Summer Solstice



Happy summer!  This is such a beautiful time of year in Santa Fe!  It's officially outdoor music season, festival season, drinks-on-a-patio season, estate sale season, and working-on-my-tan season!  With the extremely warm afternoons we've been having lately, it's hard to believe that it wasn't officially summer until last week.  We've had an eventful few weeks in our household.  A few updates...

1) Gardening:  With warmer mornings and no risk of frost, I finally moved my little garden outside!  The tomatoes and rhubarb are looking questionable (the hottest week of the year was probably the wrong time to subject them to a new environment...), but I'm hopeful about my peppers and I planted a few more flowers from seeds.
Shishito Peppers


Peppers and cherry tomatoes

My new rose bush

Kua is a big help in the garden...


2)  Summer Fun in Santa Fe:  There are so many fun summer events in Santa Fe!  On Wednesdays there's free live music ("Music on the Hill") at St. John's College, the Saturday Farmer's Market is in full swing, there are outdoor movies at the Railyard on Fridays, and a number of fantastic art festivals coming up.  This past weekend we had fun at the Rodeo!


Cheering on Jaycob in his Tuesday night softball games
Music on the Hill

Big crowd at this summer's first Music on the Hill

 3)  Summer Fitness:  I'm trying to stay fit through the warm months and the middle of my pregnancy!  I ran the Cherry Garcia 5K last weekend with my running buddy.  Unfortunately I don't have any other races planned for the next couple months, but I'm enjoying long walks with the pooch, Friday TRX suspension training classes, and a new barre class on Mondays that my good friend introduced me to!  I hope to do some more mountain biking in the next few weeks, and I look forward to swimming indoors more this summer when the afternoons are hot.  I'm also trying some prenatal yoga classes a couple different yoga studios.

 4)  Concert Season:  Tonight we're heading to Colorado, where I will see my first concert at Red Rocks, Ben Harper!  Later this summer we'll see Ziggy Marley at the Santa Fe brewing company (on my birthday!) and Michael Franti at the opera house.  In the fall we have tickets to see a Minneapolis band, Atmosphere, here in Santa Fe, followed by Mumford and Sons in Albuquerque!
5)  Finally, a few summer recipes...
Blue Moon Cupcakes with Orange Frosting:  Cupcake recipe
I made these for a coworker's bridal shower recently!

Crock Pot Pasta Fagioli:  Fagioli recipe


This is Jaycob's favorite soup at Olive Garden, and such an easy meal when we're running around and don't have time to cook!

 No Bake Honey Almond Cereal Bars
From What To Eat When You're Pregnant

 1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup almond butter
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
3 cups Cheerios (I used Honey Nut) 

 Line a 9x9 pan with parchment paper.  Combine honey, almond butter, and chocolate in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring until the chocolate is melted.  Pour the mixture over the Cheerios in a bowl.  Press into the pan, refrigerate for 2 hours, cut into squares and enjoy! 



These are so easy to make and have less sugar than store-brand bars.






   

Happy summer from my crazy family to yours!



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