I am a Honey Bee

All about my adventures with cooking, crafts, and travel

Archives for June 2010

do you see it too??

So I would love to post the photos we took on our trip to DC but I will spare you our sweaty gross faces (hello, 2 record hot days!) and just show you these few…

Oh our last day in DC we went to Georgetown. Jessica, food blogger and resident of Georgetown, gave us so many suggestions for places to eat and things to check out while we were in town. One being a restaurant called The Tombs, the bar that inspired St Elmo’s Fire. Well, since I was delirious from the heat I read my map incorrectly so we ended up missing the easy way and going up this insane flight of stairs instead.

Our waiter noticed that we looked a little spent and quickly got us water. We said how the heat was made worse by this long flight of stairs we just took. “Oh the exorcist stairs!” umm escuse me? So he went to tell us about the stairs and how they are in the movie- the part when the priest flew out the window and crashed down a flight of stairs… these stairs. Spooky.

So we went back to take some photos. And this is what we got. Seriously?

of all the photos we get 2 with blurs on them. no other photo has these spots. Price tried to argue it is the sun but I don’t by it since one photo is taken looking up the stairs and the other is taking looking down. I checked to see if the spots lined up in the photos but they don’t. Just weird….

Right Now List

With the weather getting warmer I have been having a hard time sitting down at the computer to do any real blogging. Or turn on the oven to bake. Or sit inside to scrapbook. So what do you do when you are stir crazy? You go on vacation!!!

A few weeks ago I got tickets for Pricer and me to go to DC when Jet Blue was having a fare sale. It was a great way to kick off the summer and celebrate our graduation.

So here we are enjoying DC. Blogging on my phone is not as the computer so I’ll keep it short and sweet! I saw a ‘right now’ list on Amy Tangerine’s blog, I’ll take the time to fill it in for this moment in time.

listening: well watching the world cup. Go USA!

eating: plain tortila chips, left overs from last nights dinner out

drinking: bud light lime and water

wearing: orange beaded tank and white skirt from old navy

feeling: tired, happy, glad to be back in the hotel after being out all morning

weather: heatwave! High of 93 today, just 91 now!!

wanting: more time here and a pedicure

needing: a cold shower

thinking: this would be a nice place to live

enjoying: this quite time this afternoon. Can’t wait to head over to dupont circle tonight to check out the bars there.

wondering: how I will scrapbook this trip

Do your own right now list

Kicking off Summer

Price and I kicked summer off early by spending our weekend in CT on boats. Memorial Day is the kick off of summer to me, along with just about every boater out there. Which is why I love that my dad and step dad own boats… lots of boating fun.

On Saturday we started the day by going to Bruce Museum in town. I wanted to see an Andy Warhol exhibit they had and Price wanted to check out an exhibit on preditory animals. Pretty cool exhibits for a small museum. Plus it was great that we got to use our Museum of Science Membership since it is in its Reciprocal Admission program.

After the trip to the Museum we went over to my Dad’s boat to see him for Father’s Day and for a ride on Long Island Sound. We started off by going to Cos Cob Harbor to check out the massive houses that are some of my favorites and some new ones to check out.

Our ride continued on down towards New York. On our way down we passed by Playland, which made us discuss their fireworks, New Rochelle, where the boat for my sister’s wedding reception left out of, and several lighthouses that my dad told us about.  We got pretty close to Manhattan Island before turning around after Riker’s Island so we could make it back in time to get some sides for dinner and be on time for Robin, my dad’s girlfriend, who was meeting us for dinner. We had my favorite salad from a place in town and my dad made Tangy Turkey Burgers.

Price and I have a healthy competition that relates to this ring game at the boat club. I have been playing this game since I was a kid. I rock this game. Now, I admit that Price is good at it, even playing it backwards and having it loop back onto itself. But… he can’t get ‘holes in one’ like I can. 🙂

 

On Sunday we headed up the coast to spend the day in Westbrook, CT, where my stepdad’s boat is located. We took the boat out so we could be anchored while we ate lunch. The jet skiers in the area really enjoyed our trip out to Duck Island. I love watching them jump over the waves. Maybe I’mm try that this year? Ha probably not. I just like to put put around on it.

It is always so surprising how different the temperature is/feels when you get out on the water. While we were at the dock we were baking away but once we were anchored we got to relax since there was a nice breeze out on the water. Even the dogs notice the difference. Pipes cuddled up the Pricer to relax – she has been glued to him since he has been down in CT working. Glued!

 

It was such a nice weekend. Totally worth getting a bib shaped sunburn from the dress I wore on Saturday. 🙂

Surf, turf and a hint of cirrhosis

Last Saturday Emily and I went on a Cape Cod Adventure. It was my first time down there since I was a young kid. We ventured around the Dennis and Yarmouth area. We started with an amazing breakfast from a place called Grumpy’s. Then we went shopping and went to a Strawberry Festival. Funniest and cutiest thing ever… we showed up at the historical society, paid $5 for stawberry shortcake and a drink, and got to listen to a church choir sing sings from the 40’s and 50’s. We were the youngest ones there by about 30 years. Too Funny!

Last year we decided we had to get lobster from the source so Em and I drove up to Maine and got lobsters off a dock. While driving back through New Hampshire, we  stopped in a state liquor store. The endless aisles of boxed wine prompted us to buy some for a night of lobsters and cheap, bad boxed wine- always classy. We decided that Saurday night would be a repeat of last years adventures. Below is a photo break down of the evening.

Clean some muscles and clams. Start the night with some peach arbor mist. BUT it has to be served in a mason jar glass!

Cook muscles and clams with some white wine (not flavored!) and garlic. When you don’t have a lid, just put a platter on your large skillet to keep the heat in.

After the arbor mist we started going after other wine in the house. Bottle after bottle and this is what happens

Take out the opened muscles and clams. Throw in some spinach… helps fight off the cirrhosis!!

Enjoy! And when you don’t finish you put the extras outside for the raccoons and skunks. Picky bastards decided they did not want anyway. Stupid bandits like to eat the rabbit poo we throw out. go figure!

ahh see here… this is the boxed wine dance. Must celebrate the adult juice box.

And then Emily and I have Price cook the lobsters. I just can’t deal with them clanking around to fight their way out. Price cooked his steak in the rain. But he said it was really good steak!

I decided to practice doing my hair for halloween. I figure it will be so much better when it is longer and I’m not boozing. Jack was eatting the coffee table so Emily decided his punshiment would be kisses, and hers would be a possible allergy attack.

Much to our surprise we woke up in the morning with no hangovers. That would have been awful… so much sugar! So our lobster, steak, and boxed wine evening went off without a hitch! Ohh I can’t wait for next year!!

 

*I am not trash talking boxed wine. There are plenty of good boxed wines out there. In fact a lot of wine makers are going the boxed wine route because it is more eco-friendly. We just make it our mission to buy the worse boxed wine 🙂

Easy Spiced Carrot Soup

Easy Spiced Carrot Soup is a wonderful vegetarian soup that will warm your belly and soul with it’s bold flavors from the spices you blend in. Yum!

Healthy dinners don’t have to be complicated. This Spiced Carrot Soup is an easy recipe to make that is great for vegetarians and meat eaters alike because everyone loves rich bold flavors. 

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sooo excited and now so tired

Yesterday I woke up earlier than usual so I had enough time to let the rabbits out for a long time. Usually the rabbits are slow in the mornings but Jack decided he was ready to be out and play. Bunny had other plans. While he was trying to get her to play he was jumping on and off the sofa, digging into the sofa pillows, jumping on and over the pillow he knocked on the floor, jumping into and over Bunny, and doing binkies*. After all of this nonstop action he decided he was tired, so he flopped down on the sofa and leaned against a pillow to rest. I just could not resist sharing!

FYI- Binkies are a way that rabbits express they are happy. They will either jump and spin in the air from a complete stand still (what Bunny does) or they will hop around and do them. The video shows you what they look like. This is just some random rabbit, not Jack.

Graduation Part 3: We like to Party!

Last but not least, this is the final installment of my college graduation pictures. We had such a great time having our family and friends over. We had BBQ from Red Bones and have 2 women from Hostess Helper come help to make it all run smoothly. They were great esp when we were about to bring the food out and is started to have a heavy summer shower. They quickly regrouped and we cleared off tables and chowed down on a lot of food inside.

We even had a caricature station set up! I had met Ash Jackson at a party before and loved the work that he does. My nephews loved him and we loved that he was so great for taking the time to whip up dinosaurs and animals for them while getting out caricatures done. I’m going to get our caricature framed this week!!!

A big thank you to our family and friends for all your support and for celebrating with us. And, of course, a big thanks to my mom for organizing such a great party.
(Handmade thank you’s are being sent out 🙂 )



Graduation: BAC Commencement Part 2

Here are the last couple of photos from the Boston Architectural College Commencement from May 29th 2010.

my mom snapped this right after we sat down

in line before going to get my ‘dipolma’

yay we’re done!

I wish that I did not look so bad for these family photos but I was so flushed and my hair was so smashed down. After the last photo and ripped off my gown. I was way too hot. I felt dizzy from the heat and not really eating the ‘breakfast’ school provided.  At least I got a few photos in before having a melt down.
My super prepared mom had a bottle of water that I stole before running to the trolley to returned to school for my diploma.
After that I got to relax for our party with family and friends!!

scrapbooking a mini acrylic album

Here I am again, behind with my scrapbooking. I can’t do the 15 minute daily scrapbooking that people suggest to stay on top of things, pick photos, Photoshop photos, select papers and embellishments, then scrap. I like to 4+ hour blocks of times to get my mind into it and justify the mess that I make pulling everything out… stamps, punches, ink, papers, glue, photos, etc.

  

Price is gone for the next 2 weeks so I have opened up a folding table in the living room and yanked my stuff out. Ah joy. He is completely justified for being annoyed with the mess I make since I make a massive mess. So I am missing my Pricer but completely enjoying the fact that I don’t have to worry about him tripping over 2 paper organizers, 1 rolling scrapbook organizer, and a scrapbooking tote.

  

I went to CKC Manchester this year in May and had a blast. I enjoyed the time I classes I took and shopping the vendor faire. Once of the classes I took was for this mini acrylic recipe album.  I loved the papers that were selected. I liked the design direction for the book was going but since have the innate need to make something my own I did not follow them, with the exception of the cover. Sometimes this gets me in trouble but for creative projects like this it usually works. I just don’t want everything looking just like everybody else’s.

  

The plan for the album was to us the acrylic pages as the only pages in the album. Since I wanted more than 5 I decided to add more pages to have more recipes and more photos. In addition to the patterned paper provided, I used Stampin’ Up! solid papers to fill in the gaps and added the paper and embellishments to them. I punched them with a scalloped border punch to mimic the scalloping on the album.

 

I like working with acrylic albums because of the peak you get for what is coming ahead. It can be tricky to coordinate things since both sides of paper and embellishments are seen. I’m careful to pick papers that interesting papers on both sides.  Also, when using stickers I try to using simple shapes ones and back to back them so you don’t see the back of one if you position it on the acrylic. 

 

I like the pocket in back because it rises above the acrylic, giving you a peak, and it can hold little mementos. On the back of the pocket I put a journaling sticker. I wrote a message on there and then adhered the whole pocket to the back, allowing the message to be seen through the acrylic.

The colors of the papers and the style of the stickers seemed like it would be best for Thanksgiving. Plus, Thanksgiving is one of my favorite family gathering events that generally revolves around food. I’m looking forward to filling this in with Thanksgiving photos and recipes over the years. I expect this album to continually be a work in progress as I add in photos and new family favorites.

I dig, I dig

I can’t think of anything I would rather do on a Sunday afternoon than dig out weeds for nearly 3 hours. Okay, I can but yesterday was really amazing!!!

A coworker organized an outting for some of us to volunteer at Gaining Ground in Concord Ma. Established in 1994, Gaining Ground is an organic farm, located on the land of Henry David Thoreau’s Birthplace, that donates all of its produce to area food pantries and meal programs. 70% of all the work on the farm is volunteer based, totalling 5,500+ plus hours of man power.

I thought this was an interesting program to volunteer some hours to. Plus I figured I would learned a bit about gardening, which is always a plus. I brought my friend Natalie along with me to take part in some farmin’!

Verena, the Gaining Ground farmer, brought us to an area of the farm that needed some heavy-duty weeding. Our goal was to weed out the quakgrass that was in the plot. I now hate quakgrass. I had no idea what it was before but I hate it now. Here’s why… quakgrass is a hearty perennial grass that can quickly take over your lawn, or in this case, your farm. Verena explained that his land has been farmed for over 300 years and the last farmer here was for rhubarb. Just rhubarb. Acres of it. Sure you can make some great pie with it but not rotating crops is not great for soil, which is why quakgrass took over. Some weeds, like dandelions, have tap roots, but quakgrass has a root structure that resembules a carpet. Ends and ends of roots. You can’t just mow this stuff down since the roots will remain, allowing them to come back again and again. Also, no herbicide or pesticide has been able to tame it. Gaining Ground is organic, so they would not use pesticides, but a home gardening might not understand why this awful grass is standing rough against the sprays. So you just have to use a pitch fork or get on your hands and knees to dig this stuff up.

Why doesn’t Gaining Ground use a machine to do it? They don’t have any large farming equipment. No, they are not crazy. Vernena explained that if it is really necessary they will rent equipment but their goal is to be from equipment like that because of what it does to the ground. She explained what soil really is and how mechanical tilling is hard on soil. It disturbs it which causes the connections between the particulates, microbes, and other matter to break down, which deteriorates the quality of the soil. Doing the work by hand allows volunteers to help and limits how the soil is disrupted.

While digging out the quakgrass we unearthed several frogs. Natalie thought she speared one of these guys with her pitch fork but he was spared. Little hard to spot rock shaped living creatures hiding about 6″ underground!

The weather for the day predicted that storms would roll in the area around 2pm, luckily the rain did not come until 4ish. After we heard some decent thunderous booms we packed it up for a quick tour of the farm. We were brought over to the pig pen. The pigs are being loaned to Gaining Ground from another farm because pigs like poison ivy and Gaining Ground has plenty of it. Sheep also will eat poison ivy, but like quackgrass, the roots need to be removed, which pigs happily do.

Gaining Ground grows several varieties of vegetables, including tomatoes, peas, beans, lettuces, boy chow, potatoes, cucumbers, carrots, etc. The list goes on and on. One of the coolest things they do now is ‘make’ maple syrup. They tapped public and some private trees around Concord to draw sap from to make syrup.

The best of the day was when I locked myself out of my apartment and had to introduce myself to my new neighbors hoping to get in through the back door (it was locked also). Really nice to introduce yourself while your legs and clothes are covered in dirt and you smell as nice as the pig above from digging weeds for 3 hours in some crazy humidity. I’m good like that…

Graduation: Boston Architectural College Commencement Part 1

Incase you missed it in a previous post, facebook, twitter, or in person… I GRADUATED!!! 

Holy hell, I never thought that day would come. No, I never really planned on dropping out but when you enter college directly from high school and you are facing a 7 year program, the end seems far away. The days drag on when you are working full time and going to school for 3 to 6 hours for a few nights a week. Also, when I entered the median age was somewhere around 35. Plus the graduation rate is 8%. So the fact that I, along with the other 121 students, graduated this year is pretty damn impressive. Round of applause for us!!!

I was so excited to be done but I had an issue with something. And that something was this GD lame beret that we all had to wear. Sure it honors one of the long-standing past presidents of the college. But why? Why can’t I have my tassel to flip over when I am officially done? Plus have you seen people in Berets… come on! I grumbled but finally put it on at the last-minute.

 We, the students, grouped up outside of the school to take a class photo. I wonder if I ever get a copy? Then we lined up to walk a few blocks down to Old South Church, where the commencement was being held. Leading us on our trek was a Dixieland band. It was pretty funny to see people staring at the gaggle of us marching down Newbury Street  with a band in front.

 

Since the Bachelor of Architecture Degree has a handful of graduates Price and I got to sit next to each other in the second row. The benefit of having alphabetically close last names. 🙂

The graduation ceremony ran a bit over 2 hours. There were a series of awards, honorary degrees, and speeches that were for us and for the architecture community. One of the things mentioned was how active our school is with activities and outreach, one of which is the semster down in Biloxi for post Katrina building… which Pricer did!!!

 Mayor Thomas M. Menino was our graduation speaker. He received and honorary degree for Doctor in Sustainable Communities for his involvement in transforming the city into a Green city. It was pretty cool to have him speak at the graduation. I can’t really tell you what he was talking about since I was so distracted from being so hot from 1) several hundred people stuffed into a church 2) no AC 3) robe 4) wool beret. I just remember about him saying how he has just made a bunch of people mad after he said we must remember the scale of Boston and we can’t have any big skyscrapers…. which is what he was trying to pass just a few years ago.

 After Menino spoke the handing out of fake diplomas began….