Date Night In

Currently I am sitting in a hotel room in Troy, Michigan waiting for my husband to come back with Chinese take-out. If there is one thing we young parents have mastered since our baby girl was born it would be the "date night at home." Any new parent knows that a baby's world quickly turns dark and cranky after 7 o'clock. Often Joel and I find ourselves at home when the night is still very young.  So, we've made late dinners an event by cooking new dishes and eating out on our deck as if we are in a private restaurant. Yes, we're cheesy like that. Can take-out eaten in a hotel room with your daughter snoring nearby be a date night? Why, yes it can.

Family...

It's been quite the week so far here at the Smith home. We are spending a brief 24 hours at home before heading back down to Peoria. On Monday, Joel's grandpa, Ernie Blake, passed away after a heart attack. He was ninety-one and the most joyous person I have ever met. Ernie loved Jesus. I don't know how better to describe him, but that he completely, passionately, contagiously loved Jesus and that love influenced everything and everyone around him. We will continue to spend this week celebrating the legacy this man has left.
Yet again I am so thankful that the Lord chose to bless us with Ainsley. She is such a source of joy. God's mercy in a 20 pound package.

Summer Saturdays

A Saturday night with my two favorites. 

Welcome to the Top 5

When my husband and I were dating we used to have this bit that we would do every so often- we would list our Top 5. Top 5  favorite bands. Top 5 foods you've ever tasted. Top 5 events of the past year. Top 5 coffee shops of all time. Top 5 characteristics you appreciate about the other person (that one was my favorite to hear). You get the picture, I'm sure.
While garage saling today (my third ever garage sale experience) I got to gush quite a bit about my husband and how quickly I fell head over heels for that man. So it got me thinking about Top 5 lists. So today, I will do a Top 5, in honor of my handsome husband.
Top 5 from the Pingree Grove Annual Garage Sale:
5. The truly scary striped cabbage patch doll with horns and tail that Kristin bought for a dollar. Her husband challenged her to find the ugliest thing selling for only one dollar. After some bargaining, Kristin went home with her treasure.
4. After much scouring, I found three cutesy outfits and a fancy little purse for my little lady. Garage Sale victory.
3. Getting to shop with old friends and brand new friends. Today I finally got to meet Jennifer.  I've had so many people tell me that she is a lovely woman and that I should meet her. Today was the day and loveliness she has in spades.
2. This morning Pingree Grove had a rain storm giving us a quick break from the blazing temperatures. For the first 20ish minutes of walking around, there was a breeze and the air was a tad chilly.
1. Watching Ainsley play with the other girl babies. Rachel, Kristin, and Jennifer all have little girls around Ainsley's age and I think my little lady had a ball babbling and playing with all of them. Easily a highlight of my day.

Beating the heat

Running errands in 90+ degree weather isn't so bad, if you've got a trusty sidekick. 

Bad Diner Book Club

Well over a year ago, my dear book-loving friend Stef and I had a conversation about starting a book club. She came up with the name for our little band of readers, Bad Diner Book Club- where bad diners meet good books. Since that fateful conversation, the club has met over a dozen times and has read a wide variety of genres. I've loved some, drudged through others, but have always enjoyed our meetings. Each one holds truly interesting conversation.
Tonight's discussion of Shauna Niequest's Bittersweet did not disappoint. We had a smaller group tonight- just Kristin, Rachel, Melissa, Jo, and myself. We all had differing opinions, mixed reactions, favorite chapters. For a few hours, I not only had a night out with delightful friends but also talked about a topic I love- literature. It's the little things, really.

The minutes slowly passing...

Cannot sleep a wink
Mind deserves over-time pay
Clock plays the villian

Home again, home again

When my husband and I were first married, we lived in this TINY studio apartment. The romance of all seemed to wear off pretty quickly when we had our first married fight about two weeks post-honeymoon. I don't really remember what the quarrel was about (probably me overreacting to a miscommunication, if we're being honest) but what I do remember clearly was saying to Joel at the peak of my frustration, "I'm going into the bedroom, and don't follow me!" I proceeded to move the four steps into the "bedroom" and turned my back so I couldn't see Joel. After a few beats of silence, I could hear giggling from the other side of our apartment. Needless to say, the fight faded into fits of laughter as we both realized how silly I was. We have since moved into a marginally roomier 2 bedroom apartment just three buildings down from our first place. The thing I find so interesting is that despite how big or small our place may be, I am always so happy to walk through my door and be home. Even more so when Joel is there. We've recently started looking into buying a house, something we have been working towards since we first got married. So I've been thinking a lot about what I'm looking for in a house- a big yard, lots of space to cook in my kitchen, good floors. But mostly, I just need my man. And the lady. And a place to put our coffee pot.

This is us in our first place. Just to give you a wee visual. 

This is the best picture I could find of our second place. We had a party just a few days after we moved in...we're crazy like that. 

In sickness and in health...

Today was a long day. Parts were lovely; my mom and sister came to town with my nieces and nephew in tow. We ran through the fountains at the park, played card games, ate tamales- all fine summer things. Sadly though, Ainsley didn't enjoy any of it. She's a bit under the weather, nicely put. Today I have been sneezed, drooled, and thrown-up on and somehow live to blog about it. My little birdie girl is a sad state of affairs.
But when my little invalid was at her worst, my husband came home from work and somehow turned an exhausting day into a wonderfully memorable one. He snatched up Ainsley and somehow got her to sleep- he's her hero already. He ordered us dinner from the pub downstairs and we feasted on tuna melts out on our deck. He challenged me to a game of Ticket to Ride and was so gracious when I beat him (haha). And then he sat and listened to every messy detail of my day. This man is too much, I tell you.
Tomorrow I'm Missouri-bound with my dear friend, Joanna. Excited. So very excited.

Daddy's girl

Winding down after a long day.

Bake me a cake as fast as you can

I want to be a baker. My girlfriends are all bakers- they have this knack for creating pastry masterpieces that are magically healthy. I, on the other hand, try my best to follow recipes and measure the ingredients, but rarely manage to create something edible. I do my homework, too. I scour my cooking blogs trying to find recipes that seem easy enough. Apparently, easy is not easy enough for this novice baker.
Today I am attempted to recreate these lemon blueberry scones that my friend Rachel brought on vacation. I have found a recipe that looks good. I have chilled the butter in the fridge so it will cut in nicely. I have cleaned my kitchen so I have a fresh workspace. I am as prepared as I can be. Hopes are high here at the Smith home.


Finished product: not very pretty but actually tasted like a scone. Ah, sweet victory.

Date night Haiku

Perfect summer night

long walks, ice cream, closest friend

Still twitterpated.

Molly's Cupcakes

I believe that cupcakes are the perfect dessert. Cupcakes are not so big that I writhe in self-loathing the minute I finish, but substantial enough to feel like a treat. These little morsels are the perfect blank canvas to welcome creativity and invention. AND they're somewhat trendy. My favorite, favorite, favorite cupcake spot is this quaint cafe in Lincoln Park, Molly's Cupcakes. My husband and I first discovered Molly's a year ago when we were craving cupcakes but were too far from our former favorite spot, MORE.  So we hiked up to Molly's and chose 3 different flavors- did I mention that we had cupcakes for dinner? The Ron Bennington, Molly's signature, was decadent with its peanut butter filling and rich chocolate ganache topping. The Peanut Butter Nutella (we love peanut butter) was all things spectacular, as nutella often is. BUT, my favorite by far was the Blueberry Cheesecake. My mouth is salivating a little just thinking about the creamy cake topped with sugared blueberries. Delicious. Since this first trip, Joel and I have taken several friends and family members to Molly's, never to leave disappointed. Perhaps for date night tomorrow we will head down to grab an Intelligentsia coffee and a Molly's cupcake. A perfect date night, if you ask me.

Joel's birthday weekend in pictures

For Joel's birthday this year we drove down to Morton, Illinois to spend the weekend with the Smiths. To make our mini-vacation even more spectacular, we took the Roziers.

Wish List...

I've become quite the blog reader. Last night I was sitting at the U2 concert (pause for contented sigh) and the group I was sitting with was talking about all of the rubbish to be found on blogs. I was sitting there quietly cringing and waiting for the conversation to be done. I love reading blogs. Checking my google reader account in the morning with a full cup of coffee by my side is a highlight of my day. I love to read my girlfriend's blogs to catch up on what is happening with their fabulous lives. I scour Joy the Baker to find new recipes for dinner. I unabashedly oooh and aaah over the clever outfits in Kendi Everyday. I delight in these daily reads. I am proud to say that I finally mustered the courage to defend my stance saying, "the blogs I read are quite insightful." Take that.

One thing I love in many of the blogs I read are the wish lists. As a newly married woman, shopping is not high on the budget priority list. I am learning to be creative in my outfit choices and thrifty with the grocery bill. BUT, I so enjoy finding new fun things that if I had all of the money in the world I would purchase for my home or would give away to someone I love. Today I present to you my very first wish list...

1. Rumpel Street Boutique is a wonderful Etsy shop that sells personalized signs for your family. I love that each one is custom made with whatever words you deem fit to describe your family's history. A good friend showed my this site and I am so excited to save my pennies and buy one for the Smiths!

2. This dress is the perfect summer festival dress. Strap on some espadrilles and the outfit would be complete. I love the relaxed and slightly patriotic feel to it.

3. Yes, I shop at Target. Yes, I shop at Target so often that I think I could navigate one with a blindfold on my face. Yes, I heart Target. These shoes are perfect teacher shoes- easy to stand in for a significant period of time and spicy enough to demolish all of those jean jumper teacher stereotypes.

4. To conclude my wish list, I don't normally like to decorate in red, but I saw this rug in a CB2 catalogue at my mother-in-laws house and kept imagining how it would look in my house. 

Book Review- Bittersweet

Bad Diner Book Club's read for the month of July, chosen by the lovely Kristen Meredith, is Bittersweet by Shauna Niequist which I read mainly outside on our deck, over several cups of Intelligentsia's Breakfast Blend. Bittersweet is a collection of essays that chronicle Shauna's thoughts on marriage, her miscarriage, her husband's rough dealings with the church and her love of food. Each chapter was a small vignette with little to connect her essays together. While I loved the chapters on food and friendship, I struggled to get through this book, often finding the stories a bit slow.
I appreciated the honesty that was represented in the writing. I think her voice is likable. I want to be Shauna's  friend and eat risotto at one of her many dinner parties. I enjoyed her musings on motherhood. As a young mama, I can relate to that desire for other mothers to marvel at your multi-tasking skills and the polite nature of your child. There was a wonderful chapter on a trip she took to visit a few of her girlfriends in California. They drank lattes, talked about books and babies, took walks and sat outside by the beach with each of their respective newborns...sounds like a dream to me.
Other memories though left me feeling confused and detached. A large portion of the book was devoted to her family's relocation to Chicago after being badly burned by a church in Grand Rapids. My husband works at a very large church in the Chicago suburbs, and I could relate to her many statements about always running into people from the congregation and feeling as if your reactions to situations are on display. But, I felt like the chapters dedicated to this time in her life were a bit thin- perhaps because she spent no time on the events leading up to the run-in with the church or the event itself, but rather focused solely on her grieving. I had a hard time joining her in her grief.
I'm anxious to hear what the other bookies think about this read when we meet for book club later this month. For me, I give Bittersweet a solid B.