Let's try this again...

Somehow I've allowed another 6 months to go by without visiting this blog. I really do want to keep this space alive, and so let's try this again. 

To get back in the swing of things, let me recap what's happened over the last few months...

April: one morning Mick and I woke up and spontaneously decided we had to get a kitten. 

Enter Hugo. 

We are so lucky that the random litter of kittens we found on Craigslist ended up being the sweetest kittens ever, and while Hugo is definitely mischievous, he's lovely and isn't destructive at all. Excepts when it comes to chewing on the bows of our Christmas presents under the tree, but that's a recent development. 

Now he's all growed up. 

June: we actually had summer weather this year, and I was fortunate enough to be taken to Berlin for a weekend with my work. It's a beautiful city and we were all very spoiled by our managing director. 

July: Mick's sister got married on the hottest day of the year in the ancient church in our village. The reception was beautiful and it was a very happy day. 

August: I somehow turned 27. This was made much easier by the amazing day Mick prepared for me. All I knew was that we were going to London. 

The day started with drinks at the top of the Gherkin, a delicious lunch, and a trip to a spa where fish ate my feet. 

We ended the day with dinner in Covent Garden then headed back to where we parked the car near Trafalgar Square. We were walking past various theatres and Mick pointed out the one showing The Bodyguard. "Don't you want to see that?" He asked, pointing at the marquee. "Yes!" I replied. "Oh good," he said, "because we have tickets for tonight." I couldn't believe it. It was the best birthday ever. 

September: we celebrated two years of marriage. I don't know where the time has gone! It was also Mick's birthday and I treated him to a day at the zoo, a picnic and dinner and a movie in the fancy gallery seating. 

October: we enjoyed seeing Russell Brand and Jake Bugg both at various venues in London. 

That's pretty much it. Now we are just getting ready for Christmas and waiting for the day after when my mom arrives for a 10 day visit. I'm very ready for Christmas!!! 

A Spontaneous Saturday Outing

Yesterday morning, Mick wanted to go out to breakfast. I was happy to do this, as we rarely get to do things like this, but then I remembered I had ordered the groceries to be delivered less than an hour after we got up.

I had a grouchy husband. We racked our brains for ideas of what to do for the day, and finally decided on a visit to Greenwich, a trendy village in South East London. I've been there once before, but it was a Monday and the thriving market was closed. Saturdays, it's in full swing. We arranged to meet Mick's BFF at the market after lunch at Gourmet Burger Kitchen. We spent an hour wandering around the village, then headed to the large park at Greenwich to enjoy a rare sunny day (it was sunny today, too. Could spring have finally sprung?!)

Sunshine and daffodils at the royal observatory, a bustling market, and a new ring from a vendor for me.

The Most Adorable Devilled Eggs There Ever Were

A few months ago, Mick got me hooked on Pinterest. At the time I was really into a weight loss routine, and found the site really useful for finding healthy recipe ideas, workout routines, and those inspirational pictures. I've, er, slightly veered off that path though, and tend to use Pinterest more for unhealthy recipes and pretty pictures of places in Europe I want to visit. Ages ago, I came across a really cute idea for Devilled Eggs. I repinned and saved it for Easter. We spent the day at Mick's mom and step-dads, so I thought I'd make them up and take them over there.

Let it be said right now that I've never, in my life, made Devilled Eggs. I remember them always being present at family BBQs, wakes and pot lucks, but they always seemed to be brought by someone other than my mother. I think I've found out why now. They're really hard work.

I woke up early on Easter Sunday and got the eggs boiling. By the time the entire ordeal was complete 3 hours later, I was proud to present these little guys to Mick:

 

Oh, my, gosh! I can honestly say, because at this point I don't have children, these little chicks are my proudest accomplishment. I have never ever created anything so adorable in my 26.5 years. I have an extremely creative mind, and as a kid/teenager in art classes I was always really frustrated when I'd come up with a really beautiful idea for a painting/drawing/clay pot. I'd try and try and no matter how much work I did, the result never looked like the image I'd had in my head. This time, I actually got the result I was going for. And they tasted really, really good. Here's the recipe if you want to try them - they're a lot of work, but the reactions you'll get are totally worth it. 

-Use eggs that aren't right-off-the-shelf-fresh: you'll find that eggs that you've had in the kitchen for 5-7 days will peel much easier after they're boiled and cooled. 

-I boiled my eggs for 15 minutes and then sat in a bowl of cold water to chill for another 15

-Peel eggs (enlisting your husband is good for speed, but bad for aesthetic purposes)

-Rather than slicing the eggs from top to bottom, use a sharp knife to slice the egg through the middle, about 1/4 of the way down. You want to just slice through the top half of the yolk. It's a bit trickier to get the yolk out without tearing the egg when you cut it like this, but I used a tiny teaspoon (a baby spoon would work) to loosen the yolk and pop it out into a medium sized bowl. Rinse off the eggs to get any excess shell bets or membrane off. Make sure you keep the eggs matched up and don't get tops and bottoms mixed up. 

-Add a few big globs of mayonnaise to the yolks. I'm not a big fan of measuring and like to go by taste and consistency, so just play with it. I also added some paprika and two tablespoons of sweet onion relish (made by Branston for my English readers), but pickle relish would be just as nice. I just couldn't find it here. Mix it all up with a fork. 

-For the next step, you could use a frosting squeezer type thing (I so know my baking terms), or a sandwich baggie with the corner cut off, but I just used my [clean] hands to form a oval out of the yolk and pop it into the bottom portion of the boiled egg. I had cut some little triangle "beaks" out of carrot and had those waiting, along with a bowl with a few tablespoons of ground pepper. Stick the carrots on for the beak, and use a toothpick with the tip dipped in olive oil to pick up a few flecks of pepper and stick that on for the eyes. 

-Pop the egg top on

-Set on a cute plate with some lettuce garnish to mimick some grass. I opted for a plate with a high edge so the eggs could lean against it. You could try and slice a flat bottom onto the eggs, but I couldn't be bothered.

And there you go, you've got the cutest little Devilled Eggs there ever were.

The Little Things

We spend so much of our lives obsessing over the big things- working for them, recognising, and comparing them to the big things others have achieved. I'm not only talking about the material things, but also big landmarks. That big new car. The big vacation. Paying off that credit card. An important anniversary. A wedding, a birth. A move, a new house. In my mind, life is dotted with these big moments and achievements and they make up the outline for the people we are and the lives we lead. But if you look carefully, there are little dots on these maps to ourselves, all mixed up with those big landmarks. These little dots may be moments, memories, but in the brief moment they manifest, they tuck themselves deep in our hearts and nestle up, filling us with goodness. A look, a kind word from a stranger, the quiet observation of a loved one filling our hearts with warmth.

I find myself obsessing and worrying over the big things a bit too much lately (my entire life constitutes as lately, right??). Money, family, the future. These are important things, but due to my obsessive, anxious nature, I have to be really careful not to let myself become completely absorbed, or bad things happen.

I want to take a few minutes to make a list of those little good feeling things that have tucked deep in my heart and made me feel happy lately.

-Last week, Mick came home with a bag from the grocery store. It held a copy of the most recent Twilight film, a bottle of bubble bath and another of wine. A sweet surprise.

-Mornings that require me to be nowhere but in bed, with a warm husband ready for cuddles next to me.

-Eggs for breakfast.

-Time. I'm off work this week and the extra time has allowed for me to do some things I've really needed to get around to, and some things that I simply wanted to do for me. Sorting through a mountain of laundry and cleaning the kitchen and bedroom fell under the need category, while writing, taking pictures, cooking some recipes I've been wanting to try for a while, a walk in the local country park with Mick and my camera, as well as some solo shopping trips (with my new car) fell under the want category.

-Celebrations. Yesterday, Mick's dad got married. It was a beautiful day for two beautiful people. I met some more of Mick's family that I hadn't yet had the opportunity to meet, and enjoyed the day a whole lot.

-My marriage. Even before it was a marriage, just our relationship in general. I'm a pretty laid back and low maintenance girl, living in jeans and converse, which doesn't bother Mick at all. But during the course of our relationship, there have been a handful of occasions (weddings, engagement parties, etc) where I've had to make a real effort with myself - you know, actually using more than just the blow dryer on my hair, wearing dresses with heels and pantyhose, and actually wearing foundation. I will forever love Mick's reaction when he sees me all dolled up, and the way his arm seems to snake around my waist a lot more often on these special occasions.

Hoping you can find some little moments that stay with you this weekend.

xo

A Revival

I haven't been here since August. That's a very long time, and life has shown us several big changes since then.
I think part of me was resigned to the fact that I would give up this blog. Life was busy (as it always is) and I didn't have the time or inspiration to continue to make this space a beautiful one. But I must make a confession - I have been a downright nasty person to be around as of late. My poor, dear, sweet husband has caught the brunt of it and most of the time I didn't even realise how horrible I was being until I saw the hurt in his eyes after an argument settled, or until I heard the anger in his voice.
The only thing I know is that when I am stressed and frazzled, I become un-fun and snappy. I become a lot like a teenager who doesn't like to hear any criticism, but especially the word "no."
I need a therapy, of sorts, to keep myself happy. Expressing goes a long way. I remember back in high school, I used to dump my stresses during my least favourite (and weakest) subject- math. It would have done me a lot more good, academically, to sit and pay attention, but it did more for my state of mind to get out some notebook paper and just write. I wrote poems, short stories, even took a few cracks at novels. Nothing ever came of it and sadly, I've lost most of those poems and stories, but it felt good. Another release I discovered around the same time was photography. I found that, after a teenage argument with my mother, a trip to the desert with my little digital camera did me a lot of good. A few years later, I took a photography course at the community college and invested in a good little starter digital SLR. I would lose myself behind the lense, become engrossed in finding the perfect shutter and f-stop combination, and find delight in tweaking the focus just right. Whatever worries plagued my mind could be easily forgotten. In a world where I so often feel like I have no control, getting behind the viewfinder and manipulating the settings of a camera, taking a world that, to me, in that moment, feels ugly, and changing it into something beautiful with this little machine makes me feel ok and reminds me that there is always beauty to be find.

And so, I resolve to write here regularly again, and to take more pictures. I got my camera out a few weeks ago and it sits on the piano (no, we don't play [though Mick can dabble], but it sure is a great place to set all our crap).

So, what has happened since August? Sheesh. A lot. Let me break it down by month for you.

September:
We celebrated our one year anniversary in London. Mick's mom and dad bought us tickets to see "We Will Rock You," a West End musical based on the music of Queen. Oh, did we love it. I quickly bought all of Queen's greatest hits that I was missing. A few days later I started a new job for a recruitment company that specialises in accountancy and fiance. I do a lot of administrative type work, and it's a really great place to work. The people are great and I'm always kept on my toes. A few days later Mick caught up with me by turning 26. Hah.

November:
I had a nasty cold that stopped me dead in my tracks. Mom sent me some Thanksgiving decorations to get me out of an autumn/germy funk. We celebrated a big of a Celtic Thanksgiving, plus a South African. The food was good and I enjoyed being in the kitchen all day.

December:
The countdown to my biggest wish was dwindling down - on December 15th we hopped on a plane and got to visit home for the first time since I moved here. We spent two weeks with my family, time split between Arizona and Southern California. I caught up with my parents and siblings, loved up on my niece and nephew, and shared good laughs with good friends whom I've missed loads. The time went too fast, and with a confusing mixture of sadness and joy, we came back to England.

February:
Another move... Mick's dad kindly asked us if we'd like to rent his house since he is remarrying and moving in with his lucky lady. We were ecstatic for the opportunity to live in the beautiful village in a lovely house with a lot more space and room to grow.

March:
I passed my driving test the first time (quite an accomplishment in England, the driving tests are brutal here!) and got a new car, a lovely little Skoda which may or may not take a lot of work...

That pretty much brings you up to date. There have been other things in between, which I'll share in photos.

Continuing developing my cooking skills

Spending as much time as possible with this guy

A fair amount of snow this winter (that's our new house from the garden!)

And a lot of ice...

And just enough down-time to keep me going

I'll be back soon, I promise. I've missed this place.

xo