Sunday, April 11, 2010

the simple life...

bradford pear blossom 2

my last day of work was friday and now i am prepping for our move to georgia. i am genuinely looking forward to life slowing down and all of the other lovely southern comforts of home! indulge my while i rattle off my simple goals for this summer.

bradford pear blossom 1

this summer i hope to...

1. plant chamomile or feverfew.
2. perfect an apple pie and blackberry pie recipe(my husband's favorite).
3. take long walks around my new neighborhood, preferably with my mother.
4. have a summer movie night in a backyard, with a home-made theater screen (bed sheets tacked down with ropes).
5. actually catch fireflies in mason jars.
6. learn how to set up a grill and use a charcoal chimney.
7. be pulled on a tube behind a speed boat on a lake.
8. visit my 102 year old grandmother weekly... she will be within walking distance of our new apartment :)
9. make homemade icecream and bread at least once!
1o. take more polaroid pictures. thank you the-impossible-project.
11. volunteer at a local farmstand or farm, hopefully love is love farm...
12. finish drawing everyone's lovely photos emailed to me. i have NOT forgotten, the move has thrown a wrench into my timeline :)
13. start using cloth napkins more and less paper towels.
14. read more! i am compiling a master summer reading list, and am open to suggestions and recommendations!
15. be in the love business. one way or another.

**oh and learn how to drive. i have been avoiding it for nearly 26 years. i am petrified of driving.

20 comments:

readplayrun said...

you should definitely add "the help" by kathryn stockett to your summer reading list.

Sophie said...

15 and 13 are my persnal favourites. Though i've never seen much point in cloth napkins, you dirty them up... wash them.. then you dirty them up again.
And with the paper ones, you just use and chuck.
Agh, the enviroment... forgot about that.

Liane said...

fun. do it all. and then take a long nap in the fall. :)
ps- i didn't get my license till I was 21. i hated driving. but now it's easy as pie. once you get going you won't be so scared.

wrangler said...

breadmaking is soooooo good

Anonymous said...

gbs, you should snag a copy of these two cookbooks for working on your pie craft:
1. The Gift of Southern Cooking by Scott Peacock and Edna Lewis is fantastic- I haven't made a bad recipe out of it, and the pie crust recipe is the best. Plus, all the ingriedients will be easy to find in a GA farmer's market! Also, best mac and cheese recipe ever.
2. Southern Sideboards, published by the Jackson, MS Junior League sometime in the 1960s (but still in print) has without a doubt my favorite apple pie recipe ever (Harvest Apple Pie) and a host of other good recipes-- some are a little retro, but always in a fun way. Junior league cookbooks from the South are the best (I bet your grandmother has some from the 60s!)

Enjoy the move and learning to drive! I used to live in a small town in the South, and I really miss driving kudzu-covered back roads in the summertime.

Anonymous said...

I haven't read up on blogging etiquette, so forgive me if it is rude to stalk the blog of someone you don't know for months and then leave a very long anonymous comment about pie crust and good literature. I post this anyways, because I love your blog, making pies, and reading in the summer.

A few books that have become my best friends:
-The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kinsolver)
-The Education of Little Tree (Forrest Carter)
-Jayber Crow (Wendell Berry)
-The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
-The Elegance of the Hedgehog (Muriel Barbery)
-All the Places to Love (Patricia Mclachlan)*
-The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)**

*A children's book, but worth leaving on the coffee table, reading again and again, and revelling in the illustrations

**If you haven't read this and read nothing else from the list, read this book! It is short and sweet and simply enchanting.

"Perfect Pie Crust"
4 cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups cold butter (real butter - not shortening or margarine - is best)
1 tablespoon white distilled vinegar
1 egg
1-4 tablespoons ice water

1. Mix flour, sugar, and salt.
2. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter or fork.
3. Beat the egg and vinegar together and add to crumbly mixture.
4. Finished dough should just stick when formed into a ball. Add enough ice water to reach this texture.
4. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface and transfer to pie pan (can also be refrigerated or frozen until needed).
Makes enough dough for a bottom crust and a lattice. Enjoy!

chelsea said...

!! I didn't know you were moving to Georgia!!! Your summer goals sound so fun! I didn't get my driver's license til I was way into my twenties:) Can't wait to hear about your new adventures. Good luck on the move!

P.S. Love the Polas!!!

Elle said...

sounds like a good summer ahead of you! i absolutely love your blog so much, good luck with the move.

please check out my blog if you have the time :) it would be greatly appreciated xxx

Jay said...

Gosh, it's all happening so quickly!

I hope you have a "last to-dos in NYC" list too!! Coney Island, the Frick, a boat ride around the harbor, pizza at Grimaldi's... all the things you can only do in New York.

nicole said...

I am currently reading, "This Wheel's On Fire" by Levon Helm. It's his story of life in The Band. If you love the South, girl, Levon tells it best... growing up in Turkey Scratch, Arkansas, working on his daddy's farm, trying to become a bonafide musician. I'm an Arkansas girl, and I am crazy about this book so far. And, of course, I love The Band. Good luck with the move. And good luck with accomplishing your summer goals! xoxo.

"hi, i'm ginnybranch stelling and i love love." said...

i love all these book suggestions, keep em comin! i have a master book list i'm compiling for all my summer reading :)

"hi, i'm ginnybranch stelling and i love love." said...

violet, hahaha! i'm trying to be a better friend to the environment, baby steps ;)

little gypsy, done and done! just added!

lovely anonymous, thank you for your pie crust and book recommendations-what a doll! and le petit prince is one of my all time faaaavorites :)

chelsea and liane, it makes me feel so much better to hear that! driving gives me panic attacks!

oakley, i better hurry up and do it! this was a new years resolution!

eleanor rose, darling name and darling blog!

jay, i absolutely have a little list of new yawky things to see and do before we skeedaddle out of the big apple!

nicole, i have to read that book! and then give it to my husband, who loves the band! and the last waltz for that matter :)

Sealicious said...

Best Wishes for your move and settling in to your new home!

hannah and landon said...

sounds absolutely dreamy! <3

lis said...

Every so often I love to re-read A Wrinkle in Time. One of my all-time favorites and perfect for summer evenings!

I'm really looking forward to your blog posts from Georgia!

Amber said...

If you've never read it, Lee Smith's "Fair and Tender Ladies" will slay you. It's perfect summer reading.

And driving is only scary if you let it be. Once you've got it, you've got it for life!

Amber said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jenn said...

Best book ever: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
Great summer read, if you weren't coerced into reading it in high school.

http://roxxybelle.blogspot.com

Rhiannon said...

I'm awfully excited that you're moving here and that you're up for RuPaul Drag Race Atlanta member stalking! A friend of ours knows Nicole Paige Brooks and said he/she is nice?

Shelley said...

welcome to GA when you move here! i love it during the summer :) everything on your list is exactly how i would love to spend my summer also! catching fireflies and tubing are both so much fun!

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