Summer Solstice

On this first day of summer, I can truly say that it feels as though the season has arrived. The menu sitting on our kitchen counter for this week's meal consisted of mostly grilled dishes. The flowers in our patio have grown from small sprouts to lush blooms. Summer cocktails or an evening beer have replaced glasses of red wine. And Lilah has assumed her favorite position atop the stairs leading from our deck to the patio.

Our summer evenings are our favorite. Dinners eaten on the patio. Baseball games listened to on our roof deck with a refreshing beer in hand. And maybe a bowl of ice cream for dessert. Not a whole lot needs to be done or said, but relaxing and enjoying the moment takes presidence instead.

Baltimore Police Helicopters are Creepy

First things first. Thank you all for your wonderful blog comments, tweets, and instagram comments about my sun addiction. It has confirmed that I am in fact a sun addict and may be the only person on this planet that uses SPF 4. Oh, except for my sister who commented on this instagram photo saying "I love that stuff!" Hmm. Go figure. As I said before, this is clearly a hereditary problem.

Second of all, back to the post for the day. Yes. The title tells all. The other day while I was partaking in my sun addiction on my roof deck, I had quite an interesting incident occur. One of the Baltimore Police helicopters flew by my deck, lowered its altitude, and changed its flight course to a perfect circle around the perimeter of my roof deck. It circled twice and then sped off. Twenty minutes later, the same exact thing happened.

Now I'm pretty sure that they should have been spending their time chasing down pot dealers or scoping out people that were breaking into houses rather than circling around my roof deck. At the same time, I can see how they might have thought I was doing one of two or both of those illegal activities. I mean, what pot dealer or burglar doesn't do those things in a light pink strapless bikini while laying on some swanky patio furniture. I was clearly a menace to society and needed to be checked out. Or maybe there really was a pot dealer or burglar right by my house and they were trying to protect me, but I sort of highly doubt that.

You may have seen my tweets about the incidents.

I even @BaltimorePolice'd those tweets. I thought surely that would let someone know of this ridiculous behavior. For all of the "Shooting on blah blah blah street" and "Gun arrest on blah blah blah block" tweets that I put up with from @BaltimorePolice, I felt sure that they would be willing to put up with my two tweets about me feeling violated by their helicopter cops. But no response.

After writing about my outrage on my personal facebook page, my aunt suggested that I make a really big sign on a poster board to put up there while I am suntanning. Quite frankly, I like her idea. And that is where you, my readers, come in. I need some help brainstorming.

What would you write on a sign to some rude helicopter cops that are trying to spy on you suntanning? Leave comments with your ideas and I'll choose at least one to use. The peep show attitude has got to stop!

I May Have a Problem

I'm not going to lie, I think I may have a serious problem. Hi, I'm Heidi, and I have a serious issue with the sun. This is a long time thing, not something that has turned up overnight or in the past year or so. This may possibly be a genetic thing inherited from my mother. It is the problem of burning your butt.

It stems from many summers going to Lake Michigan for some beach time with my mom and sister. It also is harvested in the 14 summers spent camping on Lake Superior in Ontario at Pancake Bay. (Seriously, even if you are not the camping type, just suck it up and go camping there for a week sometime in your life and you will thank me. Most peaceful, gorgeous, and uncrowded beach on this earth.)

 See, I would not lie. Even Lilah loves camping there.

Anyway, I got a little off track with my Pancake Bay sales pitch, which probably wasn't a good idea because now all of you will flock there and it will no longer be peaceful and uncrowded. Back to the original issue at hand.

This is what happens. You go to the beach with your mom. You are determined to work on that nice suntan. It is a bit cloudy in the morning when you set up your spot on the beach so you say to each other, "I'm going to wait a bit and then I'll put my sunscreen on." Then about half an hour later, you say to each other, "Okay, we should probably put on some sunscreen." And by this, I mean you must bust out the SPF 4. Many of you may question this and ask yourselves, you mean they make SPF 4?

It doesn't end there, my friends. About an hour and a half later it is time to get out of the sun for some lunch. You admire how tan you are looking, but you clearly both agree that you could get a bit darker. So for safety's sake, you say to each other, "I think we should go back to the beach yet this afternoon, but maybe we should use SPF 8 this time." See how we did that? We were ratcheting up the SPF from 4 to 8. Brilliant plan!

Oh yes, this is true. This is exactly how it goes down every single time. And when you return from a late afternoon suntanning session on the beach, you tell each other, "No, you don't look red at all. You look tan." As you cook dinner, lounge around the campsite (or lounge around the house as it is after returning from a Lake Michigan outing) you don't think about your relaxation in the sun one bit.

Five hours later as you move in some strange position in a chair, it hits you. You have gone and burned your butt yet again. A quick look in the mirror confirms that this is true. There is a tell-tale line that separates bright white and deep red on each of your butt cheeks.

Well friends, I did it again. I was up on the roof deck the other day and I burned my butt. Inevitably, I spend the next three days recuperating from burning my butt by freaking out that I have developed melanoma. Then I start to google melanoma and look at gross pictures to confirm that yes, that is just a sunspot and not a cancerous growth. (Please don't google images of melanoma. It is gross. I have spared you by not posting a photo here. Now I warned you, so as you immediately go to google it, don't blame me.)

After I get over the fact that I did not develop melanoma from burning my butt, I put that swimsuit back on and head to the roof deck armed with my SPF 4 tanning oil. And I'm sure in a few days I will think once again that it is a good idea to stay out a little too long in the sun and I will burn my butt. Yes, I have a problem, as I had previously stated.

Anyone else have a similar issue or am I alone here?

P.S. I am sure some of you will be concerned for my health and think I am not taking this seriously. I can assure you in reality I do as I have known people that dealt with melanoma. I just had to write this P.S. as a little disclaimer for those that may freak out.

An Exciting Life

Summer break is in full swing. I have officially forgotten what day it is (Fourth of July? right?), what it feels like to be a teacher, and what it means to have a busy schedule. I know, a super rough life, right? So what have I been doing with all of my spare time?

Suntanning on the roof deck.

Enjoying a few cat naps with Finn.

Eating lots of food.

Drinking smoothies (and other fabulous beverages).

Not very exciting I can tell you, but pretty awesome nonetheless. My life over here on the East Coast may be a bit boring to you these days. So I thought you should meet someone that is less than boring to make up for my lack of excitement these days. Lena from Mom 2 Memphis and Ruby is pretty much awesome. She's a rockin' mom of two that has great fashion sense and also happens to be one of the sweetest people I've met in the blogger world. Plus, we both share a passion for photography so she's got that going for her too!

Blog // Facebook // Twitter // Lena B Photography

Tell us a little about you.

I am a fashion-loving, photo-taking thrifty & tattooed mom of 2! 

How did you start blogging?

 

I started blogging after my son was born journaling his milestones.  In April 2011, it became more of a hobby & I've expanded to blog about pretty much everything!

 

What are your favorite things about blogging?

 

Meeting new people, gaining inspiration.

What do you do when you're not blogging?

 

I'm a full-time working mom.  So when I'm not at the office, I'm home with the kids... but I do love photography as well, and I've been doing a lot of that lately too!!

 

What are three of your favorite blog posts and why?

Ruby, for a day: http://mom2memphisandruby.blogspot.ca/2012/03/ruby-for-day.html

This is one of my favorites. It was fun to get inside Ruby's head while I wrote this post. She's such a sassy & spunky little one that it's hard not to blog about her every.single.day.  It's a post I'll be happy to look back on with her when she's older! ♥

Meatloaf: http://mom2memphisandruby.blogspot.ca/2012/04/meatloaf.html

Because it's really one of the ONLY things I cook WELL!  haha

Fun{ky} Pants: http://mom2memphisandruby.blogspot.ca/2012/05/funky-pants.html

Because I think this shows off how adventurous I can be when it comes to fashion! We all need those fun pieces in our wardrobe that make us happy... and maybe make others think we're a little crazy! 

What other bloggers inspire you?

 

I love Joanna Haughton of ModaMama, I think she's so real & sassy... and cool & talented!  Definitely a fashionable mama you should check out if you haven't already!

Another fave I've recently discovered is Julie of  The Funny Of It Is.  She's hilarious, original, gorgeous, smart and totes awesome! Definitely a current blog crush!

 

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Thanks so much, Lena for being on my blog today! :)

 

 

Woohoo!

There is not a whole lot for me to write about today, but what I do have to say is absolutely wonderful.  

I AM DONE!

Done with my fifth year of teaching. Done with students. Done with lesson planning. Done with grading papers. Done with stress. I finished packing up my room and did some last minute paper work today before getting the go ahead to leave school. So now I am officially done. Until the end of August at least. After the most difficult year I've had so far, it is hard to even explain how relieved I am that this school year is over.

So what will I do with all of my free time during the next two months?

Drink some iced coffee.

 Chillax and suntan on our new roof deck furniture and enjoy the views.

Drive out to The Badlands, Yellowstone, and The Grand Tetons.

Start a second summer of the Design a Day Challenge.

And there will be plenty of other things to add to the list. :) But for now, I'm just going to let it soak in that summer vacation is finally here.

Design a Day Challenge: Day 2

I love one of fun and often bright trends that has been out and about these days-- chevrons. So for day two of my challenge, I whipped up some bright ombre style chevrons with colors that were almost waiting for a summer day like today. A light gray and classic font in capitals finished these flat stationery note cards off.

 

I think I've found a new fave (but don't I always say that?). What sorts of chevrons and stripes have you been craving these days?

Design a Day Challenge: Day 1

My challenge is underway and going well so far! But that is to be expected for the first day! :) In reality, I've designed more than one thing a day, knowing that there will probably be a day here or there in which I'll be out of town or time slips by quickly enough without me being able to get something done.

The first design is one that was inspired by my browsing on Pinterest. So many creative things happening out there and they all collide on Pinterest! I decided to make these cute popsicle save the dates in lots of bright colors. I used white font to keep them light and summery, attached a popsicle stick to the back to give them the full effect, and finally converted them into magnets using some magnet tape. The end product is this fresh design, perfect for a summer outdoor wedding!

Punch List

1. By now I am sure you can tell that I'm ecstatic that summer vacay has arrived! I think teachers enjoy it more than any student ever could!

2. My goal this week is to try three new recipes. So far I've made one, with the next coming today. Monday night I cooked up these fantastic taco stuffed shells that were ridiculously tasty!

3. Two summers ago, a few co-workers and I had a photography challenge called The Daily Dose Picture Post. The four of us decided that in order to keep our photography skills fresh we would use our summer vacation to post one photo a day until the beginning of school. This challenge inspired me to do the same sort of thing, but this time with design. Today marks the first day of my Design a Day Challenge I wrote about yesterday, so stay tuned later today for the first design I've got in store to share!

4. With the arrival of our first time homebuyer's tax credit, we have looked to our trusty list of items to purchase or save for. Aside for saving money for travel and other various things, the first item was a new set of cookware. Say hello to my new set of Le Creuset pots and pans (and I splurged and got bakeware too!) in Caribbean blue!

5. There is nothing more refreshing and tasty on a summer morning than iced coffee! I've been enjoying quite a few of those over the past few days.

6. I've started my summer reading and the first book I will be reading is Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson. One of my students read this YA book and was in love with it so I'm taking his recommendation! What are you reading this summer?

7. I call this little list "Punch List" because I'm constantly making punch lists of my own. Summer is a great time for all of those catch up projects. Next in store-- rehabbing a couple sets of plantation shutters I found at the architectural salvage yard.

8. Speaking of projects, our cedar fence is coming along quite nicely!

9. I'm trying to get back into my yoga routine. This summer is all about relaxing, but not getting too lazy!

10. The latest thing I've been trying to convince Andrew on for our back yard is to take out the lower deck and install Moroccan cement tiles in its place for a beautiful outdoor courtyard feel. We'll see how that goes over with architect Andrew.

Summer Design Challenge & a Sneak Peak

Day two of summer vacation is under way and I've already been productive in the design department. So far, I've come up with two unique summer designs-- one a day. And quite frankly, they may be some of my best to date. So, motivated by a previous summer challenge of a photo a day for the entire summer, I am going to embark on a similar mission. Ideally, I'd love to have a new design every day for the summer, but I realize that I may be a bit over ambitious. So I will start with a design a day for the next 30 days. I will post the results on this lovely blog so keep me motivated and encouraged! I am envisioning wonderful summer designs with lots of color to come! I'll start with my first post tomorrow so I'll leave you with a quick sneak peak!

Grilled Jerk Chicken Focaccia Sandwiches

As you've probably figured out by now, I love summer food! So much fun to make all sorts of refreshing meals from the fresh fruits and veggies that summer has to offer. Not to mention all of the amazing options for grilling. Once beautiful weather has shown its face in my neighborhood, the grill gets used about three times a week. One of my favorite items for the summer is a Jerk Chicken Focaccia sandwich, something I've based upon the same fabulous sandwich my mom serves at her bakery.

This is the perfect summer sandwich! Last weekend, with such warm weather, I just had to make it again! This is a sandwich that has been shared with friends, has made its way to Wolf Trap with a bottle of wine during a Crowded House concert, and makes me reminiscent of enjoying food and good company during lunch at my mother's bakery. The flavors are absolutely amazing. While I only will leave you with the recipe for the focaccia and the chicken today, I often serve this sandwich with a fresh mango and pineapple salsa-- perfect complimentary flavors! Perhaps that will be for next time. For now, enjoy the recipes!

Focaccia with Red Onion and Rosemary

1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons dry yeast
2/3 cup warm water
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
half of a red onion
several sprigs of fresh rosemary

1) Dissolve sugar and yeast in the warm water in a large bowl and let stand for several minutes until the yeast begins to bubble.

2) Add 1 3/4 cups of flour, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the yeast mixture. Stir until fulling combined. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Add remaining flour as needed. Place the dough back in the bowl, cover, and let rise for an hour or until doubled in size.

3) Cut dough into two equal pieces and shape each piece into flat circles. Place the shaped dough on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise 30 minutes.

4) Preheat oven to 475 degrees.

5) Poke indentations in the shaped dough with your fingertips. Brush remaining olive oil on the dough, placed sliced red onion rings evenly over the dough, and sprinkle with rosemary and kosher salt. Bake at 475 for 12 minutes or until golden.

Jerk Chicken Marinade

Combine the following ingredients and let 3-4 chicken breasts marinade. I usually start the marinade in the morning or the night before.

1 tablespoon allspice
1 tablespoon thyme
1 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoon sage
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 cup onion, finely chopped




 Bake or grill the chicken, basting frequently with the remaining marinade. When the chicken has been cooked through, slice the chicken into small pieces. Slice the focaccia to prepare for sandwiches. I usually lay the sliced chicken on a bed of mixed baby greens for the final sandwich. Enjoy!