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As September unfolds, the hot and humid days we love complaining about are becoming a thing of the past. Cue the cool nights, hordes of students on the train, and the changing foliage. Clearly, this means one thing—FOOTBALL SEASON IS HERE. You thought I was going to say fall, right? As much as I love breathing in the crisp air that begs a soft, weathered sweatshirt, I will be leaf peeping in between games and my sweatshirt will probably have a team logo on it! 

My roommate Hannah says I’m a bonafide football nerd and she might be right: my day planner is filled with the kickoff times for the Oregon Ducks, NY Giants, Tennessee Titans and Philadelphia Eagles. Whew! Of course, game day wouldn’t be complete without two things—gear and snacks! I have plenty of gear, including a personalized Giants jersey (as shown in the image above of me at the Giants and Washington Red Skins game), and this year I’ve decided to perfect the art of making guacamole.

Thanks to Alton Brown’s recipe, I think I’ve done just that! The flavors are perfectly balanced without sacrificing spice and the cumin compliments the heat. So next time you’re hosting a game day party, try this one out!

Alton Brown's Homemade Guacamole Recipe

Ingredients
3 medium ripe Hass avocados, halved and pitted (peel removed)
1 medium lime
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/2 medium onion, diced
2 small Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped (sadly, I forgot to get cilantro but no one seemed to notice that it was missing!)
1 tablespoon jalapeno, minced

Instructions
Place the avocado pulp and lime juice in a large mixing bowl and toss to combine. Add the salt, cumin and cayenne and mash using a potato masher, leaving some larger chunks for texture. Add the onion, tomatoes, garlic, cilantro and jalapeno and stir to combine. Lay plastic wrap directly on the surface of the guacamole and allow to sit at room temperature for 2 hours before serving.

(image: enjoy!)

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(image: smiling Yerman by Ryan Brunty)

As you can see our traveling card—affectionately named Gustave by Clayton—was quite the jetsetter this summer. Gustave came with me to visit my in-laws in Las Vegas. Perhaps he was expecting a week of gambling, DJ parties, and dazzling shows but alas, my husband and I never made it to the Strip, choosing to spend time with family and watch movie matinees instead.

On a whim, we did catch a tour at the Zappos headquarters. I was particularly interested in Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh because of all of the work he is doing to revitalize downtown Las Vegas after the company moved into the old City Hall. His vision is to transform what once was a derelict neighborhood into an environment where entrepreneurship, creativity, and tech can thrive. It’s certainly a huge challenge and one that he’s promised $350 million of his own money towards meeting. If you find this at all fascinating like I have, I highly recommend listening to this podcast.

(image: hallway mural; wish I knew who to credit!)

The tour was a great glimpse into the Zappos culture. One of its core values is to “Create Fun and A Little Weirdness” and you certainly got that sense just by looking around and seeing the random knick knacks, toys, balloons, and stuffed animals everywhere. There’s even a ball pit in the HR department. One thing that really struck me was all of the graffiti, chalk art, and murals in and outside the office (and thus all of the photos I took). Most of them were done by Zappos employees. Others are part of an effort to showcase local artists and their work, here again one of the many ways Zappos is connecting its campus with the community.

(image: mural by Dray Wilmore)

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Next stop: Outer Banks. That’s where the traveling gnome card—that I have decided to nickname Gustave—traveled along with myself, friends, and friends of friends.

The Outer Banks, a 35-mile sandy strip of land along the coast of North Carolina, boasts a distinct beach house architecture that includes a labyrinth of multi-level porches and staircases atop elevated foundations (hurricanes, people). Unlike the Californian beaches that I am accustomed to, the Outer Banks exudes a certain country Jason Aldean beach vibe, Virginian and Carolinian accents included. Mike and his family’s beach house could not have arranged for more beautiful weather (thank you, Snivelies!). And with Jen as grocery food list maker, Mike as breakfast cook extraordinaire, and Ronnie as Corona beer (and limes) runner in addition to master bbq’er, generous rations of food quelled any fears of hunger.

The days included ample amounts of beach time, lighthouse tours, sun bathing, ocean water, and time spent in good company. Culinary excursions included Mama Kwans and Fish Heads, the latter being my favorite. How can you argue with live bands, buckets of shrimp with old bay, and old couples that cut a rug the ol' fashioned way? All in all, it was a pretty great relaxing vacation, even if Gustave didn’t come back with a tan.

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In early August, I drove five hours north to Montreal with my husband for a mini vacation. For three days we meandered through neighborhoods, ate incredible food and spoke French with an American accent while accidentally using Spanish words (that was the wine working its magic). Without question the biggest highlight was having time together away from our children. Love them as we do, Randy and I actually had a conversation that lasted longer than 30 seconds! Quality time aside, discovering Montreal was invigorating and all together inspiring. Here are the highlights:

LODGING. We stayed at Casa Bianca, a simple, understated bed and breakfast perfectly located on Mont Royal Park. One of our first adventures was biking up to the top of Mont Royal to see a panoramic view of the city—breathtaking and a great way to get your bearings (see pic below). Montreal is bike friendly: take a tour or just rent bikes and follow your nose, which is what we did.

(image: Randy and me at the top of Mont Royal Park)

FOOD. I have never seen so many restaurants in one city! The options are endless and it’s not an exaggeration to say that every meal was delicious. Our most memorable dinner was at La Bremner in old Montreal. The setting—a covered porch alongside a quiet alley—was memorable and our meals were scrumptious, not to mention the friendly, warm service. Our yummiest lunch was at Mandy’s (Avenue Laurier West location). Their hearty salads are creative and surprisingly satisfying after a long morning of meandering. Needless to say, we did not go hungry. 

(image: dinner on Avenue du Mont Royal East)

MURALS. Walking around Montreal we noticed the many murals painted on random buildings, even parking garages! We stumbled upon a handful of them as we roamed between neighborhoods; it was inspiring to see so much public art and fun to turn a corner and see such enormous bursts of color. Through our innkeepers we learned that Montreal hosts an annual mural festival every summer. Definitely a good reason to go back.

(image: one of the many fantastic murals throughout the city)

Other adventures included an afternoon at the Rogers Cup, our trip to the Botanical Garden (where I snapped the shot of the roaming I Get Around card), and our Habitat 67 spotting. Fun times, Montreal. Merci beaucoup!

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We've made a business based on our love for art and design, so when we heard that our friends at Breakthrough Greater Boston were short on funding to buy art supplies for their summer students, we immediately started our very first Crowdrise campaign. For a modest sum of $580, the summer program would be fully stocked up on paints, brushes, and paper— the basic tools any kid needs to explore his or her creative side.

(image: an idea is hatched!)

While there were instant likes and hearts after promoting the fundraising campaign through social media, the donations were only trickling in, and we worried we wouldn't make the goal on time. We had an impromptu brainstorming session about how to inspire folks to donate, during which Sabrina came up with the idea of telling our network of customers, vendors, friends, and family that I would personally bake cookies for the kids in the summer program if we achieved the goal. What a great way to "sweeten" the deal— ha!

Thanks to some awesome people (that's you, if you're reading this and donated!), we exceeded the goal by 28 percent (a combination of Crowdrise donations and checks made out directly to Breakthrough Greater Boston)! As promised, I spent one evening baking several batches of chocolate chip cookies and snickerdoodles. Admittedly, I love to bake, so it was certainly not a chore.

(image: Deb on left and Sarah on right are greeted by Breakthrough folks.)

The next day, Sarah took a short break from work on a beautiful summer day to help me deliver all of the cookies at Breakthrough's Dorchester location. We took a few wrong turns getting there, which wouldn’t be that embarrassing except that Sarah lives in Dorchester and we had the GPS directing us. Eventually, we arrived at the hallways of Tech Boston Academy. While there, we experienced some serious high school flashbacks as we walked past the classrooms and lockers, smelling of fresh paint as prep work for the new school year was underway.

The cookie drop went off without a hitch, and we are so happy that we were able to support such hardworking kids! Many thanks to Oompa Williams for enthusiastically greeting us and graciously accepting the cookies on behalf of the students.

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