Today, we said "yes" to a long train ride to a place we'd never been before. We said yes to an adventure that required us to get up earlier, to not know every possible scenario or every possible outcome, to give up quite a bit of the façade of control, to enter unprepared. We said, I said, "even if we want to go home at noon, we can't." Like any good commitment, it felt brave and absolutely crazy. Absolutely crazy-brave. 

Secret Family Pancake Recipe

Today I'm doing a little guest blogging over at Trouvés Home, a lifestyle blog focused on simplicity and written by my friend Julia. Head on over there to find my family's delicious secret made-from-scratch pancake recipe. And, shameless plug, it's my birthday...so if you'd leave a little comment love, it would be like a birthday present to me. 

Do you find that the degree to which you enjoy a certain food can depend largely upon the memories you have attached to it? I do. A particular chicken pot pie recipe always reminds me of the friend who first brought it to us and joined us for dinner soon after one of our children was born. I never grow tired of the steak marinade that my mom uses for almost every birthday dinner she has made my dad. I've come to love the butter and brown sugar crusted sweet potato recipe that my husband's family use to make every Thanksgiving as he was growing up because I enjoy seeing the delight in his eyes when he serves two heaping spoonfuls onto his plate. Making food as a way to show people you love them is as old as time itself.

One of my favorite food memories is waking up early on Saturday mornings, completing the newspaper route (usually with my Dad), and coming back to enjoy buttermilk pancakes hot off the griddle...

(...head on over to Trouvés Home for the rest of the post and the recipe!)

Rain Makes Applesauce

Drip, drip, drip. Splatters, splashes. It's been a rainy couple days here in So Cal, and boy are we glad for it. Drought is a serious business, and though our lawn is probably a little more green than it should be, we try to conserve water in other areas (hooray for using the drought as another excuse for not getting a shower in today! Or skipping bath time!). Trying to figure out what to do on a rainy day can be a bit of a chore, though, when you're used to being able to just get the whole crew outside when you start driving each other bonkers. Splashing in puddles loses its novelty once you get thoroughly soaked and cold.