in the summertime...

Summer for me officially begins tomorrow as today is my last day at the job!

I'll probably become a little sketchy here in the intrawebs because I'll be diving into work for this.

But I'm also making time for lots of things I haven't been able to do this past year. I'm kicking off the summer with a memorial day week at the beach and then a long weekend in seattle. And I've started to compile a summer bucket list:

•  I'd like to cross off quite a few things from this list (skydiving and disney {i can dream}, lots of reading {lord of the rings}, volunteer at st. jude, homemade pasta, shooting range).
• Go to the memphis zoo and see the new teton trek section (I'm gunning to do this one next week).
• Join the ymca (doing this tomorrow!) and workout every weekday.
• Spend lots of time with my grandmother (and at her next door neighbor's pool). The job has turned me into a terrible granddaughter.
• Take lots of little trips to our little house in the country, doing nothing but reading on the boat all day.
• Try out all the new restaurants on my list.
• Massive overhaul of all the stuff I have at my mom's house. 90% of it is heading straight to the trash/goodwill (read: clothes from the 10th grade).
• Cook something with rhubarb. It scares me.
• Get my patio all finished.

Hope your summers are shaping up to be wonderful, too. I'll pop in here and there over the next few weeks to say hello and make you all jealous with pictures of paradise!

before/after, vol. 2

Having fun again this week with Pixel Perfect's Before/After.

This was taken last summer in Central Park, nyc, with the old Nikon d60 with 18-55 lens. (I'm guessing at around 18mm and f3.5) Edited in Photoshop CS4.

you capture - depth of field

I had no trouble with this week's you capture because shallow depth of field is the look I go for most of the time anyway.

My neighbor's hydrangeas of which I am very jealous.

And....then there's my yard. Now that the azaleas are gone, this is about all it has to offer.

Next year, my friends...next year.

And the little porker's feet as she was barking at me because she hates the camera.

my favorite soup ever

If I could only have one soup for the rest of my life, this would be it. I would be doomed to permanently runny eyes and nose, though, because this baby has a heat factor, but it would be oh so worth it.

I saw Rachael Ray make this a couple years ago, tried it and was hooked.

Here's her original recipe. I made a few changes. Here's my version below.

1 rotisserie chicken, shredded

3 tablespoons EVOO
1 large onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
handful jarred jalapeños, chopped (I like the ones from the jar because they are less spicy, so you can get more flavor with less heat)
palm full of chili powder
a few shakes of ground cumin
a few shakes of paprika
1 16-ounce jar tomatillo salsa (salsa verde)
1 quart chicken stock (more or less, depending on how much you need to make and how chunky you like it)
1 handful cilantro leaves
Juice of 2 limes

Heat a heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat with the EVOO. Cook onions and garlic until soft, about 4 minutes. Add the spices and jalapeño and cook for another minute. Add the salsa, stock and lime juice. Bring up to a bubble and add in the shredded chicken. Simmer for 25 minutes. Add cilantro just before serving. Serve with tortilla chips.

By the way, this pot is part of Rach's collection I got last year when I moved into my casa. And I love them!

sweet shot tuesday

Taken this weekend while we shopped for plants for the garden. I love all the colors.

weekend snaps. 5/17/10

A weekend of:

Sallie's training class: week three. (Improvement is minimal. Pray for us.)

Plant and seed shopping.

Nursing baby chicks that have to be returned soon, sadly.

Braving the neighborhood railroad tracks so I could get a (very noisy) shot.

Dog park.

See what everyone else did at Six in the City.

fix it friday, vol. 7

This week was a bit of a challenge because of harsh shadows, but still fun to play with. I think the black and white or vintage suits this photo the best. What do you think?