Fare Thee Well: grateful reflections on being a wife, mother, and me.

Blayne Macauley July 7, 2015

This past weekend Jimmy and I went to Chicago for the Fare Thee Well Grateful Dead Tour. I had a lot of apprehension leading up to the trip. Oliver has become super attached to me, and he calls out "mama" about a thousand times a day. The thought of leaving him induced a pretty severe dose of mom guilt. It's strange to think that just a few years ago my needs were my number one priority. Maybe that's selfish to say, but my main concern throughout the day was getting where I needed to be, doing what I needed to do, and making myself happy. In 4 short years, I met Jimmy, got married, and had a baby. Now it seems like my needs come third, and while I'm so happy where I am in life and wouldn't trade it for anything, I am still struck sometimes by what a major change it is. Being a good wife and mother are my biggest concerns now. Although they are equally important to me, Jimmy does not cry or demand my time, and so sometimes being a good mom takes priority over being a great wife.

Jimmy asked me to go to these shows as a favor to him. I really love music and shows and my friends, but I'm a mom and I'm tired, and getting up the energy for three nights of shows seemed almost impossible. Because I love my husband, and I agreed we could use some time together away from the baby, I packed my bag, dropped the baby off with my mom, and boarded the plane. Almost as soon as we were in the air I felt better. I knew Oliver was well cared for, and I was on my way for 3 days where my biggest priority was being a wife and having fun with my husband. I even started to get kind of excited.

Once we were in the air, Jimmy surprised me and told me that he got reservations at a Top Chef restaurant that night! As you know from this post, Top Chef is my favorite TV show, and I was very excited. It was nice to know he'd done something so thoughtful for me. It reminded me that I am a very loved woman, and my interests matter very much to him.

We met his parents that night for dinner, and it was fantastic! I very much recommend the Little Goat if you are in Chicago.

The next day we actually slept in until 10! It was unreal. Oliver did not wake us up at the crack of dawn! We did not have to go immediately into parent mode. We lounged around for a while and then leisurely decided to meet our friend Adam for brunch. We chatted and laughed and told college stories, and I began to feel more and more like myself.

After brunch we went to a Cubs game at Wrigley Field. I felt so calm sitting at the stadium and watching the game. I absolutely adore baseball, and it was nice to be able to focus my full attention on something I love. I sat next to my father-in-law and watched the game and just soaked up the time.

Our New Home: Before and After

Blayne Macauley January 10, 2015

Welcome to my new blog home! I made the switch to Squarespace to provide a better user experience for my readers. The photos are much larger here, which is why I switched in the first place, but then I fell in love with the clean space and the fact that all the posts are categorized now! You can find anything you want to in the archives or use the search feature. Use the buttons at the bottom of the page to connect with me on Social Media, or take a look through my portfolio.

Speaking of a new home, Jimmy, Oliver and I DID move into our dream home two weeks after Oliver was born. It's the most perfect place to hang out and spend time together as a family. Especially on a lazy Sunday.

We found the house when I was about 8 months pregnant, and I don't know if it was the hormones or just pure lust, but I HAD to have it. There were tears and fits and many many rounds of "I just can't picture bringing my baby home anywhere else!" Looking back it was pretty dramatic, but if I had it to do all over I would because I'm currently living the real life version of Bunny Williams' "An Affair with a House."

The Best Kitchen of 2014

Blayne Macauley December 28, 2014

Merry Christmas from my family :). I hope you had a wonderful holiday. We were lucky enough to celebrate with all our immediate and extended family this holiday season, which was awesome. We just got home from North Carolina, and it's back to life as usual for a few days before we head to Miami for a little Phish New Years celebration. :)

Before the end of the year, I want to share with you guys my favorite kitchen of 2014. The kitchen belongs to Cathy and Chip Groome. Chip is the developer of a new subdivision where this home is located. Todd Pritchett was the architect. I fell in love with this kitchen as soon as I walked into it. It honestly might be my favorite kitchen of all time, finally beating out the kitchen from the movie "It's Complicated." You can see there are distinct similarities between the two, so apparently I have a style ;)

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Rachel Farmer's Pecan Pies

Blayne Beacham November 24, 2014

I feel like ever since I had Oliver I've become much more sentimental. For example, I'm sitting here trying to write an intro to tell you guys what makes Rachel Farmer so special, and I'm crying. Honestly, I've never met anyone like Rachel, and it was such a blessing when she decided to join Beacham & Company. She's really taught me so much about the kind of wife, mother, daughter and friend I want to be. I feel lucky to know Rachel and watch the way she lives her life. She is such a blessing!

Earlier this Fall, I wanted to start a softball team, Rachel was quick to volunteer her husband Bryan (a former minor league pitcher) as coach and herself as team mom. She and her husband have a wonderful relationship. These two people LOVE being around each other. I had the pleasure of going to several dinners with them after practice, and they are so much fun to be around. They are fun, funny, and they love to have a good time. It was through the softball experience that I realized Rachel really is the ultimate "Team Mom."

Rachel's son Kyle played baseball at UGA and now plays for the LA Dodgers minor league team (I hope that's right!). Since I've known Rachel she's been Kyle's biggest cheerleader... figuratively and literally. When UGA played Georgia Tech at Turner Field a few years ago we all went to watch Kyle. Rachel was by far the loudest person in the stands. I'm not exaggerating. I know a lot about having your mom as the loudest person in the stands (Glennis), but Rachel surpassed her!

Rachel and her daughter Nicole are very close. Nicole is currently a student at Ole Miss, which is where Rachel and Bryan went. The family has so much fun going over there and cheering on the Rebs. They also visit Rachel's mom, Granny.

I had the pleasure of having lunch with Granny when she was in town not long ago, and Granny is a piece of work! Rachel and Granny email and talk on the phone constantly about politics and what's going on with the family. They are best friends in just the most perfect way.

Bryan threw Rachel a 50th birthday party, and people came from around the country to be there for her. She has touched so many lives, and people love her like she's part of their family.

That's because she makes you feel like you are part of her family. She genuinely cares about what's going on with you, and if you are her friend she'd do anything in the world for you. Which is why, when I called her and asked her if I could send my uncle Rod over there to create a photo essay of her holiday pecan pie operation, she agreed immediately.

Every year Rachel makes pies for her friends and clients for Thanksgiving.

She gives one to our family every year, and it's become one of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions because its so thoughtful.

The pies are delicious, and I wanted to know more about what went into making them.

I asked Rod to go over because Rod and Rachel are good friends. Believe it or not, it's hard to convince people to let you take pictures of them, so I had to send in Rod because I knew he would get the job done :)

Here they are at Rachel's birthday :) It's a good thing I did send Rod over there. As they were photographing Rachel told Rod her sink was broken, and he fixed it for her. Apparently it's not a great idea to put 50 eggs down the garbage disposal ;) Who knew?

After the sink was fixed, Rachel started cooking.

Here is the recipe for Rachel's delicious pie!

1 cup sugar

¾ cup Light Karo Corn Syrup

½ stick butter

1 teaspoon of salt

1 tablespoon of Vanilla

3 eggs

Heaping cup of chopped pecans

9-inch deep dish pie shell

Mix Karo, sugar and butter over medium heat. Stir consistently until it gets to a rolling boil. Once it comes to a rolling boil stir for a minute. Add mixture to eggs (beaten), salt and vanilla. Add chopped pecans. Pour in to 9-inch pie shell and bake at 350 for 45 minutes – depending on your oven temperature. Could be less. Check it after 30 minutes.

Freezes well or serve warm with vanilla ice cream!!

It seems everyone benefits from Rachel's pies :)

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

P.S. As a little Thanksgiving present to me, would you mind liking This Photographer's Life on Facebook? We are SO CLOSE to 500 likes!

My Dad's Chili is THE BEST!

Blayne Beacham November 7, 2014

I really love my dad :)

When I was little my dad used to do a lot of the cooking and perfected dishes such as "Spray Bottle Chicken." I remember my dad used to make a marinade that he would spray on the chicken. This marinade basically consisted of anything he could find in the refrigerator... lemon juice, orange juice, pickle juice, worcestershire. When you're a little girl who loves to cook, there's nothing that makes you feel more special than when your dad asks for help digging through the fridge to make a "secret formula" marinade, and he lets you add anything you want!

One Saturday we drove around the city looking for the prefect spray bottle to use to keep the chicken coated while it was on the grill. It seems like we went to about 30 stores looking for the perfect spray bottle before he decided that a washed out windex bottle worked best. We kept the windex bottle under the sink, and it was ONLY to be used for chicken cooking. My dad made sure by writing "Chicken Juice" across it with a marker. Ahhh childhood memories.

Aside from the chicken, my dad taught me how to cook chili. This was an activity that took an entire Saturday. It was basically a little girl's version of tailgating. We would wake up early, hit up Bruno's for the secret ingredients, and start cooking. The below recipe is beased on the way my dad made it, but I've added a few things :)

Honestly, this is the secret ingredient. Of all the chili mixes and recipes I've tried (and I've tried a lot), this is my favorite. I don't know if it is because it reminds me of home, or if it really is the best, but I love it. The package calls for tomato sauce and 2 lbs of ground beef, but dad and I liked to doctor ours up with onions, beans, corn and of course beer. How do you make chili without beer?

Chop the onion.

Cook the ground beef with the onion. (this is Jimmy's job now)

When the meat is brown (in the above picture it is about halfway there), drain the fat and put it back in the pot.

I adore corn, so I use as many ears as possible. This time I used 4.

Cut the corn off the cob.

Add the two cans of tomato sauce to the meat.

The directions on the package say to add 16 oz of water, but I've decided beer is better. I love the flavor of 420 (that's also our wedding date), so I used it this time. Just use whatever you have.

The package of chili mix comes with individual spice packets, which you add depending on how much heat or salt you want.

I like beans in my chili, and I used one can of chili beans and one can of navy beans.

The longer you cook the chili the better it is, which if why my dad would always start in the morning. Technically you only need about 30 minutes to make chili, but it's up to you.

Top however you like :)

I'm so happy to have all the memories of cooking with my dad. He and Missy are wonderful cooks. They always make the best dinners together with my dad mainly in charge of the grill and Missy in charge of the inside stuff. Cooking has always been such a wonderful part of my family, and I am so excited to start making these memories with little Oliver.

Have a WONDERFUL Fall weekend everybody!