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. 

Rain Rain Rain!!

It's raining and the house is freezing. I've made myself a pot of coffee to keep me warm but what I REALLY want is big plate of comfort food. I'm not even hungry, really. But I keep thinking about creamed corn, my moms  fried chicken, mashed potatoes, fettucini alfredo, braised lamb with parsnip puree...  Yesterday was Valentines day and Will took me to this amazing restaurant. They had the best lamb ever and it's all I can think about. Did you know that exactly 2 years ago on Valentines day, Will and I drove a U-Haul into rainy Anacortes Washington? Yep. I can't believe it's been that long. Now I am sitting on our couch in Los Angeles, listening to the rain fall and watching the palm trees sway back and forth across the gray sky. It's a weird juxtaposition.

Everyone is at work today. I am alone and it's very quiet. Penny is snoring on my lap and I am wearing yellow gloves. This house was built in a time where modern insulation meant 4 walls and a roof. So it is always cold in here, even when it's nice outside. It's dark too. My favorite part about this house is the plantation shutters on every window. Every morning, I open the shutters and the early light pierces through the darkness like a rebirth. It's energizing. But today, there is no motivational sunshine to get me going... only the bleak, gray sky creeping through the shutters. 

Well, Will Deans must have sensed that I was craving that lamb because he sent me this:

A recipe! I think this is just what I need to warm my bones...

The New Normal

Well, there must be something to be said about my lack of blogging since we got here. Is it because we've been too busy living it up in Los Angeles to be bothered with writing everything down? Is it because the title of this blog is no longer relevant to our lives? Is it because we are magically living the fairy-tale life I talked about having once we moved back and now we have no problems to discuss? The answer is,  I don't know. The truth is, however, Will and I could have been perfectly happy living in Anacortes if we had rented a house and moved out of the in-laws.We both had stable jobs, managed to make a lot of good friends, and given the area, could have afforded to live in a decent sized house. And that's all I've ever really wanted in life: A place of my own where I could throw dinner parties and plant a garden. It took FOREVER to get to that place in Washington. Over a year. And when we finally got there, there was this tiny voice telling me to seize the opportunity to build a little life of our own, even if it wasn't in California. Now, I'm not saying I miss that lonely island, but I do miss the part where we were ready to walk away, just the two of us, and get a place like we were newlyweds.

Fast forward to this afternoon: I am sitting in the living room of a bachelor pad, watching the sun move from window to window, wondering how long it will take for us to be in that place again. Over a year? Now, I am always setting the expectations unrealistically high for Will and I. I predicted that we would both get jobs and find a place to live within 2 months of moving- needless to say, God had other plans for us. Will, only just this past week, was offered a full time job at BCBG, which we anticipated months earlier. And I am still hunting for jobs, taking a few temp positions here and there while I wait for the right place to sweep me off my feet and pay me a hefty salary with benefits and bonuses. It's hard to believe that this past January, on the 24th, we celebrated our three year anniversary. Three years!! And only a small portion of our first year was spent nesting in our own place. And as hard as it is for me to admit, living with roommates, whether it be family or friends, is becoming more and more normal...

 My greatest fear, is that when this is all over, I won't recognize myself anymore. I wont know who I am in our marriage... That it will be like starting over. My identity used to be wrapped up in a combination of my home, my husband my need to feel in control. I loved being married and taking care of my house and my husband. Is it possible that those things might not matter to me once I am back in my element? Am I suffocating the person I used to be? Who knows, really. I suppose it is best not to worry about things you cannot change and instead, focus on what HAS changed... for the better.

For starters, Will loves his job at BCBG in the inventory accounting department. He no longer works at soul-sucking US Bank, dealing with customers who blamed him for all their financial problems. He sits at a desk, crunching numbers and listening to podcasts without ever having to talk to anyone about anything. His dream job, really. And me- I get to be whatever I want to be. I have endless opportunity to discover my calling. When we left Orange County back in 2010, I felt trapped... I felt like there was no where for me to go... I hated my job, we had mounds of credit card debt and way too many responsibilities for me to figure out what I wanted out of life... and after all thats happened, I finally found the space I needed to sort it all out. Now if only I could find a job...

 The view from the Griffith Observatory

 inside the Pantages Theater where Will and I saw Wicked for our anniversary

 atop the Standard Hotel, where our friends bought us a room as an anniversary gift

 Breakfast with Will

Penny Lane... as cute as ever

W&J

Phew! What a Ride

So It's been a while since I've updated you all. For starters, in this very moment, I am sitting at Silverlake Coffee with Joey, "looking for jobs", as we call it. But really we cruise the internet and watch funny Youtube videos-mostly. I search for jobs. Joey, on the other hand, has been here for 40 minutes and his laptop is still in it's case. And he is off somewhere doing something other than what we came here to do. I know it's tough. Last week I applied for over a hundred jobs and went on 15 interviews... and still, I sit here "job hunting". I hate going to an interview and giving it  150%, knowing full well that this isn't the job for me. But there is something about being offered a job I intend to decline that makes me feel like I've accomplished something. But really, it's just a waste of my time.

We've been here for a month now. Bumming around in Silverlake with Joey, Adam and Jon. I feel bad. I feel like we weren't quite ready to make the move, and now we're in limbo again. Luckily for us, the boys are happy to have us. For now anyways.

Here are some things I had no idea I missed about California:

**Freeways. Despite the endless traffic, they make me feel connected. Like no place is out of reach.
**Good Coffee. Sorry Seattle, you just don't have the best coffee. I know you claim to have started to gourmet coffee movement, but I've seriously had better coffee at a Seven Eleven.
**Late Night Restaurants. A gourmet burger at Stout at 1 in the morning? Lobster grilled cheese at Cafe LA at 11pm? Good food is always available.

Here are a few things I miss about Washington:


**The Brown Lantern. I doubt I will ever find a bar that compares.
**The mushroom soup at Cameron's. Seriously my favorite soup ever.
**Nature. This may come as a surprise to you, but nature is hard to come by out here.
**Long summer nights. I was talking to Joey about  this. There is really no comparison to the sun being up at 10 pm, making the night seem infinite.
(Fear not, Cali friends, I have no intention of abandoning you for Washington. Again. I am too at home, despite our homelessness situation. It feels right to be back.)