This year has been full of amazing new friends, fantastic adventures and lots of love. It’s been almost a year since Matt proposed, and I culd not be more excited to marry him in June! This wonderful photo is from our engagment session with the uber-awesome Alexandra Roberts.

May next year be as fabulous as this one! Here’s too an exciting 2012! Wishing you a very happy holiday with family and friends!

Lots of Love,
Jen and Matt

This week was MADD’s annual Red Ribbon Week. A time when the organization reaches out to schools to educate children on the dangers drugs and alcohol.  You remember the ones. You would gather in the auditorium and sit through a skit of older highschool kids making bad decisions or maybe they would show a film that they would pause part way through to ask you how to handle the situation of peer pressure.

I remember the assemblies where they showed photos of the car wrecks and portraits of the victims and their families. I remember them becasue I hated going to them. I remember them because of one particular photo that was always there and I knew I wouldn’t make it out of there without crying. That photo was the one above, of me and my mother.

25 years ago today, my mother was killed by a drunk driver. She was driving home from teaching an aerobics class, and hit head on by a drunk driver who was driving without his lights on and swerved into her lane. Although she was wearing her seat belt, she didn’t survive the crash.

I don’t have a lot of vivid memories from my childhood, I remember going into my parents bedroom and sitting on the bed, while my dad told me what happened. I remember people at church treating me differently, and someone giving me a ballerina teddy bear. And I remember spending a lot of time at aunts, uncles and grandparent’s houses. I don’t, however, really remember my mother.

I hear stories about her, and how wonderful of a woman she was. How she was caring, and loving and just an all around amazing lady. But when I close my eyes, I don’t see her. Even when I look at photos, I know I was there, because there I am, smiling at the camera, a moment captured in time, but I don’t remember those moments. And that is what makes me sad when I think about my mother. I wish I had a moment, captured on video, to hear her voice and watch her smile.

Yes, I miss my mother. But I also know that I am, who I am today, in part because of her but mostly because of the rest of my family. I am me, because of an awesome Dad who let me have fun, but also knew when I was lying. Amazing grandparents  who would take me out to Pizza Hut so I could cash in my BookIt points. More amazing grandparents who taught me to play Gin Rummy and how to pick strawberries. More amazing grandparents who let me spend summers with them in the Outer Banks, painting t-shirts and playing mini golf. Aunts and uncles who made sure I got on the bus every morning, and made sure I had a place to go after school. For that I am forever grateful.

I urge all of you, to be good to the people you love. Take care of yourselves, be safe, and most importantly, please drink responsibly this holiday season.

Love,
Jen Pepper

Matt and I took a little tour of some forgotten spaces in Biddeford, Maine a few months back. One of the little gems we found were two really old safes. I’m not sure how these safes, located on the third floor of one building, had not fallen through the aging floorboards. But thank goodness they were holding steady. The hand lettered words were so pretty I had to get a few shots for myself, along with documenting a very cool combination dial, coded with letters instead of numbers, I wonder what the combination spelled.

This summer has just gone by too fast. I know we all say that, but it truly has. I am currently getting geared up for the upcoming holiday season (yes i found myself listening to Holiday Hits yesterday). There are a lot of thing in the works, new products for peppersprouts, planning my wedding, working the 9-5, and I’m even headed back to college at the end of August. It’s only for one class but hey it’s a start! I promise that new and exciting things are just around the corner—my notebooks are getting filled up with ideas daily—so I hope you check back to see which ones make it into production this year! {print above by Chris Piascik}

I grew up in Delaware, spent many a year in NYC and now live in Maine. Needless to say I have been to my fair share of state fairs, street festivals and carnivals in my lifetime, and no outdoor massive gathering is complete without fried pastries. But if you find yourself surrounded by red and white canopies and glass fronted food trucks, but can’t seem to find that glorious neon sign, fear not it may just be called something else.

Funnel cake is what I grew up with. Made by pouring the dough directly into the fryer using, what else, a funnel. This gives the crispy gooey delight its wacky twisty shape. Once out of the fryer, it is put on a paper plate and coated in powdered sugar. It’s unique design makes this cake perfect for tearing off a piece and sharing with friends.

Fried dough on the other hand is exactly what you would expect. A mound of dough that is flattened a bit and put into the fryer without manipulation. Also served on a paper plate, and this is where it gets tricky, it can be covered in various toppings of chocolate, sugar, or even a savory tomato sauce. It’s also not an easy sharing dish, and pretty far down on my list of fair treats.

Last up is zeppoles! Now I have only had these little guys in the 5 boroughs, if you have had the pleasure of seeing these elsewhere please let me know! Zeppoles are little miniature mounds of dough that are fried, of course, put into a paper bag, and surrounded with powdered sugar. A quick shake of the bag and you have the perfect walking around treat. Perfect for sharing and keeping you and all your friends on a sugar high. But beware, the oil can be too much for some of the more delicate bags and you could just loose your zeppoles to the local critters.

And just in case your in the mood for a little carnival fever, but your state fair isn’t until August… check out this cute set of state fair food cards by Lisa Orgler. Send a little bit of festivities to your friends near and far!

Photo credits: Michelle Vu, My so called food blog, tara’s fried dough

I’m happy to say we Matt and I just returned from a very relaxing vacation. I am also very pleased to report that while we were enjoying the sun and blue water, the sun also came out here in Maine and melted quite a bit of the snow. While it’s not quite as warm here as it was in Mexico, I know spring is right around the corner!

There is a program airing tonight on PBS that “explores the growing reach of homeland security, fusion centers, battlefield technologies, and data collecting into the lives of ordinary Americans.” I heard a few snippets this afternoon regarding people who have been put on terrorist watch lists because they took pictures of a ferry, or a bridge, or a landmark building. Why we may think to ourselves, this is crazy, or there is something missing in these stories, in truth this really does happen more often then we think.

The photo above got me put onto a terrorist watch list in New York City in  2004. I love exploring, especially roads that seem less traveled. I ended up down a side road in Staten Island and came across some very large power structures. The clouds that day were beautiful and the juxtaposition of the elements really stood out to me. I snapped a few pictures and we on my way. The next day my father called me and gave me the phone number to a NYPD officer that had called him inquiring about suspicious activity linked to my car. Long story short I had to provide written referrals from my current employer, 3 phone interviews, and provide them of copies of all photos taken that day. I was informed that I was no longer under investigation. I understand that “we can’t take chances” but I also wonder about the lengths we go through to protect America. I look forward to watching this frontline program tonight.