One of my resolutions for the year was to shoot more film.  At least one roll a month.   And on January 31, I realized I hadn’t even touched my film cameras yet.   So, I loaded a roll and shot just a bit around my house.  Decided it would be the first “theme” of the roll-a-month challenge!  So, here you are…

I had a really enjoyable first half marathon.  It was fun, exciting and the fact that it was in Paris didn’t hurt.  The first 16km was pretty amazing.  And then I hit 17.  And I thought “why would I ever want to do this again!?”  Technically, the Paris 20KM, is, well, only 20 km.  Just short of the full 13.1 miles.  And I can’t say I’ve run a half marathon if I’ve only run 12.4 miles.  So, here we are, and I’m going to run the whole thing.  All 13.1 miles.  But this time, I’ll be running through the streets of Manhattan!  And running for a cause!  I’ll be running to benefit the Organization for Autism Research and would so appreciate your donations!

You can see all of the amazing things they’re doing here and, should you feel so inclined, make a donation here.   You are amazing and so very much appreciated!

My Love,

Five years.  I’m in shock… where has the time gone?  Although, in the grand scheme of our eighty year marriage, this is small beans.  A drop in the bucket of what I know will be the most amazing adventure of my life.  You are the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me and I am so lucky to have met you so early in my life.  To become an adult, a full fledged real person, with you standing next to me… it’s been remarkable. I will always be there, by your side.  To support, to love, to encourage.  And I have no doubt that you will be there by mine.  I am so proud of you Chris Hazel.  Proud of the things that you are doing and the path you are taking.  You’ve been my rock for so many years.  I am happy to return the favor.

You know that saying at weddings, “May today be the day I loved you the least”? So true.  I love you more today than I could have imagined in 2008.  We’ve exchanged afternoons at the pool for days of renovating and drinks at bars for drinks on the couch.  We’ve become old and boring together.  I promise to encourage you to leave the house more regularly, and I will likely never stop pushing a trip to France on you.  I know you act like you hate these ideas, but I secretly I think you love it.  I am at my best when exploring with you.

These first five years brought us new careers, new homes and new projects.  We dug roots and built these amazing lives for ourselves.  May the next five bring us adventure, excitement and wings.  May we grow more, love deeper and fly together.

I love you more than I can ever express.  With all my heart.

J

I love the beginning of a new year.  It seems fresh and almost like absolutely anything can happen.  It feels like a new beginning, a clean slate, and there’s something quite appealing about that. And this is the year that I turn thirty.  Most of my friends are older than I am, and have been since I was in high school.  So, while I’ve always considered myself an old soul, I’ve felt young by comparison.  Suddenly, that’s no longer the case.  And I’m finding wrinkles.  And my knees hurt when I sit in a movie theater for too long.  I feel like I’m definitely embarking on a new stage of my life.  I’d like it to be one of style, grace and glamour.

I like to set some goals for myself, general ways to ensure I spend 2013 becoming a better person that I was in 2012.

1. Get out of my gym clothes and spend more time in actual clothes.

2. Take piano lessons.

3. Shoot a roll of film every month.

4. Spend some time in France.  And figure out a way to spend a few months there.

5. Work hard. Diversify. Get back to what I love so much about my job.

6. Get more facials.

Sometimes, as dog owners, we call do things that are a little bit crazy.  Because the simple idea of it is just so cute/hilarious/adorable that you can’t stand it.  A dog in a dress.  Hilarious!  And that is exactly how I felt about the Basset Hound Picnic put on by the Basset Hound Club of Southern California. So ridiculous that we couldn’t not go.  Basil would love it and I would find it simply hilarious!

And it did not disappoint!   There were costume contests and ear measuring booths.  Prizes for the biggest paws and the best howlers.  A special ring for the bassets that had come from rescues!   Big bassets, fat bassets, small bassets and mean bassets.  And some of the most amazing little puppy bassets. There were basset shirts and basset statues.  If it had to do with a basset, it was there.

Next year, we’ve decided that we will out basset the basset hound owners.  I’m thinking t-shirts and maybe even custom hats with basset ears attached.  Will knock the ridiculousness quotient up a notch!

Remember how I don’t run?  Well, how I never considered myself a runner?  Turns out I am.  I am a runner.  And I a little bit like it.  I just ran a 20K.  20K?!  I’m going to go ahead and consider it a half-marathon, because, well, it’s close enough.

My aunt and I went to Paris to run the 20 Kilometres de Paris. I am now a firm believer that this is the way to run your first long distance race.  You spend more time thinking “Holy Crap I’m running in Paris” that you think “Holy Crap I have to run another 10 miles.”  It’s so different, just enough that you’re not really thinking about your legs.  You’re thinking about how beautiful it is.  You’re thinking about how the rain in your face is actually kind of nice.   You’re looking at what people are wearing, what people are eating, laughing at the orange peels on the ground and wondering if there will be baguettes at the 15 km stop (there weren’t, but in Paris, you just never know!)

For the first 15 km, I felt so good.  Incredible even!  In the 16th km it suddenly dawned on me that I was an athlete.  Something that I had never even considered for myself.  I was on a mid-run super high!  Then, just as quickly as I decided I was awesome, I decided I was over it.  From 17-19 I wanted it to be done.  Over.  Blargh.  And then it was so close to being over I pushed as hard as I could and then the finish line came into sight and then it was OVER!  And it was incredible!  2:12:47.  Holy crap.  I ran for over two hours straight and loved it!  Really loved it!

The race actually starts just underneath the Eiffel Tower, runs through town, through the park and then up & down the Seine.  It’s so beautiful!

As I’ve never run in the cold, or the rain for that matter, I had no idea that this would happen!  Apparently people wear more layers for while you’re standing around waiting for the race to start.  Then, when the gun sounds, you just take it all off and throw it on the ground. Shirts, trash bags, rain jackets, food wrappers, water bottles, all of it!

This race was nearly 30,000 people.  So.Many.People.  But my favorite was this guy… he ran 12.4 miles with an old school boom box strapped to his back.  WHAT!?

Done!  And then back to the hotel to climb into my pajamas, my robe and my bed.  I was soaked all the way into my bones and freezing!  My Aunt & I shared a bottle of champagne & macarons in bed while our bones warmed up.  It was the most perfect recovery meal

There are things that I will always love about living in a city.  Culture & food & people & so many interesting things to do.  And I guess the Jolly Oyster would qualify as the latter.  But, it reminds me more of living in the country, of back home.  Of small towns and the smell of the ocean.  Heading up the coast to buy oysters & clams from a little truck is so perfectly small town.  It makes me so happy!

When Chris’ parents were in town, we did just that.  With a tablecloth, vegetables, cookware and a cooler full of beer, we headed up to Ventura to the Jolly Oyster.   The Jolly Oyster only sells oysters & clams, but there are grills in the area where you can cook for yourself.  We grilled, we boiled, we ate some raw… it was absolute perfection!  A wonderful little Sunday if I do say so myself!

I have a beautiful Pinterest board full of amazing looking desserts.  Things that literally make my mouth water.  But I hate making anything on it unless I have other people to eat it.  Otherwise, I definitely make a few trips to the kitchen while I’m supposed to be working to nibble.  And if I nibble all day long, all of the dessert disappears.

But recently, I just had to make something.  I wanted to bake!  Even though there was no where to take it!  So, I opened up my Pinterest app, took a quick spin through the board, threw my finger down and landed on this beautiful Cherry Cake.  Decided there would be less nibbling if I made cupcakes instead (and I could force Chris to take some to his office!)  Deeelicious!   So good!  They are now all gone. Opps.

Cherry cake

Adapted From Call Me Cupcake
100 g softened butter

1 3/4 sugar

1 cup milk

1/2 tsp vanilla powder or 1/2 vanilla bean

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 large egg whites

2 tbsp kirsch liqueur

Handful of fresh cherries

Pink food coloring

1. Heat oven to 175° (350F).

2. Butter and flour two 15 cm/6 inch baking pans.

3. Beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Add milk and vanilla powder (or scrape out the seeds in the vanilla bean). Mix until smooth. Set aside.

4. Measure flour and baking powder in a bowl and mix it with the butter mixture. Add the egg whites and mix for 2 minutes. Add kirsch and mix until smooth. Divide the cake batter evenly between two bowls and dye with pink food coloring into two different pink shades.

5. Pour the batter into the two prepared pans. Add some pitted and sliced cherries to one of the cakes (or both if you want to).

6. Bake the cakes for about 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Buttercream Frosting

Adapted From The Food Network

2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

1 cup butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 to 2 tablespoons milk

Image Courtesy of Love Ala

Every six months I have the incredible opportunity to rent an amazing house with eleven of my favorite photographers.  We sit.  We eat.  We craft. We cocktail.  And we simply enjoy our lives.  It’s the most fun thing I do all year!  This trip is taking us up to the Santa Ynez valley where we plan on doing very little.  You can follow along with us at A Traveling Heart.

Have a beautiful week!

If Gemma Hardy were sitting outside Blackbird Hall, and considering a cocktail, perhaps she would whip this up for herself.  Because it is fantastic, and Scottish, and perfectly mysterious.   Enjoy!