crackle

With finals around the corner for everyone, I am fully aware that this is not the time to brag about enjoying having little to no responsibilities at the moment–but that is not going to stop me!

I have always had the tendency to jam pack my life with activities that keep me rushing from place to place at all times, until now! Well, technically until Sweden where I had ABSOLUTELY nothing that I needed to do. So I guess I have to have a little bit of responsibility to keep me grounded.

Yesterday was seriously such a great day, I cannot hold in the boasting. I had coffee and breakfast with one set of parents, then drove in to town and met my mom for coffee and an impromptu shopping session where two of my favorite items were purchased–books and sweater!–then a work meeting, went to jen’s house and cooked, then went to early thanksgiving potluck where at least 6 of my favorite things occurred–including but not limited to eating, drinking, friends watching (the tv show hahah), laughing, etc., then i drove home to my cozy bed and read before falling asleep.

Although I know it will catch up with me this winter break when I am at school from 8:30 am to 9pm for two weeks straight, it is supremely nice that my schedule looks like this

Clearly, less than rigorous.

Considering how little I HAVE to do, it is interesting how busy I have managed to become anyways. I find myself at my computer a surprisingly little amount–facebook creeping down to a minimum ;)

I’ve been eating, baking, etc

Shopping..

On the sale rack of course haha

Andddd decorating in my head BECAUSE I move in with Tessa in about a month!

So excited–it’s my first house and I’m so glad I get to move in with such a good roommate! I have always been lucky with the roommates actually..FLASHBACK! and trevor and mel hahah

“Nothing has happened today, except kindness,” –Gertrude Stein

That is all :)

savor

I celebrated this week’s Tuesday in style, ‘in style’ meaning, of course, that I did not leave my mom’s house once I arrived from my dad’s.

‘I did not leave’ meaning, of course, that I did leave the house to run a vitally important errand.

The aforementioned ‘vitally important errand’  was, of course, going to Sunflower and going a bit overboard. I may have bought too much, but at least it was cheap!

i got ALLLL of this

for only that! let me just say that i love how cheap produce is.

Anyways, after finishing my article early I was left with a noon-thirty hungry belly, no further obligations, and a fridge full of produce so I did the only thing that one can do in this situation.

This ‘only thing’ was, of course, to make–>>>

LAZY DAY SOUP

A recipe in pictures, adapted from the front burner’s recipe.

Chop

Rinse

Roast and Saute

Throw it all together

Top it off and let it steam

Experiment with the scraps

for future reference, kale chips with cayenne pepper are REALLY good. Go light on the pepper though–they get super spicy!

Enjoy

(the weather, the soup, the view, reading outside, anything you choose to enjoy. I enjoyed that it was a lazy tuesday!)

wrap

I LOVE BIRTHDAYS.

Not so much because of the actual day of birth of any particular person is so magical, but instead because of the air of celebration that tends to accompany them.

And the excuse to eat cake (0r more accurately for those of who you know me..ridiculous amounts of frosting).

Candles, presents, and a heavily frosted cake..what more could you ask for?

See that frosting glisten? Yep, I made that and it is shining because it is baked to the brim with love.

hahah alright cheesy BUT I if one man hadn’t been born on November 14 some years ago, then I would not be here to write about it.

Or to enjoy a home-made Lebanese Linner (or Delicious Dunch if you prefer)!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!

from the kitties too

fiasco

Yesterday I was wondering why I didn’t bake more.

This morning I was reminded.

It all began last night when I came across some recipes from mama pea, mostly due to the fact that I had bought canned pumpkin on a whim, only to remember afterwards that I hate it and therefore needed to find a recipe to use it up.

A quick detour to Sunflower followed where I stocked up on everything that I THOUGHT I might need (more whole wheat flour most specifically) only to arrive home and realize that I was lacking brown sugar..and powdered sugar.

Seeing as I changed into my pj’s immediately after walking in the door, there was no way I was going to return to the dark, cold world for some measly sugar.

This was (bad) sign number one.

No matter, I was not to be deterred so this morning I woke up bright and early and ohsofashionably dressed drove to Smiths for the remaining necessities.

(bad sign )Number two quickly followed when I realized that I was missing baking soda as well! Now, there was REALLY no way that I was returning to the store for a third time–no matter if it was dark and cold or not.NOTE: It wasnt.

I forged ahead anyways. I decided to tackle some peanut butter cookies first. Everything was going smoothly..

until it wasnt.

The dough suddenly became dry, crumbly and wouldnt stick together at ALL. I checked the directions once, twice, and finally gave up and stuck it in the fridge while I began the second item. (Bad sign number three anyone?)

PUMPKIN BARS

This recipe was supremely easy and fast, which was encouraging. I bopped along, stuck it in the oven for thirty minutes and turned my attention back to the case of the dry dough.

I decided to experiment–something i am absolutely unaccustomed to but I already fucked it up by following directions so I was fed up with that.

I re-mixed peanut butter, butter, sugar, and vanilla in a bowl and folded in the crumbly failed dough little by little in one bowl.

In the other I mashed half a banana and combined it with the dry dough. Popped those suckers in the oven and began to examine my now fully baked pumpkin bread.

The moment I cut into it I was reminded of why I baking is not something I do often

I’m terrible at it!

Ah, there it is. I can’t even say that I enjoy it all that much, mostly I just enjoy having first dibs on the dough. It is actually rather stressful to me, because of my accute case of perfectionism.

So basically the pumpkin bread has little flavor. It is gushy, mushy, and generally unappealing. the chocolate chips in it are its saving grace, because they are ghirredelli.

In good news, the cookies came out alright. Oddly enough, the banana peanut butter cookies are my favorite and they were the ones that I created out of failure. That’s encouraging I suppose.

I think I’ll leave future baking to Jenny because she is really good at it. I of course am always willing to provide the dough! What are best friends for if not to consume large portions of cookie dough, I tell ya. Plus these are vegan so there are no eggs to worry about–not that generally stops us anyways.

I may be baking incompetent BUT in my defense I can make some mean quesadillas, and really what else do you need?

ouch

The things a gal will put up with from cute shoes is astounding. Some of the most physically painful moments of many females lives are those spent attempting to break in new high heels.

They may look cute and innocent but looks are deceiving! I have no idea what compelled me to wear these babies to the welcome dinner last night and clubbing afterward because I officially can barely walk.

WARNING: this picture is graphic soooo prepare yourself or quickly scroll down

Disgusting I know, what kind of sick, twisted person puts a picture like that on a blog?

ME

mainly because I want you all to feel my pain hahah

I am actually rather proud of myself because I put up with alot of activity in those shoes before finally breaking down. A trip to Norrkoping (sister city of Linkoping) was made..

..A trip to Maxi (kind of like Walmart) was taken on as well where I stocked up on food to cook with as well as some other stuff.

• tomatoes
• eggs
• mushrooms
• nectarines
• bananas
• museli
• bran flakes
• milk
• etc etc

AND I TRIED LICORICE ICE CREAM!!!

alright if you want to get technical it was licorice and lime sorbet–yeah sounds atrocious but tastes delicious. and that is really all that matters :)

So you see that alot of walking occured in my life recently (not to mention the at least 10k that we walked in the morning trying to get some bike problems sorted out in another section of town) so I would say that my poor little feet deserve a break..After our run today.

Despites my feet trouble the welcome dinner was fun! We were seated by people we didn’t know which I couldn’t decide if I liked or not, and we given a bottle of wine, an appetizer, dinner, and dessert. The food was alright I suppose.

The more interesting part of the evening revolved around singing. Come countries got up on stage and sang a national song (and no, me and the one other american girl did not partake). Germany took over the entire stage–there are at lease 130 of them walking around campus.

There were also rules–I am in Sweden dont’cha know– like to bang on the table and scream and then yell BORDSSKAL! and drink. Another one was to bang on the table in the same fashion and then scream tempo and then the number of a song from the booklet that we were provided with. I was astounded about the lyrics of the songs that we were expected to scream at a school function!

Astounded but totally pumped. Here is an example:

Cindy’s into whips and chains, kinky, kinky

Finally got it out it was red and sore, God damned son of a bitch never fuck no more

Seriously picture a room of 300 people singing things like this. We are so careful of what we say in America (at least superficially) in public settings but here they are so open and it is fun because many people think or say these things in private settings but not at anything endorsed by the school. Teachers and other public figures act like they are not saying or doing things that we all know everyone does so it seems like in Europe they just cut all the bullshit and let it all be out there.

HMM..

food for thought.

I am going to go eat breakfast now and rest my poor little feet.

In Ellen Pompeo’s kitchen hahah I wish

catch-up time

WHY HELLO

Sorry I have been MIA for quite a while, after leaving off with such a dismal (and apparently worrying) post. Luckily for me, I have the best mom in the world (no offense to any other mothers out there, but it’s my opinion) who flew her cute little patootie out here and to spend some quality mother-daughter time! and okay, a side of business as well

Thursday night she met me at the office, I got to show her around our little Congressional box before taking her poor, dizzy daughter to the sole urgent care facility in DC that takes our insurance.

Verdict:

This may not come as a surprise but apparently I am officially a resident of Crazytown. It appears that nothing is physically wrong with me, so this little bit of vertigo must originate from within my noggin.

That said we chowed down at Hank’s Oyster Bar before metro-ing out to her lavish hotel where I enjoyed a KING SIZE BED and wonderful sheets. AH. I also indulged in coffee for the first time the next morning and it actually helped my condition a bit.

FRI-DIZZLE

My caffeine needs met, I set out to enjoy my Friday decked out in a yellow shirt (bright colors=happiness) and successfully gave my second tour of the Capitol in addition to a slew of other various tasks throughout the day because we were down to 2 interns.

Kept busy, the day flew by and Mom and I ate out at Founding Farmers before going to sleep like the little early birds we are. There was a justifiable reason for heading to bed so early this time, however:

I had to wake up for my 7:30 tour of THIS baby..

SATURDAY

YEP, it was actually not all that interesting but I tried to take my time and remember all the details because it is not every day that you get to step foot in a place where so many great men and women who have shaped America’s history have resided. You can imagine that security was quite abundant, if you even bring a bag with you to the grounds they shut down the tours for the rest of the day.

All the secret service men were quite good looking, but they were pretty staunch about following the rules dang it hahah. I asked one how the rooms could ever be used by the president if people were always walking through them on tours but he informed me that tours happen in the mornings and then they shut it down for afternoon business.

And no, the Obamas were not there. They were in Maine for the weekend, as were the rest of my family all together without me :(

REST OF SATURDAY:

I was back to my dorm by 8:30 so mom and I grabbed coffee at a cafe downstairs and planned our day. We first went to Georgetown for a bit of shopping and then lunch at THE DISNEYLAND OF FOOD

DEAN AND DELUCA people..The granddaddy of Whole Foods. I will never look at WF the same again now that I know what is out there. ONly I would take pictures of this store but I was in HEAVEN.

Their samples of baked goods were too good to be true. I seriously have never tasted anything so wonderful in my life– I am not exaggerating–I am returning before I leave.

Then we headed out to Great Falls–My mom’s childhood home. We drove around, and I got the full run down. Saw all of her houses, schools, friends houses, hang outs, horse stables, etc. With some time to spare we made a stop at the Great Falls nature park.

Over on the other side of the Potomac you could see people in Maryland looking out at the falls from their side.

We then went to her childhood friend’s home to clean up and relax before dinner at a fabulous French restaurant with a crowd of very well educated and diverse individuals. I had the best halibut I have ever encountered this night.

I realize I look really thrilled in this picture but I didn’t think I was in  it haha and the other one half the people aren’t paying attention SO we are stuck with this one. I promise I wasn’t an angry bunny  this night..just this picture. I generally don’t genuinely smile in pictures anyways though because I feel uncomfortable and fake. It drives everyone crazy but I cant really bring myself to do otherwise.

SUNDAY

was filled with the Tour de France, visits to mom’s old friends, a proper grocery store run, and then I was returned to my dorm and said goodbye to the momster

this brings us up to speed..

MONDAY

I began this morning filled with fresh resolve to face my situation positively. I woke up extra early for a light jog–after breakfast and a shower I was feeling worse than ever and was worried I couldnt even make it to work but I pulled it together and somewhere along my day I started feeling LOADS better.

Possibly it was because of

–A member of the staff’s birthday Chipotle and baked goods

–getting to leave office for a bit to retrieve aforementioned Chipotle

–being occupied with tasks

–having coffee

–leaving an hour early to attend a reception with glorious fruit platters everywhere

–a heart pounding sprinting run followed by 20 minutes of relaxing hatha yoga

–taking out my contacts

–a generally positive attitude

As of now I am feeling a less horrible, not perfect but alright, I am reluctant to say that in case I jinx myself but I am going to keep taking it easy and see how it goes.

Time for laundry now!!

the term ‘desperately need to do it’ doesn’t even begin to cover it.

rainy monday

Is not just a song title, is also the foundation for an ideal day. Growing up in the desert, you really learn to appreciate the merit of a summer stormy day.

Monday, though three days ago, was just that and I took full advantage.

7am. breakfast

2pm.-5pm read in bed with tea–turned into impromptu nap followed by more reading.

5:30pm. nails with mom

730pm. dinner at outback with mo and tess

10:30. more reading and then falling asleep really early.

If rainy monday described the previous day, bustling tuesday would be the appropriate label for the following one. I fueled myself and then proceeded to begin packing up a storm:

Tired out from all that folding I met dad for some sushi!

A nap with the boy was definitely called for, followed by dinner with friends, and then a movie with Kemp. I would say these past few days have been rather ideal–aside from yesterday I suppose which was filled with plane travel. Now I have arrived!

ain’t it cute?

slumber

I am one tired cookie!

Some regularly-houred, normally-located sleep is just what the doctor ordered but it seems as though my prescription was botched.

Even as far back as my sleepless night earlier this week, I have been slumber deprived and only had one night of recovery before I spent the night camped out in front of the Apple store  to get Shmemp a fancy new phone. My old, dejected Motorola Q is having some self esteem issues after being near that thing now.

The bright side of situation was that I was properly fueled throughout Wednesday to get through the long night. I paired the remainder of my salad from dinner with Leah and Molly at Johndi’s Tuesday evening with some eggs, apple, and coffee.

I seriously adore leftovers–they are almost better than eating the food originally! You carry your little box out, knowing that you are not done enjoying your food and looking forward to your next meeting.

BAM! leftover usage achieved

Plus ketchup

So we arrived Wednesday night to be about 60th in line with book in hand (me) and jacket (kemp’s originally but stolen by me later). Some people had really thought it out and had brought their computers, chairs, tents, blankets, pillows, RV’s, etc. We were on the lo-tech end..We found a tennis ball to entertain us after awhile (you can choose whether you consider this sad or genius).

We foolishly thought when the sun came up 8 hours later we were on the home stretch. Let’s just say we were wrong: we didn’t leave until one pm at least! We headed home, ate and promptly passed out until 7. Kemp went home for dinner while my mom and I whipped up some din din (did I really just shorten dinner to din din?) then I did the dishes and folded my laundry while my mom took the pup for a walk and then we all headed to bed thinking that I would be able to sleep quite a bit in a BED.

Quick and easy dinner :)

I knew Kemper had to get up early to work out, but I was thinking more in the 8 o’clock range–I was woken up at 6:30 with breakfast requests! AH, i downed some coffee and proceeded to whip up some oatmeal for him and two banana oatmeal muffins for my mother and I. Once the boy had headed out could I go back to the comfort of my bed? Of course not, I had to make some work calls and August had to be walked to off we went and now here I sit.

Busy, busy day ahead of me. Have to head down to school to pick up my acceptance letter to sweden and passport photos for my visa application, then I have a top secret event to attend (more on this when it can be revealed), lunch in celebration of said event, hopefully some interviews along the way, dry cleaning to pick up, and my visa application to be finished and sent out tomorrow.

focus

As a stereotypical type-a individual, let me just say that meditation is the opposite of relaxing. On the contrary, it is quite possibly one of the more difficult endeavors I have undertaken thus far. Eliminating thoughts and focusing solely on your present state of being is a mental workout equivalent to a marathon.

I would definitely benefit from a meditation class like the one that I crashed at PSU today. It was totally interesting, but I got a headache from all the visualizing.I find the fact that I am a perfectionist even during activities within my own mind is a tad disturbing. It didnt help much that I was hungry during the class, it was at 2 so almost my lunch time, and my brain was absolutely overflowing with thoughts.

The feature meditation of the class had us visualize each chakra color on our body, then identify which ones were most difficult for us to picture and spend some time becoming aware of the energy within those areas.

I could easily see the red, yellow, and blue ones.

Root Chakra  - RED

Sanskrit name: Muladhara

Location: Base of spine and in the region of the pubic bone. Includes genitals and reproductive organs.
Symbol, Color and Sound: Muladhara (Root/Base Chakra) is symbolized by a lotus with four petals. Red is the color of energy, vitality and power. Sound “lam”.
Influences: Sexuality, mentally it governs stability, emotionally – sensuality and spiritually it influences a sense of security.

The Solar Plexus Chakra – YELLOW

Sanskrit name: Manipura

Location: Above the navel, stomach area
Symbol, Color and Sound: lotus with ten petals. Yellow is the color of intellect and it’s used for mental stimulation. Sound “ram”.
Influences: Physically, Manipura influences digestion, mentally – personal power, emotionally – expansiveness and spiritually- all matters of growth.

The Throat Chakra – BLUE

Sanskrit name: Vishuddha, Vishuddhi

Location:Throat region, parallel to the thyroid gland
Symbol, Color and Sound: Lotus with sixteen petals. Color blue helps to communicate your emotions properly. Sound “ham”.
Influences: Physically Vishuddha influences communication, emotionally- independence, mentally – fluent thought and spiritually associated with a sense of security.

I could not picture indigo or violet at all, so I went back to Tessa’s dorm and looked up what all of this meant after making a little dorm meal from the scraps I snuck out of the cafeteria last night.

Tofu, spinach, tomatoes, and mushrooms

I Googled my little heart away after chowing down, while listening to and uploading the cds we checkout of the library. Evidently I am not in tune with trusting or my sense of beingness, or wisdom. I thought it was really interesting.

Let me just say I find it immensely awesome that Portland’s public library had a fantastic and diverse mucis selection that is available for checkout. We scored some cool finds:

• Slowblow
• Matt Costa
• Emiliana Torrini
• The Sounds
• Swords
• Aqualung
• Noel Lenaghan
• Chris Robley

popsicle

I am proud to annouce that I have fully abided by the most important rule of summertime:

being outside!

For the majority of the time span from breakfast to this very moment, I have been actively enjoying the outdoors. How, you might ask, have I shown my appreciation for the sun and beautiful day? Allow me to lay it out for you.

Woke up (only SLIGHTLY hungover) and enjoyed a lovely breakfast on my porch with one Jennifer Wright and one cute puppy.

Properly fueled, we set out for a hike! We piled into my car and met up with Kenzie at the Comanche trailhead. I hadn’t ever explored that particular trail, but it was interesting to say the least considering there is very little trail (that we followed anyways) that is not entirely composed of rock faces. August was totally suave about it though, took it like a champ. Lil mountaineer!

What could possibly be more fitting after all that beauty than a delicious lunch at Annapurna with the girls?! While we waited for our food we took tests to determine our doshas and a man that worked there came up and just based on what we looked like guessed what the test confirmed–I’m Vata with a little bit of Pitta. Turns out I enjoy eating all the food that is keeps me unbalanced, but it tastes so GOOD!

Doshas are very interesting, all of Annapurna’s vegan food is prepared according to your dosha’s necessities. As mostly a Vata person turns out I should avoid all raw vegetables! WHAT?! I guess I will just stay unbalanced. To find out what your dosha is and information about it click here and here. ;)

Now I am currently in the process of acquiring new music–official summer playlist is obviously needed.

Really digging 4shared.com lately, it’s legal so I dont feel bad about using it! Loading up on some she&him, coconut records, katy perry, cash cash, etc.

I’m gonna work on this for awhile, then maybe take the new jams for a spin at the gym? hm..