Saturday InstAwesome: June Vol. 3

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1. Home made quick pickles - suuuper yummy!

2. (Also) home made spring rolls with eggplant!

3. First day of summer, gorgeous weather outside!  Decided to sit on the back patio and work on some crafts (SHRINKY DINKS!!!)

4. That damn Add-a-Cat app!!!

5. Snack time - also added coconut rum to my coconut iced tea.  Yummmmerz.

6. Blooms on my snap pea vines.  Can't wait to start eating them!

7.  Last night's dinner - simple salad!

8.  Salted caramel ice cream from Ice Cream Social.  If you're in the Tacoma area on a Tuesday, I highly recommend checking out the 6th Ave Farmers Market to get some of her ice cream!  

9.  Picked up my scrubs for work, and SERIOUSLY, they have Greys Anatomy "brand" scrubs.  And SERIOUSLY I got a pair.  

This weekend is going to be a lot of prepping myself to get back to work, celebrating birthdays, and continuing a Harry Potter marathon with a friend.  Oh, and freaking out over the new job.  Eeeeeeeeeeeek!

As always and forever, have a FABULOUS weekend!

Currently, My Taste Buds Are Loving: Blended Strawberry Wine

This past week has been quite the roller coaster - started off with a dead battery in my car, Brian's car breaking down en route to saving my car of death, and just all around stress.  When it rains, it pours.

But, luckily there was something to help brighten my outlook - Friday I went in for a quick interview for a coordinator position with a skin & eye center looking to get into clinical research.  While I was hesitant to continue my work life in the field of drug science, it was an opportunity that I couldn't pass up.

The interview was with the lead doctor who would serve as principal investigator on the study, and the head of human resources (who happens to be a friend's mom, and the same friend ALSO happens to work there).

While I feel pretty confident in my regulatory and coordinating abilities with clinical research, the position requires the coordinator to be a Jane of all trades - hunt down sponsors to work with, help negotiate contracts, set up the proper regulatory documents, create source documents, data entry, draw/process/ship blood samples (which I am NOT trained to do) - basically do any and all things that aren't legally designated for the doctor to do.

The interview went well, the doctor is very nice, and I felt that I remained very honest about my abilities and work history.

Walking out, I didn't feel very sure I'd even get the job, since there was much stress put on the fact that they want someone who is certified in the whole lab element of a research study.

Add on the fact that I was stuck in the parking lot for an hour because my battery was dead.  In the sun.  In work pants & a cardigan sweater.  Sweating up a storm.

Tuesday, in the midst of drama drama drama, I got a phone call from their human resources offering me the position!  And, of course, I accepted!  It'll be A LOT of work, but it'll be with really encouraging people.  The position is new, some of the work is already done and ready for me, so I just need to keep confident and push through it.

Monday at 8am I start work there - tomorrow I'm going in to sign some papers and try on PINK scrubs (I don't know how I feel about that).  It's so SO exciting, and so SOOOOO terrifying!

In celebration Tuesday night, I made myself a delicious frozen booze drink.  And I think you should make it too, to help me celebrate:

1. Get together about 1 C frozen strawberries & a white wine 
• I chose riesling, because I like the sweetness of it.  But go ahead and use what you like - oh man, like CHAMPAGNE!
2. Blend the strawberries with about 2 tbsp of the wine to make a slush
3. Put the strawberry mixture in a glass
4. Top off with wine

AND DRINK!  It's delightful.  Especially when drinking on the back patio on a warm summer night.  

Currently, My Eyes Are Loving: Summer Unplugged- June 2012

Pretty sure we've all been there - hop online to check your email in the morning (real quick, I'll be done in 5 minutes!), where we see an email to a link - "CLICK HERE, IT"S SUPER AWESOME!", where we go to a website that gives us the option to share with our friends on Facebook - "My BFF is totally gonna love this!", where we share, end up on Facebook, see that so-and-so just had a baby -"Ooooooo, those cheeks!", notice a link to a contest on a famous blog, go to the blog, leave a comment, sign up for whatever newsletter is required, share the contest, end up back on Facebook, see photos from a friend's vacation...

...and 2 hours later, you've wasted your entire morning.  

I do this ALL THE TIME!  I hop online to print out a recipe, but I forgot where exactly I saw it, search online, and end up spending about 45 minutes playing Plants vs. Zombies somehow.

No matter how much intention I have to stay focused on this one task, it always seems futile.

Luckily, through the networking of Alt Summit, where I was shown a Facebook group dedicated to Seattle bloggers, the lovely Emily Peck of Peck Life asked, in better terms, who wants to unplug this summer?

No computer, no phone (although, I cheated on that one), no social media - just being there, in the moment, intentionally working and focusing on whats important.  And getting back to what's IRL (in real life).

It's a brilliant, although somewhat difficult, challenge that I immediately signed up for.

Yesterday was my "unplug" day - where I intentionally turned off the FB notifications on my phone, left it on vibrate for when someone called, did not turn on my computer, and spent the most part of my day working on things around the house, and also really taking the time to appreciate the house.  I cheated, by still using my phone to take photos.  But I SWEAR I didn't use it for anything else!

Started my morning with the usual of dishes & coffee - maybe I added some Irish cream to the mix.  And maybe I stared at the cactus Brian's mom got me for about half an hour.  Maybe.

Headed outside to tend to the garden - my oh my are things growing like crazy!  I LOVE IT!

Thought about mowing the lawn (and by lawn, I mean the small field of weeds in the backyard), but felt that was something better left to Brian.  Cleaned out the fire bowl in the back - it was filled with rain and started smelling funky.  Not good.

Found yet ANOTHER colony of ants near our house.  Went inside and got my trusty arsenal of:

• peppermint soap - mixed with water, to kill the ones walking around already, and to set up a perimeter
• sugar + Borax mix - the homemade alternative to other ant bait you find in the stores - the ant takes it back to their colony, where eventually the queen ant will eat the poison, die, and the rest of the colony will die soon after
• corn meal - same idea as sugar + Borax, except that the ants end up exploding.  The corn meal expands, and they don't have the proper enzymes to digest it!

This combo has worked on two different colonies living under our house, so I'm sticking to it!

Pulled a radish and some more bok choy from the garden - it's so refreshing to know that if I want veggies, I just have to walk to the back yard.  The Meows found something outside that she so desperately wanted to hunt - eyes on the prize.  Settled in on the bed between loads of laundry to read - A BOOK!  A REAL BOOK!

Ended up falling asleep for a spell, where the cats I'm SURE sensed that I wasn't going to move for a while, and came in for the snuggles.  Got up for some water, and our little love spot on the fridge always makes me smile.  We make me sick.

Made some chocolate coconut milk ice cream, and added some toffee bits on that sucka.  Soooo good.  Checked the mail, and I got a bunch of free samples from Target (one good thing about getting lost on Facebook - finding sign ups for free stuff!!!)

The night ended with Brian and I on the couch, watching Star Trek - like usual.  :)

Today is the first day of summer, and man is it a sunny one.  Sucks that I'm going to go lay in bed moaning, hoping the Midol will kick in ASAP (or I will kick someones ass).

Head on over to Peck Life for more info on a summer of unplugging, and to see who else is joining in!

Do you dedicate time to just staying away from all the technology life has to offer, so you can enjoy all the beauty life has to offer?

Currently, My Ears Are Loving: My Happiness

In an attempt to be cool like my friends by creating a list of my top 50 favorite songs, I wrote down a very rough, un-ranked list of what my ears love the most.  Now I'm sharing it with you, song by song.  <3


There are few moments when I feel like a really cool person.  Sometimes I feel cool when I have a giant cup of froyo with a mountain of toppings (Yeah, I'ma eat all of this.  Yeah, I'm lactose-intolerant.  What?!)


Other times is when I can say that I've seen a certain band in concert - which, also doesn't happen very often.  


My freshman year of high school, after my non-stop complaining about moving so far away from my friends (a suburb near Chicago is pretty far away from a suburb near Seattle), my mom decided to let me take a trip back to Seattle to visit, and go to a concert with a friend for her birthday.

It was the first time Coldplay came to Seattle, not long after they released their song "Yellow", and coincided with my friend Amber's birthday.  Her mom drove us to The Showbox near Pike Place Market, where we got in early enough to be right next to the stage - and to hear the opening act.

The Australian band Powderfinger opened for Coldplay that night, and "My Happiness" was the 3rd song they played.  The other songs they played didn't really have an impact on me, but for some reason, "My Happiness" stuck to me like glue.  While the lyrics at the time were of no significance to me (which seems to be the case with a lot of songs I love), the music itself is what really got me.  

Fast-foward to a couple years ago, and I finally felt connected to the song as a whole - the lyrics represented a pivotal part of my relationship with Brian, after spending time apart to figure things out.

The rest of their music is kind of so-so for me, and I'm not exactly sure what it is about this particular song of theirs that makes it so great for me.  Perhaps I was going through something the first time I heard it live, almost 12 years ago (ouch...), not realizing the song related to the situation.

Whatever it is that keeps me coming back to this song, it definitely is part of my happiness.

Is there a song you loved when you were younger, only to hear it as an now and have it apply so heavily to a current situation?

Currently, My Heart Is Loving: Father's Day - The Man With The Black Jeans

I would love to say that he's NOT peeing in the snow.  But I can't.  And I don't care.  Because this is my step father, William A. Kelly, Sr. at his finest - with his Ray Ban sunglasses and black jeans, acting like it's 1987, all day, everyday.  

I'd also like to say that our step daughter/step father relationship was awesome and rainbows and sunshine out our asses since my mom introduced me to him.  But I can't.  And that's quite alright.  

When he and my mom got together, I was in the 3rd grade.  Still a kid, he let me ride my bike around the block alone, much to my mom's despair.  He took me on the most frightening ride on a motorcycle, which had nothing to do with his riding abilities, and all to do with the fact that I had NO metal around me.  When I went to China to see him & my mom for the summer, he and I went out on the water of Phuket, Thailand on a jet ski.  And to this day I am terrified of them.  This time, it had a lot to do with his jet-skiing abilities.  And also a lot to do with the fact that we were in so far away from the shore.  But mostly it's because of him.

 Sorry, Mr Bill.  

In the beginning, everything was pretty much awesome and rainbows and sunshine out our asses - until puberty struck.  Damn it, puberty, I hate you on so many levels...

Being a man who raised two sons (partly) on his own, he had no idea what kind of fiery wrath I would lay upon his life once we hit this part in our lives.  While sons can have the emotional moody stage during their formidable years, I really doubt he experienced anything like what he experienced with me.  

We are the classiest of the classy in Vegas

We have had many moments of wanting to knock each other out - me with my super-sensitive anger management issues, and he with his inability to filter ANYTHING he says to ensure nothing comes out offensively ("What?  I was just asking a question!") - it was a match made in step-parent relationship hell for a while there.

But, like I said, that's quite alright.

Through him I learned a lot about science.  I developed a strong love for Steve Martin & Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.  I grew up knowing what it was like to be completely mortified by my father, "MOM, tell Bill to put his teeth back in! I have friends over!!!"

Through him I had the amazing opportunity to experience many areas of mainland Asia - although it was wasted on my angst-ridden self, "I don't wana spend summer in CHINAAAA" - I was able to learn about a completely different culture.  The same trip also began my love of experiencing new foods.  How many people can say they ate, and honestly enjoyed, frogs legs at the age of 12?  Seriously, that shit tastes like chicken.

Typical Bill - cigarette, coffee, Harley shirt, AND THOSE DAMN BLACK JEANS!!!

Through him I have a love and appreciation for classic rock, motorcycles, and starting DIY projects that take forever to finish.  I also learned to adore someone who is very much set in their ways - black coffee in the morning with a little bit of water to cool it down; always saying "IT'S ALIIIIIVE!" when I walk into the room after having woken up; Budweiser in either a can or bottle, or give him death; and whenever mom yells at him for touching her stomach, "But I love ALL of you, Barbie!"  Oh, and can't forget the fine art of burping "Barrrbbb, get me a beeer".  

Adorable.

Through him, I felt loved.  I felt cared for.  Through him I learned what it felt like to WANT to make someone proud.  

Without him, I wouldn't have had a healthy male role in my life.  Without him, there wouldn't be so many awesome memories to outnumber the stupid memories - all of which resulting in hilarious inside jokes & punch lines ("Biiiilllll, you're baaaaaaack" & "Screaming corn!!!")

To this day we still have our moments of bickering and snapping, but that's just how it is.  On days when he or I are being super nice, the suspicious question is always asked, "What do you want from me...?  I have no money for you."

But I wouldn't have had it any other way.  He was the man who, without hesitation it seemed, stepped up to the plate and took care of me when the universe put me into his life with my mom.  I adore this man, even with his false teeth, grumpy attitude, and 6 Million Dollar Man lifestyle (we have the technology, we can rebuild him).  

He means the world to me, to my mom, and to his family.  He has the warmest brown eyes ever, and is the man I look to when someone asks about my father - because he is my father, the man who raised me.  

And for all he has sacrificed and gone through with my bullshit, I have nothing but respect and gratitude for him.

Mr. Bill, if mom has forced you to read this (after you two spend 20+ minutes trying to find your reading glasses, at which point she gives up and just reads it TO YOU), please know that deep down in my heart, you are my father, my dad.  And nothing will ever change that.

With my Momster - and again, those.  Damn.  Black.  Jeans.

I love you.

And I hope mom takes you out to dinner on this special day.  Or at least makes you a steak.  And potatoes.  BUT NO VEGGIES - god forbid.

Currently, My Heart Is Loving: Father's Day - The Man Who Is Half of Me

He is half of me.  I have his nose, his face shape, his eyes, his hair, the same creases in our cheeks when we smile.  Pretty much the only thing I didn't get from him are my giant hips and sarcastic attitude (that, my friends, I got from my mama).

It's difficult for me to determine how to write this post - he is my dad, the man who helped create me, but that doesn't mean what it does to a lot of other people.

Unfortunately, there are very few really awesome memories I have with my dad.  We had a very troubled and limited time together.  My dad suffers from a very sever case of schizophrenia, with multiple personality disorder.  

Due to his internal complications, it was and has been difficult, if not impossible, to have a "normal" relationship with him.  It seems that since I could remember, he functioned more as the child, and I the adult. Always trying my hardest to bring him back to reality, convincing him that the delusions he believed were not reality.  

Even to this day he questions my actions (and at times, even inaction), or my intentions.  Even though I am his daughter, he still has the voices in the back of his mind to not trust me, and it's so frustrating and sad. 

He never told his own father that I was even alive until I was in my teens - and I've always wondered why, with all the things done, he would also deprive me of a relationship with the man who I would later call my grandpa, the Polish man who cried when he saw me for the first time (he said I looked just like my grandmother).  Not having a relationship with my grandfather probably hurts more than  not having a relationship with my father, and I honestly blame him for that.

His condition added another level of dysfunction to our relationship that is far too complicated to explain, and is even harder to justify why I still have him in my life.

Despite his problems and flaws, he did all he could to be a father to me in ways unique to him - buying me Barbies all the time (taped in shirt boxes, never wrapped), sending me little pamphlets or magazines from wherever it was he was living, random knick-knacks he somehow got his hands onto.  

The greatest memory I have of him is our trip together to NYC.  My mom and I were in NJ visiting family, and my dad was very adamant about going into the city - something I was very reserved agreeing to.  We drove to the bus station, rode the bus roughly 2-3 hours, and arrived in NYC early in the morning.  We walked all the way down to Chinatown, back up to the Empire State building.  We ate pizza (of course), talked, enjoyed the warm weather, took photos.  We went to Times Square and made jokes about the people we saw.  

Brian had me take a Spider Man action figure with me to take pictures of in random locations throughout the city, and my dad came up with the brilliant idea of having an NY-PD woman take a picture with it - super hilarious!

The trip was amazing, and awesome, and one that I wish I could relive over and over again.  Most importantly, it felt like an average father-daughter trip.  There was nothing weird.  He would randomly make comments about how his medications make him fat, so he couldn't walk as quickly as I could.  But other than that, I felt like I was a normal daughter there, enjoying the sunny day with her daddy.  

Just thinking about that feeling makes me cry now as I write this.  And my heart breaks.

No matter how earnest I am with my plea for him to stay on his medication and to continue with his therapy, his mind twists my concern into ridicule and judgement, or that I'm working with someone against him.  

Even with our relationship reduced to the occasional email or random giant box delivered in the mail, he's still my daddy.  He's still the man who would let me stay up with him to watch Saturday Night Live, and then fall asleep on his lap during Almost Live (Joel McHale in the 90's, say whaaaat?!)

He was the man, that when I had my first...well..."milestone" of puberty, I went running out to him when he came to pick me up yelling, "DADDY!  DADDY!!  I JUST GOT MY PERIOD!!!"  As awkward as that was, he was seriously proud.  His daughter was growing up!

He's the man who, every chance he gets, apologizes profusely for being who he is, for what our relationship has come to, and that he loves me with all his heart.  His love, while at moments clouded by the lies his mind conjures up, is unconditional and so amazingly strong.  

He is my daddy, and I am his little girl.  And despite all the issues with our past, present, and I'm sure future, I do love him, and want nothing more for him than to be healthy and happy.  For him to be in the present and stable mind to walk me down the aisle when I get married - and to experience the REALITY of it, not what his brain tricks him into thinking.

For all the lessons he taught me unintentionally, and for the moments when he was the greatest dad ever - I hope he has a great Father's Day out in New Jersey.  I'm sad that I can't be there with him, for many reasons.

Grandpa, me, and my dad.  Right before we headed out on our NYC trip.  Three generations of Polish gangstas!  And seriously, could we look anymore like family???

Saturday InstAwesome: June Vol. 2

@nikkihoyhoy - follow me!:

Posting this super late this Saturday - but what chya gonna do when you wake up with a migraine?  Amirite?

1 - Last Saturday morning I "ran" (I use that term very loosely) the Sound to Narrows with a friend of mine.  5k in `46 minutes, a lot better than I thought I would do!

2 - Later that afternoon, my step brother and his wife came to visit from Idaho.  Of COURSE I had to update my chalkboard.

3 - Dinner at Dukes on Ruston Way.  THEY HAVE THE BEST BLOODY MARYS!  It's like a liquid dinner.  Seriously, I can't say enough how much I love that place.  Go during happy hour though, because we didnt, and I almost shat myself over the prices.  Ouchies...

4 - The view of the Puget Sound from the Dukes patio.  Such amazing scenery.

5 - I GREW BOK CHOY!  AND THEY ARE HUGE!!!!

6 - Spent the afternoon with the little nephew coloring, yelling gibberish, throwing giant yoga balls at him while he's running.  Glorious fun.

7 - Happy hour with friends to celebrate a Master & a Manager.  Also gushed about my love of this app for iPhone/Android.  AND, the cat was completely appropriate, seeing as how yesterday's Photo A Day June was "yellow".  Drunk ass cats.

That was pretty much the extent of my week.  Nothing too fun otherwise - lamesauce.

Please, for the love of all that is awesome, have a FABULOUS weekend!

Currently, My Taste Buds Are Loving: Basil & Spinach Pasta (vegan)

In previous Taste Buds posts, I've mentioned how I've been experimenting with vegan recipes - and with making vegan choices when eating.  Lately in my kitchen, there have been a lot of nutritional yeast, cashews, dates, quinoa, coconut milk, and of course MANY fruits & veggies.

With all the fresh, healthy foods around, I've been making better choices in my diet - and the number on my scale is happier than usual!

But sometimes, even with all the hard work and sweat you've been dripping, you just really want to sit down with a cheesy bowl of pasta.  

So with the bounty of veggies, herbs, and nutritional yeast available at my finger tips, I quickly put together a meal for myself one evening - and of course I didn't write down any of the measurements for the ingredients. Why would I, it's not like I have a blog to maintain, right?

So with the best my memory has to offer, I give you - 

Ingredients - 

• pasta of your choice 
• I made a REALLY stupid mistake by using cheese raviolis.  Don't ask, I am blonde and have my moments.  If you feel so inclined to use the same, go for it.  Otherwise, see if you can find a vegan ravioli, or just use regular spaghetti noodles or rigatoni
• 1/2 C peas 
• I used frozen, but you could easily use fresh.  You know how I am - use what I have!
• 1/2 C olive oil
• 1 C spinach, chopped
• 1/4 C fresh basil
• 1/4 C nutritional yeast
• 2 tbsp garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp onion powder
• pinch of sea salt 
• go ahead and use regular salt if you don't have sea salt.  Although, I would suggest getting sea salt - it just adds a little more to a dish

Instructions - 

• Cook pasta according to directions
• When pasta is almost done, add in the peas
• Drain pasta - do not rinse pasta, as the carby water & heat will help form your "sauce"
• Dump pasta & peas into a bowl, add olive oil, spinach, basil, and dry ingredients
• Mix until the pasta is covered in all the cheezy, spinachy, basily goodness
• EAT

This was so easy to make on a lazy Sunday, or after a hectic weekday.  Brian, who is your typical meat & potatoes guy, thought the seasonings were amazing.  NEXT TIME, I won't be so stupid as to use cheese raviolis.

What's an easy & fulfilling recipe you always default to when you're pressed for time?