The Parsley Pot

Public admittance: My sister-in-law Holly did something similar with an Oberon castaway, I fell in love and just had to follow suit.

What is it? A former Reissdorf mini-keg turned herb garden. My crafty hubs risked his life and limb with a saw-zaw to cut the top off so that I could plop my plant in it and voila! An adorable, new container for parsley.

Things We Are Loving This Week

• Prepping for our Little Man's 2nd birthday... and wondering where on earth the time has gone.
• "ACHOO MAMA!": Hunter's way of 'sneezing' (i.e. loudly declaring the words aloud) just so he can hear Bless You Hunter! in return
• H's latest words: Bu-er-fly, woof (wolf), ruh-coon and fog (frog)
• Being in the 100th percentile for height -- and finding out that Munchkin is in fact a Little Giant of 36 1/2 inches... that's over 3 feet tall for those of you calculating. As a side note, I am a mere 5 feet. Clearly I had nothing to do with the growth of this child.
• The return of Mad Men. Enough said.
• 10 days and counting until kickoff for Michigan Wolverine football... And Bradley loses his wife for 12 straight Saturdays. Go Blue!
• Modest Mouse's EP single releases, starting with King Rat. And the fact that the video was a pet project by the visionary Heath Ledger.
• Surprise Saturday visits from one of Hunter's favorite baby-sitters, Miss Lyssa, followed by impromptu trips for two (Brad and I that is) to Eastern Market and La Gloria in Mexicantown for empanadas
• Freshly cut sunflowers wrapped in crisp newspaper and carried home from the farmers market

Maybelline's Pulse Perfection Mascara. The wand vibrates to provide the right amount of mascara coverage and make my eyes look seriously supermodel-fly-me-to-Brazil-for-a-photoshoot-worthy. Yes the price tag is a bit steep ($13) but you'll look amazing

Reading at the park during lunch

Planning to take Hunter to the Chelsea Fair Parade this weekend -- and barely containing MY excitement knowing there will be fire trucks aplenty to entertain

Stacks of magazines to pour through, including Cooking Light, Elle, Gourmet, HOUR Detroit and US Weekly. It's a diverse selection I tell you.

A New Discovery: 15th Avenue E Coffee and Tea

Hardly anything can keep me from a morning non-fat chai with a shot of sugar free vanilla. And should I ever have the honor of living in Seattle, WA, 15th Ave E Coffee and Tea would be, without a doubt, the ONLY place I'd want to have my morning fix served.

Behold the newest investment by Starbucks, dedicated to the recirculation of the original coffeehouse design among modern day folk. 15th Ave E Coffee and Tea -- from what I've read given my geography limits me from an in-person visit -- honors the sale of wine and beer, hosts live music and poetry readings, cultivates hand-made espressos and in my humble opinion, could not embody the look and feel of a neighborhood shop more in both decor and spirit. Here are only a few select shots that I could find. How unique and adorable is the condiments credenza? Yes, I think I'm in love.



Photos courtesy of www.psfk.com in the 7/29/09 article titled "Inside Starbucks New Stealth Store: 15th Avenue E Coffee and Tea"

Pandora Cam #3

The latest adventures from Hunter and Pandora were recently captured on film... and you'll certainly be amazed to find what new 'toy' briefly usurped the thrill of trucks, cars, dump trucks, fire trucks, motorcycles (I think you get my point). Who knew?

A Packer, A Jet, A Viking

You might say it's moments like today with my beloved Brett Favre announcing his return to football that I regret dissuading Brad from a move to the Twin Cities. Oh, to be a member of Brett's hometown team.

And with a signature, the long-awaited rumors have finally come true -- Brett Favre is an official Minnesota Viking. What does this bring to the sport aside from a number of fantasy football players vying for his presence on their team? An offer of reinvention. An acknowledgment that all of us have the ability to pursue, achieve and accomplish whatever dreams we set in front of ourselves (regardless of where age may take us). Or perhaps an inside glimpse into knowing Brett Favre just isn't ready to let go of the opportunity for another Super Bowl win.

I for one will stand by for that honored moment.

So for the sake of instilling in us the same passion this man has for his sport, enjoy one of my favorite broadcast spots of all time (and not just because of what appears in frame 0:52). This is Nike's I Can:

It's Been A While...

Since I posted a menu! What, did you think we've been fasting all this time? Although an awesome idea for weight loss, not exactly what I had in mind. Feast (hee hee) your eyes on this week's planned eats:

• Sunday's Pineapple-Jerk Chicken was delish. If you opt to try it, go easy on the spice rub -- I thought even 1/2 this mixture was enough.
• Last night was Pasta With Zucchini And Goat Cheese and it's always a hit.
• Tonight's Stovetop Lasagna Toss is a quickie for a weeknight.
• Wednesday: Sausage Sliders With Peppers and Spinach
• Thursday: Leftovers (Brad's company outing day)
• Friday: Thai Coconut Curry Shrimp
  

How to kick off the weekend on the right foot?

But a race car shopping cart of course!

Things We Are Loving This Week

• "It'sSTUCKinthere!": Hunter's latest phrase, which incidentally applies to more situations/things than you'd think
• H's latest 4-syllable words: mowercycle, hela-coper, and ahl-a-gayter
• Early morning runs with Becks
• An early write in from Brad: King-sized Reese's
• Grizzly Bear's Yellow House
• This wonderfully touching tribute to a masterful director, John Hughes
• Re-discovering HBO's Entourage and falling in love with Thomas Jane's Hung (based in Detroit no less!)... in our opinion, they're totally worth the $15 increase to our cable bill
• Planning Hunter's 2nd birthday bash (where has the time gone?)
• These beautiful earrings from Anthropologie


• Starting my re-collection of the now defunct Domino magazine (I say 're-collection' because at one time, before The Great Recycle Effort, I owned all of the 2005-2007 issues)
• Sleeping 8 hours a night. Every night. (Thanks HWB!)
• The countdown: 23 days until Michigan football season
• Celebrating Papa's birthday, rain be damned and all
• My new favorite blog: Dooce. Her Daily Chuck feature is worth the glance and is slightly inspirational for a Daily Becks knock-off on our own blog. :)
• Fresh, homegrown basil
• Rounding out the summer in style with lazy days spent at home in the backyard, long walks in the neighborhood and weekly stops for ice cream

Happy Birthday Papa!

After trouble with posting photos today to the blog, wanted to make sure we got this message out:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAPA! We can't wait to celebrate with you in style this weekend. :)

Enjoy A Lick Of Something Sweet

Best Sunday activity? Hitting our neighborhood Dairy Boy for some
fresh custard. Hunter didn't seem to mind.

Home Sweet Home

I know what you're thinking... how un-neighborly it is to sneak into other folks yards and capture their private realm on film (for shame!). But alas, the collage you see above depicts the beautiful transformation our backyard has made in the past 2 months.

In Brad's opinion, we were only halfway to proclaiming ourselves the next Garden of Eden. And that's just why he spent yesterday importing and planting yards of sod, coordinating an elaborate sprinkler system that somehow manages to water the grass on both sides of our new white fence at the same time, uprooting and replanting trees and (WAIT, THERE'S MORE) constructing a wood fence at the back of the garage ...

Did I mention he WILLING ELECTED to perform all of these tasks on his day off?!

And to think my days off are spent scouring sale racks at Anthropologie, watching "House Hunters" marathons and indulging in Thai food. Man alive I suck.

Footnote: A special thanks to Neighbor Dave, Matt and 'Uncle' E for their sweat and support of said ideals. You guys are -per usual- wonderful.