Tuesday, September 29, 2009

postcard from tulum

tulum: camera by the ruins

you feel
the
crispness
of autumn
in the mornings
here in dc.
the cats go out
gingerly
onto
the patio.
their paws
are
cold to the touch
when i
pick them up
to carry them in
before
i leave to school.

the change
of seasons
is upon us.

hard to believe
that just a few
short days
ago
i had my toes
in white warm
sand
and was staring
across
an ocean of
12 shades of
turquoise.

yes,
i can't believe it.
but at
the same time
it is
terribly
vivid.

i think
about one day
the most...
the day
we arrived in tulum
and were searching
for an area
to sit on the beach.
it was pouring rain
and we happened upon
a cafe
on a corner of beach
where
the shore
becomes rocky.

tulum: cafe

a little crook
in the shore
where you
can see the beach
stretch
far south.
we sat and
drank beer
and margaritas
and occasionally
scrambled around
on the rocks.

tulum: grub

the tables
were almost
all empty
except for
2 other men.
the slow
quiet
of the
off-season
filled
the cafe.

tulum: bug

it was windy
but warm.
we watched
families
play in the surf
and search for
little silver fish
in the tidepools.

xo

Thursday, September 24, 2009

hola

caribbean
{photo by grub}

home again.

it was quite
the
adventure trip.

it
was stressful
but
wonderful.
can't wait
to go back.

5 days is
not
nearly
enough
time.
it rarely is.

more soon.

xo

Saturday, September 19, 2009

quintana roo

mexico packing planner

i am off
to
quintana roo
mexico
for a week.

i am giving
a talk
at
the
lepidoptera
(butterflies & moths)
society meeting
.

butterfly necklaces

my packing
color scheme
is based
on these
2 vintage
butterly necklaces
that
my sister
gave to me
years ago.
my grandmother
gave them to her
but then
she passed them
to me
because...
well,
i am
a butterfly
(and moth)
biologist
afterall.


packed for mexico

i am excited
about
staying
a night
here
{a splurge for grubs birthday}
and
seeing this.

have
a wonderful
week.
see you next
friday!
xo

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

the neglected banana

banana: going ripert

i am in
no way,
shape,
or
form
a morning person.
in theory
i love the mornings.
but
people
who tend
to stay up late
(read: me)
do not do
so well
with
early-rising.
you would do well
to know
not to talk to me
before i have had
my first cup
of tea.
probably
better
to wait until
my second,
just to be sure.

but
i love breakfast,
although
i rarely
eat it.
mainly because
i am
always
always
running late
(refer back
to tendancy
to stay up late).

on the
weekends
i can indulge.

one of
my favorites-
burg's french toast
with
grub's
roasted bananas-
a modified
eric ripert recipe
(you can
watch eric
roast them).

banana: burg's french toast

did i mention
how much
i hate
ripe
bananas?
well, i do.
i like most
of my fruit
slighty green.
i am sure
there's some
evolutionary
advantage
to eating
slightly
unripe fruit.
or at least
that's what
i claim.
so i won't touch
bananas
once
they are all yellow
or even worse,
when they
have even
the tiniest
bit of black.
some
neglected bananas
reached
well past
the point
of edible
this weekend,
so
i decided to
try my hand
at another
recipe
from
a homemade life,
glenn's banana bread.

banana bread prep

i tend to
associate
banana bread
with overly moist,
heavy
brick-like
breakfast items
but molly talked
me into trying it

molly's banana bread.

i might
just
be a convert.


perfect
for
the rush-out-the-door
morning types.
maybe
there's
hope for
my mornings
after all...

xo

Saturday, September 12, 2009

weekend film

the leaves begin to fall

on sundays,
when the weather
cools
and
i don't have
to spend
my weekends
feeding
caterpillars,
grub and i
like to
take walks
around town...

come join us...

we discover
a little park
with an
old fence.

fence

and a VW
with
a mustache!

Monsieur VW

and
of course
we have
to stop
at our
favorite
place

for lunch.

chanterelle
bruschetta
to start.

chanterelle bruschetta

and then
zucchini
and
zucchini flower
pizza.

zucchini flower pizza

yum.

there's
a new
dessert place

across the street,
so of course
i have
to try
a cupcake.

grub always
gets
chocolate.

his cupcake

i prefer
vanilla.

my cupcake

thanks
for joining
us...

i hope you
have a lovely
weekend!

xo

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

i say tomato

heirloom tomatoes

sometimes
the simplest
meal
is the best.

this time
of year
grub and i
toast
some pieces of baguette
slathered in olive oil
and
slice some
heirloom tomatoes
&
local soft mozzerella.

we
sit and eat
in front
of our laptop
watching
some random show
on hulu.
the door and windows
are open.
we hear
the sounds of
the city
and
bear stalking
spot
on the patio.

. . .

did you hear
the segment
on heirloom tomatoes
on splendid table?
i am curious
about
this book.

what do
you do
with your
heirloom tomatoes?

xo

Monday, September 07, 2009

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

a bittersweet plum

my favorite plum

the transition
of
summer to autumn...
august to september
always has
a
certain
bittersweet taste.

it is when
school starts
and
the students return.
the summers
on campus
are quiet,
empty,
and have
a slow
quality
about them.
it's a time
to focus inward.
it is when
the backbone
of the campus-
grad students,
professors,
staff-
get most
of their
own work done.

then,
with what seems
like overnight,
the campus fills
like an
overstuffed pillow.

my walk from
the metro to campus
once filled with
the chik chik
of sprinklers
and
the hum
of dog-day cicadas
is now
a mash of
one
blasting radio
to the next.
sidewalks,
once empty,
are now
swarming
like a
beehive
opened
just before
a storm-
disorganized,
rushed,
disarrayed.

girls
in short short
shorts
and
tiny tight
dresses
that i never
had the guts
to wear
when i was
twenty.

this all
punctuates
the transition
of
summer
to fall.

like
autumn
written in
boldface type.

like the tartness
of the skin
of my favorite plum
that appears
at the market
this time
of year.

so so sweet
inside
with
a faint
bitterness.
a tang
left by
the summer skin.

my favorite plum

looking to autumn.
xo