The Small List: Summer Edition
At the start of this year, I made a 2012 Adventures List, which I recently decided to rename The Small List. About a year ago Ryan and I started a Big List of crazy trips and adventures we have seen on shows or read about that seem fun to do sometime in life. We needed a place to keep them, started the list at that link and that’s how it started.
I have been doing pretty good at keeping up with The Small List and after reading this post from a blog I like, I added some Summer to-do’s that I do not want to miss including the following:
- Go to the Third Degree Glass Factory
- Lantern Festival at Missouri Botanical Gardens
- Food Truck Friday at Tower Grove Park
- Visit the Confluence
- Date night at Shakespeare Festival to see Othello
- See at least three shows at the Muny
- Bike to the Ferguson Farmers Market
- Go to the outdoor pool at least two times per week
As the daylight gets longer, this list may too. What’s on your Summer List?
First visit of the summer to Ted Drewes. Drewman prefers the dip cone. This visit I picked the Hawaiian concrete.
This weekend I received one of my favorite drawings yet from Drew so far…the very first portrait of me drawn by himself! Frame-worthy, I believe.
A little wisdom for Monday…after missing the mark the past three days for my Post-a-Day May! It’s not too late to make up for it though. More soon, friends. Happy Monday.
Last night I cleaned up the screen from my first screen printing experience. I used Speedball Screen Cleaner and an old dish brush to scrub it. I was a little reluctant at first it would work correct since I used ample amount of screenfiller because I was a first timer and didn’t exactly know what I was doing.
Lucky for me with repeating the process twice — the screen appears clean and close to new and definetly re-usable. Not too hard, really, and now I am excited to start thinking about what I want to print next!
This weekend we are running a 5K and a kids fun run called “Make Tracks for the Zoo” at Forest Park benefiting the St. Louis Zoo. Yesterday Ryan picked up the packets for all the families running it in our family.
Drew was excited already when we showed him the shirt. When we showed him the number he said, “Oh BOY. Oh boy. Oh boy. OH BOY! This is my number?”
I think we can safely say he is ready for the race! (Taken with instagram)
Today I ran across this article titled Influence: You already have it.
I often say that we cannot control the way people re-act, but that we can only control the way we ourselves act. Enjoy!
About six months ago I purchased a FoodieSTL Deck through one of the many ‘daily deal’ sites. Each deck contains 52 gift certificates to local restaurants, cafés and eateries in St. Louis. Each card is worth $10 off your food bill with a purchase of $25 or more. Through the cards, I have tried several new places I have never been to before.
Last week we had the opportunity to have a date night and we chose Stellina Pasta, located in south St. Louis city on Watson Road between Chippewa and Hampton. It had been our list of places to try anyway, but it didn’t hurt that it was one of the cards in the FoodSTL Deck. (Note: We were unsure since the restaurant was so small if it were, in fact, kid friendly, but when we went there were kids there.) The pasta is made fresh, handmade each day and the menu changes daily as well!
I ordered a spinach and ricotta agnolotti with pesto and pine nuts. Needless to say it, was so fresh and so fantastic! I highly recommend trying Stellina if you have the chance.
Happy Mother’s Day!Six years ago - around the time we got married - I bought these I heart Mom shirts - about the best $20 for a gift I have spent in a while. Each year since we pull them out to be worn to brunch for pictures and for the annual holiday to celebrate Moms!
Saturday evening we ended up taking an impromputu bike ride over to the Grove, at the request of Drew who wanted to go out for a ride. We were originally going to head somewhere to grab a bite to eat, but the races were going on still at 7 PM for the Tour de Grove. We found a nice spot on the sidewalk patio in front of the Handlebar, looped our bikes up to a nearby bike rack and enjoyed watching the riders. The weather was perfect and it was a nice Saturday evening to be out.
With a small city yard like ours and the giant towering tree there is little room for a deck space or much full sun for a garden. Last weekend, we had dinner on a similar rooftop garden and ever since then I have been dreaming up the idea of taking the roof off the top of our detached garage and doing something of the likes.
What I didn’t know was that this was apparently one of the ‘Top trends in gardening for 2012’ by Better Homes and Gardens. View more awesome rooftop patios on Pinterest.
Shop Locally…Eat Healthy
This summer we joined a CSA through Maude’s Market, a small storefront in Downtown Dutchtown which provides fresh, local food from over 50 farmers and other local producers. In telling a few people about it over the last several weeks, most had never heard of a CSA before - which stands for Community Supported Agriculture.
Similar to a co-op, you get a share of items each week and benefits include access fresh, local food, all year round, you support local farms at affordable prices, as well as get basic ingredients and try unique, local products.
Our weekly share has led us to try a few in season recipes Aspargus Stir Fry and Spring Risotto with Pan Fried Radishes. We’ve also made popcorn the old school way — on the stove. You would have thought we had never seen popcorn pop before!
The hardest part with being a part of the CSA so far has been predicting what our menu will be for the week. You have to think and plan quickly because with the produce — it may go bad if you don’t use it within a few days of getting it. On the flip side of things, each week I get excited for Thursday afternoons when we find out what actually is in the week’s share for pick up on Friday and what we will get to try next.
If it sounds interesting to you, I’d say give it a try! Localharvest.com is a great resource to find CSAs or Farmers Markets in any area of the country.
Screenprinting Attempt #1
I have wanted to try my hand at screenprinting for a very long time. It wasn’t a complete disaster because it did print something — but didn’t turn out exactly how I would have imagined. I messed up the project in a few ways which should have been expected because it was all self taught from a pamphlet that came with it.
I should have used a smaller brush when painting the design on with the drawing fluid. I should have really only pulled the screen filler across once like it said I should. I made the mistake of being sure it was really filled and inadvertently washed away and filled some of the drawing fluid I originally painted on. I have a distinct feeling once I get the hang of it and have a few successes — this will be more fun.
The kit I purchased a long time ago did not have screen cleaner with it, so I bought some today from ArtMart. Next I plan to try the photo emulsion method and see how it turns out. When in doubt, try and try again, right?
Tunes for Tuesday
I am sure I am not the first to know about Songza.com, but if you have not checked it out — I recommend you do! There is something for everyone of any age —in any mood! I usually listen to my Pandora stations at work, but recently it seems that the amount of advertising included has picked up. I honestly do not care enough to pay $5 or $10 per month to remove those ads. Aside from being ad-free and unlike some of the other music aggregators, you do not have to log in to use Songza.com.
Currently listening to: Thrillist Collection
