London At Night

Amazing photos from Jason Hawkes, a British photographer who has a knack for aerial photography. Check out more here.

A Bountiful Harvest

This is the haul from one day of our very small garden. The plum tomatoes are a bit mushy and tasteless so I've been making quite a bit of salsa. (I use a recipe from Rick Bayless, which you can see here. But the cherry tomatoes are fantastic and taste great right off the vine.

Curb Appeal

Every time someone compliments the gardening around my house, I make sure to point out that I had nothing to do with it -- it was all my husband. I took these pictures while everything was in bloom in case we put the house on the market this winter or spring. What do you think -- not bad for a man who carries a badge and a gun, huh?

Completely Gratuitous Cuteness

Rory turns 5!

Rory and a few of her friends had a blast at Build-A-Bear. I was very pleased and impressed with the party. They took a 5-minute activity and turned it into a full-fledged party for all the kids. They encouraged them to have fun and be as loud as they could. Well done Build-A-Bear!

Irony

The Fisher-Price Learning Pots and Pans gets recalled for being a choking hazard. Whatever happened to quality control? Or well-built toys? The massive recall of toys made in China due to lead paint hazards made me start shopping more often at Learning Express. Well-made toys that last and inspire open-ended play.

1001 Books for Every Mood

I love reference books, which is probably why I used to want to be a librarian. This new tome from Hallie Ephron, a local to Boston writer, culls the massive offerings on the shelves of your library and breaks them down by mood. The Boston Globe listed the books recommended for if you're in the mood for romance (not a Harlequin romance cover to be found on this list -- thankfully):
1. A Cup of Tea by Amy Ephron
2. The Blue Flower by Penelope Fitzgerald
3. Dirty Girls Social Club by Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez
4. The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
5. The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard
6. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
7. Message in a Bottle by Nicholas Sparks
8. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
9. The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch
10. Sentimental Education by Gustave Flaubert
11. Waiting to Exhale by Terry McMillan

Vacation?

I took a week off from work so I could feel like a Mom. Rory had summer camp and instead of making my retired parents/babysitters do all the dropping off and picking up I used vacation time so I could do it. I loved it. I loved having a few hours with just me and Mathieu as well -- we don't get much one-on-one time. I hate that I have to work full-time and it's weighing on me. But we had a great week. We went to Fenway (an ugly 9-2 loss, but the end of the Manny era as well), hit the beach, saw Wall-E (which was really great)and just enjoyed being a family. I ended the week by going to the Counting Crows/Maroon 5 concert with some friends from work. A great show. Adam Duritz puts his whole heart into performing. Add the dreadlocks and the angst-ridden personality and I was mesmerized. Adam Levine of Maroon 5 was slick and well, fun to look at. The music is pop rock, so it was fun, but lacked the emotional pack of the Crows show.