In memory

It's been a tough week.  On Tuesday, I received word that a very close friend of mine lost her mother.  Nancy had been fighting Ovarian cancer for the better part of 9 years, and lost that battle very early Tuesday morning.  In attempt to find the light in this sad story, here are a few things to think about.  Her husband and children were around here, in her home, when it was time.  The family has had time over the last year to prepare themselves, and to say everything they felt that they needed to.  And finally, Nancy is no longer in pain or suffering, which she has been for months. 

The service is tomorrow, and while I would love to be there for my friend, the timing and cost is going to keep me here in DC.  I have been thinking of her and her family constantly this week.  I can only imagine what she is going through, especially having to make the plans and help take care of her family.

Life is so precious.  And fragile.  I can't help but think about my parents, and how close we are.  I am not ready to go through any of what my friend is going through.  I have been amazed by her every day over the last 2 years that I've known her.  She has handled this whole situation with strength, poise, and has been incredibly brave.  There have been so many times over the last 2 years when I've just thought about Nancy and gotten teary, or thought about my mom and what if...and just sat and cried - at work, in the car while running errands, or just sitting at home.  I hope I have been able to be a sounding board, or provided some comfort and friendship to Amy during this difficult time...it's the only thing I know to do...

Remember to do what you love and love what you do, enjoy the small things and quiet moments, and hug your friends and family.  Enjoy the time you have with your loved ones, for it doesn't last forever.

The family has asked for donations rather than flowers...if you're interested, I've included the website below.  Please keep the family in your thoughts this week, and tell your friends and family that you love them.

http://NancyBlyler.kintera.org/

I love you, Mom.

Just do it.

Are there things in your house (or office, for that matter) that you can't stand, and want to change, but you're just putting it off?  And for no good reason?

After reading this post on Young House Love, I decided it was time.  The brown had to go. 

The girl who lived in our house before us took very good care of the place, and it was decorated nicely.  But.  There have been several areas that we needed to change to make it feel a little more like ours.  For example....each of the closets were a different color.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Our coat closet, right at the front door, was royal blue.  My closet was this orangey-pink color, Matt's was lavendar, and the one in the guest bedroom was a lovely shade of what I've named poop-brown.  The office was this awful lime color, and the guest bathroom matched the closet.  There were also some stripes that had to immediately go.  (this picture was taken before we moved in)

After a few paint changes that happened before we even had the movers deliver our things, we've been sitting on lots of other changes, making them gradually over the years.  Cady, sweet Cady, made a decision that the wall paper in the powder room had to go (by helping me to rip it down when she was 2 mos old and had escaped her crate... I won't go into how husband forgot to latch it before leaving for the evening)...so it's now a lovely shimmery green/gold color.  We painted the bright green kitchen to a more calming blue/green (Homestead Green from Benjamin Moore), I added a red accent wall in the dining room, and painted the guest bathroom a much quieter and brighter tan, called Antique White.

I have been feeling lately like there's a lot of brown in this house, still, and when I saw the YHL post, I knew it was time.  The backs of the bookcases were brown, the walls are all tan, the couch is a dark tan...it was getting to me.  So Friday afternoon I stopped by Benjamin Moore and picked up the Dragonfly swatch (along with a couple other gray's to see where I might change some other colors).  Yesterday I went to Home Depot and got the color matched with their primer and paint in one, and went to work.

It's so different!  I'm pretty much loving it - it is definitely taking some getting used to.  I feel like everything stands out SO much more now that the background isn't such a dark color.  I think I might need to change out of a few of the display items, and minimize the number of colors on the wall, but otherwise I think it looks great!  It really only took one Saturday afternoon - I started around 2ish and had the entire wall put back together before dinner.  I'm ready to do some other projects that I've been putting off now - mostly painting my bathroom.  I'm having the hardest time selecting a color...but again, I think I just need to pick one and go for it.

What home improvement projects have you done lately?  Where do you get your inspiration?  How do you select paint colors?

Girlfriends

"What would we be without friends?  They're the mirrors we look into to find ourselves.  They accept the worst in us and bring out the best in us.  They add to our joys and diminish our sorrows.  They listen carefully to our words and understand our silences.  They give us the benefit of their wisdom and the gift of their humor.  They bring in the light when our world is dark.  What would we be without friends?"

Girlfriends are such an important part of a woman's life...and sometimes we get so wrapped up in our worlds of work/commuting/chores/workouts/cooking dinner/kids/husbands/dogs/life that we forget about them.  It's easy to say "I was busy, I'll call later" or "I can't do it this weekend" or whatever excuse we might come up with.  But it's really remarkable how when do you take the time, make the time, to spend a couple of hours either in person or on the phone with a girlfriend, how much more energized you are.  It makes you a better employee/mom/wife/daughter/friend.  

Last weekend, a group of girls here in the DC area decided that our week-night get togethers were too rushed and cut short because they were always right in the middle of the week - so we booked a Saturday night, brought the wine, a fun game called Things, lots of (healthy) snacks, and spent hours laughing, telling stories, and just being girlfriends.  This past Saturday, I made plans to go to lunch and do some shopping with another girlfriend who I haven't seen in weeks, since before the holidays.  We didn't do anything fancy, expensive (well, the shopping might have gotten kinda expensive!), or complicated - we just spent the afternoon together.  

I remember the saying "You don't go to college to find your husband, you go to find your bridesmaids" and I always have agreed with that statement.  I was lucky enough to find both during college (even though Husband didn't go to the same school).  My college girlfriends are so important to me, and we all have to work even harder to stay in each others lives.  My best friends from school are all over the world now - Florida, North and South Carolina, London, Dubai, Delaware, Richmond, Boston, and more...it takes flights, phone calls, gchat, video g-chat, cards, emails, and planning.  But it's so worth it when you run through the airport into their laughing, smiling hugs, get a birthday card in the mail, or find a couple of quiet hours for a phone call.

I have also been lucky to make some great friends since college, while living in DC, as well as reconnect with old friends from home.  It is so energizing and refreshing to hear about their stories, and know that we're all in this together - we are all going through very similar challenges and triumphs.  

How do you spend time with your girlfriends, are there some fun traditions you have?  How do you stay in touch with your friends who are all over the world, living their lives?

"Best friends are the siblings God forgot to give us."

Practice plus dinner

Last weekend, I attended Eliot Cohen's Digital Camera class at the Smithsonian - it was a Christmas gift from husband.  It was an all day event, both inside the classroom along with some practice outside.  Although it was about 28 degrees, so I think our outside time was cut shorter than usual.  We learned about aperture, exposure, shutter speed, depth of field, and more.  It was completely overwhelming but I'm excited to practice and learn more about how to use the different features on my camera.  (I have a Nikon D5000)

So, while making dinner last night, I grabbed my camera and started taking photos.  I'm always envious of the blogs that I read and their beautiful dishes that they prepare and their clear photos.  Also, in an attempt to be a more exciting blogger, I thought I'd share my recipe with you - AND have photos to boot!

Last night I made this amazing Black Eyed Pea stew from one of my favorite "stranger" blogs, Eat, Live, Run.  I have "friend" blogs and "stranger" blogs - pretty self explanatory.  Anyway.  I have printed out several of her recipes (and need to print her recent chicken parm one) and was excited to try the first one.  It was delicious and totally easy to make.

Black Eyed Pea Stew

serves 8

2 cups cooked black eyed peas (prepared from dry or from fresh according to package directions)

    *I used canned.

1 12-oz bag chopped collard greens

1/2 large yellow onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 28-oz can diced tomatoes

4 cups vegetable stock

    *I didn't have enough veggie stock so I did 1/2 veggie and 1/2 chicken

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 bay leaf

1 tsp salt

12 oz chicken andouille sausage (or regular..whatever floats your boat!), chopped into 1/2 inch thick slices

1 T canola oil

1 T cider vinegar

Heat the canola oil in a large dutch oven over medium heat. When hot, add the chopped onion and saute until soft and translucent—about six minutes. Add the garlic and saute thirty more seconds.

Add the chopped sausage and stir everything together. Cook for another five minutes, stirring often, so that the sausage can brown a bit. Then, add the veggie stock, black eyed peas, cayenne pepper, bay leaf and salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for fifteen minutes.

Add the tomatoes, collards and vinegar. Simmer for another ten minutes or so until the greens have wilted and cooked down a little. Serve with hot sauce and cornbread on the side.

Somehow I missed the "serve with cornbread" note at the bottom when putting together my grocery list, so we ate it with some Ritz crackers I found in the pantry - not quite as good as the cornbread, but still pretty good.  (I forget how yummy Ritz crackers are because I don't buy them often...but they're so good!)

Don't let the collards in the stew scare you.  Husband thought he didn't like collards but he loved the soup - and didn't even know they were collards until I told him :)  It was really good, healthy, just spicy enough, and very filling.  Served with a yummy glass of wine and this made for a great Friday night.  Put it on your list to try - you won't be disappointed!

Siroc

I love it when Best Man KT comes to visit, because it always means a fun dinner out in DC!  KT is a lawyer in Alabama, but will soon be moving to Montgomery to work for the new Attorney General Luther Strange.  Anyway...last weekend he was in town to be sworn into the DC Bar, and dinner with us!  We first went to Brasserie Beck for drinks - the boys had beer and I enjoyed a couple of French whites.  We also ordered the charcuterie plate - it was huge, and wonderful!  Several different meats to try along with some yummy crostinis and different spreads. 

Then we walked the 2 blocks to dinner at Siroc, one of the newer restaurants in DC.  We must have good taste because also dining at the restaurant that evening were (separately) Chief Justice John Roberts and US Ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice.  There were secret service everywhere - they were a dead giveaway that someone important was in the room!  Dinner was fantastic.  It's a great northern Italian restaurant.  They have lots of delicious pastas, and you can order 2 half orders if you want to try a few.  The boys both did this, and I tried everything - they were all just wonderful.  I had a the pork tenderloin - it was good, but not as good as the pasta!  It was very reasonably priced and a had a good wine list.  We'll definitely go back, and you should put it on your DC list of restaurants!