Pardon me while I write some stuff down.

Yesterday, I brought lunch over to my dear friend Becca's house so we could catch up and have a little down time. Her little two year old, Glory, was watching a movie with her brother, and I went behind her and gave her a little tickle. She first informed me that Uncle Kowwwwl (my husband) was not with me and was "at wohhk," and then a few minutes later she found me in the kitchen and she said the sweetest words I think anyone has said to me. She looked up at me and said, "Oh, you home." She says this to visitors in their home because she thinks that they all live there. Like, "Hey, you're home now. So glad. Let's watch Tinkerbell and you can share your treats with me." It got me thinking...

I think over the past three weeks being away from my house I have learned that the word "HOME" to me is a very fluid concept. Home to me means a lot of things, not just the comfort of my house and the smell of something in the oven and my husband cheering in the other room for his beloved sports teams. In New York, we felt at home with the whole place. We felt like we could easily blend right in with the flow of energy and movement and speed there and not bat an eye. We felt at home on the Subway, moving from stop to stop and seeing all sorts of strange and interesting faces. My friend Phoebe that we stayed with there said it best, that New Yorkers tend to wear their history on their faces. They tend to have a sense of responsibility, family pride and burden to strive and press forward. Sure, it's no different from someone here in the Midwest or back in San Diego where I was raised. Perhaps it's just more palpable there.

Then, we were home for a few days, and flew to North Carolina for My sister in law's wedding. Most of you know I married from a small family into a pretty large family. Mister has aunts, uncles and cousins for days and lately the number of sisters, brothers, nieces and nephews grows by the minute. It's been fun to be a part of that family for the last 15 years since I started dating him, and being "adopted in" has been one of the best blessings ever. So many members flew out to Charlotte to be part of the big event, and it was nice to see those familiar faces. We pretty much took over this one hotel, and it was great to catch up with everyone and hang out. We would play cards and watch football or baseball in the hotel's lounge area together like we would on any given Sunday or holiday back in San Diego. Somehow this whole family just moved across the country, plunked down and everything was like normal again. That, to me was a huge testament to the word HOME again, too. People kept saying, oh you just got back from your trip and now you're away from home again... but really, we were home. Right at home with the people we loved. It wasn't in the house we normally were in, but it still was home. It's a comfort to know that home is portable and that no matter what, you take this love with you when you're blessed enough to know this family.

So now, we've been home for a few days... in our house. And it feels just as much like home when we get in our routines of work, the grocery store, making dinner, laundry and the like. Home is fluid in that it is a daily thing. A place to begin the day with hot tea and sorting the mail and to end it by brushing your teeth and snuggling in bed. It will probably be a while until we travel back see Mister's family again, and there's no telling the amount of change that will happen between now and then. But knowing that no matter what the scenery is, no matter what the circumstances are, we are able to pick up where we left off as if we never left, much like we do when we return to our house at the end of the day. When we decide to go back to what we call "our city" now, New York... we can find the pieces of ourselves that we left behind. Just like when we come home at the end of the day to find the pieces of ourselves in our house.

And in either of those instances, being back in our favorite places, traveling, seeing family or right here in our own place, I think that I will hear that little two year old in the back of my mind saying... "Oh, you home."

Concrete jungle where dreams are made of...

This past week was insane.

First we went to Norman to see the boys from Dublin. Ah, such a great show.

Then.


We went to New York... which was so much fun we almost didn't come home. Okay not really but still. Huge post on that to come later.

Then.


My friend Becca and I went to Ree Drummond AKA the Pioneer Woman's book launch party at the Tulsa Historical Society. She is sort of a local hero here in Oklahoma, but I know lots of people that read her blog and use her recipes. Such a cool lady, really. We got to meet Ree, Marlboro Man Ladd, her sweet friend Hyacinth and we even saw Wetsy Betsy and her cute baby and Ree's brother Mike. Ree is probably the nicest lady on the planet. She took the time to speak with everyone there, and not just signed our books but took the time to personalize them and have a laugh with all of us. And we were there a looong time waiting.

And really, I would write more but today I'm getting ready and doing laundry and packing because we fly out for Mister's sister's wedding this weekend! Hard to believe but Miss Meggie is getting MARRIED. This is the same little girl that when I met Mister 15 years ago was so little she would curl up in her dad's jacket on the floor in front of the TV because that's the only place she would fit in a living room of seven brothers and sisters. Everyone called her Shorty back then. And now she's going to be a WIFE. Wow. Congrats Megan! See you in a few days.

And see you all in a few days too. ;)

~HJ

This past weekend, I...

1. Went to a little Indie Craft fair called the Tulsa Indie Emporium. Lots of fun stuff in there... maybe next year I will get the guts to have my own table. Who can say, though, really?

2. Drank hot chocolate because it was so fall-y and cold and cozy in the house. And, when drinking hot chocolate, spring for the good stuff. Really. You'll never go back to that Swiss Miss dissolve in water stuff.

3. Made these... Salted Chocolate Covered Graham Crackers. I packed a few in a little baggie and Mister and I snuck them into the movies. Because a.) I hate paying 5 dollars for candy at the movies that is 69 cents at the Quik Trip, b.) these took just as long to make as a trip to Quik Trip (minus the hardening time.) and c.) these taste super dang good. I think I want to try making homemade graham crackers next time. We shall see.

4. Saw a movie with Mister... We saw Couples Retreat, and it wasn't as funny as I expected, but it was still pretty cute. Who doesn't love Vince Vaughn anyway? Honestly.

5. Busted out the fall wardrobe in full... we've passed the flip flop portion of the year for now. It's all about scarves, jeans, cardigans and flats. (before we transition into boots.) Check these dolls out... 98 dollar Micheal Kors that I pretty much stole for 35 bucks. They have a cute driving moc sole, too. LOVE. Ah, my favorite pukey green scarf, it's like an old friend.

6. Made my little NYC travel journal for our trip which is coming sooooo fast. Whoa. Hit me up with your favorite NYC places if you got 'em. We're staying with my pal Phoebe who lives literally in the middle of Mahattan, so it should be pretty insane. I made this with little glassine envelopes to fill with fun bits and stuff, and made it 4x6 so all I have to do is add photos and fill in what we did along the way. Gooby and over organized I know, but it passes the time until our plane leaves. Really. Oh yeah, and P.S. I want to put happytape all over everything in my entire house. For reals.

6. Listened to new fall music... the new Death Cab song for New Moon is pretty cool. Very New-Moonish. I also am loving The Weepies, as I do every fall. Also, I love this one Joy Williams song... its kind of melancholy, but I think she has a great voice. I put it on my Tumblr for your listening enjoyment.

7. Snuggled on my Mister a lot... Tomorrow is our 8th wedding anniversary. A few weeks ago, he went to get his hair cut, and came home with this fuzzy cozy blanket for me that I would heavily hint about on our trips to Target. You need this blanket. Trust me. You get in it and melt... yeeeaaah.

Happy Anniversary, Mister... This one's for you. ----->CLICK HERE!

"Baby, we've come along way, baby. You know I hope and I pray that you believe me when I say this love will never fade away... because you are the best thing... you are the best thing... you are the best thing... ever happened to me."*
-Ray LaMontagne

*(Sorry to get all mooshy on you but jeeze... look at him. So Handsome.)

"They were sitting in the strawberry swing..."

1. Fave Mason, 2. Petite Thought Bubble Chalkboard, 3. 04.17.08, 4. Feminine, 5. My secret obsession...milkglass, 6. Canebrake appetizers., 7. Justin Bernhaut {Photographer}, 8. mott.st, 9. Big Hexes Quilt

Time is going by so fast. I can't do anything to slow things down. And although I'm excited for things that are on the horizon, I still feel guilty when I wish for things to go faster for fear of wishing my life away and missing any little detail that makes it all the more sweet. I just sat right down and typed that out, that is simply what is on my heart today.

Or:

"Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."
-Matthew Broderick, Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

At any rate...

Not much else is new... not a whole lot anyway. I've been listening to the new Muse album and liking it's Killers meets Queen meets Keane sound. It's pretty pop-y but for now I will take it. I need some new fall tunes something fierce... any suggestions? (and if you say Miley Cyrus Party in the USA I will punch your lights out.) I think I've also been listening to a lot of music I was into circa 1997... like Crowded House and Neil Finn. So random.

I've been making more jam, too... this week I made a strawberry peach jam with some moscato wine in it, and it made my kitchen smell like a Jamba Juice smoothie. I don't know why, but jam is probably one of the most therapeutic things to make. You pour everything in a big pot and you stir for like half an hour while it bubbles and spurts and gurgles at you. You think deep thoughts and let your mind wander while you're still accomplishing something incredibly old fashioned and domestic. You babysit the pot and skim off the foam, and in the end you get a few jars of the sweetest jam that beats the pants off of any Smuckers store bought bleh. (I don't think I'll ever go back. Except for that funky french-named jam with the red gingham top. Maybe.)

Oh yeah, and look how cute:


Mister's parents were here last weekend or maybe the week before (see it's all running together) and we went to Canebrake for dinner... we went early and pretty much had the place to ourselves. Man, I want to go back right now. I'd have a glass of that ZaZa Spanish Rose and kickback. But look how cute they are! I just love them to pieces. We had the best time, and even though when we're home I love all the family there together, it was a nice change of pace to have them to ourselves. Ahhh... anyway.

Off to bed for now... 'till the next episode.

~HJM

"There must be a forecast that you won't let yourself see..."

That song has been stuck in my head all day and I'm loving it. Words of wisdom...

Anyhoooo...

Fall decor is up. I was inspired by Nichole's cute house! I didn't really have too many fall decor items, but I didn't want to just go out and buy something already done. I like a little DIY in everything. So for thirty bucks, I grabbed some yellow vases and orange plates from the clearance rack at Target, some cracker jars and a few bags of candy corn and dried yellow and green peas, and some felt from Hobby Lobby to make a leafy garland that had been inspired by Elsie. Also picked up a $5 bag of mini pumpkins at the grocery store. All that's missing is a big pumpkin to put on the floor next to the pumpkin shaped lantern, but they don't have them yet. Not bad for $30?




So now the house is all ready to go for our special guests (Mister's parents!) who arrive tomorrow. Lots of fun stuff planned for them, and I plan on spoiling them rotten like they do for us when we are home. We're taking them to the Canebrake, which will hopefully be as good as the last time!

Other obsessions this week:

Happy Tape. Oh my. I'm obsessed with this pretty Japanese paper tape. I gathered some stuff to make a little add as you go travel mini for our NYC trip coming soon. Both Jamaica and Elise did cute ones, and it made me want to do one. I'm finally going to use up some of my hoarded Etsy paper goods from Jamaicamakes, Found Paper Co, Bananafish studio, Happy Tape and from Paper Source, which really is the "source" if you ask me. I could spend lots of little and big dollars there. Fun glassine and poppy envelopes and yellow dang cute labels. Here's the makings... I'll post the journal soon.Other stuff:
Making more Jam, this time Strawberry Jam with Sofia Champagne in it... the Sofia adds the teensiest bit of richness but not enough champagne flavor. I think I'm going to to try a Moscato or another sweet wine to see if I can get it right.

Loving the "new" vintage chalkboard I got for our kitchen. I think it needs to be painted lemon yellow instead of that funky shabby blue. In the meantime, we like using it for random fun quotes.

That's a lot for now... be back soon with pics of the Monty's visit and more....
~HJM

The weekend from two weeks ago.

Flew home to San Diego over Labor Day weekend to surprise my littlest sister in law who is getting married... for her bridal shower! It sure was a fun weekend complete with my mother in law Chris' chocolate chip cookies, catching up with family and friends, learning about a new niece or nephew that's coming (yay, Lisa!), seeing Missie's cute new house and some other fun stuff, too.

Oh yeah. And I also almost got killed by a bird that entered the house about 30 minutes before the shower. I was in charge of not letting it fly down the hallway while the rest of the girls tried to shoo it out the door. (In my wet towel head outfit while my sister in law ironed my party dress.) In a moment of complete chaos, I hear the screams of my sister in law Lisa, the giggles of my other sister in law Megan (the Bride), the "STOP SCREAMING!" advice coming from my other sister in law, Beth (always the voice of reason) and the wing flaps of what was surely a bald eagle or a giant heron or condor. We can't leave out Chris, in the front window panicking and punching the front screen out like she's Mike Tyson. Meanwhile, convinced I'm about to get my eyes pecked out, I hit the deck as the HUGE tiny bird flew directly toward my face three yards away from my head where I bravely confronted it crying and laughing hysterically and allowed someone to continue to shoo it out the front door. Bravery, folks. It was a valiant symphony of poise and dexterity lots of screaming and arm flailing on the part of the Monty girls. It was almost as fun as the time we almost set the house on fire right before Thanksgiving.

In other news... see that picture above? Well I know you can't see, but in that picture somewhere are myself and the incomparable Elvis Costello. I know, right? He was on the plane with me, and of all the celebrities I have seen or run into in my life, with him I think I was the most starstruck, walking by him as he sat in First Class flying from his Tulsa gig to his Denver gig. Oh Elvis. If only I had one minute to take a photo and give you snaps. Again... it's like the Julia Child thing. A girl can only handle so many brushes with greatness in one lifetime.

Or birds.

This is a bloggable topic.

Okay, so one of the movies of this summer that I was most looking forward to was Julie & Julia (click for trailer). I had read the book about a year ago, and being a blogger, home cook and semi- seasoned foodie, I really fell in love with it. And, with Nora Ephron behind the film, for me, it could really be nothing but perfect. I saw it a few weeks ago, and it really was perfect. Maybe not to critics, or to other people that had seen it, but to me. There's something in this movie, as nerdy as it sounds, that I completely identified with, both the Julie side of the story and the Julia side.

The truth is, I've always had this thing about Julia Child. When I was little, I was raised on PBS shows like The Electric Company and Sesame Street, but I most vividly remember watching Julia Child on PBS reruns of The French Chef, and being fascinated with watching her (or anyone) cook. (When I told my sister in law Lisa this over the weekend, she said, 'Why am I not surprised?') I loved her goofy voice, she sounded like a cartoon character. When my mom would cook in the kitchen, I was always on the counter watching her and helping her measure and pour and stir. Cooking was fun for me and still is. I love to try new recipes, tweak them and make them my own. Do I know a lot of cooking techniques? Eh...maybe. Do I yearn to be a Cordon Bleu trained chef? No. Do I still make scrambled eggs for dinner sometimes? Yes. For me, there's something about being in the kitchen relaxes me and gives me a sense of accomplishment. It's a great way to end a stressful day, and I love the idea of something being home made and putting your heart and love in to it.

In seeing the movie and reading the book, I found that this is very similar to Julie Powell, the main person in Julie & Julia. Having a sense of fearlessness in the kitchen... mastering a really hard recipe or something you've made before that totally bombed and redeeming it with something new... its a great feeling. Nerdy, but great. Growing up, we did have a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, (funny enough, mine is the same color as the one in the movie!) but I really don't remember my mom using it... I remember thumbing through it though, and not liking it as much as the Better Homes and Gardens red and white checkered binder style cook book with the COLOR photos.

I do remember one summer, though, when I was about seven years old, my Mom and I had driven up the coast of California as we had done a few summers to visit my older sister who was going to school in Northern California. On the way home, we stopped in Solvang to spend the night and walk around, and my Mom thought it would be fun for the two of us to drive to San Simeon to see Hearst Castle, nestled in the hills of the Central California coast. In order to get to the castle for the tour, you needed to ride this shuttle bus since there was no where to park your car on the grounds. We got on the bus, and instead of the rows you would find in a normal bus, this was more like one long bench down either side of the bus. My Mom and I sat down, and a few minutes later, an older lady came and sat next to me, sandwiching me in with my Mom. I noticed that people were whispering on the bus, and pointing... and I asked my Mom what the big deal was, and she discreetly whispered in my ear that it was Julia Child who had just sat down next to me. I didn't believe her, because the Julia Child I knew was younger, and didn't have grey hair and wrinkles like this lady did... I guess I just thought that The French Chef was a current show or something. But looking further, it was, in fact the Julia Child. She would have been in her mid eighties at that point.

Looking back, I really wished my Mom had snapped a photo. I asked her recently why she didn't and she said that she had remembered that Julia was trying to be very discreet and enjoy her day without anyone bothering her. She had wanted a little privacy. She had someone with her, but she couldn't remember if it was her husband or a care taker- type person. Oh, if only I had a photo. I assure you it would be framed in my kitchen right now. Right next to my copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Currently, I am reading My Life In France, which is the "Julia" side of the story of the movie... all about her life in France and how she became the Julia Child we knew her to be.

I think this movie somehow made it all come full circle for me.

Now, I've rambled on forever, and I need to go fix some dinner for Mister who will be home soon.

As Julia would say, "Bon Appetit!"