Day 16: It's official. It's summer.

Day 15: Sunday Dinner

Life happens in the kitchen. Eating together = priority.

Bless this food

cake for her (eventual) birthday

Goodies

Gabe had not been back to our local mall since our initial move in 2006, so he doesn't remember much about it. But a little bird told us that a significant addition had been made to it recently, and even though I am not much of a mall person, 
I knew we had to check it out.
 We knew Gabe would be over the moon about the news, but we kept this information from him, just in case...

But oh- the info did not disappoint

life is goooooooood.

John and I used to play a game where we would both 

go into the mall with ten bucks a piece, and try to outdo each other

with the best scores we would find. 

If we did that today, I know i would win. I found Selah a package of barrettes, 

a sundress, and slippers all for under ten bucks. Yay me!

-Buzz kill-

The bad news is, she put it on and within an hour, stuck a nice big wad of pink sparkle silly putty on it. 

After surfing dozens of sites for stain remedies,  
I found many of them had several things in common:

• Scrape as much as you can off first
• Blot with Rubbing Alcohol
• Scrub inside out with stain remover
• Launder as usual, lay flat to dry.
• Repeat process as necessary        

The verdict? It took a few tries, but it does look pretty good.
In all, good trip to the mall.

Kids, you gotta date your spouse.

Now kids, I'm officially going to give you some advice, right here and now, and that is: 

date. your. spouse.

(regularly.)

Okay, so the story goes like this.

It was our second day at college, and Dad walked me to the local bookstore (about a mile) to score deals for textbooks. He talked most of the way. He kept things funny and upbeat, which I really appreciated. 
Great walk. Fun store. So-so deals.  All-in-all, It was a good time. Apparently, at this point,
 Dad decided he liked me. I ignored it.
 This was our first ever outing alone, mind you.
 So I kept my mind on my books; -no romantic notions at all. On our way back, we picked up some Chinese food, which included some funny fortune cookie fortunes...

Talk about level-jumping.
John swears he did not arrange for me to get this particular fortune in advance, but i have my lingering suspicions...
OK, so to review: Bookstore. Chinese Food. Weird fortunes..the ingredients are all there to recreate the perfect date. All you need is a coffee shop to cap it off, and your good to go. 
And I highly recommend this, kids. Visit the old haunts.
 Reconnect and keep the conversation to those things that build and encourage each other. Reminisce. Your strong marriage will quite possibly be the second most important gift that your children will ever receive from you. And in seasons like this one, it might be the only thing you have to offer. So make it count and invest in one another. It is the wisest of investments.

Sweet gift from the main man!

i'm dreaming of a white...kitchen?

http://houseandhome.com/design/photo-gallery-sarah-richardson-designs?page=29
 I'm wrong AGAIN! Being a fan of big, loud user friendly kitchens, I had no no use for the impracticality of white on white, so I swore I'd never have a white kitchen. They just seemed so nightmarish to keep clean. But I have to tell you, after poking around Sarah Richardson Designs,

IF LOVING WHITE IS WRONG,  I DON'T  WANT TO BE RIGHT!

I'm a believer!

YOWZERS!

 and the pièce de résistance...

http://www.atticmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/kit-wht-trend-aga-435.jpg

And there it is, the dream kitchen & stove, folks!

The hits keep coming over at Georgica Pond. I fell for each and every one of those puppies. Check them out here:

http://georgicapond.blogspot.com/2011/05/dream-home-kitchen.html

Enjoy!

Day 14: Familia

The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together. ~Erma Bombeck

Got the Piedemonte / Piedmonte / Piedmont education today, including where the family comes from.

The Piedes come from long line of garlic farmers,and family is kind of a big deal around here!

Each bulb is hand sewn, and hand harvested.

Uncle showing us the ropes.

German Stiffneck: the hardy, versatile family favorite

Penne in Garlic Sauce

1/4 Cup perfumed garlic olive oil

3 Tablespoons butter

1/2 Cup white wine of your preference

8-10 minced garlic cloves (smashed to paste)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

3 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1 lb. box Penne pasta

1/2 Cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

* Prepare pasta in salted boiling water according to box (or fresh) instructions and set aside.

1. In a sauce pan, reduce Pinot Gregio and butter by half.

2. Brown garlic in oil till slightly browned, set aside, adding salt and pepper.

3. While still warm, toss pasta, wine reduction, garlic oil, parsley, red pepper flakes, and sprinkle the top with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

4. Enjoy and eat with family- Warning your breath WILL reek!

-Worth it, though!

Day 13: Gram's Biscuits and portable blessings

It's time for strawberry shortcake 

But first, we need to whip up some decent biscuits.

-And in order to do that, we had to dig out Gram's recipe book.

Now, this is NOT your average recipe book, this is a fifty year old Mac-Daddy of recipes. It is a treasure that is chuck full of wonderful old recipes containing ingredients like "oleo." I love skimming through the 

stained, old pages and thinking about the all preparation that went into hundreds of dishes for the family- fifty years worth. 

And that makes it all the sweeter.
__________________

But sweeter still, is reconnecting with loved ones
who mean the world to us.
Blessing God for the chance to get some hugs in.

Day 12: May strolls are good for the soul

Three generations out for a stroll- we did much of this during our visit...

Meeting Grandma Lottie for the first time.

Pause / Selah...

What can we find at Gram's

It's so fun poking around Grammy's house. It's full of interesting old things. I took pics of them for you.

The incomparable forty dollar find.

Need a clock? No prob.Gram and Pop will make you one.

No stranger to all things DIY, Gram took an ordinary brass light fixture, and turned it into something really special by changing the patina with two paint techniques. 

 Who knows how old this piece is? It was actually painted on an old slab of barn wood. 

...and then, there's the toys. Like these sixty year old blocks.

And the old Little People barn...talk about money well spent.

this is my favorite...

photos with family.

It's as sweet as 

the front garden in May.