food – Page 11

What I learned in 2014…

Published on December 30, 2014December 30, 2014 by Mae @ Rainydayinmay4 Comments

As we pull up to the end of what has become one of the worst, (if not THE WORST) years in my 38 years of life, I thought I’d take a moment to share the lessons I’ve learned over these twelve months. I’ll be linking up over at Emily P. Freeman’s blog Chatting at the Sky.

– Being at your daughter’s wedding is a roller coaster of emotions that I don’t think any mother can really be prepared for. {at least this one wasn’t}

– I’m pretty ok with being a grandma at 38 to my daughter’s awesome new sons.

– Just because a large majority of people believe something is the easy way out does not make it so.

– Wearing a swimming suit, in a pool, that is now several sizes too big for you is inadvisable. (VERY, VERY inadvisable.)

– also inadvisable, when you have finicky hair like mine, is changing shampoos when you have one you really love. Big, BIG mistake…

– That my people are my everything, and when something scary, tragic, devastating or sad happens to one of them it may as well happen to me.

– A champagne massage is possibly how I want to celebrate every single milestone ever. Heaven.

– I suddenly hate cheese. And anything that has recently associated with cheese. And yogurt…

– That I have a STRONG dislike of granite countertops.

– That I will probably never be the daughter my mother wants me to be, that she will hate everything I enjoy and there is nothing I can do to control that.

– Likewise, I will likely never the person my kids want me to be. I’m trying to be ok with this too…

– no amount of passion, love or effort guarantees results/success.

– chasing people is only fun and affective when you’re under the age of 9, and on a playground.

– Being a writer is hard. Way harder than I perceived in 2013 and DEFINITELY more so than 2012.

– Podcasting is awesome.

– Churches in the area we live in now are seriously different from the other 8 states I’ve lived, and not different in a good way. It’s a major disappointment that our family is trying to reconcile with.

– I’ve grown to dislike moving, but worse is this 5 month purgatory of moving to who-knows-where…

– Friends can say some mean, crappy and insensitive things. Some friends say they’ll be there and never show up at all, (see: Chasing people above) but people are human and flawed. That’s ok. Step back, reevaluate. Some relationships are worth sticking it out, some are worth cutting them go…

– game nights are the best. Like mini-vacations, leaving your worries behind for a bit.

– I like less tv than ever. Sitting there too long drives me crazy.

– Newark New Jersey is like a completely different world than NYC, despite their close proximity.

– eloquently penned (& pinned) quotes and sayings on Pinterest are not always based in truth or healthy, even when if they may stir your heart to read.

– Some people live really nasty, and are completely unaware. We’ve walked through so many homes with our realtor that were absolute disgusting…

– lastly, I don’t need a fancy house or fancy stuff. I just want a home that is warm, peaceful and has a yard for my dogs, room enough for the bed I share with my husband and a room big enough for our dining room table to hold all our family…

A tale of woe, for these two souls…

Published on July 30, 2014 by Mae @ Rainydayinmay4 Comments

Once upon a time, after an unnaturally stress filled year, a couple had the opportunity to spend 5 kid (iow-teen) free weeks at home. They made plans which included picnics, bike rides and adventures. There was a sparkle in their eyes at the thought of how fun this adventuring could be.

To kick off the festive five-week empty nest preview, she accompanied him on a business trip to Chicago. Before hand they planned out local, unique restaurants and things to do, complete with a weekend trip into the city and a fancy hotel booked for a steal where they would take in a jazz club, good food, Taste of Chicago and finally visit Millenium Park.

The first day they stumbled upon the most incredible movie theater ever, and for movie lovers such as themselves, this was a true find…

The second full day of the business trip, he (who never gets sick) did in fact do just that. They managed an amazing dinner (perhaps one of their best) but this was to be the last good moment, and for him it was only partly good…

With each passing day he grew more and more miserable. By the time the weekend came, she offered they just go home but he refused to let their non-refundable city hotel go to waste. While it was beautiful, it wasn’t worth the stress driving into Chicago to sit in a hotel and then leave the next morning…

No Taste, no Park, no club. Just one short walk, a local italian dinner and then their stunning view until room service breakfast… And a foggy, rainy Sears tower view from our room… Loved this view.

With the first week behind them, he started to feel better and they realized that they still had four weeks of adventures (though, a significantly smaller budget.) Then, at a routine allergy medication appointment, she mentioned to her doctor that she’d had an increase in headaches. A few tests conclude a raging sinus infection. A prescription of a strong antibiotic is handed out and all should be fine, but it isn’t…

Within two days, she is experiencing a misery she has never experienced before. She’s always gotten fairly sick on this particular antibiotic, but this sensation is new and fiery. She returns to learn she has a raging infection (non-sinus) and is prescribed a little pink pill that should take care of it. (The doctor says sometimes the antibiotic can cause these awful girl-infections… she is mortified.)

The pink pill (which fights the infection, which was caused by the antibiotic which makes her very sick to her stomach, which is fighting the sinus infection she didn’t even know she had) causes debilitating headaches. Three days after beginning the pink pill (and 8 days after beginning the antibiotic) she wakes up with no voice. (this is the middle of week 3 of their 5, of which they have had one good evening) As thursday progresses into Friday, then into Saturday and eventually Sunday, she grows significantly worse. Monday morning she has a meeting she’s been waiting months for, which she refuses to miss, so she attends. Apologies for her voice and now awful sounding cough are plenty. Nearly everyone she encounters tells her she should see a doctor. Thankfully, she has an appointment at 3. (two weeks after the allergy appointment that ruined everything.)

Pneumonia. It is now Pneumonia. And the other infection hasn’t gone away, and apparently they’ve determined she might be, allergic to this antibiotic and it stripped me of all of my good bacteria causing me her to develop, oh, everything…

(One and a half weeks left, and it has been nothing like they, (ok, let’s face it… WE had hoped/planned/thought… BUT it hasn’t been awful either. Sick or not, I adore my husband and love anytime I get to spend with him. I don’t like the guilt for how long I’ve been miserable.)

Perhaps a bacon wrapped pillow would be more appropriate…

Published on July 21, 2014 by Mae @ Rainydayinmay6 Comments

Good morning, sunshine…

It is minutes til 2 a.m. and I’m so body tired and mind revved up that many states may classify me as a train wreck. (if this is true, please don’t tell me, I don’t want to know.) It’s a sad think to know of tragedy touching the lives of people you care about. There are things in this world I just do not understand… And rather than dwell on them, or try to figure them out (thank God it’s smart enough to know it can’t) my brain is just consumed with thinking about every other thing on the planet. Seriously, everything. All at once.

At any rate, it’s Monday, and that means it’s time for my Hi-Five!

Song– You had to see it coming… I’m not that unpredictable. :)

Share– If you like classic literature, this looks really fun! I’m super excited!

Something I’m loving– Last week, in Chicago, we had bacon wrapped dates at a lovely little restaurant in Algonquin. They were incredible, so this week it’s my quest to find a recipe for them that we love equally.

Something I’m into– oh my gosh. We are very casually house hunting. I say casually because who knows what will happen and we are pretty open to whatever. We’re enjoying the process though (maybe a little too much.) We’re really getting a kick out of house listing photos. What are some of these people thinking? We’ve seen sinks of dirty dishes, mounds of laundry, close-ups of candles (and nothing else.) it’s flat-out nutty! (but so fun!)

Something new (to me)– This one is really tough for me, both to admit and to adapt to. I’m a paper girl. I still use a paper planner and REFUSE to store agenda dates in my iPhone. So, when the reality came up that I would have to loosely organize a bridal shower for my older daughter Amanda (which my youngest daughter Gen is technically throwing, In Idaho, without me) from 2000 miles away and with VERY SHORT notice, I had no choice but to do it electronically. I decided to use Paperless Post and honestly, it’s made things easy to keep track of and the invitations were elegant and cute. Would I make this my preferred method? No. But, it’s not horrible, either.

Are you into anything you’d like to share?

Are you looking forward to anything this week? I feel like I am, but it’s now 2:07 and my fuzzy brain can’t recall anything other than the fact that tomorrow is full of meetings and appointments. I have one bright and early, (so basically, in a few hours) up until evening… I should try to force my brain to bed perhaps…

Hi! {Five}

Published on June 16, 2014July 7, 2014 by Mae @ Rainydayinmay1 Comment

Good morning…

How was your weekend? Mine was really weird. Lovely, and not lovely, and something altogether strange and wonderful. Gen flew, with some kids from her youth group, to Jamaica for the week. They will be doing some various service projects there. It’s all really exciting, and already I can’t wait to see pictures and hear her stories… As for us, we tried a cool not-so-local (for us) restaurant, saw a movie, did a little grocery shopping, watched fireworks, hit up the farmer’s market and just enjoyed hanging out together. It was a pretty big bummer to have her gone over Father’s Day, but we celebrated last weekend so it all worked out ok… My husband, in my book, is the absolute coolest guy to hang out with, so it was a rare joy to spend the weekend with just him. We joked about it being our empty nest preview…

Quite awhile ago, I was doing a superb job of listing out little weekly life gifts to add to my growing list, of which I was grateful for… And then some season, or other, of life became overwhelming and I tapered off. I want to start up again. I really love the focus of that, and maybe it will help me to be a more diligent blogger (again) as well… look for that at some point later this week.

I think five is a great number…

I thought I’d share with five awesome (to me) things to start your week out right…

SONG– I’ve never listened much to the Avett Brothers so I do realize this is an old song, but I just heard it for the first time on Friday and it touched my heart… Just lovely… November Blue.

SHARE– I love elephants and this video melts my heart.

SOMETHING I’M LOVING– These days I am really loving my magic bullet. We drink smoothies year round, but we’ve been amping up on them a bit. (we do 1/3 frozen fruit, 1/3 fresh fruit, 1/3 cup packed spinach leaves, 1/4 c. kefir, 1 T. flaxseed oil, 1 T. chia seeds & and fill to just below the rim with coconut or almond milk. (Gen likes a bit of stevia in hers) They come out perfect every time. AMAZING…)

SOMETHING I’M INTO– The Goodwife. I don’t even know how it happened. I absolutely adore both Josh Charles and Chris Noth and made the decision NOT to watch this show when it first began (and the 5 years years since) because I just didn’t want to get involved with a legal drama. And then, when all of the shock of JC’s departure from the show (whom I’ve absolutely loved since I was in high school and he was in Dead Poet’s Society), suddenly my interest became peaked. When I realized our cable service had the entire series ON DEMAND, I was hooked. Do you watch?

SOMETHING NEW (to me)– For awhile now, I’ve seen these services pop up where you can borrow handbags or accessories and I thought it was such a waste of money. And then, I found myself in the position of wearing more dresses and needing a big of a broader wardrobe without the budget for nicer quality clothing. Enter Gwynnie Bee. I’ll admit I was skeptical, but I think I may be warming up to it. I received my first box the other day and it was a fun experience. I might even say, I’m warming up to calling it a bit of a brilliant idea…

Is there anything you’d like to share from your week?

{Have you talked books in this month’s Twitterature post?}

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hello June…

Published on June 1, 2014June 1, 2014 by Mae @ Rainydayinmay2 Comments

June is a pretty special month for me… Not only does it hold several very important birthdays, but it’s the official start of summer and that’s a great thing, right?

Me-

– An exciting new project that I can’t divulge too many details about, but you know what they say: my excitement is your excitement… {They say that, right?!?!}

– I joined a new summer book club and I am so excited! (Perhaps I should add overuse of the word exciting and any words derived from it. Yikes.) I’m hoping it will be a great experience and connect me with a few new gals in my area!

– I have some fun books between my night stand and my kindle that I’m looking forward to getting in to.

– have coffee/tea/social plans with a new friend.

– I have not done it in ages, but I really want to do a paper craft project, or two, this month.

Family–

– End of the year school program.

– sending our youngest off to Jamaica with a youth group team from our church, for a mission trip. {yikes!}

– we are (finally) going through the stuff we have stored in our garage, from our move, that we just don’t have room for.

– celebrating several birthdays of loved ones, even if from afar.

– having a belated Father’s Day since we won’t be able to be together for the calendar scheduled one.

– bike rides, evening walks and active weekends.

– summer movies, trip to the drive in, etc.

Food–

– I’m wanting to try some new, summery recipes in the kitchen.

– Mastering fontina cheese fondue. {Yum!}

– concentrating on more vegetables.

– Grilled dinners complete with deck dining.

– weeknight sun tea, fresh squeezed lemonade, weekend cocktails.

Home–

– I’m inspired to redo my photo ledges (and this has been an ongoing hope for months) but I can’t quite figure out what I want to do.

– we’ve had tragedy befall our dining room table recently so we will be taking on a creative, yet affordable redo in that area.

– My office has been a mess since our trip to Idaho. When I’m in here, it’s for a quick second or to rush through a work project. I need to organize and clean it.

Love–

– We have theater tickets to a Tony winning show that I’m really excited to see!

– We have a couple of other fun, intentional dates on the calendar for the month. Our intentional date challenge has been a really fun one!

{Image credits…}