fine day for a float

Ah, the weather is getting warmer and I anticipate that wonderful feeling of the season's first swim. A cool, weightless world of my own to traverse. And yet, what it must feel like to swim for the first time!

Last week we were most thrilled by a surprise that led to a visit from our favOUrite canadiens! Leaving some snow behind, they were excited to pack for the warm Georgia spring; especially Amelia! She got to bring a suitcase of her very own full of spring clothes (showing off those adorable little legs) and her bathing suit! My mom was so excited for the temperatures to hit in the 80s (or 30s, eh), she went out and bought miss ellie a pool! a little fancy something from the local dollar general:)

charting new waters...her first outdoor swim!

a little light kicking with dad

if there's one awesome thing...no, two...about watching kyle and ellie, it's that 1) he's an amazing father and 2) he's still kyle:)

and vanessa is such an outgoing and loving first-time mom. maybe it's the nurse in her. and maybe she's just wonderful like that.

of course, how could anyone resist a bathing beauty like this?

I'm so very thankful for the gifts of time we get to spend with these three! Amelia is becoming quite the seasoned international traveler:)

a surprise and a celebration

Over the weekend we layered doughnut on top of doughnut to make Memaw's 80th birthday cake. What a feat! more hers than ours:)

The best of the celebration was the family getting to gather together. Pawpaw told stories about how they used to gather over meals when he first started dating Memaw. Perhaps that is the destination of this blog. Something more along the lines of "soul food."

In any case, here is the surprise to go with the celebration! The Canadiens came to visit!

This face will steal the show and your heart...and you love both. For the first time, I saw her cute little legs hanging out of some baby bloomers--she got to wear her first summer clothes! 

And speaking of firsts, she also made her first run to the acclaimed summer ice cream truck thanks to her awesome dad! 

Everyone enjoyed eating the chili dogs and pork that was roasted all night long.

The cute factor is a high one when the Harbin clan gets together!

My glowing Saree! (about to have another cute one herself)

The kids loved the big jump...and there was even an adult skate after they were worn out:)

And, of course, no big family gathering is complete without a little singing!

Here's to celebrations! Another happy birthday goes out to my step grandmother, Jo! 

(Hope you get to feeling better soon!)

the dish on some top food spots in atlanta

This year, St. Paddy's day was celebrated with green cupcakes (and Guinness cake, of course!)

Working a long day at the bakery wasn't so bad. Everyone was in great spirits and every time I answered the phone by giving my name, people responded with great exclamation:) By the end of the night, I was washing dishes with the back door open to the live music playing across the street.

When I came home twelve hours after I left, we didn't feel bad about not finding a pub or a plate of Irish fare for the night. In fact, we've probably made a bit of a decision not to go out on major holidays here. The city can become littered with poor decisions by people who only "go all out" a couple nights a year. We'll save our outings for when we'll really enjoy them most:)

This sounds like a good time to go ahead and include a little list of our new favorite eateries:

Brunch:

Ria's Bluebird. A living gem across from the historic Oakland Cemetery. Haven't had a poor dish there to date! On our last visit, I tried the Brisket Breakfast: slow-roasted Angus beef and poached eggs in a spicy tomato broth---now this is the way to start your day!

Sun in My Belly. A beautifully renovated hardware store in the Kirkwood District. I have the strong desire to try every item on the menu. Last time we lingered there, I could not pass up the omelette of the day--I believe goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes were at stake! 

Dinner:

Cafe di Sol. This place has the three things that will always get me to return to a restaurant: great location, atmosphere and food. Located in our own neighborhood, it's set up like a European cafe so almost every sidewalk diner has a great people-watching view. I don't know that I'll ever be able to try anything else on the menu because Andy's Burger is just that good--all my favorite flavors in each bite. Just to get your mouth watering, it has gruyere cheese, garlic herb-roasted shiitake mushrooms and garlic aioli.

Midtown Tavern. Ok, when you walk in, it looks like a dive you may not want to eat in. But that's why we're helping you out (because we had someone show us the way as well!). In the cold of winter, the havarti grilled cheese with thin slices of granny smith apple called to me. We recently sampled the Cerdo Asado sandwich and now we feel we can't be led astray. It is filled with slow-roasted Cuban-style pork, creamy slaw and house-made pickles. Flavor punch! Oh, and whatever you do, don't go without trying the gouda mac n' cheese. You'l thank us!

Although we'd love to try new restaurants every week, these are the four we've found and love on the first year of marriage budget. Let us know if you find yourself needing company at one of these wonderful places!

caught red handed

It's no secret that red (or at least "pops" of red) is a favorite for me. 

Red things I've collected and love?

my purse, bathrobe, baker's twine, and mixing bowl to name a few. 

New red thing I no longer so much love and am frankly slightly concerned with?

jar of red cherries. 

We're not talking beautiful, ripe and delicious fresh cherries. We're speaking of what I used to think of as "real" fruit cherries--maraschino cherries.

After dipping my hand in the cherry jar to gain the correct amount of dessert toppings, a customer came inside the bakery. I washed my hands, but there was no getting around it...I was caught red-handed! Unable to really explain why my skin was such a bright red, I thought I'd dig a little deeper. (On this note...how many times do we continue to eat or drink things "just because" without wondering why, per se, something I'm ingesting has semi-permanently stained my hand?)

Upon just a tiny bit of research (read as googling), I found the following:

From Wikipedia: The cherries are first preserved in a brine solution usually containing sulfur dioxide and calcium chloride to bleach the fruit, then soaked in a suspension of food coloring (common red food dye, FD&C Red 40), sugar syrup, and other components.

From Vegetarians in Paradise:

The Food and Drug Administration has finally proposed that manufacturers must indicate the presence of the insect-derived colorings in their food products. 

Present labels may indicate "color added," E120, or "natural color" when cochineal or carmine is present in the product. According to the FDA, carmine is used in foods like ice cream, strawberry milk, fake crab and lobster, maraschino cherries, port wine cheese, lumpfish eggs, and liqueurs like Compari. 


(as a side note: it doesn't help matters to find out "cochineal is described in laymen's terms by the free dictionary as  "

a red dyestuff consisting of dried bodies of female cochineal insects." Yum!)

I don't really have a soapbox to stand on regarding these cherries. Just thought I'd share something I found interesting today. I've come to realize that since we live in an age of eating fast and in mass, as consumers, we really have to do our own investigating. (For instance, I found out in a NY Times article last week that McDonald's new "wholesome" oatmeal has the same calories as a Snickers bar...and contains more than 10 ingredients...only this company could ruin such a simple and wonderful food.)


Lesson learned: be inquisitive before ingesting. Food for thought.

new lights. new trials.

Bryan and I recently picked up some new to us (but really 15 years old) lights so that we can begin moving into the world of off camera shooting (for events that require such). This is fun yet scary yet exhilarating all at the same time. It feels like we're relearning how to take pictures...and with these new tools, we are! 

These are basically our first two (awkward) pictures taken as trials to see just what we have to work with. First thing learned, we're not epileptic...but we are seeing spots.

After some self trials, our friend Ross dropped by that night and graciously volunteered to hang out while we fiddled with new settings and placements. We went outside our loft to the atrium in near darkness and fired off these next shots. Although they're not perfect by any means, they sure did provide great hope and excitement for future images.

So on this rainy Saturday, we're doing a little studying and researching. 

And as we set forth to discover new photography frontiers, we're lead by this verse in Psalms:

"Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell."

strangers in the shadows

Where has nearly a month gone? We'll try not to be strangers on the blogfront anymore!

Looking back at my planner, I'm reminded of some reasons as to why we may have disappeared:

1. soaking up as much Amelia snuggle time as possible before she headed to her other home

2. two wonderful birthday celebrations: my dad and bryan

3. photo shoot with a beautiful new family

4. getting sick, sick, sick (and missing my first married Valentine's Day)

5. good friends visiting from out of town

I'd say most of these are excellent reasons rather than excuses:) As for #4, I'm getting the chance to re-celebrate a lovely evening with my Valentine...a week after the calendar says to, but just right for us (which seems more and more appropriate as we trek through our first year together:)

With that, I'd like to leave this post with a beautiful poem I heard Garrison Keillor read on NPR this morning (Sintos Valentine's Day):

The Kama Sutra of Kindness: Position Number 3

by Mary Mackey

It's easy to love
through a cold spring
when the poles
of the willows
turn green
pollen falls like
a yellow curtain
and the scent of
Paper Whites
clots
the air

but to love for a lifetime
takes talent

you have to mix yourself
with the strange
beauty of someone
else
wake each morning
for 72,000
mornings in
a row so
breathed and
bound and
tangled
that you can hardly
sort out
your arms
and
legs

you have to
find forgiveness
in everything
even ink stains
and broken
cups

you have to be willing to move through
life
together
the way the long
grasses move
in a field
when you careen
blindly toward
the other
side

there's never going to be anything
straight or predictable
about your path
except the
flattening
and the springing
back

you just go on walking for years
hand in hand
waist deep in the weeds
bent slightly forward
like two question
marks
and all the while it

burns
my dear
it burns beautifully above
you
and goes on
burning
like a relentless
sun

meet miss amelia mae

 

My new love. my new friend. my new beauty.

Getting to meet my niece on Friday (and of course see Kyle and Vanessa) was such a wonderful experience! I am not a fan of many things instant (coffee, for one), but talk about instant love. She melts my heart! There are so many things about her that I adore already: her kissable lips, chubby cheeks, wonderful smell, mohawk hair, and the way we lock eyes. 

Official report: auntdom is such a wondrous place. And I can only imagine how spoiled this little one will be with four fun aunts! (And for now, Uncle Bryan is enjoying his short stint as "favorite uncle!" He even asked my permission to fall in love with another girl:)