Hammocky Afternoon to you, too

We know sooner rather than later, we won't have afternoons with the only demands pressing on us those that can be handled from a shared hammock. But for now, we'll take it.

I just started fixing dinner and this is going to be a meal I share recipes for (probably tomorrow so I can return to the stoveside and not ruin it for tonight!).

Mmmm. My favorite roasted chicken; no-fail mashed potatoes; a classic salad and a yummy yummy Italian custard with berries and mint.

Spring Green

 Ange, Me and Elisabeth (and Bama) working it out on the trails

The Arboretum was packed this afternoon with people and dogs walking and running and playing and generally being friendly. It was a blissful way to spend time being friendly with some of my friends.

And it was a heel day - a productive one at that! Plus we were friendly and we ran (a little) before devouring pasta with a butter-garlic-cheese sauce.

Inspired by Rue's recipe (the downstairs neighbor) and prepared by my sweet friend Elisabeth, here's a delightful indulgence for when you've earned it (or at least dressed for it or thought about it or wanted to do it).

Rue de la Pasta
Penne Pasta
1 pkg. Gorgonzola
1 stick butter
3 cloves garlic (or to taste)
Olive Oil
Fresh basil, chopped
Squeeze of lemon
salt
pepper

Boil water with a pinch of salt and prepare Penne al dente.

While pasta is cooking, put about a tablespoon of butter in a shallow, wide saucepan and sautee garlic until tender. Add remaining butter and melt slowly, adding gorgonzola after the butter is mostly melted and stir until incorporated. Salt to taste and grind fresh pepper into sauce, then squeeze a quarter of a lemon into the sauce.

Drain pasta and toss with sauce until pasta is coated, scoop onto plates and sprinkle with fresh basil.

Baby Crazy

The highlight of my time at home was spending time with my girlfriends and their kiddos. One morning, Sarah and I went to hit up one of those charity mega-consignment shops to look for some goodies for baby Mia.

Though there are lots of friends having and raising babes right now (and yay for them - especially Amber, who just welcomed James Bennett and Michelle, Josie and Jessica, who are expecting soon!), I have to wonder if 9 months after we decide to have kids will be enough to prepare me for this!

Indy City

For those who know me, home.

For those who know basketball, home of the 2010 final four.

I've loved the last couple of days in Indy, getting to hang with lots of friends from way back and living sort of independently (Jacob returned to Lexington, graciously, so I could hang with my mommy friends girl-on-girl-on-kids), and while I love the Indy city, I'm excited to return home soon!

Raspberries

I spent tonight indulging in the kind of cocktails that help me believe I'm still a functioning member of the business world. But what about the business class?

I met up with a girlfriend and her colleague for drinks and social hour at the only-in-career-terms-happy hour of about 7:00PM. I enjoyed a gorgeous and tasty champagne concoction (I love the bub, what can I say?) that featured fresh, plump, pink raspberries buoyed on a sea of sparkles laced with liquor.

What, I ask you, what would you do? Faced with the obvious embarrassment of giving in to my epicurean desires to tip up the glass and tap away until the gorgeous fruit was released from the vice-grip of the flute's suction or, well...make a good impression, I chose...

to order another, naturally.

You would, too. Try mixing just about a tsp of the fabulous French Chambord in a flute with your favorite champagne, sparkling wine or prosecco and garnish with one of spring's favorite fruits: raspberries.

Friday Night Special

I've mentioned before that being married has great benefits - one of my favorites is getting to meet new friends (it's especially fun when the friends have known your hubbie since high school and have all the good old dirt on him!). We had a fab Friday night with a couple-a-couples and their baby beans. There was baby bonding with the adorable Cali and Hudson...

Grant and Cali at the O Homestead

As well as adult time centered around the first grilled meal of the season (cheers! It was so good, I added the recipe below), storytelling and responsible levels of goofiness. Thanks to Bo, G, Grant, Kendall and the kiddos for a fab Friday!

Yup, that's wine with a straw. Why? How do you do it?

And, to spread the cookout cheer and head into official spring, here's a tasty grilled salad that guys and girls alike can dig. And it's easy! Credit: Kendall by way of a back issue of Real Simple (man, I love that magazine). 

Serves 4

2 Peaches, sliced, pitted

3 Red onions, sliced generously

4 Chicken Breasts

Spring Mix (or other green mix as you like)

Gorgonzola Cheese, crumbled

Olive Oil

Salt

Pepper

Balsamic Vinegar

Brush peach and onion slices with olive oil and season with salt and pepper (yes, even the peaches - you might be surprised to find the sweetness of the onion that results from the caramelizing sometimes makes them even sweeter than the peaches!). Also season chicken breasts with olive oil and salt and pepper. Grill all three until chicken is cooked through and onions and peaches are cooked to taste (I like mine blackened a bit and cooked past crispy, but still a bit firm). Spread greens on a plate and top with sliced chicken, peaches and onions, sprinkle with gorgonzola and dress with a bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. 

Delicious! Happy grilling and happy spring!

Jumpin' Java

Remember what I said about those days with heels? How I feel so much better about myself? Well, today's one of those days and it's starting out (as many of the heel-days do) as an early one. Now I'm wondering if I feel so much better about myself because of the heels or because of the caffeine that gets into my blood stream earlier and in higher quantity.

Speaking of caffeine...it's getting close to 6:30 am and I can hear the finishing percolation calling my name. 

PS-Cats make it through first round of NCAA tourney! March Madness continues in the Bluegrass!

Sushi Staycation

Life has changed a lot for us in the last few months, right? No surprise there. Our vacations used to include spots like Morocco, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, France, Egypt and Jordan.

Now our spot is mainly Chez Brown. Whenever my girlfriend and her hubbie take time away from the old homestead we step in as house- and dogsitters/squatters/vacationers. This time they even took the adorable pup with them, and we've been left with a real staycation. Still in town, still working, but when we come home at the end of the night - it's just to each other, and all the goofiness and lightheartedness of the life of two young marrieds (sans kiddos) on their own.

Tonight, for example, we reveled in the bliss of a living room all to ourselves, takeout sushi, and a few adult bevvies while enjoying a St. Pats marathon of mythbusters (all focused on busting at least one drinking myth) and contemplating how we plan to execute the master plan of making salad cars out of the newest VW model Routan (by labeling them all with an additional C).

 

I love laughing with Jacob and just being goofy. I'm so lucky to have a fun and equally goofy husband.

Milk...does a body good

One of the great things (most of the time) about our crazy little situation (intermittent work and unusual living arrangements) is that we get to have a lot of time together - I especially love time in the mornings, probably because I enjoy morning time anyway. It's also a time that, once "normal" life (what? what is that?) resumes, we might not have.

So, we do have a little bit of a routine, which involves me getting up and making coffee and usually flipping on the Today Show (I know, I know) and then Jacob comes in and gets a bowl of cereal and we both work on our computers for a little bit.

Recently, I've been reflecting on this little tradition and I've gotten a glimpse of ourselves as a much older version of ourselves (possibly living in our kids' basement instead of my in-laws basement). It's funny because it's true and it involves Jacob persisting with his argument that "there's just nothing better in the morning than a little milk and a little fiber to get you started," explaining why he likes cereal only for breakfast and me continuing to make excuses for watching ridiculous shows like the Today Show's fourth hour with Hoda Kotb and Kathy Lee Gifford (there really is no excuse, btw).

Window Shopping

Upon recent invitation from a friend, I signed up to receive membership (read: promotional emails) from a couple of web sites that sell designer season-old shrug-offs for major discounts. There are so many beautiful things and I'd love to spend at least a few (ok, many) of my dollars on: a Nanette Lepore skirt or maybe something tiny from LaPerla or even some hand-engraved cards or jewelry, heaven forbid. The fact is, we're not spending money on rent right now, let alone luxury items.

I don't say this to complain because even back in the "big money" single girl days, buying something like that would still be the exception, rather than the rule, I say this because I am amazed that people can just plop down $1K on a dress or undies or jewelry for an impulse buy.

You may say, 'it's not necessarily an impulse buy,' but that's the whole structure. The sales are designed to drive you to action - they are exclusive, there are limited quantities, discounted prices and - time limits! If you think that you'll just take a moment to check the balance sheet before buying the bag, you'll return to find a nasty little sold out label on the item's pic. You may even find the sold out items reappearing at the bottom of the page by the time you finish scrolling to the bottom when they were still available when you started.

It's ingenious! And staggering, I must say. Who are these people who can buy this

before I even have time to finish my daydream about it? Well, there's always the wait list.

Love and Basketball

It's no secret I bleed blue. Go Blue, Big Blue, Blue Nation. But my blue game has always been horse, not cat. Of course, I've supported the hometown team, and I've even been to several games, but now that I'm officially married into a Kentucky family, basketball is officially mixing with love.

But that's ok, it's actually pretty fun. And it's a nice salve on the end of glorious football seasons that always leave me feeling so hollow. Plus, this year's been a banner year for the C-A-T-S Cats, Cats Cats!

Congrats to the SEC Champs and here's to you looking forward to this year's trip to my own hometown: Indy! PS-Blue is a great color to wear up there.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

In our time of transience, I've been doing what I can to stay productive, helpful and sane. That roughly translates to a partial stay-at-home mom existence of daytime bible studies, laundry, workouts and getting kids off the bus partnered with the working girl dream of doing freelance writing and marketing/PR consulting work on a very flexible schedule (I'm available! Call me!).

Of course, that flexible schedule sometimes means meetings at odd hours, like this morning, when I'll be doing some client work. And I'll be doing it from the couch - in my bathrobe (have I mentioned that I love this flex schedule thing?). It's a good thing that I have some meetings that get me out of the house, though. I dig the bathrobe thing, but I think I respect myself more when I'm wearing a pair of heels...

This works for the time being.

Trying on a Life

Nearly three months ago, we made our big return - to our friends, family, lives - in a way. But, however you feel about the statement "you can't go home," (is it metaphorical or literal?) when you try, it's always different. 

So, I find myself tonight trying on a life (and blogging about it - because even though I don't think my day to day is that interesting, the last couple of weeks have brought requests for revival) even though I'm home.

There are some things to which return and they are blissfully the same - my iTunes library (recently re-discovered), The Bachelor wine nights with my best girlfriends in Lex (and, puzzlingly, the bachelorettes - same drama), the fact that I love driving around with the windows down, and working.

There are lots of things, however, that are incredibly, disturbingly, wonderfully different. My best friend has a baby! Not just any baby - a miracle baby who I adore. Lots of buds have babies, actually. I could have a baby (no, we aren't even trying, but it's that whole marriage thing - I could! Whoa...) I don't have a steady job, so I'm doing marketing and pr consulting work as well as freelancing (too bad for Obama my entrepreneurial efforts don't count for the jobs numbers) - which I have discovered I love (lots of freedom, but also allows me to be self-motivated). My fab husband and I are homeless homeowners (the house is rented, remember), so we live in my in-laws basement (remember?), which brings me to trying on a life today...

My sweet mother in law (yep, actually really love her) is on a vacation with a friend - for 10 days! There is no one in the world who deserves this more, and I'm so happy she could take this break and we can be here to help support the family in the mean time, but that leaves me the sole female in a house with my father- and brothers-in-law as well as my husband. So I've just sent the hubbie to BSF, the in-laws to boyscouts and I'm left with the dishes.

Don't cry for me, though, I only cooked a frozen casserole pre-prepared by said genius MIL and I'm also left with a miraculously quiet house (except the blaring iTunes!) and a glass of wine as I tidy up and wonder about the future...

Just a little fun sample from a new discovery (the hipstamatic app for iPhone - LOVE IT! Must for medium format photography lovers/owners/wishers):

Ashland, The Henry Clay Estate