a few firsts

meet wilson! i finally understand what puppy love is all about. it’s only been 48 hours and already i can’t remember what our house was like before he was in it. i could run around the yard and take naps next to his fuzzy face all day.

as tired as i was carrying him outside at 2 am saturday night, the still chill and crunch of icy leaves was a nice way to feel the onset of winter and introduce him to the first frost. it was cold over the weekend so i made this amazing butternut squash soup—with just enough sweet and spice.

a sweeter side

this weekend my friend katy came to visit. she braved brutal summer road construction and drove all the way from minnesota. we did our best to show her the sweet things our little town has to offer, to persuade her to make ann arbor an annual visit. in the end, i think we had the most fun cooking and hanging out in the garden, talking about the same things we’ve been talking about since we were 13 – boys, bikes, and pudding pops. (1) strawberries at the saturday farmer's market; (2 + 3) garden grilling – veggie kebabs and fresh swordfish; (4 + 5) free cake samples at the jefferson market; (6) lily extravaganza at our house.

weekend pieces

over the weekend, i went to a friends birthday party, slept in, made oats and egg sandwiches for breakfast, curled up by the fire, and watched the golden globes. i had high hopes to get a lot accomplished, but in the end, the snow and cold squashed my ambitions and instead i settled in for a relaxing few days at home. this has been a reoccurring result of january in the midwest. after watching the awards, i realized that i really need to make a few trips to the theater over the next couple of weeks to catch up on movies.

(photos by: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)

that's all they really want

i just got back from a warm fall weekend at timber bluff near saugatuck with 3 lovely ladies. we spent most of our time in the kitchen talking, cooking, drinking, and madlibing, or at the beach curled up reading. on saturday, we went to crane’s orchard and cider mill in fennville to pick a few apples and try their pie and donuts before heading back to build a fire by the water and watch the sunset. a vacation with friends was just what i needed!

(photos by: erin, aruna, liz, + the-arse)

weekend pieces

on sunday, some lovely ladies came over and we spent the afternoon making jam. we were all amateurs, so our attempt at making apricot/peach lavender jam and strawberry/lemon marmalade was definitely experimental. i piled the apricot jam on my peanut butter toast this morning—it was delicious—but as far as the marmalade goes… i'm still waiting for it to magically thicken every time i tip the jar. overall, i think 1 out of 2 isn't bad for our first try. after all the jars were sterilized and sealed we hung out in the garden, margarita in hand, eating our tasty creations.

vacation pieces 03/08/10

after hours in the car driving from michigan to minnesota, on our last stretch of highway along the coast of lake superior, ben and i saw a timber wolf flash across the headlights of the car before running into the ditch. the night was cold and still and we were alone on the road, so we slowed down and turned the car around to see if we could catch another glimpse. when the wolf saw that we were following him he came up to the car, circled it, then stood staring at us, curious, before playfully running down the middle of the road, almost like he was leading the way. i wanted to follow.

i spent a lot of time along lake superior growing up, so it was nice to take a trip up there again. ben and i skied all day and collapsed all night. on thursday, we took a day off and drove up the gunflint trail looking for moose tracks and explored grand marais and the icy lake shore with my parents. i even got to meet my friend jamie’s beautiful 6-week old baby boy mikah. when we left ann arbor a week ago it was covered in snow and ice, but when we returned last night most of the snow had melted in the 40-50° weather. it was a perfect return from a wonderful trip.

(photos by: erin + ben)

weekend pieces 02/08/10

i’ve been in ann arbor for almost 6 months and i’m starting to feel like a homebody. this could be because we just bought a home, but i’m pretty sure that the winter has made me lethargic. it's my own fault. i need to embrace the cold. this weekend, our friend ellen took ben and me on a saturday tour of detroit. it’s depressing, looking back, that it took me so long to go there. most cities are dense with people, but detroit is dense with emptiness – this was a phrase that ellen had heard from a professor at the u of m and it seemed like the perfect explanation for how you feel when you are there. it was sad to see that so many people had abandoned the city, but exciting to see it’s potential. but maybe all the new girls in town feel that way. we saw a piece of that potential when we stopped by the heidelberg project, a living outdoor gallery that continues to evolve, and a mainstay of color and creativity in an otherwise deteriorating neighborhood.

(photos by: erin)

holiday pieces 01/11/2010

what was intended to be a one week blog break, turned into one month. i’ve been in denial about getting back to writing after the holiday and spent most of last week just staring at my computer screen. in december, we drove from cold to colder—michigan to minnesota—for visits with family and friends, lots of delicious food, late night movie viewing, and afternoon hikes in freezing temperatures. i love the snow, but hate the cold. negative degrees killed my adventurous spirit and our car. when we finally got home to ann arbor, the 20 degrees outside felt like a heat wave… sadly, that notion has passed.

(photos by: erin)

weekend pieces 11/30/09

it’s cold and rainy outside and the chill is creeping into the house—through the mail slot and the old kitchen ventilator. we finally got our first snow and I have a sad feeling winter is here to stay. my parents were visiting over the weekend and we showed them the city, cooked for days, cleaned up the yard and the garden, and laid around in front of the fireplace digesting—then eating pie, watching movies, and drinking wine. ben’s parents came and went at the beginning of november and now my parents are gone. what is going to happen to our house now that we don’t have experienced homeowners around to tell us what to do?

(photos by: erin)

weekend pieces 11/16/09

i think 60° in november is something i could start getting used to. too bad i heard it’s a freak year. regardless, i’m still hoping it will hold out long enough for us to have thanksgiving in our backyard garden. slowly, i’m learning about all of the things that need to be done when you live in a house, like cleaning out the garage and keeping up with the yard. my body hurts from raking leaves on saturday, especially my hands. despite the gloves, the band-aids, and all of the moleskin, i still got blisters. on sunday, ben and i both had work to do so we stayed in our pajamas for a little bit too long. smoothies for breakfast, egg sandwiches for lunch, so it only seemed fitting to make oatmeal for dinner.

(photos by: erin)