Foto Friday.
Aug/090
Our Ragamuffin Cooking Club had its August gathering last Saturday. Yet this month’s theme was unlike any other we’ve done in the 3+ years we’ve been together. Last Saturday was our first ever Photo Scavenger Hunt!
We were given a list about 12 hours in advance with a list of 35 or so food places in Lexington to go to. Points were awarded for having your picture at the place mentioned. Additional points were awarded for completing various tasks at each destination, and in some cases, there were opportunities for bonus points for “going the extra mile” on the task. Of course, the bonus tasks also had to be recorded on film.
Trevor and I were unsure how crazy we wanted to get into it. We decided to limit ourselves on how much money we’d spend on food items – and with the exception of actual meals we decided to eat (brunch and dinner), we kept it around $20 spent, total. We also knew we needed to take a break to go home and feed our dog, so at least 2 hours were spent at home. Lastly, we had to incorporate our grocery shopping for the next week, so additional time was spent at some of our destinations (the farmer’s market, Good Foods, Whole Foods…) doing actual shopping. Yet in the end, we — amazingly — tied with exactly 163 points with none other than my sister and brother-in-law! The prize? Tickets to see the new culinary-themed movie Julie & Julia. We’re now planning on catching the show together sometime soon.
Here are some highlight photos from the day.
The place: Krispy Kreme doughtnuts. The challenge: Put mini doughnuts on your fingers.
The place: Magee’s Bakery. The challenge: Take orders behind the counter.
The place: Alfalfa’s. The challenge: Eat alfalfa sprouts.
The place: Coffee Times Coffee House. The challenge: Smell coffee beans. The bonus: Smell the beans in the roasting area.
The place: any ball field. The challenge: Eat concessions. (there were no concessions to be had at this ball field. It was empty.) The bonus: with a kid in uniform. (we lucked out finding this kid throwing practice balls with his dad, and they let us take his picture, score! We were the only ones to do this particular challenge.)
The place: Fazoli’s. The challenge: Share a breadstick. The bonus: Eat breadstick from opposite ends.
The place: Missy’s pie shop. The challenge: Buy a slice of pie. The bonus: With Missy. (There is no Missy, but this lady posed as Missy for us! She was the baker extraordinaire.)
The place: Mellow Mushroom. The challenge: Eat a slice of pizza. The bonus: While looking mellow. (I gotta say, Trevor nailed this one.)
The beauty of the day was going to a variety of places, mostly local dives, and doing goofy things for fun. Other destinations included My Old Kentucky Chocolates, Ramsey’s, Starbucks (the quest to go to as many out of the 16 in Lexington as possible, bonus points for getting photos with baristas), deSha’s, Natasha’s, Third Street Stuff, Lynagh’s Pub, and more….
Check out more photos and some of our competition at the cooking club shutterfly site.
Robins and Bluejays.
Aug/090
One of the things we enjoy doing in our free-time is reading. It’s intellectually stimulating (use it or lose it, right?) and can be, maybe against popular opinion, an enjoyable experience. Books, like music and movies, are an art form that express and invite one into the human experience.
While we were dating (and also engaged) we read through The Brothers Karamazov together — sharing the experience and our thoughts on each page. It was something we really valued, so we decided to make it a habit of occasionally reading the same book.
Our recent excursion was through “Bird by Bird” by Anne Lamott. We’re both aspiring writers, as well as aspiring life-livers, and Anne promised instruction on both.
I had read some of her stuff previously — noting her giftedness with storytelling (she’s a true raconteur). This book is a bit of a diversion from that. There are still wonderful anecdotes from her life, which give life to the page, but they come in small spurts in between more “stale” (impassive) writing advice. Not that the advice is unwanted, or amateurish — just different from what we knew as her normal form.
Her advice could basically be distilled down to this: write. It may sound trite, but it’s probably the best advice you’ll ever get regarding writing (and, honestly, living). To steal from Nike: just do it. Today, tomorrow, etc. If you want to be a writer, write. A photographer? Shoot. A normal person? Breathe.
You can’t avoid the discipline of the obvious and monotonous.
This is a good book for those who want to invest into a few hundred pages of a book that migrates through hot and cold, hits and misses, good advice and repetitiveness; but, finishes well and leaves you realizing two things: you’ve learned a bunch of good, practical lessons and maybe a little about life at the same time.
3 Stars out of 5
(For the record, 1 star would be rewarded for something I read/listened to/etc. and reviewed that was terrible, but still gets a star because I gave the effort and want to feel it was worth my time. A 2-star review means it wasn’t horrible, but you probably wouldn’t miss anything if you skipped the item. A 3-star review means it’s worth looking into, but it’s not necessarily going to change your world. A 4-star review is for masterful work in whatever form of art is being reviewed. 5-stars are reserved for the best stuff I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing — e.g., The Brothers Karamazov). I could get very particular about these ratings (giving out 1/2 points and 1/4 points) but I’m just not going to do that.)
Switchfoot.
Aug/090
Last Thursday night, we trekked the short 1.5 hours to neighboring Louisville to catch a Switchfoot show. They were opening for Blue October, but we went just to hear them. The show itself was at Fourth Street Live, a venue that takes place in the middle of a road, covered by a glass roof, and flanked by restaurants down the strip. The perk? The show was completely free. While we were hoping to have some company for the show, all our prospects and invitations fell through. This was Trevor’s first experience of a live Switchfoot show, and my fifth (I think – counting the two times I think I saw them at the Ichthus music festival, and then 2 solo shows, one in Cleveland with Rachel S and one at the Kentucky State Fair with Jennifer C and Emily N.)
Trevor’s review: the show ranks in the top 10 greatest shows he’s attended. (and lest you don’t know, he has been to many a show in many genres of music…) The energy was high the whole time. Jon moved around the stage, jumped off the monitors, came into the audience at least twice, sang into his guitar – yes, INTO his guitar – and gave us sneak peaks into about 3 new songs off their (much anticipated) forthcoming album, Hello Hurricane. In fact, today you can pre-order your copy! So head over to switchfoot.com and do so! From what we heard, we can assure you that the next is going to be just as awesome as their last few albums, and most likely, will be a reflection of their growth, innovation, and creativity as musicians and artists. What you can be sure of: these guys are never boring, never cliche, never disappointing.
Enjoy some of the shots from this Thursday past.
Trevor’s silly sad face while waiting for the show to start…
The band on stage at 4th Street Live – Jerome, Drew, Jon, drummer Chad, and Tim.
This was when Jon Foreman went back into the audience and was about 10 feet from us. Up close and personal!
p.s. you can follow Switchfoot on Twitter!
Coffee Bean Inspiration.
Aug/092
Decorating Idea: Transform vases of various sizes into unique candle holders.
We had acquired too much coffee for us to consume (I know, shocking) and were left eventually with a small amount of coffee beans which were past their prime to brew. We were loathe to just trash them, so instead decided to recycle them… by using them as a decorative touch. We poured them into a tall vase to surround a tall candle for a unique coffee-bean inspired candle holder. We also tried the same technique using a tea light in a small, squatty square glass container. It looks awesome and still has the faint, sumptuous smell of coffee.
But we didn’t stop there. Last year, we had taken a trip to Florida, just Trevor, Kristi, and our Belarusian friend Anya. It was Trevor’s first time in Florida, and Anya’s first sight of a beach in America. The beach was beautiful, as it usually is along the Gulf of Mexico, and we couldn’t resist taking some white sand home and bits of shells as mementos. When we got home, it was Trevor’s idea to somehow display the sand as a reminder of that wonderful trip. While perusing in Target one day (gotta love Target), we stumbled across some cheap yet classy square glass containers. Trevor made a great arrangement of sand and shells, and voila! We had two new decorative pieces to sit on our desk in the office downstairs.
So, after the coffee bean experiment, sand seemed like a second good option. By taking one of those square glass containers filled with sand and shells, all we did was bury a tea light in the center. Another simple way to decorate with candles while simultaneously incorporating memories of vacations past!
Fun Photos.
Aug/092
Kristi cooling off after a hard day of work in the garden.
A perfect little rose bud.
10K Training
Kristi's Training Mileage:
Trevor's Training Mileage:
Good Reads
Kristi's read shelf:
Trevor's read shelf: