Spring Fever

What a perfect weekend! I know that I said this last week, but it would be really great if the weekdays would go by as fast as the weekends! I often joke about how I'm ready to be at stay-at-home non-mom. Every time I say that someone comments, "Wouldn't you get bored?". The answer is simply, no. I hardly sat down at all this weekend and I still didn't get to do everything I wanted to. No, I would not get bored. It would be fantastic.

I went to the Keller Farmers Market on Saturday morning. There are vendors set up every Saturday, but I guess this was an uneventful weekend. There was only one vendor there with vegetables. Maybe in a few weeks there will be more people there to shop from. I walked around the Art House and visited a few art galleries. It was fun discovering all the little shops there.

Friday and Saturday I spent time building a little herb garden in my backyard. I planted some herbs and a few different vegetables. I have no experience in gardening and have a pretty bad track record with keeping things alive. Here's hoping for the best!

Did you know that at the Southlake Central Market they have flower bunches priced 3 for $10? I did not know this until yesterday. And the choices are beautiful! There is a good chance I'll be back next weekend for more.

I went shopping around Southlake and I was sucked in by all of the clever marketing ploys of the home decor retailers. All of the stores are covered in bright colors and I couldn't help myself! I managed to show some self restraint and only picked up a few orange and yellow plates at Crate and Barrel to compliment the green plates I already had. Pink flowers and citrus fruit helped to brighten my dining room even more!

I also made some jewelry! The yellow earrings are my new favorite. They look like sparkley lemon drops of sunshine that scream spring is in the air!

This weekend's sweet treat is another recipe from Lick the Bowl Good: Snickerdoodle Blondies. These turned out pretty good. They are not the best things I've made, but they are not the worst. They are much more cake like than fudgey, but the light cinnamon flavor is nice. They are a little crumbly much like a snickerdoodle cookie. I will have them at work tomorrow if you want to try one!

I made this stir fry for dinner tonight. It was delicious and I thought it was very pretty, so I wanted to take a picture.

The Recipe for Comfort

I sure wish the weekdays would go by as fast as the weekends. I spent most of this weekend sleeping, mainly because of benadryl, but non-stop work might have had a little to do with it, too. When I finally woke up sometime Saturday afternoon I was starving and wanted something comforting. I found a recipe on a blog I like to read and thought it would be perfect for a rainy day. I found this recipe for Crock Pot Coq au Vin on a blog called Lick the Bowl Good. This is a great blog! I appreciate how it is not fancy, just all about making good food and telling a good little story with each recipe. This picture looks gross, but this dish was delicious.

Even though I have a crafting room don't really use it to craft in. Really, I just keep all of my junk in there and take what I need to another part of my house. I have recently turned my dining table into a jewelry making station. It seems like the more I work, the more I need this beautiful mess in my house. I have been so wound up, so overworked, and so disappointed lately that this outlet is the only thing that calms me down. The angrier and more stressed out I get, the more I want to sit at this table and escape my life. When I wasn't sleeping this weekend, I was here. And the pretty flowers on the table were on my desk when I got to work last Monday. I guess I'm not doing such a great job of hiding how down I've been, so Dean cheered me up with this surprise. They definitely made the office a lot less gloomy.

The other place I love to be is in my kitchen. I found this recipe on another foodie blog I like, flagrante delicia. This blog is fancy. The pictures are stunningly beautiful. This recipe was VERY easy. It is also VERY delicious. I can't wait to share them tomorrow at work. Basically, it's a homemade Mounds bar. What is better than chocolate and coconut? Well, chocolate and peanut butter for one, but really....not much else can top this combination.

Refueling For the Road Ahead

The past few weeks I've been running on E. I've noticed a pattern in my personal gas mileage. At the beginning of each semester I run very efficiently like a Prius. I can go and go and go and I don't need to stop very often for an emotional fill up. Right now I'm running like an old farm truck - I'm not making it very far before I need to refuel. The last two weekends have been free for me to do what I please, but I'm going to be working most of the weekends between now and the end of the year. I'm worried about my sanity. And I apologize in advance for being crabby, angry, resentful, and bitter (you know, all the things you love about me). I'm going to do my best to maintain sanity, and I'm sure that with help from good friends like Jose Cuervo and Captain Morgan, I'll be just fine.

This weekend I went to the Main Street Arts Festival downtown. I'm a little mad at myself for living here for seven years and never going. Thank goodness my friend Tara opened my eyes Friday night to this wonderful event! I felt like I had found Mecca! I ended up going back Saturday and Sunday morning and spent several hours wandering around both days. Most of what was there was well out of my price range but everything was so beautiful and unique that I was transported out of band land and into a cocoon of inspiration. I got so many great ideas for projects I want to do this summer and I bought a few things that I could afford. They also had several restaurant vendors there selling a few things from their menus. I got to try Tenderloin Tamales from the Reata and a giant cream puff from a German place. I didn't have my camera on Saturday so you'll have to take my word that the tamales were excellent! On Sunday I got to sample these delights........

Pork Tacos from Embargo. I had eaten two before I remembered to take a picture. Oh. My. God. These were delicious. To quote Jennifer's nephew, I want them in my mouth. Everyday.

Apple Crisp from the Reata Restaurant. That was the best apple-anything I believe I've ever had.

This is the necklace I bought. When I saw it, I loved it, and when I saw that I could actually afford it, I was delighted. This picture sucks. It looks much better on me!

I bought a few small pictures from a photographer that I thought was really unique. You can't see from this picture how colorful and different they are.......you will have to come over for a better look.

I also went to the KHS craft show on Saturday and couldn't resist this cutesy tomato pin cushion!

Then filled with creative energy, I made a few things this afternoon.

More shoe clips for my green shoes.

Pendants inspired by jewelry I couldn't afford at the festival.

Earrings that remind me of summer citrus fruit. I want lemonade and oranges every time I look at them.

Another necklace....

So needless to say, I had a great weekend. Friends, food, and the arts - my three favorite things in the world! I hope this fuel lasts me longer this time.........

My Little Pancake Maker

I haven't had a chance to post these pictures of my niece making pancakes over spring break. She packed her apron and her chef's hat for the visit so we had to get in the kitchen to make something. She was a very good helper and makes excellent pannie-cakes (as she calls them).

Getting everything ready

Mixing the batter

Flippin' (don't worry, Vicki, she was very well supervised!)

Enjoying the finished product

Sometimes Alanis Says it Better

It's been an Alanis kind of weekend. She has been lifting my spirit since '95. After this past week of ups and downs, I needed some wise words. I am constantly at battle with myself over this love-hate relationship with my job, and of course, Alanis being the eloquent poet that she is, she says it better than me.

Incomplete by Alanis Morissette

One day I'll find relief

I'll be arrived

And I'll be friend to my friends who know how to be friends

One day I'll be at peace

I'll be enlightened and I'll be married with children and maybe adopt

One day I will be healed

I will gather my wounds forge the end of tragic comedy

I have been running so sweaty my whole life

Urgent for a finish line

And I have been missing the rapture this whole time of being forever incomplete

One day my mind will retreat

And I'll know God

And I'll be constantly one with her night dusk and day

One day I'll be secure

Like the women I see on their thirtieth anniversaries

I have been running so sweaty my whole life

Urgent for a finish line

And I have been missing the rapture this whole time of being forever incomplete

Ever unfolding

Ever expanding

Ever adventurous

And torturous

And never done

One day I will speak freely

I'll be less afraid

And measured outside of my poems and lyrics and art

One day I will be faith-filled

I'll be trusting and spacious authentic and grounded and home

I have been running so sweaty my whole life

Urgent for a finish line

And I have been missing the rapture this whole time of being forever incomplete