Tag: al fresco

A Very Good Weekend

Lauren4 Comments

On Wednesday, I texted Joey saying my weekend cravings were warm weather, sleep, an everything bagel and a fun post-rental showroom lunch.  Check on everything but the bagel — maybe I’ll treat myself to one sometime during the week — so, in other words, it was a very good weekend.  I think the weather had a lot to do with it (sunshine makes me happy!), but I was just in such a good mood all weekend long.

Friday’s al fresco dinner.

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Our neighbors have three cats that roam around outside and like to come keep us company when we sit out there.  Joey’s allergic, so I think this is the closest I’ll ever get to owning a cat and I’m soaking up every second.  This guy’s name is Big Chuck and this is apparently how he likes to sleep.

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For whatever reason, Saturday was just a perfect-feeling day.  We were up and at ’em for a trip to our wedding rental company’s showroom so we could check out what they had to offer, plus it was warm enough to don a skirt and spend a majority of the day outside.  Meaning I ate every meal outside, walked everywhere I could, took a nap in our hammock (!!) and ignored anything that “needed” to be taken care of inside.

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Thank goodness I soaked up all the warm sunshiny goodness on Saturday because Sunday was cloudy, rainy and chilly (stop teasing me, spring!).  But that just meant it was a good day for breakfast and a massage with mom.  I requested the HCJr. station, which meant a lot of Sinatra and Etta James.  I love that old music because you don’t have to wonder if that’s auto-tune or talent.

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Afterwards, beer kegging commenced!  Turns out there’s a place to re-fill CO2 tanks really close to our house so we were able to conveniently do that on Saturday then work on the whole sanitizing, beer-transferring, regulating and force carbonating stuff yesterday.  If all goes well, we’ll have beer ready is a couple days.  And good thing because our fridge is completely beer-free and I’m not sure how long Joey will last.

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Sunday night dinner, compliments of my sister’s Whole Foods discount and my mom’s neighbor who grows asparagus.  I was hoping a summery dinner would bring about warm weather for this week but instead, it’s going to be in the 50’s till Friday.  What can you do?

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P.S. I don’t remember adding “slice finger on blender blade” to my weekend cravings list, but I most definitely did that too.  It’s proving to make a lot of things — like putting my contacts in, getting a good grip on the bathroom doorknob and typing this post! — very difficult.  My finger has a heartbeat.

Happy Monday!

What I’m Loving Lately: Early Summer Edition

Lauren6 Comments

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Dress and Sandal Weather.

Gifts is without a doubt my mother’s love language. I swear she spends a majority of her spare time buying things for my sister and I. The remainder of her spare time is spent cooking delicious food, tending to her two spoiled puppies, and reading a New York Times subscription that doesn’t belong to her but keeps accidentally being delivered to her address. Anyways, she gifted me this adorable (albeit slightly uncomfortable) pair of sandals last week. Perfect with a summery white sundress.

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Toms.

Speaking of things my mom is gifting to me — she FORCED me to take these Toms home last week. A majority of my spare time is spent trying to convince my mom that I don’t deserve all the gifts she gives me and that she should buy something for herself. Somehow I went from thinking Toms were the ugliest dorkiest shoes ever — “I’ll never wear those!” — to owning two pairs and thinking they’re actually pretty cute. This pair is infinitely more comfortable than my lacey ones, which I keep wearing in hopes that the elastic on the top will finally stretch out.

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Homebrewed Iced Coffee.

Most mornings, I drink a cup of Earl Gray but when it’s early June and already in the upper 90’s in Colorado, I really can’t stomach the thought of drinking anything hot. Iced coffee to the rescue! I came across this awesome cold-brewing tutorial last week and kid you not, had to go to Target that night to gather the necessary components to make my own iced coffee. It turned out really good! The best part is that I can cater the amount of coffee to my caffeine tolerance, or lack there of… :O

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Hempz Hydrosilk Herbal Moisturizer.

I’m cheap and usually buy some junky body lotion, but for Christmas, my mother gave my sister and I each a bottle of the Original Hempz Body Moisturizer and now I’m hooked. Ahem, please note more motherly gift giving 🙂 I ran over to Beauty Brands last week to pick up some more and they were out of my beloved Original, so I purchased this instead and I LOVE IT. It smells unbelievably good and is nice and light — perfect for summer — plus it was on sale!

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Stone Fruit Season.

Strawberries will forever be my favorite fruit, but next on the list if definitely stone fruits. Peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots, cherries. Love love love all of them. I think this may have something to do with all the fond memories I have of eating them as a child. During the summer, my mom seemed to always keep our fridge stocked with a bowl of plums or a bag of ruby red cherries, clearly intended for me to eat all in one sitting, right?

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The Civil Wars.

I’m a sucker for a good male/female singing duo — one-time collaborators Alison Krauss & Robert Plant being my hands down favorite! — and the two voices in this one are perfectly beautiful together. Their live cover of Billie Jean played during a yoga class I took a couple weeks ago and they sounded so dang good live that it convinced me their CD was worth buying. And okay, the Billie Jean cover isn’t on there, but there’s an equally good take on the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back.”

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Dining Al Fresco. (I know you can’t tell that this picture was taken on an outdoor patio, but trust me, it was.)

There were many great things about the house I grew up in, but the one I will miss forever was the great patio in the backyard. My dream home will have a big wrap around front porch, with rocking chairs for sipping coffee and people watching and a backyard patio for summer grill outs. Wait, I promise I have a point. Joey and I have been sitting outside on our lunch break (in the shade, of course) and opting to sit outside when we go out to eat and dining al fresco is where it’s at.

Okay, enough of my rambling. What are you loving lately?