We are just weeks away from meeting our little Peanut, and I honestly can’t believe how quickly time has passed.

We’re quite busy laundering and folding itty bitty baby clothes and blankets; hanging artwork on the walls of the nursery; stacking diapers; and tackling the million other odds and ends on our to-do list. But I also know how important it is to find time to pamper myself. Between an expanding waistline, an achy back, and regular heartburn, it’s sometimes the …

“Look into the skillet… Lean over it and look down.  If this is your mother’s skillet…it would hold among its molecules the vibrations of all the conversations every held in its presence.  All the exchanges, the petty irritations, the deadly revelations, the flat announcements of disaster, the grunts and poetry of love.” – Thomas Harris, Hannibal

The first time my parents visited us after we got married, my dad presented me with a package, announcing it was “one last wedding gift.” …

It’s freezing outside. Full-on, brrrr-cold freezing outside. Hey, when you’re already facing temperatures in the teens in mid-December, you’re allowed to be dramatic. In fact, preparation can be fun! Despite the fact that we moved to DC last winter during a blizzard, I stuck it out until spring with the one pair of (heeled, unsuitable-for-ice) boots that life in previously warmer climates required. Can you see where I’m going with this? By the time winter weather rolled around this year, I was …

{Food, Beverage, & Entertainment Edition}

While I’m a major Christmas Freak, Fall is by far my favorite season.  Unfortunately, we get so little of it down here in Texas that I tend to get all wrapped up in tinsel and holly and eggnog before I’ve truly taken the opportunity to stop and smell the cinnamon sticks and crunchy fallen leaves.

Happily, I think I might have just created the optimal “Get the Most Out of Fall” itinerary!  Here’s the skinny on how …

The weeks between Halloween and Thanksgiving always seem like the fastest ones of the year to me. Retail stores are so anxious for us to move on to Christmas and Hanukkah that it can be tough to stand still and simply be in the moment of late fall. (Really? Holiday music already?) I’d rather take my time and enjoy the now before diving into the holidays myself. And as you’ll see, I’m finding inspiration in my everyday surroundings (not to …

With the Summer tomato crop just around the corner, it’s the perfect time to start thinking “outside the jar” for supper!  The following recipe is near and dear to my heart as it’s the first one I’ve ever dreamt up without any guidance whatsoever… Yeah, yeah, I know it doesn’t take a Top Chef to create a recipe for tomato sauce, but don’t rain on my itty-bitty parade, okay?

Kate’s Easy-as-Pie (and Perfect-for-a-Pizza-Pie) Red Sauce

Ingredients: *

several good glugs of olive oil
a …

You read about it on EAD first, of course… but now you can read about our nearly one-year-old wedding in Brides Magazine, too! We’re one of the May 2010 issue’s Real Weddings, and I’ve gotta say, it’s a little bit crazy to see yourself in print in a national magazine! But yep, that sure sounds like us…

And whoa, there we are!

I know our wedding wasn’t a sparkly traditional wedding – that’s exactly why I loved it so much. Everything about …

You know when you’re not physically ill but, for whatever reason, you’re just not feeling so hot?   My mom’s response to complaints of these sorts of general feelings of malaise is always the same:  ”Take a shower – you’ll feel better!”  I like to think of it as her version of Gus Portokalos‘ “put some Windex on it!”

Anyhoo, I used to roll my eyes at this suggestion, but – as with many things in life – mom’s advice works …

Christmas is over and I’m finally settling back into my normal routine. I loved being home and spending time with my family, but by the end of my 10 day stay I just wanted to be in my own bed, with my fridge full of the food that makes up my regular diet, no longer needing to dig through my suitcase every time I needed something to wear. I’ve created a list of the gifts we received so thank you …

22 and 21 years ago I had the privilege of celebrating Thanksgiving with families in California who opened the doors of their houses and welcomed an English family through them. At not even 8 years old I wasn’t fully aware of how special that was or how much those simple acts of kindness would shape my future life.

20 years later… I look back at the welcome we had with extreme fondness. Particularly on my Mother’s behalf. It is only recently …