300 Days of Sunshine

I have the best Maid of Honor in the world!   Between grad school, work, and preparing to move into a new apartment, she miraculously found time to plan THE BEST bachelorette party ever (and 3 time zones away, I might add).  I had such a fabulous time being surrounded by (and loved and adored by!) all my best friends for four days. The weekend started at 4:30 a.m. Thursday when my Santa Fe friends and I drove to Albuquerque (a 50 mile trip made possible by Panera breakfast) to catch our early flight to the Bay Area.  After a 2 1/2 trip (complete with Bloody Maries, Tequilla Sunrises, Coffees with Baileys, gossip and a few bridal magazines) we landed in Oakland!  One of my dear bridesmaids from Chicago who had arrived a few days earlier picked us up and we headed into San Francisco.  We met up with the other gals, checked in early to our hotel (Parc 55 Wyndahm in Union Square) and set out to explore the city by foot.  Som...

  While perusing through a used book store in Minnesota a couple months ago, I came across the Coyote Cafe cookbook on the clearance shelf for $0.99.  I thought to myself, this couldn't possible be the recipes of THE Coyote Cafe (a well-known, up-scale Santa Fe restaurant that has been one of my very favorites since Restaurant Week in 2012).  Sure enough, it was indeed chef Mark Miller's book of the Coyote Cafe!  What a great find! The book is filled with Mark Miller's recipes that stem from a variety of Southwestern, Hispanic and Native American influences.  He has a unique and revolutionary approach to Southwest cooking and I was excited to start making my way through his recipes!  The first recipe I tried... Brazilian Pork: Yield: 4 servings 1 pork loin (about 4 pounds) Pork Marinade (see below) 4 cups fresh orange juice 1 cup chopped fresh ginger 1 cup brown sugar 2 teaspoons ground cloves Pork Marinade: 1/2 cup sugar ...

  While sitting cross-legged at the beginning of yoga class the other day, the instructor cued us to find our center, a perfectly neutral position of the spine without leaning forward or back.  He added that in our culture we tend to lean forward because we live just slightly in the future at all times.  I recalled a yoga session I attended about 8 years ago in which my instructor adjusted my posture because, unbeknownst to me, I was leaning forward in this seated position.  I generally have very good body awareness, and I remember the bewilderment I felt to be lacking awareness of my posture; but I would have to agree with Josh: in our culture we are constantly living forward into the future.  I am especially guilt of this.   I make an effort to recall the moments recently when I truly felt present.  Maybe while spending time with friends, or singing along to a song on the radio, or when I got a really spectacular 6...

It's officially summer!  That means barbeques, afternoons at the pool, watermelon, sundresses, fruity cocktails, flip flops, and of course... beach books!  In the summer I crave a certain type of book -- a story that will take me on a vacation.  I like to read about summer friendships or family drama, or a character's coming of age during an exciting era, or an intimate memoir.  I have very fond memories of some of the summer books I've read over the years and where I was at the time (such as laying in the sand at Virginia Beach, sitting out on the deck at my parents' house, or lounging on a beach chair in northern Minnesota).  Here are a few of my favorites... Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (Rebecca Wells) The Help ( Kathryn Stockett) The Art of Racing in the Rain (Garth Stein) Dewey (Vicki Myron) One Thousand White Women (Jim Fergus ) My Sister's Keeper (Jodi Picoult) Tara Road (Maeve Binchy) Angry...