per usual

I've been running the roads, per usual this past week:   A friend's baby shower; St. Patrick's Day carousing; and three days at a work conference about 18th-century alcohol (yes, this is my job).  On Sunday we ventured up to Alexandria, Virginia to meet up with my cousin, his wife, and their son for a brunch with Grandma and the rest of my family.  We were ten people sharing good food and brushing cat hair off our butts (poor Jessica and Amy and their allergies).  Good times, but too short a visit.

Tomorrow I've taken the day off of work in celebration of my 35th birthday.  I always take my birthday off, but because it falls on a Saturday this year, I figured Friday would work too.  The highlight:  opening night viewing of The Hunger Games with the beau and some friends.  And who knows what else I'll get myself into...

Twisty

My, my, time flies when you're having fun.  I've been work-work-working (had to work Sunday in addition to my normal days), so what did we do on my one day off this weekend?  We looked at old stuff (like I don't get enough of that as a museum curator, yet it was totally my idea).  The Fredericksburg Big Flea was going on this weekend and we spent a good part of Saturday trolling the aisles for deals and just having fun looking at all the goodies.  And I bought nothing except the tickets to get in.  I was slightly disappointed with the a)selection - way too much refinished furniture and b)price - I do know what things should go for, and some of these definitely weren't bargains.

Oh, but we ate too.  Yes, my life has a theme of eating, working, and looking/taking pictures of nature.  Simple life, simple loves.  But back to the eating:  Wegman's Seafood Bar.  Amazing baked spiced tofu with fresh green beans, a big glass of red wine, and we split some pretty delish bread pudding for dessert.  Yes, good food at a grocery store.  I don't know why I'm so surprised.

This twisty tree I spotted on my work patrol on Sunday and it spoke to me.  Pictures of that tree and a few crocuses popping up along the visitor path are all that have littered my camera lately.  Oh, and pictures of some desserts that I baked (yes, baked now that I have a functioning oven) for dinner with the beau tonight.  But more on that later.  If the dessert turned out...

tucked away

 

Last Thursday was a beautiful day weather-wise, and luckily it was also the day we picked to wander around Richmond (enjoying both being off work on a random weekday).  Tucked away in Byrd Park, the beau stopped the car amidst construction vehicles at the entrance to the Byrd Park Pump House and we tromped through the mud to explore the outside of the building, the canal, and surrounding pathways.  The area is well interpreted by wayside signage that details the history of the building, the use of the canal, and quarrying efforts in the vicinity.

The pump house itself, a glorious example of Gothic Revival architecture, is currently undergoing restoration, but they've uncovered the open-arched upper level on one side of the structure to illustrate how the building looked when the second floor hosted a dance hall in the late-19th and early-20th centuries.  It must have been amazing to float along the canal in your party dress and dance the night away overlooking the woods and water.  How I wish they would hurry up and complete the restoration so the tradition can start up again.

festive

A work Christmas party (complete with potluck and bingo) was one of the highlights of the weekend.  And that's pretty sad.  Otherwise, the weekend involved work and work.  This is especially hard during the holiday season when you want to be festive and friendly and all I ended up doing was wanting to take a nap!  But the weekend is over and the week is underway and that gets me closer and closer to Christmas.

I adore Christmas.  Must have been instilled in me by my mother, who always had special decorations and special music and special foods this time of year.  And my great-grandmother, Mom-Mom, who invariably had a big punchbowl of eggnog to sip while she methodically opened wrapped gifts with a letter opener.  In keeping with Mom-Mom's tradition, the grocery store tempted me with Rice Dream rice nog, which we enjoyed with a shot of Maker's Mark and sprinkling of nutmeg on Wednesday night.  Friday night was a hot buttered rum made with Earth Balance and light rum, warming us up as we watched a movie (Up in the Air, by the way).

In addition to getting the tree up and decorated, I also set about putting my growing collection of inherited cut and pressed glass to work.  Holding vintage ornaments (also inherited) and candy canes (not inherited, but definitely old and not for consumption).  Last year's holiday craft - a ribbon-wrapped wreath decorated with cutouts - went up on the living room mirror.  The living room is definitely the most festive room of the little house, although I did try to include touches in the kitchen and bathroom (yes, bathroom!) for good measure.  I have just enough decorations for the house and its four little rooms.  Whenever I move into a new (bigger!) house, I just know I'm going to have a blast decorating for the holidays.  Staircase?  Mantelpiece?  Yes, please!

Here's hoping you all had a nice, warm weekend and are all decorated for the holidays!

the little tree

 

I feel like I am constantly running around this time of year - with work programs and family events and holiday parties and shopping to do.  The little (faux) tree finally went up last evening after I arrived home from a visit to my grandmother's.  A little A Very She & Him Christmas blaring and up went the foodie-related ornaments.  The newest addition:  a butternut squash.  Guess I'm a girl of limited interests.

Speaking of limited interests, I feel like every picture I now take must be filtered through Instagram.  Everything looks better with a funky border, fuzzy lighting, and some focal point play.  So my apologies as I post yet another Instagram photograph.  I promise to post some "normal" pictures again at some point.  Maybe.

We did a little museum visiting this weekend - to the VMFA to see the new MUMMY exhibit, complete with introductory 3-D movie narrated by Patrick Stewart.  Yup.  Oh, and Egyptian themed 3-D glasses, of course.  Nah, we didn't look silly at all.

like a peacock

I'm having a difficult day.  Well, I'm having a day that is the first of many that I anticipate to stress me out a bit and make me want to drink vast quantities of red wine.  It is all work related, and while I can say it is 'just a job,' those in the non-profit world know that it is never just a job in our world.  You do it because you love it and because you believe it matters.  But I'm trying to keep my head above water and not let it get me down and realize that I don't need to take it personally.  Keep it in perspective, you know?  Be like a duck and let things just roll off me (or a peacock if you are a bit more dramatic).

So I'm thinking of all the good things I have in my life:  A loving family that is relatively (knock wood) healthy.  A wonderful set of friends that make me laugh and allow me to crash in and out of their lives.  A relationship with a boy who makes me happy.  A pair of cats that are always getting in trouble.  A roof over my head.  Oh, and a box of red wine in the fridge (that my grandmother, bless her heart, passed along to me) and some Tofutti Cutie sandwiches in the freezer.

I've been going through my England/Wales pictures today.  Trying to piece together a 20-minute presentation for our board meeting.  Hard to edit down such an incredible trip, and I'm discovering some really great pictures that make me so happy.  So beware, gentle readers, you have been warned.  More pictures to come...today from the incredible gardens at Powis Castle, Wales.

quinoa salad and fall plans

Well, I was lucky and never lost power during the hurricane.  The lights flickered and I could hear transformers surging, but power stayed on and I felt very fortunate.  My big shade tree also held her own (with a few more branches down).  Other people in the area were not as fortunate and have been enjoying cold showers and major cleanup.  My friend Cathy kept power as well and hosted a 'Perishables Party' where those without power could bring food in danger of thawing to cook and share.  It was a lot of fun - pizza, burgers, random dips, and lots of wine - and much needed stress relief after our week of natural disasters.

Although I didn't end up needing it, I did prepare food I could eat without heating:  black bean, corn, tomato, and quinoa salad based on this basic recipe (but with a little tweaking - no cilantro, scallions, or sugar; lime juice/zest instead of lemon; and adding red pepper flakes, cumin, and fresh corn cut from the cob).  Served last night for dinner on a bed of organic baby arugula.  Perfect.

Although I was lucky, my museum was not as fortunate.  No one was hurt but there was major tree damage and loss of power.  This means no climate control, which for museum people is a pretty bad thing - humidity control is key.  So I've put a nasty note on the museum entrance insisting that doors stay closed unless necessary to maintain the climate; and am keeping fingers crossed that power is restored sooner rather than later.  In the meantime, I am working from home on projects I've been putting off - like sorting pictures from my England trip!

This morning on my run I was a little chilly.  The air is still humid, but has a decidedly 'crisp' feel.  Can't wait to pull out cozy throws and the fluffy duvet for the bed.  Working on a plan with some local friends to rent a mountain cabin later this fall.  Definitely looking forward to that - warm sweater, big glass of red wine, fireplace.

oyster ice cream and rickeys

Lovely weekend in Washington, D.C. with the beau.  We are both foodies in some ways, so took a trip to see the exhibit What's Cooking, Uncle Sam? at the National Archives on Saturday afternoon.  Hot, hot walk from the hotel and long, long security line, but the exhibit was entertaining and informative and just a lot of fun.  You could really tell that the curators enjoyed themselves with the topic of governmental food regulation.  Sounds strange to say, but it's true.  Where else could you write/read a label with the phrase:  "...crimes against butter?"

We had reservations for dinner at America Eats Tavern that evening - the pop-up restaurant (in the former Cafe Atlantico space) linked to the Archives exhibit and with all proceeds benefiting the National Archives Foundation.  Good food for a good cause.  The menu reads like a history lesson of early cookery receipts and the food that resulted was a modern take on the historic dish.  For the beau (the meat eater), it was the spoonbread with oyster ice cream and caviar, the pickled sturgeon with caviar (good old Virginia-inspired recipe from Mary Randolph), and the mutton shoulder with oysters and catsups.  For me (the vegetarian), the vermicelli prepared like pudding, the Harvard beet salad, and the cobb salad (made veg).

For dessert we shared the Vermont Sugar on Snow, which was a pile of shaved ice with citrus zest and flowers that was embedded with maple candy and served tableside with pours of hot maple syrup that crystalized as you were eating.  Pretty crazy.  And made me think of that scene on the train in Holiday Inn where they are singing about snow...

The food was delightful and fun, but I was really impressed with the array of historic cocktails also being offered.  The traditional D.C. rickey was a fun start (pictured above), and my martini post-dinner was to die for.  Orange bitters = amazing.

sluggish

Okay, I know it's a snail, but I've been feeling a bit sluggish lately and this little guy seemed to understand.  Found him crawling down the side of my house the other morning when I got back from my run/walk.

Motivation is definitely a challenge right now.  The weather is nice and sunny and I'd rather be anywhere (ahem, like the beach) than sitting in my office.  Yesterday was a welcome opportunity to take a research field trip to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, where I enjoyed an alfresco lunch with the beau and then spent hours pawing through books on Chinese export porcelain in search of a certain family coat of arms and crest.  Tedious?  You bet, but a nice change of pace.

I've been lucky enough to have an extra week after the Attingham program to spend in London doing more museum site visits. It is a bit whirlwindy, but I've been enjoying myself immensely - settling into the neighborhood and picking my way about the city on the tube. The John Soane Museum, Wallace Collection, Tate Modern, Hunterian Museum, and Dr. Johnson's House have filled the last few days and more are yet to come.

That's not to say I'm not ready to be home. See my loved ones and wear some new/different clothes. But in the meantime I'll continue enjoying my British adventure.

adventures

As many of you know if you've been following my adventures on Facebook (sorry Mom), I have been attending the Attingham Summer School these past three weeks. We've been touring the English/Wales countryside (Sussex, Derbyshire, Shropshire, North Wales), visiting country houses of all sorts to view their unique architecture and collections.

Since I am armed only with my iPhone, I've not really been able to blog during our adventures (tad too time consuming). But be assured I had a wonderful time and may try to share some of the better pictures once I'm home and settled. But here is at least one little post to say hello and assure you I'm still here!

(image: Attingham Park in Shropshire - visited on our very last day)

enchanted

Yesterday was an absolutely gorgeous day in London - the sun was shining and the weather warm but with a breeze. Dressed in layers, I welcomed the opportunity to take off my cardigan and soak in some sun as I walked through Kensington Gardens. Stopping every so often to skip through fields of daisies (okay, not really, but I did wander through the fields a bit).

I took the afternoon to make my way to Kensington Palace for the Enchanted Palace tour. A turn on the traditional historic house tour (look at this pretty room full of old things, yawn), each of the open rooms provided a themed look at a person or idea found in the royal history of the palace. Given a map and a quest to find seven princesses, you wander through the spaces - listening, watching, reading, talking. I must admit I stepped into many of the rooms and just stood absorbed in the mood.

Unfortunately the orangery at Kensington Palace closed early for an event, so no tea for me. Instead, another fascinating veggie sandwich - Brie, grapes, cranberry chutney, lettuce, and mayo. A little heavy, but I'm determined to give them all a try!

really, truly

I'm not a runner by any stretch of the imagination.  My head gets in the way.  But recently I've been doing it a bit more and walking a bit less. And I hate to admit it, but I'm actually enjoying it.  And am understanding that running gets easier the more you do it.  I am being careful to not push myself, though, because I still want to really, truly enjoy my morning routine.  A little Kate Nash on the iPod, an early morning jaunt, and getting to enjoy nature a bit before my day begins.  Especially views of the canal that runs near my house.  This morning with a pair of ducks swimming about.

The farmers' market in town has been in pretty full swing for weeks now, but my CSA farm share doesn't get rolling until this Saturday.  I have paid my deposit and picked up my bag (a cute canvas one this year) and am getting excited.  Inspired by this article in the kitchn recently.  Get ready for some major veggie/fruit overload in the next few posts.  Or maybe not.  We'll see what comes in the bag this first go-round.

We have our summertime batch of interns arriving now at work.  Four ladies for the next ten weeks or so.  I always enjoy having young people around - they are always full of verve (yes, verve) and remind me why I love my job so much.

Poplar Forest and slushy

May has flown by - filled with busy days at work and busy days with friends and family.  This holiday weekend I had a blast at a friend's barbeque and enjoyed a visit with my parents.  Made Southern Comfort slushy for the party and sent some home with my mother.  She used to make the slushy for neighborhood cookouts when I was growing up and for her regular "Gone with the Wind" parties (which I naively assumed as a child was centered around movie-watching, but as an adult I can now imagine was more for the slushy and just hanging out with friends).

Southern Comfort Slushy

(Source:  my mother who got it from who-knows-where)

4 tea bags

2 cups boiling water

2 cups sugar

7 cups cold water

1 1/2 cups Southern Comfort (or bourbon)

1 12 ounce can frozen orange juice

1 6 ounce can frozen lemonade

Steep tea bags in boiling water for three minutes.  Remove bags and add sugar.  Add cold water, bourbon, orange juice, and lemonade.  Mix until combined.  Freeze until firm.  Spoon into cups and enjoy as it melts in this 90+ degree weather...

The parents and I trekked out to Lynchburg, Virginia to visit Poplar Forest, taking the house tour and also enjoying the GPS landscape tour that adds a little extra information to what you can see and read.  It seems like I should be sick of house museums on my days off, but I'm not.  I cannot, however, turn off my 'curator mode' and just enjoy the experience as a regular person.  Need to work on that a bit before my England house marathon....

fleeting

In lieu of baby pictures, I tend to take flower and food pictures.  I apologize to all who will invariably sigh and say, oh another picture of squash. Or in this case poppies.  But I must admit that growing things in my garden seems still like such dumb luck that I feel the need to document my good fortune.  And the garden is ever-changing this time of year - the poppies budding in the beginning of the month bloomed and have since fallen just two weeks later.  Fleeting moments.  So you'll just have to keep sighing and put up with it.  Thank you in advance.

I cannot recall for the life of me much of what has been occupying my time over the last couple of weeks except for an especially busy (and emotionally-draining) time at work and a bit of a family emergency with my 89-year-old grandmother.  But with things settling back down a bit, I've been enjoying the sense of calm that comes after such a storm.

On Thursday I was off from work and enjoyed the beautiful! weather with Elizabeth and L. and their beautiful children.  A picnic in the park and then some antiquing with L. in downtown Fredericksburg.  For our main picnic fare I made a version of this particular pasta salad recipe (using edamame instead of peas), which I really thought called for WAY too much feta cheese, but L. and Elizabeth insisted it was balanced by the acid/lemon.  So a somewhat success.

Chilly and rainy weekend ahead.  The grass needs a good mowing (with my new electric lawn mower!) but will have to hold off until it dries out a bit.  I DO need to get the snap peas into the garden, though.  The seedlings are going hog-wild on the kitchen table and I'm afraid they'll link up with the ceiling fan if I don't get them outside and on a trellis asap.

spotted

~ My wonderful coworker Abby surprised me with a do-it-yourself terrarium kit from Warm Country Meadows (on etsy).  Since I work in a museum environment, I cannot have live plants in my work space.  Hopefully greenery encased in glass will pass muster.  But for now it sits on my kitchen counter, making me smile.  Love the little red and white spotted mushroom.  The process of putting it together was simple - stones, charcoal, soil, moss, decorate, and spritz with water.  It's a little misty inside there right now, making it look like a magical little world.  Thanks Abby!

~ We're installing a new exhibit at work, which is always my more stressful time.  It is sometimes so hard to envision layouts of objects, but I've been using Google SketchUp, which certainly helps with seeing the three-dimensional vision.  I spent four hours a few days ago just covering platforms with fabric.  Thank goodness for an electric staple gun.

~ The farmers' market has started up again in the city and I've meandered through the past two Saturdays to see what's what.  Just a handful of vendors, but I'm very excited for the start of fresh vegetables again.  In my own garden, I still need to get my seeds planted, but have high hopes for this weekend - I am actually in town and without major plans, which will be a nice change of pace.  I did have a chance to make a trip to the dump to pick up free mulch though, so I'm all ready to get cracking on garden work.

~ I am absolutely, utterly in love with Adele.  Have been playing her music nonstop during my long commute.  Generally belting out the songs as we go along.

Snow, soup, and Marmion

My recent trip to New York seems like a semi-distant memory, fading slowly away like my Wicked manicure. A few years ago I spent almost two weeks working at my museum's loan exhibit at the Winter Antiques Show, so returning to the show also meant I could revisit at least one of my favorite foodie haunts. With limited time, I sadly skipped Alice's Tea Cup and instead ran to Hale and Hearty for a steamy bowl of curried cauliflower and chickpea soup. Perfect for warming me after a trek in the snow.

The last evening in the city caught me roaming the galleries of the Metropolitan Museum of Art into the night, running through a snowstorm from the subway to lose myself in the period rooms for hours. Aside from playing with the iPad exhibit labeling, I also stood quietly for a few minutes, soaking in the painted paneling of the Marmion parlor from King George County, Virginia (just down the road from Fredericksburg). Paneled circa 1756 and painted circa 1770-1780, the room comes alive with urns and swags of flowers that skip across doorways and frame beautiful pastoral scenes. Sigh.

And then back on the train for the trip home. Swathed in my bamboo wrap, watching the snow-covered world go by, and losing myself in the gardens of Versailles.

lunch: guacamole, carrots, and bubbly water

I work from home one day a week. During the 2010 fall semester, this was also the day I taught class and had office hours, which really changed my work-from-home dynamic. Now I am back to normal which includes starting my work day in my slippers around 7am, lunching mid-day, and then chugging through until early evening. I generally get more done at home (mainly reading and writing) than I ever hope to get through when actually in the office, which I know is the key reason so many companies now allow telecommuting - productivity is higher.

Besides the productivity and the ability to work in my slippers, I mostly enjoy the fact that I get to fix lunch in a real kitchen. Today it was carrots and tortilla chips and homemade guacamole. Add a big glass of bubbly water and part of a Top Chef rerun during the lunch break and I was in heaven.

Wish all days could be like this, but alas, can't move the entire museum collection to my living room. It just wouldn't fit.

winter solstice & snow angels

Last night I set the alarm for 3:15am. The peak of the lunar eclipse was hitting at 3:17am and I wasn't about to miss out on seeing a total lunar eclipse on the winter solstice. Trudging out in the backyard in my pjs, I hoped that I might be able to find the moon and its bright orange glow amidst the street light glare. Unfortunately my next-door neighbor decided to leave his back porch light on, which diminished the drama of it all, but I did see the moon and it was pretty neat. Floating in the cloudy night sky like a big ball of glowing embers.

Winter has arrived with a vengance here in coastal Virginia and we are anticipating a white Christmas this year (possibly with 20 inches of snow if you listen to our farm manager at the museum). I'm not a huge fan of snow - driving it in; shoveling it; trudging through it after it is dirty and slippery. But I am a huge fan of snow angels. Looking back through last December's photographs, I came across this one - taken at work during a romp in the snow with a coworker (to take pictures for our work Facebook page, so totally work-related). It made me smile and remember why winter is pretty wonderful sometimes.

rosy

A group of us gals got our craft on again last night and made pine cone elves just like Martha (or close enough). I'm getting ready to head into the museum this afternoon for our big Christmas program and plan on bundling up. Not a cold weather fan (unless I'm inside, looking out the window and snuggled up with a blanket), I have my hat, gloves, and warm socks all planned. Here's hoping my cheeks don't get as rosy as this little elf.