Summer 2011

It's October, which means several things. 1, it's my favorite month! 2, I'm going to spend the whole month cursing the tucson heat and wishing I was having awesome Fall-filled October like the rest of the world, 3, it's definitely the end of summer and a summer post is way overdue.

Summer 2011 was insane. It was filled with so many amazing once-in-a-lifetime experiences, lots of changes, lots of really difficult times, and lots of really wonderful happiness and love filled times. I swear, every year my summers just get better and better. Now let me rummage through my photos file and facebook to find evidence of all this awesomeness :)

This is how I spent the beginnind of my summer. And a large of my time at home in general, at least before I got my new puppy that makes my older, sweet, perfect puppy feel like she shouldn't spend as much time with me. Internet, puppy cuddles, comfy bed in my nice familiar bedroom :)

My best friends in Prescott are the people I worked with last summer at Mama Edda's. And now 3 or them all live together, so I get to hang out with them all in one spot all the time :) every time i'm in prescott at least. This is from one of the first times this summer I went over to their place. I wasn't planning on staying the night, but then I did. It's kind of a long story with the blanket but basically while I was in Tucson all my prescott friends had a Lord of the Rings night where they all dressed up like LOTR characters. This blanket (and by blanket i mean awesome cape) was a part of one of the costumes. I was cold/jealous/probably a little bit tipsy so we decided I should get to wear it and take pictures and be part of the LOTR group. It was a fun night.

On that same night we played with this plastic dinosaur, sticking it ambiguously into as many pictures as possible. There are probably at least 20 pictures, but I chose this one cause it shows me and one of my besties Natalie :)

 On this day, I woke up at like 11, and decided I was going to work hard all day on getting the youth retreat catering stuff done. at 11:15 I got a call from linn, the boy on the far right, asking me what I was doing. Still in my pjs and having just brushed my teeth, I lied and said I was working on my catering job. He asked if I could get away from that for a few hours and come to frog falls (a swimming hole about 20 minutes away from downtown prescott) I thought about it for a few seconds and ultimately decided that having fun and making memorable experiences would be more important in the long run than spending the whole day working. 2 hours later here I was, drinking blue moon and hanging out with lovely, wonderful friends at a super awesome swimming hole.

 And then there was greece. These are not in order, and they are not my photos. This is at Mystras, an old monastery near Sparta.

I think this is at Pleuron, Greece. With my closest girlfriends of the trip (from the left) Laurent, Jessica, and Jill.

 Jessica and I thought it would be such a fun idea to pick up the ridiculously copious amount of flower petals on the ground outside of the Benaki museum in Athens and throw them in the air. It's pretty obvious in this picture that the girls totally know what's going on and the guys are lost as to what the point of all this is.

 We had to do both a site report and a reading as assignments on our trip. This is me giving my site report on the Charioteer at Delphi, Greece. I am so knowledgeable on this statue it's not even funny.

 One day in Santorini, we climbed down the 587 steps to the dock (i also climbed up them because I was too broke to pay for a donkey or the airlift, but theres no reason you should see a photo of that. 587 steps in 100 degree heat? you try that shit.), loaded up on a boat, and went to the volcano island santorini is next to, and the to the hot springs that are heated by the warmth of the volcano. While treading water furiously and waiting to climb up the single ladder to get back on the boat, we decided to get a picture. the group of people in the back is us, and I'm the sixth from the right.

 One of the most awesome things we did on my greece trip was perform a live reading of The Bacchae at a winery in Santorini. If you haven't read The Bacchae, well you should. Read all the greek plays that remain, in fact. They are all awesome. This is a picture of me reading one of my lines.

 Going back in time. This is at Olympia, in front of one of the many olympic temples. Olympia is small, by the way. just a couple blocks and some ancient ruins. Isn't that weird?

 Santorini again, right after having lunch at a super duper fancy restaurant with an awesome view.

 Back in time even more. Right after arriving in Santorini. We rode a very rocky ferry which made many of the people immediately next to us vomit. It was, um, not incredibly enjoyable. I mostly spent the time with my eyes closed and my ipod on, trying to pretend the rest of the cabin wasn't seasick and disgusting.

 Further back in time. This is in athens, in front of the legendary olive tree that Athena gave to the city of athens in the competition for who the city would be named after.

 Back on the boat in santorini, immediately before jumping into the hot springs water.

 on the almost last day of the trip, feeling very pensive and sad while waiting for the National Museum to open.

 Just a few minutes before I got in the taxi to take me back to the athens airport. So many wonderful friends made, so many wonderful experiences had, so much deep sadness and flittering excitement at this moment.

I flew from Athens, Greece straight to San Francisco California, and then drove to Mendocino, California. The next day, I started work as the head chef for the Mendocino youth retreat which was so much fun, so much work, so exhausting, and one of the best experiences I've ever had. I loved cooking for 30 wonderful individuals and I loved letting my recipes become worthwhile and enjoyed by so many people.

 Roadtrip back to Prescott with Stewie :)

 I got my perfect, wonderful, adorable pup this summer! Clementine has started to show so much personality and spunk, especially with her wiley age of 7 months. Right now she LOVES chewing on anything she can (she's teething), goes nuts when stewie or i come home, and has gained so much confidence from her socialization- she will approach people, lick people's hands, and explore when i let her off her leash. I have to chase after her to get her to come back sometimes :) when I first got her she would only stay by my heels and hide behind my legs :)

 So, I haven't fully disclosed this on this blog. But stewart and I broke up. No worries though! We are still the very best and closest of friends, we are still roommates, and we still have so, so much fun with each other. Not too long after we broke up though I started dating this boy, Linn. He's very sweet and fun and I met him when I started working at mama edda's last summer :)

 One of the parties we had in the second half of summer was a fancy schmancy party for our friend amanda's birthday!

 Then we had another formal wear party after my friend Natalie got back from Italy. I got there at 8pm and everyone was already wasted and passed out... so me and the 3 people that weren't done for already spent the rest of the night hanging out and taking pictures :) see below.

 above two: me and my girly lauren at said party :)

 We went on a picnic at goldwater lake! I made everyone sandwiches and I even wrote their names on all the bags. Cause yeah, i'm adorable. it was so much fun. We drank a few beers, played with puppy, and had fun on the playground :)

 More picnic :)

 This summer ended, as last year's did, with the VW festival. Stewie couldn't go this year due to his cousin's wedding, but I went with linn and there were lots of other people there that we knew. It was a really great time, and I'm already counting down the days 'til next year :)

It was a great summer, 2011. Thanks for all the craziness, all the good times, all the fun, all the sadness and hurt that let me learn so many lessons. I can only hope that the rest of the year will be as awesome as this summer was :)

hope your summer was just as awesome, and hope this coming fall is even better!

Love,
Em

Lovely Little Things V.IV

Back to school, back to monthly volumes of lovely little things. This will be a special summer-themed edition since I missed all the summer months


1. Making/Drinking drinks with little skewers of fruit and adorable little umbrellas.

2. Summer Romances

 3. Warm evenings and long, late sunsets

4. Going on picnics (ignore how retarded I look in this picture)

5. Taking day trips to swimming holes, rivers, etc.

6. Spending a whole day in your pjs, doing whatever the eff you want.

7. Eating nothing but a plate of fresh, cool, in season fruits and veggies for a meal

8. Having the time and freedom to discover new hobbies, reach into your creativity, and rediscover lost talents and interests.

9. Dining outside

10. Having a reason to run through sprinklers at any time of the day or night.

Happy September/end of summer my lovelies. I know I'm sad to see it go... but then again I'm going to have 100 degree weather for at least another month :/ Sure do miss the freedom though! See you next month with another volume of Lovely Little Things

Orange Basil Shrimp Ceviche

Ceviche is an example of some of the reasons I really love cooking. It's so simple, yet it usually blows everyone's minds with how freaking delicious it is. Also, the whole concept of it- cooking fish without heat, with the acid of citrus alone- is really cool. Food can do some pretty crazy things.

I hadn't had ceviche since... well, mexico last winter, but before that i hadn't had it since I was a youngun, and my grandpa would make it for our family every once in a while. Back then i didn't know what it was, and my parents just called it "marinaded shrimp". Probably because they knew if they told me it was raw shrimp that sat in lime juice for a few hours I wouldn't eat it.

I don't usually eat meat, but I ate it in greece (it's kind of necessary... though I ate less than I thought I was going to have to) and so I felt ok about making this for my parents and myself a few days after I got back. It's an adaptation of one of Dan at The Food in my Beard's recipes, and as is the case with most things that are inspired/from tfimb, it was awesome. really, really refreshing and surprisingly full of flavor. like, suspiciously full of flavor, for how few ingredients there are.

Make up a batch of this, it's freaking delicious and seriously one of the most perfect summery dishes out there!

Orange Basil Shrimp Ceviche
Ingredients
1 pound raw shrimp (get the best quality you can find) 
5 oranges
4 limes
2 tbsp finely chopped basil
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
1/2 red onion
1 clove garlic, finely minced or grated
Salt and pepper to taste

  1. Start by removing all the crap parts of the shrimp- the legs, shell, etc. Then cut the shrimp into small, 1 cm pieces.
2. Juice the oranges and limes through a strainer into a medium serving bowl. Make sure you get as much juice as you can!

3. Cut the onion into thin strips. you could also dice it if you wanted to have a more salsa-like ceviche, but my grandpa always used thin onion strips so that's what I like :)

4. Add the onions, garlic, basil, and cilantro to the bowl with the citrus juice. Stir to combine.

5. Add a bit of salt and pepper to taste. you can always add more after the shrimp is done cooking, too.
6. Add the shrimp to the marinade and stir, making sure all the shrimp pieces are completely submerged. Cover with plastic wrap and stick in the fridge for 1-6 hours, or until the shrimp is completely opaque and cooked all the way through. the cooking time varies depending on the size of your shrimp pieces and how fresh the shrimp is. The longer you leave it in there the more cooked and marinaded and flavorful it will get! I left mine overnight. Serve with chips or eat by itself.

It's... Fall?

If you know me at all or have read more than like 3 posts on this blog, you'll know I'm a fall girl. I am all about autumn. I will talk your ear off about pumpkin patches and hay rides and knit skirts and leggings and scarves, and I will feed you pumpkin breads and stuffed squashes and hot toddies until you want to kill me and go live in bermuda or antarctica or somewhere where it is never fall, ever.

But even I have raised an eyebrow at all the fall-stuff that is trickling into the latest of the interwebs. Halloween cupcake decoration DIYs? Beef and beer stew topped with garlic bread? Cmon people- I can appreciate an icy beer here or there during these sizzling months, but beef? stew? garlic bread?! I've got at least another 2 good bikini months left so what the hell are you doing?

I love fall, but I'm not one to cut summer short either- unless it gets to be November in Tucson and it's still 85 degrees and green. Either way... fall will have it's time. the web loves fall. spice bread recipes, knitting patterns, thanksgiving cornucopia diys- bloggers eat that shit up. but for right now, it's still SUMMER, damnit. So I say we turn up our noses at all the autumn stuff flooding our blogs and tumblrs and pinterest boards and embrace all things summer!

Sangria is a total summer thing. It's perfect for garden parties, bbqs, or really anything at all because it's delicious. make some, stat.

I love using zucchini to make healthy "pasta" salads. you really can't tell the difference as far as taste and texture go, and you cut the calories by an absurd amount. This pesto pasta sounds delicious, refreshing, and oh so healthy :)

I'm kinda caprese-ed out, but if you need to get your summer fix of tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil drenched in olive oil, check out this recipe for cute little caprese appetizers I posted last summer.

Now is the time to be wearing flowers in your hair. I really want to go buy some cute fabric and plain headbands and make a million of these adorable rosette hair accessories!

I think this is the cutest idea for a tropical themed summer party. I'm one of those people that believes wreaths can be a year round ordeal ;)

go enjoy what's left of summer! take a roadtrip, go camping, take a beach/pool day, buy short shorts and bikinis and flirty yellow summer dresses. eat fro yo for dinner. lay on the grass and look at the stars. drink lemonade on porch swings. It's summertime, baby! and the livin's easy :)

<3
Em

20 in my 20th: #3 Drink Ouzo in Greece

Hooray for accomplishing the first of 20 things I wanted to do before next May 10th! Unfortunately I did not get a picture of this event- you see, I drank ouzo a couple times but I was waiting for the perfect moment to really "count" it- and when that moment came my phone was dead and I didn't have my DSLR! the unjustness of it all... anyways, I can describe what I considered the best ouzo drinking occasion in Greece to be.

For those of you who don't know, Ouzo is a clear Greek Liquor with a 40% alcohol content, like most other hard alcohols. It's made from anise seed and so it has a distinct black licorice-y flavor, similar to that of Jagermeister and Absinthe. I'm not a huge fan of black licorice-y alcohols... or candies... or anything, really, but I figured hell, I'm in Greece and I might as well do as the Greeks do ;)

You can shoot ouzo like you would any other hard alcohol, which is what we did before we went clubbing in Mykonos (THAT's a whole other story altogether...), but the more proper way to consume it is in a tumbler poured over ice cubes, which slowly melt and chill/dilute the ouzo.

Anyways, It was July 2nd, if I remember correctly- we were in Santorini, an absolutely gorgeous crescent shaped island with lots of beaches named for the colors of their sand. We spent the first half of the day at the archeological site of Ancient Thera, which was interesting, although by this, the 27th day of our trip, we were all kind of site-ed out.

 Anyways, we then wandered our way down the mountain to the black beach, where we bought 2 euro gyros and half liters of amstel or mythos and strolled down the boardwalk in search of a good place to lay out and enjoy the beach.

  I was with two of the boys I spent the most time with on this trip, Trevor and Kellner. We wound up finding a spot under the shade of a tree, where the black sand was warm but not scalding like it was in the sun. We laid out our towels and spent a while reading our various books for a while before Trevor eventually decided he wanted to get some ouzo. He and Kellner went off in search for a bottle, cups, and ice while I watched their stuff. It wasn't terribly classy, laying on the beach drinking ouzo from flimsy plastic cups which got sand all over them from the condensation, but it was wonderfully fun and relaxing sitting there with the boys, laughing and chatting and joking and people watching and getting just a little tipsy. It was great :)

I'm on the verge of completing a few other things from my 20 in my 20th list, like writing a song and getting a puppy- so look for a few more of these posts coming up in the next few weeks!