making music

Since getting back from Hawaii I've been spending a number of evenings with my new favorite toy, and it's not a scrapbooking tool.

Long forgotten and thought to have been gifted to someone who would have better use for it (like my hula implements for example), I don't even remember what prompted me to ask my mom about it when they were here last January. I was ecstatic when she indignantly responded that she would never give that ukulele away. I couldn't wait to get the ukulele in my hot little hands. 

Neglect and a cool hiding place have kept this beautiful Kamaka ukulele in, surprisingly, mint condition. My parents bought this ukulele for me when I was 10 years old (which means it's pretty stinking old) and wanted to learn how to play. I convinced them to let me take the ukulele class offered at a local library after school. I still remember the frustration of learning how to pick through the entire scale and placing my fingers in the correct fret. I also remember the hum of the strings as I strummed my first chord. It was magical. Simply magical.

I still can't quite get some of the chords, but I am enjoying the process of re-discovering the joys of my ukulele. I wish my 10 year-old self had grasped then the fun of really playing a ukulele. I am finally going to give this ukulele the treatment it deserves: make some great music.

summer loving

Every summer, without fail, my in-laws grow the most amazing zucchinis. There's no other word to describe them, but gigantic. I'll only eat zucchini because I need to eat my vegetables, but it has never been one of my favorites. We zap them in the microwave until mushy and just plain gross. Until now!

I discovered last weekend the new-to-me and only way to cook zucchinis (other than in zucchini bread, of course). GRILLED. With eggplant, red peppers, red onions, a touch of olive oil and salt & pepper. PERIOD.  Love! No sogginess, all deliciousness (is that even a word?). J and I grilled another batch tonight from last week's leftovers and we literally inhaled it. Yum! I can pretty much guarantee this will be on the menu at our house the rest of summer.

Hope you had great first weekend of summer!

friday faves

Although it's no longer in the 90's here in the Bay Area, summer is definitely in full effect! I absolutely hate looking out the window at work when the view is blue cloudless sky. But these wonderful finds this week remind me of all that the next couple months have to offer (including my tomato).

• Can't wait to try this, hopefully for July 4th, YUMMY! Strawberry Icebox Pie

• Fun idea, especially if you have out of town visitors. DIY summer in a bag
• Perfect way to haul stuff around this summer.  totes 

• The new-to-me Sweet Paul on-line magazine. I die! Amazing photos and food! 
• Okay, these are not headbands are not just for summer, but are uber cute! Miss H just may see one in her future.  

Looking forward to a quiet weekend, some much needed cleaning, scrapping, ukulele playing, knitting, sleeping (and lots of it!), and maybe a run. Not necessarily in that order. Happy Friday!

get your knit on

I haven't picked up my knitting needles in a couple months and my fingers are itching to start new project (never mind that I already have a couple of unfinished objects demanding some attention). So I was really excited when I came across this post yesterday at Through the Loops.

The talented Kirsten Kapur is hosting a summer long shawl knit-along at Ravelry. I'm always cold in the office and a shawl is perfect to keep me warm. I'm going to knit Andrea's shawl. I don't know just yet which yarn I'm going to use. This means a trip to one of my many local yarn stores or even a bit of surfing at Knit Picks.

Hope you can join in on the fun!

really, june?

This year seems to be trudging along with or without me. How in the heck is it almost the end of the June? I swear it was May when we left for vacation! I could easily blame the temporary lapse of time on being on vacation, but unfortunately know the truth: I'm plain just going crazy! Or it's just the heat!

I always pack for trips a couple days ahead so a) that we have everything we need, and b) can get to bed early the night before the flight. As such, I didn't get a chance to share pictures from Miss H's first birtday party back in May. It was the cutest & sweetest party ever and I had a blast taking pictures!  Here are a couple of my favorite shots.

My sister-in-law, Z, really pulled out all the stops. From the cupcakes, to all the yummy sweet treats that the kids (and maybe some adults) were high on; to Nixsy, the BEST magical fairy EVER*.

*If you live in the SF Bay Area, I highly recommend her. She managed to keep the kids' attention for quite a while and be entertaining also.

re-adjusting

Five days post-vacation and I'm still trying to get back into the rhythm of my so-called life, and to a lesser degree the rhythm of working.  Always a difficult adjustment after a couple weeks relaxing and spending time with family.  Did I mention that it was in Hawaii? Sigh. Jay and I enjoyed every bit of our little getaway however short it was.

I gave myself the unenviable task of sorting through my things that I left behind when I moved back to California over 10 years ago. I should not have been surprised to find so much, well, crap. In the end, I sold a couple boxes of books (dating as far back as high school), donated miscellaneous knick knacks (why in the heck did I still have some of this stuff?), recycled what I could, and threw out the rest. Needless to say, my parent's recycling bin was full to the brim. That awful exercise was truly a great lesson in living simply! I did bring back a sweet treasure.  More about that in another post.

Off to catch up on my blogs! Hope the first day of summer treated you well!