September Favorites

Well, it is that time again.....The month of September has flown by, has it not?? I better not say that too loud, or October will take it’s sweet time. I’ve kept myself busy with preschool activities, tons of crafty things, and getting back into the world of studying marine biology. My favorite things this month to keep busy/read/dream about are as follows….

• Being cheap. I tried clipping coupons. The prices I am used to in Kansas and Oklahoma are long gone, and I do not enjoy grocery shopping here! I also realized I don’t particularly enjoy clipping coupons eitherJ I tried online coupon searching, which led to a lot of websites asking me to sign up for junk. As my mother will tell you, signing up for GREAT DEALS online, only leads to a mass amount of junk mail, and baby formula samples being sent to your home. Luckily, I still had some newspaper ads hanging around for some future art projects, and I sifted through them. Oh.my.goodness. How obnoxious! The ones I found were expired, or only valid at Target, which we don’t even have! All was not lost though, there was a little booklet called redplum, and that little guy gave me a glimmer of hope for the coupons. However, I think it also makes me want to buy things that aren’t on my list. Oh no! Their tactics are working! Online coupons-0 Old fashioned clipping- 1

• New Girl. Zoey Deschanel is one of my favorite actresses, and she has a new TV series that gives me something to look forward to every Tuesday. (In the world of preschool, Terrible Tuesdays are my least favorite day. Mondays are exciting to 3 and 4 year olds, they get to tell all their friends about their weekends and school is fun. But by Tuesday, it's back to work and they have an attitude of general displeasure towards everything. It never fails. Every week.) Zoey’s character is a goofy, fun loving girl living with a group of guys, and I laugh the whole time. And she tends to make ordinary sentences into songs, which, thanks to preschool, I also do. I feel we are connected in that way. Just watch it.

• Pinterest. Um. I am obsessed. I mentioned in my first blog ever I was thinking about getting an account to organize all the cool thoughts in my head. Well, I don’t even have an account yet, and I spent approximately 3 hours on the HOMEPAGE of Pinterest. Yes I realize that sounds ridiculous but I couldn’t help it, it sucked me in. There is just so.much.STUFF... INTERESTING.STUFF! It definitely will keep me occupied for many, many months to come. Which is awesome, because the busier I am, the faster the days go by J C’mon November! (Pinterest has many things that I plan on encouraging Andrew to join me in: baking, crafts, cute outfits, etc. I know he can’t wait!!)

• PUPPIES. Many women find that time in their lives where all they want is a baby. Their maternal instinct kicks in, and all they want is a little bundle of joy. I’m not there. BUT. Lately, all I want is a puppy! If I’m not at work, sleeping, eating, or on Pinterest, I’m looking at dogs. All I do is torture myself because I know that without a yard, it wouldn’t be smart. But wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a happy, drooley smiley to greet me at the door when Andrew can’t do it?? (Just kidding babe, you don’t drool when you smile, only during sleep) Or a companion to run with? And someone to dress up with for Halloween?? Oh, my imagination is just going to make it worse! A girl can dream….

• KS Necklace. I’m so proud to be a Kansan. Seattle is amazing, but as my great, college biology professor, Dr. Charlie Hunter once told me in regards to moving to Oregon after retirement: “Prairie roots run deep!” Yee haw! I miss home. And the people there. A lot.

• Deletion of arm fat. Cheerleading gives you nice, toned arms. Pushing 4 yr olds on the swings, and coloring, does not. Nuff said.

• Crafty craft crafting. I’ll post pictures when they’re done….let’s just say I’ve been a busy bee! Not just crafting things for myself though. Family and friends: prepare to be blown away for any holidays in the upcoming months! I absolutely love being creative for other people’s enjoyment J

Cheers,

KLM

Y is for Yellow Chairs

One of my goals when I moved to the Pacific Northwest was to start pursuing my ultimate goal of working for a zoo or an aquarium. During college in Winfield, I was an hour away from the nearest zoo, so volunteering never worked out. And last year I was working 8-5, along with the occasional weekend shift, and was again, an hour away from the nearest source of zoo experience. So finally, I am a 20 minute ride from the Seattle Aquarium. Although I have the degrees, and some experience in the education department of the Topeka Zoo, I still am starting from the bottom, and working my way up.

Volunteer orientation started Saturday morning. It was pretty straight forward, the most exciting part was when they let us walk around the aquarium for 30 minutes to explore and “talk to other volunteers about their experiences.” I spent the whole time talkin with the otters of course.

Octopus trying to escape....

I was feeling very tired, so I had planned on just going home to nap after orientation. But the weather was amazing, and spending time by the water never gets old. I went and had a seat on Pier 59, where they had set up these bright yellow Adirondack chairs. It was nice just to soak up the sun for a while; since I’m sure it won’t be around for that much longer. My thoughts on going home to nap were quickly dissolved and I made a day of being downtown.

 It is beginning to look like AUTUMN in the city!

 I feel like a goob taking pictures of myself but I had to document these awesome chairs!!

 Love.

 Remind me of dinosaurs

 Post Alley

 The only thing at the antique shop that I liked....a toddler size houndstooth coat, should've bought it!

An antique mall (which was too unorganized for me to stay and dig for treasures....), Pike’s Place Market (which either smells like flowers, or fish….ick), the “Made in Washington” Store, and Starbucks of course. I did end up heading home in the late afternoon because my phone was dying and I was waiting to hear from Andrew. Not soon after I had put my feet up and showered, I got a text from Emily about a girl date for sushi. I rode the Light Rail for the 3^rd and 4^th time that day, and we headed to Umi in Belltown (the “bar” district north of downtown). I stepped outside my sushi box (a california roll never fails me) and had a “Belltown Barbie,” which had crab, seared salmon, cucumbers, avocado, and some real funky sauces. YUM.

After spending Sunday morning cleaning, watching 9/11 documentaries, feeling a great sense of pride to have a boyfriend that serves our country, and then pushing it to the back of my mind so I wouldn't get sad, for some reason, today I decided I was in the mood to bake. Definitely not something I’m familiar with at all. But one day after school last week, I noticed a TON of blackberries were ripening right outside of our playground fence.  After everybody was gone I started picking and filled almost a whole Ziploc bag full. I could’ve gotten a lot more, but I was too dang short. I received plenty of pricks and ate way too many along the way, but they’ve just been sitting in the fridge being snacked on, so I did something different. Found a recipe from Iron Chef, Mario Batali and I was so proud of the end product!!!

 Baking is messy.

Here’s the recipe, which I messed with a little bit. After snacking, I only had 1.5 cups of blackberries, so I divided all the other ingredients by 2.6 so they’d have the same ratio as the original recipeJ I followed the crust instructions as they are listed though, and froze the extra dough for my next baking endeavor since I had so much fun with this one! I found little pot pie tins at Safeway because a regular size pie pan would be wayyyy too big. I used a little extra lemon juice because I would rather have a tart/sour pie than a sugary sweet one. I also added an egg wash (one whole egg and salt) so the crust would be pretty and I heard it helps it not to dry out. Oh, and I didn’t have a fancy cooking brush so I used an actual paint brush to apply it…..I’m always an innovator! After one hour at 350, my crust was fully cooked and the berries stayed tart and not too sweet; I baked a real pie!

Ice cream + blackberries = STUPENDOUS

I may or may not go eat some more pie now....so I'll catch ya after the next adventure!

Cheers,

KLM

D is for Des(s)erts and Ducks

Hi loves! Week 2 of deployment #2 is almost done. Life has gotten a little busier in the past week. 

Last Friday, one of Andrew's closest friends from college, and a fellow Seattle resident/C-17 pilot, returned home a 6 month deployment. Not wanting him to come home to an empty airport terminal, I decided to go surprise him late that night. He wasn't expecting anything to it was great to see the reaction on his face! 

Special sign I made for him. Yes, I spelled his last name, and America wrong, on purpose :)

Still looks a little dusty to me!

Although, it turns out I was not alone in my "surprise Kevin" idea. Another girl, Emily, also met him there. As I was helping with bags, preparing to send them off, then head home to a quiet, peaceful apartment, Emily gets this devious little smile on her face. Outside in the loading zone was a fully decked-out party bus, complete with neon lights, a stripper pole, and some friends from his squadron inside. It was the most outlandish way I have ever seen a military homecoming celebrated. Nonetheless, I was dragged aboard to join the party and make friends out of drunken strangers. I met some nice people, but headed home early, I can't stay up late like I used to! 


Hahahahha

I celebrated the first day of my long Labor day weekend by doing absolutely nothing. And it was great. But by Sunday I was getting cabin fever and it was so gorgeous outside, I felt terrible wasting the day inside. Aren't Labor Day weekends for barbecues and boats and sun?? Luckily, my charming smile and sparkling personality did me some good on Friday when I met some of Kevin's friends :) I had a message from Emily, asking me to a BBQ at her house, to which I gladly accepted, and even made some treats to bring. 

Chopping and dipping away for fruit skewers!

 Super easy: Grapes, chocolate covered strawberries, honeydew, chocolate covered watermelon, cantaloupe!

All done on my new leaf plate I found last minute at Safeway....$2!

I just wanted to bring something quick but tasty, and since I knew she would be grilling chicken and steak kabobs, I stuck with the theme and made some with fruit. It took way too long to chop all the fruit, so next time I would just buy one of those fruit trays and assemble it that way! I also enjoy chocolate way too much so I experimented to see how the chocolate covered watermelon was accepted. (At one point in the assembly line process I contemplated dipping the whole skewer into the chocolate, but I decided against.) A perfect compliment to any fruit is the dip my awesome Momma always makes!

• 8 oz. cream cheese (softened)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tps vanilla

It is soooo yummy, so go make some for yourself right now! By the end of the night, all my chopping and sticky juice hands had payed off, I came home with ZERO leftovers! If that doesn't give you a sense of success I don't know what would.

Kevin was out of town for the BBQ, but stopped by after it was just Emily and I, and we decided it would be nice to go out on Monday since we were all off work, and make a day out of it. Monday afternoon we all rode the Light Rail up to downtown, and had a bite to eat at The Icon Grill. So beautifully decorated, and such yummy comfort food.

 

 Kevin had experience the above, "Ultimate Mac N' Cheese" before, and highly recommended it. They serve it to you, then slice down the middle and pour hot, molten cheese into the middle. Holy.Cow. It was so good! After we filled out bellies, we were off to Ride the Ducks!

This tour goes through downtown, onto Lake Union, then finishes back on the streets of Seattle. Andrew and I had talked about going several times, so I felt bad going without him here, but the weather was gorgeous, so we couldn't pass it up. We also the last tour of the day, so the sun was almost setting while we rode through the streets, ah, the romantic moments that deployments let me experience by myself. It was a very unique way to see, and hear about the sights around downtown. Our guide's name was Captain Tristan Shout. harharhar. Beforehand, we read that all of the guides were experienced, former members of the US Coast Guard. After listening to Capt. Shout joke and sing and be as energetic as a wedding DJ on speed, I remember texting Kevin, "When an Air Force pilot retires, he goes and flies commercial. A Coast Guard captain retires and does this." Those poor coasties. Here are a few pictures of the unique views we got!



A view that only the Duck is tall enough to see, going over the Fremont Bridge



Gas Works Park, where Andrew and I spent the 4th of July, as seen from Lake Union

Pefect skyline.

 I am very happy to have a close friend back home safely; safe and living close haha! Besides getting used to being social since Kevin came home, preschool has kept me busy. The other afternoon teacher and I have agreed to work on a hands-on, creative curriculum for the last half of the day. It will take the mundanes out of our "snack, story, art, play, snack, go home" afternoons. And, since most of the morning lesson plans focus on week-long, progressive art projects or lessons, we thought it would be nice to do some projects that were more "instant gratification" for the kids, something they could take home with them the same day.  Speaking of preschool, here's the world I drive into every single day, Mercer Island.....

Most of the houses are overly ridiculous. At least I'm not driving into a bad neighborhood to work in though!


That's all I've got....life is going great! Seattle continues to teach, or show me something new every day. And I think it's a good sign that coming home on a perfectly clear day, to a view Mt. Rainier, never gets old .....

Cheers,
KLM



F is for Favorites

I'm a couple days late for August, but each month I wanted to give a list of favorite things, just because! These are all things that I get excited about, and hopefully you can check them out and find some favorites of your own!

• All things pacific northwest. The trees, mountains, salmon, jogging, microbreweries....even their manhole covers are awesome, this one shows some Native American style art, which I have come to appreciate more and more, each time I see it

• Peanut butter and jelly. I don't know why I seem to be obsessed with these sandwiches this month. Maybe I'll look into cooking a gourmet version.....All I know is that I am eating one right now and it is delish.

• Chuck Gumpert fine art. Described as "abstract expressionist and offbeat figurative paintings," I fell in love with these paintings after our apartment complex commisioned him to do 12 different pieces that now hang in different parts of the building. One part of the building his next piece should go is in our living room.

• Cork extractors. I have wanted one of these dealy-bobs for a while. It takes your wine cork out, without leaving a hole in it! I keep all my corks (see next favorite) for various reasons so I think it'd be great to use one of these contraptions. I wonder how much more difficult it would be than a corkscrew though......?

•  Candle displays. After browsing Pottery Barn's website almost evey single day for apartment inspiration, I've started a mental collection of things I would like to do to chic the place up a bit. The display on the left reminds me of the outdoorsy Northwest, birch wood looks great. I always love a good nautical theme like the Pottery Barn example in the middle. And lastly, I have nowhere near the amount of wine corks necesary for the display on the right, but I think it would look awesome in the kitchen or living room. I guess I better keep wine blogging ay??

 I would love elaborate on my lists of favorite things, and start a Pintrest account, but I'll keep them all organized in my head for now. Check out that website if you haven't, it is lots of fun! Welp, that's all I've got for the favorites of my August! I'll do this again at the end of September, and the Lord only knows what will be on that list, so I'll go on some adventures to find out!

Cheers!

KLM