I have a JOB!!!

I figured it was probably time to publicly announce it.

I'm working at Chicago's Downtown Farmstand. And LOVING it.

We sell only local products- all from no more than 250 miles outside of Chicago. I get to stock shelves, taste-test sweets, meet farmers and local restaurant owners and cool customers, and tuck in the vegetables at night. And the staff are awesome. So is the food.

Oh, and I'm incredibly happy. :)

Pirates and Robbers and Mothers and Lovers

Yesterday I spent the day with the 2 and 4 year-old again. They are absolutely adorable with their imaginations running wild and their endless energy. I can't even remember all the games we played...but I do remember that I was always the bad guy: the pirate escaping from the ship, the robber running from the cops and the mother disciplining the children (yes, they actually suggested playing mother and babies?). I love kids and I love this age. AND I love that I get to be the bad guy. When I was little, as you might guess, I was the brown-nosing teacher's pet that was always telling. Well no more!

To end the day, I went to a good friend's house for dinner. Oh.My.Goodness. She roasted an entire chicken with incredible spices, braised leeks, served farmer's market apple cider and topped it off with ice cream and the ginger cake we had made awhile back. I forget how much I LOVE meat. I mean LOVE it. Chicken anyway. That's right, I'm a chicken lover and I'm not afraid to say it. Most of my diet consists of yummy (and creative) veggie meals, but sometimes a bit of chicken just hits the spot.

Today I have my second interview of the week, and I'm hoping it goes better than Tuesday's. It was a nightmare. Who ARE these crazy people, and how do I attract their attention? Is it that I'll sit and listen for 1 1/2 hours, when I know I should've run for the door after the first 5 minutes? Ugh. Well, here's hoping today's goes well!

Let Them Eat CAKE

Maggie lent me (via the library) Molly Wizenberg's book: A Homemade Life. It's full of stories and recipes that are just beautiful. Definitely my favorite so far has been her ginger cake. The combination of molasses, brown sugar and freshly grated ginger gives a taste you can't help but love.



To top it off, we made caramelized pears and glazed them over the hot cake.



Oh.My.Goodness.

ALSO, just as exciting as ginger cake is the prospect of the weekend. I'm hoping that even with babysitting and a 'real job' interview this week, I can somehow muster the time and funds to see a famous Mr. Wendell Berry speak. It would make my life, I'm sure of it. And I'd get to see some JBUers too...which would definitely make it worth the while. Here's hoping!

Early Mornings

I woke up before my alarm today. It's gotta be one of the top 5 feelings in the universe. BUT, not if it's multiple hours before. That's right 5am. Ugh. Just up and ready for the day. Well, here I come.

Yesterday I spent my entire day with 2 little people- a 4 year old named Jack and a 2 year old named Ryan. They were awesome. Though, I'm completely worn out from hours of tag, race car crashing, stroller pushing, book reading and attempts at potty training. My goodness, how do moms do it? A woman at the park asked if I was the mom or the nanny. 'NANNY!!!!' She figured, since the only people that play tag anymore are the nannies. As a mother you have to pace yourself, she said, or you wouldn't even make it to bath time. I'll remember that next time...I'm embarrassingly sore today.

In other news, Graham Greene is knocking my socks of with his short stories!

"If it was a dream it was the only dream he remembered from those years, or, if it was a story which he had elaborated at night in bed, it must have been the final effort of a poetic imagination that afterwards had been rigidly controlled. In the various services which had over the years taken him from one part of the world to another, imagination was usually a quality to be suppressed. One's job was to provide facts, to a company (import and export), a newspaper, a government department. Speculation was discouraged. Now the dreaming child was dying of the same disease as the man. He was so different from the child that it was odd to think the child would not outlive him and go on to quite a different destiny."

Here's hoping I can find a job that encourages imagination.

Rainy Days

I love rainy Saturdays. They sort of give you permission to do things you wouldn't normally spend time doing.

Today I've:

Watched The Illusionist (which I had confused with that other magic movie?!)
Rediscovered M.Ward
Read too many blog posts (thanks Joshua)
Cleaned
Read
Drank lots of black tea
Laid in bed
Found this evening's dinner recipe for ratatouille
Talked with friends

And it's only early afternoon! Rain, maybe come every Saturday?

Oh Yes We Did

I went on a two and a half week road trip including trips to Kansas to see my family, Oklahoma, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and back again. It was such a fun time to be with family and friends along the way. Here are a few pictures!

Kansas is easily one of my favorite places, and had a blast hanging out with my family. There was a lot of card playing, cooking, talking and laughing. I also got to babysit the newest addition to our family! Meet Emma, my nephew Chase's little one. Isn't she beautiful?



When we were little, my dad and grandpa built a one-bedroom cabin in the woods near Grand Lake in Oklahoma. I have so many of my favorite memories there, so it was perfect that I came on a weekend they were going down! We swam in the lake (it's much warmer than Lake Michigan!), went boating and tubing, ate incredible food cooked over the open fire and just spent fun times together. We also spent some quality time with quite a few bugs...like this one:



Amanda and I decided to take a road trip before she started school again. We thought Seattle initially, but I'm so glad that didn't work out now....we had more time to see such cool things going only half the distance! The drive through Colorado was one of the most exciting parts of our trip. I thought we both were going to fall over when we caught a glimpse of the first mountains. The sky was the bluest I had ever seen and the mountains were breathtaking!



We camped in Yellowstone for 4 days- and saw incredible places. There was too much beauty to even take in. I would definitely recommend going, if you've never been!



We ended the trip visiting our aunt and uncle in Billings, Montana. Our grandparents were visiting at the same time, so we spent most of the time talking, sharing recipes, hearing stories from the sheep-herding days and just enjoying each other's company over coffee (which Amanda and I had been missing like CRAZY!).



Missing being on the road, but also glad to be back. More pictures to come! :)

R&R

Heading to the lake this weekend with my family to fish, sleep, cook out, swim, boat and breathe deeply.

THEN, heading to Yellowstone with my favorite sister for a week! Ahhhh!!!!

Oh life, how good you are to me. :)