Friday, January 30, 2009

25 Things

This was one of those annoying things that kept being spread around Facebook like the herp. I was ignoring it for the most part, but I got a little bored this afternoon and went for it. It was actually kind of fun, but then again I also really like talking about myself. So, here. You should do it, too, so we can be twinzies.



25 things about me:

1. I love all things to do with the ocean. Seafood, sea smells, sea monsters, mermaids... you know... the usual. I feel lost and out of place when I'm not near the water.

2. I have never been on vacation to anywhere "exciting". I used to only come to Seattle, but now I live here so I just go to Portland. I don't really care about vacation destinations... I just want to see and do things that are different from what I've already experienced.

3. My two top front teeth are fake. I think everyone who has known me for the past year knows that- but a lot of people that I've known for longer have no idea. I have perfect teeth now, but I think braces would have been cheaper. Drunk biking isn't always a good idea.

4. I almost only drink water or tea. I hate soda and most juice.

5. The only "foreign" country I've been to is China. My last job was as an assistant buyer and designer for a Seattle based clothing company and our clothes were manufactured in China. I went for 12 days and it was hands down the strangest experience of my entire life. I want to go back again when I'm not working.

6. I am the most horribly un-athletically inclined person... ever. I hate most sports, and the only physical activity that I sincerely enjoy is cycling.

7. I've been hit by cars twice in the past year while riding my bike. Well, technically the second time I hit the car, but they cut me off and then slammed on their brakes. Then they yelled at me for hitting them and drove off. Nice!

8. I usually have no concept of how short I am. My boyfriend is a giant and I don't feel like I'm much smaller than he is unless I'm standing right next to him.

9. I really love my job, even though I complain about it a lot. I love working in the seafood industry for some reason. I can't seem to escape. It makes no sense considering that I went to school for fashion design- but I don't really care.

10. I got my first business license last year. It's for my messenger bags and bike goods. It's really weird to me for some reason.

11. I really want to publish a cookbook someday.

12. I love driving and I really miss it sometimes, but I am so much happier now that I don't own a car.

13. I am afraid of really obscure things. I also believe that thinking that something will go wrong will cause it to- so I try to pretend like I don't worry about anything.

14. I hate secrets and don't have any of my own. Only other peoples, and I don't like the idea of them.

15. I believe that there is a big difference between the people who are meant to be in your life, and the ones that you choose. I also think that if you look hard enough it becomes obvious which is which.

16. I make my own granola because I am a giant hippie. I also hate sugary store bought crap.

17. I am vegan/pescetarian (I eat seafood but no other meat or dairy). It isn't for "animal rights" reasons though. I just feel healthier this way. I do eat very small amounts of dairy from time to time, but I never buy it or prepare it for myself. I miss moose meat and goat cheese, but that's about it.

18. I have a very strong scent memory and have had random moments in the past few years where I have almost burst into tears or started laughing because of a familiar smell.

19. I love cooking for people- although I freak out every time I make something new and assume that people will hate it. So far that's never happened.

20. I talk to my mom almost every day. Which is more than I did when I still lived in Alaska. I talk to my dad maybe once a month, but it seems to work okay for us.

21. My boyfriend is amazing. He came home to Alaska with me in September for my dads wedding and endured my insane family and shitty Alaskan weather for four days. He puts up with all of my crap and somehow still manages to love me. He may actually be insane.

22. I almost never drink or go out anymore, which is a drastic change from my life the past two years. I'm so much happier this way, though. I like being at home. I miss my old life a lot sometimes, though.

23. I believe in ghosts but not in the Hollywood sense. I don't believe in heaven or hell, but I do believe that there is some sort of afterlife. Religion has never had a place in my life and I don't feel that I am lacking anything because of that. I am a good person without it.

24. I hate watching TV.

25. My brother and I used to hate each other, but now I feel like he's one of the most amazing and wonderful people in my life. I trust his judgment over just about anyone else's and know that we'd both do anything for one another.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Oh, Dear

I have been on a two-day streak of laughing uncontrollably about really weird shit. Like the picture that I came across in a book on a co-workers desk (where I like to sit and go through all of his stuff when he's at lunch... oops)- of a fish eating another fish. Except you could see the little guy inside the big guys mouth, and he probably still thought that he was swimming- except he had this cute little "oh shit" fish face that killed me. I tried to Google it but couldn't find anything comparable. I'm giggling right now thinking about it. The best part was that it wasn't even supposed to be funny. Yeah, okay.

Today I somehow ended up looking at dogs in costumes on the internets. Which really, is basically guaranteed to get that reaction out of me- but it's extra bad today for some reason. My two favorites:




I'm really afraid sometimes that I'm going to be "that" dog owner, or even "that" mom some day. With the little freak hippie children. Yep, that'll be me.

Monday, January 26, 2009

The PPK's Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Oh man.

I just made these. And I kind of want to die now. In the best sort of way.

The extra great part is that sometimes I'm a total genius and I manage to measure things really off. In this case it was more of a weird conversion/substitution, but whatevs. I used soy yogurt (teehee Amy!) instead of flax eggs, but spaced the fact that I didn't still need all of the liquid. So my dough was a bit thinner/stickier and I had to spoon it onto the cookie sheets instead of shaping balls with my hands. Sad.

Wah wah. Anyway. They are still amazing.



(And no that isn't a bite missing. I broke it when I flipped it over. I'm not that much of a piggy.)



Here's the original recipe- with some of my notes on substitutions and some other crap at the end:



Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies from The PPK

Ingredients:
3/4 cup canola oil
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon whole flax seeds
1/2 cup soy milk

2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup dutch processed cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Grind the flax seeds on high in a blender until they become a powder. Add soy milk and blend for another 30 seconds or so. Set aside.

In a large bowl sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

In a separate large bowl cream together oil and sugar. Add the flax seed/soy milk mixture and mix well. Add the vanilla.

Fold in the dry ingredients in batches. When it starts to get too stiff to mix with a spatula, use your hands until a nice stiff dough forms. Add the chocolate chips and mix with your hands again.

Roll dough into 1 inch balls and flatten into a disc that's about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Place on an un-greased cookie sheet about an inch apart.

Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes, then set them on a wire rack to cool completely.




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- If you want to sub out the flax eggs- use 1/4 cup soy yogurt or silken tofu and reduce the soy milk to 1/4 cup as well.

- If you don't want/need to make these vegan at all- sub the flax for 1 real egg, and use cows milk instead of soy- 1/4 cup instead of 1/2.

- I reduced the chocolate chips in mine to less than half a cup and am still really happy with the way that they turned out. I also used whiskey instead of vanilla, because I am an alcoholic who can't get off the bottle. Kidding. It's delicious, though.

- This recipe makes a lot. Like a lot a lot. I ate about six cookies worth of dough and still ended up with about 3 dozen. So- share. Or make half a batch. Or just eat them all and don't tell anyone and I won't either. K? Deal. Also- don't eat all the dough. My stomach feels like hell now. GREAT. I am fat forever.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Meme

I love this idea. It works better if you also have a blog.

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The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me!Fuck that! Anyone who replies will get something made by me. Too much love! My choice. For you.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
- What I create will be just for you.
- It'll be done this year.
- You have no clue what it's going to be.
- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

If you do not live nearby, I'm going to need a mailing address. This necessarily limits the size of the thing I make for you, but worry not, I will make you a thing.

If you'd like to do it just reply to this post- If you're an anonymous commenter it's fine- just let me know who you are in your comment (OR just suck it up and start a blog for f's sake). And if you don't live in Seattle you can e-mail me with your address as well at renai.marie@gmail.com

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Do it, beez!

Love!

Amy has a blog!

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Grumpzilla Attack

This winter is extra killing me this year for some reason. Which is really strange because this past year has been one of the best.

-------------------------

So why does it still suck somehow?

It's been weird lately because I'm generally a pretty positive person. Sometimes obnoxiously so. I'm a firm believer in the fact that the universe will take care of you, as long as you allow it to. Your life will never just fall apart one day, and the world is not going to end if "one more thing goes wrong".

So, my issue as of late isn't the fact that anything is going wrong. It's almost sort of the opposite. My life is really good right now. I'm not going to give you the generic rundown list of "I have a good job and I don't have herpes!" crap, but it shouldn't make much of a difference. I don't have much to complain about- which doesn't mean that I don't still complain- but you know how it goes.

I have essentially allowed myself to fall into the dreaded "I'm broke so I can't do anything" trap of ultimate bullshit. It's the excuse that I give myself for everything. It's causing me unnecessary stress and keeping me from making plans or setting any goals. I am in the mindset right now that I have to take each day as it comes and counting on the fact that if I don't make any plans- they can't be canceled and thus I won't be disappointed.

FAIL.

It's fucking everything up.

So, in the spirit of getting back to being obnoxiously positive, here is a nice little list of things in my life that are making me happy:



Photo credits: KSGarriott, La Citta Vita, Michael John


  • Cucumber + avocado + cilantro + sea salt
This is so, so good. I bought a ton of avocados on sale for $1 each the other day, and have basically been living off of this combination all week. It's cheap and delicious- and that works for me.

  • French Kicks + AA Bondy February 27th at the Doug Fir in Portland
!!! Matao and I are going down that morning, then staying at The Jupiter that night. I miss Portland so much. I haven't been down since July and I miss all of my loves. Also: Sweet Pea Bakery! David and Ryan from Danger Death Ray! Becca! And if we take the train and bring our bikes- NO HILLS!!!

  • Going to my chiropractor
This woman is amazing. There is no back cracking or pulling or poking. She uses gentle touch and works with your nervous system to realign all of your inside goodness. I've only seen her twice so far, but I feel unspeakably better. I'm actually grateful now that I tweaked my neck last week- because otherwise I never would have started going. Something that I didn't know until then was that it has very little to do with your actual back and more to do with your nerves- which can affect literally everything else in your body. I'm hooked.

  • Small sewing projects
I tend to kick my own ass overdoing things sometimes. It happens with sewing, as well as just about everything else in my life. Oh, tragedy! But not really- it always ends up coming full circle and being a positive thing. I'm trying to burn through all of my leftover and scrap fabric right now, and it's actually generating more interest, as well as inspiring me to branch out into other small things. Plus- no additional material costs!

But you already knew that. PETA is so funny. I'm technically pescatarian, not a true vegan so this just makes me laugh. Putting a tiara on a tuna kind of just makes me want to eat it more! I am a monster.



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What's keeping you from being a grumpzilla?

Smushes

Kind of adorable.

I can see what people put into search engines when my blog comes up. I just checked on 365 and something from last month was "because you're always so far away". It's from my second post ever.

Aw. Smush. I love lurking my lurkers. Don't stop doing cute things though, I like it.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Mystery Solved!

Remember this?

About a month and a half ago, my friend Matt sent me a picture text with a photo of an ad on a bus in Minneapolis. It was nearly identical to a photo of myself that was taken a few years ago by a local photographer- David Hiller.

At that point I was pretty much convinced that it was actually me. So was everyone else that I showed it to. It kind of freaked me out, but it was more funny than anything else.

Roll around to today- bored at work and I remember that Matt sent me the link to their website so I could get a better look at it. Even then it still looked like me. Finally I decided to be a crazy person and just e-mail the company and ask them about it.

Verdict:

NOT ME. Although insanely creepy, still. I have a blue-eyed twin somewhere in the world. Too bad I'm not blond anymore.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

DETOX

EW. Go do a Google image search for "detox" RIGHT NOW. Or don't. You'll probably be happier if you don't. Who puts that shit (teehee) on the internet anyway? Ew ew.

Anyway...

I've been feeling like ultra crap lately. Probably because I ate food with butter and eggs in it yesterday and just pretended like I wasn't really doing it and decided that if I just told my brain that it wasn't realllllly dairy then I could trick my stomach. HA HA. I am a moron. And a fat jerk.

This morning I figured I should probably get back to my "emo vegan diet" as Matao calls it. We went to The Sunlight for breakfast (where our waitress snipped at me for not informing her that I'm vegan when I ordered a TOFU SCRAMBLE. What's the mystery there? Don't put cheese on my tofu beez!) Anyway. So other than that all I've eaten today is this delicious amazing "salad" that I made that magically turned my stomach into the happiest place on earth. Mmmm nom. It's my form of a mini-detox because there's no way I'm going to live off of maple syrup and lemon juice for a week.

HERE:

1 cucumber
1 1/2 cups pineapple chunks (canned is fine if you roll that way)
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh mint (or more if you like mint... mmmmmmmint)
1 tbsp agave nectar (honey is fine)
Juice of 1/2 a lime

Peel your cucumber and dice it into bite sized pieces. Do the same with the pineapple and then toss it all into a bowl with the mint. Mix together the agave and lime juice and then dump it over your cucumber/pineapple/mint. Stir it all up and put a little more agave on top if you're a fatty like me. Then just eat the hell out of it.

I was going to take a picture, but instead I just ate it all, so uh... sorry.

Here... how cool is this? Maybe I'm the only one who thinks it's cool, but it makes me want to turn my living room into a pineapple field. Who's with me???

Friday, January 2, 2009

A New Start

I wanted to begin here, before I ended my 365 blog.

I won't be posting here every day. I won't be writing anymore just for the sake of writing. I will however continue posting recipes, projects, photographs, and anything else that I feel deserves to be posted. Most of it will be original content, but not all. It's a continuation of what I've already started. Just a little less chaotic.
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