Instituting Date Night

Mark is my best friend, lover, and life partner but recently I realized that we're barely ever alone. We adore our eclectic group of friends so much that it's hard not to throw a dinner party every evening that we're not busy with our other obligations. But institute a date night? Isn't that what you do after buying a house and having 2.5 kids?

It seemed like the only way to commit to saying no just one night a week to all the other invites. The first week Mark tested out three new courses:

1. Oysters with Cilantro and Roasted Garlic
2. Toast, Brie, and a Balsamic Vinaigrette glaze
3. Roulade of Pork Tenderloin with Pomme Puree, Shitake Mushrooms and Madeira reduction

The fourth course was a trip to Jeni's and I was sold on our weekly establishment.

Spout & Sprouts with Cotton and Brass

Our new spring shoot will be up on Cotton & Brass tomorrow morning. This photo shoot was a lot of fun for me. We challenged ourselves to do something a little more modern and clean.

All photos property of Cotton & Brass and Christa Kimble Photography
If you would like to share these, please credit Cotton & Brass

Things

Let me make up for forgetting about my weekending post. Please accept these photos of the past few days as my sincere apology

• Birthday margaritas at Barrio (not my birthday)
• Waiting room fish
• Too many choices at Oakland Nursery
• Everyone dances for The DewDroppers
• S'mores

Cat sitting

These three cuties kept me company this week. Sara is lucky to have three cats that are not hissing, swatting spazes. My cats tremble at the very sound of a little kids voice. But not these guys, they gladly welcome anyone that will feed and love them.

Easter dinner for the rest of us

We maxed out our table settings on Sunday and devoured the pork roast, arugula salad, potatoes, and stuffed peppers. Then we washed it all down with carrot cake. There was even a toddler running around which finally gave me an excuse to bring out the singamajigs.

Goldy

I've been avoiding the inevitable leap to a smart phone for a long time. My frugality (thanks mom) has ensured that I am usually the last on the band wagon. However the annoyance of my dumb phone combined with MY MOM getting a smart phone (I almost fell over) were just too much to take.

Goldy is named after her sparkly case and yes you would think by the amount of time I spend with her that she is my new pet. I'm ashamed how much I enjoy all of it. I hope that the novelty of it will wear off and I'll go back to staring out the bus window on the way home. There is no denying the benefits though. My instagram is already filled with a slew of photo's that I can't wait to share here. Work emails can be checked and replied to at all hours. And I know exactly how my face will look if I gain 100 pounds.

Weekending

Remember when I use to post what I was filling my weekend with? Let's do that again...

* mixing up Mad Men cocktails & swapping haircuts with a couple of my favorite ladies
* starting on our wedding invitations
* celebrating a dear friends 30th birthday
* kitchen experimentation - if it works I'll be posting it up on Cotton & Brass
* and now that our sunroom is clean (!!!!) maybe we'll hang up some herbs

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

For my father, who's two favorite things are videos of scenery shot to music and Ireland.

De-digitized

My mom use to say that the first thing she would grab in a fire (assuming we were all safe of course) was her photo albums. As a surly girl that didn't always get along with my mom I found that lame. I'm sure that I would have said something actually lame like my random collection of 90's R&B and Christian Ska CD's.

It must be strange to be a parent. For years your kids roll their eyes at you and you think that they aren't listening. And then years later they are blogging about how they cherished the friday night grocery store marathons and they boast the same hobbies you do.

It's so easy to forget about printing photos and organizing them into books. Our lives our documented in concise clickable facebook albums with witty titles. Yet every few months I find myself tucked in the corner of CVS with a jam packed flash drive. I never feel guilty paying for the precious glossy 4x6s. Sometimes I even splurge on an 8x10 of a particularly lovely memory. If our house caught fire and everyone was out safe absolutely the first thing I would grab is my photo albums.

If you help me with my wedding I will feed you sweet things

Sometimes I wonder if it would be better to elope. Skip all this fuss and just sign the paperwork. I can't help but feel like this is so much for just one day.

But then my mom and friends congregate in my little apartment and spend the day eating paczkis and sewing. It would be a shame to miss out on these moments. Almost every wedding graduate will tell you to enjoy the journey.

I might actually be a little sad once it's all over.