#232 Matt Frazier stopped in Lincoln!

On my List of 1,001 Awesome Things To Do Before....list, #232 is to attend a book tour/signing by an author that I love.  I did that!  I intend to do it any time I get the chance, but I think this is the first.  No, not true.  I met Isa Moskowitz at a bake sale in Omaha and she signed my Vegan Cookies cookbook, but that was a few years back, way before I had The List.  Plus, its on the list to meet her again (maybe when she gets her vegan restaurant open?!?)

Matt Frazier writes a blog that I read regularly called The No Meat Athlete and his book, Run on Plants and Discover Your Fittest, Fastest, Happiest Self just came out a few weeks ago.  On his book tour, he made a stop at the Lincoln Running Company and Willa and I made sure we could make it!  Matt is an ultramarathon runner who just happens also to be vegan.  He spoke about his training, what he eats, what he wears, goal setting, strength training...all kinds of good stuff!  He was very informative.  I haven't read the whole book yet, but I did just try out one of his recipes (for buffalo hummus) and it was so good.  I don't know why I hadn't thought to put buffalo sauce in hummus before but it was genius.  I am very excited to try the rest of the recipes.  Aside from recipes, there are also training plans for various distances in the book.  A great read for anyone who is thinking of getting into distance running or anyone looking to replace some meat with some healthier options in their diets.  He doesn't get in your face at all about the ethics of a vegan diet, as some vegan writers do.  He makes some good points, for sure, but he also acknowledges that even just a reduction in red meat consumption can make huge positive impacts on your health and your training.  If you're curious, you should check it out!  I'll loan my copy out after I try a few more recipes:)

Congrats to dear brookie!

First of all, I love this picture.  It was taken a few months ago on a nice girl's night out.  Second of all, the lady on the left, my most favorite brooke, won a very cool blogging contest and I want every single person I know to hear about it!  brooke's blog is called grace and light, and she won Typepad's 10th Birthday Blogging Contest..  Do read about the contest, and then read every single one of brooke's blog posts, because they are all worth your time.  She is so very thoughtful with what she writes, and her words are so elegant.  I suppose you could read the other 2 winners' blogs as well, if you work night shifts like me and dink around on the internets for, like, hours.  Or, you could google yourself, then shop on Amazon for nut milk bags and donut pans, then pay a tiny portion of your taxes online, then look at tons of pictures of cute baby animals on the Huffington Post, then try to refocus yourself by looking at your own blog post about your goals, and then spend the rest of the night looking at lipstick shades.  Yeah.  Do that.

Because, wine.

I'm not exactly sure what the theme was for Summer, 2012 but I have decided that 2013 is all about the vineyards.  Wine is gluten free.  Vineyards are beautiful.  Yes, I realize we live in Nebraska but I'll take what I can get.  And the place we visited on Friday evening was the bee's knees.  Glacial Till is near Bennett, Ne which is a decent drive from our house, but totally worth it.  The Chambourcin was red and dry and I had the whole bottle to myself.  The music was fun.  I danced with Willa.  They had a visiting brewery, which made the gentleman happy.  You know where to find me every other Friday night from now until the end of summer.

And...if you don't get the title of this post then you have not been following my directions all along.  Shame on you.

January is National Oatmeal Month

I know.  There is a "National-Everything-Month" these days.  BUT, I love oatmeal, so I'm gonna go ahead and talk about it.  First of all, a few months ago I made the big decision to switch from the el cheapo quick cooking instant oatmeal flakes to steel cut oats.  I thought I loved oatmeal before, but this was game changing.  They do cost more, and take longer to cook but if you are an oatmeal fan, you won't mind one bit.    Then last week, one of my most favorite fitness bloggers posted this recipe for baked coconut-blueberry oatmeal.  That is like, all of my favorite words in one recipe title.  So, after I went to the grocery store Sunday  night, I stuck a pan of it in the oven and have eaten it for breakfast (and a few little snacks) all week.  I just had the last bowl and it made me a little sad, until I realized that I can just make it again and not be sad.

Yes, it called for one of the "good" bowls:)

Its a very simple recipe, which is great.  When recipes even look the least bit complicated, I get nervous.  And sweat.  And usually tear them up and throw them away.  I tweaked a few things about it, to accommodate what I had on hand/what was less expensive/etc.  For instance, I had a few cups of soy milk to use up instead of almond milk, then I used coconut milk for the rest.  I don't really stick to any one type of "milk" around our house.  We never have dairy milk, just soy or almond or coconut.  I haven't branched out to hemp or rice milk yet.  I just kind of rotate through whatever is available or on sale at whichever store I am shopping at.  I think this recipe will work with any type of milk.  Then, I did half frozen-half fresh blueberries, just to see how it would turn out and it was fine.  I also omitted the dried blueberries because they were kind of expensive and very few came in a bag.  We're on a budget here, people!  I don't think the recipe necessarily needs any added sweetener, I believe the blogger used vanilla stevia drops.  I used a bit of honey, but that could be skipped if you were really concerned about sugar.  The great thing about this oatmeal dish is that it is something that is actually better as leftovers.  It needs to sit for awhile for the oats to soak up some of the milk, but I found that it didn't lose any of its tastiness over the days that I ate it.  I just popped a bowl of it in the microwave and then put a little extra coconut milk on top and it was awesome.  I can't wait until it is cherry season, as I think I might try to alter the recipe and use cherries.  And then maybe alter it again and instead of coconut flakes and coconut milk, I will use just almond milk, some almonds, and maybe a tiny bit of almond extract with cherries.  I really like the cherry/almond combo.  Many, many thanks to Erin for sharing this oatmeal gem this fine, cold January!

Gift ideas for anyone on your list who wears things, runs, eats vegetables, likes to laugh, or loves scarves:)

My last few posts have been kind of heavy.  My heart has been kind of heavy.  So, please allow me now to indulge myself in all of my night-time web browsing and make a post about beautiful things I would buy myself for Christmas if I had unlimited funds.  And time.  And space for things.

This shower curtain/hamper

Or kind of a different feel...

Such a pretty, pretty scarf

And how about this bracelet?!?  It might be my favorite thing ever.

A necklace for prosperity and good fortune.

A pretty calendar to tell me when to plant things.  Or just to look pretty in my kitchen.

A variation on the planting calendar.

A variety of succulants (which I hear are hard to kill)

A book by my favorite bloggers:)

A veggie lover's cookbook

I think I could have a lot of fun with this

And for my new running habit...you could pretty much open up the Lululemon website and throw a dart at the screen and I probably want whatever you hit.  And I would want to wear it ALL THE TIME.  And never take it off.  Ever.

There you have it.  My most superficial and greedy post of the year.  Every year.  I get a kick out of making a list of things I can't afford.  I think that might be kind of weird.  We are also in desperate need of new bedding but I haven't taken the time to look deeply into the bedding sections of my favorite websites yet.  Soon.

Fresh ink

About a billion years ago (or maybe 2 or 3) Brad gave me a nice, big gift certificate to Iron Brush to get a new tattoo.  At the time I think I just really wanted one, but didn't really know what.  Then I thought I knew what I wanted, but never had time to make an appointment.  Then, it turns out, I wanted something completely different so I guess I'm glad I waited a billion years.  Because I am completely in love with the tattoo I got on Tuesday.

Please bare in mind that this picture was taken about an hour after it was complete, so it was very red and gooey and kinda gross.  That was 2 hours of feeling like someone was sawing on my ribs with a dull steak knife, but totally worth it.  Maybe its like this for all folks who like tattoos, but I find the feeling almost soothing, in a really weird way.  Its like, I know that it hurts, but you can almost make your mind go to another place and actually enjoy it.  Like how some people enjoy massages, or spa treatments.  I like to sit under the needle, I guess.  Weird?  I'm not sure.  Brad kind of agreed with me.  I've got to admit though, that it doesn't feel quite so therapeutic in the days following.  I feel like I got hit by a pack of semi trucks and then burned with blow torches.  And I have heard that this feeling can last for weeks.  Something about the rib area, I think because my last tattoo did not hurt for weeks.

Despite the uncomfortable last few days, I like my happy little reminder.  Love one another.  I just don't think it will ever go out of style:)  Ooooooh, and the awesome lettering?  The great Dave Nelson of Secret Penguin fame.  If you've ever seen any of his work, you probably recognized it.  And a quick plug for something AWESOME that they are doing...The Unofficial SecretPenguin Foundation. Giving a bit of money to those in need.  I think we all know that there are times when it gets rough, and having someone help you out with the essentials can take a huge weight off your shoulders so you can focus on family, and getting back on your feet.  What a cool idea.  Love one another. If you would like to give a donation, there is a paypal link on the SecretPenguin facebook page.  Now, pardon me while I go baby my aching ribs.  If you see me and I act even more like I don't want you to touch me than I usually do, don't take offense.  I nearly drop-kicked Willa when she sat on my side the other morning.

Men who can pull off tank tops. Few and far between.

I'm pretty sure I have mentioned him before, but I just so happen to have an imaginary, gay-man, best friend who has a blog and whose life I would like to live for a few weeks.  Maybe months.  I guess he isn't technically imaginary since he is a real life person but he seems imaginary since he lives in a magical sounding place called Hollywood and he has a magical job, which is being Emily Henderson's assistant.  Nonetheless, he is real.  I usually catch up on his blog every few weeks or so, and I just did and was especially impressed with what my best friend had been up to since the last time we "talked".  The most important post was the one on treehouses.  I read this, and it made complete sense to me that Orlando and I befriended one another.  Then I saw this picture that he snapped at the pool, with our other friends, where there is Red Stripe and pink H&M sunglasses and I got really sad that we live so far away from each other.

Don't be scared for me.  I have always had an over-active imagination.  And don't be scared for Orlando.  I can't afford to stalk him.  But for love of my eyes in the summer, someone go to H&M and buy me those sunglasses.  I'll get you my mailing address.

Wishing we were all free to love

There it is.  And it is beautiful.  The idea that all people, no matter who they love, should be treated equally and given the same rights.  I'm sure it is quite clear that I am in a committed, heterosexual marriage - so why should this even matter?  It matters to me because I now have a child.  Hopefully someday I will have another.  There is nothing saying that one, or even both of those children WON'T be attracted to members of the same sex.  And if they are, as long as they find happiness, it will make MY heart happy. It kills me to think that they would be made to feel like less of a human being, less deserving of that happiness than anyone who is attracted to the opposite sex.  In my mind, this whole topic shouldn't even need to be discussed.  It shouldn't have had to be from the very beginning, but I guess its just how we operate.  I guess as long as there are any inequalities, racial, gender, religion...we will also need to consider the topic of same sex marriage.  And as long as there are churches, Christian churches, which are perpetuating the idea that homosexual individuals are not welcome in the church, much less in heaven, there will be uneasiness in my heart.  I have decided that if there IS a heaven where gay people are not welcome, then I don't want to be there, either.  But I very firmly believe that this is not the case.  I know there are those who will open a bible, and point out verses to me which they feel back their opposing point.  And good for them! If I'm not mistaken, we could find verses to support slavery, prohibit wearing more than one type of cloth at a time, and I'll be darned if a lot of people I know today shouldn't have been stoned to death three times over for things that we just don't consider illegal any longer.  I admit right now that I do not know the bible that well.  I've read most of it, over the years.  I'm not so good at remembering specifics and verses, as some people have a knack for doing.  Its just not the way my brain works.  I like to take away general ideas from what I read.  Overviews.  Good feelings.  What did I take away from the bible?  Love one another, as God loves us.  Where in that can I interpret that a race, a gender, a sexual orientation is superior?  I cannot.  What I can do is be free from judging others, I can love, and I can hope for a better, more accepting world for my daughter.  (I'll save my wishes for her to be able to make her own choices about her body and reproductive health for another fun-filled day:)

A few articles I read this evening that I really enjoyed, related:  How to win a culture war and lose a generation and A challenge to both sides of the Amendment One debate and Ask a gay Christian

Which tv show would YOU like to live on the set of?

I gave Brad season 5 of Mad Men for his birthday last month, so we watch an episode before bed every now and then.  Every time the gang is all together in Roger's office, I find myself just staring at that wall with the dots.  I love it.  I think I tell Brad every time how much I love it.
My favorite character changes every time I watch the show, too.  I mean, you have to love Don Draper.  For all of the mystery, intrigue, handsomeness and talent.  But then I go back and forth between Joan and Peggy.  Joan is beautiful.  Quite possibly one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen.  Peggy is not, but she can really hold her own with the men, is actually more talented than most of them.  And she is often seen with a scotch in her hand.  Goodness, its a fantastic show.  I believe when we are done with season 5, I will go back and start over with the first season again.  Does anyone else have trouble choosing a favorite?  And if you say Pete, we may never be able to be friends again.  He's mean and whiny.

Thank you, Pinterest

Ladies...You're welcome.  Peter Som's Pinterest board entitled Hubba Hubba.  Excuse me.  I'll be busy pinning now.

In which I am a commercial for Method. But not for the north Target.

Sorry, folks.  Life has been pretty uneventful lately.  Just work, work, and more work.  Brad is headed out on an adventurous vacation tomorrow though, so maybe we'll get some excitement going there!  Since all I've been doing is working, I'm sharing my new favorite thing about my job.  Method has a new limited edition scent out right now.  Lime and sea salt.  It comes in the form of an all purpose spray, a dish soap, and a hand soap.  And Oh. My. God.  It smells good.  I suggest you stock up.  But don't try to do it at the Target on 48th and O.  That place is all jacked up.  And out of everything.  Either out of it, or lost it.  I'll tell you a quick sad story about that Target.

There is the quick sad story.  I went to Target in search of...you guessed it!  More cleaning supplies!  And I happened to wander down the alcohol aisle.  I saw this sale sign.  $13.99 for a bottle of Jameson that is originally $25.99!  Whaaaat?  I am really bad at math but I think that's almost half off.  And if you aren't aware, I make up for my horrible math skills with my awesome drinking-whiskey-skills.  And that price, I would have bought a bakers dozen bottles and given up on water all together.  But they were ALL GONE!  The rest of the alcohol aisle was fully stocked.  I found a store employee and asked him what on earth happened to all the Jameson.  He looked confused.  I said "The whiskey. Did the leprechauns move it to a special St. Patty's day display?"  He scanned the card and said there were 12 in stock.  But he could not find them.  Damn leprechauns.  

P.S.  I also want to put a plug in for Method's spring line of scents, most notably the coconut grove and all of the new body washes.

Fun little pins

I like wishbone chairs.  I like shades of blue.  I like blingy light fixtures.

I made these guys the other day.  Well, I tweaked the recipe a bit.  Here's the deal.  I have given up desserts and candies for the duration of Lent.  Not really for any religious reason, mostly just to challenge myself.  I am kind of a sweets-junkie.  And I am obsessed with Easter candy.  This is gonna be tough.  Its been 5 days and most of those days have contained numerous opportunities for dessert and I have passed on all of them! I'm not going crazy and cutting out all sugar.  I put a few chocolate chips in the pancakes the other day.  And I used syrup.  And I made these guys.  Here's what I put in them:  oatmeal, dried cranberries, honey, agave, chia, hemp protein, flax, a handful of white chocolate chips, peanut butter, coconut oil and unsweetened coconut flakes.  They are dangerously close to being dessert.  I should mention that Brad and Tosha are doing the "no sweets" thing with me.  And last year, Tosha swore off meat during Lent.  Just for me, I like to pretend:)  Brad gave me permission to have the occasional muffin or scone for breakfast, I think just because he is afraid that I will become homicidal without them.  I am giving myself permission to buy a few bags of Easter candy and hide them in the back of the pantry for after Easter.  I'm halfway hoping that I won't even want them.  Even after 5 days, it kind of gave us stomach aches just sampling the energy ball dough!

Pinterest didn't disappear from the www yet.

Here are a few more of my favorites from the depths of my Pinterest files.  This first picture was one of my very first pins.  Cupboards don't get any better than that.  You could never, ever, ever wake up in the morning, walk into your kitchen, and maintain any sort of grouchiness after you looked at your cupboards.  Fact.  And you wouldn't have even touched on your pretty wood floors, mismatched white chairs, and sexy white pendant lighting.

I'm not sure where I first saw this chair, I'm gonna guess Design Sponge awhile back.  It really puts me in the reupholstering mood.  I don't think my new/old chair would wear the heart pattern well, but this chair certainly does.  And it reminds me lots of the Alexander Girard print that I have always wanted.  Carry on with your pinning, peeps!

Because people want to buy me stuff

for inspiration



because I don't have a matching set of coffee mugs. 
and these will look so cheerful on my future open shelving.

time to face the facts.  i drink a lot of whiskey.



practical boots.



for living in nebraska.



its on sale




because its pretty cute.

All the really cool bloggers are making wish lists this time of year so I thought I'd make one too!  These are just a few things that popped into my head.  I am also in need of new kitchen spatulas, big rubbermaid bins, a new laptop, a print by Thomas Campbell,

The Chocolate Bar

Willa, Panton at Silo.  We were diggin' the way her coat matched the chair.

Best. Latte. Ever.

Aunt Joy and Willa. Self portrait.

We went to Grand Island for Thanksgiving with the Van Boening's last weekend.  Always enjoyable.  This post, however, is going to be a straight up RAVE about the Chocolate Bar.  We stopped by after a visit to Silo (so Brad could get new shoes.  I swear that guy gets new shoes more often than I do. In the words of Willa "That not fair.")  We were there during non-operational hours, and they have only been open for about a week, so we got to see some things in-progress.  But MAN, that place is going to be cool!  I am so excited for those who live in Grand Island to get to go there, and for myself, as I'm going to find more excuses to go there:)  My brother-in-law, Brant, did their website and logo/print work and sister-in-law Joy will manage the coffee bar portion of the Bar.  Joy made us a soy gingerbread latte while we were taking a tour and it was heaven in my mouth.  No kiddin, she is good.  We also got to sample one of the new martinis that the owner was experimenting with.  Ohmygosh. 
If you live in Grand Island, go!  If you live in Lincoln, call me and lets make a date for a road trip!

A Must-Read Blog (yeah, another one)

These pictures don't have a single thing to do with my latest Must-Read-Blog, but I liked them.  So here they are.  We had just gotten home with some groceries and we remembered (via Pinterest) that chocolate chips fit really well right into the opening of raspberries.  Yes, we ate the entire container of raspberries, but we did use SOME self control and didn't eat that whole bowl of chocolate chips.  I swear we didn't. 

Anywho...I don't think I've shared this blog yet, but its latest post has generated A LOT of conversation/controversy/support so I thought now would be a great time to introduce you to FitMamaTraining and her blog.  Erin was a coworker of mine at the hospital several years ago and she is an amazing person.  She has built a business around the fact that she has altered her lifestyle and made some huge changes in her health and fitness levels since becoming a mother.  Very inspirational and very honest.  I really look forward to her blog posts.  So...go read about her thoughts on the Victoria's Secret fashion show..then go back and read all the rest of them.  You won't be sorry you did!

Te Amo!

I did it!  I finally made something that I like enough to hang on my wall!  I am willing to go all the way and say that I am in love with this painting.  Wow, this has been a long time coming.  Art was my favorite subject all throughout school.  Heck, I even took a studio art class nearly every semester at Hastings College just for fun.  But I hadn't been able to produce anything I liked well enough to display, aside from a fish from my beginning glassblowing class and he is a little bit sharp and cuttey to have out with Willa around. 

Now, I really can't take much credit for this painting.  The idea was completely, 100% not mine.  I can only claim to have put in the labor, and it did take quite a few hours of painting (which I found very soothing in the evenings for a few weeks.)  The idea (and tutorial) came from The Pleated Poppy which I stumbled upon on dear brookie's Pinterest.  If you don't have a Pinterest account yet, that means....you still have a life outside of your computer.  Good for you!

There she is.  She is so pretty.  I want to get back home to her, whisper things to her.  If you want one of your own, I suggest you check out the tutorial on The Pleated Poppy (link above) but I will walk through the process anyway, as I like to hear myself type.  I didn't use a canvas, I can't remember what my initial reasoning was, but I'm glad I didn't.  This is a piece of 3'x4' Masonite that I roughed up a little with a few layers of gesso.  The gesso step is totally skippable, I just didn't want the surface to be quite so smooth.  Then I painted the entire board with a very neutral tan color.  Next, I found a very nice coffee mug with a picture of a basset hound on it in my cupboard and I measured its diameter.  Divided that in 2 and made a grid over the whole board using the measurement of half of the coffee mug.  Then I drew a whole-lotta interlocking circles inside of the grid lines

This isn't the best picture, but it might help to understand the pencil/ruler/coffee mug set-up.  Once I had all the circles drawn, I went back over it and lightly erased the lines that were inside of the circles (they didn't erase very well which initially freaked me out.  More on that later.)  Then came the fun part which was to mix up a color and randomly fill in a bunch of the little circle do-hickies.  And repeat a million times with lots of different colors.  Back to the lines not erasing...I have always been kind of a perfectionist when it comes to projects like this so I thought I was going to have to scrap the whole thing, or go back and repaint all the tan color in the middle of all the circles (which would have taken years) so that it would look perfect.  But, the more I looked at it, the more I really loved those pencil lines in there.  So, I cured my stupid craft-induced OCD thing!  Yay!  Also, Willa colored in one corner of the board with a purple Crayola marker and I didn't beat her even once, just sort of covered it with darker colors and called it character.  Lastly, we added a little claw hanger thing and threw her up on the wall!  And OMG.  Did I mention that I love her?