sneak peek

oh hi. it's me. i'm still around. just a little preoccupied...work, studying for a registration exam, losing power for the majority is a day, out-of-town wedding, sewing a dress for a charity fashion show...you know, the usual :) so until i can write a real post, here is a low quality shot of the dresser in its current state. don't judge (even though we all know that's what i would do).

guests & projects

so my mom and sister just left. which makes me very sad. after the wedding in houston last weekend, they came out to see the house, visit, and work on projects at the house. my sister is pregnant, so we didn't do anything too crazy : ) i miss them already!

my mom is a landscape designer. which means she drew up plans for our gardens! i have big dreams of a bountiful kitchen garden and robust cutting garden, and she helped me figure out what to put where. our front yard will be a wonderful oasis of lush flowers that bloom throughout the year against an evergreen backdrop. and she recommended we add a bit of physical structure to help provide focus and framework to the cottage garden look i'm after. she also suggested a kitchen garden in the front! shhh - don't tell phil. he's not too sure about edibles in the front, but her plan will be beautiful, if i can execute it correctly : ) she confirmed our suspicions about the tree in the tiny "backyard," too... it's dying. we'll have to figure out if the city or utility company will help cover the cost of removing it. but then we'll have another parking space! she suggested a structure on the back patio to provide shade and privacy, and then a vertical garden for more edibles. and an evergreen rosemary as a green wall between us and the next-door neighbor. smart lady!

we cooked at the house for most of our meals. sarah is pregnant, which means restricted diet - and cravings. and my mom follows a FODMAP diet. which is very restrictive. no garlic and onions! that makes it difficult to eat at restaurants without special ordering like crazy. plus, i had dairy delivery on tuesday and farm share on wednesday, so we had plenty of options for cooking fresh, seasonal food.

my favorite meal was a roasted chicken. i ordered a whole roasting chicken from south mountain, so it was delivered to the house on tuesday. it was already cleaned (hooray!!), with a bag of innards in the cavity. i followed the recipe from my favorite martha book, with butter and rosemary under the skin.

we used some olive oil, salt and pepper, and roasted the livers in the same pan. we put potatoes and a couple of garlic cloves around it. my mom can't eat the garlic, but still likes the flavor, so we left it in big pieces so we could pick it out after. i also chopped chives all over it. it roasted at 450 for about an hour... 

and came out gorgeous and crispy! the potatoes weren't as crispy as i like them, but they still tasted good. we ate it with steamed green beans from the farm share, because that is something sarah craves. weird. but healthy! she is trying to eat as many different foods as possible to expose baby's palette to lots of healthy foods. the best part of roasting a chicken is having leftover roasted chicken : )

like for nachos at lunch the next day. mmmmmmmmm. we finished a few projects... cleaning up and organizing the back room into a study and work room, putting together the dining room, making blackout roman shades for the den's french doors, and putting the final coat of poly on the dresser. those posts are coming, but i'm up to my eyeballs studying for an architectural registration exam, so i'll have to write them on procrastination breaks. 

i have loved spending an entire week with my mom and sister : ) and next time i see them, i'll have a new nephew! 

g.t.t.

if you took texas history in seventh grade, you probably get my reference. gone to texas. this weekend is my cousin's wedding in houston. and he's marrying a gorgeous indian girl and they are having a multi-day indian wedding :) it's so exciting! they are both so sweet and excited to be married. and i'm just happy to spend time with my family. and eat samosas. tonight we had henna done - mehndi - and it is beautiful! my nana even had a little on her hand. don't worry, she's not upset in this photo... one of priya's aunts is telling a funny story and nana is cracking up. not only is her family gorgeous, but they are extremely kind. looking forward to a fantastic weekend!! congrats, brent & priya!