24

Another year, another birthday! No matter how old I get, I still get excited about birthdays. What's not to like? It's the one day of the year that I get to be the center of attention without trying! I get presents and cake! I love presents and cake! I celebrated early last weekend with good food and my cute boy. We took a walk in the rain around historic Ellicott City, one of my favorite places to be, followed by dinner at The Rumor Mill, an amazing fusion restaurant in a turn-of-the-century building off of Main Street. It's our go-to place for special occasions.

 I saw strawberry beer on their drink menu and I had to try it. When I poured it into my glass I squealed when I realized it was PINK! How fabulous is that? It was definitely the girliest beer I've ever had. Perfect for sipping while wearing a frilly dress and mary jane shoes.

 The food was spectacular as always. See that pile of fried something up there with sauce on it? Yeah, that's an avocado. A curry tempura fried avocado stuffed with jumbo lump crab meat and drizzled with preserved lemon aioli. Stop drooling. You'll ruin your keyboard and I don't think your warranty covers it.

 Dessert consisted of chocolates from a local candy shop. I saw a sign in the window for "Old Bay chocolate crabs" and had to go in. They did, in fact, have molded chocolate crabs with Old Bay seasoning mixed in. How very Maryland! Sounds crazy, but they are delicious. If you've ever had chocolate covered bacon, it's sort of like that. Sweet, salty and smoky, with a hint of spice. Yum.

I cherish these dates with the man I love. We slow down, we indulge, we laugh, we take time to enjoy the things we often take for granted about each other's company in the day-to-day busyness of our lives. It's the best birthday gift he could give me.



P.S. SQUIRREL UPDATE: We ended up taking the babies to Frisky's Wildife and Primate Sanctuary in Woodstock. It's a sprawling animal rescue run by a compassionate and savvy woman who has been saving wildlife and exotic pets since the 70s. I trust that they are in capable hands and they will grow up to be healthy, strong little squirrelies.

a box of squirrels (or: seriously the cutest thing that has ever happened to me, ever)

So I was walking Autumn home from school today, and stopped suddenly at the sight of this little guy.

He was sitting very still in the grass. While I inched closer to see if he was alive, Autumn said, "There's another one!" I turned around and sure enough, there was a second baby squirrel lying on the ground about ten feet away. The first one started moving, taking a few shaky steps toward the sound of our voices. His eyes were firmly shut, but he tried to follow the sounds he was hearing. He made pitiful squeaking and chattering noises as he felt around on the ground. The second one was curled up in a little ball. At first I was sure he was dead, but he stretched his legs and writhed around when I got closer.

I called Jude to come and bring us a shoebox to put them in, and while we were waiting for him, a third baby appeared! He was stumbling around the base of the tree we think they may have fallen from. After calling the DNR and a couple of nature centers, all of which were closed for the day, we left a message with a local wildlife rescue recommended by my vet. 

An hour later a woman from the rescue called and told us to leave the babies near the tree until sundown to see if the mother came back, and to take them indoors if she didn't. Mom never came, so now we've got a box of squirrels! These things always happen to me. For real. If I had a dollar for every stray or abandoned animal I've taken under my wing, I would have a lot of dollars. From dogs to mice, I am a magnet for lost furry things. I did not ask for this superpower. It just happened to me. 

While I am tempted to train the squirrels to sing and clean my house like Snow White, we are taking them to the wildlife rescue tomorrow morning. In the meantime we are keeping them warm with some old towels and feeding them Pedialyte with an eye dropper, which is literally the cutest thing I have ever done in my life.

I don't know much about squirrel care, but we're doing what we can and I hope they'll survive the night and go on to live happy squirrely lives.

photo friday: zombie picnic

A behind-the-scenes shot from a promotional shoot we did with Jude for my Etsy shop. See the rest of the set on my Facebook page or at Tantalizing Enigma Photography.

local flavor

 Today we attended an annual summer barbeque at the Prigel Family Creamery, a local dairy store that sells delicious homemade ice cream along with milk, eggs and meat from a small family owned farm in Glen Arm. We sat picnic-style in the grass and enjoyed live music while the kids drew with chalk and ran through the sprinklers, followed by the consumption of quite a bit of ice cream.

 Is it me or does food just taste better when it's fresh and local? It just seems so much cleaner. The ice cream was pure and flavorful and so perfect in every flavor we tried; mint chocolate chip, chocolate peanut butter, and a flavor made from a trio of summer berries. All amazing.

Maryland is a state rich with small farms and artisanal foods like these, and I feel so lucky to live right in the middle of all of it. There are so many wonderful flavors and places to experience, especially in the summer time. I'm looking forward to finding as many of them as we can this year.

photo friday: making paper

Autumn and I took a paper making class at the Oregon Ridge Nature Center, where we learned how to dye recycled paper pulp with natural materials. This one is dyed with blueberries and strawberries. Bonus: it smelled delicious!

fresh air

What better way to spend the summer solstice than with family at the sunny Outer Banks? We loaded up our cars with kids and dogs and headed to beautiful Kill Devil Hills for a week of sun and surf. This was our first proper, plan-ahead-save-up-money-and-take-time-off-work summer vacation in years, and I was so grateful for every minute of it.

The Outer Banks is a string of barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina. It's a popular summer destination for many of us on the east coast. This was my first time there, and I instantly fell for its southern beach town charm. I spent a lot of time on beaches growing up in California. Last year we took an impromptu weekend trip to Ocean City, Maryland for the Fourth of July. I've gotten used to the crowds, the noise, the traffic, the hectic pace of a trip to a packed coastal city. But here? Here, it is quiet.

I loved stepping outside of our rented vacation home and just listening. Not to the sounds of racing cars, blasting stereos and crowds of tourists, but to the wind in the trees, the birds, and the distant sound of crashing waves. The air was salty and clean.

Instead of herding our family from one attraction to another, we took our time. No itinerary, just intuition. We moved in slow motion. We lazed around the house, in the pool, on the beach, and when the mood struck us we hopped in the car and drove until we found a new place to explore. My personal favorite was the Elizabethan Gardens on the island of Manteo.

Created in the 1950s and modeled after traditional Elizabethan pleasure gardens, this place transported me to another world. With its beautiful stone statues, centuries-old trees, carved fountains, and meandering paths, I felt like I had wandered into faerie land. Just look at this gate that leads straight from the garden to a beach on the sound side of the island! How magical!

With us on our trip were Jude's cousin's young daughters, who Autumn made fast friends with after meeting last summer. The three girls had a blast collecting shells at the beach, playing mini golf, and exploring the state aquarium. I just love watching the three of them together. They find so much joy in everything they do.

 

 

Being there made me realize the importance of taking a little time away from the stresses of everyday life and just breathing for a while. At home, stress is a daily challenge. I'm stressed about my job, about my bills, about parenting, about my personal relationships. I worry about being good enough, making enough money, finding time for everything I need to do. But for one week, I let go of all of that. I spent time with the people I love, did the things I love, and didn't worry about a single thing. I came home feeling refreshed, and ready to (reluctantly) return to the daily grind.

We went to so many fun and exciting places, but some of my favorite moments were the days when I woke up early and sat on the porch reading a book with a cup of coffee. We can't always just pack up and run away to the beach for a week (if only!), but whenever you find an opportunity for even the smallest break, take it. Have a cup of tea. Go for an evening walk. Spend time in your garden. Make a margarita on a Tuesday. Create something. The story we tell ourselves is that between work, housekeeping, kids and errands, there isn't any time to relax. But if we really look, we'll find that just about every day presents us with small opportunities to just sit and smile and be grateful.