Friday, April 30, 2010

old town farmer's market

On Saturday Espen put on his Hyper-Color shirt (yes, Allison, it finally fits him and it is AWESOME) and walked with me across the Civic Center to meet up with Kate and Stephan at the Old Town Farmer's Market. I love that it's close enough to walk over and enjoy the gorgeous weather. The Farmer's Market was actually pretty nice. Tons of fruits and veggies, all sorts of weird treats, noodles, breads, honey even beer for your dog. (uh)

After trying a bunch of samples including the most amazing focacia bread and to die for toffee with chocolate and sea salts, we decided to head over to the Civic Center. Well, first we had to make a pit stop for some sorbet. The boys had chocolate, I had basil and lime. Delish. They were out of bacon flavor, darn. No seriously, they had bacon flavor. They even had bacon brittle. I likened it to putting syrup on sausage. The sweet and the salty, we didn't try any though...not for $7.

I love my visits with Kate. She is so beautiful in every way. And she's expecting her 2nd kiddo later this year, although you wouldn't know it by looking at her. She's so teeny with this little bitty belly, so cute. She and I were pregnant at the same time with Stephan and Espen, they are only 6 weeks apart and man, I was a blimp compared to her. She has the cutest figure for a pregnant lady.
Enough about how lovely Kate is...let's talk about how much I love just sitting around with her, watching the boys play and talking about life. Her life has taken the wildest turns over the years I really admire her. She's such an amazing woman...I'm really am just so amazed at the girls who I became friends with over the years, all of them are so incredible.

We just gabbed away while the boys tried to roll down the little hill we were on, attempted to destroy a pretty flower bed and fought over who got to play with the plastic wrench Espen brought along. Another wonderful outing with Kate and Stefan.


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Thursday, April 29, 2010

rising of the setting sun

I picked up my print that I had framed of Wayne Pate's Rising of the Setting Sun yesterday.
I opted not to use any matte and was a bit nervous about how much of the art the frame would cover and although it does cover up the edges including the big yellow sun there is something about the way the black circles blend into the black inner frame that adds just the slightest bit of added depth to it. I think it turned out beautiful.

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such a good little neighbor

I have no idea how this even started but on Saturday morning Espen and I were outside cleaning up and then the next thing you know Espen is helping me sweep up the front patios of our place and our two neighbors. The trees drop a bajillion tiny leafs and they get everywhere. Espen had so much fun seeping them into his bucket and then dumping them in a huge pile. And man, did our porch look nice. haha!


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{doesn't everyone sweep in there underwear (inside out and backwards)}

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surprise!

Two of my closest friends turned 31 this past Friday. Jenny's husband through together a surprise party at the last minute and although it seemed by the out of no where text two days prior that this was rather unplanned it certainly didn't seem that way once we got there.

I had so much fun but I was talking to my sister and her neighbor yesterday about this feeling that I get the day after hanging out with my friends. I typically wake up with almost a guilty or embarrassed feeling about something I may have said or did. I always end up thinking about how loud I am, I am SO loud sometimes...and animated, I scream, I throw my body around when I'm telling a story and I guess I feel a bit embarrassed about it. I try to be reserved and quiet but it's just not me. I wonder if it's a quality about me that my friends hate but they love me for other reasons so they don't mind that I am obnoxious. Who knows. I recently started thinking that it may have something to do with drinking. Not that I drink a lot but that a couple of glasses wine will loosen me up and then the screaming and contorting begins.

So, at Jenny's house the other night I opted for coffee. I woke up the next day with that same feeling, I was too loud, too goofy, I should settle down a bit. All the coffee did was make me stay up till 3am and possibly made me a bit louder in the end. I have come to the conclusion that it’s just how I am. A super loud, nutty lady who dresses like she's 20 and acts like she's 6 and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Between my loud stories and hand gestures (Allison, my Italian sister, I know you know what I'm talking about) I had a wonderful night. Everyone was in great mood. It was a small group of friends, there was delicious food and we got to surprise the crap out of Jenny, which was HILARIOUS.


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{Jenny's husband Matt got her a vegan birthday cake}

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{Aimee brought cannolis from Grimaldi's, so good, almost as good as my mom's}

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{and i quote 'sorry i'm fat'}


Job well done Matt. What a fun night. And thanks to Mary for busting her butt getting everything set up and for making your famous crock pot weenies.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

olden days

I was just going through some old photos and came across a couple that really stood out.

First: Espen & Jeremy Sleeping
How sweet is this picture. I took about 50 or so of them sleeping that day, every one turned out beautifully.
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Second: Me in Oslo
How sweet is my hair. Can someone please tell me why I went nuts two years ago and whacked it to my chin. Never again my friends, never again.
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Oh how I sometimes miss the olden days.

Monday, April 26, 2010

so in love...

with everything about this picture.

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More on our Sunday bike ride to Starbucks and the park later, in the mean time, I couldn't wait to share this photo of Jeremy.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Sunday breakfast-patio style

I can't wait for this weekend. We are meeting Kate and Stef at the Old Town Farmer's Market on Saturday. I hope the weather is as great as it was last weekend and I hope I get to eat pancakes outside with Espen again this Sunday.

Doesn't everyone eat on their front patio in their underwear and tube dresses with mascara smudged under their eyes???
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{cheese!}

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{all done}

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The whole time we were outside kids from the Catholic school across the street were having a car wash so there was crazy music playing and kids screaming and waving water noodles and signs around desperately trying to get cars to turn in the church parking lot. Espen was loving it. Every time a car would turn he'd squeal and yell 'look, look, they got a car in the car wash!!! Why'd they do that?'...hahah, why! I think it was our neighbor who turned onto our street on his motorcycle to which Espen explained to me that motorcycles can't go through a car wash, as if an actual drive through car was erected just for the days events.

I had to stop myself from writing the school a letter about all of the garbage the kids left around our property. Seriously, a box of Krispy Kreme's with 3 left in it, water bottles, even a water noodle! Kids these days, geesh.

puppy dreams

Last Sunday, we all laid down after dinner around 6 to take a cat nap. Well that cat nap for me ended up lasting till 6:30 the following day. I'm not really sure at what time this all happened but I remember waking up in the middle of the night with Espen in our bed. He looked strange, I thought for a minute he had been playing with my eyebrow pencil and put whiskers on his face. Through out the night I kept waking up and looking over at him, each time noticing more and more 'stuff' on him. I was half asleep so I couldn't quite process it. Was it paint? Was it eyeliner? When I finally woke up the next morning I began my quest to find this mystery marker.
I found my eyeliner and eye brow pencil, untouched in the bathroom. I checked the new finger paint kit, all was as we had left it. I came back in the room and there it was. An almost brand new tube of my mascara was on the ground at the foot of the bed surrounded by streaks of black on our sheets and carpet.
How could I be mad? He was covered in it, he put a lot of time into applying it to half his body. He woke up shortly after and told me he had a dream he was a puppy and so he wanted to have fur! Seriously, what is going through a four year olds mind, hiding at the foot of the bed swiping your moms make up all over yourself. hahaha. I can only imagine.


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{this is what I kept seeing all night long, wtf}

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{me: what are you doing? espen: being a puppy!}

gluten dough=best thing ever

My friend Jenny has recently decided to eat a vegan diet as well as document this change in diet on her blog Hibbard Kitchen. She did a post on Seitan and I was totally curious to see just how easy was this stuff to make, does it 'taste like chicken' and is it easy to cook with/store in the fridge.

You can visit Jenny's blog for a recipe for the dough. I used that recipe the first time then improvised the ingredients on my second batch. This stuff is so freakin' east to make. I'm reminded of Truvy's dessert recipe in Steel Magnolias...cupa, cupa, cupa.

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{cupa flour, cupa broth}

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{that's it? that's it}

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{forget the whisk, immediately get to kneading this stuff. ps-it's way sticky}

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{don't feel like getting sticky, ask the nearest 4 year old to have at it}

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{just before boiling, looks weird huh? espen conducting a sniff test}

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{all done}

I ended up making the Kung Pao Seitan recipe that Jenny recommended. I added red, yellow and green bell peppers as well as water chestnuts. And of course, I quadrupled the sauce. IT WAS AMAZING!

Two nights ago I made it again but this time I added Garam Masala, Ground Coriander and Cayenne Pepper to the mix and went a little easy on the sauce. I actually made enough for Jeremy and I both to eat, but I ended up eating it all while he was still at work. I had no problem making it again when he got home because the seitan is super easy to work with. Had it been chicken I would have had to deal with raw chicken (which scares me), then I'd have to wait forever to cook it.

My modified Kung Pao was a hit, Jeremy and I both loved it. I loved it so much I even made it again last night and will probably make it again tonight!

Don't be scared to try this one or think it's too new agey or hippy or what ever. It's super easy to make, lasts forever, is low in calories and high in protein. Tastes amazing, it basically soaks up all of the flavors of what ever it's cooked with. I just might eat this everyday for the rest of my life.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

kiddo yoga, frames, finger paint & fun

Espen and I got to go to child/parent yoga again on Saturday but before we left Espen impressed me with his chocolate milk making ability.

1. pour milk and hershey syrup in a cup
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2. be sure to add little rubber stopper gadget to your sippy cup lid
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3. mix milk and syrup with a spoon, ask mom to help if it gets to messy
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4. screw on lid, drink up
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I am going to blame the chocolate milk at 9:30am on Espen's strange behavior at yoga. One minute he's asleep on the yoga mat, the next minute he's jumping on my back like a monkey. He was all over the place. I felt bad because all of the other little kids were so well behaved. I had to explain to him that when he starts school he is going to have to try his best to behave and always listen to the teacher. I think that was a concept that a)he's not used to & b) he needs to learn. Such a weird conversation to have with someone.

As much as he was a little on the wild side, he was also incredibly helpful. I am ALWAYS late to work so in the past month I have sped up every clock around the house, including my cell phone and computers (somehow I still manage to end up late to work) so we got to Desert Song about 20 minutes early so Espen helped set up the room with yoga mats and bolsters and was equally as helpful cleaning up.


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After yoga I wanted to head over to Michael's to see if I could work out a little deal between Michael's and Aaron Brother's to get my print framed.

I took the quote for the frame, with the 60% off applied, that Michael's gave me and ran over to Aaron Brother's where I have a gift card. Their quote was actually less than Michael's AND I got the sweet sale price.

Here's a little teaser of what will be in our bedroom in about 12 days.


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I took a chance with the bright yellow frame but I think the black filler with the raised dots will bring a bit of chicness to it. (is that a word?)
I can't wait to see it!!

Since I got such a screamin' deal on the frame AND because Espen was such a good boy at Michael's and Aaron Brother's I told him he could pick out something to take home. He picked a finger painting kit. This kit rules! Super easy to clean up, way easy to use and such a good idea. Not only is it a finger paint set but after you 'paint' on a hard plastic surface you lay a piece of paper on it, roll it with a sponge roller and when you lift the paper off you end up with a nifty little print.


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The boys finished up the day with a hair cut. This was a big deal since Espen actually let Jeremy use the clippers on him!! He told me that he can use the clippers now because he's a big boy. haha!

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While the boys were busy with their haircuts I satisfied a wild, out of no where craving that I had for Souper Salads fettuccini salad. I haven't eaten it in almost 10 years but it didn't matter, I had to have it. Souper Salad was just like I remembered, except a lot cleaner! And seriously, for $5 I filled up the to-go container with an enough assorted pastas that Jeremy, Espen and I all were able to have a little pig out session.


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[yum}


Such a good busy day. I love days like this.