Happy 4th!!!

(Note: NOT taken with new camera!)

   Happy Independence Day to all. I celebrated by—finally—investing in a semi-pro DSLR camera (Canon EOS Rebel T4i... and I can't wait 'til it's charged & ready to try it out!!!) So hopefully my blog photography will be getting an upgrade soon. 'Til then, please enjoy these iPhone shots of some delectable treats I whipped up this afternoon.
   Sure, tacos brimming with homemade salsa may not be the traditional food of July 4th, but why not, I say?

    And I found a recipe this week for no-bake red-white-and-blue fruit tarts, so I quadrupled the recipe and am going to surprise my team tomorrow. (Okay, and maybe eat one myself tonight, too.)

Fantasy 4th of July Weekend

My weekend, in a few adjectives:

Fun.

Indulgent.

Sweaty.

Magical.

Creative.

Delicious.

Extraordinary.

   I had an amazingly awesome Fourth of July weekend: charcuterie, wine, cheese and tapas at Extra Virgin. Fireworks on the lawn of Liberty Memorial. A heaping helping of Oklahoma Joe's BBQ. An afternoon at the Nelson-Atkins Museum. Dinner at Justus Drugstore and a chat with the chef. I slept in every day. Watched the first seven stunning episodes of Mad Men (finally!), as well as the unapologetically sweet, wonderful and sentimental Cinema Paradiso. Walked at Shawnee Mission Park with the pups (despite the intense heat and humidity). Co-created two delicious homemade amoeba-shaped pizzas and drank too much good wine.

   All in all, it was a fantasy weekend with someone very cool, so I guess I shouldn't have been as surprised as I was when I woke up this morning feeling melancholy that it was coming to an end. But I guess I have to return to reality: the cold slap in the face of a lawn to be mowed, house cleaning and a pile of laundry, and a 5:45 am wake up call for work tomorrow.   Can't wait 'til the next time...

   Top that off with Kristin getting engaged yesterday, and an impending visit to see Kelley and her sure-to-be enormous belly in LA, as well as the chance to represent my work at the Gallery 1988. Life is awesome.

Happy.

Sparkly.

Adorable.

Portland, Maine

(Is that you, Sasquatch?!!?)

Kelley & I arrived in Portland Saturday afternoon, & went off to find Hugo's & Miyake restaurants (featured on the Travel Channel's "Bizarre Foods" with Andrew Zimmern). Unfortunately, it was the 4th of July, so they were both closed. So instead we walked down to the wharf to see what we could see, & found all kinds of fun: hot green tea Boba from Bubble Maineia (ouch...that's trying awfully hard), live music...and a dude in a lobster suit. And although that was hilarious, the best find was inarguably Sapporo Japanese restaurant. After dinner we walked around a bit more, & I bought this awesome octopus pillow. Then it was off to meet the gang at Belgrade Lakes. We saw some great fireworks on the way there.

Mina & Co store window:

amazing giant hedgehogs at Coleman Burke Gallery:

Boo, Joey Chestnut!

68 hot dogs? I call not human.
You may be able to eat a lot, sir, but you are no Kobayashi!
I've backed Takeru ever since his jaw-dropping performance on the ultra-dramatic Japanese competition "Food Battle Club." And I'm sure he'd back me in my upcoming excursion to Maine: