what i'm reading...

This one has been on my reading list for quite a while... A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson. 

 I've grown up with a love for the great outdoors, camping, and hiking, but hiking the entire Appalachian Trail is in a whole different league. That's not to say that I wouldn't try to do it someday.

About the book (from back cover)

The Appalachian Trail trail stretches from Georgia to Maine and covers some of the most breathtaking terrain in America–majestic mountains, silent forests, sparking lakes. If you’re going to take a hike, it’s probably the place to go. And Bill Bryson is surely the most entertaing guide you’ll find. He introduces us to the history and ecology of the trail and to some of the other hardy (or just foolhardy) folks he meets along the way–and a couple of bears. Already a classic, A Walk in the Woods will make you long for the great outdoors (or at least a comfortable chair to sit and read in).

Review (from Publishers Weekly)

Bryson (The Lost Continent) carries himself in an irresistibly bewildered manner, accepting each new calamity with wonder and hilarity. He reviews the characters of the AT (as the trail is called), from a pack of incompetent Boy Scouts to a perpetually lost geezer named Chicken John. Most amusing is his cranky, crude and inestimable companion, Katz, a reformed substance abuser who once had single-handedly "become, in effect, Iowa's drug culture." The uneasy but always entertaining relationship between Bryson and Katz keeps their walk interesting, even during the flat stretches. Bryson completes the trail as planned, and he records the misadventure with insight and elegance. He is a popular author in Britain and his impeccably graceful and witty style deserves a large American audience as well.

Travel writing is becoming one of my favorite genres to read. It is both entertaining and informative. I've heard great things about all of Bill Bryson's books, so I'll definitely be picking up another of his works soon. I've also got a few of J. Maarten Troost's books on my list, too.

BLP is an Indiana Company to Watch!

The company I've been working for since 2009, Bottom-Line Performance, was recently named as an Indiana Company to Watch.

Indiana Companies to Watch celebrates high-performing, second-stage companies in the state. Known for their performance in the marketplace, innovative products, unique processes or philanthropic actions, these companies represent a wide range of industries from all corners of Indiana.   -Indiana Companies to Watch website

This is the fourth year for the awards, and we are all so excited to receive this recognition. We got to attend an awards ceremony at the Indiana Roof Ballroom at the end of August to celebrate. Several of our employees attended the awards ceremony and enjoyed a fabulous dinner, cocktails, and even dessert. It was a fun time to see everyone all dressed up and celebrate together!

Click here to read the full news release and see other 2011 winners. One of our favorite local breweries, Sun King, was also recognized.

Here's Sharon Boller, President of BLP, receiving the award:

The BLP group who attended:

My date for the night, Leanne, and I:

DIG-IN

Last Sunday, James and I went to an event called Dig-IN at the White River State Park in downtown Indianapolis. Dig-In brings dozens of Indiana chefs, breweries, wineries, farmers, and artisan food-makers together for a "Taste of Indiana."

For just $20, we stuffed ourselves with an array of tasting-size portions from 30 top notch chefs from around the state, sampled beer from 11 Indiana breweries, and sampled wine from nine Indiana wineries.

A gorgeous day + local beer and wine + artisan food = one perfect date afternoon! We will definitely be back again next year!

Some of our favorites

"My Dad's" sweet corn chowder with candied bacon by Circle City Soups. 

Brined and roasted turkey and vegetable salad from R Bistro.

The "Bees Knees": French toast, wyport wine, honey-cured pork tenderloin, swiss cheese, and strawberries, with Coopers Hawk port wine syrup and powdered sugar from Served Cafe & Bistro.

Crispy pulled pork with braised native beans and rendered Indiana bacon, layered with pork jus, hickory syrup, and pork emulsified foam from the JW Marriott's head chef, Brendon Cheney.

Summer salad with peach vinaigrette, stout-glazed smoked Indiana duck breast, and cheese crisps from Black Swan Brewpub.

And both mine and James' favorite: Watermelon and peach-smoked bison brisket bruschetta skewers with spicy house pickles from Chef JJ's Back Yard.

CM Design updates

I'm keeping busy with lots of projects for my freelance business, CM Design. In the past, I've usually just had one project at a time to work on, but right now I'm working on four! It is very exciting to be working with some new people, and doing a broader range of work. Here's what I'm working on now...

WEDDING #1
Peacock-themed wedding stationary for Whitney and Anthony including save-the-dates, wedding invitations, maps, reply cards, wedding programs, and seating cards.

Whitney and Anthony will marry in Danville, Indiana next June.

WEDDING #2
Wedding stationary and styling for Brittany and Phil's with a vintage, earthy theme, focused on things like lavender, burlap, and wheat. I'll be creating their save-the-dates, wedding invitations, reply cards, wedding programs, and also helping with the overall look for the wedding - things like bouquets, boutonnieres, and decor for their big day!

Brittany and Phil will marry in Westfield, Indiana next August.

BIRTHDAY PARTY
I can't believe my nephew is already going to be one in October! We'll be celebrating with a vintage carnival theme. Elizabeth has all sorts of great ideas planned for the decor and food already.

I'm making:

• Invitation and envelope labels
• Food label cards
• Water bottle labels
• Tags for the party favors
• Welcome sign
• Photo booth sign

BUSINESS BRANDING

I'm working with Renee of Nay Baby Designs to create a logo for her new business. She creates custom embroidery and appliqued clothing for kids. I'll also be working with her to create business cards and shirt tags complete with instructions on caring for the custom clothing. 

To the right is a picture of a super cute shirt Renee created for Weston! Check out her site to see more samples of her work, and order something for the special kid in your life! 

EXPANDING...

The idea of CM Design being my entire job one day (way down the road...) is starting to seem a little more realistic. Before it felt like a dream, now I feel like I really could do this someday. It is very exciting!! 

I created a facebook page for CM Design to try and get the word out there more on my business. Check it out and "like" it! I've included pics of some of my recent work, and have lots more to upload. Please keep me in mind for any design need you have, or tell someone who you think could use my help! 

our backyard party!

James and I decided it would be fun to invite a bunch of friends over for a backyard party this summer. A lot of friends got to see our house who hadn't before, and everyone had a great time just hanging out. We got pretty lucky with the weather, except when a big storm came in around 9. Everyone moved inside and we continued the party until late into the night!

I designed an invitation for the party (seen above), food signs, and decorated to match the theme of the invitation. I spent the day before the party cooking lots of food for everyone to enjoy. We decided to go with a "taco bar" for dinner, so we wouldn't have to spend the time during our party grilling. We wanted to enjoy our friends' company and just be able to have fun, too!

First we had a choice of tortillas: corn tortilla, flour tortilla, or tortilla chips.

Then came the meats: Ginger Hoison Pork, Tikka Masala Chicken, and Mexican Barbacoa Beef. The pork was the favorite of the evening.

We had cilantro, red onion, tomato, green onion, and field greens for toppings. Then lots of sauce options: My homemade guacamole, mom's famous pico de gallo salsa, a homemade indiana corn salsa, salsa verde, mango-peach salsa, and Sriracha for those who wanted a spicier taco.

I'll post recipes soon for the meats, guacamole, and salsas.

a new obsession: pinterest

Pinterest is awesome! I've always have WAY TOO MANY bookmarks, screenshots, lists of things I want, lists of ideas, etc. that it becomes hard for even me, the organization freak, to keep track of. With Pinterest, it is so easy.

Some info about Pinterest from their website:

Pinterest is a Virtual Pinboard. 

Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.

Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests. 

Our goal is to connect everyone in the world through the 'things' they find interesting. We find that a favorite book, toy, or recipe can reveal a common link between two people. With millions of new pins added every week, Pinterest is connecting people all over the world based on shared tastes and interests.  

You can request an invite from the site, or let me know if you'd like an invite and I'll send you one! I've got quite a few boards going already. Click here to see them and follow me!

life with crosby

Well I haven't had a chance for many posts in the last month... and this cutie pie is a big reason why. Crosby has been keeping us very busy for the last month... actually, I can't believe it has only been a month that he has been home with us! I feel like he has been a part of our little family for much longer.

He is growing SO fast. When we brought him home on June 26th, he was around 12 pounds. By the time he had his first vet appointment just 5 days later, he weighed 14 pounds. And now, another three weeks later, he's up to 23 pounds! Looking back at these pictures from only a few weeks ago really makes me realize how fast our little pup is growing up! I won't be carrying him around for long.

Here's Crosby on his way home from us picking him up. He did great on the 3-hour ride home, except for getting car sick in the first 15 minutes.

Crosby with one of his favorite toys, the Wubba. 

He's always standing so proper, even at 9 weeks old. We've caught him pointing in the backyard a ton of times... at the obvious, birds, and also squirrels, chipmunks, and even spiders! haha

Exhausted after my first trip to the pet store! 

Meeting baby Weston...

And cousin Boss...

Playing with friend Murphy

Cuddling on the couch... his nightly bedtime routine. 

stationary set gifts

We went to Cleveland for my twin cousins Sarah and Kelsey's graduation party at the end of June. Some people think they look just like me... what do you think?

For their graduation party gifts, I decided to make them each a whole set of customized stationary. I've created stationary for people before, but this was my first time making complete sets with packaging and all. They turned out great!

It all started when the girls asked me to make them cards with their new address, emails, etc. at Bowling Green, where they'll head this fall, so they're friends and family can keep in contact.

I gave them some options to choose from, and once they'd each picked designs, I secretly went to work on matching stationary.

Sarah chose a fun polka dot design with Bowling Green colors and Kelsey choose a girly Asian flower design in purple.

Each stationary set consists of:

• 10 sheets of 8 x 10 inch linen stationary
• 20 sheets of 5.5 x 8 inch linen stationary
• 20 4.5 x 6 inch blank notes - with two variations
• Large and small envelopes
• Envelope seals
• Matching case to hold everything

Personalized stationary makes a great gift for anyone, and I promise you will pay a lot more for it from a stationary store then if you buy from me! So contact me at cmusicdesign@gmail.com or comment here if you'd like more information. 

what i'm reading...

I recently began another great summer read, "Water for Elephants" by Sarah Gruen. This book has been on my LONG list of books to read for a year or two, but now that it is being made into a movie (with one of my favorite actresses - Reece Witherspoon), I realized it is finally time to read it, before seeing the movies. As most people would agree, the book is always better than the movie. In addition to being on my list, it is also a number one New York Times bestseller.

Does anyone remember the HBO original series, Carnivale? I loved that show, and this book kind of reminds me of the show. I love the depression-era circus story.

...combines outrageously whimsical premises with crowd-pleasing romanticism... -New York Times

While I'm no expert on the book (I'm just two chapters in as a write), I already recommend this book. If you're planning on seeing the movie, at least give the book a go first!

father's day!

I'm obviously a bit delayed on posting this blog... but we had a great Father's Day celebration with my dad a few weeks ago. After he had a long ride, mom and dad came over to our house and we grilled out. This meal sounds like your typical grilling out and hanging out on the deck kind of meal, but everything had an Italian twist on it.

We started with a grilled romaine salad with a creamy herb dressing. Grilled salads are a hot food trend this summer, with lots of high-end restaurants around the country adding them to their menus. So I, of course, could not wait to try it myself.

Grilling the hearts of romaine changes this from an ordinary salad to something totally new. The heat brings out a sweetness in the romaine and you get a slight smokey taste, too.

And as for making your own salad dressings, every time I do this (probably once a week) I always wonder to myself, "Why don't I always make my own dressings?" because they really are so much better. I love the having the fresh flavors of herbs that were only picked 5 minutes prior! I usually just make vinaigrettes, but this creamy herb dressing was a perfect match with our grilled romaine.

After our salads we had burgers and pasta salad. Oh wait, it was not just burgers and pasta salad!

Our "Italian twist" burger patties were topped with thick shaves of parmigiano reggiano, crispy salami, and a spicy red pepper pesto. If you thought bacon was a delicious addition to your cheese burger, just wait until you try it with salami! Next time I think I'll try pepperoni, or maybe even get fancy with something like soppressata.

Then there's the "pasta salad." I've long-loved this pasta both hot and cold, and as a side or even a main dish. Lemon Orecchiette was the perfect fresh accompaniment to our Italian-twisted cookout.

After we had some time to digest our meal, we had a browned butter, chocolate chip & pecan "pizookie." What is a pizookie, you say?

A 'pizza-cookie', baked and served in a personal-sized circular tin, generally with ice cream on top. -Urban Dictionary

BJ's Restaurant and Brewery in Huntington Beach, California, is credited with creating the pizookie, a fresh baked cookie with vanilla ice cream, served in a pizza-style pan. -Wikipedia

To me, a pizookie is like a cookie that stays only partially-cooked in the middle, like one of my other favorite desserts, the chocolate molten cake. 

Well we were all so jazzed about eating our pizookie deliciousness that I didn't even snap a picture! Whoops!

And now for the recipes...

grilled romaine with creamy herb dressing
adapted from Cooking Light magazine
Serves 4-6

2 hearts of romaine, sliced in half lengthwise
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt & Pepper
1/4 c. olive oil mayo
2 tbsp fresh herbs (I used basil, oregano, tarragon, and thyme)
1 lemon, zested and juiced
2 cloves garlic, minced

• Brush cut sides of romaine with olive oil, then top with salt and pepper. Place cut side down on grill at medium heat and grill for 3 to 5 minutes. 
• Put salt, pepper, mayo, herbs, lemon zest, lemon juice, and garlic in a jar. Shake to combine. 
• Slice each chunk of romaine into 2 to 3-inch sections pour dressing over. 

lemon orecchiette

Serves 6

1 pound bronze-cut orecchiette pasta 

bronze-cut pastas have a much rougher texture, allowing it to absorb more of the lemon-y goodness!

2/3 c. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 c. shredded parmesan
3 lemons, zested and juiced
1/2 c. fresh basil, cut in chiffonades

• Cook pasta as directed in salted water. Drain and rinse. 
• Put olive oil, parmesan, and lemon juice in a jar. Shake to combine.  
• Pour over cooked pasta and fold in fresh basil and lemon zest.

browned butter pizookie
serves 6

1 1/2 c. flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 stick unsalted butter
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 c. chocolate chips (I swear by using Ghiradelli chips. They're totally worth the extra $0.50 over Nestle)
1/3 c. pecans, lightly toasted and chopped

• Heat a skillet on medium heat. Add butter and melt, stirring often. Butter will foam up, then when foam subsides, small brown flecks will gather at the bottom of the pan. Stir continuously until the butter has turned to a rich brown color. Remove from the heat. 
• Combine flour, baking soda, and salt. 
• Combine browned butter and sugar in your stand mixer bowl. Add in egg and vanilla, and mix thourougly. Slowly stir in flour mixture. Fold in chocolate chips. 
• Scoop dough into ramekins, and sprinkle with pecans. 
• Bake for 11-13 minutes. The edges should be cooked and cracking, but the center should still be gooey. Top with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. 

Our puppy!

We drove to northern Indiana two Sundays ago to pick out our new family member... Crosby! We got this picture from our breeder when the puppies were a few weeks old, but we weren't sure which puppy we wanted at the time.

So we decided to spend 6 hours in the car and pick out the pup for us by meeting them all in person. Even though being in the car that long is not the most fun, it was a great birthday present just to meet our puppy.

We were greeted by these six cutie-pies. Two of the puppies are girls, and we had already planned to get a boy, so the breeder got out the four boys for us to play with. After some careful consideration, and some kisses and heavy tail-wagging by one specific pup, we knew which boy was the one for us. We're bringing him home this Sunday. I can't wait!!