dinner date

After a few busy days without much time to spend together beyond an hour or two in the evening, Brian and I made a date and headed out for an early dinner.

We were too hungry for more photos!

summer summer time!

Some idea of where I've been for the last few months...and yet another resolution (to myself) to get photos and thoughts and words here more often.

A field trip (literally, for Brian's History of Rock and Roll class) to Hitsville USA and the Motown Museum.

Shopping for the veggie garden with Mom, early summer...narrowly avoided temptation to buy all of the marigolds I could carry.

Chopsticks, the man in my life.

For the 3rd time in 3 years, Erin and I saw the New Kids on the Block in concert.  This time, with the Backstreet Boys (not important to us) AND front row (very important to us).  We touched Joey and made eye contact with Jordan...but alas, still unable to express his love for me, Donnie did not come close enough.  Someday.

Brian and I spent the fourth of July and the following week in Miami, and took our first trip to the Florida Keys.  This was the summer of the mojito for us.

Lovers.

Lover.

Tree hugger (not the first time).

The next morning, breakfast at the Six-Toed Cat...

And a trip to Ernest Hemingway's Key West home.  A friend had insisted I go and meet the cats, and I was happy to take her suggestion!

Crazy Cat Man

Crazy Cat Lady

I had to chase this handsome face down for some crazy cat love.

And then, some key lime pie perfection...

Bonus:  Brian asked me to marry him while we watched the fireworks in Marathon...I said yes (actually, "yeah!" while crying)!

The next morning

Balloons and flowers and signs and homemade mac & cheese were waiting for us when we got home!

Chopsticks and his new little sister, Shinnok.

Roadtrip to Milwaukee for a family reunion! (and my lap in the car)

Antiquing!

Some rings...including a certain beautiful very old diamond...

The wedding planning begins...

And the garden grows!

Really and truly, more random and wedding planning and summer-becomes-autumn-ing to come!

furry friends

 Crazy weeks at work in advance of a conference that a colleague and I are hosting...spending my evenings with Chopsticks...

...watering the garden, and, as of yesterday, with Shinnok, the newest addition to our feline family.

<3

green days are here...not again, for the first time

So, it's a new year, and I have a few new things going.  Fairly recently, I jumped on a train of possibly random but likely much-needed energy around changing my diet for the better.  Friends were bringing little bits of things I had heard or paid attention to in the past back into my life and in front of my face, and I decided that there were enough good reasons to pay attention and do something about it.

For a while now, I've known that deep down, really and truly speaking, I should be eating a totally vegan diet.  It's most in line with who I am and want to me, how I feel about food and animals and the way the world works, and has always seemed to be the healthiest option out there.  I have, however, always gotten hung up on a few of my favorite things:  cheese, ice cream, and baked goods (if they come in brown paper packages tied up with strings, all the better).  This time, though, I bought some books, written in a way that works for me and are kind to the grilled cheese lover I am.  While reading about a week ago, I also had a moment that I've never had before, even in all of my thinking about what and what not I would eat...maybe it's okay that this is hard.  Maybe being the healthiest that I can be is worth it.  I love cheese, but maybe I could love something else more.  What if I have been settling for what feels good instead of what would feel better?  Wow!

Anyway...it's all relatively recent, but so far, it's going well.  I'm eating more (though not completely) vegan already.  I've also bought a juicer and started experimenting with green juice recipes.  My chocolate has gotten darker and my coffee has gotten rarer (not rare like meat, rare like less often); though I'm only a week or two in, things are good.  We'll see what happens next!

Dinner tonight--baked sweet potato with homemade cashew, pepper, lime and garlic cream.

Also, snowstorm!

Happy Groundhog's Day!!

le cafe

Today, I have overslept, driven 28 miles to work, tried to unlock the unlocked main door of the office, and stood in a motionless elevator, smelling my Jamaican Me Crazy coffee for several minutes before realizing that the button for floor 3 had not, in fact, lit up when I pushed it.  Also, for the record (and a bit of trivia, if you're into that), I don't usually do flavored coffee, but this morning the description "let the caramel and cognac spirit move you" was too much to resist.

Happy Friday!

summer so far

As far as I am concerned, we still have a bit of heat left to squeeze out of summer here in Michigan.  So far, it's been good to me (as it always is--summer and I are likethis).

I moved across town and in with Brian, the boyfriend/housemate/co-cat parent.  

We set about organizing the newly (and almost completely) renovated kitchen...

Chopsticks (upstairs) and Tron (lurking below) got accquainted.  Tron follows her big brother around like he's the greatest thing ever (and he clearly is).  We headed out of town a couple times, first to Miami...

and then, for the sake of balance, to Frankenmuth, MI.

If you're not familiar, Frankenmuth is home to Bronner's, a CHRISTmas* wonderland/hot mess. (*their emphasis, not mine)

Lately, I've been doing some baking (strawberry rhubarb pie...I always think of rhubarb as an autumn fruit...fruit?  vegetable?...and then am sorely disappointed when it vanishes come September.  Not this year, I caught you, rhubarb!  Ok, that was scary.)...

hanging out with the cats...

he had to be shaved, his cotton candy fur mats up like crazy...wow, he's good looking.

And then, the satisfying conclusion...

The Complete Collection of Lost, delivered to my door and into my arms.  Let the geekdom begin!  ...okay, continue.