The downfalls of Facebook

This past Saturday I was in Seattle for a wedding. It was held at the Lake Union Cafe and was absolutely gorgeous. I mean, of course it was gorgeous. Have you seen the place? Amazing lakeside views, beautiful renovations, romantic lighting - the place would definitely have been out of my price range for our wedding. It's even been featured by the Knot in its Best of Weddings magazine for the past three years in a row!

Anyway, I digress. Facebook really has nothing to do with Lake Union Cafe (unless it has a facebook page. I'll have to check on that). Because this wedding was fancy-schmancy, there was a detailed seating chart, which we all know means there was a "we tried to seat you next to your friends but we have too many separated- and step-families here so there will be a few randoms at your table" effort from the bride and groom. Sure enough, six of us knew each other and the last couple were strangers. But then they looked familiar. Very, verrrrry familiar. So of course we introduce ourselves and I say, " you look, very, verrrry familiar. What do you do?" To which they respond, nothing relevant to you, mind your own business (even though they do practice law so it's kind of relevant to me because I practice law; but again. I digress).

So. They actually very kindly explained to me where they practice, which did not ring any bells. Then they said they just got married, and - it felt like slow motion here - the light goes on in my head and even as I'm starting to say the words, I want to yank them out of the air and stuff them back in my mouth: "oh! I was looking at your wedding pictures on Facebook!" Then I proceed to attempt to rescue myself from the "awkward stalker" position: "I mean, Casey (the groom) was tagged in one of those photos so I looked through the entire album, but I look through lots of random people's wedding albums on facebook. BECAUSE I CAN." Not really on that last part, but really? REALLY? I'm pretty sure I just said I'M A LOSER WEDDING ALBUM STALKER AND WILL STALK ANY WEDDING PHOTOS EVER.

I'm not sure we ever got past that defining moment in our relationship for the rest of the night. Needless to say, they left without saying goodbye or nice to meet you. Whatever. Who needs them anyway. I DO. I'M NEEDY, HELP ME.

So now, to try to make myself feel better about that moment, I've been thinking about that portion of the email that's been going around in various versions. Random Thoughts From People 25-35 Years Old or something like that: "Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do!"

Am I right or am I right? What's your favorite FB stalking experience (because I know you have one!)?

I'm feelin' restless

I don't know what it is about the transition of summer to fall that makes me feel a little jittery, a little unsettled. Is it the cool air that suddenly bites at you during your morning runs, when just days ago the breeze in your face reminded you of a warm beach? Is it the shift in styles, food, or activities? Darker clothing and sweater dresses; zucchini bread and apple pie; less lounging by the lake and more end-of-season golfing? Is it that I was trained for years and years that fall meant school which meant the end of fun and laziness?

Don't get me wrong: I LOVE sweater dresses and zucchini bread. I love to watch the leaves change from green to yellow and orange and red, the gourds and squash and fall vegetables show up in endlessly vibrant colors, and the kids getting ready to go back to school. At least I don't have to go back to school anymore, I suppose.

What it really is, I think, is that fall is a reminder of the cold, long winters ahead. They're dark. And snowy. I know I'll have to go to a tanning booth to get my "sunshine" for the week. My fingers will be cold at the office, and my feet will be cold driving home. My nose will be perma-red for about five months. But every winter, after dreading and whining and complaining my way through fall, I realize winter isn't so bad, because there's this:

and this:

and this:

While those images don't necessarily calm me to the point where I can't wait for that long dark winter, at least they're a reminder that every season has its wonders and that I have much to look forward to as the months progress.

How do you feel about summer ending?

Yellow shoes and the bounty of my harvest

I just HAD to show you these adorable shoes I picked up for 50 percent off at a small shop in downtown Coeur D'Alene:

Aren't they just the cutest???! I can wear them with so many of my skirts and dresses, and they're perfect for dressing up my jeans.

Okay, here's the real subject of my post. Even though we've struggled with our garden this year, we were still able to get a few things out of it. Other than the many, many baby tomatoes we've eaten, and the lovely raspberries (of which the season is, sadly, over), and the lettuce and other random herbs, we also picked this big guy:

and these -

Kidding, kidding. We don't have a lemon tree. Can those even grow in this climate?

And this, growing on what we thought was a zucchini plant:

Any idea what it is? It's the color of an acorn squash, but not really the right shape. It has a harder shell, so definitely not anything close to a zucchini. A prize - or maybe just kudos - to whoever figures it out first!

I'm beginning again

Yes, for a second there, about a month ago, I felt on top of my game. I was blogging, I was exercising, I was meal planning, I was scoping out vacations, I was getting work done, and bam! Just like that, I fell off the wagon. I quit meal planning and eating right, I stopped exercising, and I basically just went on perma-vacation. Blogging? Too much work. Working? Too much effort.
So, this past week I've come up with some healthy meals, I went for a run tonight, and I'm making a blog entry. It's not very exciting, but it is what it is. To celebrate, here's a picture of me in my running gear cooking dinner (brown sugar glazed grilled pork chops - and I KNOW this picture is just SO flattering):

And, for your entertainment, a picture of my living room where I finally became inspired enough to hang THREE pictures up after three months of debating about what looks best. They look pretty inspired, don't they? I mean, this picture is practically oozing with inspiration...

I told y'all I needed help; this is what happens when you leave me alone to my own decorating devices. I fail. Miserably. And can hope only to have someone eventually rescue me from myself. Consider yourself forewarned; you could be THAT person.

The end.

Dinner time!

I love cooking and baking, which I know hasn't really shined through all that much on this blog. In fact, the hubby and I cook dinner together almost every night during the week, and use new recipes pretty often. Tonight I'm excited to say we'll be having Spinach stuffed shells!! We've been wanting to make them for awhile, but for some reason were having a hard time finding jumbo shells! Is that weird?? We'll be adapting from Macaroni and Cheesecake's recipe: http://macaroniandcheesecake.blogspot.com/2009/04/spinach-stuffed-shells.html

I'm thinking I'll saute up some chicken sausage and stir it in. Honestly, no recipe ever remains intact when I use it - I'm such a rebel!! But for some reason I have a serious addiction to refusing to follow a recipe TO THE LETTER. It's turned into a great habit, because for the most part I've found it improves whatever I'm making!! Becky, this excludes your recipe, of course. I'm hoping to follow dinner up - if I have the energy - with some of these; I've been wanting to make them for FOREVER!!

They're also taken from Mac and Cheese's website: http://macaroniandcheesecake.blogspot.com/2008/10/cinnamon-sugar-donut-muffins.html. I think they'd be perfect to welcome my sister, her husband, and my adorable niece (see below) when they get in to stay for a WEEK tomorrow!! Say hello to the cutest baby ever!!!

What are you making for dinner tonight and what are your plans for this weekend?

Into the Wilderness...

My brother in law and his wife were in town for this past week, so we - hubby's parents, BIL, SIL, hubby, and I - decided to go camping over Memorial Day weekend at the St Joe River, aka the "Shadowy" St Joe. It runs through an Idaho canyon (hence the "shadowy" portion of the name - I have no idea who Saint Joe was and whether he was really a saint) and empties out into Lake Coeur D'Alene. We were there Saturday and Sunday and came back Monday afternoon. Since my camera died THREE PICTURES into our mini vacay (I know, how rude!), SIL was nice enough to share her pictures (by the way, she was FASCINATED with all the water and trees, what with being from Phoenix, AZ and all).

This is SIL (below); That point MIL and I are standing on is actually pretty high and I forced her to stand that far out with me. She was FREAKED out!



















See the lime green trees?? (above) It was the coolest thing to drive past miles and miles of them.

This was our little blue friend that joined us while we were reading on the bridge; I think he's beeyooteeful.

We're both bookworms, yet neither of our husbands likes to read. Weird, huh?

We just baaarely fit.... :)

Waterfalls in the woods.

We had a LOT of fun getting out and about and away from camp!

Canyon Shot

All in all, it was a great time (other than the lack of air in the air mattress). And it wasn't as wild as it could've been, since we had a camper and pretty much everything under the sun, so even though we were surrounded by wilderness we had all the luxuries of home.

When will you go camping, and where will you go?

The 30 Day shred is the longest 30 days ever!!

This is Jillian Michaels:

This is the 30 Day Shred Workout:

This is Jillian Michaels on crack:

Wait! you say; that's still the 30 Day Shred! Yes, which means JILLIAN IS ON CRACK IN THE 30 DAY SHRED. Seriously, I wake up every morning dreading the 25-30 minutes I will be spending with her. It's when you hated the popular girl in school. You wanted to be her so bad that you would have punched her in the face if ever given the opportunity. That's how I feel when Jillian says things like "this is replacing hours of phoning it in at the gym!" or "that is fear leaving the body" or "if she (my supermodel workout queen helper) can do it, you can too!"

So, if I'm not "shredded" in 30 days, I'm going to hunt her down, and....wipe that smirk off her muscular face. All while I stare enviously at her beautifully toned abs.

I'm on day 10. Pray for me.

My mom's thoughts on Mother's Day

Mother's day in our house was never a big hurrah. Yeah, we'd make mom breakfast in bed (I'm sure she loved the soggy pancakes, burnt toast, and overcooked eggs - LOVED them!) and a homemade card with lots of hearts and glitter, but really, there were no big presents or feelings that we had to remain focused on Mom the ENTIRE DAY. This was because my mom refused to be the center of attention for that long.

My mom is a very unique personality, but everyone adores her for so many reasons. Here are a few:
- She will always, always feed whoever walks into her house at whatever time of day. You're stranded on the highway? Here, use the phone while I whip up some spaghetti and garlic bread. You're just stopping in around dinner time? Sit down, there's plenty for everyone; I'll just grab a few more plates.
- She's mom to the entire community. Never fail, you would walk into a basketball, wrestling, volleyball tournament there will be crockpots and ice chests with kids lined up to grab a homemade burrito. Or into a nursing home where she brings kids caroling, all decked out in Nativity themed costumes (read: her children suffered from public ridicule in order to bring Christmas cheer to old people).
- She's amazingly fun to be around. Any given moment my mom will have 18 plans and ideas about what everyone can do together that day; hiking, clam digging, pick up game of soccer, a bbq, etc. etc. And she makes it happen while she brings along the requisite crockpots, food boxes, and ice chests.
- She's an endless ball of energy. When I was growing up my mom was the first to get up and the last to go to bed. I remember not being able to sleep and waking up to go find my mom downstairs in her robe at four in the morning whipping up cinnamon rolls for thirty people to take to the beach for fishing that day.

There are so many others, but really, they all come down to one thing: my mom is a selfless servant. The real reason my mom is the best mom is because on Mother's Day, instead of expecting anything from us, she wrote an email to one of my brothers and I. Here's an excerpt:

"Happy Mother's Day to you both. I just wanted to tell you guys that Mother's Day to me is not the gifts but the fact that I get to reflect on having happy children that keep swinging the pick into the ice, inching upward, and never feeling quite at the top -- Except once in a while--a paycheck, a diploma, passing the bar, taking the gold, a clean house, etc....Have a beautiful day! Sleep, eat, enjoy the sun, clean up a little bit. Do something nice for someone!

Love, Mom"

So, take her advice. Enjoy your lives, enjoy the days, and go out and do something nice for others. You won't regret taking advice from her; I never have.

Quick tidbits

First, all of my posts are way too long. I need to start keeping them short and succint (sweet? efficient? Am I even using the word "succint" right?).

Second, we moved into the house. We're still not unpacked completely, but it's been interesting trying to figure out where everything goes ("Let's see, if we put all our dishes in the built in china cabinet, put all our pantry items in the kitchen cupboards, and hang our pans, we should be able to avoid putting anything ugly on the open pantry shelves...."). Really, I'm just so excited about the nearby lake and downtown that I'm about to burst with excitement for summer to come. So every morning I wake up, look out the window, and scream silently in my head: WHERE IS THE SUN AND WHY IS IT NOT HERE YET!!! Nobody knows that I do this - I mean, knew - because I try to avoid screaming craziness, but it's still there. And every morning I step outside, all bundled up, and look longingly at the whitecapped waves. Eventually it will be warm and I will live in my bikini. But until then I will be pale and cold and continue to blast my heater under my desk at work. *sigh* I carry around some very heavy burdens. :)

Third, I'm currently obsessed with baked goods, and the not-quite-unpacked state of my kitchen is KILLING me. I mean, I want to make my favorite pumpkin bread http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Downeast-Maine-Pumpkin-Bread/Detail.aspx which everyone loves but no one else seems able to master; or I want to make more of that chocolate cake/cupcakes I found not long ago and posted about below; Macaroni and Cheesecake posted about these fabulous-looking Donut Muffins; PW has been talking about pretzels and cinnamon rolls and marmalade rolls; and I've just had cobbler on the brain. Frankly, I have the same reaction after long abstentions from baking as dieters who have tried to cut out too many luxuries: I binge. So for everyone closest me - especially those who happen to be on a diet - my soon-to-occur overindulgence will be a very bad (but yummy) thing.

Finally, work is picking up so I've been stressed and frustrated to the point that I'm drinking copious amounts of wine. It's to the point where I wonder during my weekly grocery shopping whether the six pack of wine will be enough to get me through the week....

So, the next time someone finds me, I will likely be surrounded by half-baked goods with a half bottle of wine and half-unpacked boxes of kitchen items. I'm a halfway type of girl. It's a curse, and I'm happy to live with it, so don't complain when you have to split a brownie with me. :)

And apparently the only place this halfway stuff doesn't kick in is in my blogging habits....I promise the next one will be only half as long.

We're moving!!

Into a....a....a...house! Just a rental, but still. I do NOT do well in apartments. For example, the other night our upstairs neighbors were loping around as usual in a manner that always makes me wonder if they do jumping jacks and various physical activities day and night JUST TO PISS ME OFF. Well, I finally snapped; I was in bed when they started dragging something - dead bodies, most likely - around on the floor. I threw back my sleeping mask, pulled the hair wildly from my eyes, jumped straight up and almost knocked the hubby out of bed, and slammed the palm of my hand as hard as I could into the ceiling - their floor - over and over and....well, you get the picture. It took everything Ryan could do and say to stop me. Dammit, it worked! At least for that night. But by then I was so fuming mad I just lay there and stared at the ceiling just daring them to defy me!! Needless to say, I had to move to the spare room or else I would have stared that ceiling down all night long.

So, for my sanity, we're moving. Actually, the house rental was already in the works, but the story tells better this way. And really, I don't think I could have lasted much longer in that smoke friendly, pet friendly apartment.

We found the house on Craigslist on Monday, viewed it on Wednesday, and sign the lease tonight! I will be taking pictures and hosting a contest for decor ideas....contest winner will have the satisfaction of knowing that his/her ideas rescued me from making some really bad decisions.

Chocolate cake, Wii Bowling, and Wine = a good weekend

Ry and I hadn't been over to his parents' for awhile, so we made the commitment to spend some time with them Sunday. I got all of our meal planning and shopping out of the way before we went over, Ry packed up his new Wii and games, and we made the 45 minute trek to their house.

Since they already had dinner planned, I decided to make a chocolate cake while I drank a generous glass of wine (or two). I'm always keeping an eye out for ways to lighten up desserts without losing the flavor, so when I ran across this ridiculously simple recipe on greenlitebites.com, I had to try it. Here's my modified version:

Pumpkin-Banana Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Chips
-1 Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix - always go for the ones that proclaim themselves "moist" - or if you want to skip that, just throw in some pudding mix with the cake mix.
- 1 15 oz can of pumpkin
- 1 banana, mashed
- 2/3 cup of water
- Chocolate chips - I used Ghiradelli's 60 percent cacoa or something or other

Preheat the oven to 325. In a medium/large bowl, combine the banana and pumpkin; beat until blended. Blend in the chocolate cake mix. Pour in the water and beat on low/medium speed for 2-3 minutes (I think I did three). It's very thick, more like a whipped cream texture than a cake batter. Grease a 13-9 pan; pour the batter in and smooth it around the pan to even it out. Take your preferred chips (I'd like to try peanut butter ones next time) and sprinkle them around on top of the cake as much as you'd like - I probably used 1/2 cup. Take a spatula or spoon and press them into the batter so they're even with the top of the cake (or leave on top - whatever you want. I like mine more embedded).

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until done. Since it's more of a fudgy cake, a toothpick won't be clean, but will have cake crumbles instead of cake batter. Top with lightly sugared strawberries and ice cream (preferably light). It's sort of a strawberry shortcake on chocolate thing....mmmm!

I got really excited about this cake, so excited that I almost forgot to eat dinner, which I'm glad I didn't because it was AMAZING! I know, I know, I shouldn't be so shocked, but Ry's dad isn't exactly a spice fiend, so a lot of the meals he prepares (and Ry's mom prepares because he won't eat anything too adventurous) can be pretty bland. I mean, bland to me. But only because I'M a spice fiend. An addict, you might say. My spice cupboard is overflowing into my cereal/popcorn/stuffing/cider (I know, cider? Why is that in the cereal cupboard? Because I need to organize, that's why) cupboard and I DON'T CARE. That cereal can just get on the refrigerator or jump in the vase shelf; spices come first.

ANYWAY, blandness was not a problem Sunday night. We prepared grilled pork chops - which I rub with a oregano/parsley/sage/rosemary/thyme mixture (like the song + oregano), plated with a delicious raspberry sauce, and sides of wild rice perfectly done and carrots braised in a honey sauce my mother in law keeps around. Needless to say, no leftovers. And my father in law didn't mind dealing with my spice addiction for a night.

Of course we were stuffed. And there was no room for dessert. Until my mother in law, P, snagged a bite while we were in the midst of a vicious Wii bowling competition. Then it looked so good we all HAD to temporarily set aside our hot rivalry to sample the fudgy goodness piled with ice cream and strawberries. I almost fainted. And then I had another piece. It tasted like a banana split on cake (the pumpkin flavor doesn't come through; it's only there to cut out the oil and eggs of the usual recipe). I'm sure it was the cake that made Ry and I lose by a countless number of points to his parents in the three game series. I was all weighed down and saturated in its deliciousness.......and in the other two glasses of wine I had with dinner. :)

Please try it. If you regret it I'll pay for the wasted cake mix....

I should charge a delivery fee...and maybe get therapy.

This morning, instead of making the 30 minute commute to work, I drove to my mother in law's work downtown, left my Nissan Sentra in her parking lot, and traded vehicles with her. A Nissan Sentra? Cute and little. The vehicle I traded for? Monstrous. I needed something to haul furniture for my office, so she'd driven in my father in law's humongous, extended cab, bad-at-turning-and-requires-two-backups-to-every-sharp-turn F250 Chevy pickup. And it was hard enough getting it out of her parking lot. Unfortunately, I also had to drive it to the biggest hospital downtown. The hospital keeps a "boneyard" full of discarded furniture from past remodels in its basement, so if you know about it you can make an appointment and go peruse the collection (which is primarily of a turquoise, mauve, and bright pink designation) to pick out that overstuffed bright green waiting room chair you've always wanted. Okay, really, sometimes there are some good finds, and since it's a donation only setup, very very cheap. I lucked out and found an octagon conference table and two "seating area" chairs that didn't burn your eye to look at them, but was barely able to pass up the sea green rocking chairs on a spring.

BUT, imagine my chagrin when I had to maneuver the truck OUT of the parking garage, around the hospital complex, and through two loop arounds, the second one requiring two backups, and into the only spot available - a parallel parking spot on a curve. Try that one in a monster truck crushing patients and people in wheelchairs left and right. Alright, I didn't actually run over anyone, but I think I had an audience by the time I finally was parked close enough to the curb that vehicles could squeeze past on the other side. "Squeeze" being the keyword here. Do you know when you drive a truck but don't know how to drive it how many death glares you get? Let me just say from experience: A LOT.

Once parked, my aunt and I met up with the boneyard personnel and "helped" them load the table and chairs. I put my hand on it, pretended to lift and push, and everything. I'm sure I was very, very, VERY helpful. I think I looked better than if I had stood off to the side wringing my hands uselessly. I think....(although I'm quite good at gracefully wringing my hands. It comes in handy for flat tires).

I made it back to the office by noon and unloaded the chairs. Then my boss and I went to grab the table, and now that I was ACTUALLY unloading??! That thing is @$#%^ heavy!! Seriously, I think it's made out of solid oak! (Oak is heavy, right?) And of course no warning from the boneyard boys earlier. "Oh, no, miss, we don't want any money for this....we were going to get rid of it anyway." Sneaky little bastards. Now that it's in my office, there is no way in hell that thing is getting moved around. My whole room setup will just have to maneuver around it - "It provides such a great focal point, don't you think? Yes, I know it's directly in front of the door; I've cleared a path right through this one foot space. If you just suck in a little, you should get through juuust fine."

So, now I have to drive the truck all the way back to my mother in law's office, change cars again, and go home. I'm going to sit on the couch and have a drink to recover from the traumatic experience; there's no way I'll be able to do anything productive. Or maybe I'll just move my desk first....

Yep, I lied...

You'd think this blog was going to be about Alaska, wouldn't you? Or at least that I LIVED in Alaska, right? Or maybe that I owned an igloo? With a view? Nope! I just think that being raised there gave me a unique - i.e. weird, crazy, insane, delusional - outlook on life (and the fact that Baked Alaska and other potential names were already taken). So, this blog will simply be random thoughts from an Alaskan's point of view. I'll try to be entertaining, but I'm a lawyer. I'm not good at that kind of thing. Sometimes I have funny spurts, but they're few and far between (oh, but look! I rhyme! "thing," "tween." Anyone? Anyone?). Mostly I'm just going to be throwing out anything from recipes I've loved to stories about crazy clients to memories of growing up in a chaotic, but happy, family.

I hope you're able to enjoy reading my blog just as much as I'll love writing it!