Now

Hello July!

June historically is a super hot and humid month in Kansas City, but we sort of caught a break this year with some nice cool temperatures at the start. And right about the time I was thinking “Gee, we are saving a ton of money on our air conditioner bill,” the air conditioner completely stopped working.

We kind of knew this was coming, in that we’ve lived in this house for more than 20 years, but like most people, we also didn’t see it coming. After the sad trombone noise that accompanied the realization that were were not going to be saving money this month, and two nights camping out downstairs under a box fan, we were able to see the bright side and get bids for a new air conditioner AND a furnace since we didn’t want to repeat this experience on the coldest day of winter, too.

The new system came with a fancy WiFi thermostat, and while I originally thought they were just a shiny gadget, the fact that I can make the house comfortable from upstairs using my phone means that I don’t have to get up in the middle of the night and find my glasses and turn on lights and go downstairs. I can also cool down the house right before I get in the car for the commute home, so that’s a plus, too.

Other things I’ve enjoyed in June:

I used to really like a certain brand of frozen Chinese egg rolls, but all the stores locally appear to have dropped the vegetarian version. Apparently I was the only one buying it? Turns out they are embarrassingly easy to make. I didn’t actually use this recipe, but it’s a good starting point if you like instructions. Instead, I made a batch using bagged coleslaw mix and oven baked them, then froze them so it’s like having my own version ready and waiting for me. Double bonus – these are baked, not fried, and I know exactly what is in them.

It’s Iced Coffee season.

The Stanley Cup ended with the St. Louis Blues winning for the first time in history. Kansas City doesn’t have an NHL team, but Fox Sports Midwest shows all the Blues games all year, so I’ve been a fan for several years (it’s easier to pick a team you get to watch vs. picking say a West Coast team that is only on TV every once in a while and way past my bedtime).

Coming Up in July:

July is my birthday month, and the rule here is you get to celebrate the whole month. We call this one SuzerFest (obviously) and it’s full of special treats like breakfast out, the restaurant of my choice for dinner and I always take my birthday off from work as a vacation day.

This year May seemed longer than normal around SuzerSpace. I think it’s because I broke it near the middle with a trip to see family for Mother’s Day. So there’s “May before” and “May after” that weekend. And then Memorial Day ended up nearly a week before the end of the month, so there were a couple of odd days there where it was too late in the month to start something new, but too soon to start June project.

The weather this year was decidedly wet – record breaking, in fact. Keeping in mind we haven’t found a good solution for clearing out the gutters, and the fact that parts of our basement are just about always damp, we’ve survived quite well.

But it did interfere with our bike riding. I planted marigolds, but I’m holding off on moving my basil, oregano and garlic outdoors, for fear of them getting drowned.

June is looking interesting, though – we have some company coming, which usually forces us to actually do some of the items on our to-do lists, instead of just staring at them. Unfortunately, they are super ugly tasks, like pressure washing the porch and sanding and painting a bathroom ceiling.

And if the past is a predictor of the future, it’s going to get hot and humid soon, so we’ll need to bust out the blender and start working on frozen drink recipes. I’m also going to try my hand at some boozy sorbet – I’ll be sure to report my findings, but I imagine I’ll have to try it several times just to be sure I’ve got it right. For science 🙂 .

Spring in Kansas City is my second favorite season (Fall is my very favorite).

The days are long and bright, the flowers and trees bloom -the pollen is terrible but I’m trying a new allergy med so we’ll see how that goes. But it’s time for Hello May – my look back at the past month and a look forward at what’s coming next at SuzerSpace!

Three things I really enjoyed in April:

1. Hewitt Avenue’s Print Lettering Guide and her ProCreate Brush. If you’ve followed me for any length of time, you know I’m super into learning how to do brush lettering. Most of my time has been spent on the cursive version, and I’m really liking Sarah’s take on the print.
2. The Stanley Cup Playoffs. I’m a hockey fan, even though I came to the sport late in life (growing up in West Texas kind of limits your exposure to winter sports). This year has been super interesting with some wild big upsets in the first round. It’s almost worth staying up past my earlybird bedtime to watch.
3. A new tradition. I have my annual physical in April, and I spend much of the end of March and most of April dreading it. This year, we tried something new – I took the entire morning off from work (so no guilt) and after the appointment Mr. SuzerSpace and I went to our favorite breakfast place for brunch. This was selfish in that it was a reward for getting through the appointment and gave me something to look forward to. It was also selfless, in that for the blood work I had to skip breakfast, so I did everyone at work a favor by stopping for food so as not to work hangry all morning.

Coming up in May –

1. Spring planing season in Kansas City officially kicks off Mother’s Day weekends (no real threat of frost after that). Marigolds were a huge hit last year, I’m planning on going overboard on them this year.
2. May is a month of racing fun – Monaco, Indy 500 and the Memorial Day Nascar race.
3. Don’t forget Mother’s Day. If you missed it, last week I posted a freebie printable Mother’s Day card with a tutorial on making an envelope liner.

The winter weather hung on until right at the edge of the Spring Equinox – it was bitterly cold the week before, and then boom, out came the sun and the 50 degree afternoons. It’s been so nice opening the front door during the day and not having to run in from the car after work because of the bitter cold.

Of course, it snowed on Saturday just to mess with everyone’s state of mind, but it was too warm to stick so it ended up being kind of pretty.

I’ve seen the tips of the daffodils poking through the leaves I didn’t rake up last year, and that’s a sure sign spring is coming, and they have survived April and even May snowstorms before.

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February is often an ugly one in Kansas City. This one was unusually cold, unusually snowy, and to top it off, I served on jury duty for an entire week. Let me tell you – the wheels of justice move very, very, very slowly.

Two things that helped move February along:

I’ve mentioned before how much I like Skillshare, and this month I’ve totally been consumed with Bonnie Christine‘s classes on Surface Pattern Design. I’ve been using Adobe Illustrator since 1988, and I felt pretty confident in my skill set, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said “Oh wow, didn’t know that” during these classes. If you don’t have a Skillshare subscription (it’s like Netflix for tutorials – one fee covers all you want to consume), this link will get you two free months to try it out.

For years I’ve wanted to color up my kitchen with Fiesta, it also turns out that we have the largest independent retailer of Fiesta in the Midwest just 15 minutes from the house. We went “just to see what they had”, but I predictably caved and bought two mugs right on the spot. Which led to us going back and buying two bowls. I’m sure I’m going to go back in March and get two plates. I can’t justify just tossing out our current dishes, but I feel like if I add in the new ones slowly, it will be a treat, and not just spending money.

Coming up in March:

Joanne Hawker’s Meet the Maker series was super interesting on Instagram last year, and seeing that community was big in helping me push through the scary parts of starting my own Etsy shop. Looking forward to reading all the #meetthemakerposts this year, and seeing how many I can complete as well.

St. Patrick’s day is a big deal in Kansas City – we skip the parade (and it’s unfortunately associated gun fights), but we like to celebrate with Reuben sandwiches. Mr. SuzerSpace goes for the traditional, but last year I made my own vegetarian version and this one looks similar.

Really looking forward to Spring. Maybe the sun will come out? It’s been a bit since I’ve seen that yellow ball in the sky!