Mushroom Hunting Field Trip With the Puget Sound Mycological Society

I already posted a few pictures from our mushroom hunting adventure on Saturday, but I promised that there would be more!

My good friend Shana recently joined the Puget Sound Mycological Society and invited Amy and I along on their last field trip of the season, this past Saturday.  We drove an hour and a half to a small state park, where we met up with a large group of mushroom hunters.  Some people had years and years of experience, while others (like us) were brand new.  A handful of people made out with baskets full of gorgeous chantarelles and other edibles- but as such newbies we stuck to finding as many different species as we could- mostly poisonous.  We spent nearly four very wet hours working our way around a 2 mile loop trail, stopping whenever we'd spot something new. 

As much as I love the idea of hunting solely for edibles- we had an absolute blast poking, smelling, picking, and photographing everything that we could.  I truly had never noticed that there is such diversity between species, and we learned some really neat mushroomy facts.

Have you ever gone mushroom hunting?  What did you find?

Mushroom Hunting Sneak Peak!

I'm running my first 10k and going pumpkin picking tomorrow, finishing homework tonight, and still need to eat dinner, shower, and do laundry- BUT.  I have have have to share with you a few photos from our crazy awesome field trip with the Puget Sound Mycological Society today!  I will have a larger post with lots of pictures up later this week when things settle down a bit- but for now here are a few of my favorites:

Check back soon for the rest, and have a great rest of your weekend!

Brunch at Nettletown

I have mentioned Nettletown many, many times in the past.  The food is insanely fresh and imaginative, the restaurant is beautiful, and I adore Christina.  Yes, I talk about it plenty.  But- I've never shown you.  The horror!

We had a sleepy brunch there this morning and I finally thought to take a couple of photos.

My brunch.  Two poached eggs, elk meatballs, green salad, and chunky onion and potato cakes with a mug of cardamom black tea.

Matao's brunch.  Rain Shadow Meats bratwurst with pickled veggies, caramelized onions,  and organic greens on french bread with a big side salad.



Seriously- if you live in Seattle and haven't gone yet- you really, really must!

Creatures, Identified!

Last week I made a post with three pictures of "unidentified creatures".  Two of them were easy enough to figure out- but not one person guessed the first one!  So, in reverse order we have:

Creature #3:

Kombucha!

Creature #2:

Luna!  (One of my rescue kitties.)

And finally: Creature #1:

Hazelnuts!

Weird, huh?  I have this really odd habit of collecting plants and creatures (mostly plants, sometimes a snail) when I've had a glass of wine or two and am walking somewhere.  Most often I find sprigs of rosemary or lavender in my purse the next day, but sometimes it will be a weird seed pod or something like the hazelnuts that I'm not even sure of at first.  And now we know!

Oh, and Killary/Ghilly/Hilary was the winner!  I'll send you an email and get your mailing address, loverface.

Weekending

Friday was my last day of work at the company that I've been with for three years.  It was an interesting day, to say in the least.  We drank champagne with lunch, and I shocked myself by crying when I finished packing up my desk and said goodbye.  Three years is a long time with this company, and with an average of 11 people in the office throughout- I was really close to a lot of my co-workers.  I had many reasons for leaving, and I know that all of them were right.  So while I felt sad about leaving people- I also felt (and still feel) very hopeful, and excited about what's going to come next.  My new job starts tomorrow.  I took an accounts payable specialist position with a large environmental science and engineering firm in downtown Seattle.  It will be a change of pace and I truly can't wait to see what kind of impact this has on my life.  Forty hours a week is a long time to spend at a place that doesn't make you happy, and it's a short amount of time to spend at a place that really does.

After work on Friday I had dinner with some of my favorite people. We toasted to the future with a cheap bottle of champagne poured into mismatched coffee mugs.  Perfection.

Saturday's culinary adventures consisted of mouse ear pancakes and butternut squash soup.  Renee came over to make soup with me, and after tasting and adding to the soup over and over again- Renee finally threw in half a stick of butter.  It was perfect.  I didn't think to take any pictures of the soup making adventure, but I did take one of my mouse ears!

Last night was a very rainy and quiet art walk in my neighborhood.  We poked into a few galleries, drank hot cider, and picked up a few tiny treasures from Lucca.  Afterward Renee and I made a pit-stop at Ballard Market for bulk Halloween candy and cash, and then headed out to Ouch My Eye for Hot One Inch Action!  We weren't quite sure what to expect when we got there- and we ended up having an absolutely awesome time.

It is essentially a juried button show, as well as a chance to mingle and trade buttons with other attendees.  Fifty artists have their buttons on display, and $5 will buy you a bag of 5 randomly selected buttons.  From there it's a bit of a mad dash to trade with anyone in the room, in the hopes of collecting all of your favorites.  Towards the end of the night the coordinators were passing out more bags to keep things moving, and after a few hot trades I ended up with a great little collection.

Today is going to be a bit more serious.  Lots of accounting homework and (attempting!) a six mile run with my aunt Fran.  She somehow convinced me that I'll be able to run a 10k with her two weeks from now, so I have some serious training to do!

Also- don't forget to go leave a comment on my Identify That Creature! post!  You don't need to get any of them right to be entered to win.  I'm going to randomly select an entry this coming Thursday (10/14), and the winner will get a little package of something special handmade by me, as well as another little something.  And for the record- no one has gotten the first one right so far!

Identify That Creature! Win Stuff!

If I were a game show host my show would be called "Identify That Creature!"  Here's an example:

Creature #1:

Creature #2:

Creature #3:

And just for fun- leave me a comment with your guesses as to what each of these are, and I'll do a drawing next week and send the winner a handmade (by me) surprise!  Please make sure that your blog or other contact info is included, and I'll post my favorite answers as well as the winner here next Thursday night!  Bonus points for creative answers, and extra bonus points if you get them all right!

Ballard Art Walk & Hot One Inch Action

This coming Saturday is the monthly Ballard Art walk- and my amazingly artistic friend Jess Rees is the featured artist at Velouria, as well as part of the Fall Ladies Show at 20Twenty! 

Snippet stolen from Jess about her work at Velouria:

"I've always been a bit of a naturalist, observing, investigating and collecting interesting things. Feathers are no exception. Their beauty and complexity is inspiring.

A lot of the feathers are drawn with reference to real feathers I've observed during my walks around town. City birds - pigeons, sea gulls, crows, sparrows - are such a part of everyday experiences for people in urban areas. The drawings are not meant to be a reference to a real thing, per say, but to call to attention the observation of urban wildlife that is part of our lives.

Most of these watercolor paintings are based at least in some part on a real feather. The colors veer much further from the truth than the forms do. Some of the original references are more obvious than others, like the peacock and hawk feathers. Some of the drawings look completely made up, but are actually just absolutely wild evolutionary adaptations, like as the King of Saxony Bird-of-Paradise head plumage."

My plan is to creep around Ballard for an hour or two after 7, and then head out to SODO for a juried button show- Hot One Inch Action!  If you're a Seattle reader and free on Saturday night- feel free to come join us! 

Beauty and the Bath

I am a huge sucker for beauty products.  For someone who wears very little makeup and can't be bothered to spend more than 15 minutes getting ready in the morning- it may seem a little bit conflicting.  Behind my seemingly bare bathroom counter is a cabinet full of bottles and jars.  To be honest- many of these products only get used a few times a year, but the ones that I have in my every day rotation are the ones that I couldn't live without.

 

Avalon Organics Lavender Facial Cleansing Milk is actually fairly new to my rotation, but my love for it is solid.  It's soap free, and contains licorice root and flax oil (yum!)  As someone who is prone to eczema and overall splotchy skin (I'm fair skinned with freckles and very ruddy!) this cleanser has been a perfect match for me.

 

I've gone back and forth with Tom's of Maine deodorant for a long, long time.  A lot of their products just never really seemed to work.  I know that the company recently changed hands (bleh) and while I'm not wild about that aspect of it- I do love their Natural Long-Lasting Care Deodorant Stick. It is hands down the best non-antiperspirant product that I've found.  Made with hops and zinc and scented with natural fragrance oils- I have delightfully fruity smelling armpits without any sticky residue or chalky white gunk.  

Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Lavender Mint shampoo and conditioner are pretty much all I've ever wanted.  Ever.  Period.  I want to eat this stuff.  I want to make tea out of it and roll around in a giant tub filled with conditioner.  Whenever anyone stays with us and uses my shower they always comment on how wonderful their hair is afterward.  It is tingly and minty and floral all at once and it makes your hair feel like magic.  I buy the huge 33.8oz bottles from Amazon and they last me close to two years.  Two years!

If you've known me for more than a few years- most likely you know that I almost always smell like coconut.  I've been using Mountain Ocean Coconut Skin Trip on and off since I was fourteen!  It's the only lotion that I take with me when traveling, as it's wonderful anywhere from your face to your feet.  The texture is very light and fast absorbing, and the smell is unbeatable.  It's most often found a few shelves down in a single row in the beauty section of natural grocery stores and places like Fred Meyer (random!)  

Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps are one of those total "duh" products.  I used stinky, chemical laden body washes for years and years and never really cared that much for any of them.  When I finally made the switch to Dr. Bronner's soap for real- I couldn't believe how happy my skin was.  I still have a huge love for beautiful hand made soaps that I often pick up at farmers markets and craft fairs- but my every day stand by's are Dr. Bronner's peppermint bar soap, and lavender liquid soap.  Their liquid soap is the greatest thing ever when it comes to camping and traveling!

What are your favorite products?  Old favorites or new discoveries?