Thrift Store Finds...

Look at these goodies I found at the thrift store this weekend...


I am hoping to add handles to all of them and use them for our camping trip this summer. On their own, these wire baskets are pretty boring but all together I think they look vintage-ey cool. I have some neat ideas I want to try out on them but I feel like I need visual aid before I try to explain it. So, when they are used in their element, I will post again!

Chic chicks

6:25pm Saturday: A package arrived in the mail for me. It is from Amazon. I didn't order anything... I scooped up the box and plopped it down on my bead while I searched for my box knife. I hope Will didn't buy me anything. I say out loud as I slice the tape, first on the top, then both the sides. It's not that I don't think it's adorable that he showers me with random presents all the time, it's just that I keep telling myself that I will buy him a random present next time, yet he always beats me to it.

The box is full of books. The book on top is a Martha Stewart cookbook, surprisingly not for me. Will was eyeballing it at a shop one day, but was appalled by the $38.00 price tag. The receipt here says he paid only eight. Nice. There  are two more books in the box: Chicken and Egg and Grow Great Grub. Both appear to be cook books of sorts. I am intrigued by the Chicken book. It has a cute cover. With cute blue font. I read the intro.

Turns out it is a cook book but it also has a story about raising chickens in an urban space. This book is definitely for me. I have been talking to Will about wanting to have a gaggle some day. Every time I mentioned it to Jolyn, she laughs and says, "But you want to live in Southern California! There are laws about having chickens in the city, you know." Yes. She is right. But according to this book, laws are changing. People want to know where their food is coming from and many are turning to sustainable food sources. Neato! I am super excited to read it Will saw this book at Anthropologie a few weeks ago and  thought I should have it. What a cutie.

(eggs from my boss chickens. They laid eight dozen extra this week!)

Now, friends of mine know that I am not the biggest fan of eggs, and up until recently, I was a vegetarian so... Chickens? You? Yes. I want chickens. I am learning to like eggs again and honestly, I've become aware of what it takes to feed a nation and I want no part in it. Monsanto's is forcing it's way into everything we eat with a million different corn and soy derivatives, not to mention that all these major chicken and beef producers feed their animals mainly corn (which cows don't eat naturally) making them super malnourished... they live horrible lives so we can eat them. How selfish. I figure I will buy eggs regardless of weather I'll eat them for breakfast or put them in a pastry, so why not know where they've come from and the chickens are treated well? Plus I like the idea of doing my part in a small way, and, maybe, if I pull it off in a stylish sort of way, more people would see that you don't have to live on a farm to be a farmer. You don't need to wear overalls or speak with a southern accent or be married to your cousin. You can live in a cute home in the city! You can drive a Volkswagen and throw dinner parties and be adorable. Well... maybe. I have yet to prove that all those things are possible while raising chickens, but I plan on trying.

8:00pm: I've finished the book. It turns out that most of the 246, or so, pages are recipes. Both chicken and egg recipes. The author prefaces the book stating that she never eats her chickens, as they are pets, but most people eat chicken for dinner most nights of the week. Her pets inspire her meals. Which is sort of weird. I hope she doesn't have cats. She has a lot of good insight for a first time raiser. I am not sure I am %100 sold on the whole idea, but I definitely want to continue researching. Bottom line: I can't have an ugly-ass chicken coop ruining all my summer bbqs and dinner parties. Also, they can't take over my life. I cannot become a salve to my chickens. So... more research. Lot's more research.

10am Sunday: A decision easier to make than weather or not to Homestead (fancy lingo meaning "to raise chickens" eep!) is what to have for breakfast. Kelly stole the book from my coffee table, her mind set on making the recipe for Bacon and Egg Breakfast Tarts. As I got ready for work, I prayed it would be ready in time for me to leave. It smelled awesome. But I knew as I rushed down the stairs at 10:55 that it wouldn't be. Will, being the awesome husband that he is, dropped me off and immediately went back to the house to wait for breakfast to be finished so he could bring it to my work. Sweet guy.

The Verdict: Puff pastry, parmesan, crispy bacon, chives, fresh tomatoes, and one whole egg, sunny side up, oozing all over the place.

As a novice egg eater, every bite I took of this pizza was intentional. I noticed bites that tasted very eggy and bites that had hardly any egg taste. I can't say that I love they way eggs taste but I liked the breakfast as a whole. All the ingredients together were very hearty and sophisticated. I was impressed. I can see myself eating it for breakfast, sipping coffee and watching my silly chickens from my kitchen window.

I guess the first step I should take is finding a home in socal, right? We have been looking and praying that the Lord blesses us with a place that's worthy of our dreams. We deserve it, I think. Wish us luck and, as always, keep us in your prayers.

                                               -W&J

It Almost Feels Like Summer

The weather is still gloomy as ever but at least it's not freezing. It was a balmy 55 degrees yesterday morning and I was able to ride my bike to work for the first time this year. Go me! Although, my entire ride is basically down hill so I picked up quite a bit of speed which increased the windchill factor, which made my eyes water, which made my mascara bleed into my watery eyes, which made them burn intensely. I arrived at work looking like I'd seen  a cat get hit by a car or something...  all puffy and squinty and drippy. bleh. I had no time to fix my face, however,  since work was crazy from the start. Wine Wednesdays: a day of drinking ridiculously awesome wine. Mostly french. Very expensive. Tough life.

Sometime in the middle of Wine Wednesday, Claudia, a wine rep for Mt Baker Vineyards and organic farmer, brought by a huge, one pound bag of greens... yes. GREENS. I never thought I would get so excited over lettuce but this lettuce is bomb-ass lettuce, okay. LOOK AT IT! dandelion buds, butter lettuce, spinach, arugula, other things that I don't recognize... oh man. the best salad you will ever eat ever. Period.

Claudia has to grow them in a greenhouse to keep them warm enough to grow all through the summer. It makes me want to have a veggie garden! I love fresh, local produce. Hands down, it's the only way to eat. Will made an awesome dinner  to go with our salad... spicy apricot chicken and fingerling potatoes... yum yum yum. He made the bbq sauce and everything!! So delicious.

After I ate way too much chicken, Will, Kelly and I all went to the Brown Lantern for game night. Play a board game and get a free beer? Really? So we played Boggle for an hour, which is hilarious when you're drinking because you come up with all the naughty words. "Teats" and "Titties" were popular words that night, despite the fact that titties is not in the dictionary. Kelly kicked our butts in Boggle, proving her English degree to be useful after all. A guy came around and collected all the games after about an hour and a half and we decided we'd all get one more beverage before we called the taxi. Then Will had a revelation: Come up with a clever name for a drink and then ask the bartender to make it according to it's name. After debating over Hepatitis Tea, Chocolate Rain and Unicorns Blood, Will decided on the latter. The bar tenders got really excited and methodically concocted this:



"Watermelon Schnapps on the bottom because it resembles blood" explained the bartender "and then Goldschlager because unicorn blood is shiney, obviously. We added a touch of hypnotic for flavor and, to top it off... Kraken Vodka. 'Cause it looks badass."  Sweeeeet. We let Will take the entire shot because it was already midnight and the cab was on it's way... Will got waaayyy too silly right as we arrived home 10 minutes later, lol. We've decided that we will order one custom drink every time we go to the bar from now on.

To finish off the Deans recap, Will, Penny and I went on a walk around the neighborhood to savour the partly cloudy, early evening sun. And we weren't chilly at all! I took my wine along on our walk... It kind of felt like Thanksgiving, when your whole family is over and you play football in the park with a glass of wine or a pint of beer or something... not that I want to start reminiscing about fall when we are barely getting weather over 62 degrees here. Anyways, We talked about planning a camping trip and how we need to put the bike rack back on the Volkswagen and how silly our puppy is. Good, good evening. And on that note, good night! See you soon, California!