I need a vacation from my vacation

Things I did during my 10 days off....

Joined the gym....it's getting serious, folks. No more messing around.

Took Benny on his very first road trip, very first time out of the state, very first time in a big city and I am happy to report that not only did we all survive, but he did great and I can't wait for us to do it again!!

We went to Sesame Place, spent 2 days in PA, had Chik-fil-a for lunch (god help us all YUM!), and had breakfast with Elmo and friends which was a hit BEYOND.

Kicked it with Cookie Monster...and The Count. Big Bird was not such a huge hit.....oh well. You win some, you lose some....

Took lots of naps.

Got new glasses, finally! Two pairs of 'em even! Love a good deal! Love being able to SEE!

  

Got Botox.

(true story. stay tuned for more on that later.)

Spent 6 freakin' hours almost on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway wanting to punch myself in the face.

Stuffed said fat face with the sandwich my {imaginary} boyfriend declared the BEST in America...

Fell in love with Reading Terminal Market and all the Amish (and otherwise) goodies to be had there...

Drank a lot of wine.

Went on the tri-annual Hamptons day trip with Noreen....indulged in cookies from Levain Bakery which.....there are not words to describe. Indulged some more in a huge bowl of killer guac and warm, salty tortilla chips on the canal in Hampton Bays. Indulged yet again in one of the best lobster rolls I've had to date, despite the lack of top split buttered roll. It was sublime.

Unindulged after a week of gluttony with a dinner of nothing but grilled vegetables and half of a grilled ground turkey patty.

I neglected my google reader.

I neglected my email.

I neglected my real mail....Kelsey and Danielle, I PROMISE I am going to the Post Office today. I promise promise.

I got new lipgloss! Thanks to  Kristen for the recommendation! I have about 864 lipglosses and I don't know how I ever lived without Love Nectar!

Things I did NOT do during my 10 days off:

Blog.

I know. I'd like to say I'm sorry, and part of me really is...especially after roping you all in with the promise of presents, but it felt good to not open my computer....it felt good to not wrack my brain wondering how I could possibly come up with something witty to say, which would more than likely end up not being witty at all due to vacation brain.....

But, I'm back. With a forehead full of botox and fancy new specks. Be afraid.

Love you guys!!!!

a love letter to summer

The middle of August is so bittersweet. It’s still summer, but the end is so near, and while I love fall, and sweaters and pumpkin spice lattes and Halloween and homemade soup and crisp air, I can’t help but stand around with my half empty glass thinking about the dirty piles of grey snow, grey skies, grey skin that belong to January, February and March. .  I feel like summer got jipped this year too, because in June I got my tickets to this, and I have basically been able to think of nothing else for the last 3 months…..I feel resentful about that. I want my summer back….

But when, inevitably, those grey skies come around and I can see every breath that comes out of my mouth, when there’s not a decent vegetable to be found and my Seasonal Affective Disorder is about to eat me alive, I will look back on this summer and remember this face, full of glee and happy chaos, running through the sprinklers, squealing in delight.

I love this boy….every happiness I am blessed enough to share with him fills the gas tank of my soul and gives me a reason to keep on keeping on….without him, it just wouldn’t be worth it.

And he loves summer. Just like his mama….

Another reason that summer is the shizz is that it’s my birthday on Monday and guess who is getting the present??? You are!!! Make sure you come back and see what girly goodies I have in store for you! I, for one, am super excited about it!

it's friday, bishes!

Thank The Baby Jesus!

Time again for another rendition of the funnest link up around.

Yes, I said “funnest”

Dear Justin Bieber,

Damn you and your catchy little “Boyfriend” ditty….I’m hooked. I am mortified about it, but I’ve got The Fever….thanks a lot ya little punk.

Dear Uncle Guiseppes Market,

Live lobsters for $4.99/lb this week?!?! Yes, please!! Thank you for making all of my lobster roll dreams come true! People? It’s on. Follow me on Instagram for the play by play. @rach_loveyoumore.

Here is the recipe I'll be using...if you're smart, you'll join me :)

Dear Amazon,

Thanks for having the shoes I have been stalking on Zappos for $25 less!! I feel like I hit the jackpot! Sorry, Zappos….ya snooze, ya lose…do you still love me?

Dear fireflies,

Please stick around for a long time this year. I feel like we haven’t spent enough time together and truth be told, you are my favorite part of summer. Ok, it’s a tie between floating, lobster rolls & you, but you get the idea…

Dear Weight Watchers,

It’s me, not you. I know I am a big, fat failure lately. I take the blame. I know what I’m doing wrong and yet, I continue to do it….what is my problem? If only you sold motivation in those outrageously expensive little snack packs that line your walls, I’d be all set. Sigh.

Have a great weekend, y’all! (y’all?) and go read this. first of all, she is absolutely hilarious and b) it pretty much exactly sums up all of my confusion regard my favorite holiday falling on a Wednesday this year…talk about a buzz kill…wah wah wah…..

because i keeps my promises...

Here is the recipe for the strawberry pie we talked about last week…lots and lots of you seemed to want to get your grubby little paws on this recipe and so, ask and ye shall receive is what I always say…

Actually, I don’t ever say that…

And truth be told, I’m pretty lazy, so most times, if you ask, I’ll tell you to go get it yourself and bring me one too while you’re up….

But all that aside, kids, this recipe is the bomb.com! I wish I could take credit for inventing it, but in fact it is straight out of an old issue of gourmet magazine…and thank god I saw it and was all “ZOMG!%#^&^ GET IN MY FACE” or else we never would have known….never know of the magic that this pie could conjure…seriously. You think I am exaggerating again, but I speak nothing but truths.

So here’s the scoop…this pie takes more time to make than it seems like it will but most of the time is inactive time…you’ve got to do a minor amount of babysitting and “stirring occasionally” but other than that, it’s a cinch and believe you me, you are going to have stalkers lined up for the rest of your summers begging for this thing, so be prepared, ok?

Ready? GO!

FRESH STRAWBERRY PIE WITH WHIPPED CREAM
FOR CRUST
• 1 (5-oz) package shortbread cookies (I use a little less than half a package of the keebler sandies, and that’s more than 5oz, but I like a little extra crust)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

FOR FILLING
• 2 lb (1 1/2-inch) strawberries, hulled (see cooks’ note, below)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 envelope unflavored gelatin (2 1/4 tsp)

ACCOMPANIMENT
lightly sweetened whipped cream

MAKE CRUST
• Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.
• Pulse cookies in a food processor to fine crumbs, then pulse in sugar and butter until combined. Press crumb mixture evenly onto bottom and up side of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.

PREPARE FILLING AND ASSEMBLE PIE:
• Select 20 large strawberries as close to same size as possible and set aside. Cut remaining berries into 1/4-inch dice and toss with sugar and lemon juice. Let stand, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes. Drain berries in a sieve set into a large glass measuring cup. Add enough water to measure 2 cups. Transfer liquid to a medium saucepan and reserve berries.
• Sprinkle gelatin over strawberry liquid and let soften 1 minute. Bring to a bare simmer, stirring until gelatin has dissolved. Add diced berries, then transfer to a metal bowl set into an ice bath and stir frequently until mixture begins to mound, 20 to 30 minutes. (this is a lie. It always takes mine at least an hour to start to mound.)
• Spoon 1/2 cup filling into piecrust and arrange reserved whole berries, stem ends down, on filling. Spoon remaining filling over and between berries. Chill pie until filling is set, at least 4 hours.

strawberry fields forever

We spent the sunny half of our sleepy Sunday on the North Fork, hunting for strawberries in a vast patch. We gobbled them up, right off the vine, still warm from the sun. We piled them high in a cardboard box, paid a lady in a booth and drove off with more berries than I will ever find a way to use…..

There will be strawberry pie….strawberry and spinach salad with goat cheese and pecans,….strawberry vinaigrette…..strawberry salsa….strawberry muffins....

But most of all, there will be beautiful memories. Ben was a riot out there, and my heart is full.

Lotsa stuff in my brain today

….I’m feeling very mood swingy….like I was ok this morning when I woke up… the deciding factor on how good a start to the day it will be directly correlates to how well Ben sleeps the night before and praise the infant Jesus, last night he actually slept, well, like a baby….and that child never sleeps like a baby. Usually, a pin dropping in China will wake him up.

Anyway, so I should be skipping right? Round off back handsprings through the Dunkin’ Donuts parking lot? But then, I started feeling blue….no impetus, just blue. The PMS kind of blue, where there is no rhyme or reason, you just feel the tears welling up? I hate that. The weather outside is gorgeous, I am wearing a hot pink top, my breakfast was delicious, my kid slept awesome… WHAT IS YOUR DAMAGE, HEATHER?

I need to snap out of this…..

Here’s a weird thought that just came to me…..maybe, ironically for sure, the great weather is making me panic….it sounds crazy, but stay with me…I never felt this way when I was living in California or Arizona, but here, I feel like there are really only about 5 worthwhile months of the year…the rest is just a waste of time (bad attitude, I know. I am working on it) so now that we’ve had this crazy warm spring and summer is knocking on the door, I feel so much pressure to DO! ALL! THE! THINGS!!!

Float every day….get a great tan….make sure Ben has enough sunscreen on…eat as many lobsters as possible…go to carnivals….take tons of pictures…go strawberry picking...make strawberry pie….make sure my tomatoes grow awesome and I don’t murder my cilantro like last year (sad)…find cute aviator sunglasses that don’t make me look like an asshole….farm stands…levain bakery cookies…festivals…peach cobbler from scratch and perfecting my lobster roll….afternoons at clam bar…evenings with the fireflies and a cup full of Ralph’s Italian ice…

There are just a million things to cram into spring and summer and….I’m staring out my office window and wishing I could start doing them all today!

remember my big winning streak?

anyone? anyone? when i won like 3 totally rad things in the span of like a week? starting with the tickets to see Maroon 5 at Jones Beach??

well, the show was last friday and we had a good old time, es expected!!! unfortch, i was not able to make magic happen for my sweet friend and get her into adam levine's pants, but there's always next year and steadfast determinationis the name of the game. we ARE getting closer, however....our seats were actually better this year than last, big props to walk 97.5 for the freebies!

however, while our seats were closer, we both agreed that last year's show was much better...there was just something missing this year...some energy or something, which was a real shame....BUT it was still a great show. train was awwwwweeeesome, which i never expected. we really enjoyed their set a lot and actually, my camera kicked the bucket about 2 minutes into maroon 5's set anyway, so all the (pretty crappy) concert pics i have are of train so pretty much i am just going with that i had a great time at the train show and next year, those M5 boys have a lot to make up to us....

also, gavin degraw was supposed to open but i guess he had an unfortunate accident earlier this month? i don't get to the news much these days....so that's a bummer for him cuz i really dig that guy, but i really dig matt nathanson even more (and if you ever get the chance to see him live, drop everything in the world and run there because he is another one of my imaginary boyfriends and you will be so entertained you will just want to kiss him and then shotgun some beers with him. he is the definition of bitchin'.) and, as it turns out, ole' matty-boy was the stand in for mr degraw at this show, but as previously touched upon, i never hear about anything till it's too late so we strolled into the theatre from our skinny girl margarita tailgate party just in time to hear him say his 'thank you and goodbye' and i am pretty upset about that still.....

but anyway, here's some pics!!! good times with a good friend. love this girl....

ok wait. i have to break up the collage party here for a second to talk about this kid with the spikey ponytails all over his head. have you ever seen anything more hilarious or ridiculous? we were in love with this guy and him and his buddy were seriously rocking OUT the whole show. they knew every word and were dancing and jumping and screaming...it was too cute! i think i might have watched the two of them almost as much as i watched the actual show. i want this kid in front of me at every concert from now on.

after the show, we got stuck in some horrendous mess on the expressway and poor michele was having a meltdown becasue that crazy girl had not one but TWO weddings the next day. "WEDDINGPALOOZA" she called it, can you even? and not only was she attending both, she was actually a bridesmaid in the first one so she had to be at her girlfriend's house at SIX-THIRTY-IN-THE-(you've got to be kidding me)-MORNING! somehow, we made it home and she survived weddingpalooza '11....next summer, adam levine will be thankful for that when we are flashing him fromt he front row :)

ahahahaha.....just kidding...(not kidding, actually).