This is Thirty Something

I think fall is slowly becoming one of my favorite seasons.

 I was just looking at recipes and suddenly couldn’t get pumpkin bread off my mind .

Pumpkin anything, really.

Pumpkin scones, pumpkin cake, pumpkin lattes, ice cream and cookies.

I think I have always had a hard time being friends with fall because I live in the Northwest and fall here is kinda gross. I feel like it would be more enjoyable in a place like….Nantucket.

Yeah, Nantucket.

 I know nothing about this area at all, but it seems like somewhere you can rake leaves into a pile and jump in them.

 If you tried to do that here, it’s a slimy soggy mess.

 Nantucket seems like somewhere that you could keep wearing skirts and dresses into October and just add a hat and scarf to your outfit. Rather than a winter jacket on September 1st.

Aside from Fall’s treats, I love the anticipation of all the holidays that comes along with it.

Winter holidays are my favorite kind!

To which you might say, “Why don’t you just like winter instead?”

Well, because I’m a glass half empty kind of girl.

 I’m always waiting for the other shoe to drop or the good times to come to an end.

 So much so, that I end up missing out on them while they are actually happening because I am always looking for the next thing coming.

         Fall allows me to have something to look forward to; winter events.

Once those things become the present, I am on to the next thing, thus making them less exciting.

Spring has always been my favorite month because it is preparing me for a summer that is yet to come!

 Then once summer is here, I am thinking about how it will be over soon and we will be back to winter.

Wow, I am depressing.

Anyway, it’s now April and that makes it officially spring in my book

In like a lamb and with a basket of Easter candy no less.

I just can’t get enough of retro kitchen appliances.

Ever since Rachel Ray started her cooking show debuting her vintage inspired appliances, I have been hooked.

 Drool over… er, I mean, check out these great finds!

Maybe I need a new dreamcatcher.

After moving into the house, I was disappointed with the size and style they chose and wished they had just given us the money instead!

Then we could have put it toward the appliance of my choice.

(Yeah, that’s right. My choice.)

We thought we were going to have to sell it on Craigslist to upgrade and wouldn’t get near what it was worth since it was only 1 week old.

The washer and dryers we got came from King and Bunny in Renton.

When the delivery guy showed up with them, he told us he had just been to our house the week before and installed the fridge!

That’s when I called up King and asked him what he could do for me.

He allowed us to return the old fridge for FULL PRICE and pay the difference for the new fridge.

Sometimes local businesses are awesome.

 ( And not just because they toss out candy at the Renton River Days Parade)

There is a right way to model with a camaro

Yes. Yes I did.

Because sometimes, friends have to make sacrifices… and sometimes curiosity just gets the best of you

 So here I am, in the middle of a crowed room, wondering how I fit into this strange niche of people in hemp threaded clothing and organic reusable shopping bags.

I am the girl who gets paper inside plastic at the grocery store.

I buy plastic water bottles and don’t reuse them and I didn’t get a compost bucket till I moved into my new house and there wasn’t a disposal.

After starting my diet in November I have been practicing clean eating and incorporating organic food into my life.

These were things I never paid attention to before.

I hadn’t given much thought as to what would be an appropriate outfit to wear to this event., seeing how it was about food.

Once there, I was glad I had chose my jeans and cotton jacket over a fur trimmed leather coat.

(Or I probably would have gotten Greek yogurt dumped on me)

This expo was driven by more than just vegetables.

It was about humanity, the environment, animal cruelty and Jesus.
Yes, J.C. himself was a vegetarian.

(He just put the animals here to tease us apparently?)

A flyer I got.

I was overwhelmed with literature encouraging me to go Vegan &

informing me about the woes of dairy and the treatment of chickens.

Even buying only free range products doesn’t resolve the mistreatment and tribulations that animals are subjected to.

Well, what about what I was just subjected to?

Photos of chickens being debeaked and malnourished cattle ruining my appetite!

Kidding.

This information made me sad.

I wish there were more regulated humane ways to treat our livestock.

 They don’t have a voice of their own and it a really depressing situation.

Perhaps I am heartless and lack compassion, but with that said, I will continue to eat meat and drink milk.

They are just TOO FREAKING delicious.

Life is short. I refuse to live off tofurkey and almond milk.

Which btw are disgusting.

One amazing discovery did happened at this food mecca though.

( When i say mecca,I mean mecca. People traveled from far & wide to attend this event. It is apparently a huge deal. Washington state has one of the largest vegetarian organizations in the nation! I had no idea.)

I found god.

He goes by the name Dave and is a recovered Meth addict & ex con.

He bakes out of Portland, has a huge following, is pretty hot for an older man… and oh yeah he makes some kick ass breads!

(Watch the video, it’s inspirational & cute)

Angela, Dave and me

This bread log I am holding below seemed to weigh about 5 lbs.

It’s a hearty concoction of organic goodness swirled with cinnamon and whole grains.

Of course I went straight for it because it has a wiener dog on the label

 ( they are my favorite).

Then I tried a sample and I was hooked.

Not only was Dave’s bread one of the most delicious foods I tasted at the expo, he by far had the coolest booth.

I got swag.

A reusable shopping bag, stickers and a coloring activity book.

This guy is totally on the same page as me.
TRY HIS BREADS!

You can find them at retailers like: QFC, Safeway, Fred Meyer and Costco.

Apple Ginger juice by Genesis

The juices are made with a High Pressure Process, so no heating is involved.

This keeps all the healthy nutrients in for your body to enjoy!

And WOW cookies

(Which happen to be made in Kent!)

They are all natural wheat and gluten free cookies and they taste amazing.

Not, just amazing for a gluten free product but as a regular cookie!

They also sell cake mixes and dough you can bake yourself!

 They can be found at Amazon, Tully’s coffee, PCC,Fred Meyer,Whole Foods and Metropolitan Markets.

All in all it was a learning experience.

I collected some great coupons and tried some interesting foods.

Like Vegan Calamari.
I think somethings are best left in their original form.

Squid rings just can’t be vegetably replicated….

I want more… more … MORE!

Here are somethings I love.

What have you been dying to get?!

This weekend we crammed a lot of unpacking and decorating into 2 days.

We had 2 birthday parties to attend , one of which was held at our house for Steve’s brother!

Saturday morning we got to work cleaning the basement and bringing boxes up stairs to unpack.

 I started scrubbing away at the old cabinets( from the 1910 house) down there and decided I wanted to rip them out and put them upstairs in the pantry we are building.
Trying to be Green!

King and Bunny showed up with our awesome new Washer and Dryer!
 THANK YOU MOM & DAD

I love them.

I did our entire hamper in one load!

Then we layed out all our art pieces and decided what needed to go in which room.

Then the cable guy came.

He spent a few hours bringing in the cable from the street to the house, since we didn’t have any installed already.

Apparently Ethel didn’t watch the tube much.

Then it was time to get ready for my friend Kayleigh’s Birthday party!
Here is what I got here from Urban Outfitters:

Flash forward to Sunday.
We had to run to the store to get beverages for the party and I got a nice compliment from the girl working at Starbucks.
First she told me how great my makeup looked, then asked if I was a MAC girl.
After explaining that I didn’t work there and just happen to be having a good makeup day, she asked if I would be interested in doing make up on other people as a make up artist and get paid.
Suspicious, I asked where she was going with this proposition.
She said she was interested in having me do make up for her friends and her for prom.
 I was flattered but had to decline.

I have honestly never done make up on anyone besides myself.
 I would imagine its pretty difficult to do backwards, especially without any training.
No thanks!

Everyone came over for Luke’s Party and got to see our new house .
It wasn’t nearly as put together or decorated as I would have liked, but they got the gist of it.

We ended up finding a use for the old pedestal sink too!