Full Circle

It's been a year since we've been back. All I can say, is this year went by SO fast compared to the year we spent living in Washington. I swear, life dragged on the whole time we were living there and it seems that time has sped up now that we are here in California. I can hardly believe it. I started of last year with a wedding and ended it the EXACT same way on almost the same weekend. I really have come full circle. Now it is time to embrace the holidays... again. Every year I write a post about how the holidays are my favorite/worst time of the year. But this year is different. Somehow, all the pressure has been lifted from my shoulders and I can share the burden of bring  people together with others... It's not my responsibility anymore.
My family has always been somewhat Nomadic... we never seem to have it together. My mother, bless her, has been hosting Christmas and Thanksgiving at her tiny apartment for years, since that is the only place, despite how cramped, our family had to gather together. It seemed stressful and more effort than it was worth... but every year, we marched forward, as if it were law and had a crowded Christmas in my mothers apartment. I always felt this pressure to come up with an alternative solution to our holiday problems... knowing full well that was impossible. It made me sad since I believe my calling in life is to bring people together. It felt like failing. Every year.
This year, however, God has blessed my father with a large house, completer with pool, guest bedrooms and a fireplace. Hooray! Now it is time for a proper Holiday!
The only problem is that my dad is a full on bachelor. The kind with flat screens in every room and horrible recliners and TV trays instead of coffee tables... So it will be interesting, to say the least.

I guess my only issue now, is that the weather refuses to believe it is November and insists on 90 degree weather. Ugh. I have been defiant and am wearing jackets anyway. At least my office is a brisk (not) 64 degrees.

Wedding Pics :

I know it's been forever since my Lemon Birthday back in July but I wanted to share my party with you anyways, before I forget about it completely



My favorite part about out decorations were these cute birthday crowns I made. They were inspired by this post at Oh Happy Day. I made mine more hippie-like and added beads and feathers.

I also used leaves from our lemon tree to make this stunning garland! 

I added some of the crepe paper flowers I made for the crowns to give it some color





Lauren printed out these clever little lemon signs and we strung them accross the movie screen (did I mention that the white sheet is for a projected movie!?)





The movie!



This was a half assed job on the printing and displaying of these signs but we were running out of time, lol

We made homemade limoncello and simple syrups. We made the labels out of scrap fabric, sticky labels from Michaels and twine.

I used an old wine box to display our treats! I also printed flags so people could claim their glass.

mason jars and yellow straws!

I made this clever lemonade cover to keep the flies out

And here is our lemon tree all decked out for the occasion.

Birthday

My birthday is this weekend! I've been semi-excited for it's arrival. I can never seem to do things simply. I always need a plan and it always has to be fabulous. This is most often expensive (even with all my diy-ing) and laborious. It also mostly involves my poor husband doing intensive chores when he wants nothing more than to play video games on his days off. I continuously force my creativity on him... he resents me a little, I am afraid.

It is always a hassle to try and figure out how to feed a gang of people on the cheap... We have this huge, overladen lemon tree in the back that desperately needs to be relieved of its burden before it dies of exhaustion so we are definitely going to incorporate lemons into every food we make. Rosemary honeyed Lemon chicken legs, thyme lemon vodka, limoncello, tart lemon cupcakes and on and on... My idea was to have everyone bring a side dish, like potluck style to ease the burden of paying for all that food!

Our main event, is going to be an outdoor movie night in the backyard. Years past, we did the same thing spontaneously on our front lawn and all the neighbors stopped by with their lawn chairs to watch Edward Scissor Hands on a warm July Night. It was kind of magical, having been pumped full of booze and food and snuggling next to your best friends under the stars. Too much fun. We are hoping to recreate the same feeling, only this time, providing a popcorn and candy and soda bar for our guest.

here is a little inspiration:

Summer in the 'Hood

I love where we live more and more with each passing weekend. Today Will and I trolled around our 'hood looking for treasures to bring back to our Washitonian counterparts. I am happy to report that we found some thoughtful, locally made goodies that I am most proud to present as gifts. All the unique little shoppes make Saturday mornings oh so exciting.  Not to mention all the great coffee and yard sales and Farmer's Markets there are to stumble upon while you're out. Today was hot. And a little sticky. And we walked a lot so my hair was in mattes and my sandal adorned feet were crusted with the filth of the city. I didn't mind so much, though. We strolled through Echo Park enjoying a homemade lemon ginger ice pop so the world seemed clever and coy and inviting. I was especially pleased when we stumbled upon a woman selling plants out of her yard. It was a jungle. A hobby turned obsession. Hundreds of plants, big and small all for crazy cheap. We picked up these pretties all for $10. They're nice and small, perfect for a terrarium. I smell a summer project...

I want to make something like these...

We decided that today would be a good day for a picnic as well... so we stopped by Trader Joe's and grabbed some iced tea, watermelon spears and salads and headed to Elysian Park to grub. Everything was awesome until a hornet decided to crash our party. He was relentless. Even after I put the lid back on my salad, he tried to wriggle his way under it. I got annoyed, tried to swipe at it, and in the process knocked Wills salad all over my leg and the ground. He had only taken a few bites so there was  spinach and bacon and egg and dressing everywhere. Ugh. We packed up and left immediately. Stupid hornet!

Despite the hornet ruining our picnic, we had  pretty awesome summer day. Looking forward (not) to the gloom of Washington next week! Well not the gloom but definitely some sunny faces :)

Young and Free

So many months I've spent wondering when God will bless our voyage of life and all the while He's been blessing us under my nose . It's not like I snubbed the blessings, I was just looking for them in different forms. I know that we will eventually have a place of our own, with babies and chickens but for now, it's nice to be unattached, free and young.

So I've accepted that this is where God wants us to be for a while. In a house full of boys who love us dearly. And word on the street is that one will be moving out soon to pursue other adventures and we will swoop in and take his place in one of the bedrooms. Which will make our lives so much better.

I still don't have a job so if anyone is reading this, please pray for me. I keep going on all these interviews and nothing is working out. I really need prayers and I really need to persevere. Sometimes, I don't want to even apply for jobs anymore. I get discouraged. Keep praying.

I celebration of our new found happiness and contentment, Will and I have committed to a lifestyle change. We started a diet of sorts. If you want to read about it, click here And we've been hiking the crap out of SoCal. I will share a few of our recipes below: Whether you are dieting or not these recipes are incredible.

                        Pepper Steak and Cauliflower Rice

 tonight we made my aunt's Pepper Steak. This was one of my absolute favorite meals as a kid and when she passed away, my uncle sent me her hand written recipe. I read it and could imagine her in the kitchen cooking it...

Top round boneless steak
-brown meat in oil (coconut oil) don't crowd it! Use two pans if you have to and add them together before simmering.

-add 1/2 cup water, or enough to cover the meat
2 tbs wheat free soy sauce
2 tsp salt
a sprinkling of garlic powder
-cover and simmer 45 minutes

add 2 cups sliced onions
1 bell pepper, cubed
1 cup celery
-add to meat and cook until veggies are soft
-add 2 tablespoons arrowroot starch (or potato starch) to 2 cups warm water and add to pot. Stir and serve over rice!

She used to serve it with rice, but our new diet forbids it so we made some cauliflower "sticky rice" instead. Recipe here . The only thing I did differently was add a little bit of rice wine vinegar to the finished product. It's not strictly paleo but it cuts the cauliflower taste and makes it taste more like rice!


For dessert we made dark chocolate almond butter mouse cups! It's the paleo version of peanut butter cups and they are the PERFECT little treat.

Will actually came up with this recipe in his head and I am quite impressed. Start this the night before so you can refrigerate the coconut milk!

1 can coconut milk, separated
1/4 cup almond butter
1/2 tablespoons ghee
2 tablespoons raw honey
3 bars dark chocolate (trader joes has a nice 73% cocoa bar you can use) melted
silicone ice trays or candy molds  (I got mine from Ikea for $1)
** It's better to use mini muffin cups or candy cups (found at cooking stores)

-melt the chocolate either in the microwave or in a sauce pan over low heat
-line the bottom of the silicone tray with chocolate and let set in freezer for about 5-7 minutes

-melt butter, honey and almond butter and set aside. 

-use the fatty, thick part of the coconut milk (discard the water) and whisk vigorously in a metal bowl until stiff peaks form. (also great on coffee or fresh fruit! it's just like whipped cream!)
-use about 1/4 cup of coconut whip and gently fold into almond butter.
-add a small dollop (1 tsp or less) of almond butter mixture to tray and cover with remaining chocolate
-let set in freezer overnight

. 

coconut whip!

 This is the only piece we could get out of the trays successfully! Next time, we'll use little mini candy cups.

Here are some pics of Will and I tearing up some trails and trying to be active:

Joshua Tree

Wildwood Park

Crystal Cove

We love hiking so much and we try to go every weekend. And I am so excited to go to Big Basin and Big Sur this summer!

Weekend Adventure

It is almost the weekend. On Friday, Will, my dad and I will be carpooling up to Redwood City to wish my sister a happy 23rd birthday. Yikes. I can't believe she's that old already... I got married at 23! Also, we will be wishing her safe travels as she ebarks on a missionary adventure in Ghana for a whole year. Sometimes I can't believe we're related. Her mission is to save the world one orphan at a time and all I seem to care about these days is myself. Also, she seems so young sometimes. But then again, so old. I'm proud of her. That is for sure.
 I keep telling myself that as soon as all my ducks are in a row that I will join a yoga studio, take tennis lessons, volunteer, join a small group... have kids? But my life never seems to be... ready. Maybe I just need to take the plunge. Maybe my life will be ready when I make it so.

Good news is that I am going in for a 2nd interview tomorrow for a clothing company in l.a. I am super excited. The location is ideally located right down the street from Will's job, meaning we can carpool. Super important. So I am praying that the Lord opens some doors tomorrow because I REALLY want to start working again and get back on track.

In other news, Will and I became L.A. Zoo members this past month which is really cool. I feel like we're adults now for some odd reason. It's like we're a part of the school board or or a charity organization or something. They send us emails that say "sign this petition to save the zoo!" and I do because it's MY zoo in MY city. Yeah. It also makes me feel like we really live here... In Anacortes, I never felt like it was home. I never wanted to volunteer, or support the local community theater. But here, in los angeles, I want to be a part of everything. I recently joined every mailing list, subscribed to a bunch of event calenders and and made it a point to become immersed. It feels nice. We even picked a coffee shop thats "our place" and a restaurant thats "our spot". We make it a point to patron them at least twice a month. We go to art walks at the Brewery and tour artists lofts and imagine we live there, overlooking the industrial city from our cavernous apartment. We go to the theater, eat everything, go to shows... We really live here. It's home. And the traffic is not that bad, really. Unless you try to go to West LA during rush hour. But honestly, everyone hates the west side anyway. So we all stay here, with the mountains and Griffith Park and free street parking and Downtown at our back door. Oh yeah, we have Hollywood too. Suck it west side!

In summery, pray for my interview, pray for safe travels, pray for my sister. Love!

 The Zoo. My Zoo

gotta love food trucks. And lobster roll and wine tasting night !

Penny Lane wearing a flower crown and basking in the sun at Griffith Park

the view from the Getty Museum.