Here & Now

Enjoying a Favorite

Martha Stewart's magazine has a monthly feature called "Good Things."  It is always the section I flip to first in the magazine, especially during the July issue, when its pages are full of patriotic-themed ideas.  If I were part of this magazine, I would skip a lot of the red, white and blue crafts and instead put the Fourth of July holiday itself on this list.  I love the Fourth, and I think it is one of those really good things in life. 

This year, I spent the holiday weekend in Minnesota, trekking between the cabin on the St. Croix and the Ertel's lake home.  The result was 5 days full of good things. Here are a few of my favorite good things:

• Reading Dan Brown books (me: Da Vinci Code, John: Angels and Demons) next to the water.
• Sunning on the dock with Jenna on Thursday.
• Experiencing an outdoor activity each day.   Mom, Jenna and I kayaked the "short run" of the Kinnickick River, to its mouth into the St. Croix.  We all enjoyed jet-skiing...until John broke the machine on Sunday, that is.  We walked with Dakota and we took a number of boat rides. 
• Taking the Ertel's fishing boat to the other side of the lake and dining on a picnic lunch.  
• Eating really well-done grilled pizza (no homemade crust this year for simplicity, which resulted in some grilling difficulties) for dinner on the Fourth, with a nature-inspired table setting that belonged in 'Martha Stewart Living.'  We concluded the holiday night by watching seven different fireworks displays from the comfort of our own beach.  
• Snapping my cousin Jasha's senior pictures.  Jenna and John were terrible assistants; luckily, their antics got a a few laughs from him.
• Drinking champagne blended with lemon sorbet.  Delicious.
• Playing Password as it rained during an afternoon (what vacation of mine is complete without a little poor weather?).  Of course, Dad and I (with Jenna's friend Julie's help) won.

In the midst of all of these activities, the most enjoyable part was spending time with those I love most.  It is the best good thing of all.

Media on My Mind

Reading ... Angels & Demons by Dan Brown.  I was a total skeptic about Dan Brown books when they were all the rage (at the time, I was in London and everyone on the Tube had a Dan Brown in hand) - typically, books loved by all are not books I love.  Speed forward 5 years, to a few weeks ago, when I saw a History Channel special on the Angels & Demons movie.  I was fascinated - and thought I had better give this book a try.  It was well worth it.  The book was a page-turner, couldn't-set-it-down type and I was pleasantly surprised at how well written it was.  DaVinci Code is next on my list.

Watching ... My Life in Ruins.  Simply fabulous!  See it now!  It has laughter, romance, inspiration and amazing footage of Greece.  One of my must-own movies.

Listening ... Michael Buble Meets Madison Square Garden.  It's Michael.  What else do I need to say?  He is always entertaining and always on my iPod.

For Today: June 22

A simple idea to capture today from The Simple Woman's Daybook 

Outside my window... the june bugs are dying as a result of John spraying for bugs earlier this week. 

I am thinking...about my team at work, Danielle and Jeri Lynn, & keeping on track with my finances.

I am thankful for... John's last-minute trip to Atlanta this last weekend &  all of his insights into life.

From the kitchen... two good leftovers: stuffed peppers and grilled BBQ chicken pizza.

I am wearing... to work: a navy sweater and my favorite brown/gray pants; at home: long comfy shorts

I am creating... a few scrapbooking pages from old photos.  An exercise regiment of at least 30 minutes daily.

I am going...to go to bed early.  A new goal.

I am reading... First, Break All the Rules.  Just finished Angels and Demons, which was great.

I am hoping...that I start to meet a few more people here in Atlanta.

I am hearing... my DVR-ed shows playing in the living room.

Around the house...the vacuum is sitting in the hallway, waiting to destroy any bugs that come in.

One of my favorite things...is all of the conveniences in my neighborhood.

A few plans for the rest of the week...work, dentist, exercise, sleep, scrapbooking.

A picture to share...

A Picture for Today

Summer in the South

Today is June 2nd and here in the South, summer has officially arrived.  It may be weeks away on the calendar and it may feel totally foreign to this Midwest girl, but the switch was flipped this week and summer is here. First and foremost, the mercury lets us know, hey it's summer, by creeping into the upper 80s and low 90s. But there can be random warm days all over that don't mean it is summer.  More than just the temperature, things have shifted here.  Dresses are out on all of the women.  The buzz of the summer bugs is in the trees.  People are out later for dinner - Chipotle had a line almost to the door at 8.30pm tonight.  Most of all, something in the air says get in the pool!  All of the elements of mid-July in Minnesota have come together at the beginning of June here and, while the humidity is low, it feels fantastic.

Today being June 2nd also means it is Mom's birthday.  Happy Birthday, Mom!  

Meet Harry's

Several months ago, John and I were watching Alton Brown on The Food Network.  We noticed the awesome grocery store he was at and read in the corner of the screen its name and location: Harry's Farmer's Market, Marietta, GA.  Knowing Marietta was near Atlanta, we decided to add Harry's to our next trip to Atlanta, should we have one.

A few months later, we did take a trip to Atlanta, for a weekend last June.  We found Harry's, just as we had wanted to.  While there, we decided that if we were to ever live in Atlanta, this would be the place to shop for groceries.  We were enchanted by the field of fresh fruits and veggies, the vast array of wine from all over the globe and the succulent meats, cheeses and salads.  Alton Brown had shown us exactly where the savvy locals shop.

Just one week after that trip to Atlanta, I was offered the opportunity to take a new position, here in Atlanta. Harry's, we said after I accepted the offer, would be one of the perks of moving to the South.  And when we came back to Atlanta to choose where we lived in the fall, it was easier to adjust to the idea of living somewhat in the suburbs because it meant Harry's was a little closer. 

This morning, I made a trip to Marietta to purchase Kombucha (a tea I recently started drinking, topic for a whole different post!) at Harry's.  I was one of the first customers in the door at 9am, where I was greeted by a Harry's that blew away every previous experience.  There were few people and the freshest, fullest barrels of food everywhere.  Peppers were perfectly aligned, green to red to yellow to orange.  Lemons and limes were lined up just right.  Barrels were brimming with ice to hold everything from whip cream to asparagus to wine. Now after months of making Harry's one of my grocery stores (it is still a little too far away to make it my one and only), it is at the top of my "best things about Atlanta" list.  I love when the mundane task of grocery shopping becomes an experience and, for me, Harry's is about as good as that experience gets.  Lucky for me, I now live 20 minutes from this Food Network-famous food shop.

Nearby Atlanta

Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life. 

{Rachel Carson}

There is simply nothing on earth like a national park.  From Taylor's Falls in Wisconsin to the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee to Muir Woods just outside of San Francisco, Mother Nature is at her best in these preserved pockets of land across the United States.  Whether among mountains or beside rivers, there is wonder and awe in these places.  

John and I got our own glimpse of the earth's glory this week, when we took an impromptu trip to Asheville, North Carolina, and the Great Smoky Mountains (which run between North Carolina and Tennessee).  We saw a man-made wonder in the form of the Biltmore Estate (America's largest private home, courtesy of the Vanderbilt family), as well as many of God's gifts throughout the mountains, which start just over an hour away from Atlanta and run as far as the eye can see in these more northern states.  We experienced Asheville on Thursday, where we toured Biltmore and ate at a noodle shop before seeing the awesome independent film "Valentino: The Last Emperor."  On Friday, we traversed the mountains, glimpsing across peaks and exploring little streams, and we had a picnic lunch from Laurie's Gourmet-to-Go at the 2nd highest point in America east of the Rockies.  These new areas to explore are part of the blessing of living in Atlanta - who knew, for example, such natural wonders as the Smokies were so close?  Our "Carolinas & Georgia" travel book (Thanks, Colleen!) has become our trusty companion on these excursions to learn more about where we now live.