Summer so far

The list so far. It may have been a bit ridiculous.

1. sit by a pool with my feet dangling in
2. have a facial
3. eat dinner outside on our patio
4. nap on a blanket in a park under a tree
5. sit around our fire pit with friends
6. go on a road trip with Mr. Hands and KT dog
7. trim the lemon tree
8. spruce up the garden with some new plants
9. power wash the patio on a super hot day
10. enjoy Thursday Night Live in downtown
11. continue our tradition of seeing free Shakespeare in the Park--this year the play is Macbeth
12. make ice cream
13. grill as often as possible
14. enjoy the weekly food trucks coming to the apartment complex down the street
15. work on some quilts
16. sew stuff with my mom
17. see lots of friends at our anniversary barbecue
18. make jam
19. can tomatoes
20. spend a day playing on the beach and relaxing at the Half Moon Bay Brewery
21. meet Joshua, my cousin's baby, which makes him my first cousin once removed. I've got 6 of those!
22. go to the craft fairs held down town (one already, one more in September!)
23. ride bikes to downtown in the evenings
24. get the tiling in the kitchen and landings all done
25. get the ball rolling on the window replacement (I feel that this item is going to be one of those that rolls over from list to list)
26. camp with Brigetta--this experience must include pie!
27. hike in an open space--Sanborn? Pulgas Ridge? Arastadero? 
28. see Monsters University
29. read: The Ocean at the End of the Lane, by Neil Gaiman; Singing School, by Robert Pinsky; Eleanor & Park, by Rainbow Rowell; And the Mountains Echoed, by Khaled Hosseini
30. go to China
31. meet the person who will join our family, whom I will cherish, and who is already so celebrated by our families and friends
32. return from China a family of three

Twenty Pies to Make this Summer

I think this is 2 or 3 pies a week until Labor Day.

Raspberry Hazelnut Tart »

Easy Summer Fruit Tart »

Twice-Baked Sour Cherry Pie »

Plum Chutney Crumb Pie »

Jumbleberry Grunt »

Rose-Scented Berry Tart With an Almond Shortbread Crust »

Rhubarb Crisp  »

Apricot and Almond Tart »

Butter Pie »

Brown Butter Nectarine Cobbler »

Lemon Confit Shortbread Tart »

Rhubarb Raspberry Cobbler With Cornmeal Biscuits »

Rustic Plum Crostata »

Fried Peach Pies With Bourbon and Cinnamon »

Rye Pecan Pie »

Pear Pomegranate Pie »

Lazy Sonker »

Pear Ginger Crumble »

Mixed Berry Almond Crunch Crumble »

Cherry Cobbler With Almond-Buttermilk Topping »

Produced by DES SHOE, EMILY WEINSTEIN and JACKY MYINT; Photographs by ANDREW SCRIVANI for THE NEW YORK TIMES, ANDREW TESTA for THE NEW YORK TIMES, EVAN SUNG for THE NEW YORK TIMES and FRANCESCO TONELLI for THE NEW YORK TIMES

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/06/01/dining/pie-recipes-2013.html?src=me&ref=general

10 things right now

1. The water hose to the fridge burst and soaked the kitchen, hallway, and downstairs bathroom. I discovered this and hollered, "Brian! The refrigerator is flooding the house!" We worked on mopping it up & I used the dry vac, which was an annoying thing to use. I was pretty grouchy. Mr. Hands said "This is a first world problem" which snapped the situation into perspective. Later he told me, "Thanks for being on my team." I love love love him.
2. I picked up my parents from the airport last night and spent the night at their house. Mr. Hands said Katie-dog missed me and ran all through the house looking for me this morning.
3. Over breakfast at Starbucks this morning, my parents and I chatted for hours. That was fun.
4. One of the topics of our conversation came around to their boat in Guatemala and whether they would have to return there. Mom said yes, there are things on the boat she wants to retrieve. Dad said, "Like what?" Mom listed a few things. Dad replied, "What is that? Maybe $1000? I'm not sure I would go back for a thousand dollars." 
5. It's been hot. In the 100s for the past few days. This is pretty unusually hot.
6. I had a 14.5 inch square piece of plastic cut for me at Tap Plastics to use as a template when trimming the barbecue napkins down to quilt squares. The square is not true, so the blocks are wonky. I'm calling this "character" for now, but when I start sewing things together, I may have uglier words.
7. I am starting to panic about all the sewing and quilting projects I want to do before we go to China.
8. We go to China in roughly 6 weeks. 
9. The Sungold tomato has been producing deliciousness for a couple of weeks now. The Principe Borghese variety had two tomatoes which I smooshed into our pasta sauce on Saturday.
10. It has been at least a week since the cats have peed on anything except their litter. Hooray!