Sunday, September 30, 2012

week in photos

9.23.12 - 071


9.24.12 - 072


9.25.12 - 073


9.26.12 - 074


9.27.12 - 075


9.28.12 - 076


9.29.12 - 077

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

don't forget to laugh

Sometimes I take things way too seriously and I forget to laugh. I'm not a laugh out louder, I'm more of a quiet chuckler but when I'm around people who laugh out loud it makes me happy. So here's a reminder, mainly to myself, to just laugh for goodness sake!


Tuesday, September 25, 2012

i was happy

A simple note full of happiness. I know that feeling of being drunk off of someone's laughter. My someone makes me happy every day. His 'laugh out loud' laugh makes me laugh, especially when I'm at one end of the apartment and he's at the other end. I have no idea what's so funny but his laughter is infectious so I end up laughing along with him.


Monday, September 24, 2012

emma

I'm in rehearsals for a play about the anarchist Emma Goldman. We open October 13th. These next few weeks are going to be hectic as I juggle a full-time job, rehearsals 4 - 5 days a week, and just my life in general. But friends, let me tell you, it's thrilling... it's creating my utmost happy! Please forgive me if I'm absent here for a while. I promise I'll be back.


Sunday, September 23, 2012

week in photos

9.16.12 - 064


9.17.12 - 065


9.18.12 - 066


9.19.12 - 067


9.20.12 - 068


9.21.12 - 069


9.22.12 - 070


Friday, September 21, 2012

happy birthday, bill murray!

Happy Birthday, Bill Murray!

Ebert and I watched this movie to celebrate. A Friday evening at home with my husband, a bottle of wine and Bill Murray. What more could a girl ask for!?


Monday, September 17, 2012

in the kitchen

Here's what I've been cooking in the kitchen.

red lentil soup

This red lentil soup is easy and delicious. It's going to be a new fall favorite recipe. I've only ever cooked brown lentils so when I saw that Trader Joe's started carrying split red lentils I had to try them. I recommend doubling this recipe so you have left overs the next day.

veggies & quinoa


I also made this veggies & quinoa dish. I didn't follow a recipe, although I'm sure I've seen a similar dish somewhere amongst all the foodie blogs I peruse. Since this was just a thrown together dish I'm going to give you a thrown together recipe. My mom always says "a recipe is just a guideline" so feel free to add, subtract, or change anything about this. If you do I'd love to hear what you did and how your verison came out.
  • Quinoa
  • Trader Joe's Jalapeno Chicken Sausages, cut into quarters
  • Sweet Potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces
  • Zucchini, chopped into bite-sized pieces
  • Kale, thinly shredded
  • Sweet Red Pepper, diced
  • Fresh Ginger, minced
  • Fresh Garlic, minced
  • Cumin
  • Oregano
  • Sea Salt
  • Black Pepper

Start cooking the quinoa. While the quinoa is cooking saute the sausages in some olive oil until they are browned. Then in a separate pan saute the garlic and ginger with olive oil. Add the sweet potatoes. Cook the sweet potatoes for about 5 minutes, until they are just slightly tender but still a little crunchy. Add the zucchini. Once you add the zucchini sprinkle some cumin and oregano over the veggies and cook until soft. Add the kale, sea salt and black pepper. Toss the cooked sausages over the kale and cover for a couple minutes. The kale will cook quickly since it's thinly shredded so it doesn't need to stay covered for very long. Once the kale is cooked make sure you mix everything to incorporate all the flavors. Add the diced sweet red pepper just before serving. The crunchiness of the pepper adds a nice texture to the dish. Adjust the flavors to your liking and voila! A healthy and hearty supper.



happy monday!

Drinking coffee and riding bicycles makes me happy! Although I don't recommend riding bicycles while drinking coffee.


Sunday, September 16, 2012

week in photos

9.09.12 - 057


9.10.12 - 058


9.11.12 - 059


9.12.12 - 060


9.13.12 - 061


9.14.12 - 062


9.15.12 - 063


Saturday, September 15, 2012

"Heart full of love, wanting to do my best."

It's been a lazy Saturday morning- sleeping in, sipping on coffee, reading blogs, husband making me breakfast. This kind of slow-paced, perfect morning was needed after a trying week. There were times this week when I felt like everything I did was wrong, that I wasn't good enough, and that I will forever be stuck in this place of failure.

Then I read this post from Superhero Life. Although I don't have kids I could still relate to those moments of when you feel "the rage increasing, the boiling blood, the out-of-control feeling." And as much as I, too, would love to be able to laugh at the absurdity of it all I usually cry.

I'm so grateful that there are superheroes like Andrea who are willing to open up their hearts and share their stories because I'm also learning

"how incredibly flawed and human and not-at-all perfect I am. I’m learning to have compassion for myself and how hard this is and how to make amends and show up again and again. Heart full of love, wanting to do my best."

And for the record, amidst this trying week there were also some happy, jump up for joy moments.


Wednesday, September 12, 2012

peach blueberry crostata

Practice really does make perfect. Although if I had it my way perfect would happen on the first try. Unfortunately, it never does for me so I'm slowly coming to terms with having to practice...a lot! My second attempt at baking a pie dough from scratch wasn't exactly perfect but I'm starting to enjoy this whole process of practicing especially when the results are so delicious.

The main thing I learned this time was to read all the directions before beginning- I shouldn't just scan them thinking I'll magically know what to do next. This was the first thing Patsy tried to teach me at our baking lesson. Obviously following instructions is right up there with practicing for me- I don't like it. I completely skipped the part about kneading the dough before rolling it out. The result was a sticky, gooey dough that stuck to my counter and eventually tore apart as I picked it up to put on the baking sheet. I tried adding more flour but didn't want to add too much and risk losing any of the flakiness of the crust. I had to re-roll it on the baking sheet to repair the parts of the dough that tore. It worked, I just wasn't able to roll it out as large as I would have liked. The crust didn't come out quite as flaky as I would have liked either, but I think I left it in the oven two minutes too long. Not too shabby for my second crostata ever!

Baking this peach blueberry crostata was my way of biding adieu to summer so the next one I bake will be welcoming back fall. Any fall flavor suggestions?





{all images via create.your.happy}


Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Monday, September 10, 2012

happy monday!

Getting crafty makes me happy!

before

after

I've been looking for a nightstand for Ebert's side of the bed for quite some time. I wanted one with a drawer like this but couldn't find one small enough for a Chicago-sized bedroom. Then I saw this project on lark & linen. These wine crates have been waiting to be turned into something awesome and this was the perfect project for them.

What do you think?


Sunday, September 9, 2012

week in photos

9.02.12 - 50


9.03.12 - 51


9.04.12 - 52


9.05.12 - 53


9.06.12 - 54


9.07.12 - 55


9.08.12 - 56


Monday, September 3, 2012

good morning, sunrise!




Ebert and I rode our bikes to the lake this morning to watch the sunrise. It was a beautiful way to start the day. I'm usually not one for waking up at 5:45am, especially on a holiday weekend when I've been given an extra day to sleep in - I like my sleep. However, Ebert's been tweeting some awesome sunrise pics on his morning rides before work and I just couldn't resist an opportunity to wake up early to see it (with the option of going back to sleep an hour later). The sunrise was worth it, and as tempting as it was to crawl back under the covers when we got home, my enthusiasm (albeit a groggy enthusiasm) for having a few more hours to create my happy won. And I'm glad!

I also realized this was the farthest east I've ever seen the sunrise!

{all images via create.your.happy}


week in photos

8.26.12 - 043


8.27.12 - 044


8.28.12 - 045


8.29.12 - 046


8.30.12 - 047


8.31.12 - 048


9.01.12 - 049