lost and found. {9, 21, 22, 25.52}

life gets in the way. it’s the cold, hard truth for us all. so, despite my best efforts and intentions to keep my weekly photo project up to date, it simply hasn’t happened. not only am i behind, but i’ve just flat skipped some weeks. so, here are the lost, but not forgotten weeks, 9, 21, 22, and 25:

week 9: this is the complementary mai-tai that was included in the very touristy-yet-very-fun luau we went to during our trip to honolulou in february/march. we went with my parents and had an absolute blast. great memories…

week 21: can you tell they’re cousins? elena came to visit us over memorial day weekend and it was unbelievably fun. we dragged her to bend with us to see the shins concert – in the freezing cold. i’ve known elena since she was 11 and have watched her grow into one of the most beautiful, amazing, inspirational people i know. she’s only 20 and has her whole life ahead of her…it’s so fun to see the world through her eyes. i wish i had been that awesome when i was 20.

week 22: we celebrated our 4th anniversary by taking a day-trip to the willamette valley for a little bit of wine tasting. it was a perfect day in all respects. this is an entirely unedited photo, i’m happy to say. i took this at archery summit, which is now one of my favorite local wineries. they have the coolest underground tasting room and some of the best pinot i’ve ever tasted.

week 25: we had the honor and privilege of being guests at corey and melanie’s wedding. they are an absolutely stunning couple and you can just tell that they were made for each other. weddings rock. taking low-light photos with an iphone does not rock.

girl crush. {26.52}

adam teases me that i have a couple of serious “girl crushes”. “girl crush” translates to admiration (with a touch of envy) for women who i think are totally awesome.  heidi swanson is one of those women. i am obsessed with her food and photography and am continually inspired by her work. i visit and follow her blog religiously, cook nearly one “heidi-inspired” recipe a week, follow her on flickr, and was starstruck when i met her at her book signing in portland last year. you get the idea.

heidi recently started this cool little pop-up shop called quitokeeto. despite having no idea what the name meant (i still don’t), as soon as i heard about it, i knew it was going to be fabulous. imo, heidi has impeccable taste when it comes to food and art. her choices for the first collection of her shop did not disappoint – they were varied, interesting, artistic, and just lovely. i wanted to buy everything. but in an impressive showing of restraint, i opted for just one thing: a set of petite picardie glasses. they are small, simple, and perfect for a pour of house wine or a bit of juice. love.

you can tell just how much thought and artistry went into quitokeeto, and how every detail was considered and selected with care – from the wonderful box design down to the handwritten thank-you note on the receipt, taped to the inside of the box. my girl crush is completely well-founded, thank you very much.

berry bliss. {24.52}

hi there. i’ve been told it’s officially summer. i’ll believe it when i see it. despite the fact that portland’s weather doesn’t reflect summer until after the 4th of july, there are still hopeful signs of summer every where we look. berry season around here is particularly exciting. i would really like to know exactly how many pounds of berries adam and i are able to scarf down in the few fleeting months that berries are in season. or maybe i don’t.  i’m sure it’s an obscenely large amount. while we are perfectly happy to eat the lovely strawberries from the farmers market just as is, i came across this wonderful spiced strawberry sauce recipe and just had to try it for the father’s day brunch i cooked for one of the best chefs i know, my dad. my dad is a former professional chef, so cooking for him is every so slightly intimidating. (though he is never critical, thankfully). he appeared to think the sauce was tasty, so i’m calling the recipe a keeper.  i served it with these biscuits, but i think it would be amazing in and on any number of things from granola to oatmeal to toast, to….well, straight out of the jar, which is how i managed to polish it off.

a word on the recipe:  i didn’t have star anise or a vanilla bean, so i subbed with a bit of nutmeg and vanilla extract and it worked just fine.