Usually I find myself on the Cape for the 4th of July, but this year I’m excited to stay in Somerville and enjoy a day in the city. Instead of heading to the beach and watching the local parade, I think we’ll take a family bike ride on the Minuteman Bikeway, hit Christina’s on the way back, maybe visit Conway Park, and then get our grill on with friends later in the day. The Cook’s Illustrated Grilling book is our summer bible — we cook from it almost every evening and this Wednesday is no exception! One of our favorite recipes is the Sweet and Sour Chipotle Sauce. We eat it with flank steak, wrap it up in a corn tortilla and add a few avocado slices…yum!

Once the sun goes down, and provided our little guy cooperates, I’m hoping to head up to Prospect Hill Park to watch the Boston Fireworks. I hear the view is incredible. What are your plans to celebrate the 4th? Whatever they are, hope it’s happy!

“I love bikes” by Susana Parada, available on etsy.com; Ice cream cone image by Jackie Rueda via Lushlee; Yellow grill illustration by Smudge Ink; Cook’s Illustrated Grilling and Barbeque; Flank Steak Tacos via Tasting Table; Fireworks photograph by Jodi Miller Photography

After 12 years of tasting subpar baked goods, I was lucky enough to experience a donut from Babycakes this morning. Little did I know this lower east side vegan + gluten-free bakery would rock my world. I seriously had trouble leaving with only 3 baked goods in my hand. So far, I’ve eaten the donut (a 10 minute, out-of-this world, cinnamon, buttery, finger-licking good experience). Later I will enjoy the chocolate mint cupcake, and perhaps tomorrow while at the Gift Show, I’ll nosh on the cranberry-apple toasty. I’m going to have to fit in a few extra runs while I’m here–all for good reason, of course.

This past weekend, we took a trip to the Cape to photograph our new letterpress-printed wedding invitations we’re releasing at the end of February. Although we were intimidated by how many pieces we had to shoot (we had limited time), it turned out to be a great success. Thanks to the sun and clouds for perfect lighting, and to my mom for supplying us with a wide variety of props, protein packed meals and two days of free babysitting.

A pre-8am trip to the flower market…

Once we arrived in Orleans, we spent day one outside mostly. It was a gorgeous day, so we hit the beach and used the sand, lobster traps, sea grass and water to our advantage.

It snowed on day two–all day long.  After a poached egg and half a grapefruit, we set up in various rooms around the house.

After we finished our work, we headed outside to enjoy the snow. It ended up snowing about 5-6 inches on the Cape, a coastal storm. It was a long drive home, but kale soup and a turkey sandwich from the Land Ho helped.

We can’t wait to show you our new wedding invitations! Stay tuned…

Over the holiday, we escaped to the Cape for a few days to be with family. Our visits to Eastham always include some sort of walk near or on the National Seashore. This time we took off for a 2 hour hike at the salt pond. The colors, the clouds and the air made for a beautiful walk which left me feeling refreshed, invigorated and ready to take on 2012. Happy New Year!

Today we took an unexpected little trip up to Lynn to visit Zimman’s. We were searching for some specific patterns that would compliment our new wedding invitations. How can you not love this place? With coffee in hand, we perused aisles and aisles of bright, colorful, unique fabrics that you can’t find at your run-of-the-mill fabric stores. Here are some of our favorites:

Here’s to much inspiration and bright, happy colors in 2012!