Cohen Gets His Face Stuck In A Chip Bag.

The silly antics of our dog. Enjoy: 

Two Things I Got Today:

1. In a car wreck.
2. A new pair of glasses.

I prefer the glasses.

Grilled Pizza

So last night Nathan & I discovered our favorite new use of the grill: pizza. We had a triple date with Marie & Jared and Sarah & Lauren. I made a bunch of dough beforehand, and we grilled the pizzas together outside, tossing toppings on as we saw fit: fresh basil & rosemary, mozzarella, Parmesan, oil-soaked zucchini & squash, and spinach. Lauren & Nathan handled the grill, and they grilled each pizza to perfection. Magical. And for dessert? Grilled peaches with a baked crumble topping & vanilla ice cream. Again, magical.

Nathan & I loved the grilled pizzas so much that we decided to go for round 2 tonight. After a fun park date--Nathan & Cohen at the dog park while I met my friend Heather for yoga in the park--we headed home for more pizza!

I used a simpler recipe for dough than in the past, opting this time for a dough that has a shorter rising time (only an hour). When grilling pizzas, the dough doesn't need to be too special or flavorful because the grill will make it perfectly crisp and delicious. It's impressive how fast pizza cooks on the grill. You actually have to be pretty quick to keep up! After grilling one side of the dough, it gets a flip, and then the toppings have to be added super quickly so the cheese will melt before the other side of the dough cooks. It's a pretty exciting process.

And the end result? It's seriously the most delicious thing ever. YUM.

All that to say, I highly recommend buying a grill solely for the purpose of grilling pizzas. I was honestly a bit nervous that we wouldn't get enough use out of our grill, being that we're both vegetarian. But it has turned into one of my favorite things about the summer. It's a great way to cook without heating up the whole kitchen & using a ton of electricity, plus it gives us an excuse to be outside and a fun activity to share together. I like food that is as enjoyable in the process as it is in the finished product, and grilling is a great way to achieve this.

Oh summer, how I love thee.

The Summery-est Summer Weekend

This weekend was magical in so many ways. I wish I had awesome photos to show you, but unfortunately my camera battery charger is still MIA. So, just use your imagination. :-)

Summer made itself known to me this weekend in the form of grilling out, spending all day in the sun, 100-degree weather, and a very nice sunburn. I wish every weekend could be like this past weekend was.

Here's a quick recap:

Friday night we had a marvelous cook-out for my dear friend Amy Dunning's visit to Nashville from her new home in Denver. The night was one of grilling burgers, drinking beer, playing cornhole, sharing stories, and lots of laughter. Cohen met a girl-pup that he refused to stop humping the entire evening; I was embarrassed. Amy made blackberry cobbler. We hung out in the backyard while the pups played and the burgers grilled. Oh, it was so wonderful.

Then Saturday morning I had a girls' brunch with Amy, SD, Steph, and Camille. We ate the most incredible food: yogurt & peach parfaits, basil garlic french toast with avocado butter, swiss chard and basil quiche, avocado & tomato salad, and mimosas. YUM. It was delicious and wonderful in so many ways. After stuffing our faces, we sat on the front porch talking and enjoying the sunshine. Perfect.

Saturday afternoon Cohen had another puppy play date. Our friend Marie & her boyfriend brought Bella, and our friend Heather brought over Nova. Cohen was surrounded by lady pups, and he continued to hump. Again, I was embarrassed. As the pups played, the humans sat in the sun talking for almost two hours, and it was extremely refreshing. We just lounged around enjoying our Summer Saturday.

After the pups left with their humans, Nathan & I went to the movie theater to see Brave. OH MY GOD. Best movie. See post below to read why it's so awesome.

Of course, after we got home we decided to utilize our new grill again. We made veggie burgers and sat in the backyard while Cohen frolicked around. We sat there enjoying each other's company as the sun went down, then went inside for Nathan to play piano while I sat knitting.

And then Sunday, to finish out the amazing weekend, we went to Church at St Ann's and an adult forum on the resolutions being presented at this year's General Convention. We came home, played with Cohen, and then I met some friends at the pool and soaked in the sun for a couple hours. Afterward, Nathan & I rented a tiller and finally worked on planting the rest of our garden. Also, I bought some bloody mary mix and made the most delicious dirty bloody mary. YUM. It was yet another perfect day.

I love the summer. I want every weekend to be like this weekend was, and I know Cohen definitely does.

Brave.

Nathan & I rarely go out to the movies, mainly because it's so stinkin' expensive. We have to be pretty excited about a movie to spend $20 to go to the theater. Well, we've been really excited about seeing the new Disney/Pixar movie Brave. Yes, it is a children's movie. Yes, it is a princess movie. But it defies the stereotypes of its genre in many great ways.

Animation: For starters, the animation is breathtaking. Rather than being overly cutesy or unrealistic, the animation depicts the Scottish countryside in dark hues and in an incredibly realistic manner. And the animals in the film (aside from one particularly personified bear) look stunningly real. Now, let's talk about Merida's hair. AMAZING. I have never been so utterly bewildered by animation. Her hair. How do they do it? It's awesome.

Plotline: The story is an excellent children's tale of courage, wisdom, humility, learning from mistakes, and, duh, bravery. The main character, Merida, makes a prideful and thoughtless mistake that she must figure out how to remedy. The story isn't based on pursuing love or being rescued; it is based on cooperation, selflessness, love, strength, and a little bit of magic. I think these are probably some of the best lessons we could teach our kids. And while there is some violence in the film between goofy Scottish clan leaders, the violence depicted is mocked as being silly, frivolous, and unhelpful. Violence is not glorified as a way to solve problems or eliminate the bad guy; it is depicted as something that idiotic drunk men do when they're trying to assert themselves, & will inevitably end up looking like imbeciles.

Love/Romance: And what of love? In this story, Merida refuses to follow the tradition of betrothal. She demonstrates that she neither wants nor needs a husband. But in no way does this translate to her hatin' on love. The love between families and between neighbors is a central theme of the story, as is the importance of women being able to seek out true love on their own terms.

The Ending: (Spoiler Alert) Oh, and perhaps the best part- the story doesn't end with her & a prince "living happily ever after". It ends with her being awesome, completely on her own.

Seriously, all people young & old should go see Brave, if for no other reason than to make a statement that this is the kind of movie we want to see companies producing and showing to our children. Not the typical crap.

 I don't know why this poster says August, cause it's definitely already out.

Good Riddance.

The theiving, lying, SOB-of-a-County-Clerk, John Arriola, has finally resigned.

News Story Here.

Farewell. You shan't be missed.

Hello Life.

(Caution: something resembling complaining exists within this paragraph... consider yourselves warned!) I have been very stressed by work lately, guys. Like, so stressed that my boss noticed me pulling clumps of hair out & demanded that we have a talk about my stress levels. I love my job, so so so so much, and I feel grateful every single day to have the experiences that I do. But I am also constantly worn out, emotionally drained, and a bit pessimistic at the state of the world. Telling a post-suicidal woman who has lived her life being forced to have sex for a place to stay at night that you're proud of her, to hear her say that no one has ever told her that.... well, that's just kind of the most awesome and most devastating experience, all at once. So lately, I've been trying really hard to figure out how to be happy & healthy while also being a solid foundation for my clients who have very few other people to rely on. Phew.

So, I'm still trying to figure life out (have you noticed that this seems to be a pattern....)
In order to balance things out, I'm trying really hard to enjoy the simple pleasures of life. For example:

• Having the most cuddly, affectionate, and clever dog ever.
• Basil season.... pesto & bruschetta every day, every meal. YES.
• East Nashville Farmer's Market every Wednesday. 
• Kenny's Norwood Gruyere cheese.
• St Ann's Episcopal Church (we met with the Rector last night, and it was wonderful).
• Friends visiting from out of town (in-laws and Nate & Lindsey last weekend, Amy this weekend!)
• A pool date with some adorable 8-year-olds.
• A new hair cut! 
• Oh, and have I mentioned this dog:

oh Cohen, you are the greatest.