I’m sitting in my disaster of a house right now. It’s been one of those weeks—you know, the kind where you wear stretchy pants all week, can’t remember when you last washed your hair, and have zero ideas on where to start cleaning your house. It’s also been one of those weeks though, where I’ve somehow managed to keep my to-do list checked off in all the right places, and I’ve experienced some beautiful, wonderful time creating things and eating good food. You win some, you lose some; I’ll typically take good food over most other things anyways.
I feel like this post has been in the back of my head for a while now. When I first started making a schedule and calendar for topics to cover, I eyed October skeptically. Here’s the thing, party-makers—I love October. I love football (even though it breaks my heart nearly every season), I love bonfires, I love the colors of fall, I love decorating with mini pumpkins. I also love the foods of fall–the soups, stews, hearty pasta dishes, apple desserts, tailgate foods, and all.the.pies.
A couple of things of note have happened this week.
I’ve been driving for Uber part-time all week.
The Portland Rain has officially returned with a vengeance.
We’re trying to eat healthier.
It might be a little || too early and dramatic|| to say that when it rains, it pours. So, I’ll say that it’s drizzling. It’s drizzling because there are wonderful things about all of those three experiences, but I have to talk myself into them a little lot. I mean, driving for Uber gives me all the lacking experience I’ve been craving in awkward silence + small talk + talking about the weather; the rain means that there will be a lot of snow on Mt. Hood this year (eventually); and eating healthier prepares me for the holidays? Ha.
Our vacation is officially over. But honestly it was SUCH a refreshing time. Usually after vacation, I feel like I have to take another vacation to recover from a week of wandering around. And while I did introvert to the MAX this Sunday (I maybe took an 8 hour nap), Monday morning came and I was completely free of vacation hangover. Other than eating less wonderful meals all-day everyday, adjusting to the work week has been pretty smooth the past couple of days.
if you’ve been reading regularly, you might be wondering if this blog is still a partnership between me and Ben. And to answer your question, it TOTALLY is. There’s just one of us that has a little bit more time than the other to sit down and write regularly (that’s me, Mary). However, behind the scenes of Heart of Celebration Ben is typically the one who helps come up with ideas, does a LOT of the heavy lifting in our parties and events, and makes sure our website and technology is running smoothly.
You know what I dream of sometimes? I dream of party budgets the size of Lauren Conrad’s casual afternoon lunches. I dream of flowers in every corner of my house. I dream of being a calligrapher/hiring a calligrapher for everything. I dream of beautifully lit, graceful pictures of my events. But you know what? Instead my party’s end up being all home-made, somedays a little crazy, and a lot less glamorous than that lunch above.
There’s something to be said about food that takes just a little bit longer. Food that takes planning, food that you cook through the day. When I was growing up, my family was late to everything. Church, family reunions, leaving for vacations. You name it, we were never there on time. I remember cringing and feeling anxious in the car, thinking my parents only drove fast when we didn’t have a deadline to arrive somewhere. But when I look back, most of the times we were late, it was because we took the time to sit down together to eat. And most of the time, our meals were home-cooked and slow cooked.
This past weekend, I attended and photographed an event in PDX for a local hub of Latino commerce—the Portland Mercado. The Mercado has been open for a little over a year, and is a small development off 72nd and Foster that houses a handful of Latino-owned stores, coffee shops, food carts, and other small vendors. It’s a bright, multi-colored little pod in the middle of a four lane commuter road that is sure to catch your eye if you drive by.
Over the years, my family has become kind of notorious with my friends for cooking delicious meals. And I’m not going to fake humility here, lying to seem humble isn’t even worth it in this case. My family cooks really great food. My dad is the biggest grill master and salsa maker you have ever met. Literally it’s like magic happens whenever he touches a grill (don’t worry, the carne asada blog post is coming). And my mama, well, let’s just say that she has an arsenal of specialties that led all of my childhood friends to believe I ate a feast at every meal in my house (which I mostly did).
For the next couple of weeks, we’re celebrating Latino Heritage and Culture. What this means for our household is that we get to eat ALLLLL of my favorite Latino recipes. I’m not mad about it, and neither is Ben.
