This place had some of the most incredible taco combinations I’ve ever seen. I opted for the Black Eyed Pea taco, which had a various assortment of beans (yes, including garbanzo). A three bean taco is something I can’t pass up, not ever.

The taco was spicier than expected, but I was totally into it. I actually think I could have eaten two of these things due to my serious hunger, but this was enough for a few hours anyway.

I need to thank the special people for making this happen. They were all about me taking pictures for the blog, which made it so much easier to photograph my meal. For starters, Cat came down with me – which was totally surprising (given her long day at work). She’s such a trooper.

She did later admit that she mainly went for this drink – Spanish Passion – which is just fine with me.

And my other partners in crime – a mix of new and old friends: Jenn, Jordan and Drew. They are some classy folk, right? I love this picture. Makes me smile every time.

Aw, jeez, you guys. You are so freaking cute. Look at that love.

So glad I got to eat some tacos in the company of some good people.

And I’d recommend Yorita if you’re looking for tacos with a twist. Plus the prices aren’t totally terrible, so there’s that too!

I probably need to do a combination of those things. But for the meantime, I decided to change the appearance of my blog. It needed a facelift. It doesn’t look exactly how I want it, but I think it has a more crafty, albeit girly feel. I can dig that for now. So check it out, and let me know what you think. I’d love your thoughts.

I have been doing some cooking, though not a lot. We bought a ton of kale, and I decided to put it to good use. I know you have seen this kale + carrots + other things recipe more than once, but it just goes to show that I know what I like, and I like what I know.

Fun fact about this combination: it tastes delicious cold. And I have no qualms about admitting that I ate this in my bed one afternoon for lunch. I don’t make a practice out of eating in my bedroom, but I was having a lazy day. And hey, I work from home. What can I say?

I think the big kicker to this recipe was the fresh parm I added to the top. I still can’t believe how long I went without eating cheese. It automatically makes a recipe better.

Tell me what you’ve been eating lately.

Maria and her sister are trying to visit every state capitol in the United States and are getting close to achieving their goal. For her sister’s birthday, Maria requested a Capitol Tour Book. Together, we collectively came up with some creative inside designs, and I got to work on the outside of the book – which ended up looking like this:

We decided that each state should have two pages each within the book, so I got busy with InDesign and made some pages. Of course, we had to start with the Capitol of all Capitols – Washington, D.C.

This book was unique in many ways. For starters, each page was designed and labeled by state. I also included a “Date Conquered” label on the adjacent page, so Maria’s sister could indicate which day they tackled what capitol. Along with this design, this book was probably the heaviest book I’ve ever made. It had 100 pages, and so binding it was one of the hardest things I’ve done when it comes to bookmaking.

I’m thinking this twine string ought to do the trick. Only time will tell!

I’m so honored that Maria wanted me to make this book so she and her sister could capture memories. This is one of my favorite parts of what I do – seeing how others transform and use the book to remember moments of their lives. It’s all about the stories.

Special thanks to Maria for taking these pictures and uploading them to Facebook.

I have been doing some cooking in the kitchen, and now that Cat and I are stocked up on groceries, good food has been in my belly frequently. I’ve also dined out here and there. Last week, while Kelly was here, we had the chance to visit Sushi Too in Shadyside – a restaurant I’ve been to before but have never eaten at.

I like sushi. I have liked it for a long time. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to like me much, so I decided to opt for something healthy that wasn’t wrapped in a roll: Steamed Tofu and Vegetables.

I was impressed with the ability of these chopsticks. As per the wrapper, I can apparently pick up anything! Does that mean a car, or truck or bike? I hope so.

I tried to pick up Cat with those chopsticks, but it didn’t seem to work out as planned. (Neither did photographing it).

The good thing about my meal was that it came with soup and salad. Both were delicious and probably my favorite part of the dinner experience.

Beau was more than willing to let me photograph his soup, which had some definite weight to it. I should have gotten this as my meal instead!

My meal, unfortunately, was less than stellar. The vegetables were crisp but some tasted like they were from a frozen bag. They also forgot to put tofu on my plate, and then casually dumped a big slab of it after the fact. I had to cut it up myself, and it was just a messy process.

The biggest thing I learned from this experience? Don’t go to Sushi Too if you can’t get sushi. In fact, I wouldn’t go to any sushi restaurant if you can’t eat sushi. I hope my stomach recovers from this avoidance at some point, because I really do enjoy sushi.

My friends, on the other hand, really liked this place. So I guess their recommendation is better than mine to go off

You win some, you lose some. Life and restaurants are all about learning, no?

This one is my favorite from our trip to the lake:

I am obviously the short one spinning the sparkler around in a P. Can you believe we made this word with sparklers? I think it sums up my life and my friends pretty well.

Here’s another one that James took. I am the one in the red, white and black stripes.

Another great photo of our trip.

If you want to see all of his fantastic photos, you should visit his flickr site here.

After scanning many a recipe book, we decide upon Midsummer Corn Chowder, substituting fennel for leaks, from the Veganomicon.

How do you feel about shucking corn? This is one of my favorite past times. I remember Sunday afternoons at my grandparents’ farm, sitting under the big tree shucking corn for dinner. Sunday = the perfect day for baling hay, and corn = the best summer dinner.

We borrowed a big soup pot from Cat’s parents for this big event. That, coupled with some serious iTunes, got our cooking party started for the night.

I enjoy recipes with a lot of preparation, especially if I have the time for it. This is one of those recipes. The bulk of the time is spent cutting up a serious lot of veggies: corn, potatoes, celery, carrots, onions, tomatoes. You name it, and it’s in there.

Cat handled the corn (the hard part) and the carrots.

Have you ever seen such goodness on a plate? As I noted earlier, corn always reminds me of my home state. This was the perfect meal to cook being a somewhat-new resident to Pittsburgh.

The onions were slightly killer. I think my hands still smell like onions today. But they are oh so good for cooking.

After all the chopping, slicing, dicing and simmering, it was finally time to add the vegetable broth and let this thing cook. Cat and I decided to do a self timer shot of our work in the kitchen.

The instructions said that we could get some extra flavor if we added the cobs to the mix. So, of course, we did so!

The pot was set to simmer for 45 minutes, so we retired to the backyard to watch the sunset. The conversation went a little something like this:

Me: “We’re awesome, Cat. This is a beautiful night.”
Cat: “Julia Child would say we’re missing one thing.”
Rose: “What’s that?”
Cat: “Some vino.”
Me: “I’ll be right back.”

We then progressed to enjoy the backyard with some wine and tunes. It was a beautiful midsummer evening. [Erica, if you're reading, we listened to Bruce Springsteen's Rosalita, and I thought of you guys.]

Soon enough, our chowder was ready to go!

We each enjoyed a bowl with some delicious garlic bread!

Put this recipe on your to-make list, especially if you have a few hours to spare. Worth it!

What do you like to do with corn on the cob?

It was the first time I had ever been there, and the beach was on the agenda. We promptly put on our suits and headed out for a day in the sand – despite Theresa not being the biggest fan of beaches. The first thing we did? Buried Cat.

The second thing we did? Buried me.

Okay, this might have come after swimming for a little bit, but we still thought burying ourselves in sand was the best thing to do whilst at the beach. Then we took turns jumping over one another.

I am a huge fan of the beach. I could swim in those waters forever. That is – as long as a surfer doesn’t try to run me over. If you look closely in this picture, you will see me quickly trying to get away from that young gentleman.

Our beautiful place in the sun + san. Perfect day, perfect people, perfect life. And I don’t even really like the word perfect.

However, things suddenly went amiss when some water came ashore! Oh no!

Everything is everywhere! Oh me, oh my!

After our day in the sun, we hit up the Norfolk nightlife. This is the only clear picture I have from the night. Although I look very impressed by this drink, I couldn’t finish it. It was the worst thing I’ve ever tasted, though the jolly rancher at the bottom is a nice touch.

It was great seeing Tree in her hometown! Can’t wait to visit again!

We spent most of the days on the lake. Rich and Laurie own a pretty sweet boat with all the fixin’s, so we all decided to partake in a little tubing and water skiing.

Kelly and Karla getting ready to tube – check out those smiles!

Rich and James were pretty hardcore when they went tubing. They tried knocking each other off several times. Oh, good times.

If this doesn’t make you tear up, what will? James and Kelly are simply adorable and in love.

Cat and Laurie took a turn. Laurie was an expert in all water sports! I can tell she does this often.

The sun was so hot that we often just jumped right into the lake and went swimming. This was one of my favorite parts about the trip – just floating in the water, under the sun. Kelly took advantage, as she is an expert floater (in my opinion). I often loved her yoga-like poses in the water – how zen!

More poses from Kelly while Karla and Patrick watch on. It was so great seeing Karla and Patrick again – and I can directly call them out now that I know they are faithful lobster placemat readers! Love you guys!

Watching the setting sun on the river is one of the most beautiful things. I could do it forever, honestly.

Me and Cat making silly faces…. I don’t have a lot of photos of myself because James was the trip photographer. More of me to come soon!

I didn’t take any photos of food, but trust me – we ate some healthy goods on our trip.

I love my friends! I love my life!

Stay tuned for Part Two!

[Can I go back to this boat now???]

After soaking in the sun, competing in water sports, seeing all of my beautiful friends – I’m beat. Full recap soon, I promise!

Today I went up to the West End Overlook and tried to get some pictures. Between my lack of camera knowledge, and the blinding light, I only got a few shots worth anything. Landscapes are so not my thing. I’m much better with a bowl of oatmeal or any vegetable you’d pick.

Tonight I’m going to the baseball game. A friend snagged me a ticket. I am looking forward to seeing the Pirates again. It’s been several years since I’ve gone. I have a feeling this might be happening more frequently this summer, especially because my dad is coming up for at least a game or two or three.

Tomorrow I’m heading off to North Carolina for the next eight days. I will more than likely not be blogging, as I intend to seclude myself in nature as much as possible. I need it. Oh, and a sun tan too. I’m ghostly these days.

Catch ya on the flip side, blogger buds.