Five in Five: A

Five things I love that start with the letter A:

Art: This weekend was Gallery Night in Erie, which happens monthly. We made it to three exhibits. It was fun, albeit brief. And as I mentioned before, my mom is an artist. It was been a pleasure to decorate my house with a mixture of her photographs, my pictures, and a collection of other pieces of art I've purchased. I wish I had a larger income so I could make real art purchases. Maybe someday I will be a patron.

Artichokes: Although I haven never had an opportunity to eat fresh artichokes off the petal, I've always wanted to. Someday soon. I saw on the Food Network how to braise them in the oven. It looked simple enough. I love artichoke hearts - marinated or in water. I love adding them to salad. I love including them in a vegetable saute. I love making them the star in spaghetti sauce. And I love dips made with them. Mmm.

Accents: Seriously, why are people from outside the United States so cute? It's because of their accents.

Animals: I need to go to the Erie Zoo. Last year I went around this time. I really want to see the baby giraffe. I was lucky enough last weekend to see some of the educational birds of prey rehabilitated by Tamarack Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center. I will post more about that when I have a chance to upload my photos off my mom's camera (so I guess, expect those by December). It was so neat to be up close to these wild birds you only see from a great distance. Hopefully, I got some great photos.

August: I love the dog days of the summer. I can visit the beach every weekend. I can enjoy a good book in my antigravity chair in the backyard. I can't wait to relax and soak in this hot summer month. What do you mean it's over? WTF? Where did it go? No, I'm serious. How can it possibly be August 31?! It hasn't even been hot this month. Every weekend flew by. I did not use my antigravity chair at all this month. I only cracked open a book once. And I definitely am less tan now than I was at the end of July. I was enjoying the lower humidity and the lower electricity bills, but I wasn't ready for the heat and dew point levels to drop and stay there. Bah!