Thursday, August 4, 2016

Virtual Coffee Date

Hi, happy almost Friday! It's been awhile since I've done a "Virtual Coffee Date" catch-up session, so here goes!


If we were having coffee today...

- I'd probably start off by apologizing for the hoarse man voice I'm rocking right now thanks to a nasty chest cold I came down with last weekend. This nasty cold forced me to stay home from work yesterday as I just felt so crappy and didn't want to subject my co-workers to the awful sound of me hacking away. Here's hoping the day of rest did it's trick and that I'm back to full health soon - ideally by tomorrow when I leave for my girls' weekend lake cabin getaway!

- I'd tell you how much I am loving gardening. I never expected to like it as much as I do! I also never expected it to be as easy as it's been. Sure, some thing have been a bit disappointing (like my radishes which didn't grow great as I didn't thin them - lesson learned), but all in all it's been so much fun. I got to pick my first batch of tomatoes last weekend. I heart tomatoes so much so am excited to have a steady supply of home grown tomatoes to enjoy over the coming weeks. Phil doesn't eat tomatoes (his loss!) so I think I am going to try canning salsa or tomato sauce as I'll probably have more tomatoes than I can eat on my own. I've never canned anything before but hopefully it's pretty easy to figure out.

I grew an heirloom breed of tomatoes that turns bright pink instead of dark red. They are delicious!

- I'd tell you that I feel blessed to have a full life but also overwhelmed by my busy schedule at times. Free week night evenings are difficult to come by these days and I've been traveling more for work lately so life feels a bit hectic. August is shaping up to be a busy month so I've decided that I can't say yes to anything else this month, outside of work travel.

- I'd tell you that despite the busy schedule, I have some really fun things to look forward to, like my girls weekend getaway this weekend, hosting our friends from New York next weekend, celebrating Phil's birthday later this month, a book club meeting I'm hosting later this month, and a Labor Day Weekend wedding that is at a lake resort in Minnesota.

- I'd also probably tell you that I managed to track down the email addresses of the couple that lives in the house with the door colors I like. I figured it'd be easier to try to ask them what color they used to paint their door versus trying to find a similarly colored paint chip. Plus it just seems like paint chips are never completely accurate and I'd rather not deal with the trial and error process of finding a color we like. They responded back and said they'll send me the paint color when they get back from the vacation they are on. My goal is to get our doors painted in September. I know it won't happen in August given my busy schedule!

- I'd also tell you that I feel kind of 'meh' about the summer Olympics this year. Maybe it's all the drama around the health risks associated with the location that has resulted in some athletes opting not to go or maybe it's knowing that I won't be able to DVR things since we don't have cable or a DVR. Whatever the case, I just don't feel as excited as I was in the past. Hopefully I'll find my Olympic spirit once they start to broadcast events.

- I'd end on a positive note and tell you that Phil and I bought our tickets for our Bend vacation this week! We got really lucky and got a great deal on our tickets! The price randomly went down $150 the day we bought them and we used a free companion fare I get each year through my Delta credit card, so we only had to buy one ticket. We are going in mid-October and will spend 3 nights in Bend and 1 night in Portland. I'm so excited for this getaway! Bend has lots of great hiking in the area and we'll do a day trip to Crater Lake National Park. It should be an awesome trip!

If we were having coffee today, what would you tell me?

13 comments:

Kelly (She Wears a Red Sox Cap) said...

I am so excited for your Bend trip! We thought Oregon was a beautiful state last year and really hope next time we go we can do Bend and Crater Lake, definitely bucket list items for me! I can't wait to see your photos!

I hope August slows down just a little for you.

katielookingforward said...

the bend trip sounds awesome! I went out there a few years ago and loved it, I'm sure you guys will too!

Charbelle said...

I hope you feel better soon!!! I'm SO JEALOUS of your AMAZING looking tomatoes!!!! That's so cool y'all got such a great deal on flights! I completely am with you on the blessed but feeling overwhelmed by the schedule! I'm looking forward to the pics from that wedding, you know how much I love weddings :) That's awesome you tracked down their email address! WOW, when you reflect back on our lives over the past 5 years, it's crazy to thing about how much has changed!!!

Emilie said...

I haven't been into the Olympics either! Usually I am all about them (especially summer because of the running) and I vividly remember 2012 being glued to the TV for two weeks and my mom having a British flag hanging in her living room. Maybe it's because I stopped watching the news or following the news on social media (too depressing) so I'm missing out on any coverage of the games.

We just had a landscaper come rip out a ton of overgrowth in our yard and we're working on cleaning it up so HOPEFULLY next year we can start a garden. We're going into our third winter in the house and have done zero work on the yard until now. I find yard work so overwhelming compared to inside projects.

Marlys said...

Your tomatoes look awesome! I loved making BLT's and tacos when they ripened, so really do miss gardening. If we didn't have so much mowing to do, I would have one again. I wish I lived closer so I could help you can tomatoes - used to put up over 100 jars of tomatoes, juice, salsa & spaghetti sauce back in the day!
I hope you are feeling better soon so you can enjoy your weekend get-away, which sounds like a lot of fun! I am getting together with about 6 of my nursing classmates on Saturday evening so that is always fun!

Nora said...

I vote yes to making your own tomato sauce; it's my favorite thing and I can't handle store bought anymore!

How cool about our trip to Bend, OR this October. I bet it will be positively gorgeous + a free fare? SCORE!

Hope you are feeling better today. I have sounded off the last week thanks to the sinus infection I've been battling. I'm finally on the mend but it took steroids + antibiotics to do the trick. Not my favorite at all but I was tired of feeling icky.

have so much fun on your girls trip this weekend!!!

missris said...

I am in awe of your garden! And honestly, just a tad jealous :) If I were you I'd take those tomatoes, roast them in the oven with some garlic cloves, and then make them into tomato sauce to be used over pasta and in soup all winter. Just thinking about it makes me hungry!

Jolene - EverydayFoodie said...

Those tomatoes look great! They are huge! I would love to have more space for a garden in the back yard. We could do it, but we'd have to change the landscaping that's already been done, and I'm not sure if I want to get into that. As of now, we're just growing stuff in pots.

Sorry to hear you're sick; that's no fun. Hopefully you're all good for this weekend getaway with your friends :-)

I've never heard of Bend before, but that's super fun that you booked a trip. Also, Portland is totally on my list of places to visit.

Stephany said...

This whole Zika virus has put a bit of a damper on the Olympics. Then again, the Winter Olympics were their own CF due to being in Russia, haha. I am excited about them and made sure I didn't make plans tonight so I can watch the Opening Ceremonies. :)

Your trip to Oregon is going to be AWESOME. I'm already looking forward to the pictures. :)

Carolina John said...

Bend is this year? I'm planning on going to Portland in October of 2017 to knock that state off of my list. The Portland Marathon is usually the first weekend in October. that is quite a steal for airfare! Great find.

Glad you're enjoying the garden so much too. It can be a lot of fun, and that's a nice crop of tomatoes. I love making my own salsa with garden ingredients.

Amber said...

You guys are going to have such a great trip to Bend! A hiking vacation sounds amazing right now. If we were having coffee today I would tell you the first day back to work after my week long vacation was really difficult!! Also probably what I'm most excited about is Eric going back on a Monday - Friday shift starting this week. Only having one day off per week together was just not working for us and I really felt like we weren't 'gelling' lately so having the entire weekend off together again will be really great!

Jeanie said...

Congratulations on your garden! Sounds like it's really taking off! Rick's tomatoes are late (darn it -- lots of green ones!) so seeing yours looks extra good to me. I think you can also freeze tomatoes if you don't prep all of them in salsa, sauce, etc. My neighbor does it and says they are really good to stick fresh (thawed) into a sauce. I've never tried it but...

Ditto on the Olympics.

And I'm guessing you have friends in Portland but if you don't, check out Marilyn's PDX blog (I can send you think link -- don't have it memorized).

Linda said...

WOOHOO ANOTHER VACATION WITH PHIL!!

I'd probably tell you how I'd like to gain more traction finding more freelancing work so I can fund the life I want. Basically travel more and invest in my photography.