It's a female thing

A few weeks ago I was at a farewell party for one of my favorite girls who is going to grad school. Hubby and Bubba, my brother, came along with me. We stood around drinking and chatting. At one point the door opened and there was a girl who went to my alma mater with a sleeping baby curled up and wrapped on her chest. She came over and we all talked and I couldn't help but rub the sleeping baby's back.

What is it with women and babies? Do your ovaries have baby radar?

Well...yes.

Hubby was right. As soon as this chick walked in the door I automatically wanted to go talk to her about her & her baby. I wanted to rub it's back and know how old it was. I wanted to know if she was using disposable or fabric diapers. I wanted to know if she had read Nurture Shock.

Maybe it's my age. Maybe it's because I'm married. Who knows, but he called me out.

Delicious

Hubby and I are completely loving the weekend famers market. I love our Saturday mornings wandering the market looking at fresh produce and coming up w/ a game plan for this week's meals.

It's definitely strawberry season so we picked up a pint and also got some blueberries. We decided to have a berry crisp for dessert that night.

I went w/ an Ina recipe because they are always good. Both the filling and topping were really easy to make. Essentially throw the fruit together w/ some sugar and lemon and pour the sweet deliciousness into a dish. For the topping it's pretty much the same. Throw the ingredients into a mixer and then sprinkle it on top of the fruit mixture.

I had some extra topping so I spread it on a baking sheet lined w/ wax paper (because I'm all about making cleaning easy) and baked it for 10-13 min. It would be great in yogurt or on top of ice cream.

The crisp bakes for about 50 min or so...which gave us plenty of time to run out for ice cream. The crisp turned out wonderfully. You could easily change the filling to whatever fruit you want (I did). This is my new go-to recipe for crisps.

Ina's Apple & Pear Crisp

Stylish

A little while back I got a Stylish Blogger Award from the wonderful Dating is My Hobby. My heart is so happy to get a little award!

Here's the deal:
1. Link to the blogger who gave the award
2. Share 7 facts about yourself
3. Pass the award onto 15 lovely ladies

On to some (I hope) interesting facts about myself.

1. Husband and I met in middle school (8th grade) art class. I was sitting at a 4 person table with a tubby brunette boy who was obsessed with hard metal music, a tiny blonde girl with more energy than the sun, and a cute Blue-Eyed Boy with a shaved head. I sat across from the Blue-Eyed Boy not realizing the impact he would make on my life.

As the class progressed so did our friendship. He gave me the random nickname, "Billi" because I didn't look like a Fill-in-my-real-name. Whenever I was at my locker, the Blue-Eyed Boy would tug my pony tail and wait for me to look around. I would turn around and when my eyes met his, he would smile coyly and keep walking. We got to know each other in art class, and when we were more comfortable around each other, he would hug me from behind when I put my art bin away. Those from-behind-hugs were one of my favorite things when I was 15 years old (they still are).

I can't resist telling you...he drew my portrait. It was one of our art assignments and he picked me as his subject. He put so much time and energy into that drawing; it's burned into my brain. And it is one of the sweetest, most romantic things anyone has ever done for me.

The Blue-Eyed Boy was winning me over. Our story continues after middle school...but that will be another post for another day.

<3

2. Husband gave me the nickname Peaches. When he was a little boy, his mom would call him a "peach" when he was being sweet. One of our favorite songs is Joker by Steve Miller Band (we danced to it at our wedding). There's a part after the chorus that influenced the creation of my nickname:

"...You're the cutest thing That I ever did see I really love your peaches Wanna shake your tree..."

Together with Husband's childhood affinity toward "peach" and our favorite song, he dubbed me "Peaches" and it's one of my favorite nicknames.


3. I'm a coffee and tea drinker and every morning I have one of the two. I like a warm beverage in the morning, it makes the beginning of the day a little bit easier to handle. One of my favorite things is a sprinkling of cinnamon in my coffee or tea (if the bag is right). The cinnamon dusts the inside of my mug and swirls around with the coffee and creamer. It gives the coffee a little extra pizazz and it's tasty. I suggest giving it a whirl sometime.

{taken by Joseph Allen}

4. I have a Family dimple. On my dad's side, all of the female, blood relatives have one dimple in their right cheek. So when female relatives are in one place, you can look around the room at all the smiles and notice we all have the same dimple on the same side. Just recently with my cousin's death, I met all kinds of cousins I didn't know I had. I learned that even my extended female relatives have the Family dimple. It makes me feel special.

{via}

5. I consider myself a morning person. (I like the morning time but make no mistake, I do not enjoy getting up before the crack of dawn for work.) There is something about the newness of the morning. It is a fresh start and the beginning of a brand new day. What I really love is that not everyone is awake, which makes it a peaceful time of the day. And I am quite productive in the morning, whether I am at work or at home. I love sleeping in as much as the next person, but waking up at noon makes me feel like I've wasted a precious part of the day. Waking up at 10:30am on the weekends is the perfect time in my mind. I can sleep in but still have some of my beloved morning.{via}

6. I love grocery shopping. It's a fun place...with all the produce, freshly baked breads, delicious cheese variety, spices, bacon. I like making lists so grocery shopping is right up my aisle (haha pun!). And grocery shopping with Husband is fun because we flirt with each other...pinching bottoms when no one is looking, sneaking smooches, etc. Eventually we get separated from each other (mainly because I get distracted by the Threads for Thought shirts at Whole Foods); it happens every time we go to the store.

{rugby ball}

7. I played rugby in college. For one semester. A friend wanted to try it so I did it with her. As a small-statured person, I was placed in the scrum-half position. I was the position that took the ball from the defense and gave it to the offense to proceed forward. The team of girls was great, although a little rough around the edges. By the end of the semester I was in great shape...but I was also a little bruised up. At the end of the semester I decided it wasn't for me, but rugby will always have a spot in my heart.

And now I get to pass this Stylish award to some other lovely ladies.

Vintch
Janet and the Pink Crayon
I am Style-ish
IHeart Organizing
Tiny Bit of Sparkle
Tiptoe Butterfly
I Heart this Blog
Brown Eyed Belle
A Darling Little Life
Pink of Perfection

Thank you Dating is My Hobby!

Taco night

Tonight is taco night at the Peaches & Husband abode. And I am excited. I love tacos. I love how easy they are to prepare & clean up and how delicious they are. I love that we went through a couple month period where Tuesdays were taco nights.

Does anyone else have regularly scheduled meals? Do you hate it or look forward to it?

I think if my family had scheduled meals in high school I would have gotten tired of it. But now that I'm an adult, taco night is comforting and a constant that I can count on. I like that.

In the way

More than once I've been compared to Morgan, one of the cutest pups in the world and Husband's family's dog. She's an excitable cocker spaniel that's cute and fluffy, with such a lovable energy. MamaH has trained her well and she's quite affectionate. Morgan likes to snuggle and I particularly love when she sits at/on my feet during dinner. But when you're navigating the kitchen, she always seems to be underfoot, always in the way.

Mo Mo looks smiliar to this spaniel

I felt like I was channeling Morgan last night. Husband was cleaning the fridge and making dinner and I just felt like I was always in his way. He'd go for the fridge right as I was reaching for the cabinet next to the fridge. As I was putting dishes away, I seemed to be right where Husband needed to go too. I hate feeling like I'm in the way and inconveniencing my sweet cook.

But Husband didn't mind, and even if he did, he didn't show it. Bless his heart. When I wanted to run and abandon my dish washing duties, Husband would come by and pat me on the butt and smile as he passed by to get his mise en place. Or while I'm washing dishes, he'll come stand behind me and reach around so he can wash his hands, a from-behind-hug combined with hand washing. He makes me feel like it's okay to be in his way.

Just this morning he texted me "you're never in the way, I just like keep you that close." He spins the situation and melts my heart on a daily basis. He finds the positive when I can't. I don't know what I would do without him. Ladies, have your men take notes from Husband.

* I know I've been particularly mushy lately, thanks for hanging in there with me readers. *

Sweetness

"The real lover is the man who can thrill you by kissing your forehead or smiling into your eyes or just staring into space." ~Marilyn Monroe

This quote has been my Gchat status for almost a week now. Mainly because Husband has this effect on me. One look from those crystal blue eyes and I melt. I have fallen in love with him too many times to count.

I love when he plays with puppies and/or babies. They're kindred spirits. He knows how to communicate with them and understand them in a way I don't quite understand.

I love hearing him laugh. His real laugh, when something is really funny to him.

I love when he fixes whatever it is I can't figure out.

I love (and hate) that he knows me better than I know myself. He can tell when my mood shifts before I even realize it.

I love that he's a Renaissance man, through and through. He knows SO much. He has mastered SO many things. His desire to learn and devour new hobbies and interests is amazing to me.

And to top it all off, what I consider attractive are all encompassed in him.

Like his kind baby blue eyes or strong, working hands. I now find forearms more attractive than I did 5 years ago. His deep comforting voice, is ingrained in my mind. I still save some of his voice messages!

I just love the guy. And I love him more today than I did when we got married. It just gets better and better.

Smooches my love!

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

I came home from a relaxing weekend away and was happy to be back in the arms of my SweetiePieHoneyBunches. It was only a couple days away and sometimes a little time apart is a good thing. Husband and I caught up on each other's weekend and he looked at me and said, "I like when you are around, it makes me want to be a better person." I'll always remember that line because I feel the same way towards him. When I need motivation for anything, he is my reason and this is why.

You get one freebie

Husband walked down our hallway to the living room and presented his proclamation.

"I have a thought: God gives you one freebie and for everything else you have to work hard. For some people their freebie is a good job or a good salary, for others it's beauty. I think for us, it's love. When it came to us God said, your life will not be easy and you will have to work hard, but I will give you each other early on. We will be that elderly couple celebrating their 70th anniversary."

I believe this to be true. I believe that we will always have each other...that our life will be hard and trying, but that God blessed us with humor and wit to make light of otherwise miserable circumstances. I believe I was created to be Husband's wife, and that Husband was created to be, well my husband.

Why else would we fit together so perfectly?

My tiny little nose fits next to Husband's like kissing puzzle pieces. My sense of smell is almost non-existent, which serendipitously works because sometimes Husband has stanky feet. Our senses of humor compliment each other rather than competing with each other. It's in the little things that make me believe we are each other's soul mate & team mate.

1st Anniversary Dinner

(This is a lighter picture of us at Bluemont)

"Oooo there's a Wegmans, do you wanna go there?"

"I do love Wegmans...yeah I'll pull over."

We stopped by Wegmans on our anniversary to pick up some food for dinner. Strolling through the meat section Husband found BOAR BACON. We had never seen boar bacon before so we had to try some. With our recent ingredient discovery, we decided to make our own pizzas.

Yum, bacon. It tasted like not-as-tough, smoked jerky with a bit of a gamier flavor.

We started with nan and put pesto on one and barbecue sauce on the other...

Added mozzarella...
Then we added the boar bacon, prosciutto, basil & olive oil.
Pizzas have to have cheese, so we added smoked Gouda and Parmesan.

Into the oven for about 20 minute until they were warmed through and the cheese was melted.
We opened up a 2008 bottle of Bluemont Merlot. It was the most delicious home made pizzas we have ever made.

Then we had our banana and almond frosted cake from last year. It wasn't as fresh but still yummy.
Happy Anniversary my SweetiePieHoneyBunches.

ABCs of Wedded Happiness

First I want to start off by saying I am not a fan of the "in-law" titles. Isn't there a nicer, less formal way of identifying your mom from your husband's mom? Maybe I'm biased because I'm really lucky to love love love the new family I'm a part of. Since I was 16 years old I've wanted to be a part of their family and now that I am, "mother/father/sister/brother-in-law" just doesn't seem like a warm enough title. Until I can figure out better nick names, MIL and FIL will be MamaH and PapaH.

Anyway MamaH emailed me an article about the ABCs of wedded bliss. She said PapaH was reading through his parents correspondence and found this article in a letter dated 8/16/1945! For a 65 yr old article, there are still a lot of great relationship suggestions.

Some of my favorites:
-Adaptability - Cultivate a taste for each other's tastes
-Need of each other - Make yourself necessary to your husband's or wife's happiness
-Tenderness - Whatever you are to other people, be all heart to your husband or wife
-Yes them - Flattery is the oil that lubricates the domestic machinery and makes it click

Our 1st Anniversary

It's been a year since we said "I do." About a year ago I was worrying about seating carts and final head counts and looking forward to the rest of my life with my best friend.

Photographer Joseph Allen

Photographer Joseph Allen

For our first anniversary we didn't have big plans, just to spend the day with each other. Since we still live close to our wedding venue, we decided to drive out to Bluemont Vineyard for lunch.

The drive out there was one of the best car rides we have had in a long time. Since the beginning of our courtship, I have always loved our conversations in the car. When we were still living with our parents, the car was our escape, our time and space to talk freely without offending the parental units (because sometimes we curse like sailors).

So while we were driving to the winery we started discussing some of the lessons we’ve learned this year. Some of these are no-brainers, but lessons none the less.

• Don’t stress! It’s bad for our health
• We hate dirty dishes
• Don’t put unnecessary pressure on yourself (I want to be the perfect wife, but being imperfect is better than going crazy striving for perfection.)
• Parents will always be a challenge
• It’s important to be open with each other
• Be direct, ask for what you want
• Date nights are totally needed

As we drove up the steep, winding gravel road, I remembered this same drive last year. Riding up with my best friends, the anticipation and excitement was palpable.

Photographer Joseph Allen

I felt similar feelings a year later, but when we got to the top my heart sank; the winery was dripping with people. So much for an intimate lunch.

We walked up to the Cellar and there was absolutely no where to sit and the bar was several people deep. I inched my way in and asked for a menu and the woman said, ‘there’s no menu, but we are serving chicken salad sandwiches.’ Slight heart break. We didn’t drive 45 minutes to have a chicken salad sandwich in a crowded room with nowhere to sit. We looked at each other and knew we’d be having lunch somewhere else.

Before we left, we took some pictures of the fantastic view.

Photographer ME!

We made it through a tough year. We went through a lot this year: moving a couple times, almost buying a house, merging our stuff and our lives, having 2 cars die, buying new cars together, health scares, etc. Life was testing us in this first year of marriage but we prevailed, as a stronger, wiser team. Team Procious, to the end.

Funday Sunday Part III

We were up early on Sunday…like 8am. We leisurely cleaned up the disheveled house, a consequence of Collateral Damage Drew. At 11am we headed out to Beer Run for brunch. Beer Run is a really cool restaurant and beer distributor. There’s outdoor seating and the menu is made with local and organic ingredients. Beer Run also sells a large variety of beers and delivers beer to your house. I couldn’t believe such a place could exist…It’s just another reason I love Charlottesville.

As I was looking over the menu I was contemplating getting a drink of alcoholic nature. Peer-Pressure Procious said I should get one and Collateral Damage Drew reasoned it was FUNDAY SUNDAY so I have to order a drink. So to start our meal, Drew and I got mimosas and Husband ordered the Devils Backbone Gargamel beer. For my meal I ordered Clint Eastwoods “Hang’em High” Huevos which had local eggs, red bell peppers, and pepper jack cheese with tomatillo salsa. It was delicious with a great, clean flavor, not processed flavor like eggs from Denny’s. The boys ordered eggs with crab meat and all sorts of other goodness including pesto grits. The combination of pesto and grits was unexpected but very tasty. After another round of mimosas and beer, Husband and I decided to stay in town for the rest of the afternoon.

I really wanted to stop by Splendora’s to see if they had pink peppercorn gelato – don’t judge it’s very good and I highly recommend it. It’s not overly sweet and the cold gelato is complimented with a hint of peppery spice. Unfortunately they were out so I got Tres Leches instead, not like this was a step down or anything. It was a taste of heaven topped with sweetened condensed milk.

While we were walking around downtown I spotted a rainbow of pashminas being sold by one of the street vendors. The colors and soft texture of the scarves pulled me in, and the price was right at $10. Shut the front door and find me an ATM. I ended up falling in love with these sliver lace-like earrings as well because they’re pretty and light too. I’m planning on purchasing a gold pair the next time I’m in town.

The next stop was the Starr Hill brewery. This brewery was the actual brew/bottle/sell facility and didn’t have a restaurant feel like Devil’s Backbone. It was definitely their warehouse but they had a small bar stand set up where you could test their beers. I’m a fan of their “Love” beer which is a hefeweizen with hints of banana, clove, and lemon; it’s light and fruity but the banana flavor is subtle too. We took a tour of their facility and got to see their process of brewing and bottling beer. It was interesting to see how they do things because Husband & Drew home brew. Since we were in Charlottesville living up this glutinous, indulgent weekend, Husband and I decided to get souvenirs. I got a pink t-shirt and Husband got a belt buckle.

It was starting to get late and we still had a two hour drive ahead of us, so we headed back to Nova. When we got home, I could feel that I was tensed from sitting in traffic, annoyed that our house was a wreck, hungry, and in general coming down from my Charlottesville high. Husband must have been feeling it too because he looked at me and said ‘Nova makes me crazy but Charlottesville makes me see you clearer. I can see you without so many distractions.’ It gives me peace and hope knowing that we have found a place we truly love. It gives us direction and motivation for our future. I love my future with him.

Like a love sick crack head

It felt like it had been ages since I laid my head in his lap. Sometimes I think I’m addicted to him. Like I can’t get enough hugs and kisses to fill me up, even though I know yesterday’s fix was plenty. It’s like my skin craves his hands, just a passing touch on my shoulder or a kiss on my forehead. I want to be as close to him as possible.

It had been 3 months since we had a couch...oh how I have missed the closeness and cuddling that comes with couches.

Slow moving

It’s been a slow Saturday which started at noon. After we woke up, Husband and I ventured to one of our favorite places, Borders for some caffeine and afternoon reading materials. It's awfully hot today so we spent the afternoon sitting in our brown leather chairs reading our respective magazines. I smiled to myself and thought, so this is life. Sitting contently side by side, enjoying the afternoon even if not directly engaged with one another. We may not converse all the time but the silence with him is comforting. I love these little moments of experiencing the slow moving parts of life together.