happy friday!

today is supposedly starting a several day heatwave for our area!  we're going to try to think cool thoughts and stay in ac as much as possible!

have a great (and cool) weekend!

love, laurie

chocolate hammers

the resort where ryan works had their ground-breaking ceremony yesterday for a large expansion project that they are doing to their conferencing center.  as a treat, they handed out chocolate hammers dusted in edible gold to the guests at the ceremony.  there were several left over at the end of the night, so ryan was able to bring two home for us.  i'm looking forward to taking a bite into one of those chocolate hammers!

love, laurie

cat on a hot tin roof

we've worked a lot of shows back-to-back in the theatre lately.  i haven't taken many pictures since i'm normally so busy during the shows.  however, i did manage to snap two quick pictures from the balcony during a production of cat on a hot tin roof.  theatre lighting never turns out great in photos (especially phone snapshots) but i wanted to document it nonetheless since ryan designed the lights for this show.

love, laurie

summer blooms

i came home from work yesterday evening and saw that so many of the flowers in our yard were blooming.  i couldn't pass up the opportunity to grab my camera and snap a few photos before the sun went down.  i just love seeing all of this vibrant color around our yard!!!

love, laurie

key lime pie pancakes

the last time i shared a pancake recipe was 11 months ago!  wow, that's crazy to me.  don't go thinking that we haven't been making pancakes for the better part of a year.  we have certainly made and eaten more than our fair share, but they always get gobbled up so fast there's no time to snap a quick photo!

on sunday morning i was scrolling through pinterest and found a recipe for key lime pie pancakes.  since i had just bought a lime at the grocery store two days before, i knew what i had to make for breakfast that morning!

we're big fans of key lime pie and making that classic dessert into pancake form was a genius move!  these pancakes have all the flavor of key lime pie and have such a great texture.  the recipe made a little more than we could eat, so it's nice to know there are a few more waiting in the fridge for us (but don't expect them to be in the fridge for long)!

key lime pie pancakes
prep time: 10 minutes
cooking time: 10 minutes
yields 3-4 servings
adapted from peas and crayons

ingredients:
3/4 cup unsweetened and unflavored almond milk
6 oz. plain greek yogurt
1 lime, zested and juiced
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
4 graham crackers, crushed into a fine flour
2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
2 large eggs

directions:
in a bowl, combine the milk, yogurt, and lime juice.  whisk well and set aside.  in a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, crushed graham crackers, sugar, and lime zest.  add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients along with the oil and eggs.  whisk well until no lumps remain.

heat a lightly greased griddle or frying pan on medium heat.  pour 1/4 cup of batter onto the griddle for each pancake.  cook 3-4 minutes until small bubbles begin to form.  flip the pancakes when they start to bubble, they cook for 3 minutes on the other side until they are golden brown and cooked throughout.  serve warm, topped with additional lime zest, whipped cream, and/or warm maple syrup.

enjoy!

love, laurie

summer bucket list 2018

since yesterday was the official first day of summer it seemed only right to make a summer bucket list.  i'm keeping my fingers crossed for a summer of good weather and hoping to be able to carve out some time to spend with ryan after our crazy spring schedules.

here's what i'm looking forward to this summer . . .

- make homemade ice cream and popsicles

- lots of bike rides and hikes

- visit the local flea market

- catch a flick at the local drive-in movie theatre

- visit the local farmers market as much as possible

- successfully grow tomatoes

- spend some time in the water

love, laurie

happy summer!

happy first official day of summer!  goodness gracious, it has been hot the past few days!  our old 1930s home doesn't have ac, so we've been trying to make the best of it with one little window ac unit and lots of fans.  poor leko must be so hot wearing his fur coat in this heat.  the other night, he passed out on the bed under the ceiling fan in an effort to cool off.  poor little guy!

love, laurie

a father's day hike around nay aug park

after checking out the car show on father's day, we took a hike around nay aug park before coming home for our cookout lunch.  it was a really hot day outside!  even though we were all drenched in sweat, it was so nice to be out in nature (and out of the dark theatre for a change)!  the waterfalls made for a pretty kodak moment too.

love, laurie

the villa capri cruisers club car show

on father's day, we took a trip to nay aug park in the morning to check out the villa capri cruisers club car show.  it's an annual car show organized by the nonprofit to raise money for local charities.  we were all surprised by how many classic, historic, and antique cars were on display.  it was neat to walk around and check them all out.  by far, my favorite was the car above which was a life-size version of a popular kid toy.

love, laurie

lots to celebrate!

happy birthday today to ryan's dad!

yesterday we got together with our families to celebrate ryan's dad's birthday, father's day, and ryan's parents' anniversary.  we celebrated with a cookout on the back porch and birthday cake, of course.  it was a nice celebration even though it was the hottest day of the year so far!

a few pictures from yesterday afternoon . . .

love, laurie

happy weekend!

it's friday and we're kicking off the weekend this morning by getting together with our parents to tour a local museum.  we have a show which will keep us in the theater all day on saturday, but on sunday we're looking forward to celebrating father's day, ryan's dad's birthday, ryan's parents' anniversary, and belated mother's day for ryan's mom. 

there sure is a lot to celebrate in our family on sunday, so we'll be enjoying the day by taking a walk around a local park followed by a cookout for lunch.

have a wonderful weekend!

love, laurie

passed out

our schedules have been extra odd for the past week and poor leko is having a hard time keeping up.  after finding him fast asleep on top of the couch the other day, i also found him passed out on top of the coffee table one day and then on my lap on top of a pile of blankets another day.  poor little man, mom and dad promise our schedules will even out soon!

love, laurie

cookie break

on saturday evening ryan and i had to run up to upstate new york to see a show that is coming down to our theater this weekend.  we got there a little early and had a few moments to spare, so we checked out a few stores in the area.  we came across a cafe and stopped in to grab some coffee.  we couldn't resist the humongous s'mores cookie sitting in the display case.  it was so good and made for the perfect little treat to get us through the show.  here's to the little things like cookies that make all the difference sometimes when you are exhausted!

love, laurie

roses are red . . .

i was pleased to see that our little red rose bush started blooming this weekend.  it's so nice to see the little red roses every time i walk outside to our garage.  inside, i've been enjoying my bouquet of red roses this past week from my dance recital last weekend.  the timing is perfect since today is national red rose day.  it makes me think back to when ryan and i went to portland, oregon and visited the portland international rose test garden where they had the most amazing roses i had ever seen in my life!

in honor of red rose day today, take a moment to stop and smell the roses

love, laurie

sleeping beauty

last week was a busy one and this weekend kept us going with a show in the theater.  at one point last week i plopped down on the couch for just a few moments to grab a bite to eat.  i looked over my shoulder and saw leko on the top of the couch fast asleep.  even he was exhausted.

here's hoping for a slightly less exhausting week this week!

love, laurie