Weirdo Days.

It is one.

It’s been beautiful here lately. The warmest January I can remember. Donovan got a new bike for Christmas and has yet to ride it to school, so we thought today would be great to do so, it’s been so mild, almost hot during the day. He gets up at 7:30am, and leaves the house around 8 if he’s going to ride his bike. By that time, he had decided doing so didn’t “feel” like a good thing to do. Sure enough, by the time we left the house at 8:15am, it was starting to rain. He claimed it was his intuition, “which is also you’re sixth sense”. Shocked, impressed (eternally) by his brain, I asked where he’d learned that. He said he had “put two and two together” when he read about it somewhere in the Yu Gi Oh (did I spell that right?) world. It was a nice fuzzy moment we had when he realized I was proud and enjoyed what he’d said. You never know when those are going to happen.

When I came home to continue my morning tea/Words with Friends/Instagram/Pinterest/email ritual, there were SIX rainbow pictures in a row on my Instagram feed, one of which was captioned “Good Morning Weird Rainbow”.

I’ve been calling these days Weirdo Days for longer than I can remember. They’re always the same. They start out mellow, pleasant. I begin with ample energy, looking for my next big project. It happens by the end of my first cup of tea, The Demotivation. My whole mindset quickly succumbs to the idea of a snuggly warm Weirdo Day. They often include most of the following:

Laundry. At the speed of a snail race.

A giant pot of Something That Came Out of the Fridge and/or Freezer (because preferably WDs don’t include a trip to the grocery). Today Chez Arnold presents an all-day-simmered Pork and Cranberry Bean Soup. I’ll post the recipe, because…

Blogging is something I also like to do on Weirdo Days because it makes me feel so productive. When in fact, it’s not really, but my incredibly amazing husband and sweet and talented Mom-in-Love say they enjoy reading what I write, so I’m doing it for them.

Organization of some small area of my home that will not only make me feel productive (I like to feel and type “productive”) but something my sweet hubs and I will smile over later during Happy Hour.

Dishes. Snail race pace.

The television and I have a Weirdo Relationship on WDs. I think it’s because it makes me feel Not Very Productive when I sit down and intentionally watch the thing, unless it’s Educational, like Nova. Even then, I am still up doing the laundry and dishes very slowly. In the event of a recent chick flick coming out, I do sometimes err to the side of Comfortable Relationship with teevee. Shorepound doesn’t like chick flicks. I don’t particularly love to watch soccer on the telly. He has the Sports Package. I buy the occasional chick flick on a WD while he’s not there to be tortured. We both win.

Since my newly found love of Pinterest, now I’m able to read all about exercises I should totally be doing on my WDs. But since my mom stays with us the majority of the time, I’ve found my alibi in not wanting her to get jealous of me exercising the way she would like to be able to. Isn’t that sweet of me? Sacrificing myself and my flat stomach for her. The last thing I want is to add any more grief to her life. I did plenty of that as a kid.

By the time all of this has gone down, it’s time to get dressed, as WDs are mandatory jammie days, go get the grom, and prepare for my best friend’s arrival home, which is also my favorite part of every day. :)

Opening Up Shop.

I have decided to start hocking my wares. Years ago, my mom and I began to try to get rid of the clutter that was plaguing our life after my Dad passed away. He was a collector. Of All Things. So it’s been pretty difficult to sort through everything and decide what was too sentimental to sell or throw out, and what could be profited from or be refused.

This holiday I season I set out to be more green. Or lazy, as Lori pondered. I landed in the world of Etsy doing so. Years ago, I purchased an adorable set of peacock feather earrings from a seller there, but really had kind of forgotten about it, as there’s so much to peruse through, it becomes overwhelming. Finally, a few weeks ago, I sat, cocktail in hand, laptop on lap, URL on etsy.com. I slaved for four hours searching meticulously for the perfect gifts for my loved ones, and myself, of course. The time spent was beyond successful, and I can not wait to see the look of some of your faces when you open your gifts. Only feeding people a great meal gives me such joy. Or teaching them to surf.

Spending so much time in so many different people’s “shops” made me realize how many things I have in my life that other people might actually use, instead of just admiring, (or cursing because it’s taking up valuable real estate in their tiny abode). So when all of the facts started piling up in my head, I started getting lightheaded because my brain hadn’t been so excited about a project since, well, I don’t know when. Now you know the catalyst, so given that, I am going to take my time and do it right, because I have an excellent premise for this “business” and I want it to be successful (or at least get rid of a lot of stuff and make some extra cash. I figure I can’t go wrong with either attitude. Before I start the official process of opening up shop, details must be covered. A description of yourself is encouraged, and I’ve found that overwhelming in the past. I suppose my life has been simplified, and for that I am ridiculously thankful. I think I’ve finally found a somewhat accurate (but not overly detailed) description of my existence.

“To my left, I see the Atlantic Ocean. To my right, there is the Intracoastal Waterway. Between the two, I have a web developer extraordinaire husband, a true renaissance manchild who wants to be a professional surfer, soccer player, and drummer when he grows up, and a very vocal 4 year old boxerdog.

While trying to be the best wife, mother and daughter I can, my life consists of getting my next saltwater fix via surfing or fishing; hiking our stunning local parks; growing as much food in our backyard as I can and serving it up daily from our beloved little galley; collecting odds and ends of pretty much anything that tickles my fancy.

I’m a Southern woman with a worldly hunger for beauty in all of it’s forms. Which is what brought me here to Etsy. I hope my items bring you the loving, positive energy they have given me. Several have been in my family for a long time and I’m so happy to have found a great place to share them. Enjoy. <3"

One of the most exciting aspects of this new venture is the fact that I'll be doing photo shoots with my items. Which will often mean needing models for clothes. I have a couple of lovelies in mind for a couple of different pieces, but the creative process of choosing item to personality to setting is thrilling to me. I am open to suggestions on my "About Me". I tend to oversimplify or over-indulge; I'm seeking a Happy Medium.

And hey, look who's blogging again! ;) (me)

How I Make Soups. Part Deux.

I know some of you reading this have no earthly desire to make your own broth and that’s fine. You just want the recipes for the good, easier stuff, using canned or preferably boxed all natural MSG-free organic broths.  If you are still intrigued by the beauty of doin’ it yourself, great! Today I’m going to introduce meat to the rest of the love in the stock pot. We’ll get to the actual recipes for soup later.

Note: this is my way of doing things. I’ll probably change them as I learn and grow in my cooking but for now, this is working. I have a few REALLY good cook friends who’s brains I pick regularly, but there are never enough hours in the day to talk about all the things I don’t know in the culinary world. So here we go…

Remember how we threw everything in the pot for the veggie broth? How the pot was nice and hot on med-high heat and then when you put everything in it started browning? Same with meat. Get the pot hot with a T (big T denotes Tablespoon, little t is a teaspoon) or so of olive oil.

The next step is crucial for browning your meat because that’s where all of the rich flavor comes from. So take the meat, (let’s say chicken for now, a whole fryer or roaster, 4 lbs-ish) and rinse and pat it dry with paper towels. Liberally salt and pepper – and please – use sea or kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper! There’s no flavor in the pre-ground variety.

Plop the whole bird into the pot breast side down. It should sizzle immediately! If not, your pot wasn’t hot enough. The oil needs to be shimmering. Leave it to brown for a couple of minutes, and then I always give it a quick shake to loosen up the skin from the bottom of the pan. If the oil was hot enough it won’t stick, it will just brown beautifully. 7-8 minutes later, lift a side of the bird to hopefully see some crispiness occurring, just a light golden brown will do. If that lovely earthy color is there, take some tongs and flip the chicken to brown the other side.

Once it’s done, add your other broth ingredients. I stick with the usuals for chicken broth: quartered whole onions skin still on (2), roughly chopped carrots and celery, leaves and all (3 each), whole crushed garlic cloves, 2-10 depending on your garlic obsession, a handful of fresh parsley and thyme, and a T of whole peppercorns. I like the peppercorn medley, there are so many layers of flavor. Also, if you love lemons as much as I, you’ll want to halve one, squeeze it’s juice in, and then throw either half or the whole rind in. I do the whole then pull it out halfway, much like I did the fennel in the veg broth. The idea here is to meld the flavors and not have one prominent.

Cover all of this with water plus a little more. Bring it to a boil, cover it, bring the heat down to med-low. Your pot should be simmering, gently bubbling, for at least an hour and a half. I usually let mine go for a couple of hours because the chicken just falls right off the bone, making it so much easier to pick the meat and get it into the soup itself.

Let the broth cool. It will need a good half hour at least. Then with your tongs, pull the chicken out carefully, yes it’s limbs will probably fall off. Get them all and put them in a big pot. Let it cool, and then start picking the meat off. While you’re doing that, your broth should be cooling off too so that you can then (triple) strain it in your sieve and toss the cooked veggies.

Now you have the basis for some darn good chicken soup. Recipes to come. If you can call them that… I’m a pinch, handful, dash-er… if you know what I mean. C’est la vie!

How I Make Soups. Part 1.

I’ve had a lot of women asking me for my “recipes” as of late, and instead of trying to directly respond via message to each individually, I thought I’d share my love in a more general scape. Here you go internet, all of my not-so-secret weapons in preparing a beautifully planned and executed, healthy dinner in a bowl.

First things first. You must have a good heavy bottomed stock pot. My mom bought me the 12 qt Wolfgang Puck model I own several years ago when I first fell in love with making my own veggie broth. It still looks brand new and I’ve used it. I googled and averaged $35 for one similar to mine.  Getting to basics, the reason you need that heavy bottom is to evenly distribute the heat to the food. It is crucial, you will never get a good browning on anything without it and you’ll spend your time scraping burnt food out of it. Pay the money for a decent one.

Before I get to the fun stuff, I need to tell you, I am in no way a self-proclaimed good cook. I am a voracious reader with pretty fair comprehension skills, and when the planets align and I follow directions thoroughly I can concoct a decent meal gathered from a handful of worthy recipes. That is really the enjoyable part to me, creating my own take, adding what I want to the symphony of flavors. For example, I can’t seem to get enough garlic. If I print 3-5 cloves, minced, in my own galley, 7-8 go in the pot. At least. I try to add the garlic when Nate‘s not looking because of the wary eye he throws me when he sees how much I’ve chopped. That’s important for you to know because one of the first great cooks I personally knew was my friend and recently published author Hal, who told me long ago that massive amounts of garlic and fresh ground black pepper can make anything taste delectable. That theory has yet to be proven wrong.

Ready, set, go!

I’m starting as basic as it gets with the broth because it is the backbone of everything! There’s not a brand (of which I’m aware) on the market that compares. I say so, because there’s nothing like the love you put in personally to make it taste better. On that note, there’s nothing better than using local organic ingredients to amplify the sweet savoriness. It becomes soul food.

Today I tried veggies other than the usual for my broth, and I was so impressed by it’s rich flavor. It was the muse for this post, in fact.

Usually I’ve only used whole quartered peel-still-on onions, carrots, peppercorns, celery (leaves and all) and fresh parsely, thyme, several whole crushed garlic cloves, and a couple of bay leaves (and sometimes tomatoes if I know I’ll be using the broth for a minestrone type soup). This batch consists of cremini mushrooms, yellow bell pepper, a half bulb of fennel (I used half and then took it out halfway through, It’s pungent), peppercorns, onions as I described above, carrots, lots of crushed garlic, celery, a handful of fresh Italian parsley & thyme, 2 bay leaves and about 2 tablespoons of kosher (or sea) salt.  The salt is up to you, again, as is everything according to your taste. Nate likes salty. Me not so much so I do a little and let him salt at the table if need be.

Many recipes say to add all of this to a pot, cover with water, boil, reduce heat, bring to a low simmer for an hour.

No… you’re losing all of the flavor by doing that! The beauty of throwing everything in there and browning it first over a med-high heat is that you get the good stuff out of the stuff BEFORE adding the water. Then it all melds and intensifies and makes music in the pot. I nearly passed out this morning from the intoxicating aroma.  So please, put a couple of Tablespoons of good olive oil in the stock pot and heat it till it shimmers and smells warm and nutty, and then throw in everything but the garlic. Let all of the veggies get all aromatic and hot and then add the crushed cloves. Let them cook for about a minute and add the water to cover the veggies. Now let it come to a boil, and when it does, turn the heat to low and cover. Let it simmer as long as you want, but for at the very least, an hour. Mine went for almost 3.  Sidenote: Today I did not have any, or I would have thrown a splash of good white wine (chardonnay) in this mix before the water, and let that cook down for a minute.

Strain everything when it’s done in a sieve. I triple strain mine actually. It comes out velvety and savory, even healing, I promise.

And that’s that for Part 1.

Fall 2010: We are a 2nd Grader, a PTA Mom and a Soccer Coach Dad.

I can’t lie, Facebook has taken over what little internet time I allow myself. It’s convenience of access via my phone has kept myself and everyone else “in the loop” of what goings on occur. What I do not like about this is that I am depriving myself of creative expression in one of my favorite ways.

Writing has always been my mental release. Sports have always kept me in check physically, but writing is my nerdy little friend I bring down off the shelf when I’m feeling introspective. Unfortunately, because of the nature of such business, I’ve trashed more of the (what I deemed) verbose nonsense than I’ve saved.

I’ve had a few blogs in this lifetime, my first being a feeble attempt when I lived in Puerto Rico. It ended up being more of a short story. Geocities were all the rage at the time, in my little world anyway. Later, when I moved back to Jax Beach, I started trying to make my blog more about promoting myself surfing-wise. Silly, yes. Helpful in any way, ever, no.

The Family Julz came about around the time I re-entered the world of the “Stay at Home Mom”. Which now, by the way, is obviously called “Full-time Working Mom.” Whatever. To me that sounds confusing. I’m not sensitive about words, believe it or not. They’re just words. I stay at home, yo, and I’m a mom. That works for me.

Slowly making my way to the point. When I created this e-child and enveloped myself in the Blogosphere, I became ridiculously overwhelmed with where blogging had gone since the year 2000. I’d never even heard of dooce! I was so far behind, and had considered myself pretty darn computer and internet savvy until that point. My friends Lori and Amy had been doing a fabulous job (and still do!) of keeping me entertained and enlightened for a couple of years previous my decision to publicly blog again, so I figured what the hay.

A couple of seasons ago I made the blog-fatal mistake of stating that I was going to at least blog once a season.

So thar she blows! Update Mission Success! The thing is, we’re all doing great. By the post title you see what we’re up to. I have no pictures of D playing soccer this season (YET) because for the last two weeks he’s been playing, Nate has been warming up his coaching skills on the little buggers and prefer mom stay home and pamper herself. Last night when they got home I had the dutch oven simmering a pot of lobster based clam and grouper chowder. I’m having it for lunch today too, and sorry, but you really should be jealous.

I bid you adieu with a few of my favorite summer shots. Oh! My garden was great, and is still filling our bellies with the best jalepenos, datils, bell peppers and scotch bonnets we have ever had. There’s a bumper crop of watermelon coming soon too. Next year I’m going to have a good third of our yard plowed and I’m doing it right.  This year I only used a sixteenth I’d say, and I really want to get more homegrown produce in the house!

It’s His “Thing”.

My honey and I were never so proud last night… our son played his first soccer game.

He had a blast. I realize I’m biased, but he stayed on the ball more than any kid I saw on either team. They have a ways to go, it was their first game and they’d only had two practices. The kids on the other team were bigger and more experienced, and their coach had been coaching that age group for some time, you could tell.

But our Turtles did not give up! They ran their little hearts out until an 8-0 finish. Donovan told me yesterday morning that soccer was his “thing” and that he was super excited to be a soccer man. :) Precious. I am so happy for him to have finally found that “thing” that motivates him. I just can’t wait till he gets that same bug for surfing! For now I am just so stoked that he and his dad have this; Nate has started helping a little here and there and is hoping to help coach. He’s going to be wonderful, I couldn’t be more proud of either of them!

A few pics of the Turtles v. the Gold Medallions… D is the cutest one of course, and has the number two on his back. ;)

Green.

I am solar-powered. As a shaper friend recently reminded me, we all are, but surely everyone is beyond tired of hearing me and everyone else complaining of the ridiculously consistent below average North Florida winter temps.

But The Great Heating Lamp in The Sky is beginning to warm up and incubate us all again. As of March 1 my generous and considerate husband and I started the growing season out right. Sweet Valerie, who recently birthed the sweetest little boy, Emerson, gave us a Topsy Turvy for Christmas. I’d always wanted to try out one of these things, and so Monday I visited our local Home Depot to pick up a Better Boy tomato plant and some organic fertilizer and garden soil.

Daddy put the ‘mater growing gadget together while Donovan and I raked up about a four square foot plot of Earth in the backyard for coriander and cilantro seeds.  Last week I ordered some alfalfa seeds, along with Plumeria and Angel’s Trumpets. My goal is to have something blooming year round. There’s a Dogwood tree I’ve been eyeballing for a few days now down at the local grocery store, and I’m sure if I venture over to the plant farm a few miles away I’ll find more stuff than our budget cares to consider.

And the toys, oh, the lonely, dusty toys.

Hopefully my post next week (hey, notice, I’m trying to write more often than once a season) will reflect the glorious weekend we’re going to have,  as Sunday is supposed to get up to 64! Usually 64 is, by my usual standards, freezing. But I think I’ve actually grown thicker skin, or blood, or something. I have become a broken record and my creativity is so stifled. I’m very much looking forward to having something other to talk and write about other than the weather. Yawn!

Everything In Place.

Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I’ll have a long beard by the time I read them.
-Arnold Lobel

This winter has been très productive for me in the reading department. I have voraciously ingested more literature this year than I have in any of my years previous and it feels GREAT.

There were a few that really impacted my psyche this season, and I’ll tell you why.

I’ve been “cooking” steadily since Nathan and I married in ’02. Admittedly, I’d never cooked anything before that other than two loaves of banana bread in ’93, and a batch of 3am chicken wings doused in ketchup, mustard and hot sauce in ’98.

They haven’t always been pretty, the concoctions that got me to the able-to-hold-her-head-above-water cook that I am today. There have been a couple of batches of potato salad I remember acutely that made me want to never touch another root vegetable again.  Chicken what? Chicken surprise! You guess what’s in it, and then tell me, because I don’t know either, even though I cooked it. Beef roast? You did want it to taste like a tire, right? Spaghetti? You got it! One jar of Ragu and some half crunchy pasta headed your way.

You get the picture. I’d say this accurately describes the first two years of our marriage.

I remember the first recipe that I didn’t ruin and would actually serve to company. Rosemary turkey meatloaf. I still love it to this day and may make it tomorrow night just to prove to myself that I do. After I felt I’d become master of this dish, I gained some confidence, and as with most tasks in life, this was all I needed to grow and finally bloom.

For the next few years, I leaned back into my teenage vegetarian ways, and became quite adept at feeding myself very healthy, well put together meals, but that wasn’t cutting it for my carnivore husband. After a while I realized I needed to become more well rounded in the kitchen and began studying recipes involving meats such as lamb, big cuts or pork, and comfort food goodnesses like roast and pot pies.

Enter 2009 and Nora Ephron’s Julie & Julia.

Julia Child fascinated me as a little girl. She was on PBS after my cartoons and I would listen just to laugh at her voice, I didn’t think she was serious. As an adult, I am fascinated by her tenacity, her humor, and her intelligence, but I still giggle at her voice. I now giggle more at my own husband imitating her in the kitchen, a little habit he picked up from me.

I picked up this book while we were visiting Nate’s parents in Chicago last fall. I knew the movie was coming out, and I was very excited to read it first. I’d never read any of Ephron’s work before, and was pleasantly surprised at her refreshing cadence.

Moreso what impressed me than her writing style, was the deeper story of Julia Child, which I realized I would have to learn more about. Sure enough, this led me to ordering the original “Mastering the Art of French Cooking“, which is now another Bible in the Galley, making it yet another publication affecting my lens of the world in a positive way.

“Mastering the Art of French Cooking” is not for the cook who wants pretty pictures. There are well drawn illustrations, but one must consider the era in which this publication came into play. That’s the beauty of it to me, learning what it felt like to be on the cusp of gourmet cuisine being introduced into the typical “servantless” American home. Certainly I can relate the revolution to my own life, you see.

“MtAoFC” describes (in Julia’s colorful voice) particular processes and basic instructions on not necessarily mastering the art of cooking, in general, but giving you a damn good basis on how one should hold court in one’s kitchen. Where was I before I discovered mise en place? Lost! Absolutely, a lost mess. Nate & I were lounging in the backyard last weekend enjoying a cocktail and I read and reread this encyclopedia, studying, soaking it in.

The absolute beauty of reading, for me, is the seemingly endless amount of space for knowledge I find. Isn’t it amazing? Where does all of it go? I still have my solid memories of the past, none are dropping like flies, and yet I’m acquiring so much more than I ever thought possible to store.

So, that’s two of the hundred-or-so I ogled.

Enter 2010 and Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat Pray Love.
(This is when I finally got my hands on it anyway.)

My beautiful Mother-In-Law firmly suggested I read this, knowing how much I enjoy anything involving any three of the items mentioned in the title. (Happy Birthday yesterday, Mom!) She was spot-on, of course. Liz (the author feels like a friend after reading the book) took me on a journey I felt I’d already experienced in another life because her words were just so familiar, comfortable, and simply written.

Eat Pray Love reminded me a lot of  The Life of Pi, another story in which I fell in love with due to the spiritual contrast and conflict within. If you haven’t read either, please, pick them up. They’re short reads and contain the possibility to ease your heart and make you smile at the beauty of the human spirit and what it can endure.

The book lying open on the ottoman in front of me is a wildcard I picked up at the library the other day while looking for a few different memoirs (of which none I found): Raising Children Who Think for Themselves, by Elisa Medhus, M.D.  I have read my share of self-help raising youngun books, but this one, so far, is giving great insight on how to guide the smart, determined, willful child we have. We don’t have to worry about getting D to think for himself, he most certainly does that. The task is to get him to listen to the voice inside and make the correct decision that provides a positive outcome when situations arise.

Like I said, these are only a very few of the many in the last year, and there are still so many out there (like those 6 memoirs I went looking for the other day) plus SO many classics I need to revisit. I’ve definitely taken advantage of this heinously cold winter but I can’t tell you how happy I’ll be to be sitting outside soaking up some warm rays catching up on the never-ending list of material. Next up is Jeannette Walls The Glass Castle. I’ve heard amazing things and look forward to getting it.

And as always, if you have any recommendations, leave me a comment!

It Was The Month of Mars, 2010

Here we are! We now live in the future. How does it feel? Personally I believe it feels rather familiar. As in, not much has changed.

Where’s my teleporter? I figured surely we’d have such technology by now. If hoping has anything to do with it, with Donovan’s help, we should have them by the time he is able to drive. That would be nice for salvaging brunette hairs on my head as well.

What about food replicators? Still science-fiction. Star Trek gave false hope. I admit I have immensely enjoyed learning the art of cooking the last few years; it’s safe to say it’s become a passion. Every day is a new adventure at Chez Arnold, our pet name for the galley in the house where the love and magic happen.

I had no real resolutions of which to speak this year. Eternally living in a constant state of personal improvement, I just let the new numbers describing our time push my standards higher and higher. This year is my year to quit smoking cigarettes. I am embarrassed that I am still a slave to this ridiculous habit. They are nasty old friends that have been there for me when I needed them, and I simply don’t need them anymore. Baby steps are being taken to the overhaul, which is essentially what me quitting will be. I quit a few years ago for a few months. But I had quit drinking alcohol 2 months previous. This time I’m not going to deny myself the pleasure of spirits, I’m going to face the addiction head-on and live my life as it should be lived, with care and responsibility. I hope Nate follows suit, and yes, this blog is the first of the nudges. I have to do this for D, for me, and for our family. Wish me luck!

Nate and I have started this year out right in many ways. We finally shelved our living room closet to hold our dvd player, cable box and videos. It makes a huge difference in how much room we have, and with such little square footage, every square foot counts! Next up we’re going to repaint the walls, which I’ve wanted to do since we bought the house five years ago!

It has been ridiculously cold this January. Colder than I remember it ever being so consistently. We were honestly getting used to it being below 50 degrees F! After the second week of such harsh Florida climate, Nathan surprised me by purchasing two round trip tickets to Aguadilla, PR! We flew out Friday night, the 15th, at 11:30pm, got into PR at about 3:30am and by the time we made it into Rincon it was 6am Saturday morning. We were so happy our friend Carol left us a 6 pack of Medalla in the fridge, we slammed a couple and went to bed for a few hours.

When we awoke in beautiful sunny PR, it was about 10:45am. Immediately we loaded up the rental and headed to Jenny‘s to take her to breakfast. We headed a little south, past the pueblo, to Restaurant Tropical.  She had pickled fish and salad, Nate had a langostina empanada, and I had a Don Q and coke.

We went back to her dive/surf shop and I danced around nostalgically, enjoying the pictures all over the wall, all of the cool stuff she has for sale, and just loving being in one of my favorite places on Earth. Nathan and I walked the few steps over to Calypso and had some drinks, ran into the same wonderful locals that have been there since I lived there and met some new friends too.

Afterward, Nate was ready for a surf. Me? Not so much. I had been kinda sickly the days previous, and with the rum in me I was not up for paddling out over the Pool’s Beach Reef. It’s the only place I’ve ever gotten urchinned, and Nathan ended up shredding the bottom of his board coming in. I say it was a wise decision to refrain from surfing, when it’s that small (it was only a few feet) the reef is so close. Basically we went for the warm weather and the fun. We weren’t let down.

That evening we stayed around the Cabanas and ate at the Pool Bar, which is famous for the INSANELY DELICIOUS SUSHI amongst other delicacies such as fish and chicken pinchos and other classic Puerto Rican foods. It was Buen Provecho all night long! Pictured below is Nicole, me, Jenny, Nate, and our friend we met on the flight down.

After dinner, Carol’s husband Dennis drove us over to the Black Eagle where we ran into everyone else in Rincon that we hadn’t yet seen. What a blast! We danced, and laughed, and drank, and danced some more. By the time the night was over I was sore as could be from skankin’ to the reggae beats.

The next morning hurt, I ain’ t gonna lie. But amateurs, we are not. We got up around the same time Sunday morning as we did Saturday morning, and did the same as before. Vista Nuclear was our destination to go get Jenny and take her to breakfast. This time we headed north to Zona Natural, where I waited for over a half hour for one of the best salads I’ve ever had. I was feeling weak and needed serious replenishment, so how happy was I to have a fresh organic apple, carrot,  and ginger juice? Manna from Heaven I tell ya. Nate enjoyed some of the best Puerto Rican rice I’ve ever tasted. Pigeon peas just aren’t used as much as they should be, stateside! I forget what Jenny had because I was so in love with my watercress dressing I couldn’t see straight. When I lived in PR, such fresh, varietal foods were unheard of. I’m very happy to report that since then times have changed and the cuisine is world-class!

We headed back to Jenny’s beautiful home after brunch, where we sat on the porch and drank Presidentes, mesmerized by quite literally, the best view in Rincon, if not one of the best on the island. She was so excited to get me back over to Vista Nuclear for some reason, saying she had a surprise for me. This woman really knows me, because I almost cried when we pulled down the tiny little road to see two beautiful horses wandering around in the yard of the house across the street! The horse that lived in the adjacent yard while I was living there wasn’t as friendly, so I was elated that Jenny and I were able to just walk up and pet mama and her baby. Mama got over it pretty quickly though and stomped her hooves for us to vamoose, which we respectfully and quickly did.

Afternoon quickly became evening and we decided to go back to the Cabanas and the Pool Bar for that fantastic sushi once again. We ended up ordering about 6 different menu items, and our beautiful friend and bartender Nicole took great care of us. We reciprocated and thanked the Ritch’s (Nicole is Carol and Dennis’s daughter) for their unsurpassed hospitality.

I’d love to say we went to bed early, but it was our last night there so we sat out in front of our cabana and enjoyed more Cubra Libres under the tropical sky. Monday morning came way too early, and our flight out of PR at 1:30pm was a necessary evil. We did it 100%, but we’re looking forward to taking Donovan with us next time to ensure early bedtimes and adventure-filled days. It was a warm weekend of catch-up and an incredibly exciting way to start the new year! Team Arnold Adventures never disappoint, and I am so thankful for my amazing husband and hilarious son in this oh-so-futuristic time in our lives!

Farewell Summer… See You Next Year

It’s that time again. The sycamores are starting to drop their over-abundant foliage. Windows are left open and air conditioning turned off.  Crock pot is down from the top of the cabinet, jeans are coming out of the back of the closet. The humidifier gets cleaned and plugged in, as the sudden lack of moisture in the usually soggy air dries our sinuses out.

For those of you who read my Facebook or Twitter blurbage, you know I adore North Florida in the fall. There’s so much energy in the air. It takes me back to something very magical in my head left over from childhood. I hope it never leaves me.

My sweet little family and I awoke one recent Saturday morning to catch a perfect glimpse of why we live where we live. I was determined to go make the best of what was left of bikini season, and suggested we head North to my favorite surf spot. It’s over the ferry, which immediately makes it a ten-dollar surf trip, and we live a couple of miles from a State Park anyway, so we decided closer was better and packed up. We’re simple. We packed three towels,  two surfboards, one kiddo and one camera. We made it there so early we were the only ones on the beach. It was beautiful!

And in other news, this past weekend Team Arnold journeyed downtown to the stadium to see our Jaguars kick some Titan butt! It was Donovan’s first game, and as soon as I get the pics I’ll post them. Okay, Heather? :)

I am also intending this week to get the pics up from The Arnold Olympics v2009.  I’ve sat to document the event previously and ended up being overwhelmed by the amount of images to go through so I went and cleaned the house instead.

Hope all is well for you my friends and family!

xoxox