On Saturday morning, I drove to Northern Virginia for Melissa's bridal shower, and it was so fun. I've gotten so used to the drive from Roanoke to DC, and it was kind of nice to get all dressed up and spend a couple of hours with the windows down and music playing. It was a gorgeous day for a drive, and although the trip back on the same day wasn't as fun as on the way up, it was totally worth it to be there.

  

  

Thanks to Laura (far right) for the last photo! I swiped it right from Facebook.

It's been quite a strange week, and that's all I'll say about that, as vague as it may be. I try to be intentional about realizing just how lucky I am--how good my life already is--but there are times when it's hard. This year has had its fair share of hurdles already, and I just hope that I'll soon start hitting my stride. Until then, I'll be getting as much fresh air as possible and reading deep into the infinite wisdom of dear E.E. Cummings.

[Tulips in Charlottesville, March 2012]

Spring is like a perhaps hand

E.E. Cummings

Spring is like a perhaps hand

(which comes carefully

out of Nowhere) arranging

a window, into which people look (while

people stare

arranging and changing placing

carefully there a strange

thing and a known thing here) and

changing everything carefully

spring is like a perhaps

Hand in a window

(carefully to

and fro moving New and 

Old things, while 

people stare carefully

moving a perhaps

fraction of flower here placing

an inch of air there) and

without breaking anything.

--

Tonight I'm having dinner with some wonderful girlfriends of mine, and tomorrow I'm off to DC for the day to shower Melissa with love as she fast approaches her upcoming wedding! And in just one week, I'll be in Minneapolis hanging out with Rob. The bright side, people. We've got to stay on it.

I'm all about frozen yogurt.

You know those little fro-yo shops that are all named something relating to frogs or bubbles and cherries? My internal five-year-old cheers, yes! every time I see a new one crop up. I first discovered the wonder that is frozen yogurt a little late, I think at age twenty-two, when my friend Emma took me to Berrybody in Williamsburg. With her guidance, I got the tart flavor with fresh fruit on top of it and was like, embarrassingly blown away by its majesty.

It wasn't until I started stopping by my local frozen yogurt shop for breakfast that I realized I might have a problem. Several yogurt-laden months later I went Paleo and cut out dairy, and as I wept for my morning lattes and anytime frozen yogurt, I realized that there were non-dairy sorbets available, which, to this day, I still eat in earnest. They make a good treat, but they're full of sugar and we know that and it's just not appropriate to eat dessert every single day like we might want to.

So let's make our own, and let's eat it for breakfast.

 

Ingredients:

Makes 3 servings

2 1/2 cups of fresh, ripe strawberries

1 ripe banana

1/2 cup of (canned) coconut cream

1 tbsp agave nectar

1. Combine ingredients in a food processor or a blender. Basically you're making a smoothie.

2. Pour the mixture in a container (I used a Ziploc bag) and stick it in the freezer overnight.

3. Take it out when it's solid but not completely frozen and you're ready to serve it. Scoop it out or, if you used a bag, cut a corner off and sort of "pipe" it into dishes. 

4. Garnish with a strawberry and eat while it's still mostly frozen.