. and despite the fact that i was semi-intimidated by it, so far i really like it. i'm about 250 pages in and going strong.

2. "the blue giraffe". a fabulous art and jewelry shop in neighboring watercolor, fl, which singlehandedly inspired me to PAINT PAINT PAINT!! by far my most favorite shop in that area. www.thebluegiraffeon30a.com if you're interested.

3. angelina's pizza. this little pizza place stole our hearts on our very first trip to seagrove. they make the best pizzas around, and have such a cozy atmosphere. nothing fancy, just good food. we ate there twice this time :) on our first night... and our last.

4. man vs ocean. on our last day, the ocean waves were especially sizable. nothing compared to hawaii or anything, but big enough to toss you around and knock the girls loose from the swimsuit top... at one point, our entire family was out there, trying to bodysurf the waves and/or just survive getting hit by one. SO MUCH FUN. and then... we spotted another family riding the waves nearby... a family of s t i n g r a y s. so we "calmly" made our way back to our safe, comfy towels and continued our sun-soaking regimen.

5. quote of the trip. "i had no idea i was so cool!" -dad

so here i am. back in memphis. happy to see my cat, zoe, but wishing i was still on the beach. one thing i have to comfort me is a LOT of reading choices that i collected today. of course i still have the fountainhead, which i plan on diving into after this post. at borders this afternoon, i bought 2 magazines, metropolis and vogue. architecture & design and fashion. fabulous!! i picked up the memphis flyer at lunch with the fam at the bagel company, and i have a new women's health that rachel so graciously housed for me while i was out of town. my goal is to stay motivated for a bikini body even though my beach vacations are over for this year. i am also going to make an effort to actually READ the magazines i get, instead of flipping through and only looking at the pictures. there's interesting stuff to be learned and i intend on doing so.

it is good to be home. there's something comforting about your own house, your own spaces, that even vacations can't compete with. yet without the existence of both, each would lose its meaning. i am so thankful for a wonderful family to share that vacation with, and a wonderful place to come home to.

another vacation!! so soon!!

so on friday, i'm leaving work early to head south with the fam... seagrove beach, here we come!! this has been our beach vacation spot for many years now, and we thought it was about time to revisit and reconnect. we'll be spending friday night in birmingham and then driving the rest of the way on saturday morning. we'll be there for ONE WHOLE WEEK!!! YAY!!!! here are just a few of the things i am looking forward to:

pool-side afternoons

shell gazing

walks along the beach

swimming in the gulf

the red bar

fried shrimp and hush puppies

not good at all

yesterday, sean's tv fell off of the wall in our bedroom. the little gadget that held the tv to the arm on the wall just snapped. it crushed a lamp, sent glass all over the room, and scratched the tv screen pretty badly. zoe is completely freaked out by the tv now, and won't go anywhere near it. judging from the chaos that i found on my nightstand- lamp, picture, remotes strewn everywhere- i'm guessing she was lounging on the bed when it happened. i checked her little feet for any glass but she's ok. i called sean last night to tell him and he was asleep in the on-call room. i'm sure that's exactly the wake up call he wanted...

a whole bunch of things

a lot went on today, and i'm here to give you the exclusive scoop!! i bet you feel lucky...

work went well- we're staying busy and i'm learning lots. i get to do a larger variety of stuff at this new office. and it's refreshing to have something different to do everyday. after work i went down to mud island for an evening run with rachel. things have been busy lately and we haven't had much hang out time, so it was fun to get together for a bit. the run was nice, too. the weather has been perfect for the past couple of days and that helped a lot with my endurance since i haven't been training as methodically as i should have been. the zoom through the zoo race is on thursday. it's a 4-miler. i know i can do it, i just hope it's not so hot that it's unenjoyable.

zoe has been grooming herself for the past 45 minutes. after talking with sean on the phone tonight, i noticed zoe has a bit of a stench to her... just a little accident... ew. so i had to give her a bath. yes, i gave my cat a bath.

BEFORE

AFTER

she didn't really want anything to do with me since then, although she made sure to stay within my line of sight so i could see what i'd done to her. i think she has finally forgiven me and is laying with me in bed. cuddles.

but before all this craziness, i had a fabulous dinner. SIMPLE, SUMMERY AND SAVORY. i shall share :)

BLACK BEAN, CORN, AND AVOCADO SALAD

serves 6

1 (30-oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained

2 cups corn kernels

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

1 avocado, chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

2 tsp grated lime zest

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 tsp salt

combine all ingredients in a bowl. serve at once.

i put the mixture on a bed of lettuce, along with some baked tortilla chips.

another fabulous weight watcher's recipe: 283 cal per serving

you can also make your own tortilla chips... cut reduced fat flour tortillas into strips or triangles and arrange on a sheet of foil. bake on the middle of a pre-heated oven at 375, until toasted. about 5 minutes.

that's a good note to end on. so i will.

quickest, most delicious dinner ever

PAN-SEARED SALMON with FRESH TOMATO-BASIL RELISH

this dinner for two takes only fifteen minutes!!! since i am missing my other half, i ate most of this dinner myself. but in my defense i did buy a slightly smaller piece of salmon than the recipe called for.

2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped

1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil

1 small garlic clove, minced

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp coarsely ground black pepper

2 (6-oz) salmon fillets, skin on

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp olive oil

combine the tomatoes, basil, garlic, vinegar, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp in a small bowl.

sprinkle the salmon with the cumin and the remaining 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper. heat the oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. add the salmon, skin-side up, and cook for 4 minutes. turn the salmon and cook 1 minute longer. cover the pan, reduce heat to medium, and cook until the salmon is just opaque in the center and flakes easily, 2-3 minutes.

transfer the salmon to serving plates and add the tomato mixture to the skillet. increase the heat to high and cook until the mixture is warmed through, 1-2 minutes. spoon the relish over the salmon.

it's a weight watchers recipe, too :) 350 cal per serving. enjoy!!

that's MY friend!!!

so i just came across this. she's so modest she never would have told me this on her own. but I FOUND IT ANYWAY!!! mwwwahahaha!!

my best friend and freshman year college roommate, sarah jenkins, has been voted by Springfield's GO Magazine as being one of the top 20 under 30 for 2009. and 2009 isn't even half-way over!! yeeeeeaaaaa grrrrrrrlllll.

straight from the website: A 20 Under 30 is a man or woman doing amazing things, or doing things better than others his or her age. A 20 Under 30 is also an outstanding member of the community. Once again we found 20 honorees that fit the bill and have great personalities to match, and asked them to come to their photo shoots with items that define them as professionals or as people.

congrats, sarah!!

click here to read all about her :)

martha, martha, martha

there's a new addition to my family of kitchen tools.

a martha stewart collection salad spinner.

one of my childhood friends, clay, got married this past weekend. another one of my friends, eric, and his fabulous girlfriend, suzanne, were in town for the blessed event and needed to go to macy's to buy a gift. eric kept raving about his salad spinner back in new york, and insisted that i needed one. so he bought me one!! i'm sure it was a thank you for putting them up for the weekend, but i also think he is just THAT excited about salad spinners. which i find fantastic. so thanks, eric, for the wonderful gift!! i have no lettuce right now, but i'm going shopping soon and am really looking forward to some legit salads.

(plus, look how pretty it is.)

while searching for the perfect gift (which, by the way, is EVERYTHING MARTHA STEWART) i fell in love with the following products and want to own them as soon as humanly possible.

Martha Stewart Collection

Multi-Color Prep Bowls

i don't actually know what i would do with these bowls. i know they're for "prepping" but i think it's really just a fancy way to say you have more dishes to wash when dinner is over. maybe i could use them to hold little snacks: teddy grahams, a bit of ice cream... yes. that sounds good.

Martha Stewart Collection

Mouse Novelty Cutting Board

it's just SO precious!! just look at his little tail. at the store, some of the novelty animal cutting boards were being displayed as "plates" and i wondered how realistic that is. do people serve meals on little individual cutting boards? maybe rich people. though if i had this little mouse cutting board i would find a way to eat off of it everyday.

Martha Stewart Collection

Over-the-Sink Cutting Board w/ Colander

this is just c o o l. the colander is collapsable so it's easy to store. you can rinse and drain your veggies in the colander, over the sink, and then chop them right there. genius!! my friend, jessi, has one of these and i remember the first time i saw it... like i was hearing music for the first time. and i'll never be the same.

I'M EMPLOYED!!!!!!

and not by FedEx :)

i am now an official employee of John Pruett Architects. intern. til at least aug/sept. hopefully longer.

YAY ME!!

and p.s.

brought to you by sean and paul, future m.d.

sponsored by iphone and chattanooga bookstores.

nightcap

my night has been very random. but enjoyable.

1. delicious homemade enchiladas with rachel and adam

2. met dad at poplar and highland to pick up my social security card and birth certificate for tomorrow morning. see #6.

3. got the low-down on rotation day #1 from sean. bottom line, he sounded tiiiiiiired.

4. sorted laundry, started laundry, cleaned zoe's litterbox.

5. painted :)

6. gather information for my morning of job applying. i'm "hoping" to be on the day-sort out at the airport for FedEx. work part-time, get benefits, still can work contract for the architect i'm working with now. good deal. i don't know if FedEx hires people with architecture degrees. or people who can't lift 75 lbs. but we'll find out soon enough.

and that brings us up to date.

i will now proceed to go upstairs and put the whites in the dryer, then wash my fash, brush ym teeth, and curl up in bed with my zoe and a movie.

nuestras vacaciones perfectas

just wanted to provide y'all with a couple of stories and photos of our mexican vacation.

first and foremost, i will let you know

that we escaped without the H1N1 flu strain.

(do not call it swine flu... read this)

after starting our trip with a 2-hour flight delay, we finally made it to cancun international airport, jumped in a shuttle and headed to our hotel. pepe, our driver, let us know that if we wanted to stop at a store and get some beers to drink on the way that would be ok. good to know. we had out first encounter with mexican speedbumps, which are literally in the middle of the highway and will tear the shit out of your car. traffic slows down to about 5 mph to avoid total vehicular destruction.

our resort was perfect for us. comfortable and beautiful. with unlimited drinks.

one day we took a long walk...

another day we went snorkeling and to playa del carmen...

and on the last day we went to tulum.

we almost couldn't come home because sean didn't have his tourist card that we had filled out on our arrival (and which they DIDN'T tell us you had to have to leave the country). he basically paid a security guard "under the table" to expedite the process of getting a new one filled out in time to make our flight. the security guard sneakily got the paperwork stamped and signed, pushed us to the front of the line, and then sean paid him $30 USD in the men's bathroom. muchos gracias senor :)

ultimately, it was a absolute perfect vacation. mexico is beautiful and the people are so friendly. i think americans have a certain view of mexico (myself included) that is not really accurate. i hope to go back again someday, stay longer, and see more!!