on the road again.

My very special mechanic returned my Jeep this past weekend. I was SO excited - that I treated myself to the DRIVE-THRU this morning. Our coffeepot is broke, but I was more interested in testing out my NEW driver side window!

It works like a charm! (it's the simple things that make me happy) I'm certain the drive-thru and toll booth people will stop giving me ODD looks now that I can use my window.

I was super-surprised at how it totally was NOT an inconvenience to be without my wheels for 3 weeks. I happily rode a bike and took the bus to/fro work with no problemos. Although I never got to ride the diesel bus or the cheeseburger wrapped bus, I know I will still take public transportation every now and again to save on gas. It's a nice perk to living in the city!

harvest.

We've been eating banana peppers for awhile now, but our green peppers and tomato plants are bursting with veggies to be picked. Yea for fresh veggies!!

new shelter.

I've been taking a different route biking to work than where the bus takes me. Traveling down University Ave - I noticed that there are new, fun looking bus shelters going up. I tried to take a picture last week, but it came out rather blurry as I sped by.

Googling it - I saw they have been planning these new bus shelters for some time now, and that there are 3 new shelters in total. I've seen the one near the MAG and Gleason Works, but not the third. Hmmmm. I found the design prototype for it online, and it looks pretty FUN (below) - who wouldn't want to stand under an umbrella in the rain?!

Guess we'll get to check them out in detail at this year's ARTWalk Alive in September!

teaforte.

When we were in DC, I had a cup of Teaforte's tea for the first time. It was oh-so-good! The silk pyramid packaging made me literally SQUEAL with delight when opening it up. It was served up on it's own itty-bitty ceramic dish which I now want several of for that impromptu tea party that could arise at home.

On Saturday, I indulged in a massage at the Del Monte Spa. (a gift from my loving fiance). Getting ready, I noticed the that they had LOTS of Teaforte tea's out for us to relax with. I tried Chamomile Tisane before my treatment and then after I relaxed some more in the sanctuary sipping Oasis. Googling for the tea, I found that it was on Oprah's O List back in 2004 (where have I been?!) Now I just have to find out where to buy Teaforte tea around Rochester. Hmmm....

fruitabu.

so there I was, on my front porch reading a FREE copy of kiwi magazine I was given - when a mysterious, envelope stuck inside caught my attention. this wasn't the usual irritating postcard insert thats ALL magazine publishers include to drive us bananas - but a thicker package that BEGGED me to open it.

meet fruitabu. a whole new way to eat fruit, all smoooshed up and tasty. think like an organic, healthy fruit roll-up that is naturally sweet. the advertisement collateral blew me away. there were FUN stickers (that have adorned every piece of snail mail I've sent in the last few weeks), iron-on transfers to make t-shirts, a bumper sticker and magnets. their tagline and little creatures are the cutest and who can't like the word SMOOOSHED?

McAllister brought home some organic smoooshed fruit flats to try, and the strawberry is very SWEET and yummy. i've officially joined the fruitolution.

color visualizer.

I'm excited about how many comments I got to our painting dilemma! Back in October, I used Sherwin William's Color Visualizer tool to help lay out color schemes we painted our kitchen walls and cabinets. I'm a visual person, and while doing it online isn't perfect, it does give me ideas of colors before walking into the paint store. (i will check ur recommended book Mom - I promise)

So above are two of the colors I am considering. 'Blonde' (warm light brown) and 'Haven' (green). Using the Color Visualizer, I included them on separate walls for all to compare! And yes, we will be keeping the orangey-mixture atleast for now in the living room.

pick a color.

Boy is it TOUGH priming over red paint. We are currently priming our dining room and the first coat turned it a shade of pink. It was the same shade as my childhood dog was when he got sprayed by a SKUNK and we bathed him in tomato soup. White dog + can of tomato soup = PINK dog for weeks. Even with two coats of primer, I swear I still see traces of PINK showing through.

So my newest problem is deciding what color to paint. Our kitchen is a buttery gold/yellow and our living room is an orangey mixture. I do love how 'light' the room is primed white, so my brain tells me to stay neutral - but my GUT says that is boring and really wants a nice green shade to accent the trim.

I'm testing out blogger's new 'survey poll' feature - so you can share your opinion and VOTE to the left.

picket fence flag.

I've been DREAMING about picket fence projects ever since we scored all the fence scraps from our neighbors. Keeping the picket momentum going, and since it's July, and considering our patriotic vacation in DC - I'll let you connect the rest of the dots. So here it is, our latest picket project - a Picket Fence American Flag!

I researched the dimensions of the American Flag because there is a science to it's size, but decided to wing it a bit when the pickets wouldn't cooperate at their full width. I'm very excited about this one, McAllister hung it from our pergola in the backyard and I think it looks FAB!

Who knows, since our picket fence planter boxes were such a hit at the Dirty Birdies sale, these may be up for sale too!

just stuff it.

Some of the banana pepper plants in our garden are in HARVEST mode. We usually cut them up to throw them on sandwiches and homeade pizzas. But these plants are producing a TON of them which kept me thinking, what in the heck are we going to do with all these banana peppers?!

Meet BOB. We don't know who he is, but he has a tasty recipe for stuffed banana peppers that McAllister found online. He stuffed all sorts of GOODNESS in them, like italian sausage, onions, breadcrumbs, basil and oregano from our herb garden and then topped with Bob's tomato sauce.

They were very YUMMY and reminded me of my mom's homeade galumpkis. (which I never knew how to spell until now). They also taste just as good cold as lunch leftovers.

Now I'm on a mission to find things to STUFF in our peppers. I'm drooling over the idea of a three cheese stuffed banana pepper, kinda like stuffed shells or manicotti sans the pasta. MMmm... cheese.

sky-divin.

alright, so this is my crazy friend allison. today she jumped out of a plane (no I was not with her to take the pic, i was on the ground happily eating hummus).

she told me I could have all her scrapbooking supplies if she didn't make it to the ground on two feet. (she really is a great friend) but she made it without splattering. it's better this way, i know her crafty-crazed roomate would have put up a fight.

i chuckled at the funny looking hat they made her wear, it must be an aerodynamic model.

happenin' hummus.

Today I was cravin a snacky-snack so McAllister whipped us some homeade HUMMUS. He made two kinds - roasted garlic and roasted red pepper. Roasted garlic is up there on my list of BEST smells ever. I wish I could upload the scent so everyone could hit play and experience the intense flavor that permeated our home.

call for corks.

The newest craft to keep me busy is making a wine cork wreath. I started it EONS ago, but it gathered dust in my basement until I saw a completed one at my cousin's house in Alexandria. His looked so great, it kicked me in gear to finish mine. I'm just about half-way done, (much farther along than this pic) - but I'll hit a road block soon b/c I NEED MORE CORKS. I'm very grateful for all the donations I've received (I'm not a huge lush!) but please keep 'em coming!!

Delivery appreciated but not required ;-)

tomato stalks.

Even though the rain is keeping me on the bus and off the bike - it is doing WONDERS for our garden. Our tomato plants are HUGE (that is Mc behind them) and the fruit is finally starting to turn RED.

riding the bus.

Today I woke up to RAIN which meant no bike riding to work. My only backup plan was catching the bus for the first time EVER.

I have to admit - I was pleasantly surprised! It was quicker than expected, clean and full of NORMAL people like me just trying to get from point A to point B. I've now purged all bus-riding stereotypes.

There are no non-stop buses to my job, so if I keep this up, I'll have to get an all day pass. With a bus transfer and paying 'per' leg, riding to/from work would be more expensive than GAS (if I had my Jeep) ;-)

bowl full of cherries.

The cherry invasion has hit our house. We have several BASKETS from McAllister's parents' cherry orchard and they are tasty. I'm eating CHERRIES for breakfast, snacks and dessert....

new ride.

Check out my new wheels! That's right, I downsized from 4 to 2 for the next couple weeks. In order to save LOTS of money, my jeep is over in Canada getting some love from my special mechanic! (future father-in-law)

My friend Betsy was nice enough to lend me her bike. It's been about 10 years since I rode a bike, but after day two - I have some tips for anyone using the main drags to get to work like me.

• Cut through neighborhoods and take side roads as much as possible
• WATCH out for cars zooming out of their long driveways, cause they don't watch out for you.
  
• Wear a helmet. (even if it's purple)
• Be on sprinkler ALERT. When you are biking 30 minutes with a 20 lb backpack - you need a refreshing shower every now and again.
• Bring deodorant to work.
  

Even though my new wheels aren't as nice as Emily's - I am doing my part as a GREEN citizen by biking. On rainy days, I will try out the new hybrid bus from the Rochester Transportation System. I read that the diesel bus is quieter and more fuel efficient.

cornhill.

Today I went to the Corn Hill Arts Festival with some friends. Corn Hill is a historic neighborhood in Rochester which has some of the best architecture in it's old residential homes. The Arts festival was actually started back in the late 60s as a means for the Corn Hill residents to preserve the architecture of the neighborhood by raising money bringing public awareness to the area. It now draws over 200,000 people each year. It's my fave festival of all, well above Clothesline and Park Ave.

Coming off my patriotic vacation, I got Lucy a new American flag collar. I also came home with some cute glass mushrooms to adorn my garden. Those were my only purchases other than food, of course!

welcome home lucy.

Today we welcomed home Lucy. Lazy Lucy has been sleeping under the cherry trees at her grandparents house the last two weeks playing with her cousins.

We've missed her LOTS the last two weeks, the house just isn't the same without her. We immediately went to her fave place Ellison Park so she could go for a swim and see all her friends.

travel pains.

One way to subside travel pains is getting a fun, CHEERY to-go mug from Starbucks that will keep one very caffeinated during delays. and more delays. Cheers to making it back to Rochester.

missing lucy.

We dropped Lucy off for her Canadian vacation almost two weeks ago and we're missing her BIG time. When we were in Alexandria, I went to Fetch - a dog and cat bakery. It was hard for me to resist carting the fun, FESTIVE doggie treats all the way back to the Roch.