the week in brief + friday fun links

Crab Cove, Alameda

The week in brief:

Djuna is walking (if 6 steps count... I think that's walking). Stella, out of the blue, started drawing stick figures (heads with eyes, a nose, and mouth, arms, and legs) yesterday. Jordan is flying home today from a 5-day business trip (hurray!). Me and my friend Shayna are always in sync. My Dad finishes up his second AIDS ride in LA tomorrow (again, hurray!). It's going to be a good weekend.

A few fun links...

On happiness

The arugula in my garden is providing us with salad greens every day of the week. I'm adding Ashley's Easy Squash Salad for Summer to the menu for next week.

Chef's Night Out with State Bird Provisions

Is Your Free Time "Contaminated"?

One of my fave Instagram feeds

Nonsense Names: The Rise of Restaurant Gibberish

Why We Laugh: The fascinating science behind your giggle fits

pizza friday + links

Elise Joy's The Best is Yet to Come

It's Friday which means it is homemade pizza night at our house; the pizza dough is rising as I write this. Stella loves "Pizza Friday" as she gets to help assemble the pizzas, meaning she usually eats more pieces of cheese and olives than actually make it on her pizza. Tonight I'm making a pizza bianco (without the Parmesan) for myself with prosciutto, and arugula from our garden. Yum.

Happy weekend, lovelies.

North Korea is really dark.

Is Work Your Happy Place?

Freeing the Gluten-Free.

Cute swimsuit.

Proper sushi etiquette.

New Tana French on the horizon.

Rhubarb.

Orange is the New Black. Season 2. June 6th.

Speed for Sarah.

still pregnant + first tomatoes

At just one week away from my due date, I'm a cringing at the prospect of being pregnant another week, or (please no!) two. I am so top-heavy and unused to the way my body has to move in this state that I tripped last night and skinned my knee and palm of my hand. I'm fine, if a little banged up. And I know that even though I can't see my feet I do need to watch where I am going.

In other news, my tomatoes finally started turning red! I harvested my first batch this weekend. They are delicious, especially when eaten soon after being picked and still warm from the sun. I hope you had a lovely weekend!

how our garden grows

Our vegetable garden is growing, growing, growing. This past weekend I added a few cucumber and zucchini plants to the plot. So far the kale, chard, lettuce, and herbs (basil, parsley, oregano, mint) have given us the most to work with. But heads of cauliflower are emerging amidst big green leaves, a few barely red strawberries are making an appearance, and our tomato plants are taller than Stella now and green little tomatoes can be found in the mass of leaves. Most afternoons we head outside and to water, harvest greens for salad and whatever else I'm making for dinner (and raw kale is a nice addition to our morning breakfast smoothies), and pick a few peas to munch on while enjoying the sunshine...