~ George Eliot

Two. Besides finishing the bedroom, we celebrated Mom’s birthday on Sunday! Lara, Maria and I cooked a delicious brunch of broccoli quiche (my first attempt at quiche!), blueberry-bran muffins (Lara’s creation), and fresh fruit salad (Maria’s handiwork). The quiche took a little longer than I expected (mostly due to difficulties with the homemade crust), but when we finally sat down to eat, everything ended up tasting great. Part 2 of Mom’s birthday celebration was at the end of the day, after Mom and Dad returned from dinner. Lara and I made a very easy chocolate cake that we enjoyed with ice cream while Mom opened her presents.

Overall, it was a very fun, delicious, and celebratory day and I’m just so glad that I got to be home with Mom on her actual birthday rather than having to celebrate early and call her from another state on the actual day (something I had to do all throughout college). I love you, Mom!

Three. If you’ve been following along this week, you may be wondering what I decided to do with those eggplants that Mom and I bought on Tuesday. (Or, more likely, you could care less, and that’s fine too.) Wellll, I did get some great suggestions and found a bunch of recipes online, so the contest was bound to be a close one.

Here are the winners: Eggplant & Tomato Pizza (which I’ll be doctoring up with some fresh mozzarella and making for my family tonight as a send-off before they leave tomorrow morning for a week in upstate New York) and Mediterranean Eggplant & Barley Salad (which I’ll probably enjoy all week long!).

I’ve never worked with eggplant before so I’m a little nervous. Wish me luck!

Four. At that same farm stand, we bought a huge box of perfectly ripe plum tomatoes. As soon as we got home with them, however, we realized that they wouldn’t last very long if we didn’t find some creative uses for them and pronto!

So we’ve been eating tomatoes all week long — and we’re not sick of them yet! We ate them for dinner on Wednesday (a fresh hot pasta-cool sauce dish imitating something Mom had at Francesca’s on her birthday) and Thursday (grilled!) and I’ll use them again tonight for the pizza.

I also decided to get really creative (crazy?) and actually make my own tomato sauce. (Unheard of, right? The Queen of Convenient Non-Cooking snubs Prego for homemade sauce…what???) It was on my mind because I had just come across a recipe for it on my new favorite cooking blog, Smitten Kitchen, so — with pounds and pounds of tomatoes threatening to go bad any day — I decided it would be the perfect challenge.

And it pretty much took up my Wednesday (on and off). I blanched, peeled, de-seeded (probably not a word), and cooked down about 8 pounds of tomatoes. I also learned a new cooking term: mirepoix, which I needed to make to season the sauce. It must have worked because the house smelled amazing for the rest of the day! Lara was even reluctant to make chocolate-chip cookies for fear that they would taste like garlic! (They didn’t.)

I’m going to try to turn some of the sauce into a pizza sauce for tonight, but there’s so much of it that I’m just freezing the rest for later.

Five. I have some sad news. American Girl fans, prepare yourselves. It has come to my attention, courtesy of my friend Maggie at Ten Thousand Places and Little Lamb Books, that American Girl is discontinuing Felicity as of September 1, 2010. The books will also be discontinued but are still available for purchase until they run out.

This is just so disappointing. I can hardly believe it! If you remember, back in May, I revealed my love for this doll and my childhood dream (still unfulfilled) of dressing up like Felicity at Williamsburg. I’m sure there are hundreds of young girls who feel or would feel the same way. How can they do this?

Aside from the sentimental value, as Maggie so aptly pointed out: Felicity is the only representative in the AG doll line-up of the extremely crucial founding era of our nation’s history. And this is the doll they have chosen to stop producing!

Frankly, I find this outrageous. Up until now, I liked to think that American Girl not only provided young girls with cute dolls and doll accessories and the healthy perspective on girlhood that accompanied them but also with a fun and interactive approach to learning about history, specifically American history! Without Felicity — and with Samantha (from the turn-of-the-century Victorian era) and Kirsten (a Swedish immigrant living in Minnesota) already discontinued — I’m starting to think that AG will have a much harder time living up to the latter expectation.

Six. Last night, I came across this incredibly beautiful yet heartbreaking video about an elderly couple’s love story and 27-year romance. The video is based on some personal interviews with the couple, Danny and Annie Perasa. It’s less than 6 minutes long so I watched it twice. Even though it’s an animated production, I found it moving. To be honest, I cried both times! It’s truly inspiring. Watch it.

The real Danny & Annie

[UPDATE: NPR featured Danny and Annie's story on Morning Edition back in 2004 and again in an article immediately after Danny's death in February 2006. Go here to listen to and read more about this memorable couple.]

Seven. On a lighter note, now that it’s September, pumpkin is back in season! Starbucks announced this week that it is now serving its pumpkin spice latte again (it’s not quite on the menu yet but you can still order them). I also got an email about pumpkin-flavored coffee and I’m really tempted to order a pound in honor of Fall. This also means I can start making my pumpkin oatmeal again! Skeptical? Don’t be. It’s delicious. But more about that once we get further into autumn.

Have a wonderful and relaxing Labor Day Weekend! And if you’re in the Chicagoland area, make sure you find some time to enjoy the long-awaited cooler temperatures and low humidity. Speaking of which, I think I’ll go for a run before dinner.

Cheers!

*Seven Quick Takes Friday is hosted at Conversion Diary.

Mom and I stopped at a farm stand this afternoon on our way back from visiting Nana and, among several other types of fresh produce, we bought eggplants! Besides being purple (my favorite color!), they were 3 for $1. So, clearly, it was meant to be.

Lately, I’ve been reading a bunch of cookbooks, food blogs, recipe sites — you name it — and I’ve come across a few dishes involving eggplant that sound incredibly delicious (without costing an arm and a leg calorie-wise). But before I decide on anything, I want to open the floor for suggestions…

So here’s my request: if you have a family recipe or a personal favorite recipe or a recipe you’ve always wanted to try or just thatonerecipeyouusedtheonlytimeyoucookedeggplantever, post it or email it to me pronto! I’ve read that eggplant will last in the fridge for 5 days before it becomes bitter so I need to use my eggplants by Saturday night at the latest.

P.S. I love Mediterranean and Indian cuisine, so if you know of an eggplant dish from those regions, I’m sure I’ll be all over it!

Then there was a period of stagnation during my months in DC as I returned to ease, speed and convenience in my “cooking” habits. Since returning home this summer, however, I’ve made a much greater effort and taken every opportunity to rise to the level of “domestic goddess”, a self-imposed standard that I’ve repeatedly fallen short of…

Two. This past week in particular has been full of domestic activities and even “lessons” from my wonderfully patient mother. Even though I was sick all weekend and clear through Tuesday (I can’t believe it but I’m still fighting some mild congestion — go figure!), I managed to cook dinner for the family every night.

Sunday, as I already mentioned, I made vegetable beef barley soup. I hope the photo doesn’t make it look too unappetizing because it was actually very delicious!

yum!

Monday, I went the easy route after my weekend of intense cooking (intense for me, at least): green beans, corn-on-the-cob, and pre-packaged spinach sausages stir-fried with onions and green peppers.

Tuesday, I had Caroline choose the dinner menu since it was her last night at home. So, at her request, I made a simple spinach salad with goat cheese and craisins, chicken-tomato-pesto pizza (sooo good!), orange-pineapple jello, and green beans.

Wednesday, I followed a never-before-tried recipe hidden in mom’s recipe box: bowtie pasta with garbanzo beans (also known as chickpeas), cherry tomatoes, and fresh rosemary (from mom’s herb garden!), topped with parmesan cheese.

Last night, Lara and I worked together to turn this into spicy fajitas!

Tonight, everyone got a night off and we ordered pizza. Yes, from Aurelio’s — where else?!?

Three. As I mentioned, Tuesday was Caroline’s last night at home for the summer. The next day, Dad drove her to Hillsdale for RA training and her classes start up sometime next week. I’m really excited for her as she reunites with her friends and starts her sophomore year of college. But I also will (and already do!) miss her.

=)

Four. Besides cooking, this week’s domestic education has consisted of learning how to remodel a bedroom (Caroline’s), and by that I mean patching and painting the walls and trim. Mom has been helping and coaching me along the way, sending me to Home Depot for supplies and overseeing my progress.

organized chaos. really.

We’ve painted two walls a gold-y yellow called “honey butter” and two walls a pale pale yellow (basically cream) called “cotton tail”. The ceiling is white, as will be the trim and doors.

Once I’m done, I’ll (finally!) get to move out of the basement and start living in Caroline’s room (where the bathroom is on the same floor! amazing!). My makeshift room down there was fine for a few months but, long term, it’s really not ideal. So hopefully I’ll be finished and moved in before the weekend is over. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Five. The job search continues… What can I say? Despite the bazillions of applications I’ve sent out to various offices in Chicago and DC, I may (probably) end up working at the Starbucks in Tinley Park, IL. I’m in the middle of the interview process now (interview #1 of 2 was Monday) so, by this time next week, I may be a friendly neighborhood barista! Good thing I started drinking coffee for realz last fall. Free (or at least discounted) coffee is a huge incentive.

Six. Maria had her second volleyball game this evening.

on the way to the game: she's pumped!

She’s been practicing for a few weeks now and even went to a week-long volleyball camp earlier this month, but I haven’t seen her play at all until today!

photo op =)

She got to play in the second set and did a great job. I’m so proud of her and happy that she’s found a sport she enjoys. I can’t wait to see her improve from one game to the next! Yay Maria!

they won and are undefeated so far this season!

Seven. An exciting new find for me this week was Tumblr and the concept of “micro-blogging”, a faster, easier form of blogging. (I’m probably way behind the times if I’m just learning about this now, right?) Technically, I’ve been following one since July, but this week I stumbled upon a few others that I’ve started to follow too.

I really like the simplicity of posting meaningful photos with quotes sprinkled throughout. It’s a very easy but also powerful way of conveying a thought or just expressing the mood you’re in that day but can’t articulate in words, a technique that really appeals to me as someone who’s notoriously verbose. It usually takes a lot of words for me to get my argument, thought, feeling, or mood across in writing or speaking. Forcing myself to just use photos and a quote or two is both cathartic and challenging.

As you may have guessed, this trend (and another blog that’s new to me this week, The Bottom of the Ironing Basket) inspired my post on Wednesday. Expect to be seeing more of these “wordless” posts in the coming weeks…

*Seven Quick Takes Friday is hosted at Conversion Diary.

In fact, during my John Jay Institute fellowship in Colorado last fall/winter, when I was living with 5 other girls and in close proximity to 8 other people, I never once got sick. Even when some weird illness descended upon us (swine flu? the Plague? we still don’t know) and my beloved roommate Miriel was stricken twice and Lauren and I were doing our best to make sure our sick friends were comfortable (which meant we repeatedly exposed ourselves to whatever they had), my immune system somehow stayed strong and warded off whatever was going around.

And then, in February, when the historic Washington blizzards (otherwise known as the Snowpocalypse) kept us cooped up inside for days on end, a time ripe for contracting illnesses, I remained fairly healthy!

But now, when no one else in my family is sick and it’s August for crying out loud, I get struck with a ferocious cold! Ugh. I won’t go into all the gross details but, trust me, it is not pretty and I am definitely not fit to be seen (or heard).

Even so, I’ve been amazingly productive in the cooking department. Shocking, I know.

As I mentioned last time, I made dinner for my family on Friday night, which was a success. And then, yesterday, I made my first lasagna (vegetable-spinach lasagna) and Nana’s chicken casserole. Today, I prepared a beef barley soup that is now cooking in the crock pot. (My nose has stopped working, but my family tells me it smells good.)

Dad, Caroline, and Lara just left with portions of the first two to bring over to Grampio, who is all alone while Aunt Sue is back in Philadelphia for the week, poor guy.

I’ve run out of ingredients for the other recipes I plan to try, and I’ve already applied to at least 3 jobs today, so I’m taking a break to watch Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium with Maria, drink some fluids, and hopefully kick this unwelcome cold once and for all. Wish me luck!

Two. On Sunday, I drove to Wheaton, IL to see two of my favorite people in the whole world. We went to church in Glen Ellyn, had a delicious meal with some other friends at a cute local brunch place, and wandered around the campus of Wheaton College for the afternoon. It was a beautiful day — perfect weather, setting, conversation, and company!

Yet supremely bittersweet at the same time. As I got in my car to drive home later that day, I found myself missing them even before I had turned the corner and they were out of sight…

Three. Spontaneously, my parents decided to book a couple rooms at the Fairfield in Holland, MI (about 30 seconds from Ashley & Scott’s apartment!) and take us all on a whirlwind 36-hr family vacation! We left on Tuesday morning (after a frantic hour of me finishing an application and faxing it off to Washington), spent the afternoon at the Warren Dunes, ate dinner at Chili’s in St. Joseph, and met Ashley and Scott for ice cream at Captain Sundae in Zeeland, about 10 minutes or so from Holland.

(Yes, we already beat you to it: the corny joke of the night was definitely that we visited two countries in one day–who would have thought traveling to the Netherlands and New Zealand could be so easy!)

Four. Wednesday, Day 2, we left Holland early(ish) so we would have time to stop at all our favorite Western Michigan beach towns along the road back to Homewood. It was a nice lazy day of strolling up and down the main streets of various towns, popping in any and every even mildly interesting shop, and grazing through almost every meal.

Saugatuck is known for its art galleries but apparently doesn’t wake up until 11am, so it was very quiet when we arrived.

South Haven was much livelier and even its farmers’ market was buzzing while we were there.

We ate a light lunch of sandwiches at Clementine’s in anticipation of enjoying some ice cream at Oink’s in New Buffalo, our last stop before reaching home. Oink’s is our favorite summer ice cream spot; it has so many flavors to choose from that I always have a really really hard time deciding what to order, even after getting a little taste of 2 or 3 of them! And then, after I settle on something, I still bug my family to give me a teeny-tiny taste of their selections (just to confirm that I made the right choice, of course).

Can you tell that we Forsythes like our frozen treats?

All in all, our 36-hour Michigan vacation, while too short, was definitely fun and relaxing. We got to see a lot, take our time moving from place to place, and share a ton of laughs together as a family. What more could you ask for?

Five. If you haven’t seen the new Geico commercial, you can watch it here. I found it absolutely hilarious (albeit ridiculous) and I think you will too. Watch it now and then watch it again when you just need a good laugh.

Six. I saw my first summer movie in the theaters today! Aunt Sue took me, Lara, and Caroline to see Eat Pray Love with Julia Roberts (whom I usually love in movies). I was definitely entertained and even found it thought-provoking at times. Julia’s character, Liz Gilbert, divorces her husband (definitely very sad), breaks up with her subsequent boyfriend, and takes a year to travel the world in search of herself. She spends a few months in Italy (eat), then India (pray), then Bali (love). I don’t think I would tell everyone I know to go out and spend 10 bucks or more on it just to see it, but it’s fairly well done and worth seeing (in theaters or, better yet, in the comfort of your own home once it comes out on video) if you are looking for something entertaining but not a waste of time.

Seven. I am happy to announce that I’ve been practicing my cooking a lot more lately and even enjoying it! Oh, yeah, and the results have actually been quite edible (my family agrees). I cooked dinner for the whole family on Monday, and Thursday, and then again this evening. So far, so good; no stomach aches yet. I also made a chip dip this evening called “Texas Caviar” (chock full of different beans and colorful peppers!) for our neighborhood block party tomorrow afternoon. And I plan to make a bunch of entrees to freeze for Grampio to reheat for himself while Nana is in rehab for the next few weeks.

I’m still trying to decide what all to make for him. Maybe you can help me. So far, my list includes lasagna, chicken-macaroni-water-chessnut casserole (an untitled Nana favorite from my childhood), macaroni-and-cheese, and tuna noodle casserole. If you have other ideas for dinners that are generally well-liked and easy to freeze/reheat, please send them my way asap.

And — if you decide to share — make sure you tell me the memory or person attached to the recipe! Who introduced it to you? For what occasion(s) do you make it?

I’m disgustingly sick and feeling like a truck ran over me, so I’m in the mood for a good story! Humor me, okay?

*Seven Quick Takes Friday is hosted at Conversion Diary.

I know some people get sick of it all and their eyes start to glaze over, but, to be honest, I love it. I love hearing the proposal stories and the wedding plans, flipping through bridal magazines while I’m in line at the bookstore, looking at the bazillion photos from the rehearsal, wedding, and reception, seeing The Ring and The Dress, and reading the engagement announcements in the paper (okay, actually, I only do that last one when I’m really bored!). It’s exciting and fun and special, especially when I know the couple personally.

(photography by Josh Goleman)

Of course, I know it’s not The Day that is most important over the course of a couple’s entire marital journey and life together. The romantic that I am, it’s actually the lifetime of love and commitment that I love more than the few days or week of celebration. Even so, the festivities are still important and I enjoy seeing how each couple’s Day reflects their own unique personalities and story.

I especially like to see couples who plan creative and memorable weddings but on a tight budget. That’s right, girlfriends. As fun as it may be to watch a bride-to-be shop for a $10,000 dress (“Say Yes to the Dress” anyone?), spend 1000s of dollars more on the cake, and invite 300 guests to the swankiest reception hall in New York City with an open bar to boot, most people, especially in this economy, cannot afford anything even close to that kind of extravagance. Granted, it is hard, but from what I’ve seen, it’s definitely doable — if you are savvy, practical, flexible, committed to your budget, and open to DIY wedding projects.

If that’s you and you’re looking for inspiration, Simply Pretty Wedding is a charming blog (thanks to Maggie for making me aware of it!) written by a young woman planning her wedding on a budget. Careful to avoid the expensive trends of the 21st-century wedding industry, she has some great money-saving ideas about buying The Dress, the cake, the flowers, and pretty much anything else on a bride-to-be’s to-do list.

I particularly liked her creative ideas about choosing bridesmaid dresses that flatter the bridesmaids and don’t break their budgets…

Speaking of Maggie, she wrote a delightful string of wedding-related posts on her blog earlier this month. On the topic of planning a wedding on a budget, she had some great ideas of how friends and family can actually help the bride stick to her budget. A marriage is as much about the community surrounding and supporting the couple as it is about the couple themselves — and the same should be true about the wedding! Everyone has a specific skill or talent they can volunteer to help cut costs and take the burden off the bride-to-be.

Besides reading about weddings, I also find it fun to look at wedding and engagement photos on photography blogs.

Here are two photographers whom I especially want to recommend:

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Joy Harmon Prouty of Wildflowers Photography has a very unique and fun vintage style, which she showcases on both her website and her blog. She recently photographed a wedding inspired by the movie Up! I’m serious, but you have to see it to believe it. After reading that post, I probably spent a couple hours just paging through her photos.

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My mom, Karen Forsythe of karen forsythe photography, whom I’ve featured before on my blog, loves to photograph couples and weddings in such a way as to reflect each couple’s unique story and to capture all the special moments of their wedding day — the first day of the rest of their lives! Check out her past work and feel free to contact her to set up an appointment to discuss options for your wedding or engagement in the greater Chicagoland/Northwest Indiana region!

~~~~~

Speaking of memorable weddings: Today, August 15, marks the 1-year anniversary of my dear friend Ashley’s marriage to the love of her life, Scott Schoech. Graduates of Valparaiso University, Ashley and Scott decided to get married in Valpo’s beautiful Chapel of the Resurrection (where they met back in 2005!).

(photography by karen forsythe photography)

It was a hot and humid day in August and the blue bridesmaid dresses, while lovely, were not well ventilated! But we survived and the day turned out to be absolutely magical from beginning to end. Ashley was gorgeous, Scott was handsome and beaming the entire time, the ceremony was so touching (I cried!), the music was breath-taking, the Chapel was lovely, and the sun was shining brightly. By all accounts: an incredible day.

Meg, the lovely bride, me ~ August 15, 2009

(photography by karen forsythe photography)

I suspect that Ashley and Scott wouldn’t say their first year of marriage has been a breeze (marriage is actually pretty hard, so I hear). From the outside looking in, however, it has certainly been solid and stable and strong and Biblical and inspiring and filled with love. I know they will have many wonderful years ahead of them and I am honored to have the opportunity to watch and to be a (small) part of their married life, even from another state.

Happy First Wedding Anniversary, Ashley and Scott! I love you both! May the second year surpass the first in every way!

Mr. & Mrs. Scott Schoech ~ August 15, 2009

(photography by Wish Photography)