Absentee Landlord

So I've been away for a while and I have no excuse except that its the middle of the busy season at work and I'm doing my best just to keep my head above water. Anything more than survival with my sanity intact is optional at this point. Amidst all this I did think of a new place to get some writing done though....on the bus! I spend over 2 hours on this beast a day and it hadn't yet occured to me that I could work on my blog from this very seat! That being said; I'm back. I am going to make a concerted effort to write more, and now that I found the missing battery charger, I will post more photos too!

See? I told you!

With work being a virtual hellstorm of activity and new demands/requirements daily I haven't had much desire to cook. I did have the chance to get some awesome new services under my belt though, including these little gems....

Yup. Those are Maple Bacon Doughnuts. They are phenomenal.

All my lack of desire has one right out the window with the change of the seasons. Just when I thought I couldn't stand one more rain-soaked pair of sneakers or scarf-hat-hood-gloves combo, it was suddenly 80 degrees in APRIL! It's like someone heard my cries for sunshine and figured I deserved a little boost. With the excitement of the new seasons arrival we bought a grill, and started planning to tear apart our dirt hole of a backyard to lay sod down at the first chance we got. That chance came last weekend and I have pictures to prove it. Tons of them.

In between all of this we had a little Easter BBQ with Margie and Arvin which gave me an excuse to bring out some of my favorite side dishes for grilling and also to use some of the amazing china my mom gave to me for safe keeping. We had some Grilled Skirt Steak, Toasted Israeli Cous Cous Salad with Grilled Spring Veggies & Feta, Iceberg Salad with Kirby Cucumbers, Carrot Ribbons & Citrus Vinaigrette. Since there were very little leftovers I would consider it a success :)

Arvin is a fantastic Chef and though I know he'd never judge my cooking I still find it intimidating to cook for him. More on that totally ridiculous fear later :)

Now with a new grill and a backyard we're totally proud of, I have been bitten by the entertaining bug yet again. The warmer months are my favorite time of the year, and by far my favorite time to entertain. I'm a summer baby and it really shows. I would spend every waking moment outside if I could, so entertaining outside just comes naturally to me.

We're having a few people over this Saturday to cook and hang out. We still have to stay off the grass for a little while longer so we can't get too carried away :)

Well that's it for now but I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

p.s. Just in case you thought I was kidding about the sod part, I'll leave you with this: