Nothing says summer to me like curling up on the couch (or by the pool if it weren’t 110+) with a really good book!  I’ve said it here before that I LURVE historical fiction…just love it.  When the publishers sent me an advance copy of “The Silence of God” (by Gale Sears) I dove right it!

This book will appeal to anyone with an interest in the Bolshevik Revolution, or historical fiction in general. It is a captivating story of the Lindlof family- who were the first (and only for a very long time) Mormons in St. Petersburg, Russia.  The story centers on the relationship between Agnes (one of the Lindlof children) and her friend Natasha.  Natasha is wrapped up in the Bolshevik ideals and it causes stress on their friendship.

The story chronicles their friendship, the girls’ relationship with God and the Bolshevik Revolution.  What I really appreciated about the story was the foot notes at the end of each chapter explaining the historical accuracy of the details in the chapter.

For those of you detail oriented people out there, you’ll notice that the front cover of the July 2010 Ensign reflects the real life story of what took place in the Summer Gardens with the Lindloff family.  I really enjoyed the book and found that I couldn’t put it down.  I spent every spare minute (while waiting for the water to boil as I cooked dinner) reading the story!

The one thing that troubles me about a good book is that eventually I finish it!  I’m leaving very soon for Wyoming and need some good summer reading to take with me.  Is there a book that you’ve read recently that you just adored?  Please leave some recommendations!

You’ve all heard me rave about smeeks many many times on the blog, now I want to share some of the sweetness with you!

I’m giving away the following to one lucky LOCAL (greater PHX area) reader:

$5.00 in smeeks bucks so you can buy yourself some tasty treats!

One lollipop zippered coin purse that I will fill with some of my favorites from smeeks.

TO ENTER:
1. You must reside within the greater PHX area

2. Leave me a comment, telling me your favorite candy

3. for an extra entry, blog the button below (be sure to leave a second comment to tell me you’ve blogged it)

copy and paste this code:

<a href=”http://www.heatherhalesdesigns.com/blog/sweets-from-smeeks”><img src=”http://www.heatherhalesdesigns.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/button.jpg” border=”0″ width=”200″ height=”300″></a>

Winner will be announced Thursday, June 15th!

Home again, un packing and washing….

and repacking the suitcases, ’tis the month for travel.

Come back tomorrow for the 1st of two giveaways! Got a sweet tooth, or a little girl?  Then these giveaways are perfect for you!

The ice-cold water did not deter them in the least (oh to be young).  Nothing beat spending your morning on the beach watching the marine layer burn off, and your children build sand castles.

Crabs were found, barnicles too and a few shells.  Hope your 4th is going to be good too.  Comments are off on this one…but feel free to email (see the contact link in the menu bar).

xo,

Yesterday the baby turned 6months old!  Six months, I feel like I blinked and it was gone.  She took her first dip in the pool yesterday to celebrate, she loved it.  Splashing her arms and legs about and wiggling like a little fish- so happy.

I’m wondering if there is some sort of hormonal drop six month postpartum?  I’ve been in a funk lately.  At first I thought it was everyone else…but then I decided it was probably me.  It’s the kind of funk that a little retail therapy ALONE can ease.  However, its summer time and I have three children, I don’t do ANYTHING alone and the bank accounts are a bit low (thank you major van repair).  I’ll have to settle for online shopping of athletic shoes for my son.  Wahoo!

Also, I’m thinking of turning comments off on the blog for a while…do you want to weigh in with an opinion on that?

Planning a giveaway for next week when I get back from California (maybe the beach can cure the funk?), so be sure to click over….I’m thinking a giveaway for the locals (something “sweet”) and a giveaway for everyone else.

*word has it, the bow-tie fit my Dad, he wore it to church yesterday and I saw a picture- looked good!*

I’ve been in a vintage-circus-y themed mood the last few months.  A lot of the design projects I’ve done have had a circus flair to them.  I ALWAYS look through flickr for inspiration before I start a project….here are some of my favorite circus images:

1. Mixed Berry Frozen Yogurt, 2. Circus / vintage / typography / retro / ferris wheel / Coney Island / New York / fun / photography, 3. Untitled, 4. California / Los Angeles / city / Santa Monica / color / blue / circus / ferris wheel / amazing / sky / summer / background / clouds / fun / photography, 5. Two Ring Circus Wedding Invitation, 6. circus animals, 7. The circus, 8. July 4th illustration, 9. Vintage Circus Trays, 10. (Carou)salivate, 11. CIRCUS PARTY KIT PREVIEW, 12. The Ferris wheel of Tibidabo, Barcelona

If you are local- today is the first day of Independents Week!  Heck even if you aren’t local, you can still support your own local businesses this week!

I love this photo of my Dad and I!  This is around the time of my first birthday. My mom was just a few weeks shy of having my sister… I love the old stereo equipment- I wonder if I was plugged in and actually listening to something?  There is nothing sweeter than little baby fingers wrapped around big father hands…

Today is my Dad’s “50 something” birthday!  I made him a bow-tie for his birthday…I’ve been telling him for over 2 years now that I was going to make him one.  Took me a year to find the fabric (my Dad is picky- and silk tie fabric is hard to find), but then, it took me a year to get the guts to actually make it.  I don’t know why I was so scared to do it.  I did screw up royally and had to cut the tie out twice.  It did get finished- however I’m worried that the interfacing I chose is too stiff…(crossing my fingers and holding my breath that it will tie and lie right).  Happy Birthday Dad- if it’s the thought that counts, remember I’ve been thinking of this for 2 years!

See you next week…save me some birthday cake!

I made Pasta Primavera for dinner tonight.  It is easy, tasty and a great way to use your garden produce (or farmer’s market produce).  Here is the recipe, I eyeball everything, so feel free to play with it to suit your families needs.

1 red bell pepper chopped into 1″ pieces
1/2 a bunch of asparagus chopped into 1″ pieces
1/2c frozen peas
1/2c carrots, diced on the bias
2 tomatoes, diced
1/2c prepared pesto
spaghetti
Parmesan cheese
fresh basil

Bring large pot of heavily salted water to boil, add peppers, carrots, & asparagus, cook for 5-8min until crisp tender.  With slotted spoon remove vegetables and set aside.  Add spaghetti (enough to feed your family) to boiling water and cook until al dente.  About 2 min before pasta will be done add frozen peas to the pasta/water.  Drain pasta/peas and add to other cooked veggies, mix in diced tomatoes and prepared pesto.  Top with fresh basil and cheese.

The daughter has been asking for extra special fun each evening as her brother is away at Scout Camp.  Who was I to turn down her request of post dinner ice-cream cones in the back yard?!  I made sure to send the boy to camp today with some money for a popsicle, so there should be no jealousy!

I like Mondays.  It’s like a chance to stretch and start all over again.  Whatever happened last week- doesn’t matter, today is the start of a fresh new week.

I may or may not have started my fresh new week with a slice of this cake….but if I did I would have eaten it out of my hand without using a plate, because it would taste better that way.  I guess I wasn’t the only one to make a chocolate frosted cake for my husband on father’s day!  I think my husband went to bed last night feeling properly celebrated, and I enjoyed a good talk with my Dad…we “counseled” (hee hee)!

Look what my garden has produced!!  I’m hoping to harvest enough Golden Jubilee tomatoes to try a tomato pie…does anyone have a good recipe?  Or a good marinara recipe?

Purchased a little Cannon Powershot today, after much research!  It had all the features we wanted, in the price range  he we wanted.

Have spent some time reading the user manual and playing around with the macro features.  above is a peanut my kids left on the counter.

Then, I wondered how closely i could focus in on my (vintage) wedding ring.  Not bad.  It wasn’t until I loaded them to the computer that I realized the camera was in wide angle mode.  A learning curve for sure.

Last night I learned about Disco Dust….itching to try it, check out this cake.  Wonder if a glittery cake is what my husband had in mind for father’s day?!