On Blogging...

It’s always sort of a delicate balance determining what to talk here. Am I writing for myself, being a documentarian? Should I tell you my opinions about irritating things that are eating at me (politics, current events, etc.)? Should I be as honest as some of my most inner thoughts? Should I tell you the boring and mundane minutiae of my life? Am I holding back?

When I started this blog back in 2006, I did it as sort of an experiment. People kept telling me I should write more and I thought to myself– where the hell am I supposed to do that-- Time Magazine??? Sure, I’ll get right on that. But I had happened to have just found some blogs (that I still read today) and thought to myself – well hell, if they can do it… It became an outlet for me, a little garden of thoughts to cultivate. Some were more interesting than others, but all in all I have enjoyed the process.

Although I love my little piece of the internet, I have found myself struggling with the direction I want this blog to go lately. I am holding back a bit and I don’t like the way that feels. I have a million things on my mind, but I get a little paralyzed about what I should and shouldn’t be talking about. Should I tell you about how going back to the gym this time around has made me feel like I’m finally finding a way to carve out some Me Time – even if it does mean I need a shower afterward? Should I tell you that I have pretty much stopped drinking coffee in lieu of tea and how much I love our tea stash drawer, not only because of its fantastic selection but because I have nostalgic Peet’s memories tied to pretty much every type of tea we own? Do I tell you about the AMAZING speaker Garrett and I saw the other night who spoke about nutrition in a way that was controversial and inspiring and then tell you about how it changed my entire outlook on healthcare in one night?

Should I tell you about the little signs in my everyday life that make me feel like I’m getting old? Should I tell you what I had for dinner or how I figure out my menu plans? Do I tell you about the book I am going to write or do I wait until my chapter outlines make a little bit more sense and I have a better idea of where I am taking it? Should I tell you about the thoughts I’ve been having on my career aspirations as of late? Do you want to see some of the interesting articles I’ve read lately? Do you want to hear about other bloggers I adore? Do I tell you about how I am constantly challenging myself to live the good life but on a bare bones budget? Do I map out the war I have going on in my mind about whether or not I can live in the suburbs forever? Will we ever find a home that is urban enough for me, yet not too Big City for Garrett? Are you interested in some events that I have been reflecting on lately that have definitely altered the course of my life?

I guess what I’m trying to say is that A LOT has been happening in my life (and even more here in this ever-active brain of mine) but I am sort of at a loss for communicating it lately. I’m an incredibly stimulation addicted Type A personality, so I am always going and doing but I’m not always ensuring there is time for reflecting even though I love the process of connecting the dots toward meaning. In the end, this is my site so I get to say what I want, right?

Right.

But that’s a little scary, knowing how the readership here has evolved recently. People from all different parts of my life read this blog. People who I don't know in person read this blog. People who don't know me from Adam read this blog. Some of you might be offended by what I say. Some of you who know me better might just think it’s business as usual around here. As someone who has never really been afraid to speak her mind, it’s a bit of uncharted territory all this hemming and hawing -- but what is most important to me is that I want to feel like I’m being honest. So I guess what I'm saying is I’m putting you on notice! :)
Things will be a changin’ around here. More opinions, more randomness, more links, more narrative non-fiction. I want this space to accurately reflect who I am and what I’m thinking. So here’s to a little more honesty around here, even if it does rock the boat a little!

Also – hey lurkers – I can see you coming and going, so if your reading, leave a comment, huh? The best part of blogs are the interactions because of it – otherwise, it’s just gets a little weird. Thanks!

Just Like Sorority Recruitment But With More Spandex

Well, I did it.

I re-joined 24 Hour Fitness the other day -- and for like the 900th time! Always with the breaking up and getting back together, we're like the Sean Penn and Robin Wright of fitness, I swear. Since doing so I've been trying out some of the different classes at the Carmichael location to see if I feel like joining any of them because that's what keeps me going back to 24 Hour Fitness. That is their evil lure over me -- I'm sort of a Group Fitness Groupie. Well, that or I'm Fitness Co-Dependant. You see, when it comes to methods of exercising I much prefer sweatin' to the oldies with others than I do by myself. I love me some yoga and I adore Step classes (Yes I know it is no longer 1996, but I like Step so shut up!)If you tell me about a geeky dance class, or some kick boxing club I will certainly try and shake and kick with the best of them. Obviously I am capable of exercising by myself, but the bottom line is I don't.

***As an aside, whenever I do exercise by myself it always seems like I end up on the elliptical machine that is parked 2 feet in front of the television playing the Food Network and Paula Deen is always deep frying something delicious and what the hell, health club? Why can’t you subscribe to the same shitty cable plan that you find in every hotel across America that is full of News Channels and Spanish Channels and nary a Food Network nor Bravo in sight? WHY? **********

So the other night I wanted to check out one of the Step Classes, and on my way to class I started to feel this weird sense of anxiety that I haven't really felt in years. I couldn't quite put my finger on it until about a minute before the class started, but then I finally looked around and figured it out -- going to a Step Class for the first time (or any class for that matter) reminds me alot of Sorority Recruitement -- except (for better or worse) EVERYONE IS WEARING SPANDEX!

It started before I even got there. What time should I leave? I didn't want to be too early -- because is there anything worse than being the first person to the party? In a giant mirrored room I wasn't even sure I would know what direction the class faced! God forbid I set up my equipment backwards! Luckily when I got there I was the second person there, so I could just cooly slide my Step to the back center of the room. Ha! I knew all along where the front was. PSHAW! But then all these groups of people started walking in together -- friends, co-workers, sisters -- and then of course there were those girls who set up their own station along with a second station to "save" for their friend who would be joining later. Jesus, Does everyone already know each other? What am I doing here? Holy shit this is exhausting and we haven't even started to exercise!

Oh, Right! You are here to exercise, Holly. Don't get insecure about stupid shit.

Ok. Insecurity Crisis Averted.

But then because God is merciful, in the midst of my Temporary Insecurity Crisis, the first fashion victim showed up. You know who I'm talking about. The older woman with the red terry cloth sweatband (with matching wrist bands!) and the bright purple pair of KangaROOS. The outfit hollered 1984, and so you know in a moment of weakness I thought to myself, well at least my outift is normal, so I've got that going for me. I know that's an awful thing to think, but sometimes in sticky social situations I get desperate. Sue me.

After that marched in the girl who was just Trying To Hard. You know, the one who is wearing her spandex just a bit too tight with her messy ponytail that is just a bit too tousled? You know she probably just wantes to fit in like everyone else, but the results are more hot-mess than they are hot-ness. She's already been on the elliptical for a while so she's rockin the unsightly sweat marks even before class starts. And once again I sort of feel relieved that I am not standing out for any of the above reasons. (This is just getting worse and worse)

But then OMG what if I am? Standing out, I mean. What if someone else is looking at my /clothes / hair / outfit / terrified look on my face/ and it's making them feel better that they are not as (insert negative descriptor) as I am. Oh, the horror! But before I can get too wrapped up in that thought A PREGNANT WOMAN walks in wearing matching spandex with her toned arms and thighs and only the enormous bump to tip you off that she is with child. Ahem, shouldn't she be out eating a cheese steak sandwiches somewhere (Hi Nat!) I mean what the hell? Oh, apparently she knows everybody in the room so I guess she's been doing this alot. But she's pregnant? Like Reeeeeeeally Pregnant. Oh man!

And it was like that with the mental chatter for about until the music started. And do you know why? Because folks, music is the great equalizer. Everyone looks like a giant asshole jumping around a big plastic bench with weights in their hands while the Black Eyed Peas shout "Mazel Tov" in the background no matter how cool or collected or fitly pregnant they were when they walked in the room.

In the end as some of you know, Sorority Life and I didn't really click. After about a year I couldn't take it anymore -- I just wasn't really into cultivating an environment (like Recruitment, ACK!) that made people stand around staring at each other sizing everything up. It just sucks the fun out of everything! So the other night after leaving class feeling fantastic after an hour of unadulterated frolicking and certainly looking ridiculous -- I decided I will never again play the size up game at an excercise class. And I'm hoping against hope that the ladies who were in my 24 Dance class on Wednesday did me justice and did the same because let's just say...there was A LOT of Black Eyed Peas.

Chili Calamity

Lest you go on thinking that every meal in my house is a wonderfully successful treat, I feel the need to tell you about my dinner last night. To briefly describe it I will say only this: I was cooking outside, but ended up setting off the smoke detectors inside.

Martha Stewart: Fail.

So Garrett has been craving a GIANT BEEF BURGER (Yes, in all caps) because I torture him a lot, you see, by serving him ground turkey things like turkey burgers and turkey chili and turkey meatloaf. And Oh! The Horror! Where’s The Beef? and all of that business. I mean holy moly is there any graver sin that a big beefy looking meal, made with -- ha! I tricked you, it's turkey! According to Garrett, no. So to assuage my carniverous companion we picked up some ground chuck and I scoured through some cookbooks and ended up finding a recipe for Chili Cheddar Burgers that sounded pretty good.

Now, I feel the need to interject for a minute that at first the name sort of turned me off. Because even though we all know how much I love chili, many of you may not know that I am absolutely NOT a fan of other foods covered in chili (see: fries, burgers, etc). It’s sort of like chicken on pizza for me. They are two great tastes that should just NEVER get tasted together. ICK. Yes, even if there is cheese involved. Yuck.

Anyway, back to the chili burger. So this burger was not actually smothered in chili but rather contained the flavors of chili on the inside. It had jalapenos, onions, garlic, chili powder, and cumin all mixed in and then, as if it could get any more cute and clever, it called for cubed up cheddar cheese to mix in. How could this go wrong?

By putting them on the grill that’s how. Because do you know what happens to cheese when you put it on a grill? It melts. And do you know what happens when dripping cheese pours into a fire? It smokes. And do you know what happens to smoke detectors when the lovely Delta Breeze blows the smoky billows inward towards the house?

Well I’ll tell you this, it’s not the Mormon Tabernacle Choir ringing in your ears.

So we pretty much let the burgers just char out on the grill, brought them into the house, dressed them up, then sliced them in half only to discover that they were TOTALLY RAW on the inside. So RAW, in fact, that I thought someone from the WWE was going to come into my kitchen and put me in a headlock over a dinner so botched. But alas, they did not, so I just finished cooking them in a pan and a few minutes later we ate them; however, not with any of the planned side-dishes, because I was too busy doing BBQ triage to prepare any of them.

In the end, a valuable lesson was learned by all, and the moral of the story is this – don’t get cute with chili-burgers. Have them the way nature indended, or don’t have them at all.

Unplugging Update

Well last week's Inaugural Unplugging was such a great success that Garrett and I have been looking forward to tonight for pretty much a week straight. I have to admit that on my drive home last week I had a little bit of anxiety. I stayed at work to get a few extra things done on-line (cheating a little bit, I suppose) and when I got home, my first thought was CRAP! This house is quiet.

I decided to remedy that quick by popping in a CD that I had been listening to in bits and pieces on my way to and from places, and it was remarkable what a different experience it was just listening to the whole album in its entirety. I miss that kind of thing. Sometimes it feels like I can hardly find the time breathe, let alone sit down and appreciate an entire album, but I guess that's the whole point, right? It was kind of exciting to know that there are many more Unplugged Nights to come. It made me a little giddy to revisit some old albums and discover some new.

Which then made me think of all of the other things I could/should/would be able to do on these Unplugged Nights and so of course I just starting spouting ideas out to Garrett and got up to go start making a list to which he basically said, "Whoa, whoa, whoa...there are no lists in this little experiment."

Right.

No Lists.

Just Taking Time For Myself.

Not Wasting Time With Computers/Phones/DVDs.

UN-Complicating My Life.

Right.

OK.

(This I assure you does NOT come natural to me.)

So of course we did the usual cook dinner, eat, and talk about our day business, but then we started talking about a new book I was going to start reading but just couldn't motivate myself to pick up, and Garrett suggested that I start reading it out loud. Reason #675 Why I Love This Man. So we read the book together for about an hour and a half and then conked out about 9:30.

Can I recommend Unplugging if only to allow yourself to get a really fantastic and restful night of sleep?

I woke up feeling great on Wednesday and was sort of sad that things were going to go back to Business as Usual that evening. I'm looking forward to seeing how things unfold tonight!

What's For Dinner?

It's been awhile since I've posted a menu, but rest assured they go up every week around here. If I didn't have a list telling me what to make every night we would undoubtedly eat microwave quesadillas for dinner all week.

This week Monday is my mom's super comfort food enchiladas. We call them White Enchiladas around these parts and they are full of cheesy, olive-y goodness!

Tuesday's Taco Salad is a staple in our house. Garrett pretty much loves it and it couldn't be easier. Ground Turkey, Taco Seasoning, Olives, Avocado, Tomatoes, Kidney Beans, Red Onions, Thousand Island Dressing, Hot Sauce, and Red Onion. So Easy, yet So Good.

Wednesday's Pork is just traditional breaded thin pork chops and the Beautiful Rice is a recipe I picked up over here, so I'm trying it out this week for something a little different. I'll cook up some kind of veggie (maybe roasted cauliflower -- a favorite) but I'm not sure what yet.

Thursday is exactly what is says. Caramelized Onions are my new favorite pasta topper. Sounds weird. Totally isn't. I promise.

Friday is my favorite chili with some cheddar cornbread, and bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers (died and gone to heaven!).

Saturday we'll be getting our hands dirty with Teriyaki Wings (I hate buffalo wings) and fresh Corn on the Cob (Flossing Emergency, hello!)

And Sunday it will be left over city!

What are you all cooking?

Unplugging

A year and a half ago, one of my favorite bloggers took on an interesting project that she dubbed 52 Nights Unplugged. You can watch a clip about it here if you like, but I'll give you the Cliffs Notes as well. Realizing that she wanted to be a little more "present in the present" and after attending a workshop about finding balance between technology and soul she decided she was going to spend 52 Nights Unplugged.

"One night a week, I am going to completely unplug from anything with a screen. This means no Internet, no sidekick, no watching DVDs."

At the time I thought it was a novel idea. Sure, the Internet is great, but how many times have you turned on your computer to check out one little thing, and looked up later to find yourself with a giant pain in your ass and a sense of bewilderment regarding where the last few hours had gone? How many times have you sat down to do something productive and gotten sucked into something on TV or texting back and forth with friends about something silly only to push aside the to-do list? I know I am seriously culpable when it comes to those behavioral patterns and so when I read about this project, I thought her choice to be proactive about the situation was incredibly noble. I wasn't going to run out an join her right that second, after all I certainly didn't think I had quite the same problem with technology, but I was really excited to hear about her progress from week to week.

A year and half later, however, I still find myself thinking about that project quite frequently while I'm at home, and Internet, if memory serves I think *they* say the first step in recovery is admitting you have a problem, right?

::::waves hello:::::

And here we are.

The more I think about it, the more I realize it's not so much a technology problem (don't worry, I'm not trying to rationalize here) but rather a time management problem with a technology enabler. I feel more and more overwhelmed by all of the plates I spin in my professional and personal life and lately when looking for ways to diffuse that stress, I find that I don't have any time because I have blogs to write! Text messages to send! Phone calls to make! Articles to read! Facebook statuses to update! Pictures to upload and edit! HOLY HELL WHY AM I ALWAYS BEHIND?

Do you see what I'm getting at?

So why don't I just give it all up, you ask? I mean obviously all of those items fall in the Nice-To-Do category and certainly not in the Need-To-Do category, right? But for those of you who don't know me personally, here is a little insight into my curious little psyche. I have always been a bit of an obsessive documenter. As a child I was constantly writing my way through whatever was going on in my life, my room was always surrounded with photo collages of friends and family, artistic inspiration torn out of magazines was always hanging around (OK and some pictures of TV heartthrobs, whatever), and there was no shortage of little ripped pieces of paper that chronicled my next brilliant idea. It's just the way I was made.

Even as an adult I have written countless pages of randomata and I'm actually quite grateful for it. When I moved in with Garrett I had so much fun looking back on my observations from the early days of our relationship. In short, my brain is always going. Getting all of that head chatter documented IS a Need-To-Have for me because putting that stuff somewhere allows me to heave a sigh of relief and just get on with my life already! Now with the advent of technology it has just made the tools I use a little different. Is that better? Probably. But it does come with a price, and that price is feeling sort of stifled by the constraints of electronics at times.

I'm not saying that my goal is to stop depending on technology (NEVER gonna happen!), but what I am saying is that I do need a bit of a reboot once in a while, so I've decided to piggyback on Ariel's idea of "Unplugging" and starting tonight when I get home from work I'm going to just Turn. Everything. Off. My hope is that by doing this weekly (every Tuesday) this will force me to regularly to hit the pause button which will allow me not only the luxury of decompressing but it might also give me the illusion of extra time to squeeze in some of those things that I feel like my harried, fast-paced life does not allow for. Taking walks. Reading. Writing on paper instead of on the Internet. Thinking. Hell, just breathing. These things are important to me, and no one else is going to prioritize them for me.

You may be wondering how Garrett fits into all this. I actually approached him about this idea last night and I thought for sure he would giggle at another one of my crazy schemes, so imagine my surprise when before I was even through outlining my reasoning behind everything he blurted out, "Let's Start Tomorrow!" He also feels the pull of so many different commitments, so rather than coming home and partaking in our usual routine -- dinner, trashy television, phone calls, computer time, and then off to sleep, lather, rinse, repeat -- he is going to unplug with me on Tuesday nights as well. Hmm...it'll be like Date Night meets Little House On The Prairie.

I'm thinking it will be fun. And different. And a little bit nutso. But this is me we are talking about.

Were you expecting something different?

Black Bean and Corn Salad

Gina sent me a fantastic recipe for this Black Bean Salad that I have been enjoying NON-STOP for the last few days so I thought I would share.

It's a delicious combo of black beans with corn, and I don't know about you but in the summertime I can't get enough corn. The best part about it is that you probably have most of the ingredients sitting in your pantry. I adapted the original recipe, which was a Guy Fieri recipe on Food Network, because there were a few ingredients I didn't have on hand and going to the grocery store was not in the cards that day. It is so simple and tasty.

Black Bean and Corn Salad

1 Can Black Beans, drained and rinsed
1 Can of Corn
***Can I HIGHLY, highly recommend Trader Joe's canned corn. It is the best corn from a can that I have ever tasted. Crunchy and sweet, and from a can? Seriously good.
2 Roma Tomatoes, chopped
1 Red Pepper, diced
1/2 of a Red Onion, diced finely
3 Scallions, Chopped
1 Jalapeno -- leave the seeds in for more heat otherwise seed -- finely diced
3 TBS honey
Juice of 1 lime
1 TBS kosher salt
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
A few pinches of cumin (I love cumin!)

*Also, some cilantro would be fantastic in here. I just didn't have any on hand.

Mix well and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours and then enjoy! It is perfect to pop in a tupperware for lunches all week. I wish I had some in my lunch today!

The next summery salad on my list to make is this Asparagus Summer Salad.

I'll let you know how it turns out!

Weekend: At A Glance

I think this weekend at The Cabin can be summed up best in a few pictures.

Good Food:



Good Drinks:



Good Friends:







Good Times:









Oh and by the way...



You all know how much I (don't) love Ed Hardy, and Sarah was kind enough to grab me a cup to drink out of all weekend.

Such insightful advice, Ed Hardy. hahahahahahaha

Summer Reading List

Heading to The Treehouse for a weekend of reading and relaxing. I've got a ton of magazines in tow and of course a few choice selections from my stack of Summer Reading books.

Best Food Writing 2008 by Holly Hughes
Things I Learned About My Dad (In Therapy) by Heather Armstrong
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Testimony by Anita Shreve
The Likeness by Tana French
The Book of Joe by Jonathan Tropper
A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberger

Can't wait for the relaxing to begin!

Best Summer Ever!

So about 2 days into our most recent vacation, Garrett and I declared that this summer was going to be the Best Summer Ever! I’m sure that’s not a surprising declaration while you are on the front side of a 10 day island vacation; however, we have been working to keep that attitude alive even back here in Sacramento. (Though there were definitely a few days of vacation hangover when we got back from Maui-- we aren’t superhuman, yo.) It probably sounds kind of ridiculous that we have already decided this is the Best Summer Ever, since summer technically just started yesterday, but it’s more of an attitude that we have decided to adopt this year, rather than a specific event.

We got to talking one night about all of our summer memories as kids and how much fun that used to be. The last days of school, sunshine, playing all day, swimming, hot nights, barbecue’s with family – just those random things that as a kid make everything seem right in the world. Since it’s been a long time since we have felt that kind of unadulterated bliss, this summer we decided to make a conscious decision to try and savor everything summer related -- in short, trying to make every day fun. And trust me, this will be no small feat, seeing as my hatred of the heat is right up there with my hatred of Black Widows, Ed Hardy, and People who say “Expresso”.

But even though the heat here in Sacramento can get unbearable, there are lots of fantastic things about summer. For example, I absolutely love waking up in the morning when it’s already light and beautiful outside. It’s almost an invitation to wake up, and I find myself being even more of an early riser during these months. Also, we are lucky that where we work offers generous vacation time so we are taking advantage of being able to have a mid-week day off here and there to enjoy ourselves, or taking a long weekend to visit with friends and family.

Next weekend we are heading to Calaveras with all my cousins to The Treehouse and there is NEVER a dull moment there. I can't wait to sit on the balcony of the cabin and go into magazine trance with some Apricot Ale from Snowshoe. Then for Fourth of July we are off to Monterey for Moto GP, but the Best Summer Ever is not only about traveling. Mainly we are just want to participate in summer. I know that sounds silly, but instead of letting the time pass us by and bitching about the heat for 3 months, we are going to go out and create that blissful summer feeling as much as possible.

So with that being said, the following is The Official Best Summer Ever To-Do List



Go on a picnic
Have friends over to BBQ even though our yard isn’t in perfect shape. (Who cares? They aren’t coming over for the landscaping!)
Plan a few “No Cook” menus
Have ice cream for dinner at Gunther’s Yum!
See a mid week matinee to beat the heat
Finish planting my garden and watch it grow
Wear more skirts
Head out to a You-Pick Berry Farm and Make Jam
Wear all of my fun dresses to work
Spend as much time as possible in a bathing suit
Take some fun hikes (Maybe revisit Feather Falls)
Write!
Make Mint Juleps and watch The Great Gatsby
Just Sit and Read

Speaking of reading, one of the most relaxing parts of Maui was just how much reading I was able to do and, honestly, I’m so much happier when I am reading. I just love pouring through a new book, getting to know a new story, meeting new characters. But the funny part is that Garrett loves when I'm tearing through books just about as much as I do. Since he is a much more auditory person, he doesn’t read as much as I do, but is constantly asking me to tell him what’s going on in my books. I mean, down to the detail. You could ask him a fairly detailed question about the plot line of New Moon and he’d probably give you a pretty accurate answer without ever having flipped a page, which I think is pretty hysterical. He certainly has his preferences – he’s not quite as interested in some of the fluffier books I read - but beyond that he’s always game to hear a story. Actually the other night I was laughing out loud while reading one of the essays in David Sedaris’ newest paperback When You Are Engulfed in Flames, and I ended up spending the next hour reading outloud to him while we were both rolling around in fits of giggles. It was a beautiful night and it was relaxing and fun to just sit there and read together. Even though it was probably the most sickeningly yuppie thing we have done in a long time – it was also such a blast.

I’m looking forward to many more of those nights to come!

Lists

My own To-Do lists have been curiously suffering this week but I found the time to come up with these:

Things I love that make me an absolute walking cliche:

Good Coffee

Farmer's Markets

Microbreweries

Organic Food

David Sedaris

Whole Foods

Indie Music

Public Radio

Facebook (duh!)

Hating People Who Wear Ed Hardy

Things most people get all hot over about which I only get lukewarm:

Banana Splits

Fancy Cell Phones That Do Tricks

Chowder Type Soup

Brad Pitt

Lost

Jodi Piccoult Books

Facebook Games

Disneyland

Pasta

Highlights

Robert Pattinson

Wes Anderson Movies

Harry Potter

MAC Makeup

Things I pretty much hate with a fiery passion:

Pizza with Chicken On It

Gwen Stefani's Wardrobe On Any Given Day

Nickelback

The Taste Of Toothpaste

Ed Hardy (...so awful it deserves another mention)

Fruit Vinaigrettes

Uggs

Chain Restaurants

UFC

Crocs

The Idea That "Dressing Like a French Woman" Is Somehow Extra Chic

Shiny Collared Shirts With Any Kind Of Bird/Phoenix Imagery

Bourbon

Styled Facial Hair

Pennies

Slipknot

The Following Words: most, mung bean, puss, incentivize, scamper, panties, or nautious when what they really mean to say is nauseated (Yes, there's a difference)

The Entire Lohan Family



...What about you. Tell me about your lists!

Not That You Asked....

...but I am still living out of my suitcase from Maui.

I know.

My ability to adapt in favor of laziness even amazes me sometimes. So yeah, did not get a whole lot done this weekend. I actually started feeling a little under the weather on Saturday night and it seemed to get progressively worse as Sunday wore on. I managed to sleep away most of the afternoon, but I did eek out next week's menu which, depending on how I end up feeling, may be a little ambitious.



The chili is based on this recipe except I add squash, zucchini, and extra peppers. It is full of veggies but has the spicy delicious flavor you expect from chili.

The Orzo Stuffed Peppers are a Giada recipe. The way she insists on pronouncing everything in her darling little Italian accent sort of drives me nuts, but her recipes usually turn out well.

Everything else pretty is pretty much recipe-less I guess and more of an experiment (like the homemade refried beans...yeah, I have no idea how those will turn out. We'll see!.) Sorry I'm sort of a lack of inspiration this week, but hey, at least you don't have to be my guinea pig like Garrett does.

Ha!

Food for Thought

I am so excited I am to finally see this movie!

Check out the trailer:


It's opens July 3rd at The Crest and I can't tell you how important I think these issues are. I promise not to get up on a soapbox here, but seriously, the food industry is so much more complicated than it appears to be and I don't think the average American even thinks about where their food comes from or how it is made when they walk into the grocery store. And if they do, half they time the labels on things and "nutrients" being infused into foods become so confusing that it is hard to tell heads from tails when it comes to what is "Good For You."

If you are interested, I absolutely love this article by Michael Pollan, which is actually an excerpt from his book In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, which is quite possibly one of the best books I've read in the past couple of years.

(Certainly not in a smutty, beach read kind of way, but you know -- eye opening.) A quick warning -- the article is pretty long (but so worth it -- Go read it, I'll wait.)

Ahem.

Anyway, he also wrote a significantly shorter article called Six Rules for Eating Wisely that is equally as interesting, if not quite so time consuming. (Ha! I tell you after I make you read a 12 page article...do you hate me?)

Both have really influenced my opinions over the past couple of years when it comes to the food Garrett and I eat. I'm not saying that I am perfect or that Pollan, for that matter, has all the answers -- I mean, obviously if I was doing everything right I'm sure I would certainly look much different (and truth be told, probably wouldn't be eating this Twix right now...haha...True confession...DAMN working in an office environment!)

But it's about starting somewhere.

It's about baby steps.

And when you add those all up in the end, I feel like those efforts and those concerns will be much more influential on my long term good health than a smaller dress size.

And honestly -- the long term -- that's really what we're all really hungry for, right?

What's For Dinner?

I know, I know -- you were expecting some fabulous Maui pictures. And I promise that I will recap The Great Maui Adventure this week, but this morning I had two overflowing suitcases and an empty fridge staring me down and that took priority over going through vacation photos. Is there anything more depressing than an empty fridge post-vacation? We had coffee but no cream. Cereal but no milk. ARGH! It was a rough morning. Though not as rough as tomorrow will be when I have to wake up at 5am....which, btw, is 2am Maui-time. Hoo boy! Wish me luck.

Anyway, I did some menu planning today before shopping,as I do pretty much every week, and I thought I would start posting some of my lists just in case you were looking for some menu inspiration. I know I get quite a bit of mine on-line, so I think I might start doing it regularly.

How it works at my house is I usually post some sort of fridge inventory that looks something like this:



Nothing fancy, obviously, just handwritten....And if I am really lucky I actually do a whole menu. This week's looks like this:

Monday -- Airplane Food (eek!)

Tuesday -- Bisquick Chicken (straight from the side of the box though this recipe is pretty identica. I add garlic powder too.)
Israeli Cous Cous and Frozen Veggies (I pretty much abhor frozen veggies but the Freezer needs a little clean out)

Wednesday -- Veggie Steamer with Kielbasa (This meal pretty much makes itself and we will certainly be zonked on Wednesday night being that it's our first day back at work) We chop up carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower and steam them with Turkey keilbasa on the top. The serve with a dipping sauce of soy and asian chili paste. Sounds weird, I promise it is DELIGHTFUL! And easy, which is key.

Thursday -- Grilled Vegetable Tostadas (I'm adding Chayote Squash too because I love it and it was on sale. Score!)

Friday -- Hamburgers and Spicy Sweet Potato Fries

Saturday -- Pasta with Pesto, Potatoes, and Green Beans

Sunday -- Teriyaki Wings (This is my mama's recipe and it is so simple that if I told you, you would laugh. So it's now my mama's SECRET recipe!)

So....What's for Dinner at your house this week?

The Sun Will Come Out....Tomorrow

So much to tell but it has been a long day and, again, I can barely keep my eyes open. In the past couple of days we have done the Road to Hana, I have (sort of) conquered my fear of snorkeling and subsequent sea-sickness, and we have come up with a top ten list of things that would make you totally embarrassed if you were travelling with us. Including the fact that when people say "Mahalo" to us, we put on our best Paula Deen impersonation and say "Ma-HAY-lo, Y'all" just because it makes us giggle.

We are having the best time and I can't wait to tell you all about it!

Tomorrow is another day.

You had me at Aloha...

It's been a fantastic few days in this little piece of Paradise. We spend our mornings drinking coffee and listening to the waves crash and our evenings sipping cocktails and listening the waves crash, and I can't think of a better way to bookend the day.



Speaking of bookends and reading, I've poured through two memoirs since being here and I can't think of anything more decadent than boatloads of spare time to read and nap and write when the inspiration hits. We've grilled up some fantastic meals (YUM! Chinese Chicken Salad), and honestly, we have yet to venture out of our lanai to dine. We plan to hit up the Maui farmer's market later this week to find some other local ingredients to experiment with, but don't you worry we're also planning to grub on some sushi (Sansei, Sarah, for sure!), some lava flows at the Hula Grill (Hi Gina!), and of course some HULA PIE (Kelly and Gee, we may even call you when we sit down)...so we will certainly get around to eating out on of these days.



Yesterday was by far the fullest day of adventure we've had and we crawled into bed last night absolutely exhausted from a day full of sun, sand, snorkeling, exploring, and a late evening swim. It was one of those nights where you lay down feeling salty and sunkissed and even though you can't stop smiling, you also CAN'T. KEEP. EYES. OPEN. ANY. LONGER---ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

We got up early for snorkel practice in the pool and a swim right here on Sugar Beach, and then in the afternoon hit up a little cove near Makena beach to put our snorkeling skills to the test. Being a scuba diver, Garrett didn't really have his skills in question, but since I had been flailing in the condo pool earlier that morning trying to figure out how to morph into a dirty mouth breather (haha), I was definitely looking for an opportunity to prove myself. As soon as we picked a spot to jump in, a sea turtle came over to greet us, and we dove in to see what other mysteries lurked below the surface.



In a few words, it was beautiful. And Garrett assured me that was nothing compared to what we will continue to see.

Since my skills increased slightly, I definitely felt ready for our trip to Molokini later this week. After swimming in the cove for a while we headed up to the lava rock surrounding it and busted out the picnic lunch that we had packed. With the waves crashing around us we grubbed on sandwiches and soaked up the sun while enjoying all the beautiful scenery.



Of course, leaving a few moments to ham it up for the camera. Trust me, I know, face masks are a GREAT look for me. haha



We headed back that afternoon to barbecue and relax by the pool and honestly, we could not have had a better day. As I drifted off to sleep last night to the sounds of the ocean, I thought to myself, "I can't believe we get to get up and do it all over again tomorrow."

Conversations From The Lanai

Me: I think I just saw and alligator face come out of the water

Him: Genius, there are no alligators in Maui.

Me: But it was huge. Maybe it was Nessy....

Him: (Shakes Head) Are you sure you even saw something?

Me: Yes it was HUGE!

Him: Oh hey, it's a sea turtle. I just saw it. Wow, and it's amazing how slow it's moving.

Me: Uh, genius -- it's a turtle.

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

So if this blog was a child, CPS certainly would have been called by now. Talk about neglect! Let the record reflect, however, that this is why I do not have kids. (YET...calm down, Mom, I'll get there).

ANYWAY.

Part of the reason I haven't been around these parts is because I've been getting settled in my new home! And by settled I mean, turning a pretty nice bachelor pad into a chic new home for the both of us, while not making anything too girly, too foofy, or high maintenance. Oh, and did I mention on a budget? This is tougher than it sounds, yo.

So last weekend I did some major overhauling while Garrett was out of town and coincidentally my mom and aunt were in town. And the fact that I don't have any before pictures for comparison is honestly a travesty. I seem to keep doing this (especially with recipes that I have cooked lately like this and this, or this and this ). I take all sorts of pics so I can blog them and then begin eating before I take a picture of the final product (FAIL) -- so following suit, I could hardly wait to get at the boxes and piles of crap overflowing in the extra bedroom that I just left it completely undocumented. You will just have to take my word that parts of our house were a mess! But really, aren't the after pictures always more fun anyway? So allow me to show you this...the finished Guest Room:



I particularly love that I had enough space to make a mini-library (which has totally been a fantasy fulfilled after all these years!) Let's just keep it between you and me that said library is filled with such masterpieces as the Twilight Saga and old Cliffs Notes though, mmmmkay? (For the record those Cliffs Notes do not belong to me!)



Also, I made a little reading nook out of Garrett's old twin bed that we were going to rid of. And can I just tell you -- I am so happy that our absolute procrastination kept us from Craigslisting this bed because seriously, I have already spent hours reading in this little area and just LOVE it! Also, it gives us another bed in case we have extra folks over, which is nice.



And since I was working on the Guest Bedroom I figured that I might as well finish sprucing up our Master Bedroom, which ended with this as the final product:



Green seemed to be the most gender neutral color and I know Garrett was relieved come home and not have his man-chamber all shabby chic'd out.



My favorite things are the prints above the bed and finally finding a home for the large silver framed black and white photo. Can you believe I bought that like 5 or 6 years ago from Ikea for $9.99? It's gone with me everywhere.



Fret not though, I left the rest of the house alone as it looks acceptable for the most part:



Anyway, with all the settling and redecorating I've been flying under the radar here in blogland, but I promise that our trip to Maui (in T-minus 8 days...SQUEE) will provide plenty of update worthy fodder. I'm also hoping it will help me chill out a bit because this morning on the way to work I honked at the guy in front of me, who was blocking my ability to get through a green light FOR NO REASON, about 11 times and perhaps inserted a hand gesture or two before I realized that it was not his left turn signal that was flashing but his hazard lights. Yikes! In my defense though, it was a BRAND. NEW. MERCEDES. without license plates. This is not exactly the car you assume is breaking down in the middle of the road and really more often it's the car that is doing whatever-the-eff-it-wants in the middle of the road, AM I RIGHT?

I swear as I finally drove around him he looked at me and mouthed "Someone here clearly needs a vacation."

(You know, or something else similarly pleasant, I'm sure.)

Either way I got the message loud and clear.

Alooooooooha!

Last Week: In Review

Monday: I'm not gonna lie, last week started with the traditional 'Fun Hangover'. We spent Easter and the night prior up in Chico with my family and had such a good time. Saturday night we went to this cowboy bar because my cousin Jim had just dropped a few hundred bucks on a hat, boots, and wranglers, and he wanted to see if he could pull it all off. Yes, that's right, he is NOT a cowboy -- he just plays one on TV -- or apparently at bars in Chico. It was hysterical! When I showed up and he was donning his regalia I said to him "Jeez, when did you become a cowboy?" And he looked at me with an absolutely straight face and said "One day last week, why?" He cracks me up! Of course the brunch the following day was more of the same. Come Monday, I was not ready to be back at work.

Tuesday: Honestly the most exciting thing I did on Tuesday was revel in the fact that my taxes have been completed since January. I got a very tiny refund and I was SO STOKED about it. I know most people love getting a big refund, but Garrett and his Economics Major brain has taught me to hate it. If you get a big refund, that means the Government has been holding your money for a year and you haven't been making any interest! Boo! So ever since he told me that (I had never really thought of it that way) I have been doing my best to never get a refund. This was my best year by far!

Wednesday: This was kind of a weird day. I turned in my keys to the studio, which prompted me to freak out just a bit, like "OMG, I really have no where else to go-- Garrett's house is, like, officially my house now." Which felt weird. But good weird, ya know? Then I had an absolutely CRAP-TASTIC day at work, getting some really shitty news right before I left for the day. I decided I was going to go home and feel totally sorry for myself, but instead when I got home the new shoes that I had ordered were on my front porch. And then when I went to grab the mail, the next door neighbor came over and said "Hey, welcome to the neighborhood officially!" and she was totally sweet and neighborly, and it just made the whole thing feel more real! So sometimes the Universe just won't let you feel sorry for yourself, which actually was good because we had tickets that night to see Jenny Lewis play at Empire and it was AWESOME! Great show, great crowd, and the best part--- it started at 6:30! So we were home and in bed by 11 (What? We're Old!!!)

Thursday: I went to a jewelry party at a co-worker's house and bought myself some FUN new jewelry (hi kelly! haha) that I'm really excited about. Still being kinda down from the previous day's bad news, retail therapy definitely helped.

Friday: I headed out to my mom's to have a little Ladies Night with my mom and grandma. I jokingly updated my Facebook Status on Friday that I was "drinking a Rockstar in anticipation" and seriously -- I was still asleep by 11. We had dinner and just chatted for a few hours outside (and hello, the weather was soooo nice!) and it just felt really good to catch up. Sometimes a girl just needs the grounding force of her mother, and I'm lucky that I can access mine with only a 30 minute drive.

Saturday: I had one of those moments where I woke up in a panic thinking I was late to work, only to realize it was totally the weekend. God, I sort of love when that happens. There is no better sleep that the few hours one gets knowing the alarm will NOT be waking you up. Aaaah! Got a pedicure with my cousin Saturday afternoon and boy were my P.W.T feet grateful. My new toes made me happy all weekend, and I seriously can't wait for a Summer full of tan pedicured feet and sandles! Speaking of, I bought some new ones at Target this weekend and I'm dying to wear them. The fact that it heated up this weekend was perfect timing.

Sunday: I got up super early, which was sort of annoying, but when I had a few million things done and looked at the clock to find it was only noon, I stopped feeling so annoyed. It was a beautiful day, I got prepared for the week, I relaxed, and we ended up BBQ'ing, so all in all, pretty much a great Sunday. And actually, a pretty good week, now that I'm reflecting on it.

***Hoping for a good one this week!

Slow and Steady

So I reserved a U-Haul for Saturday and I guess that means this thing is really happening! This move has been somewhat less traumatic than moves past because I have had the luxury of taking my sweet time. Basically every afternoon when I get off work I just drive home past my old place and pick up a load, drive home, unload, and that's it. It doesn't feel exceptionally laborious, and all of a sudden the only things left in my studio are large items of furniture. It's been sad packing up and leaving my cute-bachelorette space, but I'll tell you what, I am happy I did all that purging 6 months ago when I moved in!

The more stuff that I move into the Carmichael house the more it starts to feel like my home too and that's exciting! Not to mention I get to think about things like furniture! and paint! and decorating! all over again. Obviously those fun things will have to wait a little bit because with Maui coming up at the end of May all of our extra cash is being budgeted for that excursion and not so much for new furniture, but even just browsing for design inspiration gets me all giddy! I've been cutting things out of magazines and keeping all my ideas in a notebook at home and I can't wait to start working on it.

Speaking of notebooks, since I've been packing things up I have found A LOT of old journals that chronicle my pre-blogging life as well as a number of old photo albums. It's funny to note that even before I started this blog I obsessively documented the most random aspects of my life. It's actually been tons of fun to go through and read about exactly what I was feeling even just 4, 5, 6 years ago...because although it seems like practically yesterday, my life has changed SO MUCH! The other night I read my way through my life in Los Angeles, my move up to Sacramento, meeting my new roommates, subsequent moves, my thoughts on my future career, my laundry list of items I was looking for in a partner -- just about everything you can imagine. And the best part was that the writing was totally unencumbered. It's made me feel like I need to get back to a little bit more personal writing, and probably by hand. I've gotten so used to the quick blog update, and although that is also good documentation, and a great way to stay connected to my family and friends, sometimes I just need a place to let out some of the other important ideas that I'm stirring around. I'm not saying things are distilled here, but in some ways that have to be because of the broad readership. The idea of jotting down thoughts only for myself feels just perfect right now.

Speaking of old journals and photos, I decided the other night that I'm going to take some of the photos I have lying around and using them in our house. Garrett and I have had a ton of great adventures over the past few years and the other night we spent an hour sitting on the couch reminiscing and looking through old photos and had such a fun walk down memory lane! It made me think that we should have those pictures out and about, because some of the photos really capture fantastic moments. I definitely don't want our house to turn into tchotchke photo land, but I think we could find more ways to artfully incorporate some of those moments into our decor and I'm looking forward to finding a way to do that. (My only fear is that dealing with things like hanging pictures involves measuring and I HATE measuring...although not more than I HATE crooked picture frames, but I guess that's not something I need to reconcile right this very minute.)

Doing this move at a slower pace has really made me feel pretty inspired and creative lately. I can't wait to start working some of those impulses out, not only on paper but on the walls. I love being absolutely submerged in possibility!