A New Look

I've been thinking lately that I want a new look. Something classy and a little more tailored, but not so much that I have to start wearing a girdle. I'm thinking vintage and romantic and feminine. Kind of along these lines:

With this dress:

And a fitted cardigan (not the baggy ones I usually wear):

And (gasp!) a little bit of a heel:

Honestly, I'll probably end up looking more like this:

But in my mind I'll look like this:

And how fantastic is this dress?? (The jacket is actually attached--it's all one piece.)

What do you think? Can I pull it off?

Oh my cuteness

This is my very favorite picture of James. I hope Atticus looks like this in a few years. We'll have to make sure he wears a Superman shirt for his kindergarten photo.

Oh, and James really does have blue eyes. They just look brown in this photo.

Fantasy Garden

Isn't this beautiful?? The fence, the neat beds, the fruit trees, the woods beyond. There has to be a stream in those woods, right? Read more about it here.

Loping through the Lavender

This morning my mom and I participated in a 5K at the Young Living Lavender Farm. Young Living Essential Oils is one of myriad health-related multilevel marketing companies in Utah County, and they happen to have a huge lavender field in Mona, Utah, south of Santaquin and just north of the edge of nowhere. Here we are at the starting line:

The guy in the hat behind us is the CEO of the company, and he started the race with a shotgun. Later there would be a staged gunfight in which he played Wyatt Earp. We left before that event. My mom thought ahead and dressed appropriately in lavender. I didn't. Oops.

Here we are toward the end of the race. I was able to run most of the way (walking no more than 2-3 minutes at a time), so I finished ahead of my mom, who was walking. So I came back and met up with her so we could finish together.

I had to include both pictures, because she looks better in one and I look better in the other. No hope for my hair, though. It would not be contained this morning.

After the race there was muffins and fruit and trying to find our times. They only had the first 300 people or so posted (out of over 1,000), and we weren't on that list. So I have no idea how long it took me.

It was hard--the longest I've ever run--but once it was done I was already thinking about the next race, the one where I'd run the whole time, not stopping even once. Maybe I'll find one in the fall when it's not so hot. It was an odd feeling for this natural couch potato. I can see how people get hooked on this stuff.

CSA week 1

Braising greens (mixed), spinach, microgreens (overgrown sprouts), rainbow carrots, French radishes, two kinds of chard, and a huge bunch of cilantro.

I've been eating salads of spinach and microgreens, plus peas from the farmers' market. Tonight we had grilled chicken (marinated lightly in lime juice) with cilantro pesto and a barley salad with peas, rainbow carrots, and fresh herbs. Later this week we'll eat the chard and greens in two different meals. I'm not sure what to do with the radishes.

I made another yummy thing that's not CSA-related but not worth a post of its own: strawberry sauce. But I didn't use just any strawberries; these were tiny, sun-ripened berries foraged (with permission) from my neighbor's garden. I was hoping to make jam, but no such luck. I got about a cup of perfect sauce, just berries, sugar, water, and lemon juice. I'm eating it over tart frozen yogurt, my new favorite treat. Mmmmmm..... I love summer food.

Chicken fest

A couple Saturdays ago was the Wasatch Gardens Tour de Coops, a self-guided tour through a whole slew of backyard chicken coops. The chickens were gorgeous and looked happy. More impressive, though, were the gardens. Only a few properties had large back yards; most were smaller than your typical suburban plot. But all were full of vegetables and herbs and flowers. Only one had a nice lawn in the back, and that's because they planted their garden on top of their garage.

I would have taken more garden photos, but I was trying to keep Atticus from trampling the garden or falling off the roof. I wanted to get a photo of Atty with a chicken, but he wouldn't get close to them, even when they were caged. He'd stand far back, point, and say "cheek-en."

This coop used to be a sleeper cab for a semi truck. Now chickens sleep here.

This same property kept bees. Several properties we visited kept bees. I guess if you have a large garden, it just makes sense. And it fits with the urban-hippie vibe.

This was the most decorative coop we saw. The sleeper cab is just to the right. It was at this farm that I met Sharon, an enthusiastic hippie chick with hairy armpits who runs the garden (doesn't own the property or chickens). She actually has several gardens in other people's back yards and sells the produce at local farmers' markets. And it just so happened that she was starting up a CSA. Most CSAs require that you pay back in March or April, so they have start-up money for seeds etc. And I had decided not to go with our regular CSA for various reasons. But when she told me that she specializes in greens and beans, I was hooked. Plus she's planted 20 varieties of tomatoes. And herbs. AND she delivers. How can you beat that??

All in all, I was very inspired by what I saw. I saw that I don't have to have half an acre or more to have the little farm of my dreams. Not to say that I wouldn't enjoy a larger plot (dairy goats would need more room), but it's good to see that it's not required.

Yeah, sandals will do that to you.

And man, do they stink.