weekend recap, july 22 edition

1. Museli bar from my favorite bread lady | 2. Post sleepover snuggle | 3. Birthday cake | 4. Found treasure | 5. Treasured time | 6. Local wildlife at low tide | 7. Unexpected delight | 8. Cheater pasta salad (recipe this week) | 9. Treasure from dear friends | 10. The cocktail (still) to be named later | 11. Cooking for the week | 12. Little Violet | 13. Busy day | 14. Refreshing water | 15. Sunday dinner

Poor Neel worked all weekend. How sad is that? Picture his saddest face. He's in the middle of reviewing grants for the NIH and has a Tuesday deadline, so Saturday and Sunday felt like normal weekdays around here. 

Un-fun. 

Cal and I managed to rally.  

Cake and pool and homemade lemonade and salads and doggie walks and birds' nests and steamed clams. We managed well enough without Neel, I suppose.

I spent good part of Saturday sitting around the pool talking about blogging. Why I do it. What it means to me. What I think is important about it (I should have all my blogging classes around the pool!). It's a subject that's dear to my heart, and I never tire of chatting with people about it. If you were sitting around the pool talking about blogging, what would you say?

After that, I spent most of Sunday watching a creativeLIVE Food Photography Workshop taught by Andrew Scrivani who is a food photographer for the New York Times. Have you ever done anything with creativeLive? Their workshops are amazing. You can stream them for free when they are live (which is what I did) or you can purchase them after the fact. I've seen a few (all photography related, but they do other stuff too) and they're phenomenal. It was a three day workshop and I only caught the third day, and I was inspired. Read: I need to get my butt in gear. (Seriously there was so much information in that third day alone, I think if I'd done all three I'd be on total sensory overload. Instead of writing this blog post, you'd find me in a puddle of mush.)

All the while, in the background was the final stage of Le Tour de France, coming into Paris at twilight for the first time ever (to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the tour). Such stunning images of that pretty city. You know, those guys started biking in that race the day we got to Paris. Good Lord. No wonder they dope. And then, this morning as I type this,  all eyes on London! It's great fun to see the two cities we were just in and the places we so recently walked so much in the news.

It's time for a new week. Still hot. Still some work, still class. Still some fun. And I finish this post thinking about blogging and photography and wondering, what's next? 

five things, july 19

Market Day, Paris 2013

1. I think I'm still feeling overwhelmed. We're all finally healthy again (although Cal was at a sleepover last night, so I have a sneaking suspicion that his sleep bank may need another deposit), but the catch up is nearly killing me. I've moved my office which has made me a lot more productive, and STILL. The laundry piles, the ironing piles, the dishes...oh, just everything. So. I'm thinking we'll go to the beach this weekend.

2. I think my parents are a hot mess this week. My dad dropped a TV on his foot and now has what's called a "crush injury," and my mom's spare tire was slashed. I think this means they need some time away at the beach, yes?

3. I think I heard a fascinating speaker on Wednesday evening. An assistant commonwealth's attorney who spoke about the recent Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act. I was fascinated, and I hung on his every word. Makes me wonder if I should have gone to law school. Too late for that, but that's okay. Maybe I'll just join Cal when he hangs out with our judge friend next week. Sorry, Cal!

4. I think we have a lot left of summer and a lot yet to do. Baseball games, beach days, bike rides. Now that I'm feeling better, I want to soak up every single minute. What should we do first? What's been your favorite thing so far this summer? What are you still looking forward to doing? What do you want to do this weekend?

5. I think this was one of the most moving stories I've seen in a long, long time. Surely you've seen the photograph that made John and his dog Schoep famous? When the picture was taken last summer, Schoep was 19 years old, and to ease the pain in his arthritic joints, John would carry his dog into Lake Superior and rock him to sleep. Every night. The photo went viral (I love the internet.), and proceeds from the sale of the photo as well as donations went to pay for vet bills for the aging Schoep. More than $25,000. Just a few weeks ago Schoep turned 20 and this week Schoep died.

Here's the link to his facebook page; send them some love, would you. We surely love our dogs.