Happiness is...

"The world was hers for the reading."

- Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

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First with the waxing and now this.

After nearly 30 years on the spectrum between "being aware" to "actually caring" what my hair looks like, I'm still trying to coax it into behaving the way I think it should. I don't think that's too unreasonable. Unfortunately, trying to transform my locks into the vision I have for them Takes. So. Freaking. Long. The critical part of the process is blow-drying. What really doesn't help is that I loathe blow-drying my hair. It's sticky-hot and time-consuming. However, I continue doing it because I have this dream that with the "right" combination of  cleverly-marketed products, the perfect round brush, and way more patience than I actually possess, I might someday achieve a mane like this one: 

And trickier still is that I not only want to achieve it that one magical time--I desire to be able to execute this long, healthy look repeatedly. AND within a reasonable amount of time because getting it wet and washing away all of that hard work is necessary and constant. {sigh} Now get this: I live in The South these days. With that comes humidity (a LOT of it). With humidity comes BIG problems with my tresses. BIG, as in: frizzy, fluffy, dry, unmanageable, everlasting-ponytail, BIG. Having spent a short amount of time in places where there is a lot of humidity (Florida, Cancun, Costa Rica) I can tell you with certainty that even after spending an obscene amount of time "fixing" my hair, it ends up looking like this:

Which brings me (finally) to the point: Is it worth the astronomical price to find a new salon in Charlotte (an overwhelming task in itself) in order to get a professional Brazilian Blowout? 

The Brazilian Blowout, while offering incredibly smooth locks, substantially shorter drying time, conditioning benefits to the hair shafts {giggling} follicles, retirement of the flat iron, and the greatly-increased possibility of achieving "The Mane," does not come without controversy. Aside from the price (between $150-$600, depending on the length and thickness of hair) BBs have been under scrutiny regarding the labeling of their products as "formaldehyde-free" when in fact, during the application process, traces of formaldehyde can be detected. It can be said that the scientific community is in agreement that stylists and salon owners who are exposed daily to these fumes increase their risk for health-realted problems including headaches, dizziness, rashes, etc. Whether this is any more deleterious to your health than say, teaching biology to 8th graders in the 80s, is unclear. Certainly, for the salon client who has this treatment performed 2-3 times/year, the health hazard is minimal. Which brings us full-circle: Do I invest in the Blow Job or not? Thoughts?

(Image 1 via Natasha.Elena // Image 2 via The Bedouin // Image 3 via BeautyInfoZone)

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Things I Love Thursday // 4.11.13

Here is a collection of some of the things I have been loving lately. Enjoy!

• Makeup tutorials by Tanya Burr on her fabulous YouTube channel. I've been watching and trying to replicate some of these techniques and "looks" for over a year now--sometimes with great success, even. The tutorials are step-by-step and so easy to follow. It's fun to play with makeup every now and then for special events and watching these help me remember to mix it up sometimes and get out of my daily ruts.
• Honey-sweetened Greek yogurt with granola for breakfast.
• This picture that I snapped of Linda and Piper during our recent trip to Asheville, North Carolina. It is beyond sweet and I love that Linda is rocking her beautiful, natural head. Cheers to beating cancer!

•  My crock pot. (There is a HIGH probability that my husband is rolling his eyes as he reads this bit.) Thanks to a detailed "nudge" from my friend, Gretchen, I have begun prepping and freezing some delicious meals in advance. I've done this on three different occasions resulting in about 15 meals. It is so easy to grab one and get is started mid-morning for a tasty, homemade meal come dinnertime. I look forward to sharing some of the most successful dishes with you soon.
• When the girls decide to dress similarly to one another. It's a very sweet and simple demonstration of the friendship that is growing between them.
• Our screened patio off the back of the house. It's a nice place to spend a weekend morning or any evening. From what I hear, I'm really going to appreciate it when those disgusting BIG southern bugs make their appearance.

•  Fresh-cut flowers. It's funny, despite the fact that a lot of the house is still in an awkward shamble (missing critical furniture elements, showcasing cardboard boxes, surfaces sprinkled with items that haven't found their new "home" yet) when I put a vase of fresh flowers on the countertop, dresser, or side table, I feel much more content in the space. I highly recommend picking up two or three of those $3-$4 "growers bunches" at the grocery store and getting creative with jars and vases. Happy Spring!
• Soft boiled eggs
• This lantern from a neighborhood store. I covet it. I actually visit it. It would look amazing in my dining room; It really would.

•  Tip-toeing back into fitness. I'm nowhere near my "Oregon routine" when it comes to weekly visits to the gym (Oh, how I miss Group Kick!) but I have made an appearance or two at our neighborhood gym and it has felt really good--and then really bad (in that awesome sore way that we all love).
• Reading before bed. 
• Having only one television in the house that is nowhere near where 90% of our "living" is done.
• Being within "riding distance" to the nearest grocery store.

• Rocking chairs on the front porch.
• Homemade bubbles.
• Routinely joining the girls at school to have lunch together at their classroom tables among their new friends.
• Having warm enough weather in early April to allow for some fun with the garden hose before dinner.

• Writing again.

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The Queen City | Charlotte, North Carolina

Charlotte is named after Princess Charlotte, Queen of Consort to George III of England, and therefore nicknamed, "The Queen City." It is also the place we currently call, "home." The Company made an offer and we couldn't refuse. 

It was very hard to leave our friends and the community we have grown to love in West Linn, Oregon. However, we realized that one of the best things about our time in the Pacific Northwest was landing there five years ago and starting "from scratch" in a town where we had new friends to make, places to explore, and a climate to learn. Well, here we are again. I think that the anticipation of this new adventure helped to overshadow the difficulty of saying goodbye to the friends we love. Now we've been here almost two months. It doesn't quite feel like HOME yet, but it is feeling less difficult to imagine this being our home now.

The girls are making a place for themselves in their new school while maintaining a connection to their Oregon lives through letters and emails with friends on the west coast. I am amazed by their courage and resilience, proud of their kindness and curiosity, and delighted by the bond between them that seems to have increased tenfold since we arrived here in February. 

Greg is tackling the job and getting to know his new team. It has not been without challenges. I am grateful that he is the kind of person who is able to leave work at work and focus on family when he is home. Our weekends are full of mini-explorations: new restaurants, bike rides, and afternoons at the park. On the weekends, we are also finding lots of time to settle into the house. We enjoy utilizing the screened porch for coffee in the morning and drinks in the evening. 

I stay busy unpacking boxes (so many boxes!), learning to live in this beautiful, funky, old house and trying to create a home where everyone can enjoy a soft landing at the end of the day. Greg's mom, Linda, has been here with us for most of our time so far. Linda has been a great help in getting rooms organized and motivating me to tackle the next project. I look forward to sharing some of what we've been up to on the blog really soon.

(Image 1 via Keller Williams // Image 2 via Patrick Schneider // Image 3 via Patrick Schneider)

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Vacation Post Part I: Palm Springs

We just enjoyed a great family vacation to sunny (SUNNY and warm) California. This photo-heavy post covers our first four days in Palm Desert.

This is our third annual sun-seeking vacation to the Palm Springs area. This year, we followed our PS tour with a trip to Disneyland. After editing down our photos from the trip, I decided it was probably best to split the trip into two separate blog posts. 

Who's excited to be on their way to
California?

This year, we stayed at the Marriott Shadow Ridge resort.

Guess who loved their first day: swimming, visiting with Grandma Lulu, and the 90 degree weather?

Spontaneous Celebration:

She's singing and dancing in her underwear.

Breakfast, Morning, day two:

swimming,

swimming, 

swimming.

My Little Mermaid

 Followed by: 

Sunshine,

blue skies,

poolside cocktails,

lunch.

 Afternoon Activities:

Counting wild jackrabbits...

Did you know that rabbits breed-- a LOT? 

... Heading to Grandma's house,

enjoying wine and appetizers...

... Visiting through the kitchen window.

Closing the night with:

Dinner out.

Fun. Fun. Fun.

Day Three:

Breakfast of champions,

cartoons,

coffee...

Oh yeah... those are Honey Nut.

 ... More swimming, 

swimming,

water slides,

swimming.

WooHoo!

Yea!

(Insert: Cocktails, lunch, book-reading in the sun) 

Next up:

Cool bath,

afternoon naps,

a few games on the Kindle Fire.

 Then dinner with Grandma!

Day Four:

Lounging on the patio in the morning sun in our pajamas,

coffee,

Cheerios...

... making sketches of nature.

Geneva found a really cool sketch book.

Followed by a GIANT chess game between Geneva and Greg.

Directing Piper where to move her
pieces.

Can you guess what we did next?

Yes!

Swimming,

swimming...

... flips and tricks.

Backward!

Foreword!

 (Insert: Cocktails, lunch, baths, naps, dinner with Lulu and a late bedtime.)

Day Five: Departure (sad),

heading to Disneyland next (happy).

Morning visit and a breakfast date with Lulu.

Nature sketching while we waited for our breakfast order.

"Look out, Mickey! Here we come!"

"Thanks, Palm Springs! It's been fabulous!"

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Neighborhood Wine Tasting

As I've mentioned countless times, I feel so lucky to have wound up in a neighborhood full of fun, outgoing, socially motivated, creative people. We have so much fun!

Every other month, we get together (rotating hosts) and have Wine Club. Each couple brings two bottles of the same wine and a complimenting appetizer. It's delightful. There's usually a theme: "Argentinian Reds with Latin Appetizers," "Crisp Whites with Light Fare," "Blood and Carnage" (Old Vine Zinfandels with meat-heavy appetizers), etc.

For April, we did "Red Blends with Favorite Appetizers," hosted by the Jordan family.

The Lineup

Because the appetizer direction was loosely defined, we had a wide variety of snacks to nosh on while we sipped, savored, and evaluated our beverages. We did end up with two platters of lamb chops--but NO ONE was complaining. ;) I made my mom, Debbie's recipe for Buffalo Chicken Dip (with a couple small modifications). The recipe can be found at the bottom of this post.

Buffalo Chicken Dip*

Blondies:

Michele and Miffy

Grays (one more than the other):

Sean and Greg

Brunettes:

Me and Gretchen

Golden Tones:

Amy and Chris

And to be clear, I did NOT intend to capture the guests in photographs that could be captioned and categorized by hair color! What's up with that? :)

More snacks:

Savory Tarts

We eat well.

Bacon Cheeseburger Puffs

The winner by a landslide, Zerba Cellars "Wild Z" red blend from Walla Walla Valley, Washington ($20/bottle).

The "Bottoms Up" Winner!

No one's favorite: pro-mis-Q-ous ($10/bottle)

Too Sweet!

Looking forward to June Wine Club...
Cheers!

*Buffalo Chicken Dip Recipe

16 oz. Cream Cheese

1 cup Chunky Bleu Cheese Dressing

1 cup Frank's Hot Sauce

1 cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded

12-15 oz. Rotisserie Chicken meat, shredded

Put everything into a pan and heat until melted, transfer to a chafing dish or small crock pot to keep warm.

Serve with celery sticks or Frito Scoops.

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Recipe Review | Maple-Glazed Salmon

I started making this recipe several months ago. It is WAY overdue for some Blog Props. 

It's one of our favorites. Not only is it delicious (melt-in-your-mouth-delicious), it's super easy to prepare and very quick from the fridge to the plate. In fact, if you take my advice and double (or triple) the spice mixture, saving some for future usage, you'll cut your prep time down even further: approximately 10 minutes start to finish. Pair that with a simple salad and quick-cooking polenta and you have a delicious, healthy, impressive, dinner in about 15 minutes.

The recipe is from an older issue of Cooking Light (September, 2010). I keep all of my issues and enjoy looking through them for new recipe ideas. I'm really glad I keyed-in on this one recently after overlooking it the first time through my issue.

What you need:

~

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon ground ancho chile powder

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

4 (6-ounce) Alaskan salmon fillets

2 tablespoons real maple syrup

What to do:

~

1. Preheat broiler

2. Combine first 6 ingredients; rub spice mixture evenly over flesh side of fillets. Place fish on a broiler pan (or lined baking sheet) coated with cooking spray; broil 6 minutes. Remove from oven and brush with syrup; broil 1 minute more.

Alaskan Salmon from Costco

 I like to buy my Alaskan salmon from Costco. It's fresh, flavorful, boneless and skinless. I can cut my steaks as wide as I choose and if I don't want to cook all of it, the rest freezes really nicely.

Tucked-under

 I find that with Alaskan salmon especially, there tends to be an edge and/or end of the fillet that is much thinner than the rest of the steak. I always tuck this part under the steak so that the overall thickness of the piece of fish is uniform. That way, the fish is cooked more evenly throughout--so don't be shy about bending and folding your fish!

Gettin' Spicy!

 Most of the spices required for this recipe are already in your spice rack, I'm sure. If you find you cannot locate "Ancho Chile" powder in your grocery store, feel free to substitute it for more of the regular chile powder. 

I happened to have an amazing Moroccan spice blend from a local company, Dulcet, in my spice cupboard. Many of the ingredients in the Moroccan blend are also found in this recipe (chile, paprika, sugar, cumin, salt). In addition, the Moroccan has ginger, cinnamon, saffron, turmeric, garlic, and coriander. I have had this recipe with and without the addition of the Dulcet Moroccan spice mixture--both are delicious... But I have to say that the addition of the saffron, ginger, and cinnamon flavors from the Moroccan blend add to the outcome. I highly recommend you get your own HERE ($6).

Add caption

 Generously sprinkle the top side of the fish with your seasoning mixture and pop it under your well-heated broiler. I move my broiler rack down a bit so that the top of the fish is approximately 5-6 inches from the broiler coils.

Do NOT flip your fish. They only need to cook on the one side to be evenly done throughout.

After exactly 6 minutes, take your fish out and brush on the maple syrup. Please, learn the difference between pancake syrup and real maple syrup before you ruin your fish!

Use the one on the RIGHT

 Once coated, it's back under the broiler for 60 seconds more.

The spices get "frisky" and the maple syrup gets crispy and caramely (I just made that word up) under the heat. The fish is perfectly done in the 7 minutes: tender, medium, rich in texture. 

This night, with Spinach Salad and Creamy Polenta.

Although every member of my family flips for this salmon, we usually only go through 4-5 steaks during dinner. The typical fillet from Costco will make between 5-8 steaks, depending on the size of the piece of fish you buy. I suggest you prepare ALL of your salmon and save the extras in the fridge. We always follow-up with Salmon Caesar Salad later in the week and the leftovers are delicious!

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