date night

I've been writing in my head for a long time. Which is probably similar to talking to myself. But I'm an introvert so my mouth muscles aren't accustomed to opening and speaking out loud.
Even as a kid I never kept a diary long. I'd fill a cartoony covered diary (with the lock) with hearts and names of boys.
I find myself shying away from facebook updates to not seem in need of Likes and Comments or to seem boastful about awesome trips, food, family accomplishments.
My twitter account tempts me to post random humorous thoughts and observations. I'm not comfortable with that audience either. Quite the opposite of FB it's craft folk and neighbors of the greater 'hood who don't know me at all. I don't want them to judge.
Considering starting a new account just for rants and raves.
I'm just going to chat it out here. No readers. No followers. I can find my voice and keep it to a volume of one.
Last night was date night. Tuesday is sort of random. It's the night we have a consistent sitter and we don't have day jobs to get to on Wednesday -- other than parenting -- which is so much more than a job and does not go well with a poor night's sleep any better than schlepping off to a job job.
We had a plan.
I'm thankful after almost 13yrs of marriage we can screw things up and figure things out on the fly.
Dinner and trivia.
Trivia was being sponsored by one of our favorite local breweries so we were extra interested. But I didn't want to eat pub food. We'd already eaten dinner there in the last week. It's a good place to get your pub on with a kid in tow.
The place I wanted was not far away and would be a quick 7 blk drive to get to trivia on time.
Not open Tuesday.
Yup, failed to check that out.
Think think think... pass by a place we love- looked packed... keep moving... up the hill and going for Thai food.
Early enough still to find parking and get in quick. We're losing time to get to trivia!
Not super excited about Thai. We just had an awesome two week adventure there less than two weeks ago. However, this Thai place is pretty legit. Northern. We pick a few things that we want to compare to our fresh from Thailand palate. Not as good. But nice :)
Off to trivia.
Super packed. Not a seat in the house. Bummer.
This is when 12+ yrs, no date night in the last month, minor frustration of disappointment "silence in the car" mood makes you want to keep it together and find something and not go home early. But not go hang out in a bar or coffee shop while paying a sitter $20/h. I can tell sweet husband is keeping it together too.
He pulls a fast one on me. Makes a plan, starts driving and won't tell me where. Out of character really.
We'd talked about a movie. It can be hard to do because this sitter likes to be done by 10. She's a nanny by day, hence the high sitter rate, and it makes for a super long day for her.
I think he's headed for the theater.
Staying south of our house, I can tell he's going to the Sundance theater. It's great for date night. only 21+, very lounge atmosphere and has great seating that you pick when you buy your ticket.
He has picked a movie he knows I've never heard of. It's a total spoof vampire flick done in reality show style with one of the guys from Flight of the Concords. Dumb in the best way!
And date night has been rescued for another week.
Next Tuesday, dear hubby, is getting surgery on his nose. For better breathing. While he's enjoying his pain meds I'm going to work on our list for date night outings. Gotta be better prepared so date night doesn't turn into flop night.

Lunch on the Yum!

Late summer farmer's market! Melons and tomatoes and peppers- Oh MY!

My favorite lunch has been a warm corn tortilla with a roasted sweet italian pepper, sliced heirloom tomato w/ a touch of salt, and a slice of avocado.
They roast the peppers on site at the market.
I reheat the pepper in full size on my stove. Once heated on both sides I scrape away the extra skin, slice off the top and slice in half, and scrape out the seeds.
Eating it I can really taste the deep flavor of the roasting process, the sweet salty tang of the tomato and the creamy avocado.
It is completely satisfying and doesn't need egg or cheese which brings another level of satisfaction.
YUM!
Loving September. xox

My fair city

Another month. Another enjoyable catalog full of inspiring images.

The city scapes reminded me of an auction project I did with a group of 3yr olds a couple years ago.
It had it's flaws and unfortunately didn't have the time frame to be fixed or redone, but I think the conception was positive and the item brought in a lot of moolah come auction nite.

I'm interested in trying my own version depicting Seattle in a textured, layered wall hanging.
Finished my post-summer cleanup... which really means transitioning the garage from camping storage back into a studio and uncluttered my canvas work table. Ready to get back to it! I can tell I'm ready when enough stress is gone that I can't slow down the brainstorming of ideas!




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Trend?

Some of my fav catalogs that I always search page by page for inspiration. Amused to see such similar items show up on the cover. I wonder how such things are planned and decisions made. I don't know much but I've never heard of these two companies being linked.
Next up... The annual IKEA catalog!

The 1st month of summer

the Pantry

I love cooking classes at the Pantry. This is a space behind the pizza restaurant Delancey run by owner/chef husband of food blogger Molly Weizenberg of Orangette. I know that's a lot of connections- but the cool thing is they're a community kitchen so having one biz tie into another is kinda what they do. I don't claim to know who owns what, but I know they all help each other out. And extra cute bonus- if you know the blog, you'll know the baby and I saw that sweet face last night as I popped in early to their bar Essex for a quick house-made Campari beverage. She looked so adorable!

Last nights class was grains. Yum! Millet, tri blend rice, farro and quinoa were all on the menu. Delish as usual.
Think ill try for the farro salad and use my rhubarb in the quinoa compote first.

family coloring

My kiddo likes to ask me to search for images that he can color. Not always a success. We found one of Skylanders Hot Dog but Wrecking Ball was a bit harder. 

I eventually found a small b.w drawing and doctored it up for us to color. Then we had a fun little coloring contest. Daddy spent all his time and talent on hot dog so he skipped Wrecking Ball.

I'm adding my version of wrecking ball. Hopefully you can figure out how to print it. I don't know how to add it as a file to download.

family coloring contest

print and color!