Here & There

 [die Katze]

 [die Vase]

[der Bücher]

 [der Geburtstag]

[die Nudeln]

The last week of April, captured in photographs and captioned with German nouns.  Cheers!

Pocatello Birthdays

Two months later I'm finally getting to the end of our Idaho travels.  Perhaps the motivation was prompted by the departing from Alicia just an hour ago in a bus station in Ithaca.  Pocatello was interesting.  We didn't care much for the town and ended up finding solace in the trees of Scout Mountain.  It also ended up being Alicia's 24th birthday.  We celebrated with Idaho wildflowers, sun dried tomato risotto, new jean vests,  and diva photo shoots.

Trilliums

The ultimate birthday gift for a Taurus nature lover like me is always the trees in bloom and the wild trilliums that cover the forest floor.  My mother picked me some from our yard for my birthday.  And they lasted a full week!

Birthday Vibes

Birthdays are funny because essentially they become a list of one's favorite things.  My birthday weekend was filled with all my favorites: chocolate pie, savory breakfast food, hipster bakeries, beer, wildflowers, the outdoors, my camera and my people.  Michael took me to Sister Pie Bakery in Detroit and a surprise trip to Canada for some birding and wildflowering.  My sister spoiled me with an outrageous "s'mores" birthday cake (pictured above).  We as a family had the most delicious dinner of mexican fusion tapas.  Feel fortunate to be one year older.

25th Birthday FESTIVITIES!!

First of all, thank you for all of the birthday love family and friends.  From homemade puff pastry to dinner to recipe cards to cookbooks to trekking poles and potted plants and kind words and chicken bags- MAN I feel loved.

Lauren and Joel came down to AA to make me an awesome homemade pizza dinner.  We all gathered around the table to share food.  Alicia flew in from New York early.  So much love.

Lauren whipping up a mean vinaigrette.

Self birthday treat of Kosmo's b bim bop & farmers market & Literati trip.

25 and alive y'all!

The Baking continues

Things I continue to learn:

1) Pies aren't as hard as I thought- when you use store bought crust ;)

2) I prefer banana bread to all the vegetable/fruit breads especially when chocolate chips are thrown in

A meal I want to remember

T'was mother's 54th 39 birthday dinner. 

The epic meal that I cooked (dad as grill master)
 + Black bean/vegetable salad (with a vinaigrette) like the one from Dusty's Cellar
+ Turkey Burgers made with apple, fresh chives and chipotle
+ An herb aioli to top the burgers
+  Grilled corn
+ Blueberry Cornmeal Cakes
+ Chocolate Chip Challah

All homemade.  All delicious.  Sometimes a girl needs to toot her own culinary horn.  It was also an important night because it would be the last as a family in Dewitt for a long time. 

No Patterson dinner would be complete without the quirky nature themed decor.

Mom happy at the end of the night, dancing with Charlie.

23.

This past week I turned 23.  I had a beautiful day.  In fact, one of the first times my birthday wasn't rainy and soggy but sunny and in the 70's.  I spent the day doing things I love most: being outdoors and eating.

 Hiking and picnicking in the newest Ann Arbor park.

Zingermans. 

Walks down by the river and dipping toes into the water.

I always think Mother Nature is giving me a personal gift for my birthday: spring flowers and trees retreating from their buds into bloom.

 

Visits to University of Michigan's wave field.

Ice cream from Washtenaw Dairy.

Walks in the arb and sunsets.

As I've gotten older I've come to appreciate simple birthdays filled with the sun on your face, your favorite sandwich, and the people that you love most.  Saturday, my family and two of my closest friends came down for a birthday dinner.  We ate at Mani's (a place I've always wanted to try) and then got cappuccino afterwards. 

Cort and I's pizza.

Thanks to everyone who made my day special.