PDX/Seattle or bust. 1st vacation flying totally solo for the Fuller’s. Cannot wait. I plan on eating, relaxing, wandering, shopping and loving the hell outta the Pacific Northwest.
never.ever. underestimate the power of a hot cup of tea.
red and gold for a great ‘golden’ week over here. here’s to hoping!
golden weeks for us all i say! cheers :)
what’s up with that.
It’s April 15th and in case you didn’t know or see today would have been Leonardo da Vinci’s birthday. Leonardo seemed to be a pretty interesting and talented fellow. I hope that at some point in my life I too will seem some what of an interesting and talented gal to my small group of family and friends… (anyway)
Life has been feeling quite boring and mundane on my front. Not much going on except for the normal eat, sleep and work. Fun I know..
Seth is in his last few weeks of school and basically spends every extra minute trying to finish his end of semester project. Who am I kidding he does spend every extra minute outside of school and work working on it. I’m happy for him though his project is part of a campus wide event called “Outdoor Vision Fest” and on top of that his teacher wants him to do a presentation to the Santa Fe Complex. Pretty cool- very cool.
I’ve been working alot and pondering the meaning of life. I’m totally not kidding here. Don’t worry though thinking and pondering is what I do best so this is quite normal for me.
We are going on vacation for 8 days starting June 1st and honestly that could not come soon enough. We are going to fly into Portland and spend a few days, then take the long drive up the coast to Seattle and spend 4 days up there! I’m excited and am now accepting all advise and tips on good spots for interesting things to see, do or eat.
({[«HONEST MOMENT»]})
look, here is the deal what i really want to communicate but don’t know the right timing etc..is that i’ve been feeling pretty bummed lately. obviously i know how grateful i need to be and how thankful i can be about zillions of things. but i’m just feeling a bit lonely and too much of a really boring adult. not to mention i’m an introvert working in an extroverts world. so right now i am kinda wishing i lived in the same city as my friends, or just some friends or just some familia- i also kind of wish i wasn’t so much of a thinker and more of that oblivious type (i really mean that; at this moment at least). i feel pretty unsatisfied with what i’m currently doing and feel like i have major writers block/creative block on anyway to feel inspired in what i do either on the work clock or not. and all of this at the same time as making me worry and stress and feel a little blue… makes me feel very selfish and ignorant.
so there you have it, my real dilemma and a little catch-up sesh on our semi-boring lives right now. also, if you are a family or friend reading this please don’t worry about me.. i’m honestly okay. matter of fact i’m writing this while drinking a yummy pineapple agua tequila fresca. so just know i wish we were closer and that we could ‘hang’.
xo- lots of love
jane
Happy Birthday Leonardo.
“One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself.”- Leonardo da Vinci
Head of Leda by da Vinci
soupin
that’s right i said soupin. 
that is what we are doing tonight, staying cozy and warm and eating soup. today, april 14 it snowed again in santa fe. it was sooo windy and quite chilly most of the day and then #boom snow… so i thought well what better thing to do than make soup.
so, i made one of my favorites- potato soup. i’ve eaten potato soup since like forever and my mom’s recipe is still my fav.
so if it is still chilly where you are, or if you just feel like some mom potato soup this is for you. (note some of the best recipes don’t need actual recipes; so here is the general gist of this soup)
1. wash, scrub and peel (but don’t peel away all) the skin of a bunch of potatoes. today i used a bag of the red, white and purple potatoes.
2. add cleaned and cut potatoes to a big soup pot- cover with water and boil till potatoes are about half way done cooking about…. 15-20 min.
3. drain potatoes
4. add some butter or olive oil to the soup pot, throw in some cut celery (3-4 stalks), 1 carrot and 1 onion both chopped.
5. cook down for about 5-7 minutes and add some garlic, S&P, and oregano.
6. put cooked potatoes back in pot and cover with milk (i use 2% for this recipe)
7. make sure everything is just covered with the milk, cover and leave at medium heat until it simmers for about 20-30 minutes. NEVER LET THE MILK BOIL!!!!
8. serve it up, we put bacon and sharp cheddar on top of ours.
i know the hip thing is to not drink milk or eat things such as potatoes and cheese and well bacon.. and i get that (trust me i do) but sometimes you just want some good old fashioned soup like mom used to make.
xo-cheers to you from this chilly night in santa fe.
P.S. please note that in the above photo, this is my favorite place mat. the little girl is asking the ducks if she should eat her eggs with toast!
traditions.
i almost missed out on a long standing tradition this weekend. dyeing easter eggs.
i’ve dyed easter eggs since i was born and i almost let it slip this weekend, i had the silly notion that it really didn’t matter. i’m sure glad i came to my sense’s and that Seth and I could sneak dyeing them into the last few hours of easter weekend.
you see lately work and life in general have really been overwhelming for me to the point where i have felt like i have nothing worth while to say on any topic at any time. because of this slight chaos i felt like it didn’t matter if i/we did anything for easter or not. (don’t worry- i snapped back into reality earlier today). i realized that i’ve dyed eggs for the past 23 years and i wasn’t about to let a chaotic and busy schedule interfere in such a tradition.
traditions are neat things and no matter how silly they seem they mean something- so i told myself to not give up on that. i need silly traditions right now, i need them to help me grow up, help me get through awkward spots, help me feel grounded in a world i didn’t really know existed. if i could i’d let my sociologist side come out and let you know that in sociology you are almost taught to take a stand back and view traditions as something to analyze and develop theories on. because of this i have felt a little disconnected from my own traditions.how sad- i know. i tend to take a step back from life to analyze and think about life rather than just living and doing.
so it still being easter weekend for the next hour and 2 minutes i want to communicate to the world wide web that i’ve taken note. i can not always be a wallflower evaluating and analyzing things, when it comes to my own life i need to do, i need to live. so thank God for traditions. they make me feel connected to people, to my people.
i’m so thankful for my family, the people who have taught me to have traditions to have fun and who have and will continue to impact my life even when i’m sitting on the sidelines.
******
sidenote: one of my favorite easter memories is when we went to visit my aunt/uncle and cousins in florida. i was about 7 and my parents and aunt/uncle went out for dinner. my cousins were left to dye easter eggs with me, being the youngest and only girl i did however get to choose they dye. i picked the tye-dyed glitter option. needless to say all our eggs turned out to be a glittery mess of teenage mutant ninja turtle green and brown. simple i know, but this was the only time i’ve ever tired a different egg dye than the normal one and i kinda love the fact i was left with 3 boys to dye glittery easter eggs.
what is your favorite easter memory? think about it and then… never forget it!
what i wore:
Forever 21: denim pearl snap
Forever 21: orange stripe tank
Anthropologie: tangerine(y) skinnies
Sperry: boat shoes
Happy for pearl snaps, happy for tangerine.
here are some random facts and fiction statements about me. because i know you all are t o t a l l y dying to know some more 411 on me. :l
fact: i drink like 6 cups of tea a day. no joke.
fiction: i hate french fries…
fact: i took my first airplane ride when i was 6 months old. loved traveling ever sense.
fiction: i love the reality tv show the bachelor
fact: i could go without speaking for days
fact: i’ve eaten a hundred year egg and balut
fiction: i like unloading the dishwasher
fact: i love to cook, bake and… eat!
fiction: my favorite restaurants are dimly lit and really loud
fact: i’m an introvert and recently am really loving that about myself
fiction: i have mad skillz at chit chat with strangers
fiction: i never worry about anything- ever.
Cheers,
Xo- Jane
current thoughts and cookies.
but cookies first. the other night i seriously stumbled upon the best cookie recipe ever. and i am happy to admit, i made it up! basically they are just a hearty classic chocolate chip cookie and i promise they turned out perrrrff!
Totes Perf C.C. Cookie:
2 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 sticks cold butter (cubed)
1 3/4 cups brown sugar
1/4 cup of sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons of almond extract
1 cup of dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup of oatmeal
1/2 chopped pecans
2 tablespoons of chocolate peanut butter
pinch (or 2 or 3) of cinnamon
First: sift together your flour, baking powder and soda, and salt in a big bowl
Second: (in electric mixer) beat together your butter (cubed), brown sugar and granulated sugar. Mix on medium speed for about 4 minutes. Then beat in your eggs one at time. Add vanilla and almond extract. Then change mixer speed to low and add your flour (gradually).
Third: stir in chocolate chips, oatmeal and pecans, then place dough in plastic wrap and refrigerator for at least an hour (i chilled mine for 24 hours).
Fourth: Preheat oven to 375. Put a piece of parchment paper on 2 cookie sheets. Then drop heaping spoon fulls of dough about an inch apart. Bake until golden on the edges and soft in the middle about 12-15minutes. Let cool about 15 minutes before removing from cookie sheets.
bon appetit!
***************************************************************************************
and now for my current thoughts.
I stumbled upon this quote on the ever so addicting Pinterest tonight: “And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was greater than the risk it took to bloom.” -Anais Nin
As much as you might assume that I should have realized and felt this way as a teenager, I definitely did not and am only now fully experiencing the magnitude of what this means. Recently I have decided to make choices that benefit me and not every single person around me. If you know me at all, you might know this is a huge step for me. My whole life what I said, or didn’t say had alot to do with what was best for the situation and for everyone involved. As of late I have been paying attention to what I feel is ‘right’ for me in different scenarios and I must say- it is very freeing. I feel happy and while others may not be totally in line with me, I don’t really care. My life is fully dependent on my ability to ‘bloom’ as a person and how much I allow myself to make the right decisions for me.
So- that being said. Don’t be afraid to stand up for yourself and do what you feel is right for you. The people who really love you will continue to do so and the ones that don’t.. eventually won’t matter as much.
cheers, and seriously make those cookies!
