Morning

Scenes from a morning run:

Friday

Happy Friday everyone!

I am sending you over to check out 365 days of coffee, a photography website I stumbled upon near the beginning of the year.

trouble coffee

I love my coffee...and this person takes that to a whole new level.  Makes me want to curl up with a cappuccino right now!

yum

Hope you make it through this Friday quickly, powered by your favorite form of caffeine.

Have a great weekend!

Rejuvenate 2

Still thinking about what an awesome weekend we spent along the Mendocino Coast for our anniversary last month.

That was the best.
More to share later.

RC3: Island Details

The charming Santorini town of Oia is gorgeously colorful.  I'm wrapping up the posts about our Italy and Greece trip with some pretty details from our day wandering Oia.

Until our next Revival Crusade!

Cozy

A little inspiration for your Tuesday:

Cozy

Is anyone else finding it a challenge to return to the real world after the holidays and last week's breezy 3-day work week?

Not to mention we're experiencing a cold snap here in SF...

Stay warm!

Friday Finds

Happy Friday, everyone!

As I have done a few times in the past, I'm going to share some of my favorite finds from around the internet lately.  I hope you enjoy these as much as I have.

~~~

If I ever have a pool in my backyard, I would like it to look like this!

It's like swimming in the wilderness

And in my special pool, I would use this, of course.  

Why didn't they have these when my Mermaid-sisters and I were little??

I am trying to decide if these Nutella Brown Butter Chocolate Chip cookies will get baked and eaten tonight or tomorrow morning.  They WILL happen soon!

This is one of the most stunning ocean photos I've seen:

Incredible Shot

Some finger-lickin' football-watching food:

Buffalo Chicken Dip

The sweetest face this week:

Definition of Puppy Eyes

We have a little trip coming up, and I am collecting photography inspiration.  Love this shot.

Quaint

Now this is the definition of multitasking!

Multitasking

I'd bring this to Bradway Oktoberfest if only I could get it past TSA:

My kind of poem!

Awesome

What was your favorite find?

Have a wonderful weekend!

Shake Me Some Coffee

Yay for the weekend!  I hope you're enjoying a not too hot (Chicago), not too chilly (San Francisco) weekend morning today.

We are anxiously anticipating Indian summer here in the Bay Area, when we'll finally get some warm and sunny days.  Last weekend, when we went whitewater rafting, we were reintroduced to 105 degree heat.  It brought back memories of our North Carolina summers, which I only miss because of the our friends and ridiculous summer activities, not the humidity.

The hot summer mornings, though, are good for iced coffee!  And when I came across this article about a specialty iced coffee drink, I was anxious to give it a try.

This is the shakerato, which the author likens to a foamy iced cafe latte.  (Um, awesome.)  And the prep is extra fun due to the use of a shot glass and cocktail shaker.

It requires your usual morning coffee ingredients: espresso, milk, and optional sugar, plus a few ice cubes.

As the article mentions, "The order of ingredients is important. You want to add the coffee to the sugar while it's hot so the sugar melts and doesn't stay gritty. You want to add the milk before the ice cubes to cool the drink so the cubes don't melt and and make it watery."

A few seconds of vigorous shaking before straining the ice, and you're left with a frothy iced latte:

It is refreshing and a cool way to mix up your morning caffeine hit.  I recommend you give it a try!

Have a great weekend.

Favorite Ingredients

When we were bored one day, I challenged my husband to a guessing game.  I don't know how or why this is what I came up with, but I challenged him to select his five favorite ingredients--not meals, but single ingredients--and we would each guess each other's.  It required me to think about my favorite meals and foods and break them down to the ingredients and find the common denominators.

After a bit of deliberation, here's what I decided on for my top 5:

LIMES

Sweet, savory, and cocktails.  I like it in everything!

GARLIC

I will eat this raw.  I think nearly all my readers know this :)

BASIL

Pizzas, Bruschetta, Caprese Salad, Italian Food

COFFEE

I like it hot, iced, in smoothies, in ice cream and other desserts...

CHOCOLATE

In everything. Period.

If I remember correctly, my husband successfully guessed only garlic and chocolate.  Poor showing.

I have a feeling you will see (or have seen) these five ingredients at a higher ratio than others!

For his favorite ingredients, the top five are:
Peaches, pork, beef, butter, and pork.  Yes, pork again-->He wanted pork to take up two slots.
Bacon, ham, pork chops, pork tenderloin, pork belly, pork sausage.  Is it a Southern thing he picked up while we lived in NC?  He really likes pork.

I think I guessed about 80% correctly, which is pretty good considering he bent the rules.

What are your five favorite ingredients?
Share your list in the comments section!

Friday Finds

Some of my favorite blogs often post on Friday their favorite finds from around the internet.  "Friday Favorites" is their collection of things they've found most interesting, delicious, pretty, or cool on the internet over the past week.

I love browsing others' finds, but I don't think I have enough time during the week to do the proper amount of web surfing to do this myself.  So I searched for a month to put together these sites for you.

I really hope you enjoy it!  
With that, my favorite finds from around the internet over the past month:

A coffee mug that wakes up as you do:

While I'm on the theme of tea,

Best tea strainer: Sharky Teak Infuser

Gruesome but so funny.

Yummiest dessert, Salted Caramel Chocolate Mousse:

Tastiest healthy snack: Yogurt drops

Guiltless snack, Oatmeal Energy Bites:

Tastiest Weeknight Dinner, Thai Pizza:

Creative Garden Tip, Twig Garden Markers:

Prettiest Sunset, makes me want to jump in the ocean:

Cutest family photo:

Best comedic post (if you don't already read Catalog Living, you need to check it out!):

Please Gary, how is this not “roughing it”? I only brought two small book stacks, and do you see even a single area rug?

Favorite anniversary gift, who says I can't do my own shopping?

Motto of the week (this line of products cracks me up!):

Makes you feel small:

Best getaway location (why don't adults get Spring Break?!?!):

And with that, I hope you have a happy Friday!