inspired in the morning

This morning I woke up and sat on the deck.  There was something in the air - something sweet that I associate with the ocean.  It's been rainy and cool here lately, so maybe it was just the scent of the damp earth warming up.  I drink my coffee black - no milk, no sugar, nothin' - but there's this distinct sugary steam that settles itself even in black coffee when that warm, moist, salty air sweetness is present.  Until today I'd only tasted it at the beach (or near the beach), but somehow, this morning, it found its way to the mountain.

It was coincidence that before settling on the deck, I poured my muddy coffee into my Cape Ann Motor Inn mug.  The Cape Ann Motor Inn is a little three-story motel on a small beach (Cape Ann) in Gloucester, MA.  When I was a little kid, my parents and brothers and I would go there.  Now, my aunt, cousin, mom and I take an annual trip there in October.  Last year, my grandma came, too.  We're usually there right as the air is getting cold for winter, but I'm always hellbent on drinking my morning coffee out on the deck.  They have plastic chairs that are so old they're edging on flimsy, and there are usually traces of sand on the hard, red-painted wooden deck.  Below me, on the beach, the ocean swirls against the sand and I breathe in, ecstatic in the calmest way possible.  They have these giant donuts for the guests in the morning.  I don't eat donuts often, but boy do those ones taste good, accompanied by air-sweetened black coffee.

I could feel myself, in the past couple of weeks, falling into some pseudo-routine.  Wake up, sit on the couch, take out the computer, go in my home office, and get to work.  The trees are in full bloom and as a result, the back guest room I use as my office is darker now than it was in the winter.  It feels gloomy in there, which I usually give myself over to, because gloomy days are good for writing.  This morning I made the decision to forgo the "routine" and just sit on the deck.  So now I'm getting to work with warmth and sunshine and sweet coffee and inspiration.

Why don't I do this every day?


.lsm.

engagement party; spicy ginger soda recipe

Whew! It's been a busy couple of weeks. Last weekend was our engagement party at my mom's house with our parents, close friends, and relatives.  I'd never been to my own engagement party before (huh?) so I will admit I was painfully nervous beforehand.  Like, cry-for-no-reason-and-pretend-there's-just-something-in-your-eye nervous. Sure, I've been to parties before, but this felt like really uncharted territory. Garret and I, the precipitous for a party? Garret and I usually blend in at parties. We're like, those people you didn't realize were at the party.  Plus, I hadn't had an event where all of my worlds were present at once in many moons. Well, actually, in any moons. 

I'm happy to say that I am a total freak, by which I mean there was nothing to worry about.  The party was absolutely wonderful and although I may have thought going in that having all of the people that make up my universe in one place was going to be somehow scary, what it was instead was absolutely wonderful.  How lucky are we that we have such amazing people in our lives, and that we got to see so many of them them on one day?

I'm making a photo album of the pictures which I'll post someday, but I don't have everyone's photos compiled yet.  Here's my favorite, though. I'm not sure why I love it so much.... I just do!  I think it's one of my favorites mainly because I didn't realize it was being taken, but we still look like we're having a good time (because we were!).

Between Garret snapping photos and our family and friends doing the same, we got some great shots.  Though, I will say that we learned a very important lesson at the engagement party -- we definitely need a photographer with a head on his/her shoulders for the wedding! I can't believe how many opportunities we missed by way of group photos. We were all having fun in the moment, and we forgot to get some very important shots!! Luckily we'll get to see everyone again in a year :)

After the party, Garret headed to the city for a couple of days of work, which meant I was up on the mountain by myself. I'm not complaining, honestly - it was nice to have a few hermit days following the whirlwind weekend. It also afforded me time to flip through the various recipes I've saved onto Pinterest as "(yes please) food" inspirations. I decided it was high time I actually tried making one.

I went with ginger soda, mostly because in the days prior I had seen several other blogs feature ginger syrup recipes and I was very intrigued.  The one I ended up going with was a spicy ginger soda, which was touted as a "hangover cure".  I haven't had a hangover so I can't speak for its curing qualities (and seeing if this soda is actually a cure doesn't seem a good enough reason to delve into a crazy night followed by a pounding headache).  Hangover cure or not, though, it's really delicious and refreshing.  A perfect (different) treat for summer.

I strayed a little bit, but not too far, from the original recipe... though the pictures with that one are much fancier than mine, so I do recommend taking a look.  For good measure though, I'll include the process here, as well.

Spicy Ginger Soda


You will need: 
-  Fresh ginger, peeled and chopped -- the original recipe said "six inches" - I went with two large knots (ginger looks like something out of Harry Potter!)
-   Red pepper flakes - 5 tsp (it seems like a lot but it's worth it!)
-  1 cup of white sugar
-  Club soda or ginger ale (Club soda if you don't want a ginger overload, ginger ale if you are like me and apparently do)

The original recipe also called for 1/4 tsp of salt, which I skipped.

Here's what you do: 
-  Fill a pot with two cups of water and turn it on high
-  While the water is heating up, add your ginger, red pepper flakes, and sugar.
-  Let it come to a boil, and then turn it down to a simmer. The original recipe said to simmer for ten minutes... I went more like twenty.  I wanted the flavors to really seep.
-  Remove the pot from heat and let it sit, covered, until it cools. In the winter this would be quick but when I made it, this took an hour or two.
-  Strain the syrup so that you remove the red pepper flakes and ginger chunks. I bet there's something wonderful you could do with the leftover bits (candied ginger?) but I... threw it all out.
-  Put the syrup in a jar (this is where Ball jars come in handy!) and put it in the fridge.  It'll last forever (it's only been five days since I made this... I'd say 5 more and then I'll toss it).
-  To make an actual soda, fill a cup with ice an add two or three tablespoons of the syrup to the ice.  Pour soda over the ice and stir.  Delicious!

spicy ginger soda

Ginger is known to soothe the stomach (is this the hangover aspect?).  I've decided it's also a good nerves buster, since before the party I went to the Brattleboro Farmer's Market and got fresh squeezed lemonade with ginger syrup in it, and it made me feel better about the world for at least thirty minutes.


<3 lsm

a day in photos: sunday june 10, 2012

the day started out with breakfast: grilled tomatoes, grilled asparagus,
a fried egg on a "nest" of alfalfa sprouts, and salsa verde.

we decided to go on a hike, and wanted to pack a lunch. we ran out of peanut butter (!)
so i made a pseudo pb&j with cocoa almond spread and raspberry preserves.

midday garret and i climbed to the top of mount olga just outside of
wilmington. there's a great trail in the molly stark state park.
at the top of the summit, there's an old fire tower, which
we were able to climb. the summit was 2440 feet, the fire tower was
another several hundred feet up. in the distance, you can see wilmington.

afternoon coffee on the deck.

late afternoon garret and i both did work on the deck. murgy took a post overlooking the yard,
where she barked. and barked. and barked. (damn chipmunks!)

murgy found herself a perch from which to
keep watch over the yard.

around 8 while talking to my dad i turned on the christmas lights,
which i never took down and now love even more
 in the summer than i did in the winter.

for dinner i made angel hair tossed with olive oil, with grilled tomatoes,
 asparagus, shrimp, and freshly grated parmesan.
we got most of this stuff at the wonderful brattleboro co-op yesterday.

and i'm ending the day with a cup of immune-boosting echinacea tea,
because our engagement party is six days from today and
i can't handle the idea of getting sick!

;) 

.lsm.

To The Trees

About a year ago, my friend Randie and I decided to take a trip to Concord, MA to visit Walden Pond. She and I met in college and we quickly learned that we are nerdy in all the same ways. We are unabashed enthusiasts of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau and we are unnaturally amused that they were such good friends. We bask in anecdotal evidence of their camaraderie. One of our favorite stories, as passed on by one of our college professors, is that when Thoreau got himself thrown in jail for protesting taxes, Waldo (as Ralph was called) showed up to bail him out. Exasperated upon arriving, Waldo said, "Henry, what are you doing in there?" to which Thoreau said, "What are you doing not in here?" The eye rolls that Randie and I have inferred came from Waldo at that moment are exceedingly entertaining to us both.

A photo I took last year at Walden Pond in Concord, MA.

So anyway, we're big fans, and we went to Concord. While there, we visited The Ralph Waldo Emerson House and The Concord Museum. Afterwards, we got some lunch and then made our way to the main event: Walden Pond. I had been there before and it was just as serene as I had remembered. There, we found a spot to sit down, and in the middle of Nature, we just sat and had a nice chat. It was an escape from Brooklyn, and work, and thinking. 

Perhaps it was the quiet in the air, or that amidst it I was in the company of a dear friend. Or perhaps it was that I was surrounded by my native pine trees, which are unsurprisingly rare in Brooklyn. I think it was a combination of it all. But that day, I felt more at peace than I had in a long time.

Of course, the weekend ended and I found myself back in Brooklyn. At that point in time, Garret and I had driven through and read a great deal about Vermont, and we were seriously thinking about making this leap, though we hadn't visited Wilmington specifically or made real plans to move just yet. But I so very much wanted to be amidst trees and nature again. Fresh air reminds me of home, having grown up in upstate New York.  And I think in huge inexplicable ways that I wasn't even fully aware of at that very moment in my life, I was very, very homesick.

I will never forget the Monday after that trip to Walden Pond. It was pouring rain, and as a result, Brooklyn and everything in it was soggy. My feet were wet but the air was warm enough that the air conditioning in my office was pumping. The result was a jittery mix of damp misery. Tasks were piling up on my desk and I could feel a manic state of self-pity taking me over. I wasn't very hungry but rather suddenly I stood up and said to my coworkers, "I am going to lunch."

I went out into the rain, which was still pouring down. Shops and restaurants were lit up in their cozy warm blanket way, a glow reserved for rainy days like this. I walked slowly to the used bookstore, trying not to slide on slick Brooklyn cobblestones. "If it's here," I thought, "it will be a sign." Of course, it was. A compilation of the works of Henry David Thoreau was promptly bought. And as I read its pages at a table for one at the cozy restaurant across the street, I had a growing lump in my throat that was begging to be released as tears. I wanted to go back so badly.

And I knew then, for sure, that this adventure was one I had to pursue.

As I type I'm sitting by a tree-lined body of water in Vermont, about a half a mile from where I live. I'm in a small park, and I'm the only one here now, although a man drove up in a rusty white pickup truck a few minutes ago. He got out silently and stood by the water while smoking a pipe. After a few corn cob puffs, he was on his way. Now it's again just me and words and water and air. There's a cool breeze and the day turned out to be sunny. I took a little dirt road to get here, and I can hear the main road off in the distance. I didn't know this park was here before today, but I wanted to go work by some water. There were construction workers in the park I usually go to, and I had spotted this one across the lake. I didn't know how to get here, but I could tell by the pattern of the trees surrounding it that there was a road that lead to it. I took a chance and drove in the direction I hoped it would be in and lo and behold, here it is.

Of course, I am sitting by this lake with an iPad, typing away. I won't pretend I've cut myself off like Henry did in his cabin, but hey, I came here to work. Nevertheless I found it impossible not to take pause and a deep breath and think, Wow. Just wow. The places we find ourselves in should never cease to amaze us. Who would have thought, really, that any of this was here?

My new favorite waterfront work/think/live spot. Near Wilmington, VT.

A photo I took last year at Walden Pond. This is situated on the original
site of Henry's cabin, where he wrote 'Walden'. The photograph
sits next to my desk in Vermont.

  

passion green tea limeade

It's been raining for days. Days and days and days. June has come in like a lion. Isn't March supposed to do that? Here's hoping it goes out like a lamb, and that it starts taking on its lamblike qualities very soon!

The thing about the weather in Vermont is that it'll go from sunny to cloudy in a matter of mere seconds. So, for example, it's it's sunny right now but will only be for another... oh wait, it's already cloudy again.  Oy.

Well, I already had my hopes up for a sunny day when starting this post (I'm not kidding. I was literally all, "YAY! It's sunny! I'll write about warm weather!"), so just in case it's sunny where you are, or even if you would just like to pretend it's sunny as I may take to doing momentarily, I will still share this warm weather concoction I came up with last week. It's extremely refreshing and is a nice twist on a typical iced tea.  I'm calling it "Passion Green Tea Limeade".

Passion Green Tea Limeade 

I'm all about trying things and seeing what happens, and one thing I love to do is experiment with flavors by mixing different types of tea bags. One of my favorite teas is Tazo Passion Tea. It's made with hibiscus, papaya, mango, and passion fruit. It's not for everyone, because it's pretty flowery, but it has this tangy tartness that I really love. It's also caffeine free, which depending on your mood or the time of day is either perfect or annoying.

So last week it was really hot out (which is weird because right now I'm under a BLANKET!), and I wanted something refreshing but I was also kind of tired. So, I put one passion tea bag and one green tea bag in one cup and brewed them together. Truth be told, the passion tea flavor outweighed the green tea flavor almost entirely, but the caffeine from the green tea was present. Then to give it even a little more fruity twist, I added the juice of one lime (yes, using my handy cup top juicer).

The result was extremely tart and extremely refreshing.  I think that some people would be inclined to put a ton of sugar in this, but you really don't need it with the lime juice, presuming you're prepared for a tart tart tart drink! (Which I was.)

P.S. I hope that my 'Bricks to Sticks' friends and family have followed me over to the new blog ;) My uncle thinks it's too soon, but I hope that doesn't mean you haven't come over to read, Uncle John! I promise it's the same old me - just a new look! See you soon!

Things You Should Definitely Buy At The Thrift Store If You Can: Cup Top Juicer

So, if you want to go "shopping" for something practical in my town, there are three antique/thrift stores to choose from. Other than that, there are three gift shops, a book store, a store that sells sweatshirts and t-shirts that say Vermont on them, and a country store that sells cool toys, fudge, and that dubs itself a place to buy... you guessed it: "Things That Say Vermont on Them" (that is literally on their sign!).

The good thing is, the antique/thrift stores are extremely awesome.  Two of them are the type where a bunch of vendors rent booths within. The other is your typical "lots of donated old stuff to benefit a church" place (aptly named, "Twice Blessed"). Truth be told you don't usually find what you needed at these shops (and a 40 minute drive to the nearest "big town" ensues), but if you keep an open mind, you do usually find something of use.  In fact, I've come across some very useful things, about which I thought, "Hmm... maybe I'd like to have that," paid the buck or two for it, and then threw it in the drawer.  A lot of the times, within a week of using something, I'll say "Wow! They just don't make stuff like this anymore!" (I can't tell, is that a nerd line? An old lady line? A nerdy old lady line?) And then it's part of the kitchen family.

I decided I should start letting people know about the stuff I've found in case you breeze past a similar low-priced item amidst a bunch of "junk" at a thrift store. So if you happen to see one of these at a thrift store, buy it. This thing is made of titanium steel (no it isn't) and I can tell it'll last me until I'm an actual nerdy little old lady. And as is noted on it in permanent marker, it cost me fifty cents.

It is...

A Cup Top Juicer!

All you do with this handy little thing is put it on top of of a glass and squeeze away. I can't tell you how easy juicing a lemon or lime has become since I got this thing. Before this, I was cutting lemons and limes into quarters and desperately trying to get the juice out of them, sometimes even biting them (a trick I picked up from my college roommate. You can see some stranger I found online doing this here: http://bisforbedstuy.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/img_1955.jpg. Weirder than the fact that I found that girl's picture is that if she had blonde hair she could literally BE my college roommate).

Since finding this neat little contraption, the incidence of me making salsa and guacamole has gone wayyy up. "The juice of one lime" within a recipe is no longer a taunting threat!

"running" journal day 1

So, first of all: a few weeks back, on Facebook, I posted a link to Scare Yourself Every Day.  The basic concept is that this guy, Greg, decided to take the famous Eleanor Roosevelt quote, "Do one thing every day that scares you," and put it into action. For 365 days, he literally sought out things that scare him, and he forced himself to do them. The results are extraordinary. Having read some of his posts, he went through an incredible metamorphosis as a person over his year journey.  It's very inspiring, and it makes you wonder, "What if I did that?"

Well, since I posted it a couple of weeks ago, several people have told me that my putting that up on Facebook really inspired them. People have actually told me that they too are doing one thing a day that scares them. They usually say this with a knowing smile, and look at me like we're in something together.  And eventually... I started to realize that people thought (think?) that my posting that means that I am actively doing one thing every day that scares me. The truth is that I... haven't... been, at least not in a constructed way like Greg. But at the same time, since reading his words and increasingly since people started telling me that they too think this is a great challenge, I am certainly more aware of the things that I want to do but don't because they scare me.

It seems silly but yesterday I went to a grocery store I didn't know the layout for and bought clams which I didn't know how to cook.  That's just a (very) little thing, but now I know that store and I know how to cook clams. And the more little things I do like that, the more those little things add up and and the more I'm starting to realize that my reality is expanding.

Anyway, when people talk about 5ks and running 5ks, I have always thought some form of "Oh, that doesn't apply to me..." Basically, I tune out in a way where I'm interested in their experience but I do not in any way see it as an experience that is relatable to me at all. Why? Well the truth is, I never really learned to run. It's easy to think that running isn't something you need to learn to do, because you won't fall off of running the way you might a bike, but really, you do need to learn how to do it. And I never did.

So naturally, the idea of running, scares me.

I decided today, after thinking "I should really learn how to run..." for months (years?) that I should legitimately learn how to run. I mean, what if something/someone is chasing me someday? So, I downloaded a handy 5k training app and hit the pavement. Well, I hit the dirt roads. There's no pavement in my neighborhood. There are also no people in my neighborhood, which is really good, because telling my current self to run is pretty much like telling Cathy that she has to run out of her cartoon strip and do some laps around the Sunday paper. In a word, "Aack."

The training program had me run six minutes out of the 25 minute workout. To those of you who know how to run and/or aren't total babies, that probably sounds like a breeze, but to me that's foreign. I'll be doing it again in a few days.

Logic tells me it'll get easier as I go along, but we will see. As of now, this still counts as something that scares me!