I was privileged to throw her an intimate baby shower this past weekend and had so much fun planning and setting up for her party.

I know I need a better camera (or learn how to use the one I have) but you’ll get the idea.  Erin’s nursery will be filled with fun vintage circus touches and I thought what better theme for a shower!  Admittedly I ripped off most of my ideas from other parties I found on-line, but I think most everything turned out just as I wanted it to.  My girlfriend is a professional clown and she was able to join us to do some awesome balloon twisting for the ladies.  With that and a spot set up to decorate some baby outfits we managed to avoid the baby shower games – is there anyone out there who actually enjoys those?

My mother had these great old posters from some local circuses and they worked really well with the table.

I also found these awesome moustaches on etsy – made from felt and stiffened with glue with a hole cut in the middle to fit through a straw.  Steve and I made our own version and I neglected to take a photo, but they look just like these:

(from LittleRetreats shop)

I can’t wait to meet my niece or nephew in just a few short weeks and will be so pleased when they move just 5 hours away by car, instead of 2 hours away by plane.  I’m thinking our next Themed Thursday will be circus related, as I already have all this ‘stuff’!  Corndogs?  Fries?  Funnel Cakes?

A few weeks ago we did Fried Green Tomatoes.  My CSA is having issues with their tomatoes so we got a bunch of green ‘maters before they pulled all their plants out.  I immediately wanted to make fried green tomatoes.  I’ve never made them before  and frankly I’ve never really fried anything before.  I don’t think I could have found a better recipe than that of Southern Living fame and moved ahead with gusto for my evening. 

The entire time I am looking up recipes, all I can see in my head is that scene from the movie of the same title – battered slices of tomato frying away in a cast iron skillet.  So I Netflix the movie.  And then comes the sweet tea and the banana pudding (exactly how my grandmother who was born in Alabama used to make it).  We have ourselves a themed evening.

Good gracious those were good tomatoes.  Tart from the green tomato, crunchy from the buttermilk batter and just a little greasy.  I think it helped that I was using my grandmother’s cast iron skillet, too.  Here’s the recipe:

• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, divided
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 3 medium-size green tomatoes, cut into 1/3-inch slices
• Vegetable oil
• Salt to taste

• Combine egg and buttermilk; set aside.
• Combine 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, cornmeal, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper in a shallow bowl or pan.
• Dredge tomato slices in remaining 1/4 cup flour; dip in egg mixture, and dredge in cornmeal mixture.
• Pour oil to a depth of 1/4 to 1/2 inch in a large cast-iron skillet; heat to 375°. Drop tomatoes, in batches, into hot oil, and cook 2 minutes on each side or until golden. Drain on paper towels or a rack. Sprinkle hot tomatoes with salt.

1. While I felt like a crazy person trying to clean my house before we left, it was so worth it to walk through that front door after a long day of traveling to find it spotless.  If it helps you relax while on vacation knowing that your house will be clean upon your return, do it.  And don’t believe your husband when he tells you you’re nuts.
2. 1 three-year-old + 1 package of pipe cleaners + 2 hours of flying = momma
3. When the weather people say it’s going to be a scorcher and the heat index will be 110 degrees, don’t think for a minute that just because you’re from Florida you can ‘handle that’.
4. While the largest Civil War reenactment in Virginia history might sound like a good time (to whom, I’m not sure), it’s really a giant role-playing game for grown-ups and unless you’re seriously knowledgeable about the Battle of Bull Run it just looks like a bunch of guys kind of lining up to get shot. 
5. If you go to the capitol building for a tour, go at the end of the day.  You will have to dump out all your snacks, drinks – even the empty sippy cup we had with us was forced into the recycling bin.  Of course, the neighboring security line attendant was shocked that we were forced to toss that out.  I suppose it pays to have cargo pockets.
6. Do your research about the CARES system.  While we felt Abi wouldn’t make it in a car seat attached to the airline seat, I didn’t feel comfortable just putting her in the regular lap belt.  Enter:  CARES, the only FAA approved harness for kids up to 44 pounds.  This thing is expensive to purchase and I wasn’t about to spend that kind of money when we rarely fly.  Thank you Christine on eBay - I was able to rent one from her with fantastic communication and great advice.  She even sent a prepaid return envelope to make the whole thing as simple as possible.  What a great service!  Highly recommend.
7. Mt. Vernon is a big place.  Go early and pace yourself.  Don’t go in 100 degree temperatures or you will lose you mind.  It felt appropriate that Abi was acting like Blanche DuBois for much of our visit there.
8. Plan ahead and think of other people.  I wanted to see so many things while in the city, but, of course, I’m joined by a 3 year-old and a woman who is 6-months pregnant, so….yeah.  I’m out voted.
9. I’m super happy I don’t have to commute to a big city.  While the novelty of taking an hour-long train into the city might be appealing, I fear the first time I’m having a bad-hair-day and am 15 minutes late it will wear off real quick like.  Although…that hour of solitude to just read might cancel those things out.  Just sayin’.
10. Never underestimate the power of taking it slow.  The last time Steve and I went to DC was in 2007, right before Abi was born (and I was 6-months pregnant…but it was December) and we just zoomed all over the place – mostly in the rain.  But with the combo of the heat, Abi and the preggo sister that type of trip just wasn’t going to happen.  We had some great times in Erin’s living room just coloring and visiting, or out in the backyard eating popsicles and playing in the sprinkler.  Those are the things we would have missed if we had been super-sight-seers but they ended up being my very favorite part of our trip.

So happy to be home – I’ll put some pictures up soon.

But I’m thinking about making it again, this time a little differently.  Moutabel is a spicier version and looks fantastic.  Why would I attempt this again?  It’s all in the name of book club.  Next week we’ll be discussing Son of Hamas and I like to theme our snacks around the book.  The book is terribly interesting and I really need to concentrate on what’s going on – I’m not used to doing that when I read.  There are so many people in this one and their names are names I’m not used to hearing.  Our group is a good mix of people from all walks of life, so I’m interested to hear what they all have to say about the book.

I need to bring a suggestion for our next book – any ideas?  And I’ll keep you posted on the eggplant.

The Homespun Chic Marketplace is having its first annual sale this Sunday at the Winter Park Farmer’s Market from 2:30pm – 6pm.  Help support your local artists and artisans as well as the Make A Wish Foundation of Central and Northern Florida (a percentage of all proceeds will be donated there).

Get your holiday shopping started early this year!  I only wish I made something great so that I could be a part of the show.  There’s always next year?  I don’t know about you, but there are all these great things I want to do but I’m having trouble with finding the time and energy.  I grew up with a crazy crafting mom – she has genuine talent and unfortunately that didn’t pass on to me.  My sister does well in all her endeavors so she seems to have inherited a bit of the magic.  It seems if I can’t do it well the first time around I just don’t want to do it anymore.  

It’s been a busy/strange few weeks.  The mother of one our good friends passed away late last week after a seemingly short battle with breast cancer.  She was so bright and had this beaming smile that lit up not only her whole face but really the whole room.  She will be missed dearly.  My best friend got married in a spur-of-the-moment wedding recently and I’ll be traveling out-of-state (all by myself!) to celebrate with her and her new family.  My sister is getting married and is handling her wedding plans with such ease and poise I’m afraid the body snatchers came sometime in the night.  Abi has finished her first round of swimming lessons.  And although she cried through every single class, when you’d ask her if she’d like to try the new skill again she would say with teary voice – ‘yes’.  Now she is teaching all her bath toys how to swim and has started to float on her back in our little kiddie pool in the backyard.

I know, watching a cycling race seems about as exciting as watching paint dry.  But it is truly riveting TV.  There are crashes, strategy, and sometimes stories that border on soap operas.  And this being (IMO) the single most difficult test of human endurance on the planet.  Can you imagine?  Riding this tiny bicycle for HOURS up and down the Alps and Pyrenees EVERY DAY for a MONTH.  And to think I get cranky if I have to walk up the 4 flights of stairs in my building to my desk.

There are just so many riders – do they all go into this race thinking they will win?  Hoping they will win?  Or do they know they are just there to help someone else win and are OK with that?  Do they just want to win a stage or are most of them just content to finish the thing?

I love Lance, of course, and am disappointed that he’s not doing well (the man is 38, after all) but have high hopes for my new man, Levi.  Abi now knows what a mountain is because of the tour.  ‘Those guys are riding bikes on the mountain’ is her new favorite thing to say while the tour is on in the background.  She now says ‘Alberto Contador’ like a pro.  We’re working on the rolling rrrrs. 

So if you get a chance, check out the tour while you still can.  I promise you’ll be hooked.

Friday is my day off and I had plans to clean the house in preparation for my all-day absence on Saturday.  I’m scrubbing and tidying and it’s getting progressively warmer.  It’s something like 90 degrees outside, and it’s 80 inside.  No big deal, I think.  I know we have an aging a/c unit and it struggles a little to keep up when it’s so hot out.  It will go back down a little later in the day.  Uh, no.  It climbs.  It hits 83.  Hmmm.  It hits 85.  Oh my.  When it hits 88 I take Abi outside and we hang out in the kiddie pool for the rest of the day.  It’s actually kind of nice out in the shade of the umbrella while we lounge in the pool sipping on cool drinks. 

Rob the miracle-worker will be stopping by the next day to check it out for us, but until then we spend the night sweltering under ceiling fans and oscillating fans and standing fans.  We keep Abi in our room because it’s cooler there than in her room and I don’t want to leave her bedroom windows open while she’s alone in there. 

It’s just…ick.  Sweaty and gross. 

Turns out a lizard crawled in the unit outside in the backyard and electrocuted itself on some of the wires causing some kind of short.  We would need a minor electrical part and could have it on Monday. The remainder of the weekend was spent at my parent’s house.  And it’s kind of a toss-up on the suffering scale - spending the weekend at my parent’s house or having no a/c.   (They are some serious DIYers and have been remodeling their kitchen for going on 2 years now.  This includes hand-made cabinets and a countertop made of fallen cedar trees from the 2004 hurricanes.  It will be quite beautiful when they are done, but their fridge is in the dining room, people.)

I promptly forgot all plans I had that weekend (sorry, Tamra, I’ll make it up I promise) and could only think about the several thousands of dollars we would potentially need to spend on a new a/c unit.  All of this after getting into a fender bender a few weeks earlier and having to shell out for our deductible and rental car.  This just isn’t our month.

Long story short – we didn’t need the part, we now have a/c and I’m not longer thinking of running away.  Today.

On a happier note, please enjoy this photo of my bathing beauties.

So stop by, pick up some great deals on some used books and then walk on over to the lake to check out some local art and have lunch.  There is always live music (even during the regular Sunday Farmer’s Market) and it’s such a beautiful park.  Stick around on Saturday evening for a free movie in the park.