BIRTHDAY FISH

Happy Birthday to my amazing husband!  

Today, he works all day and has class all night (boo!), so we celebrated an evening early by going to one of his favorite places for dinner (Surly Girl).  The Mr. ordered one of those meals they serve in a school lunch tray.  Not only do you get a cupcake, but you also get a toy, or some other sort of gadget like the kind in Cracker Jack boxes.  Tonight he got the Fortune Teller Fish...

...and the fish says my hubby is jealous and fickel (lying fish).

Happy Birthday to my funny, intelligent, loyal, thoughtful, talented, handsome husband - Israel.

I love you more than words can say.

MUSIC MONDAY WITH THE MR.

1. The Whigs // Staying Alive

2. The Naked and Famous // Young Blood

3. Ryan Adams // Luminol

4. The Heavy // Curse Me Good

5. Mutemath // Blood Pressure

6. Band of Horses // Laredo

7. Mark Lanegan Band // Riot In My House

8. Matt & Kim // Cameras

9. Portugal. The Man // People Say

10. Wye Oak // For Prayer

The Mrs. spends a lot of time working on this blog.  In my opinion, too much time.  I know how that sounds, but what I'm saying is that I find myself telling her, "It looks great.  STOP.  It's ready to publish!"  She gets hung up in the details trying to make things perfect each day, and my only wish is that she would allow herself to be satisfied sometimes and not stress about all those pesky little things.

In that very spirit, I decided I would give myself a five minute limit in putting together my 10-song playlist for Music Monday.  I could easily get lost in a Spotify wormhole, much like Molly and her blogging, if I set out to create the playlist of playlists.  Instead, I'm setting an example here.  Pay attention, honey.

Here are 10 good songs.  As much as I want to tell you all about why I chose them, I won't.  

Listen and enjoy...  Music Monday with the Mr.   

It's a long way til Friday!

PITTSBURGH TO PORTLAND {WITH A 12 HOUR LAYOVER AT HOME}

Hello, from my laptop!  Yay!  Thank you to LC for letting me borrow your work laptop charger.  You're the best.

Only a few more nights until I head home to my Mr., and my own bed... for one night.  Well, only one night back in my own bed that is.  We leave for Portland {for vacation!} the morning after I return from Pittsburgh!  About a 12 hour turnaround.  I'm going to be a crazy - laundry doing - unpacking - packing machine.  And I'm going to be tired.  Really tired.  There will be lots of sleeping on the plane.

Let's talk about Portland.  I've never been there {the Mr. has}, and I am so excited.  We're going to visit the his best friend {the best man in our wedding} who works for Nike.  We'll also be spending a few days in Seattle visiting some of the husband's friends from his Master's program.  AND we're headed to Eugene to visit my cousin, his wife, and their sweet little girl - Elsie.

I've never heard anything but wonderful things about Portland, and everyone I've told we're going gets instantly excited.  It must be some kind of city.  Our total trip is ten days, with most of them spent in Portland, so send suggestions my way for sure! A few of the places I want to go {or where the Mr. wants to take me} include:

{the below photo was taken - by me - at Stumptown in NYC}

Voodoo Donuts {for... well - donuts, but especially the voodoo man and the maple one with bacon}
Hope Coffee {because all I can think about this week is caffeine}
Screen Door {for famous chicken & waffles}
Lodekka {I have to check out this double decker full of vintage finds}
Wanderlust {... and this one}
Delta Cafe {because the Mr. says we have to}
Stumptown Coffee {I'm obsessed with great coffee spots - especially Stumptown, and it's based in Portland}
The Pendleton Outlet {because I'm obsessed with Pendleton, remember?}

I think you can probably guess which of these picks are mine, and which are the Mr's.  And I realize most of these involve eating.  What am I missing?  Come on... don't be shy.  Comment away!

{Update: Marni, I refuse to admit I forgot about Stumptown so I added it in. I'm ashamed of myself. And the food trucks, of course! You gotta love street meat.}

GUEST POST BY THE MR. {FOOTBALL FLASHBACK}

Hello, from my iPhone. My laptop is still lifeless. At this point I think I'm going to stick it out, not spend the $80 for a new charger, and go without it this week. A little difficult considering it makes me feel connected when I'm away... but I just think I would feel really spoiled buying that charger. So, the Mr. (who I miss dearly) graciously agreed to write a guest post (or two?) for you this week. Thank you, honey!

TWO guest posts? What was that you said about feeling spoiled? ;)

At long last (seriously, it seems like it’s been two years),it’s football season again! I realize that not every l+r reader is as excited as me, but when it comes to guest posts, you can’t always win. I was urged to keep it short, so even if you hate football, keep going. It won't be too painful.

Much like they will be during adulthood, Fridays are the coolest for school-aged kids. The teachers wear jeans and team colors, and there’s a certain, unmistakable buzz around town. Football games are the center of the universe on those late-summer and autumn Fridays. Oh, the lights...the band...the crowd. I specifically remember the occasions when some of the high school football players would visit my school. They would come and read to us, answer our ridiculous questions, and sometimes leave a lasting impression. That’s a pretty good tradeoff for getting out of chemistry class.

When I was in elementary school, we had recess twice a day. If you multiply that by about 180 school days, and then multiply that by six years, you get 2,160 recesses. An Ohio school year includes sweltering heat, gloomy drizzle, and waist-deep snow; we hold recess through all of the above. I would conservatively estimate that my classmates and I played football during 2,000 of those. I'm sure we had basketball hoops and swings, but I don't really remember. I do remember the two trees that marked the goal lines, though.

Football was everything; our dads and grandfathers had played, and it had been embedded in our town culture since the 1890s. We diligently collected football cards and did our best to answer our gym teacher’s weekly football trivia in the hopes of winning more. I’m guessing he discontinued trivia when his third graders started Wikipedia-ing the answers on their iPhones, but it was pure excitement for us.

We really were #1.

Our school system didn’t actually have full-contact football until eighth grade (luckily, we had those thousand two-a-days under our belts). Getting that first set of equipment was pretty exhilarating, even though the helmet almost took my ears off and about 20% of the guys put their girdles on backwards. It didn’t matter that we were using hand-me-down pads and helmets from our parents’ generation. We were the real deal!

I eventually became one of those high school hotshots who went to read to the little kids in my old elementary school. Since I wanted to go to college and become a teacher, it was a privilege that I truly cherished, even as a 17-year-old. High school football players were role models, right alongside firemen and police officers, and I was fully aware of that. Years later, while working as an administrator at a trade school, one of my (adult) students brought in a mini-football she had caught at a game when she was little, and it had my autograph on it. That’ll make you feel both old and silly.

You wouldn't recognize me now.

I am determined to get home and catch a high school game this year. One of my old teammates is now the head coach, which is kinda cool. I’m old enough that I can pretty easily attend a game without being detected nowadays. Not that I don’t want to chat (I actually do)… I just really want to watch those young guys play.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, HUSBAND

I can't believe it's already been a year.

Did you all freeze wedding cake for your first anniversary? The Mr.'s Aunt Marti made our delicious wedding cake, and since there was nothing left to freeze, this weekend she made us this sweet little cake that looked like it might have been the top of our 3 tier wedding cake. It was filled with raspberry and it was oh-so-good. Thank you, Aunt Marti!

Since I've shared a lot of wedding photos over the year, I feel like you have to be sick of seeing them. Ok, Molly... we've seen enough. Right? Well, last night I took a picture of the pretty cake Aunt Marti made {before we demolished it}.  I thought I would share a photo of that today instead of another wedding picture. {And right now you're thinking..."but this is not a picture of the cake".} Well, we were so exhausted from a weekend spent camping + celebrating with friends and family... and when I looked at the photo this morning on my phone - it was bad. I mean "bad" as in I-must-have-been-asleep-when-took-this-blurry-photo-BAD. That kind of bad. 

So, this will be the last wedding photo I post. I promise {at least for a VERY long time}. 

And if you really want to see a blurry picture of the cake now, you can see it on my instagram {lovelyandrust}. 

I am so incredibly lucky and blessed.

Happy Anniversary, husband.

I love you with all of my heart.

xoxx

A LITTLE ON LIFE LATELY

A picture is worth a thousand words...

so I'm going to let today's photos do the talking,

because they're worth 18,000 words. 

Right?

A little on life lately, according to instagram.

GRADUATION CELEBRATION

Hello there! I had every intention of posting a blog on Friday, but the day got away from me. I spent it running around getting last minute items for the Mr's graduation party, cutting fruit and veggies, mixing up dips, blowing up balloons, and making a burlap banner. While I was flying about the house like a crazy lady, and the Mr was writing his graduation speech {he was chosen by his class}, I walked into our bedroom to see Bailey fast asleep looking quite angelic. It made me pause for just a moment... grab my camera... and take a break. 

Saturday, the Mr's graduation day, came so fast.  It does not seem that long ago that he was making the decision to go back to school for his Master's. Time goes oh-so quickly. In the two years he was in school, we got engaged and married. What a busy two years! And the Mr handled it all without ever getting very stressed... because, well - that is his nature. And thank God for it, because I have enough anxiety for us both.

I can't sum up the emotion I felt listening to him give his speech, or watching him walk across the stage to be "hooded". I would say - it was second only to seeing him in his suit on our wedding day. 

Saturday was a day packed full of celebration. It started early when our families arrived for the ceremony, and didn't end until the wee hours of the night spent with friends. It was a day split into two celebrations. Since it was also our good friend Stu's 30th birthday I bought {I cheated} 30 cupcakes, and the Mr decorated them with little flags with funny sayings. Stu came down from Cincinnati, and our good friends - Laurie-Beth and Brian - came from Cleveland. Our apartment never feels small until its packed full of family and friends, but then again... I suppose I can't complain if that is the reason.

A slight disclaimer: I feel the need to mention some of the pictures of the ceremony are blurry, but I had to post them anyway. It was really darn hard to take good pictures in there! When I used my flash it just lit up the people's heads in the row in front of us, but on manual I could not get the settings to work without the photo being blurry. So - I went with blurry instead of bright heads. I figured it was the lesser of two evils.

MUSIC MONDAY... ON WEDNESDAY

Today at work a song came on my pandora station... a song that took me back to a very special time and place - July 23, 2011 - our wedding day.

The Mr and I really like Ryan Adams. If you read this blog regularly, you've heard me talk about him before. When my friend, Marni, first introduced me to Ryan Adams in my Chicago days... I have to be honest and say I didn't like him. It wasn't until I started dating my hubby a few years later that my love grew {for both the Mr and Ryan}. I think the first time I listened, I didn't really listen. Does that make sense? Well, I would venture to say I adore his music so much now that I am somewhat personally offended when someone says they don't like him; I have a few friends who would agree with that statement. 

It only made sense for the Mr and I to choose a Ryan Adams song for our first dance as a married couple. We chose "When the Stars Go Blue"... you can have a listen via this you tube video. I hope if you haven't heard this song, you like it. And if you don't like, I don't want to know. Just kidding {sort of}.

I would love to hear what you chose for your wedding song... or what song truly moves you and makes you think. What song takes you back to another time and place... a specific moment in your life?

My Mr posted a blog on his page a few days ago. It's a very cool story about a long lost guitar, and you can read it here if you'd like. Have a wonderful day, friends. I'm looking forward to my first Pilates class tonight! I'll let you know how it goes.                  

CASE OF THE MONDAYS

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Working Saturday just made mine feel a little too short. I'm assuming you have all seen "Office Space"? It was replaying on Comedy Central all day Saturday, and the Mr and I watched it as we got ready for his semi-formal. Do you remember the scene where everyone is telling him he must have a case of the Mondays? Well, I am feeling a bit like that this morning. I have a case of the Mondays.

Tomorrow I have a Style Muse post for you, but today I just thought I'd share this Instagram photo of the Mr and I from the party {red eyes and all}. You can follow me on Instagram under lovelyandrust.

Sometime soon I'll be able to share a bit about what has been using up my spare time. Thank you for sticking with me, and for your comments! xoxo

GUEST POST BY MR. MARTIN {GOOD EATS}

So... today there are 3 pictures of meat on my blog. Yep, you heard me (read me?) right.

I knew I was going to have a few busy days at work this week, so I tried to plan ahead by asking the Mr. if he would write a guest post. He did such a great job the first time {when I was in Nashville}. Take note, his first post was about guitars...and his second is about food. I would venture to say those are his two favorite things {besides me, of course}. So here it is... straight from the Martin's kitchen. And I must say - it was just as yummy to eat as it sounds here.

..........

I like to cook almost as much as I like to eat. My mom’s family is full of raw culinary talent, and I'd like to think that I’m the recipient of at least some of those cooking chops.  If not, I intend to make up for it with my passion for good eats.

I was the quintessential meat and potatoes kid.  Green things were not allowed within a 12-inch radius of my plate for the first 25 years of my life.  But my diet has evolved over time; partly out of necessity, and partly out of a steadily growing sense of adventure.  I’ve tried a lot of things in the last five or six years that would frankly shock my family.  The Mrs. likes to take credit (credit she deserves) for me eating things like onions, eggs, and broccoli. If she ever sneaks lettuce past my lips, she will truly have something to brag about.

I lived in North Carolina for a couple of years, and I quickly adopted its regional version of barbecue as my personal favorite {It's Mrs. Martin's favorite, too}.  The truth is that there really is no such thing as bad barbecue, but I can appreciate that a runny, vinegar-based sauce just doesn’t do it for everyone.  If you grew up on brown sugar or molasses or mustard, good for you. There’s enough room in this world for variety. 

So when I offered to cook our Easter feast, I knew I wanted to make some pulled pork barbecue (if you don’t already know, our families don’t adhere to any specific menu for a given holiday).  I went to Whole Foods ($20 Groupon burning a whole in my pocket) and picked up a couple of Boston butt roasts, probably about six pounds total.  I had forgotten that the Whole Foods nearby was being renovated, so the full service butcher was absent. I was lucky they had what they did. I recommend asking your butcher for a five-pound Boston butt or a five pound, bone-in shoulder roast.

My personal method consists of three steps: the dry rub, the sauce, and the roast.  You can make a really good dry rub without anything elaborate.  Mine looks like this:

3 tbsp Paprika

1 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp salt

1 tbsp brown sugar

½ tbsp. ground pepper

Stir your dry rub ingredients in little bowl.  I recommend using a spoon to sprinkle your rub evenly on each side of the roast before patting it in.  It will clump up onto your fingers pretty quickly if you try to spread it around by hand.  Just sprinkle, pat, and rotate until you’ve covered all sides.  When you’re done, let it hang for 30 minutes or so.  Turn your attention to the sauce if you’re bored that easily (or if you’re just excited),  and preheat your oven to 265 degrees.

My simple version of a North Carolina sauce works like this:

½ cup cider vinegar

¼ cup brown mustard

½ cup ketchup

¼ cup brown sugar

1 tbsp garlic powder

hot sauce to taste

Use a wisk to mix everything together, and warm it up in the microwave in 20-second to help dissolve the brown sugar.  I had a near-empty bottle of Texas Pete (made in NC!), so once my sauce was blended, I poured it into the rinsed-out bottle.  This is great because you can easily shake up the sauce before each use, and the hot sauce cap is perfect for dispersing a runny barbecue.

Now you can place your roast in a roaster or chili pot.  Mix about a cup of cider vinegar and a cup of water and pour it in so your roast is about ankle-deep.  You can also toss some fresh garlic in there, and you might even want to implant a whole clove deep in your roast.

Since barbecue is usually smoked in a pit or smoker with real wood, and not in your silly oven, it’s fun to add a little Liquid Smoke to your water/cider bath.  If the idea of garlic and Liquid Smoke just sounds a little too overpowering for you, that’s okay. You can add flavor with that awesome sauce you just made.

If you’re making a five-pound roast, make sure you cover your pan with foil and a lid, and set your timer for about 3 hours at 265 degrees.  You can pull it out and use an internal thermometer to see how it’s doing on the inside.  The goal is to get to about 165-170 at the thickest part of the roast.  You’ll probably end up putting it back in for a total of about four hours, but it’s better to pull it early and see how it’s doing.  If you’ve done it nice and slow, it will probably be starting to fall apart on its own.  If you have two smaller roasts, they will cook faster, so set your timer accordingly to avoid overcooking.

When it’s done, let it rest for at least 15-20 minutes before you take it out.  If you’ve ever had barbecue in NC, you know it’s never really piping hot.  Warm is perfect.  You can move your roast to a new pan and use a couple of forks to gently start pulling it apart. If you have the self-control to still be following my directions with a giant pile of steaming pork in front of you, than you're not my wife.

Douse in your sauce and enjoy.

DREAMING

I'm sorry I've been a bit MIA the past few days. I've had some things going on.
Sometimes change, even if it is for the best, is just plain stressful.
Right now I am dreaming of...


...being here

...drinking these

...wearing these

...and soaking up the sun in this

... with him. 

{come on folks, of course it's my husband!}

CONGRATULATIONS, MR. MARTIN

I have a secret. 

I wanted to spill the beans yesterday, but the Mr. wouldn't let me.
He had a few people to tell first...
plus he doesn't like it when I brag about him, but I can't help it.

We have some celebrating to do around here this weekend...

Mr. Martin was accepted into the {very competitive} PhD program! 

I am oh-so proud. 

{found via pinterest / source: hip hip hooray}

{love these tassel garlands / found here}

{banana split cupcakes? yes, please}

{tissue pom poms, here}

{one of our fav drinks / source here.}

{the coolest cocktail napkins}

{yummy sourdough BLT bites / recipe here}

{found via pinterest}

AND today is not just the day I share the Mr's wonderful news... 

it is also my beautiful mother's birthday.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

{image via the lovely blog, dandee}

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! 

Thank you for sharing our happy news with us.

xo

GUEST POST FROM THE MR.

As you are well aware, Mrs. Martin has fled the Buckeye State for a girls' weekend in Nashville.  I'm sure some of you could understand how it might cause her musically-inclined husband a fair amount of sadness to be left at home.  Don't worry about me, though.

In the spirit of Music City, I thought I would seize this opportunity and write about one my most favorite topics... GUITARS.  I don't consider myself to be the kind of person who gets obsessed with things (as opposed to my best friend, who has battled his video game addiction by periodically selling his consoles, throwing games in the trash, or even smashing them).  My love for guitars may border on obsession, but I'll be damned if I ever smash one of my babies.

I bought my first guitar, an old Yamaha acoustic, when I was about 15.  I think I spent about $150, which was a mild rip-off, especially since it lived under my bed for the next four years without interruption.  I took it with me when I left for college, and I eventually started getting it out and hacking away on a regular basis.  Pretty soon, I had a couple of buddies in my building who also liked to play, and we would hold impromptu jam sessions on the porch in the wee hours of the morning. 

Sadly, I don't have my first guitar anymore, although I do have an even older and more weathered Yamaha that I really love.  And even though I have had lots and lots of practice, I still consider myself a hack.  But that hasn't stopped me from buying, selling, and trading a lot of different instruments over the years.  I love guitars for a lot of different reasons.  Some of my favorite recordings of all time have been solo performances with acoustic guitar and vocals.  The guitar is the perfect, portable accompanying instrument.  Guitars (the finer brands) are works of art.  The craftsmanship funneled into a real hand-made guitar is something special.  The coolest thing is that they're all unique and have their own history.

I've already racked up more text than I planned, so let's get to the good stuff: some of those axes that I find fascinating.  There are countless artist-instrument combinations out there- Slash's Les Paul, Angus Young's SG, and Jimi Hendrix's upside-down Strat among them... but I especially love when a rich rock star shows loyalty to a single guitar, even when buying a new one for every show is financially possible. 

Neil Young

Neil's Gibson Les Paul, nicknamed Ol' Black, is a charming Frankenstein-job with tons of modifications adding to its uniqueness.  This baby has been around the block (and that's the same strap!).

Chrissie Hynde

Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders is a loyal Telecaster player.  Let's be honest; Fender's first solid-bodied electric was an ugly hunk of wood.  Hand it to Akron's own rock goddess and it looks a helluva lot cooler.  

Josh Homme

Okay, maybe he doesn't exactly fit on this list.  Rather than endorsing a single manufacturer or creating a signature model, Josh Homme uses a broad spectrum of inexpensive guitars, many of them on the obscure side.  You may occasionally spot him with a Gibson or Fender, but you're much more likely to see Josh rocking an Epiphone or Yamaha semi-hollow, an Ovation solid body (yes, they made such a thing for a couple years), or something truly bizarre, like the Christocaster or the satellite dish thing pictured below.

Kim Thayil

No, that's not a Gibson SG.  Soundgarden's Kim Thayil has sported the Guild S-100 over the past few decades.  Similar to the SG in style and sound, the S-100 is just a little more rugged, and a lot harder to find.  Production stopped in the late 90s, which will make my quest to buy one even more exciting.

Next time I write, I will attempt to tie my guitar obsession to my wife's decorating flavor. Stay tuned!

A LOVELY DAY OFF

A lovely Friday off work spent with the Mr.

It started with a trip to Buckeye Donuts... 

Husband's choice on the left + mine on the right.

A cold walk later found us at Urban Outfitters to look for Bucky the cardboard deer.

We had to order him online. I also talked about him here + here... because I really like him.

He's on sale right now for $39*

Below are a few items I added to my mental wishlist at UO.

Hat + Sweater + Fringe bag.

Time for lunch!

Second time for me, but first for the Mr. = Jury Room! 

Owned by the same woman who owns some of our other fav places.

For me, a caramelized onion & grilled provolone cheese with brandy au jus dipping sauce.

French onion soup made into a sandwich! *Yummy*

A trip to the Green Lawn Cemetary followed.

Not sure how we didn't know this place existed because it was so interesting {started in1848}

The creepy moment occurred the ONE time I ventured out of the car to take a picture.

The Mr. pointed it out when I was back in the car...

the tombstone I had just snapped a pic of had our last name on it.

*heebie jeebies*

The amazing, brought-tears-to-my-eyes moment happened when we spotted a buck + doe.

We stalked them for at least 15 minutes.

Slowing driving around and following them while we took loads of photos.

So beautiful.

The Mr. and I are buying a nice camera for Christmas instead of exchanging gifts!

Our iPhones are great, but sometimes you just need something better.

This was one of those times.

It just dawned on me that we went to Urban Outfitters to buy Bucky the deer,

and then we saw real deer that very day....

Coincidence you say? I think not.