Remains of Summer

photo found here

I am a summer girl. I love summer far too much for it to end. If I was any of the girls in the above photo, I'd be the one on top with her arms outstretched totally blissed out.

 I love the laziness of summer days with the sound of locusts filling the air as if they are children humming into a fan vibrating their voices. I enjoy endless afternoons with my daughter far too much to have to wait a whole year before summer eases it's way back into our days.

photo from here

The last remains of summer leave me feeling melancholy. I feel like a child who has been told it is time to go home after spending only moments in a candy shop. Or I feel like it is similar to when you know you will soon have to say goodbye to someone who you aren't ready to see leave. If only summer and I could visit a little longer.

photo found here

In 3 short days, it will be back to the routine of packing school lunches and sending my daughter off to school--sticking to a weekly bedtime routine, checking homework, and signing papers. If only I could capture summer in a jar to keep on my nightstand.

Beach and pool days have been the best with my husband and daughter. I like how my husband gently rinses my ankles and feet with a bucket of ocean water before we get seated in the car. I feel like Cleopatra or a Greek Goddess.

photo found here

I love how simplified a day at the beach can be where the sound of my daughter's laughter carries out over the water like a message in a bottle. Can you hear her joy on the coast of Africa sailing over the waves as she dances on the sand here in Florida? Come back to me, Summer. I'll be waiting.

Sealed with a Kiss, Kirsten

S.W.A.K.

Mochi Madness

I have discovered Mochi and now I'm addicted!!!!! So is my daughter. How did I not know about Mochi? Am I the only person on the planet who has not heard of these awesome little yummies??? Mochi it turns out is Japanese rice cakes made of rice pounded into paste and molded into the tiny little shapes of marshmallows. I discovered Mochi at Yogaberry when I treated my daughter to a frozen yogurt treat after a doctor appointment. I asked the young cashier what were those colorful little thingies in the section of toppings for the frozen yogurt and she said, "It's Mochi--kinda like a Japanese marshmallow." Sounded like yummy goodness to me. We have also become super addicted to Yogaberry--Organic, Fat-Free, Frozen yogurt. What's not to love? and because we have already made a few trips back to Yogaberry so we can get our Mochi fix, I now have an official Yogaberry card where once I earn 25 points, I get a freebie!!! 15 points and counting!!! My favorite is the Taro yogurt with mochi. I also wanna try honeydew and green tea frozen yogurt.......with Mochi, of course. My husband, who cannot stand yogurt, joined us on a Yogaberry trip and tried it for the first time. He LOVED LOVED LOVED it. Okay-okay, so it was frozen CHOCOLATE yogurt. But, it was yogurt nontheless and a step towards the real deal as far as I see it.

Sealed with a Kiss, Kirsten

S.W.A.K.