So Thankkful!

Cakelet pan

I'm such a nerd, I'm incredibly excited that my mom is getting me this as an early x-mas present. I saw it a few weeks ago and emailed her immediately putting it the top of an impromptu Christmas gift list.

Possessions

We had a visit recently from a friend of Jamie's who literally for years has lived like a nomad. Tents in the woods, abandoned houses, beaches, his car, these have all been "home" to him. In some ways I admire the freedom he has not being chained by obligations or "things".

I spend a good amount of time thinking about possessions mostly as an irritant. It irritates me that we have so much stuff that we needed to build a shed this summer. It also irritates me that my closets and drawers are completely full. I wonder when we have children how the heck we will fit them and their stuff in the house. Don't get me wrong I'm so grateful that we are fortunate enough to own what we own. I'm just irritated that I can't keep the amount of things manageable and that I'm so practical that I can't get rid of sweaters that I've owned since High School simply because "they are still perfectly good"

Thinking about my things I wondered to myself if our house burned down and we lost everything what would I truly deeply miss. Clothes, furniture, those are replaceable and not to mention fun to shop for. Photos would be sad to loose but for the sake of argument lets say I have my computer and dogs with me when the house burns down. I have photos on my computer new and older scanned so I'd be fine there.

The more I thought about it only things that have important memories attached to them would really matter to me. One thing that I would really really miss is the teapot and cup set in the picture above. It reminds me of my Grandmother who died 5 years ago. Due to my Grandfathers financial discipline over the years his frugalness really paid off when my Grandmother was able to take our family to Europe in 2000. My Grandmother (God rest her soul) was not the most dignified person in the world which was kind of a running joke with her. She was loud, lively, warm, fun and generally amazing. This trip was her first one overseas and everything we saw on that trip she wanted to take with her as a souvenir. On one occasion in Paris we had tea at the Ritz I think she stole napkins, a glass tea stir stick and who knows what else. I remember being so embarrassed at the time and thought she was nuts but now it's just one of the many endearing memories I have of her and her excitement of being there and living in the moment. The teapot story is much the same, at one of our hotels on the trip different tea sets were in each of our rooms and she decided she would "take" them. I don't remember if it was me or my mother (we're slightly more tight laced than her :) who talked her in to asking for them at the front desk and she did which was how I got my tea set.
I love this thing. I rarely use it but it's out where I can see it all the time and It reminds me of someone who I love very much and of specific memories that I cherish.

What would you miss?

Best and worst...

Best news: We rented out a super cute micro mini office space. We're using this for a client meeting space and showroom for our print samples as well as samples of style options. It's in a great space on MLK around some cool new buildings and restaurants.

Also in the "best" category my dear friend Amanda's new baby boy Nigel is beautiful and amazing and I got to cuddle with him today and soak in the baby essence.

Worst: I think I'm getting vertigo again and it's really upsetting since I was out a month and a half last year with it. I almost fell backwards down our stairs. I feel like puking but I'm not sure if it's the vertigo or me being so nervous about the thought of having it again. I wanna cry :(

I need these in my life

I also need to be 20 lbs thinner and have legs up to my neck to pull these off gracefully but man they are great dresses! check them out at this gem of a shop

"He bite my vagina"

The woman in this video is unintentionally hilarious. Seriously I've watched it at least 5 times today and have died laughing.

Pumpkin carving party

Before...

After...

Ugh

Being a vegetarian does not mean I automatically want a stupid whole wheat tortilla or other nasty health food options that taste like shit!

Stupid stupid stupid! I wasn't able to eat lunch at the seminar I was at today and I was so looking forward to dinner which ended up being half cooked carrots and broccoli in a stale whole wheat tortilla! I still have tastebuds WTF!

Garden 2009 part 1

I'm a few weeks late on the garden pics so I'll try to remember to post the updated versions of these this week. I want to keep a photo journal of my yard over the year since it changes so much. I have a tendency in the middle of winter to not remember all of the amazing color that pops up in the spring. This should help remind me.

Raspberry

Not really veggie garden but lovely none the less :)

New raised bed I made with artichokes, brussel sprouts, broccoli, 2 kinds of lettuce and onions

Pumpkin on left and butternut squash on right

strawberries on left, 2 baby plants in center are zucchini and butternut squash, over to the left side are herbs and tomato plant

Yay! baby strawberries.

The perfect brunch combo...

Tofu Florentine from Veganomicon, tea, reading blogs, looking out window. Saturday mornings don't get much better.

Summer treat

I've been really loving this recipe for rhubarb sorbet. Since it's in season now I wanted to share this awesome recipe from Simply Recipes. I was going to tell you how wonderful my ice cream maker is but alas it looks like it's been discontinued which is a shame.

What happens in Vegas is coming home to Portland!

We are getting married in Vegas! October 10th! Here's where we'll be staying.



I've been to vegas a bunch of times but never to get married :) or see a wedding so I'm not exactly sure what to expect but I guess that's half the fun of Vegas

Wedding locations...

So I think we're on the verge of actually starting to think about wedding plans. The current consensus it to find a park location and just show up and get married. I think that's ok, I mean I don't think the park would have a problem with it. I'm not sure if you have to reserve that kind of stuff. I figure if we find a super awesome spot we could try and get the park to reserve that area.
Truth be told though, the park doesn't really seem a fitting place for a person like Jamie to get married in. He doesn't even like the outdoors that much, that's more my thing. He'd be way more into it if rivers we're made of coca cola instead of water but so far that's not happening. I'm not sure at all what we'll end up doing just that we're about to start planning.

reading impaired

Ugh, I'm in this funk where I'm too agitated all the time to sit down and read. I think it's been months since I've finished a book. This is pretty bad. Am I picking the wrong books?

Happy days

I've made it through the dark days of winter and although it's nowhere near pretty and warm outside I hope and feel like the darkest, gloomiest, most depressing days are only a memory until next year. Why do I feel this way you might ask when it's still obviously miserable in the NW? I say this because there are flowers in my yard!!!! Flowers=spring=color=sun ok the last part of that equation is still in question but at least it's a start! So I've decided to get out of my winter blog hibernation/general funk long enough to say hello. I've sustained myself through the dark days by reading food, crafting & celebrity gossip blogs drinking tea and hanging with the pugs, thank God other bloggers don't take winter vacays. I'd take pictures of the above mentioned flowers but as I mentioned the sun is not yet upon us and it's too windy and gross to be out yet.

Also there seems to be a flurry on the social front, catching up with old friends and making plans for fun days ahead.

Also giving me an extra boost are these super yummy Peanut Butter Cookies from Simple Recipes. Even Jamie likes them!

Hope the sun finds you soon!

I'm so brave

I'm not going to eat sugar for at least a week. Ok, ok, so actually I'm not that brave, if there is a bit if sugar in bread or peanut sauce or I don't know, random little things I wont worry about it. I'm talking about sweets, the really good yummy stuff you crave after dinner, you know... cupcakes, ice cream, cookies, chocolate etc. All the good stuff that makes life worth living (why am I stopping again?)

It will be a good challenge in self control and hopefully a small step on the larger path to living a healthier life.

Anyone else up to taking the challenge? I've already enlisted my mother who I will be very proud of if she makes it past day 3 :)

Wow 2009 already!

Well we had a very very white Christmas which is extremely rare in Portland. Actually it was a white 2 weeks here which is even more unusual. We had to re-arange some holiday plans due to the weather but fun was had by all. I hope you had a great holiday season, and I wish you a very happy New Year!


Parent's house Christmas morning


Mom Making Christmas quiche - and that sweet apron she's wearing is my handy work!


All the excitement was too much for Jamie!