the giraffe life

So, we're home from all our travels this month. Dottie is so excited that she's helping us unpack: The garden really took off (or maybe it's more noticeable since I haven't seen it for a week). I was eager to get the weeds under control and a weird one caught my eye in the middle of the Sweet William. Look what I found when I pulled it up: A potato! (And yeah, I have pink alien hands.) I planted potatoes last spring but nothing ever grew, so I dug them all up last fall - or at least I thought I got them all. It's our first "harvest" of the 2013 garden, and I am pumped! Maybe I should just leave potatoes in the ground every year . .  I'm off to get caught up on cleaning and laundry (wheee!), but I hope you have a fabulous weekend! :)

Spotted in a Daytona Beach Arcade . . going for only 30,000 tickets . linking up here

One of my most endearing qualities is that I wake up hungry every morning. (On the rare occasions that I don't, my stomach changes its mind after about 2 minutes.) That's part of the reason  I eat cold cereal every day .  So a breakfast I can make during daylight hours and refrigerate/freeze until the morning? Very appealing. :) The beauty of these burritos is that you can add anything you want - this particular one was for my husband, so it has cheddar cheese, egg, and sausage. If I'm making it for myself, I use tomato sauce, egg, mozzarella cheese, and spinach, or egg, Spanish rice, corn, and salsa.  Breakfast Burritos • 2 tortillas •  2 eggs (I suggest scrambling or frying them) • 1/2 cup shredded cheese • any toppings (like ham, peppers, onions, corn, salsa, hot sauce) Instructions Prep the eggs and shred the cheese. Layer egg and cheese on each tortilla. Add toppings if desired. Wrap tortilla and store in freezer-safe container. When yo...

We traveled for a wedding last week in Johnson City, New York. The trip started with stormy weather like this (eek!): And then turned into this during the drive: A little creepy, right? Thankfully the weather improved after that!  We enjoyed lunch at Ground Round - a new restaurant for us - broccoli and cheese soup with salad for me, and chicken fingers with coleslaw for hubby. I googled it later and found out it's a chain, mostly found in the Midwest and eastern parts of the US.  That night was the rehearsal dinner, which meant more yummy food (cupcakes!) and good company. The wedding was held at a hotel, which boasted hiking trails connected to a nearby nature preserve. So the next day we drove over early to check out the trails. I was super excited to see the waterfall. Here's the view from the front of the hotel: I'll be the first to tell you that I'm not the best map reader. But even with both of us consulting the trail map, we s...

I recently discovered that Whole Foods recycles number 5 plastic containers, so we're saving up. It's not perfect (I can't bring myself to make homemade yogurt) but this is better than throwing away all those cups!

My husband and I are celebrating our anniversary in Daytona Beach this year (yay!) and we're flying there. In an effort to keep our costs down, we're only bringing carry-on luggage - but that can be a challenge for a week-long trip. Here's a few ideas to help you save some space if you're hoping to do the same. Wear something twice : I can get away with wearing the same bottoms for several days without needing to wash them. Pick something that matches all your tops, like a pair of jeans or a black skirt. Skip pajamas : Sleep naked, sleep in your underwear, wear the same pajamas the whole week of vacation, whatever. There's a lot of flexibility here and you'll save a decent amount of space.  Wear your bulky items : You might need something like a winter coat or hiking boots for your trip. If you don't have room for them in your bag, consider wearing them. Fill your shoes : When I pack sneakers or closed-toe shoes, I fill them with socks to make the ...

I remember being handed homework on the last day of 8th grade (and thinking my teacher must be crazy if she thought we would be coming back to school the following day to turn it in). But this wasn't regular homework, this was summer reading . Ugh. I've always loved to read, but what drove me bonkers about reading for school was the teacher choosing the books. I was always biased against them right from the start because I didn't want to be told what to read. Thankfully, no one is telling me what books to read now so I'm enjoying my summer reading ;) Dead End in Norvelt : Really enjoyed this one! Jessica wrote about planning to read it this summer and I took the idea from her. :) It's about Jack's summer - he's grounded after accidentally firing his dad's gun and mowing down the corn his mother is growing for the needy. The only time he can leave the house is when Ms. Volker needs a scribe for her obituary column, and there are quite a few old ladi...