Serendipity!

shower the people you love with love

Liza Jane is getting married! So we showered her on Saturday. I wanted a garden party theme, but needed a shady place, so...the park shelter. China and cloth linens softened it up a bit, and it ended up being a great location and incredible weather for an afternoon to celebrate her.

It was an intimate gathering and a fun chance to truly honor the amazing woman she is. We took our time together - laughing, eating, remembering perms and junior high clothes, giving gifts, and writing her notes to open in her first year of marriage.

Planning and making the food was fun - just different combos of fruits and vegetables and herbs.

Recipes? Well, since you asked...

Black Bean & Corn Salsa

1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed

2 cans of rotel (diced tomatoes and green chilis), drained

1 1/2 c. frozen corn, thawed

1/4 c. chives (fresh)

1/4 c. parsley (fresh)

1/4 c. vegetable oil (this time, don't use olive oil)

1/4 c. lime juice

1/2 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. salt

Toss together, and let all the flavors get acquainted for a few hours in the fridge before serving with chips. We used blue corn chips - crispier and more flavorful. I think I'm convinced to buy them every time.

Basil Lemonade

generous handful of basil leaves

1/3 c. sugar

Crush that together and add 3 cans of frozen lemonade concentrate and 10 cans of water.

Let it sit for a few hours before serving over ice. Mom uses a sieve to take out the basil. I left it in and no one complained!

Fresh Veggie Pizza (thanks, Chandra!)

2 tubes of crescent rolls - laid flat on a greased cookie sheet, with seams sealed

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes

Combine:

1 1/2 packages of cream cheese

1/2 cup of sour cream

2 Tbsp. (ish) fresh dill

2 Tbsp. (ish) fresh parsley

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. season salt

1 Tbsp. minced dried onion (or use fresh chives)

Top with your favorite veggies and some shredded cheese. This one had carrots, broccoli, red peppers, tomatoes, and black olives.

Really could not be happier for this amazing girl.

This looks like we are the two getting married. To each other. "Why hello there dear."

But no, I get to stand by her when she marries Mark instead! Win-win for all.

Only 41 days away.

sunshine

Most of our weekend in KC was spent with the Bollinger family - friends we made while living there. Those truly salt-of-the-earth people that are the kind of friends we'll come back to for a lifetime.

We have made a tradition of spending Memorial Day weekend together.

This weekend it was sunshine all around - the yard, the pool, the park...

Our three littles played with their three littles while we grown-ups solved all the world's problems.

It felt like vacation...

The new aquarium at Crown Center....She was holding a star fish!

My kids have a stud for a Dad. For so many reasons.

Today because he makes holding slimy things fun and doesn't make their mama do it.

Hello, sting ray.

Remember the kids' table? These are the things memories are made of.

Grilled pizza, Bollinger style.

"Let's play charades!" I heard it coming out of my mouth and realized that I'm that dorky Aunt Judy who squeezes cheeks and gives chachkis for gifts and suggests charades at family gatherings. Own it.

Top favorite of the weekend was a new park - for you in the KC area, its called Black Hoof and is near 87th street. Loads of natural play spaces, shade, room to roam, and a great walking path...

(Build something!)

It even has wearable pets. This one came all the way back home with us.

An all-around incredible way to kick off the summer.

I sit in overwhelming gratitude for the gift of friendship.

"But friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life. And thanks to a benevolent arrangement the greater part of life is sunshine."

- Thomas Jefferson

Jane

Jane Hosey-Stern is living her dream.

She is the proprietress and artist of Junque Drawer Boutique in Olathe. GO THERE.

junquedrawerstudio.com

I met Jane when we both taught junior high in Overland Park. During my plan time, I would stop by the coffee, then go into her sanctuary of an office, shut the door, and she would give me free counseling until my plan time ended, or maybe awhile after. She would say that we were in there gossiping and planning and creating and dreaming and growing a friendship.

I would argue that we were both very busy growing a person - Me.

She inspired me to look within

open myself to new people

follow my gut

be irreverent

live out loud

be real

and to stick with the "weirdo" students with whom I fell in-love and who no one else could tolerate.

She is absolutely one of a kind, and so is everything she creates. She's no longer working in the schools, but instead has this incredible emporium of all things lovely and big and inspiring. You really must go there.

We went there this weekend, and just seeing her again was a reminder of how good it feels to be real. Seeing all the awesome things in her studio was a reminder of how creative and unique she is. And did I mention dream-chaser?

Aunt Jane loaded us up with goodies. The kids thought they had hit heaven, and I knew I had hit beyond there.

Let's start off with this.....