i’m starving!

Our dinner consisted of fresh black pepper pasta made by Rio Bertolini’s tossed with sauteed oyster mushrooms from GnomeGrown Mushrooms! Super yummy! And yeah, we ate it on the deck because the weather is just so stinkin’ beautiful I can’t stand to be inside.

Rio Bertolini’s has been making and selling amazing pasta in Charleston for a few years now and the good news is they’ve expanded their reach to Columbia! Forrest has been excited about having them as a new vendor at the All Local Market. And the other day, we chatted up their gnocchi up with some friends and learned that some of their pastas are available at Piggly Wiggly! Awesome!

And these GnomeGrown guys grow some fabulous mushrooms right here in Columbia, SC!

We’re having a few friends over for the finale of The Walking Dead tonight! I can’t believe the weekend is already ending..

Hope the start of your week is successful and calm!

<3, Liz

drat the cat.

Well, I was all prepped to just post a photo of these flowers. Aren’t they lovely and yada yada.

Until I left them out in cat territory and Hemingway ate one. She ate the petals, anyway. Luckily, we witnessed this transgression and immediately researched anemones and their potential to kill a cat. The ASPCA doesn’t have them listed as a toxic plant, but we found another random site that lists them as one of the “top five” killer plants for cats.

Luckily, the emergency vet isn’t a far drive. They weren’t totally competent about what to do, but it all worked out. Long story short, she’s going to be fine. “Guts of steel,” Forrest says. We have to force some pink junk down H’s throat every few hours as a precaution and she’s on a bland diet for a few days.

Hemingway seemed totally unaffected by the whole thing. Meanwhile, we were out at the vet’s too late and missed Sleeping Beauty. Which is a bummer, but H is safe and that’s the important part!

What a face!

<3, Liz

on democracy and skunks.

Election years make my blood run a little hotter. Why is it that people who know the least seem to talk the loudest? I’m taking preemptive measures to keep myself sane and civil this year. Starting with Facebook. OH, thank you, thank you, Facebook for finally adding that “unsubscribe” button. It’s the only thing saving me from saying something I may regret to people I (usually) love.

In other news, the wilderness management team from the local high school came to work with our second graders this morning. And I got to feel a skunk’s fur! It was just his skin. Hide? Pelt? I don’t know the word, but it was super soft and super pretty. Yep, I petted a dead skunk and I thought it was kind of awesome.

Coincidence that this post is about politics and stinky skunks? Maybe, maybe not.

<3, Liz

daffodils

For the past two Saturdays, I’ve been working in Florence scoring portfolios for a summer art program. It’s the first step of the process to find the best, most talented kids to teach this summer. It’s pretty awesome.

Yesterday after the portfolio review, I stopped at my parents’ house for dinner. My mom made a bouquet for me to take home. It’s a “sampler of the flowers blooming in the yard.” Aren’t they lovely? They smell nice, too!

<3, Liz

 

hm.

Oh, hey.

I’m terrible at blogging lately and I found this moth in my classroom at school. No worries, he’s been returned to the wild.

Creepy, isn’t he?

The big news this week is that our friends Kenny and Emily gave birth to a beautiful baby boy on Monday evening! We had the pleasure of meeting little Avery yesterday and he is super sweet and super tiny. I don’t have any photos of him yet, but I do have one of the blanket I made for him a while back. So just look at the blanket and try to picture a newborn sleeping on it. Aww.

Also,  I recently discovered the show Doomsday Preppers on National Geographic. It’s crazy and I’m obsessed.

Happy Wednesday!

<3, Liz

nuggets

Yesterday, I missed my exit on the way to work. Yep, same route I’ve driven every morning for four years. Can’t explain that one, won’t try. Thank goodness for GPS.

 

Leaving work yesterday, I spotted a bald eagle circling the school.

 

Fitz tried to initiate himself into a feral cat colony this morning. He nearly succeeded.

 

I am no longer feeding feral cats because they are too scary.

 

I’ve been obsessed with The Hunger Games trilogy this week. It’s really messed up my internet and sleeping time.

 

AND it’s beautiful outside, so my Kindle and I will be on the back deck finishing up the last book of the trilogy. It’s intense.

 

<3, Liz

 

 

happy valentine’s!

Ah, el dia del amor.

Last year, we went out for a fancy dinner and Forrest began feeling sick. Ahem, waiter, could we get the next five courses to go?

So this year, we thought we’d play it cool and stay in. It’s amateur night anyway, right? Forrest is in the kitchen now prepping lamb chops. Yum!

I hope that your day is lovely and that you’ve been able to spend it with the people you love!

<3, Liz