Fact.

FACT: I am a huge nerd.

FACT: I love the ride inside the geosphere at Epcot, Spaceship Earth.

FACT: When I Skype with my family, I feel like this:

via

The Dog Days Are Upon Us

Cloudy again...but rumors of sun tomorrow! Today I am turning in my abstract for the poster session by those of us who are completing their practicum during the summer semester. This means two things:

1. I am one step closer to being a master of public health!

2. The summer is almost over. (BOO!)

Time to break out the old "Summer 2011" Bucket less to assess what has been successfully completed, and what still needs to be done!

Summer 2011 Bucket List

1. Practicum- Check!

2. Visit Arnold Arboretum

3. Visit Freedom Trail- Check!

4. Swim

5. Have a cold one at a brewery tour- Check!

6. Have an epic Fourth of July Celebration in the cradle of independence- Check!

7. Barbecue ribs- Check!

8. Cobbler and pie- Check!

9. Raspberry-Lime Rickey

10. Grill out- Check!

11. Visit Cape Cod

Looks like I've got a bit of summer left ahead of me after all...

Bread of the Week: Harvest Grain

I hope to make this a regular feature, so I'll be more likely to keep up with the bread baking. This first week, I made a whole-wheat harvest grain bread.

I used the recipe for 10-grain bread in Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, but I substituted King Arthur Flour's Harvest Grainsfor the Bob's Red Mill 10-Grain Cereal. I think the Harvest Grains require less water than Bob's mix, but I just made up the difference by adding some extra flour until I got it to a nice consistency.

I just made a small 1 lb loaf, because it's just the two of us. We want to be able to eat it all before it goes stale.

My very favorite thing to do with fresh, crusty, savory breads is to make really gorgeous grilled cheese sandwiches. I think that Baby Swiss in the fridge will do quite nicely!

Brad, watching MST3K after a productive day at work. :o)

Can we just talk, for the 500 billionth time in the blogosphere, about how impeccable the style of the women of Mad Men is? I'm not just talking about their glamorous outfits for going out, I'm mostly fascinated by the outfits and hair styles they wear when they're just"schlepping around" at home. Here are some elements I'm hoping to incorporate into my own wardrobe.

Midge in Season 1, Episode 1

via

Definitely a strong contender for my first day of school this year.

Hermes scarf

via

The obvious reference is the scarf gifted to Peggy by Duck, but several of the ladies make use of this holy grail of fabric squares. Okay, maybe I can't have an Hermes scarf anytime soon...but I can get a very nice silk one somewhere else, and I can wear it in these ways:

via

via

and lastly,

Trudy Campbell's Hair

I'm obsessed with it.

via

via

via

Sunday, It's Raining.

For some reason summer rain does not get me down, the way it does any other time of the year. I guess it's because summer rain usually a pretty heavy downpour for a short amount of time, so it feels very exhilarating and cleansing. I recently saw this post on fitsugar that gives tips for hiking in the rain. I never thought about doing that, but it seems like a fantastic life experience! I definitely added it to my bucket list. It has inspired me to do a little cleansing in my own life, lately.

I'm upping the exercise as I've grown a little belly (not a baby, just a belly) in the past two months. I've been using the "Crunch" workout series. (Available on Netflix watch instantly!) So far, I've done the "Super Slim Down", a yoga Pilates mix; and the "Candlelight Yoga", hosted by my favorite Yogi: Sarah Ivanhoe! Today I'm also changing my diet to include more veggies and less cheese (and less McDonalds.... and less New England ice cream...)

I started baking my own bread again. (This week's recipe is Harvest Grain.) It think it upset me more than I care to admit, that I didn't get the job at a a bakery in my neighborhood. I stopped cooking with passion and fell back on simple recipes that were not very healthy. I haven't written on my cooking blog in ages. I have been reading David Lebowitz's blog though. He is so inspiring! I really hope this is a temporary feeling, but I think the best way out of my little rut is to start blogging regularly again. It keeps me on the look out for inspiring things in my life, and serves as a record of all the inspiration in my life to keep me going on the slower days. I don't advocate living to blog, or blogging to live, in the long run; but for now I think this is what I need.

Also, this:

My first year of school is finished, and I'm pretty happy with the results. I think this blog is going to be seasonal, since I didn't really have that much spare time during the school year to even do anything worth blogging about. Summer has begun I guess, since Brad and I had our first scoop from J.P. Licks of the season tonight Anyway, here are some bits for catching up.

1. It has been insanely rainy/cloudy here this spring. Inspired by Vintage Blog's post on Teddy Girls I wore this yesterday:

2. Jay-Z's blog is amazing.

3. I have been alternating between wanting to get married and wanting to have a baby on a daily basis for the past two weeks. Today is a baby day. This is probably because I haven't had school to distract me for about two weeks.

4. I've been on a smoothie kick for about two weeks. Favorite flavor so far is just frozen mango bits with plain yogurt and a dash of milk to thin it out. I've also been wanting to make Strawberry-Rhubarb pie, lemon curd, jam and hummus.

That's it really. This is a weak post, but this summer seems promising, so hopefully there will be more in the future! :o)