covet

i must have this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

backyard

i heard somewhere everyone should be in the sun at least ten minutes a day. i try to do a walk everday. i did a different route today and discovered some mini rapids. adam was a little upset that he didn't discover this area sooner. i think it might be a good running route for him. it is pretty awesome. we also ran into one of adam's students who invited us tubing tomorrow. haha



adam saw deer prancing around on his run yesterday. lucky. today i saw a ground hog. i think.

cashew chicken

i made cashew chicken tonight. the picture doesn't look good but it was pretty tasty. it's a nice way to throw in vegetables i dislike so much. i got the recipe from a world cookbook i purchased at a borders a long time ago. remember borders? it even has a recipe for nasi goreng!

baguette

what i've been eating for breakfast lately. a baguette with lot's of butter and strawberry preserves. i am sooo not healthy.

Blue Bayou

Michigan weather has been pretty good to me. It is a little colder than Los Angeles in the winter but if you wear the proper clothes (down feathers) you do well. I learned to dress this past winter and Adam is still learning. :) I thought that I would have a hard time this summer getting used to the humidity. It is actually really nice here. We live in an old house so sometimes it gets a bit warm but when you open the window's you get a nice breeze.



Anyway, the reason why I have a picture of the Blue Bayou at Disneyland is because at night, when our window's are open, it sounds just like the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. It is pretty soothing. I hate crickets and bugs but they sound pretty nice. Speaking of which a grasshopper hit me in the face yesterday. That was a scary.



p.s. i miss disneyland.



photo via a family blog

Living in a small town

one of the nice things about living in a small town... random acts of kindness... we think our neighbor across the street brings us our paper. the delivery person has been delivering the paper to the house next door (in their driveway) for a year now. i think he also cleans up can's that some people drop in our yard.



isn't that awesome? i think everyone should move to a small town. we have market greeter's and people talk to you on the street just to comment on the sun or whatever. we get genuine love here...



i am sorry.. i don't know remember where i got this photo of bridget bardot...

party

Tonight we had dinner with a new professor at Mountaintown brewery. Afterwards, we walked a block to the Mount Pleasant Jazz and Blues festival that was going on this weekend. We ran into my yoga teacher and had beer with her friends which ended up being some people i knew from class. It was pretty funny when Adam and my teach were having a heated discussion on Korea and Iraq? ha ha. I drank too much beer.photo from jak & jil

san tropez

Adam"babes, where is San Tropez?"

Me "it's in France."

Adam "I want to go there."

Me, "yes!"

I told Adam rich people go there.. it is really for people who can afford the extravagance and mainly Europeans.

summer movies

Lot's of movies I want to watch this summer... and since I can go to the movies by myself now. It feels like watching a dvd alone at home but better?



Adam and I are planning to watch Inception tonight. Can't wait!Kids are All right... The closest showing is at a theatre in a suburb near Detroit so maybe I have to wait for the dvd :(
Eat, Love, Pray. Looks good though I was never interested in the book... Not really into India and yoga and spirituality stuff.
I am kind of embarrassed to say that I kind of want to see Charlie St. Cloud. I am going to blame it on the constant trailer that keeps on playing during our television watching.
photos via here, here, here and here

new friend

I made a new friend in yoga class! Sort of, well, not really. haha. I had a new mat mate the last few classes. This is not a hard thing to do. People in Michigan are very nice. After class, we talk some more and she ends with, "my husband and kids go camping so I get some alone time."

When I meet people here, I think they are my age, probably have the same interests as me but they are all moms and wives. Some of the girls in my class have kids in college!

I think to LA and 80% of my friend's are single (not married, no kids)... here I think it is 80% married with kids. Are small town's just easier to settle down?

photo via the sartorialist

sardines

When I was growing up my mom saved every Food section from the Los Angeles Times. We get the New York Times delivered now and the Dining section is one of my favorite's and I find myself saving that part of the paper.



I love Mark Bittman and his Minimalist column. He was on the show Spain on the Road Again with Mario Battali and Gwyneth Paltrow. Well, he totally butchered the Yakisoba and I lost interest in him after he posted the video of it on Facebook. I sent it to Yuuki too (she said she wanted to barf). Haha.



When I saw the article by Bittman about making a pasta with two can's of sardine's I was intrigued. Adam read it also and suggested I try it. I made it last night and it was pretty delicious and easy! I like Mark Bittman once again.

photo above from NYT, photo below me (tastes better than photo)

Recipe here

more grilling

trout

chicken

my new love... poblano peppers... sooooo gooood!

bocce ball

I made a request to Adam that I wanted these bocce balls for our guest's to play with at our wedding. They are Chanel and cost $3k. I was going to buy a set this past weekend but they are super heavy. If we decide to buy some, it would have to be in Los Angeles.On another note, I chatted up our neighbor (the Zack Galafanakis guy) at a our local restaurant last week. He invited us to their house for they bi-weekly barbeque's. Turns out he is a nice guy and his friend's/roommate's are totally Adam's type. You know, the nerdy, adult swim type. Well they are all artists/musician's and have a cool looking pad.

breakfast

Adam is in charge of the cooking during the weekend. He ventures and makes wonderful stuff. I am in charge of the cooking weeknights and I usually make things I have cooked before (boring).Last night, I decided to I would make an omelette since we had nice zucchini's from the farmers market. This is my zucchini, onion, basil and parmesan omelette.



Did you know when you make an omelette you have to stir the eggs in the pan? I've been making them for years and I just found that out. It is no wonder my omelette was always brown (aka burnt)...

books!

I adore cookbooks.. actually I love books with pictures (artbooks, photo books, fashion books, etc, etc). I think we have a hefty collection of books in our library. What will happen when we move back to a city and have no room for these books?
Well I didn't think of that when I purchased my newest cookbook.. Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights. I think it is vegetarian and has lot's of nice photo's of food. I can't wait to try out some recipes.
I bought Adam a present too. Isabella Rossellini's Green Porno book. If you haven't checked out a video, you should. Soo weird...

photo 1, photo 2, photo 3

Farmer's Market

Today, Mount Pleasant had a dew point of 80 degrees. Not sure what that means.. That is meteorology talk.My yoga teacher, Heather, mentioned Mount Pleasant has a farmers market during the summers. Adam and I checked it out for the first time. We picked up a lot of vegetables to grill (new potato's, michigan peaches, tomato's zucchini's). They also sell steaks!!
Tonight I made turkery burger's again! Basil from our garden!

This tomato is the first tomato from our garden. I was super excited to taste it but it wasn't very good. The texture was kind of like watermelon?
What Adam does outside when grilling. Harper's and a beer... I think this is his alone/man time..
We tried grilling the turkey burgers with shiitake mushrooms.
The grilled turkey burger was not as good as I hoped. Maybe we cooked it too long?

current addiction

white russian (probably 1000 calories per drink)...


I am going to blame this on Mad Men Season 3. I mean, hello, I can't watch Mad Men without a cocktail, right?

eats

Adam has been on a cooking binge for the past couple of days.. Lucky me. I just sit there and enjoy it.Grilled organic chicken from the coop (so much better than the Tyson, supermarket chicken etc), poblano peppers, zucchini and potato's.
Carrot puree soup.. (cilantro from our garden)

movies

Inspired by Toshiro's post on his favorite movies... I have decided to post my favorite chick flicks.



1. Pride and Prejudice (2005) I have seen this movie so many times and it is soo good everytime. I have also read the book many times because of it. Oh Jane Austen, I love you so.

via

2. The Notebook (2004) This movie makes me cry everytime. Like, my shirt gets soaked, tears streaming. He built her a wraparound porch!

photo via

3. 2 Days in Paris (2007) Love this movie. Not sure if this constitutes as a chick flick... because it is smart and Adam will watch it with me. The previous movies he will not. It takes place in my favorite city and the characters remind us of our relationship... the male is uptight (Adam) and the girl needs to comb her hair (me).

photo

4. Sixteen Candles (1984) Everyone was a dork in high school... being a dork and getting the hottest boy? Jake Ryan is so hot.photo

Okay, I'm tired of this post already.. maybe I will finish it later...



Non chick-flick favorites
Clueless, Breathless, Back to the Future, Up in the Air, Terminator 1 +2, will finish later..

still reading...

I've been trying to read books since I listed it as my new years resolution. I'm not a book per week but I'm still reading. I have also been on a Jane Austen kick this year. In Finland I read Pride and Prejudice twice (on the plane and at parks) with the classic books app on my ipod. When I saw Pride and Prejudice in the classic covers at the Museum of Fine Arts I picked up a copy. I own Emma and Sense and Sensibility in these covers also. Am I a hoarder? I have two copies of Pride and Prejudice, plus a copy of Pride and prejudice and zombies, plus apps on my ipod and computer.
Adam thinks I should pick up a 1st edition or something since I love this book so much.



photo

heirloom tomato's

My latest obsession. Heirloom tomatos. Omg, they are soo amazing. We had these tomato's, mozzarella cheese, basil (from our garden) and a baguette for dinner.