Whiskey, Mud, and Kitchen Therapy

For years I carried around a camera and took pictures of the wacky world I lived in but that habit has since died. I have a ton of cameras but I never seem to know where the memory cards or chargers are so (unfortunately?), I always have my phone with me. My Blackberry doesn't take the best pictures so please forgive me for relying heavily on it to document my life.

Last weekend was one of those weekends that really feel like summer. It wasn't just the high of 95* on Saturday that drove the feeling but it was a weekend full of running into friends at a street festival, working in the garden, cutting my hair off, and enjoying the afternoon sunshine in the kitchen.



Even the workers at Starbucks know I am awesome.

Despite having taken Friday off to get my braces tightened, I was up at 6am working. I woke up relying only on my internal alarm clock powered by stress and deadlines and managed to attend a few meetings and get some work done before heading over to the orthodontist.

The orthodontist warned me that it would be the most painful part thus far (FYI - It still hurts). To think of something else than my discomfort, I went to the gym and afterwards grabbed an iced latte as a sad excuse for breakfast post work out.


Nothing says summer hair like short and dark
(which is sort of the opposite oppinion to that of the rest of the population). 

After errands and a mani/pedi, I went to get my hair cut off. If you have been following the blog for any period of time, you will know I suck at before/after pictures so you will just have to believe me when I say I had a foot of undyed hair cut off. It is now jaw length and the darkest brown possible.

Because some of the hair was too short to donate, I took a small piece and framed it so I would know what my natural hair color was in the event the next time I grow it out, it is only grey.  

Friday night was the annual SubZero Festival in downtown San Jose. James and I rode our bikes down and immediately started running into friends we had not seen in a while. I managed to forget to eat dinner too but it's not like my mouth would have been a willing participant so I consumed a lot of beverages. Forgetting that I am 34 and no longer 24, I even got reacquianted with my old good friend Mr, Jack Daniels.

My new addiction. Where has this bottled ice coffee been all my life?


Saturday was spent relaxing. I made a quiche and a salad for dinner as well as a banana cake with chocolate and cream cheese frostings for dessert. James and I had a quiet night at home. His dad and his nephews stopped by with a truck load of stuff they planned to throw away. James wandered out to see what was in the truck and came running back in looking for a flashlight. He found 100+ year old table legs that we're going to make a metal top for and some books. When I went out to help with his treasure hunt, I noticed a box with band stickers on it. Opening it, I saw mail addressed to him and pulled it out of the back of the truck. After going through it the next day, he told me that it was all of the letters sent from fans who got the address off of the back of his Betty's Love Child CD. These letters were sent before email.

Also in the box, he found a scribbled phone number for Billie (as in the dude in Green Day) whom James used to hang out with at show in Berkley 20+ years ago. True Story.


On Sunday, I worked out in the back garden cleaning out the raised beds, trimming back both the passion vines and ivy, and overall clean up. I thought this would be a one day project but it looks like it is going to take more time next weekend as well to get the garden ready for summer fruits and veggies.

I managed to get blueberries, strawberries, thyme, zuchini, and cucumbers planted but still want to plant some more in the shady part of the garden.

I may build one more raised bed for herbs and I would like to plant artichokes and pumpkins. Is it too late for sunflowers? In my head, I have a veggie garden, a garden for cut flowers, and a garden for entertaining. However, in reality, all of my gardens are half assed and it's the gardener who really keeps the dream alive for me but alas, I asked that he leave the back garden alone and leave it be my domain. My problem with the back garden has always been associated with the amount of time required to keep it going. I am trying to remember to water it in the morning and went out there this morning when I remembered after I took a shower. I got muddy and had to rinse off again. I need to remember to go out there while the coffee is brewing before I have jumped in the shower from now on!

My favorite part of Sundays is the time spent in the kitchen. I open a bottle of wine and just cook. I usually make all of the food for the week so that week night dinners are easy but this weekend, I only managed to make a pasta sauce and let it simmer on the stove for a few hours. Of course, on Monday, James asked where all of the food for him to take to the shop was. This is after I asked him how was his food supply and he responded, "fine." Sheesh. Last night after work, I made some stuff for him to take and eat for the rest of this week but this weekend, I will have to make a few things as I noticed I have entirely too much tupperware at home right now which means his earlier response of "fine" meant he did not check.

 

I am looking forward to this weekend. I am planning days of cooking, cleaning, drinking wine, and more mud therapy in the back garden. We're having family over for Father's Day and will bbq in the backyard. Maybe (if I remember) I will use a real camera to capture it.