Tech. Week.

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 On this particular day, this says it all.

I kid.

But seriously…

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Perspective

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  • Post category:BlogT&L

We’re finishing out tech week for summer conservatory today and tomorrow, so my posts might be a little light (or altogether absent, we’ll see). But in the meantime…

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Now there’s some perspective for your Thursday morning. Ted and I actually bought a Powerball ticket last Sunday – a first for us and, obviously, just for fun. So, of course, we cracked open the conversation about what we’d do with the money if we ever won any sizable amount worth writing home about (which, for us, would be anything more than the $2 we paid for the ticket). Odds are certainly looking slim because we don’t actually play the lottery more than once every five years, so I guess that’s step one, but it’s fun to at least consider what one might do with $400+ million smackaroos.

If I won the lottery, here are my top 5 things I’d do with the money (in no particular order):

1. Pay off anything we owe anybody (which is minimal, but still…)

2. Save and invest – we’d rest easy knowing that we’d have access to money if or when it was ever really needed. We could actually retire comfortably when the time came, and know that we will always be to – even now – pay our rent and utilities, cover all our medical expenses every month, afford car repairs when they are needed, and – in the future somewhere down the line – maybe even build the modest but beautiful house Ted designed.

3. Do good, help those in need, support important causes, and leave the world a better place than I found it

4. Take one epic trip across the world to experience all the food, cultures, people, animals, landscapes, art, history, ways of life, and amazing adventures that make the world such a beautiful and incredible place to call home (this would be my one splurge)

5. Spend more time with my long-distance family and friends

I know what I would do, but I also know what I wouldn’t do. I wouldn’t quit my job, want to live outside the current salary I earn, buy a new car(s), move to a large fancy house, hire service people, buy lots of new clothes or other material things, live extravagantly, become an unrecognizable person, change my priorities, or even tell anybody beyond immediate family that anything was different. I wouldn’t allow it to affect my work ethic, my passion for what I do, my relationships, marriage, or sense of self. I would hope only to continue living the wonderful life we do now (only with less finanical concern), soak in more great life experiences, and help make the world a better place and change other people’s lives.

What 5 things would you do if you won $425 million?

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All-American

Champagne, s’mores, bocce ball, beer, bonfire, puppy loves, friends, rain storm, bath, book, bed, market, park, breeze, sun, Frisbee, lake, relax, washers, swingset, hotdog, Icee, friends, baseball game, grand slam, fireworks, bed, homemade breakfast, garage sales, tacos, more park, lawn darts, movie, pizza, board game.

Our all-American weekend in 45 words. I think I could get used to a whopping handful of gorgeous, sunny, breezy, 70-degree weekends of total unwind and fun relaxation every summer…just add a sprinkler, a carnival, and a cookout and my summer is complete!

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Moments in Pictures

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{Amazing coconut ice cream with almonds and chocolate at Pittsford Dairy on a date with my friend Kristin last Monday}

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{Our CSA share has been good to us lately!}

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{Sweet “just because” surprises from my awesome husband after a rough day – a set of my very own darts and the “useless” salad spinner he swore we’d never waste good money on – so he used free rewards points on it instead :) }

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{Words of inspiration for our conservatory students}

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Book Thieves Strike Again: The Night Circus

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  • Post category:BlogReads

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I’m not here to tell you about this book. Mostly because my description cannot do it justice; it is something you need to experience for yourself. All I’m going to say is if you haven’t read The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, it is one of the most magical and engaging books I have read in years. This book, in addition to bringing enchanting wondrous whimsy to the forefront of my mind, is full of gorgeous imagery and beautiful language. You should probably pick up a copy of it. Immediately.

So with that haunting intro behind us, and knowing full well that I have no intention of discussing the actual book right now, typing up a lengthy snooze-worthy synopsis for you, or spoiling any of this novel’s delectable secrets, let’s move on to the merriment that was our Book Thieves book club’s first meeting (parts I & II of the book) for The Night Circus.

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{strawberries photo courtesy of Tate DeCaro}

A dozen of us convened in our customary cozy quarters at Writers & Books to discuss the book’s big pictures and gritty details between bouts of digressed off-topic conversations and mouthfuls of cotton candy, butter, cheese, caramel, and salted pretzel chocolate popcorn, chocolate strawberries, brownies, crackers and cheese, frocia bread, apples and gjetost (a Norwegian caramel-flavored cheese), apple cider, black lemonade, and white and black dark chocolate Klondike ice cream bars. It was divine.

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{photo courtesy of Chris Fanning}

We may or may not be planning a fantastical Midnight Dinner for our second meeting of this excellent piece of literature and there were also talks of a night at the circus when it’s in town in October, as well. While we all agree that we adore the book, the jury is still out about if we think we’d like this magical masterpiece to be translated to the big screen or if we want the wonder of Le Cirque des Reves to live only in our imaginations. One thing’s for sure: this book is going to give rise to a devoted following of reveurs and some seriously enchanting and festive parties. And to that I say, bring it on!

Have you read The Night Circus? What did you think? What is your book club reading right now?

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R&R

First off, let me say how much I adore Summer Academy. I sincerely do. But working 10+ hour days for four weeks now with occasional 12.5 hours days also thrown in there for casting sessions, parent workshops, dry tech, etc. (you know, like normal theatre professionals do every single day) has taken its toll (read: see my lack of cooking, 9:30 bedtime, and bags under my eyes) . Since it is, in fact, summer, I’ve been trying to make my weekends strictly for relaxing whenever possible.

Friday after work Ted and I headed over to the Public Market for the their free concert series – Bands on the Bricks. We sat in the cool breeze, on the bricks and beneath the shade, and listened to a few folksy bands with a great collection of instruments before heading off to split “the world’s greatest cheeseburgers” and curly fries at Bill Gray’s – a New York burger legend that I needed to introduce Ted to, and then I spent a few hours at my friend Shawnda’s house enjoying some wine and good company. A perfect, relaxing Friday night. Saturday Ted and I made breakfast tacos, hit up the public market again for some farm-fresh produce, scoped out a bunch of garage sales and a dance studio sale (to no avail but it was fun and low-key) before attending a Saturday evening church service and the Red Wings baseball game at Frontier Field (in the pouring rain…all in good fun!) with a friend/co-worker and his girlfriend. The Red Wings won (yay!) and we split fried pickles, a pulled pork sandwich, dippin’ dots ice cream, and a blueberry ale along with some baseball, the cowboy monkey rodeo (yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like – monkeys riding dogs chasing sheep into a pen…and it’s fabulous), good company, lots of rain, and a fireworks show to finish it off. Also awesome. Sunday we slept in, hit up the market yet again (for the third day in a row – apparently, we’re regulars) for their Sunday garage sale where we scooped up three insanely cheap DVDs for movie night, then met another friend/co-worker at one of our favorite waterfront pubs right on the bay for lunch, some Ace’s pear hard cider, and talk of Packer game tickets. The rest of the day we took it easy – finishing up a few tasks around the house, a walk around the neighborhood, and a movie and game night at home.

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Are you ready for the weekend? I sure am!

Have a great one!

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Before & After

Pantry before: Tall, deep, and spacious but there was a lot of good vertical space being wasted and I hated how everything would get lost in the back, covered up, or rearranged every time something else needed to be pulled from the back.

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Pantry after: Many thanks to Ted for being awesome and building and installing three extra half-depth shelves! :) The pictures are awful and I kind of can’t believe I’m blogging about a pantry, but I honestly love that I can keep it all organized and know exactly what we have and where to find it. Nice matching spice jars and a spice system of organization hopefully coming soon! It’s the little things in life, you know?

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Produce before: I cannot get over how grateful I am to have access to such beautiful farm-fresh produce! This week at the market we picked up green beans, pickling cucumbers, shirow plumbs (a sweet blush mini plumb from the upstate NY area), sweet peaches, and blackberries – all homegrown and local.

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Produce after: Gone :)

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Snap Pea & Radish Summer Salad

The past few weeks we’ve received an enormous amount of sugar snap peas in our weekly CSA share, along with a beautiful bunch of red and purple radishes that I had no idea what to do with. Enter the snap pea & radish salad, an unexpected, wonderful, fresh, summery dish that received rave reviews at our summer conservatory late night casting session and the beach picnic I brought it to.

Ingredients:

  • Sugar snap peas
  • Radishes, sliced
  • Fresh mint leaves, chopped
  • Fresh mozzarella cheese ball, crumbled
  • Vinaigrette dressing: lemon juice, olive oil, rice or white wine vinegar, salt, pepper

Directions:

Mix peas, radishes, mint and mozzarella in one dish. In another, mix together the ingredients for the vinaigrette. Keep both refrigerated separately until serving time. Combine, serve, enjoy, gracefully accept compliments on the awesome dish, and refrigerate any leftovers. On the off chance you do have leftovers, once the vinaigrette has been mixed into the salad, it’s best to use it all that day.

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So healthy, so flavorful, so good! I think the secret is in the mint. It seems like an oddball combination, but it was so delicious and a definite hit among the masses. If you’re looking for something insanely easy and healthy to bring to a summer potluck that nobody else will likely bring too, this may be your ticket! Share the wealth :)

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To the Beach!

After spending the morning berry picking (if you missed it, check out yesterday’s post!), we all headed to the beach for a sunny, sandy picnic. We’d also planned on swimming, but due to heavy rains, they closed the beaches to swimmers and cautioned folks to not spend too much time in the water with all the bacteria stirred up overnight. Unfortunately, that meant we didn’t swim as intended, but instead we waded and splashed knee-deep for a bit (which was still wonderful and cooling), but, fortunately, it also meant that we pretty much had the entire beach and a nice shady picnic spot all to ourselves, which was glorious

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We feasted on juicy slices of watermelon, strawberry-infused ice tea, roasted chicken legs, hummus and pitas, tomato basil chips, and several delicious chilled salads. Summer picnicing at its finest!

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“We’ve been Berry Picking!”

“It’s been so cold lately they turned blue!” – 10 points if you know the reference.

Last weekend, to unwind from the wonderful and wacky busy-ness of directing and casting and showcase planning and classes, we planned a marvelous beaching & berry picking day of R&R in the country and on the shores of Lake Ontario.

And it was excellent.

And I adore everything about Hurd Orchards, including their fantastic fields of berries and trees of cherries, amazing little country store of baked goods, jellies, jams, infused vinegars, scented soaps, dried flowers, and the best caramels I have EVER had. EVER.

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Our lovely little group of 9 spent a few sunny hours surrounded by nothing but fields of wildflowers and the sounds of trickling water, chirping birds, and buzzing bees (and, of course, our own conversations and laughter) eating picking sour cherries, black raspberries, red raspberries, and blueberries. Heaven on earth – and soooo delicious! And the two littles, I guarantee, ate as much as their little bellies could hold and loved every minute of it as well.

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Needless to say, those berries quickly became an integral part of a blueberry crisp…which was a very wise decision.

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And after all the berries were picked, we headed to the beach! Stay tuned for tomorrows post! :)

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