Pictures Of Things + Le Love List

September 18th, 2014 - filed under: Furthermore » Feedback

Santa Barbara has some pretty incredible cityscape.

Hello hello all the way from the east! I’m coming to you mildly jet-lagged but oh-so-happy, from the small town in western Maryland where Jeremy grew up! And we’ll be here visiting his family for the next week, mostly just relaxing in the beautiful Maryland countryside, but also with a few planned trips in the mix: a Baltimore Orioles game (!!!), a day at the Natural Products Expo East trade show (squee!), and a night in Baltimore with all his old college friends (so excited to meet those guys!).

I’m going to do my best to keep up with the blog while I’m away, but I’m also not putting too much pressure on myself. This is my last hurrah before the next year of grad school begins, and oh mah gawd, it’s going to be a crazy year. I’m trying not to get too overwhelmed . . .

So yes! Relaxing and enjoying is the name of the game. And here’s a few snaps of what we’ve been up to this past week :

This was our dessert one night after dinner on the beach. All the fruit was foraged within 2 blocks of my house! Prickly pear (cactus fruit), passionfruit, and figs. Look at all that color!

Same picnic, these two crazy fools went swimming at sunset.

Oh hello, half moon high in the sky at 11 o’clock in the morning.

A picnic under this beautiful giant, a “weeping” Eucalyptus.

And a tire swing. (when did he get so big?)

Early morning beach walks – with friends!

Of all the aster seeds I tried to start this year, I only got one plant. ONE plant! And that one plant produced these four teeny tiny perfect blooms – small enough for an espresso cup vase. I ♥ them.

Suuuuper fun end-of-summer project with my bumper crop tomatoes. This fermented salsa recipe will be up the blog next week!

And finally, OMG how adorable is Jeremy’s high school senior pic?! Look, he’s a little baby!! So cute I can barely handle it.

~~~

And now it’s time for the best part of the week, our most important kick-off-the-weekend ritual, Le Love List:

Our dog sitter keeps sending us the most precious pics of the old pooch. Harley standing on the steps in the pool with the whole family! (Harley’s face: “Oh hey, I’m in a pool.”) Harley with his best doggie friend on our porch at the pick-up! (His face: “Oh hey, we are on the porch.”) Harley with their 18-month old son playing on his back! (His face: “Oh hey, kid on my back.”) It all just makes me so proud and grateful. He is the best dog. I miss him muchly. (and wow, they are the BEST dog sitters!) // Moon magic. // Spending time with Jeremy’s family, in the house where he grew up. // Impromptu playdates with vegan mom friends friends and their wee vegan progeny. // Reconnecting with old not-mom friends for long days of talk talk talk. Well, talk talk talk and vegan Thai and mimosas by the pool and afternoon swimming and and and . . . // Jeremy’s niece is an incredibly accomplished athlete, and she pitches for a nationally ranked high school softball team, AND she just got voted homecoming queen. I am a very proud not-auntie. // Green juice everyday (homemade for the sake of my pocketbook, oi). // Jeremy and I travel so well together, I love it. Simpatico. // Lots and lots of preserving projects! // Driving home from a high school soccer game, and listening to Jeremy and his mama sing along to Johnny Cash. They both have such beautiful voices. // In amongst all the loveliness, this week was also hard, and painful. I got in a fight with a friend. It was one of those situations that starts with a few small errors in judgement, but quickly spins completely out of control. And to be honest, I’m not so used to that. I’m a pretty low drama, low chaos kind of person. Not that I’m immune, of course. I’m human and I sure do make my share of mistakes. Yes, yes I do. And why is that on the Love List? Well, because I learned a lot. And learning is something I’m always grateful for. ♥

Alright guys, now it’s your turn. I hope you’ll share your Love Lists, if the mood strikes you. I do so love to read them! Just leave ‘em in the comments below.

And please please, have the happiest of weekends!

♥ ♥ ♥

http://howtofeedawookie.blogspot.com/ WookieWifey

Okay, I need me some tutorials and recipes for picking, preparing, etc. on cactus leaves and flowers. They grow all over and they sell them at the flea market here, but due to a language barrier, I’ve yet to purchase any!!
<3 Pulling weeds in the rain
<3 Earth Balance butter…Found it on sale and was like "SERIOUSLY?" on the whole 'actually does taste like butter' thing and now mah freezer is full of it.
<3 fall and everything related to it
<3 Instagram…I finally went darkside, made an account. Universe save us all.
<3 Lemongrass…growing so fast its keeping me BUSY and giving me more seeds than I know what to do with!!
http://thejudgmentalvegan.wordpress.com Rachel from The Judgmental Veg

My favorite part about all of your posts is how much your love of life oozes through. <3

My love list:-Vegan MoFo- For the first time (third year participating), I'm feeling super inspired by Vegan MoFo.
-The fear and excitement of moving to Boston
-The fear and excitement of starting my first big girl job
-Enjoying new and old friendships
-My dog…need I say more?
-Trying new-to-me veg restaurants
stephie137

Sounds like a great trip!

LLL…cheap data roaming! Portland. Great traveling companions (sister, baby son)…this is not always easy, traveling with people who are the same speed makes or breaks a trip for sure. All. the. foods. Parks and running and Skype and grandparents holding the fort at home. Partner who encourages me in my weirdness and my time to myself.
Jenn

OMg! Sayward, I”m so bummed, I”m out of town this one weekand from stinky Baltimore. Well even tho I won’t be there, you got to check out Red Emma’s, my place of “employment”, I put it in quotes cause it’s a worker owned cooperative that I think you’d dig plus it is mostly a vegan yummy restaurant. Pussy Riot checked it out recently. Tell them jenN sent you ;)
Sonja

thanks again for sharing your beautiful pics! Have a great week in Baltimore.
My love list:
- spending the weekend with my loved one in Berlin
- cooking for my roomies
- going to the theater
- spending the last days of summer outside as much as I can
- getting inspired
- lefty, feminist, progressive book stores
- my bamboo utensils which I always use instead of the nasty plastic forks you’ll get when buying food on the go
- talking to friends I haven’t seen in a while
http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

The cactus leaves/paddles can be *tricky* to work with – I’ve had a lot of trouble with them. But the fruit is awesome, it’s a really mild flavor. I just eat it out with a spoon. =)

Yay for your love list and yay for joining the Instagram darkside. It’s so fun! I looked for you but couldn’t find a Wookie Wifey . . .
http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

Thank you Rachel, I’m so glad it comes through. I’ve felt very in love with life this summer. ♥

Thanks for sharing your Love List! I was bummed not to participate in MoFo this year, but it’s been fun following along with everyone else. Good luck with the big move and the new job!
http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

So glad you had fun in Portland! (not that I can imagine that you wouldn’t) Sounds like a great trip. ♥
http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

Oh I wish I could’ve! We were only in Baltimore very briefly, and all booked up while we were there. But we come back to Maryland every year and we’re hoping to spend some more time there next year!
http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

Love it Sonja, thank you so much for sharing!
Jenn

well I don’t blame you really. They call it “charm city” but i think it’s tongue in cheek because it’s the exact opposite: charmless. what a getto of a city! I’m ready to move back to Maine, I don’t know what I was thinking moving here, only because my girls dad is from here, and I heard the schools are pretty good which is what i needed since where we were was in New Mexico and it is one of the states with the worst education system. ahh having kids can be such a rollercoaster! My partner (the girls dad) just called it “harm city” haha
Brie

Late to the game but here is my list!
- romantic get away with my guy in a cabin in the woods – laying under the stars – autumn leaves! (in Alaska we mostly have birch so everything turns bright yellow!) – my little cousin who loves watching “Brie’s little pony”, not quite grasping the pronouns yet – a clean room – the changing season, equinox tomorrow (9/23) – I also went through a tough situation with a friend. It is all very anxiety inducing but in the end I believe it will bring about change for the better.

Thank you so much, Sayward. I always find your blog uplifting. Have a fun, relaxing trip!
Rachel

oh man, we have an awesome friend who dog-sits for us and the best part is her text message updates! they are hilarious and make us so happy that she’s having a good time with our pooches!

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