Arboretum with Grandma and Grandpa

We had a fun visit with Ben's parents. On their first day here, we enjoyed a walk around the Raulston Arboretum and saw so many beautiful flowers and trees in bloom. We went out to lunch afterward and then enjoyed an evening at home.

 A game of Life outside.

 Black bean salad for our Cinco de Mayo feast (a day late).

Perfect weather for outdoor dining. (Pre-humidity.)

diy side table + black walls

We had been looking for side tables and nightstands for a long time and I was always so frustrated with the high prices for such a small piece of furniture. I saw a tutorial online for these mid-century-inspired side tables and we decided to try making one. It's made out of a giant cake pan! (We spray painted the cake pan, stained the legs and top, and then assembled it.) It was easy to put together and now I'm just trying to decide where to put it. I kind of like it against our new black wall.

After painting a small section of wall black in our kitchen, I've been dying to try painting a whole wall black and finally did it in our piano room. (It's actually a really dark gray.) This room doesn't quite have a solid purpose yet and mostly just becomes a dumping ground for all kinds of random stuff. Some day we'll get furniture in there and get it put together. But I love the dark and light contrast.

half marathon!!

I've never been much of a dedicated runner. I have started and stopped a few times over the years and never kept with it long enough to build up good endurance. I always just felt awful when I would run and hated doing it. But over the last year I've been trying to build strength and focus on my fitness. I was surprised and happy to see that after keeping with it for a while, I could actually run 3 miles without stopping or feeling like I was going to die. While running a few times a week, I also did some Jillian Michaels workouts almost daily and they really helped me build strength. I had never been able to do a real push-up and now I can do 10 easily! I was again happy and surprised to see that those workouts actually worked! My runs kept getting a bit longer. I would usually just set out to run 3 or 4 miles and then push myself if I was feeling good. One day I planned for 6 miles and ended up pushing myself to do 10. I realized a half marathon wasn't that far off and something I could actually do. There weren't any races to sign up for in the near future and I didn't want to stress myself out with a training schedule for a race months away. Plus I had a knee injury and wasn't sure if that would return. So I decided to just go ahead and run my own personal half marathon.

I think one of the reasons I have gotten more into running lately is the incredible trail system here. There are so many greenway trails that connect all over the city and they often pass around beautiful lakes and are always lined with trees and so green. Many Saturday mornings we have all headed out first thing and found a greenway trail that starts at a playground and Ben and I have taken turns running the trail while the kids play. It's been a good way to get out and explore the area. And since I don't usually get much time to myself, I have really loved the quiet time I get when I can go for a run by myself.

The American Tobacco Trail was the perfect spot for a half marathon. The whole trail is over 22 miles long. (It was formerly a rail line that served the tobacco plants and warehouses in downtown Durham.) It's mostly shady and flat. Most of my longer runs had just been roundtrip routes or loops that I did multiple times so it was fun to actually run 13 miles one way and see how far it looked on a map. I started early Saturday morning at the very end of the trail and ran 13.1 miles in one direction. Ben and the kids greeted me and cheered me on at the end of my run. I wasn't sure how I would do but I felt great the whole time and never had to stop. I kept a pretty steady pace and I was so glad to have cooler weather (it was 48 degrees when I started). I didn't even feel like I was going to die at the end! It was fun to see the kids with their sign. Ben has always been a runner and was so supportive of my "training" (I didn't really do much intentional training since I didn't decide to actually run the half marathon until maybe a month before). He would watch the kids whenever he could so I could get out for a run and he would encourage me to go. After I finished my half marathon, he ran the return trip back to where I had parked his car. It was fun to run our own little marathon relay that morning. And nice that someone else was sore with me for the next few days.

I've been trying to run a few times a week since the half marathon and I've actually shaved over 2 minutes off of my average mile pace. I haven't intentionally been trying to run faster, I think I've just been getting stronger which is nice to see. Although now I have to contend with the heat and humidity of summer...

rainy days, playgrounds, and kitchen innovations

Simon was destroying everything in sight one day (okay, that's pretty much every day) and driving me crazy and I needed to get him outside. He was happy to put on Elsa's rain gear and splash in the puddles. His big grins and excitement over simple things always makes me smile.

I was so excited to find these cups. The kids are really into using their designated color and I no longer have a counter full of dirty Ikea kid cups at the end of the day. Genius.

 Pretty driveway debris from our tulip poplar tree. 

I loved smelling all the honeysuckle on my morning runs. The paths were lined with it.

zoo field trip

I couldn't be a chaperone for Elsa's class field trip to the zoo because I would have Oliver and Simon tagging along, so instead I just took the boys to the zoo and we met up with Elsa's group and walked around with them for a while. Elsa was so excited to see us there and Oliver loved walking around with the big kids.

fate of the strawberries: 2015 edition

The best part about picking loads of strawberries, besides just eating them, is trying out new strawberry recipes! See past recipes HERE, including my favorite strawberry tart and the discovery of strawberry curd.

Strawberry Dark Chocolate Hand Pies
Recipe from Two Peas and Their Pod

These were delicious and easy to make, although assembly did take a little time. Love the combination of strawberry and chocolate.

Strawberry Lemon Cookie Bars with Lemon Glaze

Recipe found HERE

I love anything lemon and I loved these bars. I made them twice and the second time I underbaked the crust a little and they weren't quite as awesome as the first batch. But the buttery crust is so yummy and the lemon glaze adds just the right amount of lemon. (I added lemon zest to the glaze.)

Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberry shortcake has always been my favorite. I have a favorite sweet biscuit recipe from Martha Stewart that I usually use but I often experiment with other biscuit recipes as well. I also tried making a pound cake for a strawberry lime and coconut cream variation and that was delicious too (recipe found HERE).

Strawberry Cheesecake Muffins

Recipe found HERE

The lemon cream cheese filling in these strawberry muffins is so good. And the graham cracker streusel just takes them over the top. We had them for breakfast, but they're pretty much dessert.

Strawberry Freezer Jam

We picked berries a second time because we ran out of strawberries to make jam. My first batch didn't set up well because I used some old expired pectin (which was also not my usual brand) and of course it was the batch I made when we had company here. But it still tasted good, especially on warm, homemade biscuits. I made 2 more batches of jam that turned out much better. One batch for teacher appreciation gifts and one for us.

Strawberry Cobbler with Cream Cheese Swirled Biscuits
Recipe found HERE

I made this on Memorial Day and it was so delicious. The cream cheese swirled biscuits alone are so yummy (might need to try them with strawberry shortcake). I also might have a biscuit obsession. The warm strawberry juices served alongside some ice cream...perfection.