Summertime!

I don't know how it happens, but somehow - even though I'm working less, summer always ends up so busy! So here's the scoop on what I've been up to in short in the past few months, largely in pictures ;)


-In April, we took a weekend hiking / cabin trip with some friends down to Hocking Hills. Beautiful weather that weekend and we always enjoy hiking in that area.  On our way back we hit up a little winery for some tasting :)

We also went to my dear friends' wedding n Virginia that month. SO happy for the couple and SO good to see my friends in that area! We had a great time :)

In early May I went to Pittsburgh to run the 5k and the Half Marathon (the "Steel Challenge"!)  I spent a lot of time with some awesome friends from around the country and ran the half with a very good local friend/running buddy! I'm still so proud of her for finishing the half and hopefully we can do another one together in the future :)

May also brought a trifecta of insanity: The end of the semester, moving, and planning a surprise party/surprise scrapbook for my in-law's 40th wedding anniversary! Everything went really well (and the party was particularly awesome, and they were indeed surprised!), but it was a lot of work. We're still not done with the unpacking part of the move (fortunately, we only moved upstairs in our duplex, so for anyone wondering why you don't have a new address for us - that's because it's still the same!)

This is the chaos of my car at the end of the semester...  The joys of teaching in 4 different locations!

Paperwork, potlucks, and presents from students :)

Conway is still not sure how he feels about these stairs....

In June I was off of my regular job, but I taught a 4 week seminar for a super awesome program that  does professor-let literature seminars at different work sites across the country.  The program is based in Cleveland and I feel very lucky to be a part of it! My group that I've now worked with twice is small, but mighty and they were already talking about what book they want to read next time I work with them :)    June also featured a visit from my parents and it was really great to see them! And, finally, J and I went to our church's big national conference in June.  I spent most of my time volunteering on the green team (helping educate about recycling and compost practices at the conference, and making sure everything is in the proper place) and attending workshops about interfaith partnerships and immigration issues.  I wish I could remember some of the more profound things I learned there, but I suppose that's what happens when you wait a month to blog about something. 

June was unfortunately not all fun and games. We also lost a dear friend, who passed away suddenly at the age of 31. We were glad that we were able to go to his memorial service, but I think we're still processing things a little bit.  Hold your loved ones close, because you never know when they could be gone....

July has been pretty good to us. We spent the Fourth of July weekend at J's parents' lake house and
watched fireworks there.  I'm now back teaching summer classes, and even that is half over now!  I'm also involved in starting up a new teacher mentoring program at work, which is both exciting and intimidating. But  I think it will be quite helpful for our new teachers and I wish there had been something similar when I started!

  I also recently attended the Thirty-One National Conference in Columbus. It was great to reconnect with my teach AND to get a chance to see the new fall products and prints.  Trust me, you are going to LOVE them!

Our conference goodies!

I love Thirty-One's partnership with Girls on the Run!

A few miscellaneous things that don't really fit anywhere else. We've had a few fun trips to the ballpark and are hoping to go back again this weekend. I love watching baseball on a beautiful day in the summer!

We've also enjoyed some great concerts in the past few months, including Cleveland Orchestra's "The Firebird", The Dustbowl Revival at Music Box Supper Club for my birthday, and Old Crow Medicine Show and Brandi Carlisle.  Plus my own concert with the summer band I play in!

I've also been enjoying time both in my own garden and taking advantage of my membership to the local botanical gardens!  First, some pictures of my garden so far this year (from the past few months):

Seedlings

Ready to be planted outside

Strawberries!

Our community garden plot a few weeks ago

Some of my indoor tea garden

And some pictures from the local botanical gardens

Not flowers, but how happy do these cute service pups in training make you!?

And my new sewing room is finally mostly set up, so I've reacquainted myself with my sewing machine and have been working on a few small projects. I have a pretty big pile of projects I'd like to do and am looking forward to tackling those!

And, finally, one last plug for the fundraiser I'm doing that will end on Friday (July 29!). It is for the Parents Advisory Network (PAN), a group in the Philadelphia area that supports NICU families. I will be donating thermal totes for them to give to NICU families, but I need your help! You can sponsor a tote for $15! We've had 40 donated so far, and PAN said if we can get to 50,  they can gift them to the NICU families in all THREE of the hospitals they support! These thermal totes can be used by NICU mothers to transport breast milk to the hospital.  You can sign up to donate here and I will contact you with payment details :)  Big HUGE thanks to everyone who has donated so far. 


Whew! Hope everyone is having a great summer so far and my apologies for the long (and long overdue!) post!

Reading, Running, and a StrideBox review

It's hard for me to believe the summer is almost over! I have one (ONE!) class left to teach for my summer session. Then a week off and back at it for the fall. So much craziness :) I've also just started teaching a new class for employees at a local hospital and it's been so much fun so far! Very different from my other classes and I love it.

J and I have been making the most of these last few weeks of summer. Lots of good food from our garden and our CSA box. And finally using our grill.  We've gone to a few more sporting events, including a baseball game with awesome fireworks, and an arena football game where we got to sit in a corporate suite!

In less fun and exciting news, I had some more medical tests done last week to try to figure out what's been going on with my stomach for the past (almost) two years. We may be a little closer to an answer, but I'm not going to count my chickens before they hatch. I won't get into much detail about personal medical stuff on this blog, and we're still waiting on biopsy results, but I do currently have an ulcer.  It's funny - when you feel sick for so long, you start to hope for tests results that show something is actually wrong with you and it's not all in your head...  Think good thoughts for me that we may solve this mystery!

On a happier note - I've been doing a lot of reading this summer. I've probably read more for fun this summer than I have in the past few years combined. I'm working my way through Boris Akunin's entire Fandorin series (I think I've finished 4 so far and have the next two checked out of the library), and have also read a couple of random books on creativity and organization (Such as Getting Things Done, and Manage Your Day-to-Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus, and Sharpen Your Creative Mind). Side note: I'm trying very hard to implement the "two minute rule" from Getting Things Done. I found the rest of the organization tips a little overwhelming for my current situation - but the suggestion that if something takes less than 2 minutes to complete - just go ahead and do it. That I can get behind!)  I already blogged about reading 10% Happier (which I highly recommend!). I'm currently reading Amy Poehler's Yes Please and have Kate Mulgrew's Born with Teeth and Tina Fey's Bossypants checked out. I made a few recipes from Linda Ly's The CSA Cookbook and all were lovely and delicious.  And in true Erin fashion, I also have The School to Prison Pipeline: Structuring Legal Reform By Catherine Kim on my summer reading list ;)    I feel like there's something I'm forgetting, but even with that list it's a lot! I've been inspired by both my work teaching that literature seminar for adults in the workplace back in June and by my awesome friend Amanda's blog: Amanda Loves Words     So - if I ever finish my giant pile checked out from the library, does anyone have any other recommendations for me? ;)

My running has been going well so far this summer. I finished a ten-mile race last week! I wasn't fast, but I finished and I didn't get sick during the race. So I consider that a win in my book! :) Plus I got a shiny new medal!  Next up is a virtual half marathon, followed by a real half marathon in October...   I have to admit that one of the ways I got myself back into regular training and running longer distances was straight up bribery. ;) After getting my first box as a birthday gift (thanks, mom!) I subscribed to StrideBox. (Note: they don't have a referral program yet, so I'm sharing this just because I love it so much) Every month you get a surprise box of running related goodies. I told myself I could use one item from the box for each run over 5 miles. (two for 10 miles!) And it's been a fun way to try new products and keep my mileage up ;)  Not all of the products have been winners, but there's been at least one product from each box so far that I've liked enough to buy :)

May StrideBox

I ended up buying the Osmo Active Hydration power from this box. I've used it on several of my runs in hotter weather and during my ten-mile race.

June StrideBox

In this box I really liked the MESTRENGTH recovery drink powder. I've found it really helps after my long runs or other tough workouts :) I also really like the Ruby's Lube and might buy it instead of BodyGlide *gasp*! 

July StideBox

I really like the Huma energy gels from this box! I bought more to use during my ten-mile race and they *knock on wood* don't seem to upset my stomach :) Yay! 

August StrideBox

Just got this one in the mail! I haven't had a chance to use anything yet, but I generally love the Honey Stingers chews and can't wait to try this flavor :) 

And that's it from me for this evening! I leave you with a few more questions (in addition to my above request for book recommendations ;) )  Have you ever tried a running (or other) subscription box? Did you discover something you love? 

It's almost conference time!

In addition to being busy with my "real" job, these past few weeks have been busy in my Thirty One business! And in just a few short days, I'm going to be heading to Columbus for our big national conference. Not going to lie - I'm pretty excited and can't wait to report back to you all :)  In the mean time, here's what I've been up to..

Random stuff:  Here's a picture of a baklava sundae. You're welcome :)

 and also a dog doing agility from a horse and dog show we went to. It was so much fun to watch! Makes me want to practice with Conway!

Baseball: Despite the All-Star Break, there's been a lot of baseball in my life lately. Before the break we went to a home game and sat in club seats. This was my first time in club seats (which include a buffet) and it was pretty awesome. Immediately following the break, we headed down to Cincinnati to help my mother-in-law cross another ballpark off her list. It was a very hot weekend (and a little thunderstormy on Sunday), but we saw two Tribe wins, ate delicious food, and bought a ton of bourbon in Kentucky. Overall, a winning weekend!

Packing for a weekend away, Thirty-One style!

Thirty-One: In addition to preparing for the conference, I did a bridal event last week. Love these :) So much fun and I met a ton of new people!  Excited about establishing some new relationships with some of them.

My setup from the bridal show

Summer band: My fun summer band has started up again. Love the rehearsals. We practice super close to my house and the music is always light and fun.  Our first concert is this week! If you're in the area and want to come, just let me know :)

You know you want one... 

Running: The 10-miler I signed up for is just a few weeks away and I'm feeling ok about it. Just finished 9 miles this morning. I'm also planning on signing up for a half (or two) this fall, just need to pull the trigger!   Some of my inspiration has been coming from my monthly StrideBox subscription (more on that in another post) and some has been coming from a new friend at run club. It's always so, so nice to have a running partner!

Etsy: I'm beginning a soft launch of my Etsy shop with exercise headbands and cute ponytail holders. If you're interested in being one of my first customers, let me know!

Hope everyone is having a great summer!

Rhubarb Mustard

It's another Monday, which means it's raining and J's softball game is once again cancelled! Mother nature needs to give us a little break here!  Actually, in all honesty, mother nature's been pretty good to us other than all the rainy Mondays. We've really been taking advantage of it this past week.  I ran a 5-mile race on Father's Day. It was my first race since January and my longest race since my marathon in October 2013. It went pretty well and, most important, I didn't get sick! So I'm considering it a win.  I'm feeling pretty good about this whole running thing right now, so let's hope I can keep that motivation going.

We went to two baseball games this weekend (and also went to Hofbrauhaus twice!)  On Sunday we saw a very exciting win... and on Friday we saw some great fireworks after the game ;) (We won't talk about the game itself...)

Friday's game

Sunday's game... and some random guys foot!

J's liter of beer!

 

On Saturday we took our bikes out for the first time this summer. We gave them a good tuneup and took them out on a 5-mile ride. I'm really hoping to log more biking miles this summer than last year. It's so much fun :)

In unrelated news, we have a trio of baby skunks living somewhere near our house. I know that there's (hopefully) a mama nearby, and that soon they'll be big and stinky, but for now they're just so cute.

Mother nature has also given us some great fruits and vegetables from our garden and CSA. I was very excited to get rhubarb last week because, after already making my favorite rhubarb recipe a few weeks ago (Smitten Kitchen's Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp Bars), I was looking forward to making rhubarb mustard! For anyone looking for a good non-dessert recipe to use up your rhubarb, here it is!  This recipe was given to me by J's aunt (after I tried her's and was literally eating it with a spoon!). Just a warning, when I made it - it was very spicy! So you may want to adjust the ratio of yellow to brown mustard seeds if spicy mustard is not your thing.

Rhubarb Mustard

Makes one pint.
2 ½ cups rhubarb, cut into ½ inch pieces
½ cup water
¼ cup honey
1/3 cup yellow mustard seeds
2 tablespoons brown mustard seeds
1/3 cup raspberry vinegar (I did not have this, I subbed in a mix of red wine vinegar and Penzey's raspberry enlightenment)
½ teaspoon sea salt

To cook rhubarb: In medium saucepan, combine rhubarb, water and honey.  Bring to a boil over high heat. Simmer 6 to 8 minutes or until soft. Set aside to cool.


To prepare mustard seeds: In spice blender or mortar and pestle, grind yellow mustard seeds and brown mustard seeds until mostly powder.  (Full disclosure: I did not do this step.I like a really grainy mustard, so I skipped straight to the making mustard step and trusted my Vitamix to do a good enough job grinding the seeds for my taste)

To make mustard: In blender or food processor, combine cooled rhubarb, powdered mustard seeds, vinegar and salt.  Process until smooth.  Store, covered, in refrigerator for a few days before using.

We used it on pork chops that evening and I'm trying to come up with good ideas for more things to use it on. Anyone have any suggestions?  Otherwise I just might resort to eating it with a spoon.....