Gooood afternoon!! Today is Kelsey + Eric day…wahooo!!! They arrive at about 10:30pm which gives me plenty of time to finish a few last minute things at the house, work on the blog, and finish planning for the big 24, 24, 24 this Saturday! They are only staying until Sunday, so forgive me in advance if I miss a post or 2! We’re going to be crazy busy prepping for the big dinner. I am way.too.excited.

If you haven’t noticed, there are a few new pages [tabs at the top]. A few are still blank that I will be filling up with info in the coming week. I finished “My Story” and separated it into two pages. If you hover over it there is a drop down menu. Check it out!! The Fast Forward tab is full of photos too!

New food alert!

I found a Honey Tangerine at WF the other day. Has anyone ever had one? I loved it’s chubby stout shape and yellow/orange speckled skin. I knew it had to be mine! hehe

The plate was given to me by one of my bestest friends Rachel. She gave it to me when Chris + I left Charlotte to move out west. It has little drawings of all of the historical places in Charlotte. Makes me a little sad! :(

So how did it taste? Well, besides having TWO seeds in every segment it was quite juicy + delicious. I can’t say it was as good as a satsuma, but tasty nonetheless. I’m not sure if this is one of those hybrid fruits or if it is true to nature but it really did taste like honey! It wasn’t overly sweet but definitely had notes of honey to its flavor. My next NEW fruit victim is an Asian Pear. It is ripening as we speak in my fruit bowl. Anyone ever tried either of these?

I <3 new foods

I had to show off my new food journal!! Lately, I keep saying things like “well I changed this + that, but didn’t write it down”….or “maybe I should start writing down some of the things I come up with in the kitchen”….Well, my super fantabulous [real word, promise] mom, got me this awesome blank journal for the kitchen. We saw it together [when I was in Ohio] at Anthropologie. [it’s the size of a sheet of standard paper] I LOVED the cover and the pages inside were thick + textured and awesome.

<3 <3 It is bringing me back to my college days in Architecture when I carried a sketchbook around everywhere to document my revolutionary ideas [bahahaha] <3 <3

FINALLY a few house photos!! Meet the dining room and say hello to Mr.Wide Angle lens. He came out to play again yesterday. So, we found that table on Craigslist. It is SOLID wood, in great condition and the size is 6’ x 32”. Any guesses as to how much we paid for it?

Come on…what do you think? The chairs are cheepies from World Market. They serve their purpose and were about $12.50/piece. We had them in Charlotte and they matched our old table perfectly [we sold that table].

If you guessed FIFTY FIVE DOLLARS, then you guessed $41 too HIGH. Yes, that is correct, this table cost FOURTEEN dollars. I am in love with it, hehe. Do I seem hyper? I bought new coffee yesterday at Wash Perk [3 blocks away!!] and it is STRong!!! One cup is leaving me bouncing in my seat!

Okay, so you can see the front door in this photo through the french doors in the living room. Through the doorway from the dining room you can see into the 1/2 bath + laundry room and you can see a tiny corner of the kitchen peaking through. Can you find Dakota?

Through the doors in the first dining room photo you will find my favorite room!! Although, it is quite chilly inside! This is our multipurpose room. I love what takes place in here:

bar room
cozy fireplace room
reading room
workout/yoga room

LOVE the windows and light.

Looking into the dining room + living room.

We bought the bar when we lived in Charlotte.

The plaid chairs were another CL find. They were $30 total! They are in almost perfect condition and super comfy. We just got that lamp that totally doesn’t match style wise. Nothing really matches style wise, haha. The lamp was $30 at Target and got great reviews and we had NO light [for nighttime] in there before. It works great! We just changed out all the bulbs [on the main level] from regular crappy yellowish bulbs to Compact Fluorescents. They are brighter and the light color is much whiter.

Because I was too lazy to change the lens, here you have Wide Angle Pumpkin Yogurt. Pump + Plain Oikos + Granola

Dinner = quick + easy

pasta + breadcrumbs [brown 2 slices fresh breadcrumbs with ~1-2T olive oil + garlic + parsley + s+p] – pan sautéed tempeh with marinara + saucy cheesy bread

…

Good morning + welcome to the bottomless pit that is my stomach!

I have always had a good appetite. I feel like I have a fast metabolism but have never had it checked or anything. Lately, I have been hungrier than normal and I don’t know why. I was thinking, maybe I’m not getting enough protein because I’ve been eating a lot less meat…However, I have been eating a lot of yogurt/nuts/beans, so I don’t think that is the issue.

Last night after that dinner, I proceeded to eat THREE snacks. I don’t feel bad about it either because my body was like, “seriously eat MORE.” I haven’t counted calories of what I’ve been eating, but I’m not holding back in any way…what is up with this!? [No, not preggers]

Snacks were:

brown rice cake + pnut butter [2hrs after din]
~1/2c pumpkin + yogurt [1hr later]
handful of cashews [about 1hr later]

This morning I decided to beef up my oats a bit, especially because I am out of bananers!!! :(

I LOVE this bowl, btw [thanks again Melissa!!]

Uppin’ the OATage Oats!

1/2c. oats
2 whisked egg whites [whisked in last 1-2min of cooking]
cinnamon + vanilla [mixed in while cooking]
~2T almonds
1/4c. Yogi cereal
pnut butter glob
pumpkin butter glob

It was DEElicious. Perfect creamy + fluffy oats. I almost couldn’t finish the bowl but am glad I did. I ate this at about 9:30 and it’s 11am now. I am feeling a slight sense of hunger. That should not be happening.

I know some people say hunger “pains” can be set off by thirst. Well, when I wake up I drink 12-16oz of water, first thing and continue to drink h2o all day.

I’m not even working out that much hard right now….oh well :) I’ll keep eating awaaaay.

Coffee in a Bodum glass = true love This is the coffee that has left me very PepPPy!!