Sunday

Things that I forgot about:

1. I hate riding on the Burke Gilman. HATE.

2. Bugs. My favorite thing about riding in the winter is the fact that there are no bugs. Today was the first day that even remotely resembled spring and I definitely got a mouthful of bugs. Mmm. I guess I should probably just be grateful that I didn't get an eyeful instead. Spring is good for bandannas.

3. Contacts rule. I can see everything all the time now and it's like magic!

4. Pancakes. We had chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast this morning and they were SO GOOD. Oh yeah and that reminds me- we had to go to two grocery stores just to get chocolate chips and bacon (for Matao) this morning, because some dickweed was walking around Ravenna/Roosevelt burning sage and going into every open business and trying to set fire alarms off. We had to leave Whole Foods and then ran into him again at QFC and apparently the cops were looking for him. NICE. Why do people pull that shit? He told us he was trying to cleanse the grocery store. Thanks dude!

5. Fruit beer. Oh man. It mostly just makes me think of Pyramid Apricot Hef and Lake Chelan but that's a story for another day. I had a sour peach ale at Brouwers on Friday night and it was killer.

6. Even though it is now technically spring, and Seattle is usually warm by now- IT'S STILL COLD. I hate it and I always forget every time I leave my apartment.



Things I just figured out that I love:

1. Department of Eagles.



2. Pandora. This is so genius. I recently moved everything off of my computer onto an external hard drive which included my music. Now I not only have access to all of my old music, but it's such a good way to find new bands. How the hell do I never know about these things until forever later? I am so uncool. Shit.

3. Sneaking into certain chocolate factories in the middle of the night to munch samples and get spooked out. I will not name names!

4. Waste Of Paint. I have a Tumblr problem.



5. Design*Sponge. I could cry looking at some of the kitchens on here. Give me.

6. BINGO! Gay Bingo to be exact. I went last night with my co-worker Kim. OH WAIT KIM ISN'T MY CO-WORKER ANYMORE. Kill me.



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I am not ready for the weekend to be over. No thanks.

Tru Luv.

This is Calvin. He is Phil's cat. We used to live in the same house and hate each others guts (me and Calvin, not me and Phil- although sometimes that happened too). He'd always scratch me and run away from me and once he peed in my Faryl Robins while staring me in the eye. Phil used to have another cat named Ari (Katz!) and she was my lover back then. She'd snuggle me and she only peed on my closet floor, not in my shoes.

Now Calvin and Phil live with my boyfriend and Calvin has become my secret lover. I think jealousy took over and he finally gave into his true feelings. He gives me kisses and hugs and won't let me put him down. We usually just take cell phone pictures together, but last night we got epic.












I am secretly planning on kidnapping him from Phil... but don't tell him that.

Doublizers!

Sucka!

These aren't the first pair I've made- and actually the first pair I made were a lot cooler. But whatevs. These are mine. Because I clearly need more color on my bike. Hah.







I also decided- one full year later- that I need to get over my fear of falling on my ass via toe overlap- so I've been practicing track standing in my living room. It's weird and I'm terrible at it- but hey whatevs. I'll get there eventually. My roommate loves me right now.

Ants On A Log

Oh my.

Part of my "real job" is going grocery shopping for snacks for the office. SWEET for me because I love grocery shopping (not joking). I also love making food. Duh. This has been quite the perfect pairing- as most of the people (men) in my office are like giant mean and angry little kids who love snacks.



Yes I stole that picture, and no I don't remember where from.

Today was ants on a log! Which I haven't eaten or made since I was probably about 7 years old. I forgot how delicious this is. They went well with baby carrots and quartered strawberries. Coooooooool. I think I'm actually accidentally running a day-care.

Sometimes I forget about snacks. Like... that they are even an option. I eat about 300 small meals a day, but they're never just fun snacky food. I think that's my new area of attack.

I want to be the kind of person who has baggies of snacks on them AT ALL TIMES. Yesssss! Lets do this.

Instant Oatmeal & Pickup Truck Nostalgia

Oh, I am a genius!

Er... sort of.

I love oatmeal. I prefer the thick cut kind that you have to cook and get to add lots of things to. I started eating instant oatmeal when I was riding my bike to work every day, because I needed something other than the piece of toast I'd eaten when I got up to hold me over. "Hold me over" until about 10 am when I get hungry again. I AM AN EATING MACHINE! CHOMP CHOMP! Anyway. Instant oatmeal sucks. Hands down. It gets gluey and is usually really, really sugary. And in my little hippie world- extra sugar (where it doesn't belong) is blehhh. Blahhhh blehhhh. I had this theory that I could buy quick cooking oats and just add whatever I wanted- then add hot water and let it goop up the same way I would with packaged instant oatmeal. I came up with this idea probably a month ago, and finally tried it out last night. SUCCESS! It's still sort of gluey and mushy, but I don't think that's avoidable. I just dumped 4 cups of quick cooking oats, 1/2 cup raw sugar (brown would be better), a scant handful of flax seeds, a big handful of walnuts, and a few teaspoons of cinnamon and one of ginger. I mixed it all around- then threw a handful in a bowl and added just enough almost boiling water to get it goopy and let it sit for a few minutes. It totally worked, and it totally only cost me about $4. I'd be getting about a sixteenth of that for the same price if I bought it pre-packaged. I rule.

Other than that- the weather right now is that weird perfect Juneau summer weather. Yes, summer. Really. Good thing I'm in Seattle and it's still winter. This weather gives me the worst nostalgia. It makes me miss my truck and driving way way out the road. Mike asked me to contribute to his blog- The Quarterly Mixtape Project today- so with that idea in mind I ended up making a mix that I would have listened to four years ago. My last summer in Juneau with my truck. And Mike is probably like "hay girl wtf?" because I didn't send this to him- but that's because I made a different one for that, bizzay. And I know that it's not raining in this picture- but whatevs. Lookit how cute my truck was. Sad.




The Anniversary- All Things Ordinary
Pete Yorn- Strange Condition
Millencolin- The May Flay
Pedro The Lion- Start Without Me
Braid- A Dozen Roses
Jets To Brazil- You're Having The Time of My Life
Cursive- Art Is Hard
Saves The Day- Third Engine
Hey Mercedes- Our Weekend Starts On Wednesday
Against Me!- Reinventing Axl Rose (acoustic)
Samiam- Mexico
Smashing Pumpkins- Eye
The Honorary Title- Cats In Heat
The Faint- Glass Danse
Lifetime- 25 Cent Giraffes
The Stryder- King of Coronas
The Fire Theft- Waste Time
Matt Skiba- Good Fucking Bye
Q And Not U- Y Plus White Girl
Gravity And Henry- Wellbutrin
Denali- Surface
Further Seems Forever- Monachetti
The Unicorns- Sea Ghost

I can't figure out if it's sad or amazing that I still listen to a lot of these songs. Oh, me. Wutaboutchu?

My Salad Looks Like A Smoothie.

Too bad it still tastes like a salad.

Blehhhh.



I like putting greens in smoothies, but I kind of failed on this one. Choke it down!!! Peaches + baby greens + homemade cinnamon applesauce + flax seed + cranberry grape juice. Ewwie ew ew ew. So much for my "using up what's in the house" theory. DON'T DO IT!!!

I have weird eating habits normally anyway, but I feel like lately it's been much worse. But maybe not. I'm a poor judge of that.

I made really fantastic oatmeal cookies earlier this week, based off of this recipe. I made them with flax eggs and walnuts instead of raisins (ew). I also made Kahlua coconut milk ice cream last night when Schliebe was over, but we ate too many tacos to even touch it. Sad. But delicious. No pictures of that.

Howevs- here is some evidence of my kale love, as well as the unicorn shitting rainbows cake, and in-progress shots of my applesauce. Mmm.



(Vegan) lime pound cake with raspberry buttercream. Sounds amazing- but it made me feel like I was about to have a heart attack or puke up glitter.





Soba noodles with wilted kale, peas, tofu, cilantro, and a sweet chili/garlic soy sauce.





Basically the same thing, just executed differently. This was with peanut (actually almond, but whatev) sauce, and didn't photograph very well.





Applesauce in the making. It's quite possibly the easiest thing ever. I usually make it when I realize that I've been stockpiling apples and not actually eating any of them. You just throw chopped up apples in a big pot with a splash of water and some cinnamon if you want and steam away until the apples are mushy. I throw mine in the food processor to make it smooth- but a potato masher works well too if you like it chunky.

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Blah blah.

This Is Not A Food Blog

But, maybe it should be.

In the midst of all of the nothing that I've been doing lately- I have at the very least been cooking.

I have a lot of things right now that I'd like to experiment with... but instead I keep making everything else.

I'm on a kale kick right now. Big time. As in I've been eating it for every meal other than breakfast for the past three days. There's something about it that reminds me of eating wild fiddleheads when I was younger.


Photo credit: Vegan Yum Yum

I haven't had a fiddlehead in years, and I honestly have no idea where to find them here. I should probably start checking farmers markets in the next few months.

Anyway. Kale. I love intense, hearty greens that you have to cook to be able to eat. Lettuce can eff right off, as far as kale is concerned.

Last night I made fried mashed potato balls- with kale, roasted tomatoes and garlic, and caramelized onions, plus half of the spice cabinet at Becca's. So, so good. Other than that I've been eating a lot of kale and soba noodles with peanut or sweet chili sauce. It's so simple, but so, so good.

There just isn't a lot going on in my daily life right now. I'm sort of allowing myself to take a break from being so stressed out all the time- but for some reason that just equates to being at home a lot.

Which means that I'm cooking a lot. 'Cause that's how I do. Pictures and recipes when I'm home later. I just felt like I should probably update.

Oh- and another thing. I'm no longer "claiming" veganism. I like nice cheeses and I enjoy cooking with them, so I'm getting back into that again. Most of my cooking will still lean to more of the vegan side- but I'm more likely now to post some of my seafood recipes as well as some not-so-vegan dishes. On top of that- I became vegan to see how it affected my health. It made a huge difference (so did laying off the booze!) and now I'm at a point where I've found a nice balance with minimal amounts of dairy in my diet. Hoorah.

And I know my blog is boring lately. Sorry babies. Sometimes I am boring.

Sweet Freedom!

Oh, sweet sassafras.

I may still have an hour and a half left of work on a sunny and warm(ish) Friday afternoon- but shit damn- I feel just fine.

I am in love with life right now: because I busted ass all week and finished everything that needed to be done, and then I went right ahead and did a little more. Now I'm back in my favorite state- being that I have lots that I want to do, and nothing that I have to do.

Which means that I'll get a lot more done.

I stopped taking custom bag orders about 3 days ago, and I'm really happy about it right now. I still have a list of bags to make, but for the time being it's a good feeling to know that I can work on my own designs and my own projects for a little while without feeling any guilt. I'll get back to it in a few months, when other projects have come together a little further. You'll know what soon enough.

Anyway:

Future Tense is tonight, and I'm sponsoring. There are a TON of really good sponsors this month. I made my first pair of doublizers and threw in a bottle opener and some buttons. Really simple and small, but also v. useful. Sucka.




The 2009 Seattle International Bike Expo is this weekend at Magnuson Park, and the bag that I made for Bill of Davidson will be there. The bag is a giant (almost 12 feet long) folding bag that is made to fit his S & S Couplings bikes. It's the first I've ever made, and I personally think that the design needs a bit of work still- but it definitely serves its purpose and it's nice to branch out a bit.

And Emerald City Bike Bloc is putting on a flat-out points race on Sunday that I'm sponsoring as well. If it's not too shitty out I'll at least come hang out for this, if not possibly race. It's been a while since I've raced at all, and I haven't been riding much lately anyway. I might pull a butt muscle or something. We'll see.



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Last night was "be productive night" with Becca, which (in my mind at least) was a success. Probably because I somehow coerced Becca into making us dinner, as well as frosting the crapfail of a cake that I had started earlier. I just sewed and cussed a lot. The cake kind of sucked, but it was so pretty that I took pictures. Maybe I'll post them later. It looked like My Little Pony and Strawberry Shortcake all mashed up together and flattened. Mmm. Sparkles.

Oops.

I'm a redhead again. Or, more so of one than I previously was.

I just attempted to take a decent photo of my hair color- and instead took 64 terrible photos of myself- showcasing my split ends, the pimple festival happening on my face, my boobs, and the fact that I was holding my bedside lamp between my legs (for better lighting, I swear) and it ended up looking creepy and phallic. HOT.

Uhm, so I did it again.

This time in the kitchen while making myself dinner.



Yep, that's my arm. Apparently I've lost my oldschool Myspace photo taking skills. Just pretend like I'm smelling my shoulder. Mmm. Shoulder.

Oh- and for the record- this was dinner.



OATMEAL! Yes, really. I have been living off of it lately. Thick cut oatmeal + golden flax seeds + raw walnuts + amber agave nectar + almond milk = BEST SHIT EVER. I'm not messing around. Oatmeal is pretty much a wonder food as far as I'm concerned, and I always have lots of hippie shit in my cupboards to add to it, so that makes it even better. I think I've actually had it for dinner ever day this week since Sunday. I've also eaten it with raw almond butter and raspberries thrown in, which were both delicious additions. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Do it. I dare you.

Sunday

Sunday is my new official do-nothing day. Which really means that I get a ton of shit done. I even Google Calendar'd "Do Nothing" from 9 am to 11 pm today- because I'm that hardcore about it.

Really, what it comes down to- is that when I have a million things that I need to get done, I end up more and more stressed out and thus end up not doing anything at all. I am also 1. the queen of procrastinators, and 2. incredibly stubborn, even when it comes to telling myself to do something.

THIS IS NOT A GOOD WAY TO OPERATE A BUSINESS. OR MY LIFE.

But, it's what I've got to work with.

So in allowing myself a day where I don't have to do anything- I end up wanting to do a lot more. Reverse psychology that, biatch.



Today:

- Dragged Matao to the store at 9 am and bought groceries.

- Made tofu scramble and seasoned potatoes that put most breakfast places to shame. SHAME.

- Lazy bones for a little while.

- Cleaned the kitchen.

- Started and finished prizes for both Future Tense and the lap race coming up next weekend. (Yes I still need to finish the Davidson bag, and Davey's bag too!) I am bad!

- Meditated, which led to taking an hour and a half nap. As I told Becca earlier- I am terrible at meditating. Mmm but it was a good nap.

- Updated my resume.

- Hula hooped/danced around my apartment for a good 45 minutes.

- Laundry! Yay!

- I currently have the dishwasher running and muffins baking.



WIN. I really wish I didn't have to go to work, and I could spend all day every day baking, sewing, napping, and hula hooping. WTF life.

Oh- and just to counteract today- Thursday is "Be Productive" day. Mostly just because I have a Google Calendar problem, and because it's a good excuse to hang out with Becca. We'll probably just make food and talk shit, but at least it looks good written down.

Anyway.

I actually meant to just post these, and not all of that, so here:

- How to get by on 5 hours of sleep. Kind of interesting and probably something I should be a little more conscious of. YOU TOO. The linked articled about sleep paralysis scared the shit out of me, though. I've had it a few times in the past few years and it's absolutely terrifying. I actually refused percocet in the ER when I broke my face because it always causes it for me. BAD NEWS.

- IMGSpark is my newest obsession, and a lot better than Tumblr. Or at least I think so. I really wish this had existed when I was going to school for fashion design. My library is here if you want to be a lurker. And don't worry- I'm sifting out my "art" tag, since it's basically the most nondescript, useless crap tag ever.

- Make your own daifuku (mochi!) In the microwave, even. Def doing this in the next few weeks.

- 25 Things About My Sexuality blog. I think that this is absolute genius. Probably just because I'm a perv. Anyone can participate and it's completely confidential. I think this is super awesome because so many people have issues talking about sex and their sexuality and I LOVE talking about it.



You look back and see how hard you worked and how poor you were, and how desperately anxious you were to succeed, and all you can remember is how happy you were.
— Jack London

Oh No!

Remember a while back when I was having a laughing problem at work? No? Well, whatevs. It's back- but this time I finally found the source of it online.


Jim Lavakras Photography


I CAN'T STOP LAUGHING. Look at the little guys face!

I am crazy.

Lisa Frank

Seriously. Lisa Frank is real!!!

Pink dolphin appears in US lake.

This is only blog-worthy because I hate dolphins and I miss Becca and her Lisa Frank folders right now.





VS

March 1st.

I'm not actually stuck in my apartment, but it definitely feels that way.

It's raining right now, but it's the kind of rain that I really love... Well, I would if it were 15 degrees warmer. So instead it's the kind of rain that I really love- when I'm inside. I'm holed up in my bedroom right now- eating a smoothie, with four blankets and five pillows on my bed, and the heat cranked up to 75. Mostly just because I can.

I end up in the strangest moods when I get to leave my life for a few days and then have to come back. Matt and I went down to Portland on Thursday morning and came back Saturday. I used to be mostly indifferent about Portland, but within the past year or so I've started to really love it. We had a really good weekend, and it was the first time in a very long time that I've been able to allow myself not to worry about money or my job or anything else. We did what we wanted to when we wanted to and that was exactly what I needed.

Coming home was fine, and I feel alright about getting settled back into my routine. I'm back at work tomorrow, and I was going to make food for the week tonight, but as previously stated- I'm sort of hiding from the weather right now. The grocery store is only about six blocks away, but my bed is even closer than that.

I just get this weird urge sometimes- usually when I'm not completely happy with my life and get to have a little dose of something else- where I want to start re-arranging and changing all sorts of things.

Right now I'm having serious house lust, and am on this quest to find a two bedroom house in Seattle with a yard and a porch for under $1,500. HA HA. Yeah, right. And this huge, huge part of me just wants to uproot my whole life and move down to Oregon, just to see how things go. But it'll be a little while... and even then- my life these days is here. I'm just at a place right now where I feel like a lot needs to change. So, one day at a time it will. And maybe in another two years I can look back at right now and realize then that I am exactly where I wanted to be right now.

That seems to be the pattern of my life.

Vegan Ice Cream!

When I saw this recipe last week: I nearly died.

I recently acquired an ice cream maker, but hadn't yet felt inspired enough to attempt to make vegan ice cream. I've only once had vegan ice cream that I actually liked, and even then it was too sweet and the texture was off. I am so over soy at this point in time (other than tofu, I love you sweet darling!)

The cool thing about making ice cream- is that you don't really even need an ice cream maker. I initially used mine for this, but in the end it just wasn't frozen enough for me- so I threw my mixture into a tupperware and froze it overnight. The next day I dumped it into my food processor with the metal blade attachment and blended it with mini chocolate chips thrown in. Oh, sweet heaven.

I could not have asked for this to have turned out better. If I make this same recipe again I'll probably tone down the sweetness, but that's just a matter of personal preference.

Here's my version of the recipe, which doesn't require an ice cream maker, and cuts back a bit on sugar.



Coconut Milk Mint Chip Ice Cream

1 package mint leaves and stems (produce section!)
3 cans coconut milk, NOT lite
1/2 cup agave nectar- can also use granulated sugar
1 avocado (adds color and fat–will not noticeably affect the flavor of the final product)
1/2 c. chocolate chips or cocoa nibs or other desired add-in (optional)

Wash mint leaves and stems thoroughly.

Heat coconut milk and agave syrup on medium heat until the mixture just starts to bubble (not boil). Add the mint leaves/stems, cover, and turn heat to low. After 10 minutes, turn off the heat, and allow the mint leaves to steep an additional 50 minutes, covered, at room temperature.

Strain out the mint leaves by pouring the mixture through a mesh strainer, pressing the leaves against the strainer to extract all of the mint flavor you can from the leaves. Discard the leaves and stems.

Mash up the avocado and add it to the mixture.

Once everything is combined, pour into freezable contains and freeze overnight (or 8 hours)

Dump frozen contents into your food processor with chocolate or other add-ins and process until desired consistency is reached. Serve as-is, and refreeze leftovers.



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Next on my list to mess with: strawberry, lavender, dulce de leche, dark chocolate, coconut, and ten million other things that I can't think of right now. OH- "butter" pecan. We'll see about that one. Earth Balance pecan just doesn't sound all that special.