Merry merry

Here's the entry to a post I started about our Maui honeymoon:

A salty kiss in the ocean. Ham and pineapple scrambled eggs. $5 bags of WA apples. Mango smoothie breakfasts. Retirees. Newlyweds. Kindles on the beach. Apple bananas.





And the post sat for months, as I intended to tell you so much more. I finally see that those things sum up Hawaii for us: surprising, yet sweet and gentle. By now our tan lines have disappeared, and our swimwear couldn't be more buried in our closet. We've substituted apple bananas for clementines, and our swimwear for wool and cashmere.




The sunshine has been replaced by our Christmas lights, both on our tree and those scattered throughout our living room. Our days are much shorter (and busier!), but we're excited spending our first 'married' Holiday season together.




Happy Holidays. Eat, drink, and be merry!

We're Home

Some things don't need many words to explain. The wedding was great, guests even better, and we're slowly building on our home together. Young and happy! Here are a few shots from our home.



Apple tart to bring in fall.




My wedding bouquet.




What our movie nights looked like before our new couch.




... after couch(es).

What I Know

'Write what you know.' That was the mantra rehashed by my journalism professors year after year. That, and 'omit needless words.' Since using the latter as a theme for this post would produce a snooze-fest, let's go with the first. Plus it's back-to-school season--what better way to pay homage to those old profs than listing a few things I now know since leaving my Alma mater. Here goes:

Good listeners are almost always well-liked.

A misshappen vegetable is a sign of a quality product.




A good heel can make a $20 pair of slim Levis look like a million bucks... or actually more like $30.

When in doubt, choose black or white.

Practice makes (almost) perfect.

If my cupboards were filled only with ramekins, I would be just fine.




The most essential kitchen item is a sharp knife.

"Fake it 'till you feel it," actually works.

I like 'having tea', but I don't really like tea itself.

No matter how silent they are, Coldplay will always be quietly churning out a fabulous album.

Never underestimate the power of a (or five) white Hanes cotton t-shirt as a closet staple.

The New Yorker on the iPad has to be one of the best releases in 2011 yet.





What about you? What do you know?

Time for Morning

Joining a vanpool for my work commute has several benefits, time-savings being a major one. (Learning about the best Costco-buys from my fellow vanpoolers being another.) But if I'm honest, it's having time for a coffee routine that has me thanking the Metro Transit gods.




Not being in such a hurry has surfaced simple pleasures previously overlooked, like the coziness of rumpled bedsheets.




Here's to another week of bedsheets, a routine coffee, and other simple pleasures.

A Few Favorites

A bright blue linen dress from a thrift store and a new striped Echo scarf, just a few things I've been enjoying now that summer has begun. The list below has also given extra sunshine to my days:

- This Ice Cream Book
- Coldplay's new single
- Whole Living Magazine
- Local beer with frozen peas as impromptu ice cubes. (The beer was warm and I wouldn't have any of that! The peas were great to nibble in between sips.)
- This Book
- Finding Nelly Furtado in the deep grooves of my iTunes library
- Finding a compact version of the Fannie Farmer Cookbook for $7

It Should Be

Today felt like June should. Warm air, flip flops, fresh fruit, sun dress, wine, nap under a tree. The air smelled of smiles, if you can imagine it.




It didn't come easy. Unimpressed with Seattle's June weekend clouds, we packed a lunch and headed east to the heart of Washington's wine country- Yakima. An icy bottle of Pinot Gris welcomed us, along with soft grass, and a shade-offering tree.




I got to spend time with this guy, my best friend and husband come September. No amount of sun dresses or fresh fruit can top spending time with him. He's my personal encyclopedia, is quick to vacuum, appreciates good tea, and makes me feel very pretty. Just how it should be.

Chocolate Caramel Tart

I wish I could sit here, on the brink of summer berry season, and wax on about the jams, pies, and tarts that will soon be finding their way to us. Truth is, I'd much rather have an apple than a piece of apple pie. A good bowl of blueberries splashed with cream can't be beat (especially when you smash the berries with the back of your spoon and infuse the cream with berry juice).

But when it comes to dessert, I go for the chocolate.




Which is why, on the last weekend of May, when the local rhubarb could have been transformed into any number of things, I decided to make Amanda Hesser's chocolate caramel tart. You wouldn't believe, but the showstopper here is neither the chocolate or the caramel. It's the sea salt--those flecks of goodness you see sprinkled above. I would even argue it makes chocolate a bit more summery, brightening up the flavor and adding some life.


Life-enhancing salt aside, below is what I got for taking these photos too close to my fiances desk, who looked over and noticed the tart had a 'smile' and proceeded to poke his finger in two times so 'it' could have eyes too.

Boys.



We were high on sunshine; I guess I don't blame him. (If you scroll back up to the first photo, you'll likely see the cracking smile that he saw, too.) Here's to a summer full of smiles--and chocolate!