I'm just trying to walk myself home.
December 3, 2004 Florence, Italy I’m sitting in front of Michelangelo’s David. It is larger than life, perfectly situated under a brilliant dome. He is captivating. We wandered over to the Accademia to see if we could make reservations for tomorrow and it was wide open with no line. So fun! So we bought our …
I bought this little storybook for my parents to keep at their house a long time ago because the Grandpa in it rides a motorcycle. It’s called My Grandpa is Amazing by Nick Butterworth. My kids LOVE for their grandparents to read stories to them, especially Grandpapa, because he often changes the words in …
I love a salad that can be the main event. My sister is a master at creating a delectable salad and this one is a keeper of hers. This salad stars barbequed chicken, which I marinated and Taido grilled. The dressing has a southwestern flare, but it’s really just barbeque sauce mixed with homemade ranch. …
This part 2 of my parents’ anniversary Boot Shoot with Whitney. Yesterday was Boots in the Rain, but we got rewarded for braving the rain with some amazing sunlight. The kind that only comes after the rain. My parents are looking at Mary Polly who had wandered up the riverbank a little bit to play. …
In August, my parents went to their 45th high school reunion and celebrated their 42nd anniversary. To mark these special events in their lives, I asked Whitney to take pictures of them. We used to take a family picture every year growing up, but once we all flew the coop, my parents stopped having …
Falling in Love with Italy Eight years ago, Taido and I walked hand in hand in the streets of Italy. It was December. We were celebrating being married for 10 years. We fell in love with the Renaissance in Florence, we picnicked in the ruins of a Tuscan hill town, and we succumbed to the …
What to Pack for a Mediterranean Cruise Mary Polly and I leave tomorrow for our Mediterranean Cruise and we are all packed!! We have deliberated a lot about what to take to Europe with us. In general, if I am flying somewhere, I really like to travel light, but we are also trying to have …
We had a fancy hot dog party on my Mama’s birthday last weekend. My mama is not really a hot dog girl, but we totally won her over with our gourmet toppings and these Petit Jean Polish Sausages. They are just the right amount of spicy. The sweet folks at Petit Jean Meats sent me …
Time for another week of What I Wore Wednesday! I am linking up with Lindsey at The Pleated Poppy. This past week I got to dress up for lots of birthday fun, dinners, lunches and enjoying my family. It seems like as I get older, my birthday gets to be more and more about hanging out with …
Sometimes with all the hikes, bike rides and adventures we have on our camping vacations, I overlook that one of the very best parts of camping is just being there. Sharing coffee and hot chocolate on a cold mountain morning. Sitting around in our chairs telling stories. Laughing at Grandpapa’s jokes. Watching Taido fix bikes. …
We are celebrating Mama today because it is her birthday. But I am celebrating more than just that she was born today. I am giving thanks for the difference between last year and today. Last year at this time Mama was in a hospital, she weighed less than 100 pounds and was struggling to retain …
We (and by we I mean, Taido) made this special drink last weekend to go with dinner. Even though the calendar has rolled into September, the summer vibe is still strong at our house. It is still warm enough that you want your cocktails cold, so instead of red wine with dinner we had this …
For as long as I can remember, we’ve been making the same birthday cake in my family. We call it Grandmother’s Chocolate Cake. It is a buttermilk chocolate sheet cake with a pecan fudge icing. You serve it with vanilla ice cream. It is even more perfect if you also have a cup of coffee. …
Chocolate and peanut butter have long been happy companions at our house, so when I saw a recipe in All You magazine for homemade chocolate peanut butter cups, I knew I had to try it. Ben and Mary Polly were all over this project! They both jumped in and helped, which was …
To Market, To Market by Anne Miranda has been a favorite silly story at the Chino House for years. It’s a modern take on the old nursery rhyme by the same name. A lady makes multiple trips to the market for animals that keep running away. She loses all control of her purchases. The animals …
I hope you had a wonderful Labor Day weekend. Ours was full of food, friends and squeezing in those last summer memories. Labor Day officially marks the end of summer for me. Even though we hit 100 degrees yesterday and we have not yet seen the end of the three digit temperatures in Little …
Every time I pack a bag lately, I am mentally taking notes. In some ways, all my summer packing has been preparation for packing for our upcoming trip to Europe. I am looking to find a balance between a very minimalist approach and including enough ensembles to make it fun to dress for dinner. I …
While we were in Colorado in July, Taido took tons of pictures of the sky from the same spot in our campsite in Crested Butte. I am thankful that he and my dad are always keeping an eye on the changing skies when we’re camping and hiking. Being caught in storms while hiking has bestowed …
My husband Taido, who we also like to call the Gearhead, owns these trekking poles for when he goes backpacking. He is usually carrying a decent sized pack in the mountains, so the poles help take some of the weight off his knees and land his feet a little lighter in spite of his heavy …
I couldn’t wait to introduce Cole to Mr Putter Books when he was little. I would get them in piles from the library and at first, he would flip through them and find all the modes of transportation. He really liked trucks. But soon he fell in love with Mr. Putter and Tabby the cat, …