one hundred. eighty five.

The internet has pooped out at our house, so I'm mooching off the internet at the coffee shop and listening to Frank Sinatra sing "My Kind of Town."
It's always rough to sit at work and try and get things done when I've clocked out because inevitably I start talking to customers who walk in. Or they start talking to me. Either way - it's not an effective plan if I want to get work done.

Speaking of coffee shops, my Dad & I went on a coffee shop tour in Wilmette/Evanston/Chicago a few days ago. That was super fantastic, plus I got to drink a ton of coffee and espresso. If you need coffee shop recommendations in those areas, I've got it covered. And take me with you.

The other day, at work, medium iced mocha Mike came in wearing a shirt and tie. He's usually a jeans and t-shirt guy, he drops his daughter off at daycare right before he comes, so I commented on how he looked dapper and asked him what he was up to.
In the most solemn fashion and with a straight face he said:
"I'm going to bury someone."
Pause. We're staring at each other.
Then I remembered that Mike works at a funeral home, so I laughed a single laugh and said: "Oh."
Then Mike laughed pretty hard.
"But seriously, I'm going to bury someone."
"I know you are. I believe you."
Mike has a sense of humor about his job. He says you've got to.

It's raining just a bit now.
I was supposed to go home and weed, but now I just want to go home, curl up and finish reading Stephen King's "On Writing." I already finished "The Omnivore's Dilemma," which left me fascinated with mushrooms. "On Writing" has been interesting. I've never read a Stephen King novel, but I'm enjoying his tips for writers and his quirky, honest look at how he became a writer.

Or maybe I'll bake some bread.
Last Sunday I baked a loaf from this book.
Orange Raisin Bagel Bread, something like that.
Yesterday I made some of the loaf into French Toast.
Yum!




Tomorrow I get to see the lovely Amanda who is coming into town!
This will be joyous. She is a dear heart who lives one million miles away.

Saturday I'll be heading to the city to look for antiques at the Randolph Street Market, and then back home for a rodeo. Yes. My first rodeo, and in my hometown to boot.
It will be quite a day with city-folk and then rodeo-folk. I just love people.
Apparently at the Randolph Street Market there will be an LP swap, antiques, indie designer market, and it's considered "the mecca of cool."
Sign me up.
Not sure if the rodeo is considered "the mecca of cool" but I wouldn't be surprised.

one hundred. eighty four.

Few things top an evening like this, sweltering as it is.

For some reason I thought it would be a genius idea to crank up the oven & make these:

Behold, the beauty of chocolate zucchini cupcakes. Taylor and I are definitely going to have an excess of zucchini this year from the garden so we're trying to find creative ways to use it up besides handing it out to random strangers. 

We've made mountains of zucchini bread in the past that just goes to waste, or we throw it into every pasta we eat, so this cupcake recipe was attempt number one to switch it up. 

They are in the oven as I type. 

Cross your fingers.

Also, someone (I think a random customer I was talking to about gardening...typical) told me a joke about zucchini: You know someone has no friends when they have no zucchini. 

So. If you need a friend. Or some zucchini. I'm your girl. 

On a side note, can't believe I just wrote a zucchini joke on here. 

It's getting sad, folks. 

On Saturday, Mumsie, Bethany & I went to this fabulous antique flea market where I spent some of my birthday moolah on old stuff. I love collecting bits of someone else's history & hanging it on my wall. 

I think it's just the neatest thing.

So do lots of other people, older people, because we were outnumbered by people 50+. Some other young ragamuffins were hanging around too, so we didn't feel too conspicuous. But most of them were definitely older.

On that note, I feel like it would be appropriate to compile a list. 

Things I do that older folks do:

Garden. Go to antique flea markets. Knit. Crochet. Go to bed early. Get up early. Complain. Listen to Frank Sinatra. Love me some nap time. 

So far one of the only differences I see is that I keep my teeth in when I go to bed. 

My AC is out in my car, so currently the only thing that is keeping me sane is listening to the sweet sounds of Josh Garrels and the mix cd that Nora made for me which features some Ben Rector. Never heard of him, but you can't stop this girl from dancing when she hears "The Beat" or "Dance with me Baby." 

Also, Lucy Rose's "Night Bus." Magic. 

And more. 

Cupcakes are out. I'm going to label them a success.

one hundred. eighty three.

Today at work there was the most darling little girl in with her mom and sister.
Her mom got some blended caramel butterscotch drink, her sister got a smoothie.
Meanwhile, this tiny fair-skinned, pixie cut blonde child was staring intensely at the list of teas. She couldn't have been more than 8 or 9.
So maturely, she asked to smell several different teas. She had the biggest, most solemn blue eyes that just peeked over the counter. An old soul packed into this little bit of a girl.
After carefully smelling 3 different green teas, she chose the gojiberry pomegranate.
So adorable.

Lately, I've been doing a bit of this [I am including pictures to give this blog some visual interest. Ignore the terrible quality of my webcam.]:

I have written half of a song. I'm going to count it as my first, because the other one I made up was probably 12 years ago, and was dedicated to my mother. It went something like: "You're not perfect, you do cry. I guess you're normal just like I." Clearly I'm a genius with lyrics.

I have also been reading this fabulous book. I am finding it mucho interesting and it is giving me more gumption to follow through on living in a more sustainable way. Most of the time my gumption just falls back into reading about other people who are living that way, which makes me feel better because I begin to live vicariously through them. However, at the end of the day this is not effective. Ergo, hello canning trial & error this autumn.

I had a birthday! I celebrated by purchasing salmon for dinner, which was delightful and worth every penny. Where do I have to live to eat salmon every day? Because that's where I need to end up. My birthday also happened to be the day a zillion people lost power in my area, our family included. Happy Birthday to me.

Last night Bethany and I went to a dear little show at the Starline Gallery. They had this theater company come in and do "The Taming of the Shrew" in the wide open space on the first floor. I fell in love with the brick walls and big windows, we brought a blanket and some snacks because they wanted an "indoor Ravinia feel." Worked like a charm, except next time we'll bring chairs. The floor is a little rough halfway through a Shakespeare play. I've never seen/read the comedy, but found it delightful.

In my head I've been doing quite a bit of writing, gourmet cooking & training for a fierce obstacle course. In real life I spend too much time watching random documentaries on Netflix and staring at random objects while lost in thought.