Congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge!

I was in England when Prince Charles and Diana got married, and although I was young, I can still remember the energy in England for the event. My grandparents threw a party and decorated the house with streamers, Union Jacks, and pictures of Charles and Diana. Although I couldn't be in England for today's Royal Wedding, I knew I wanted to get up and watch it live. My Mom is visiting, and she and I were up bright and early this morning (2:30am PT for me) to watch the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. It was a beautiful ceremony which lasted an hour, yet seemed short and sweet. Although there were 100's in attendance, it was still intimate and struck the perfect balance between formal in some areas and informal in others. Kate's dress was surprising to me, as I expected something a little more fashion forward, but after watching her throughout the morning I realized how it was a classic and timeless beauty. England's people definitely showed up in the streets for a glimpse of the royal couple, but I was more amazed at the organization of the whole event, and how calm and peaceful the crowds were. I wish I could have been there, although I think I probably had a better view from my couch, but I'm very happy and lucky to have had the opportunity to watch it with my "Mum", as it will be an event that I will never forget.

Congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, I wish you nothing but happiness in your lives together, and of course, God Save the Queen.

In preparation, I made some of my favorite Lemon Blueberry scones which hit the spot as an early morning snack.

Meyer Lemon and Dried Blueberry Scones

Specialty foods stores, Trader Joe's, and some supermarkets carry dried blueberries.

Yield: Makes 12 servings
Recipe from Epicurious

Ingredients

3 cups of self-rising flour

1/2 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 1/2 cups dried wild blueberries (about 10 ounces)

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon buttermilk

1 1/2 tablespoons finely grated Meyer lemon peel or regular lemon peel

Preparation

1) Position rack in top third of oven and preheat to 425 degrees.

2) Line large baking skeet with parchment paper.

3) Whisk self-rising flour and 1/2 cup sugar in large bowl.

4) Using fingertips, rub in chilled butter until pieces are size of small peas.

5) Add dried wild blueberries and toss to coat.

6) Mix 1 cup buttermilk and finely grated lemon peel in glass measuring cup.

7) Pour buttermilk mixture into dry ingredients and stir until dough beings to form (some of flour will not be incorporated).

8) Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface and gather together. Knead dough briefly, about 5 turns.

9) Divide dough in half. Form each dough half into ball and flatten into 1-inch-thick disk. Cut each disk into 6 wedges.

Notes: For step 9, I instead separated dough into small individual sized round scones

10) Transfer scones to prepared baking sheet, spacing 1 inch apart. Brush tops with remaining 1 tablespoon buttermilk and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar.

11) Bake until scones are golden brown on top and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 20 - 25 minutes

Humans need breaks

I took a class a while back called Managing Your Energy which was very interesting and focused on how to...well...manage your energy. One thing they mentioned was that taking a break during a long day at work will actually increase your energy and your productivity. Humans need breaks.

Guess what? I'm human, today is a long day at work, so I took a break.

There is a park right next to campus that has benches to sit on, and a nice man-made stream to sit by, so this is usually where I go when I'm in need of a peaceful moment. I happened to take a picture of my view from a bench during the winter when the trees were bare. I found myself sitting on the same bench today but today the trees were covered in beautiful pink flowers. I just had to snap some pics as a reminder to take breaks in life. We deserve them.

View during winter (Jan '11)

View during spring (Apr '11)

Does anyone know what kind of trees they are? They're really gorgeous, although I don't know if I'd suggest them for your home (unless you like gardening). Today was windy and it was literally snowing pink petals as I sat there.

Note: Pics taken using the Retro Camera application on my Nexus S phone

Happy "21st" Birthday Banana

It was our baby boy's 3rd birthday on Saturday (that's 21 in human years). Anyone that knows Banana, knows he's definitely got his good and bad traits but we can't imagine life without him. He makes us smile every day and our lives haven't been the same since he came into them.

Banana started his birthday morning by joining us in bed where he snuggled and napped under the covers.

Once he woke up, he got a birthday belly rub.

For his big day we got him a party hat, a new toy, an edible card (made of rawhide), and a bottle of tequila (mini-sized for humans, full-sized for a Dachshund). Yep...tequila...after all it was his "21st"!

The hat wasn't very successful as it wouldn't stay on his head which resulted in Banana wearing it sideways and growling at it until he figured out how to get it off.

Banana sniffed the tequila, but in general kept his distance.

His favorite gift was his rawhide card, which he quickly started chewing and carried around with him for 6 hours until he finished every last piece.

Happy Birthday Banana! We can't wait to celebrate many more birthdays with you in years to come.

Note: Banana was not served alcohol as a part of this blog. It was purely for a fun picture moment :)