A weekend with Dave...

Dave Matthews Band that is! Both Friday and Saturday night was spent about 30 miles north of Albany at SPAC (Saratoga Performing Arts Center) where 35,000 people each night (which is a sold-out crowd by the way) rocked out to the music. Kolby and I went with our good friends, Christi and Clint, as well as his boss Rob and his buddies. Between tailgating, grilling up burgers and enjoying two gorgeous summer days we definitely enjoyed the two-day adventure to the fullest. I haven't seen Dave in ten years since my senior year in high school at Red Rocks, which was amazing, and I thought two nights in a row sounded a bit silly but I have to say that no matter how long it has been or how often you see them play, DMB puts on a great show. Thought I would share a few photos of the weekend -- mainly of us with our friends Christi and Clint -- unfortunately, no cameras allowed at SPAC. :(

New love and new project...Going green baby!

When I would visit my sister Kim in San Francisco during college one of my favorite things to do was to stroll the Saturday morning farmer's market, pick up a cup of coffee, munch on a nutella and banana crepe and taste fresh fruit, cheese and treats to my heart's content. Really nothing can compare to that. Although I don't believe any local food market could be as enormous or varied as the SF one, I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised by the market here in Troy, NY -- a suburb of Albany. Every Saturday from May to October it is outside on the edge of the Hudson River offering fantastic fresh produce, flowers, honey, wine, baked goods, cheeses, meats, eggs and homemade soups, spreads and dips. I go religiously every week (at least when I am in town) with my large market tote and cash in hand to pick up my essentials: veggies, fruit, pesto spread or bruschetta topping, a scone for the morning and maybe one new thing I haven't tried yet. The food is so fresh it lasts all week long and the flavor doesn't even compare with grocery store offerings. Here is my latest bounty -- I feel like I should have a cornucopia on the counter and be wearing a bonnet on my head. :)



The other fun "green" thing I have recently taken up is using an outdoor clothesline. I have been thinking about it for a long time and although I don't want to hang my knickers (is that how you spell that?) on the line for the neighbors to inspect I do think workout clothes, towels and linens are ideal for drying in the sun. Hey, if we are going to spend a fortune to cool the house no point in running a dryer too! Saving money and making a small change to benefit Mother Earth is great by me. What supplies do you need? Just a clothesline rope and some clothespins from your local big box or hardware store -- less than $10 for it all. If you don't have a big enough space to do this on your balcony or patio you can get a retractable line for inside your home. Functional but not unsightly. :) (I even used this idea for post-fodder on Green Daily -- check out the post here!). Anyhoo -- here is my first attempt... it seems to going well!

The garden brings color to my desk ... and a new friend to the deck

All the gorgeous flowers I was showing you earlier made for some colorful bouquets on my workspace -- plus, peonies make my kitchen smell so fresh.



Oh! And I have a funny story to tell... the other night Dillon was making these strange low growling noises with little sharp barks out on the deck. Seeing as she is usually very quiet and noise usually means there is an animal in the yard I figured I had better investigate. When I got outside with a flash light I found Dillon cornering a toad (or is it a frog?!) and then she licked its back (which led her to paw at her nose and make awful faces with her tongue out -- apparently toad doesn't taste great raw)! Here's the little guy -- I made Dillon go inside so she wouldn't paw him to death. Too cute!

Short trip to NYC!

A week ago I took the train in from Albany to NYC so I could visit with a good friend from Sioux City who is originally from Long Island and visiting her folks for the week. Jenna, and her adorable little guy Will (who I am so mad I forgot to take a picture of!)and I met at Penn Station late morning, made our way over to Central Park for a leisurely stroll and shared a fantastic lunch at a small cafe on the East Side of the park. (We also shared some uber-tasty cupcakes to go with our perky lemonade on the way to the park). It was so great to see Jenna and have a rare moment of girl-time face-to-face instead of over the phone. :) After just a few short hours I was back on the Amtrak heading north for an evening softball game with Kolby. The trip was certainly worth the train ride, which by the way is fantastic -- views of the Hudson River the entire length of the trip, free WiFi and the perfect spot to catch a few zzz's in the afternoon.

Catching up...

Since my typical photo upload method (arg! Kodak Gallery) is not cooperating, and I really would like to post more photos on my blog, I am catching you up with a myriad of pictures of our yard and a few new projects I have undertaken.



Here are my new herb pots which have creeping thyme, mint, sweet basil, flat leaf parsley, chamomile, lavender and rosemary along with a banana pepper plant, shallots and a couple of geraniums.





The amazing peony bushes in our yard are in full bloom -- the small one has the magenta colored blossoms and the huge bush has pale pink blossoms... they smell incredible.



The irises were short-lived but gorgeous. There were also a few other pretty flowers but I don't know their names.




I can't forget to share with you the Grill Master (Kolby) who is showing off his outdoor cooking prowess. :)

Spring has sprung!

Since our home is finally "in bloom" (and, as usual, we are discovering just exactly what is planted in our new garden) the pictures of the first signs of spring should be shared. So far a few tulips and lots of green stuff we aren't sure of. The two trees covered in white blossoms are actually quite stinky (reminiscent of dead fish if you catch my drift) which was a rather unsettling discovery. But we see the beginnings of lilies, possibly iris and peonies and a lilac tree that is sure to smell better than the two we have blooming currently. Here's to more fragrant and colorful findings! :)

While I am sharing photos...

So, a few weeks ago we went to check out the Maple Houses in Vermont -- yes, this is where maple syrup and all manner of maple treats are born. There is one open house weekend out here that seems to be the height of maple touring and we figured since we never know how long we will be in one place it is best to take advantage of such opportunities as they present themselves. Luckily, we have a couple of friends, Christy and Clint, who also like to try new things. Perfect!

Off to Merck Forest we go -- about 1 1/2 hours away -- to enjoy a blueberry pancake and homemade sausage breakfast smothered in all the fresh maple syrup you can handle. :) (Admittedly, I am not that much of a maple syrup fan but Merck's sticky sensation was heavenly!) After our scrumptious meal we toured the barns where new baby lambs and piglets awaited. Precious really. And they even hand a handful of small draft horses that were beautiful.

Such a gorgeous day too -- we had just been snowed on the night before and had blue skies all day. Couldn't have been more fun.

Piggies and Lammies -- Oh my!

MIA since Sept. '07!?!

Ridiculous! I say, if you have a blog, use it! Well, it doesn't sound like I am using my own advice these days. To be fair, we moved AGAIN. But that was a while ago. Last time I posted was September -- it is now April!! wow. Quick recap -- in October, while still working for Opportunities Unlimited in Sioux City, Iowa, I began working for AOL as a blogger (coolest job EVER!). The two sites I post for are Green Daily and Luxist and although polar opposite in their scope, they are equally rewarding to work on. Then, we got the news we were moving again -- this time to NY! Sounds cool at least. :) Looked at houses in November, moved our stuff beginning of December, and have been living in Albany since.

Still working for AOL and the rest of my time is devoted to my thesis -- yes, still working on that. :) Although now it is considered to be an enjoyable project. Besides that I am working hard to get in shape and looking forward to a LOT of outdoors time here on the east coast.

There you have it -- returned and hopefully better than ever! :)

Cheers!