cooking it up

I was in a serious cooking rut not too long ago. Mac and cheese was making a heavy rotation around here. But, I all of a sudden got a spark (started reading French Kids Eat Everything) and I have been making some serious good eats lately. All easy stuff, with not a lot of prep and so worth the effort. I say all this while eating a Whole Foods pot pie tonight, but hey, I've been trying! Here's what I've loved…

zucchini boats {note: this "skinnytaste" lady should really be paying me with all my recommendations to friends, but I can't help it - she's so darn good}


grilled chicken and peaches w/orzo   { this was a big hit, but not great leftover }


pasta with checca sauce  { blogger is in nashville & I've marked quite a few of her recipes }


strawberry angel food cake { note: mix 1 individual container of strawberry greek yogurt w/ 1 tub of tru whip/cool whip - cut cake into 3rds - ice each layer - layer sliced strawberries inside too - and volia } via my friend miss whitney


baked zucchini chips w/ basil dipping sauce { note: you can sub greek yogurt for sour cream - and M loved these - and it makes a really yummy base for chicken salad if you have sauce leftover!}

Otherwise, it's been hot. So hot you can only go out for a minute before you have to run inside to breath. So hot my car takes 30 minutes to cool down. So hot my flowers have died out front and I've been too lazy to throw them away. So hot our energy bill is a small fortune. So hot you can only visit the park at dawn. Luckily… we have crayons.

week in review

Is anybody else out there listening to Dolly Parton on Pandora? If you're not, ya need to be. I just heard the Judds, Kenny Rogers, Loretta, Tammy Wynette, … it's amazing. Trevor says I say "ah-mazing" all of the time and he's right, I do. Stick with what works. I rarely listen to the current country music playing out there, but there's just something about those old timers that I adore. Nashville in my blood. How can you not love you some lyrics like… "I like my lovin' done country style".

I've taken a bit of a blog reading hiatus lately. My biz partner, Currier, and I were just chatting about how blogs can kinda feel overwhelming sometime. Do you ever look at blogs and think oh my gosh, these folks are way cooler, more organized, craftier, prettier, and just generally more on top of it than me? I do and that's when I know it's time to step away, close the computer, and focus on whats happening right here in my life.

But, because I can't stay away for long, I have some finds to share…

Just when I thought Pinterest was the bees knees of it all, I discovered Instagram. Do y'all use it? You basically can follow your friends and see their camera pics they choose to share. I get to see regular pics of cousin Charlie and see what some of my blog buddies are up to. And this way I can share a ridiculous amount of silly pics with people who want to see the Moosh in action.

Food… I have been cooking it up lately. Lucky husband. I made BBQ Chicken + Tri-Color Slaw + Harriet's Cornbread + Banoffee Pie and wowed a small crowd with this menu. People say you shouldn't try a new recipe when you're having company, but when else are you going to go so much trouble? The only thing that didn't turn out was the pie, but I'm pretty sure it was my fault. The boys went back for seconds on the chicken, so I can really recommend it.

One more thing and then I'll get back to work. We got a babysitter last Saturday and spent the entire afternoon antiquing, lunching and just exploring the city. We hit the design district in Dallas which was very cool. Lot's of antique stores on Riverfront Blvd. White Elephant Antiques was great. What we were really looking for though was something with a bit more funk & country chic and less vintage. I suppose we have to get out of the metro area to find the cheap stuff. Anyone out there know of a spot? Anyway, we had the best time with our daytime date and ate lunch at Meddlesome Moth which was the best part of the day. Craft beers, cobb salad, and a BLT that about blew Trev's mind. We sat at the bar with some beer nerds which was hilarious and perfect.

fresh ideas hatching

Something special happened last week with Tenn Hens.

About seven years ago, Currier and I were working together at a Nashville agency, but we were ready for a change. A big one. We were the only two ladies in our department and we were growing tired of working for the boys! It was  an amazing experience and one we do not take for granted. But… we were dyin' to do our own thing. It just took us a while to jump ship. After much discussion and after getting blessings from all our family, we quit our jobs and started Tenn Hens. We had no idea what we were doing (for a while actually), but we had the best time doing it out together. There were a whole 'lotta mistakes! There were lots of ups & downs, and late nights, long Friday lunches, but by golly we were doing it and we hung in there together.And now we've been in business since '05.
Along the way we kept discussing the idea of creating a line of Tenn Hens products. It got pushed aside when times were busy, but it kept tugging at our souls. "Some day" we'll design our own stationary. I remember some folks from our past life in the advertising world kind of looking  down on that. I guess it wasn't as "serious" as designing campaigns for national brands and I think we kind of believed them for a while. But what we discovered over the years, besides doing what makes YOU happy, is that there's more than one way to run a design business.

Years went by and we worked, we changed, we survived, we grew and we decided we loved designing marketing pieces for businesses, but we also LOVED designing invitations + stationary. Currier is an artist to the core. She sketches, she watercolors, she even paints river rocks. The girl just brings a magical daydream quality to her art. Me, I'm the designer and font picker, the organizer and arranger. I put all the pretty pieces together. Friends and partners and confidants, we're better together and we make one heck of a team.

So, what I'm saying with all this rambling is… we finally went back to that little dream of ours from the very beginning. We hatched the Tenn Hens Etsy site.

It will be evolving & growing just like us. And who knows what will happen, but it is one dream come true. I sure hope you'll check it out and spread the word my friends!

post of pics

cute babies, boys, beer, and best friends… a mighty fine day

miss bell + miss miriam…two peas in a pod

 

happy 4th

One on the couch and one in the crib. My two nappers have left me with some rare quiet time this afternoon. Even though I badly wish we were up in the Tennessee mountains with my family, it is so nice to have a holiday today. It's hot and lazy and breezy here. We made smoothies for breakfast and it was my best one yet. Only downer was I spent the evening and morning cuddling with a sick toddler needing some lovin. Poor girl had a low fever, but I'm thinking it was just a 24 hr bug. I hate it when she's sick, but she couldn't be any sweeter when she is. We rubbed her hair and let her eat warm toast in the bed. Hopefully we can make a it to a cookout this afternoon and really celebrate the day. Happy 4th friends!