Quiet June Moments
Sunday was Julie's 50th birthday celebration, which had a Star Wars theme so of course I had to dress appropriately. We did a paint + sip followed by a fancy private lunch at Maggiano's.
We were supposed to spray stars by flicking the brush at the canvas, but clearly mine had too much water so it all ran down, looking more like rain or weathering than stars, but it's still kind of cool.
I might need to get a blacklight for the number of these I've done that look good under a blacklight . . .
Another guest got humorous with it 😂
Always fun to see how differently everyone's art comes out working from the same prompt.
My look: going for Episode VIII Rey, but with my Star Wars t-shirt.
Masks also provided!
VERY cool cake!
Plus she also got her own birthday cheesecake!
I wasn't able to eat any of the set appetizers, but I could have an adapted salad course, one of the mains (grilled salmon with a garlic lemon sauce), and two of the three sides (broccoli and garlic mashed potatoes). I couldn't have the set desserts or the fancy cake, but they made me a creme brulee special! Sometimes you miss out with the dietary restriction; occasionally you come out better.
After a busy first week of vacation, this week has been more relaxed than last. I've spent a lot of time at home taking care of business: contacting and hosting contractors for quotes, taking care of the yard and garden, and running errands but also picking back up on some regular exercise and getting a daily nap 💪
Last night I did have Patience and Matthew over for a Levantine meal of shakshuka (with probably too much bell pepper but it was still tasty), tabbouleh (with quinoa in place of bulghur), and hummus-- things I crave as the weather gets hot! We then sat outside until it got dark and too buggy, since even as it's gotten hotter and more humid during the day, the evenings have remained pretty temperate.
It's also been a good (and early!) year for fireflies, which is heartening as I was hearing for a long time that their numbers are dwindling. I've seen more of them in my backyard this summer than the cicadas, which aren't as abundant in the city.
Lucy in her new (present from Heather) sunshine outfit for June. She is a little too thicc for it 😅
But I also really need this:
A little all-bark no-bite summer storm earlier in the week. Nothing big for us this week, though Jessica got slammed with multiple warnings (ultimately 7 tornadoes hit the area) a couple days ago in Baltimore-- ironically just hours after she shared an article about how what we call "tornado alley" is changing (which has been known in weather circles for a while now). She and Tiffany are always saying they couldn't live where I do because they would hate having the risk of tornadoes, but tornado alley is shifting so much (plus Saint Louis city proper barely gets the bad stuff? That heat island effect!) the classic assumptions about where you are safe are no longer necessarily true. According to the map Jessica shared, our risk is about equal now-- but I live where there's sirens and most people have basements 🤷♀️ I do reassure her, though, that most East Coast tornadoes are weaker EF0/EF1s, in which the key is really to just be indoors and away from windows. (She doesn't have a basement). At least it's VERY unlikely she'd get a monster storm that would flatten a house.
Ezio is so clingy with me now that I'm home all day. Aren't you sick of me?
Behold! A new Doritos flavor-- 5 years after I first tried mustard-flavored chips in Switzerland. They had a very heavy horseradish note, but I love me some hot mustard (McDonalds hot mustard-- not honey mustard! though that's okay-- has been my go-to since I was a literal toddler, lol).
'Tis also the season for homemade pickled red onion to go on a salad with arugula, goat cheese, and balsamic. A side of cottage cheese because that's been the easiest, cheapest way to boost my protein intake lately.
Weird plant in my garden. We did get an eclipse this spring, should I be concerned?
Ducks on my walk in the park.
We were supposed to spray stars by flicking the brush at the canvas, but clearly mine had too much water so it all ran down, looking more like rain or weathering than stars, but it's still kind of cool.
I might need to get a blacklight for the number of these I've done that look good under a blacklight . . .
Another guest got humorous with it 😂
Always fun to see how differently everyone's art comes out working from the same prompt.
My look: going for Episode VIII Rey, but with my Star Wars t-shirt.
Masks also provided!
VERY cool cake!
Plus she also got her own birthday cheesecake!
I wasn't able to eat any of the set appetizers, but I could have an adapted salad course, one of the mains (grilled salmon with a garlic lemon sauce), and two of the three sides (broccoli and garlic mashed potatoes). I couldn't have the set desserts or the fancy cake, but they made me a creme brulee special! Sometimes you miss out with the dietary restriction; occasionally you come out better.
After a busy first week of vacation, this week has been more relaxed than last. I've spent a lot of time at home taking care of business: contacting and hosting contractors for quotes, taking care of the yard and garden, and running errands but also picking back up on some regular exercise and getting a daily nap 💪
Last night I did have Patience and Matthew over for a Levantine meal of shakshuka (with probably too much bell pepper but it was still tasty), tabbouleh (with quinoa in place of bulghur), and hummus-- things I crave as the weather gets hot! We then sat outside until it got dark and too buggy, since even as it's gotten hotter and more humid during the day, the evenings have remained pretty temperate.
It's also been a good (and early!) year for fireflies, which is heartening as I was hearing for a long time that their numbers are dwindling. I've seen more of them in my backyard this summer than the cicadas, which aren't as abundant in the city.
Lucy in her new (present from Heather) sunshine outfit for June. She is a little too thicc for it 😅
But I also really need this:
A little all-bark no-bite summer storm earlier in the week. Nothing big for us this week, though Jessica got slammed with multiple warnings (ultimately 7 tornadoes hit the area) a couple days ago in Baltimore-- ironically just hours after she shared an article about how what we call "tornado alley" is changing (which has been known in weather circles for a while now). She and Tiffany are always saying they couldn't live where I do because they would hate having the risk of tornadoes, but tornado alley is shifting so much (plus Saint Louis city proper barely gets the bad stuff? That heat island effect!) the classic assumptions about where you are safe are no longer necessarily true. According to the map Jessica shared, our risk is about equal now-- but I live where there's sirens and most people have basements 🤷♀️ I do reassure her, though, that most East Coast tornadoes are weaker EF0/EF1s, in which the key is really to just be indoors and away from windows. (She doesn't have a basement). At least it's VERY unlikely she'd get a monster storm that would flatten a house.
Ezio is so clingy with me now that I'm home all day. Aren't you sick of me?
Behold! A new Doritos flavor-- 5 years after I first tried mustard-flavored chips in Switzerland. They had a very heavy horseradish note, but I love me some hot mustard (McDonalds hot mustard-- not honey mustard! though that's okay-- has been my go-to since I was a literal toddler, lol).
'Tis also the season for homemade pickled red onion to go on a salad with arugula, goat cheese, and balsamic. A side of cottage cheese because that's been the easiest, cheapest way to boost my protein intake lately.
Weird plant in my garden. We did get an eclipse this spring, should I be concerned?
Ducks on my walk in the park.