Vacation/All I ever wanted/Vacation/Had to get away

Those of you who know me well, know that I LOVE 80's music. I mean L.O.V.E. it!!! I know there were a lot of heinous things going on in the 80's, but luckily the music was not one of them (in my opinion at least). So yes, I titled this post after a classic 80's song by the Go-Go's: Vacation!

So, can you guess where I'm going with this? That's right! I'm going on VACATION! I can't wait! Jeremy and I are heading out of town tomorrow to sunny California. We don't have the most ideal traveling conditions, but I forgive Jeremy for this because he saved us a lot of money (or so he says). We don't actually fly out until 4:30 p.m., which puts us into San Jose, CA around 9:30 p.m. - IF we are lucky. Which, considering we have to go through Atlanta, there is a high probability we will not be running on time. If we were staying in San Jose, this really wouldn't be a huge deal. But since we actually have to get down to San Luis Obispo, which is a three hour drive . . . ugh. It makes for a REALLY long day. Again, if all goes according to plan, we would arrive around 1:00 a.m. California time - which if you do the math is 3:00 a.m. Tallahassee time. Yah, loooong day.

We will be spending a few days in San Luis with my family. I will get to hang out at my grandma's house, probably for the last time. It's actually pretty sad, so I'm trying not to think about it. I wish we were going to be there in time for the farmer's market. My fellow Tallahassians, let me tell you, that our "farmer's markets" are by no means anything compared to the one in San Luis. It is HUGE. And wonderful. Anything and everything they have. Fresh flowers, fresh fruit, fresh veggies, BBQ, homemade pita chips, the list goes on. I just couldn't believe it. They close off an entire street and the vendors line up on both sides. I was in love! Here are some photos from last year when I went:

*I apologize for the quality of the photos; They are SOOC.

Then we are getting on the Pacific Sunliner and heading down to LA to spend an evening with Jeremy's cousin Michael. I'm so excited to see Michael, Mia, and cute little Jack! We haven't seen them for a year, when Jack was just a wee-little one. But in the past year he has grown into a little man!

Unfotunately, we only have one night with them before we head on down to San Diego to see Jeremy's old high school friend Betsy and her husband Jeff. Now, I am SUPER excited about seeing them! I met them last year when I went out to California without Jeremy. I was so proud of myself - I actually called someone I'd never met before and arranged a get-together. Again, if you know me, you know how unlike me this is. But I am so glad I took the plunge. Betsy and Jeff are an amazing couple - so full of life and they are a lot of fun! Here's a pic:

Plus they are super-duper photographers. Seriously, check out their work. They are awesome! I just love their work! So hopefully I don't annoy them too much with all of my questions about the photography business . . . but there are no promises! LOL They live in such a cute little area of San Diego and there are some delicious restaurants around; I only hope they take us to the Lei Lounge! I love that place!!

Then next Thursday we will head home. We leave at some unreasonable time like 10:30 p.m. and have an overnight flight. I am SO not looking forward to that! But I am very excited about the overall trip!!

So, I guess I'll see you on the flip side!

Writer's Block

I don't know what it is, but I have had writer's block lately. I sit down at the computer, hoping a great idea to blog about will come to me and I get nothing. I actually thought of a fun topic the other night as I was going to sleep, but wouldn't you know that in the morning, I had completely forgotten it!

While writer's block in my personal life is pretty bad, it's not nearly as bad as writer's block at work. Which it just so happens, I also have. I have two reports I need to be working on. One I actually told my boss I'd have a first draft to him by next Wednesday before I leave for vacation. What do I have? Nothing. Nada. Zip. I sit with my fingers on the keyboard, but nothing comes to me. I end up thinking "Oh, I need to check email," or "I wonder what my favorite bloggers have said today?" or "Hmm, let's see what's happening on Facebook." Yes, all of these distractions are not helping with my writer's block. How am I supposed to have a first draft done in 3 days when I can't concentrate long enough to put a title on my paper?!? This is bad. Very, very bad.

So, the other day, as I was busy procrastinating, I decided to come up with some photography equipment that I really need. Yes, NEED (not to be confused with want). As in, I want, um, I mean need, it now . . . or even yesterday. But, unfortunately, until I find a wad 'o' cash stuffed under my mattress, I will not be able to afford these things for awhile. Although, on the bright side, we finally have some money built up to start paying ourselves! Yippeee! So, I will be taking my small, yet very appreciated, paycheck from Woodland Fields Photography, and stuffing it under my mattress, in hopes of accumulating that wad 'o' cash needed for the following items:

Item #1:

Canon Eos 5D Mark II Camera

I desperately need another camera body so that I can have two bodies with different lenses attached. This will help me IMMENSELY when I'm trying to capture two different types of shots but don't have time to waste switching out lenses. And the 5D comes highly recommended! Of course many pros use this camera, but the best part is that my primo inspiration lately - Jasmine Star - uses this camera. I love, love, love her work. Go ahead, check her out. No, wait a minute. Don't check her out until you finish this post. If you go now, you may never come back to me. :-( Anyway, I do need a new camera body, so why not go for the best (or close to the best - there is an Eos 1D Mark III body that looks A-MAZING! But unfortunately, it is $4000, so I will leave that for another day). Anyway, take a look at this baby:

Item #2:

Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L

This is another beauty used by non other than J*. I had already made the decision that my next lens purchase was going to be a wide-angle lens. This is a necessity for me. And why not go for the one that my inspiration raves about? And, to Jeremy's immense anquish, I have moved on to L series lenses. Yes, they cost a pretty penny, but are worth it. And besides, every pro must have a "red line" lens!

Item #3:

Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L

This is another wide-angle lens, but not as wide as the previous one. J* discusses how this was one of her first lenses and she used it all the time. It's like a cuddly old teddy bear - there may be others out there, but this one is so comfortable you keep coming back to it. I really haven't decided if I want this one first or the 16-35 first honestly. I JUST CAN'T DECIDE!!! PLEASE DON'T MAKE ME! I'm not sure which one I'd get the most use out of initially. This one is a little cheaper, and since I like to consider myself frugal, I may end up opting for this one first only because of cost. But we shall see . . . .

Ok, those are the biggies. Yes, there are other items I'd like. Such as a tripod, an additional flash, some filters, a fisheye. You know, secondary items. But I won't bother in listing those now. That is another post for another day. Besides, I've already spent around $5,300 on my top 3 items (figuratively speaking of course, since I haven't actually purchased any of them yet)! Ouch! I've got to get a side job. Oh wait. This IS my side job. Uh-oh. I'm in trouble.

Why are they springy?

I copied this recipe from one of my favorite bloggers of all time: The Pioneer Woman! If you haven't checked out her blog, you really should. She has got so much information on anything you might want to know. Plus, she is hilarious! I particularly like her Cooking and Photography tabs. So this is a recipe for "Springy Shells" that came from her blog. I really don't get the name though. They aren't really springy. Maybe it is a play on words? Like for the Spring season? The recipe uses a lot of veggies, which may indicate Spring. I just don't know. But I was attracted to the name and had to try the recipe for that reason alone.

WARNING: Yes, there is a warning that comes with this recipe. It is HUGE! I made the whole thing becuase I was too lazy to try and half it. And we will probably be eating Springy Shells until the cows come home. And, well, since we don't have any cows, that could be a very long time. Although there are cows up on Biltmore . . . maybe I could use those for my metaphor? Oh, sorry, I got sidetracked. Anyway, this is great if you need to feed a lot of people. But for two people I highly recommend halfing it. That is, unless you really love leftovers!

Springy Shells

Ingredients:

16 oz medium pasta shells or any other short pasta

1 pound asparagus, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces

1/2 pound broccoli, cut into small florettes

1/2 pound zucchini, diced

1/2 cup frozen peas

3 green onions sliced (white and light green parts)

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

20-22 oz whole milk ricotta cheese (Pioneer Woman would KILL me, but I used the skim milk version)

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

black pepper

1 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, greated

extra olive oil for drizzling

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Cook pasta until extremely al dente - with still quite a bit of bite.

3. Melt butter with the olive oil over medium-low to medium heat, then add garlic.

4. Add the asparagus and cook for 5 minutes. Sprinkle in some salt. Add the broccoli and cook for one minute, then add the zucchini and cook for one or two more minutes. (the original recipe forgot to mention when you add the green onions, so I did it here). Add the frozen peas, stir together, then turn off the heat. Set aside.

5. In a separate bowl, mix the ricotta, eggs, salt, and pepper until well combined.

6. To assemble, butter a 9x13 inch baking dish. Add half the pasta, then spread 1/3 cup of the ricotta mixture over the surface (I just estimated 1/3 of the mixture actually). Sprinkle 1/3 Parmesan cheese over the ricotta, then 1/2 the vegetables.

7. Repeat with the rest of the pasta, the rest of the ricotta, another 1/3 of the Parmesan. End with the rest of the vegetables and the rest of the Parmesan.

8. Drizzle with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, then bake for 25 minutes.

9. Serve with extra Parmesan, crusty French bread, and chilled white wine. (I skipped the bread).

The recipe had a good taste and was enjoyable. I won't lie and say it is one of my favorites, but I did enjoy it and will try to make it every so often to change up my routine!

Banana [Nut] Bread

I don't know about you, but I like my bananas to be just past the stage of green when I eat them. Heck, I don't mind if there is still some green on them! But I hate, hate, hate, when they have any brown spots. Yuck! Unfortunately, this means I have to buy bananas in very small quantities - say, 2 at a time. And that is annoying. But when I don't do that, I often have 2 out of the bunch that get all brown before I have time to eat them. Whenever this happens I have a craving to make banana nut bread. But like I said previously, I usually only have 2 - and the recipe calls for 4. So what's a girl to do? Luckily, the lasted time I got this urge some nice person at work left 4 almost-completely-brown bananas in the break room. SCORE! So I took the 2 that looked the worst and brought them home to add to my overly-ripe bananas. I have to say, mine were a little more juicy than the work ones. If I hadn't been so impatient I would have let them stew for a day or two more. But I wanted banana nut bread, and I wanted it like 2 days ago! So I didn't procrastinate!

This is my mom's "famous" recipe. It's really only famous to her family and maybe some friends, but I adore it and think it's just the best around. I have also come to realize over the years that I prefer plain old banana bread, rather than banana NUT bread. Call me crazy. So I did not add the nuts to this recipe. After all, the original owner of the recipe (aka, mom) did say that nuts were optional!

Banana Nut Bread

Ingredients:

1/2 cup shortening (I know what you are thinking; it's probably the same thing I thought when I read the recipe: "Shortening?!? People actually still use this stuff???" But, yes they do. And don't try to substitute with butter. Just buy the smallest thing of Crisco you can find - because let's face it, you won't probably use it that often! Unless of course you live in the deep south and then I've been told it's a staple to any pantry. However, aside from what some people may say, I do still believe Florida is a southern state, or at least north Florida is. So I guess I fall into the "south" category, but I still have never used Crisco in my adult life to cook, until now. Anyway, just bite the bullet and add it to the recipe. Oh, and if some true southerner out there can tell me how I'm supposed to store this stuff, that would be great! )

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 ripe bananas

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional) (see it says it in the actual recipe!!)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350.

2. Blend the shortening and sugar. Yes, it is a ton of sugar. Don't pay attention to that. Your ass may not thank you later, but your tastebuds will!

3. Add the eggs to the mixture and beat.

4. Mix in a separate bowl the flour, soda, and salt. Then slowly add this to the sugar mixture. Remember: SLOWLY! Trust me, you want to listen to me on this one! If you don't, you'll have a poof! of flour all over your countertops and in your hair. Good times!

5. Mash the 4 bananans in another bowl. Then add them to the mixture.

6. Add the vanilla (and nuts if using them).

7. Pour mixture into one large bread pan or use 2 pans like my mom. My mom uses 1 large and 1 small pan. Well I only had large or, well, large. So I thought I'd try to use just one pan. All of the mixture fit after all! Well, beware. I got lucky, but don't fill your mixture up too high because remember the bread will RISE! Mine turned out fine, but others may not be so lucky!

8. Bake for 60 minutes. As you can see, I overbaked just a tad. I was always taught to stick a toothpick in the center of the bread to see when it's done. If the toothpick comes out clean, it's done. Well my toothpick wasn't coming out that clean even though the edges looked done. So I baked for a tad longer. I probably shouldn't have!!! I'm sure the middle was done enough and because of the extra minutes my edges are sort of brown. :-( But it was still good!

9. If you want, you can let it cool. But I prefer to cut me a slice as soon as I can stand to touch the bread and then slather on some butter. Yummy!!!

Updated Schedule

Ok, a few changes have been made; they are in bold:

July 12 - Wedding in Tampa
July 18 - Wedding in Port St. Joe
July 22 - Draft ART report to boss
July 23-31 - California
August 6 - Jeremy's birthday
August 7 - Draft OGSR report to boss
August 16 - Engagement photos in Tallahassee
August 19 - Draft OGSR report to boss
August 22-23 - Family photo shoots at the beach
August 26 - Draft OGSR repor to chair
September 1 - Final OGSR report due
September 16 - Draft ART report to boss
September 17-29 - Europe!
September 19 - Wedding in St. George (I will be on pins and needles to see Catherine's photos!!)
September 26 - Wedding in Melbourne, FL
October 12 - Draft ART report to boss
October 21 - My 3rd wedding anniversary!!
October 25 - Tentative maternity shoot
October 26 - Draft ART report to chair
November 1 - Final ART report due