Fumes

There’s a reason for breaks in the school year. It’s needed, natural and (I’m convinced) necessary to survive. We are taught as children that it is okay to not work continuously to not learn more than we need to each year. It’s the reason you don’t learn multiplication in kindergarten – the brain can only handle so much.

After a particularly grueling month, I need a brain break – a refresh, because I can no longer rebound or be myself. My tunnel vision is stuck on the stressful, rather than the relax. My battery has run out of juice and I’m on fumes.  Seventy-two hours of sleep with intermittent food and wine breaks sounds just about perfect.

For now, I’ll settle for a massage and a quiet Saturday.

Life in Durham: The first nine months

Our life now, nine months into this new adventure, has become one that is slower paced and faster at the same time.

Work is faster paced with more travel and responsibilities, but also more fulfilling. Sure, on some days, I let the stress take over and want to curl up in the fetal position. Other days are like a swift pat on the back. I’m learning to leverage each of these to my benefit. Travis’ job is rewarding and testing his skills around every bend.

Life is slower paced allowing for us to see things differently (peas into pesto, listening to records, enjoying leisure Saturday afternoon of Cheerwine and Fullsteam). We’re quickly realizing that the life our younger selves imagined can be better, rewritten to suit us best.

Over the next three or four months, we will focus on ironing out the wrinkles and feeling more settled. It’s going to be a whirlwind, in the best way possible.

Taking our time, popcorn

In a world of hustle and bustle, we deliberately chose to not have a microwave, the greatest convenience kitchen appliance of all time. It seemed like a good-enough challenge at first and now it just seems odd that we would have one, honestly.

Recently, I've become obsessed with popcorn, but not just any popcorn. Popcorn with butter and truffle salt. Have you tried it? It is just the right balance of comfort meets foodie with the woodsy notes of truffle coming through the warm, unsalted butter. Fun fact: I've had the same very small container of truffle salt for at least two years (pictured above). A little goes a long way.

Like listening to vinyls on the record player and writing letters to friends and family, popping popcorn from scratch takes time, but something about it feels so novel, so slow in a good way.

Tips for popping your own corn:
1. We prefer Pop Secret yellow popcorn. It pops up lighter and fluffier than the cheap stuff.
2. Melt and place your butter in the bottom of a bowl, then toss the popcorn in it to avoid getting things too soggy.
3. Keep a vented lid on the pan to shield from popping oil & to maximize popping.
4. Remove from heat about 10 seconds after popping begins to keep from burning and to allow for some of those half-popped pieces.