the binder

This is the binder. It's not pretty, it's not fancy, but it's where we store all our recipes... and over the years it's become a sort of litmus test for whether or not a recipe gets our nod of approval. If we know we won't make it again, it doesn't go in the binder. Simple, efficient, the binder represents one of the more blissfully organized aspects of my life. (Trust me, there aren't many.) It's organized into 10 different tabs: Chicken, Pork, Beef, Fish, Vegetarian, Pasta, Soup / Chili, Side Dishes, Breakfast, and Dessert, and clear sheet protectors help to keep the recipes splatter free while we're cooking.

Jared and I started collecting recipes early on in our relationship when we found ourselves cooking dinner together most nights. To help us get started we signed up for The Six O'Clock Scramble, an online seasonal weekly menu planner. Every week they sent us 5 new meals and a grocery list, and we could swap out any meals we didn't like. It was really helpful and I highly recommend it if you want to cook dinner at home more often but aren't sure how to get organized. We started supplementing The Scramble recipes with ones we got from Food Network and Martha Stewart, and it didn't take long before we had amassed enough recipes that we needed a way to keep them all straight... hence, the binder was born.

So why am I telling you all this? Well, it seems to me like the tradition of home-cooked weeknight family dinners has become a bit of a lost art. In the age of processed and prepared foods, I think a lot of people choose not having to think about it over flavor and nutrition. But what those people don't realize is how easy and quick dinner can be if you just take a little time to plan our your meals. So that's why I'm sharing our process with you. It works really well for us and maybe it'll work well for you, too.

Here's how we tackle meal planning... every Sunday morning we sit down with the binder, a notepad, and pen. We take a quick inventory of what we have in our fridge and pantry from last week's meals that we didn't use up (usually things like tortillas, heavy cream, chicken stock, and veggies) and use that as our starting point for meal selection. Meals that feature ingredients we need to use up or already have get chosen first. Then we look for stuff that we haven't made in a while or that will be quick if we have something going on a particular night that week. We also try to pick meals that feature seasonal ingredients (Epicurious has a great tool for finding out what's in season where you live.) The final list of meals for that week goes on a magnetic pad that we keep on our fridge. As for which meals get cooked on which nights, we usually decide that day based on how we're feeling.

So there you have it... the binder, our system, and my two cents about the benefits of cooking weeknight dinners. I'll be posting recipes and tips for some of our favorite dinners in a new regular feature called {made for dinner} (I know, real original) so stay tuned.

the made by bird Etsy shop has LAUNCHED!

I've spent so long thinking about this and planning for it that it's hard to believe the made by bird Etsy shop has actually become a reality.  A huge thanks goes out to my incredibly supportive family and friends.  I could never have pulled this off without their endless encouragement.  And thanks most of all to my husband, who has been my sounding board, my rock, my everything a husband is supposed to be but rarely is... he had more faith in my ability to do this than I had in myself, and I probably would have given up on this whole idea a long time ago had it not been for him.  Okay, okay, enough with the gushing.  Time to celebrate... not only did I finally open my Etsy shop, but in doing so I crossed the last item off of my five for 2010 list with two months to spare.  Woohoo!!!  :-D

{maui} day 9

It was our last day in Maui and we were determined to make it a great one.  We got up at the crack of dawn and made our way down to Makena Landing in South Maui for a sea kayaking/snorkeling trip with Maui Kayaks.  Jared and I shared a tandem kayak and were 2 of only 7 people in our group.  Our guide, Griff, was super nice and extremely knowledgeable.  His passion for the island and respect for the marine life were contagious.  We went to three different snorkeling sites and saw huge sea turtles at each site.  (We saw lots of fish, too, but the turtles really stole the show.)

(btw, all of these photos were taken with a Fujifilm Quick Snap waterproof disposable camera... we were pretty impressed with the quality compared to other underwater disposables we've tried)

If you're ever in Maui and want to take a snorkeling trip, I highly highly recommend Maui Kayaks.  When we went to Australia for our honeymoon we took two different charters out to the Great Barrier Reef, and while the charter boats are less work, kayaking gives you access to sites the big boats can't get to, and going out in such a small group made the experience even better.

After our snorkeling trip, we headed back to the hotel, took a nap, and went down to the pool for our last afternoon of sun, sand, and swimming.  I'm not going to lie, it was really really really hard to leave that pool.  Those last moments of warm sun were so bittersweet.  Oh, who am I kidding - they were just bitter.  We live in Portland.  The sun won't shine like that until next July.  That's TEN MONTHS AWAY!  What?  No, I'm not crying.  Must be - uh - sand in my eye.  Or something.

Anyway, we got all gussied up and set up out on the lenai to watch the luau until it was time to leave for dinner.  The hotel doesn't usually have luaus on Saturday nights, but we got lucky - a cruise ship had pulled in that day and booked a private luau.  Did I mention that the cruisers were nearly all retirees?  Have you ever seen retirees try to hula?  Well take my word for it - it was fantastic.  Truly truly fantastic.  The actual dancers were pretty great, too... particularly when they busted out the torches.  I don't know how they don't burn themselves to a crisp, but I guess that's why they're the pros and I'm the girl watching from her lenai 5 floors up.

The luau ended at 8, just in time for us to make it to Lahaina for dinner.  We decided to have a belated anniversary dinner on our last night in Maui (the chili dogs were great, but not exactly the romantic celebratory dinner we're accustomed to) and everyone said Lahaina Grill was the place to go for such a dinner.  Those people were not wrong.

Our dinner was aaaaaamazing... easily one of the best dinners we'd had in a long time.  We were the old farts of our section (everyone else was on their honeymoon) but the hostess took pity on us and gave us a card signed by the entire staff, and took a customary couples picture of us...

Here's what we had:

• Bufala Salad (olawalu tomatoes, bufala mozzarella, truffle oil, aged balsamic vinaigrette, alziari extra virgin olive oil, and black kilauea sea salt)
• Sauteed line caught local mahi-mahi (kula spinach, herbed mashed potatoes, gorgonzola pancetta bits, and chardonnay beurre blanc) -> this was the best mahi mahi we'd ever had and we d-e-v-o-u-r-e-d it.
• Kurombuta Pork Shank (pork shank with black currant demi-glace, pearl onions, asparagus, creamed spinach mixed in with mashed potatoes)
• Triple Berry Pie (raspberries, blueberries, and black currants with whipped cream and strawberry sauce) -> this pie was insane!  Absolute pie perfection.

We rolled ourselves back to the car after dinner and took a quick stroll on the beach at the hotel before spending the rest of the night out on the lenai, playing cards and getting tipsy.  Despite a relatively early flight the next day, we didn't go to bed until 2am or so to try to delay the inevitability of going home just a little longer.

And with that, our amazing vacation and this series of posts have come to an end... thanks for reliving the adventure with me!  :-)

{maui} day 8

We slept in the morning of Day 8, had a late breakfast, and trekked out to Black Rock for more snorkeling.  The fish were abundant and similar to what we'd seen the day before at Honolua Bay.  We'd been snorkeling for nearly an hour when we had our second sea turtle sighting.  They're so much bigger than everything else in the water that it's always such a surprise when come out of nowhere and are suddenly mere feet away.  We saw another turtle after that, and then a HUGE ray!  Turns out it was a spotted eagle ray, like this:

It set my nerves off a bit (I'll admit, I had brief flashes of getting Steve Irwined), but it was so beautiful and graceful I couldn't help wanting it to swim back toward us so we could get another look.

After snorkeling we set up by the pool for a few hours of sunbathing and swimming - a combination that never seems to get old.  Another late afternoon nap, followed by the sunset cliff dive on Black Rock, and we headed out to Lahaina to do a bit of shopping and to get some dinner.

We grabbed some beers and burgers at Cool Cats (voted the "best" burgers in Maui.)  The service was a tad slow, but nothing like what people griped about on Yelp.  The burgers were delish, as were the fries and onion rings.  They had a guy playing classic rock tunes, who was a delightful change of pace from the island music we'd been hearing for the past week.  He played The Weight for us, which was excellent.

After dinner we stopped for our 3rd and final shave ice of the trip.  This one was BY FAR the best.  The girls at Ululani's were chatty, but it didn't detract from their ability to make some damn good shave ice.  First they shave the block of ice like snow then they pack it down and aerate it with a straw before pouring on the syrup.  We got 1/2 pineapple 1/2 strawberry (hey, we know what we like when it comes to sweet treats and we stick to it) and the taste and texture were far superior to any of the other shave ices we'd had so far... each spoonful melted instantly in our mouths.  Mmmmm, it was so good.

Next up for Day 9... our last day in Maui.  :-(

{maui} day 7

After a luxurious night's sleep in our king size bed, we grabbed a bit of breakfast at the hotel buffet, and drove up to Honolua Bay for some snorkeling.  The coral was sparse at first, but once we found the reef a bit further out we quickly discovered why this was considered such a great snorkeling spot.  There were a ton of very colorful fish, some bigger than we saw in the Great Barrier Reef.  Then - out of nowhere - a sea turtle was swimming right in front of us!  Sea turtles are my 3rd favorite animal on the planet (behind sea otters and orangutans), so I may have freaked out a bit.  We followed it for a while until it disappeared into the deep.  Those few minutes were easily the highlight of the whole day. We spent the afternoon by the pool, cooling off with fruity drinks and dips in the pool.  When we'd had enough sun, we went back up to the room for what was supposed to be a short nap, but I guess we were liking that bed a bit too much because we slept right through the alarm.  What was supposed to be a 7pm dinner turned into 8:30pm.  Oh well.  Totally worth it.

We had dinner on the beach front patio at the Hula Grill (also in Whaler's Village.)  The food wasn't anything special, sort of bar food with a tropical twist, but it really hit the spot.  The live music was surprisingly good, and our fellow tourists were unsurprisingly annoying.  (Apparently the patio at the Hula Grill is a hot spot for frat-type vacationers.)

After dinner we went back to the room for a lazy movie night.  We watched Cyrus, which was pretty funny.  John C Reilly can do no wrong and Marisa Tomei was great as the quirky oddball mom.   But even days later I found I couldn't get the shots of Jonah Hill's creepy staring out of my head.

See?  Creepy.

Day 8... even more snorkeling, sea turtles, and sun.

{maui} day 6

After a lazy morning at the Sugar Inn, we packed up Betty White for the last time.  Saying goodbye was bittersweet - she was our home for 5 days and enabled us to do so many amazing things we just wouldn't have been able to do in a rental car... but we were ready for some good old fashioned resort time.  Dreams of fruity drinks poolside, an air conditioned room, a bed, fresh towels, and sleeping in carried us all the way to Ka'anapali. We were a bit early for check-in so we drove in Lahaina for lunch at Aloha Mixed Plate.  The service was a bit slow, but the food was delicious.  Back at the hotel, not only was our room ready - but they'd upgraded us to a Deluxe Ocean Front Suite!  Thanks Starwood!  We knew from the website that this was one of the nicest rooms at the whole resort, but imagine our excitement when we discovered that it was pretty much the polar opposite of Betty White.  (No offense, B-dubs.)  The shower alone was bigger than the Westie.  Here's a little 3 minute tour of our room, in case you're interested:

After unpacking, we went for a quick dip in the ocean, had some girly drinks at the Cliff Dive bar, and headed back to our room to watch the sunset cliff diving ceremony at Black Rock from our lenai.  The twice weekly luau was taking place on the lawn below our room so we got to take in some traditional Hawaiian dancing before leaving for dinner in Whalers Village.  We ate at Cane & Taro, which was pretty good but still not the mind-blowing island seafood experience we'd been hoping to find in West Maui.

On our way back to the hotel, we noticed that the full moon had a multi-colored halo around it, but sadly didn't have our camera with us to document the strange sight.  It turns out it was a lunar corona, and looked very similar to this (but ours was more colorful):

We ended the night with some wine, beer, cards and tunes out on the lenai.  I know what you're thinking... how did they endure such hardship, such stress?  Well it wasn't easy, but we managed.  ;)

Up next for Day 7... snorkeling, sea turtles, and sun.

Heather & Alex's table numbers

I mentioned last week that my dear friend, Heather, was getting married... well I'm happy to report that the wedding was perfect. I know I'm biased, but she was one of the most stunning brides I've ever seen!

See?  GORGEOUS!  She and Alex are such a great couple and I was so honored to be a part of their big day.  In addition to being a bridesmaid, I also had the pleasure of making a small design contribution to their reception.  Heather came to me several months ago saying that she'd seen the perfect table numbers in Real Simple Weddings but couldn't find a good picture online to show me.  My natural curiosity has led me to be somewhat of a master Googler and I love a good searching challenge.  This was the link she sent me that had the page from the magazine:

The table numbers she wanted are the center pic in the cluster of 9 on the right... kinda hard to see, right?  BUT, I noticed that if I hovered over the picture there was a photo credit for Angelica Glass.  So I went to her website and - voila!

Heather and Alex were having a black & white wedding, so I set out trying to replicate the table numbers using black and gray ink on white cardstock.  (I decided to use a clean edge for the circles instead of scalloped because I felt it matched the style of their wedding a bit better.)  I was able to find the exact font used for the primary numbers: Cast Iron, available for free from DaFont.  I used PowerPoint to create the design (I'm telling you, people, it's for more than just presenting!) and sent it off to Heather and Alex for their thoughts...

They loved it!  I was so relieved.  I designed the rest and printed them at home on medium weight cardstock using my highest quality printer and ink settings.  Thankfully, our friend Sarah had this super handy circle cutter so they were pretty easy to cut out.  I cut out two of each number and used Zots to glue them back to back (so you could see the number no matter where you were sitting at the table.)  Here's how they looked!:

How amazing are those flowers, by the way???  Apparently Alex came up with that idea.  Pretty impressive!  If you're making your own table numbers and want to try this style (or tweak it to make it your own) here's the download for my PowerPoint file, complete with table numbers 1-9, and instructions for putting them together.  Enjoy, and please let me know if you end up using them!  I'd love to see pictures of how they turn out!

[dm]5[/dm]

PS... you'll need PowerPoint to be able to open the file, though it might work in Keynote.  You'll also need to download Cast Iron from Dafont if you want to use that font.

Supplies:

• Medium weight cardstock
• Home printer (or you can take them to a print shop)
• Circle cutter
• Double sided tape or Zots
• Stand with photo/paper clip (the hotel provided Heather with these, but you could probably find them at a craft store or Target)

Instructions:

1. Print out 2 of each table number using the highest quality settings your printer will allow.  I recommend printing test pages on regular paper before trying it with your cardstock.  Play around with the ink settings if you feel it's drying too dull.  Make sure it's set to heavy or a slower drying time (depends on your printer.)
2. Cut out the table numbers using a circle cutter, making sure to cut just inside the border.
3. Attach two of the same table numbers back to back using double sided tape, Zots, or similar.  Repeat until all of the table numbers are attached.
4. Stick the table numbers in the stands, and you're done!

Have fun, and please let me know if you have any questions about using or downloading the file!

{maui} day 5

After a thankfully dry night's sleep, we headed out from Camp Olowalu to complete our final leg of driving. Later that day we'd be able to say we drove the entire island. Pretty cool. And tiring. Our first stop of the day was Makalua-Puna Point. The lava here was much lighter than we'd seen so far and the waves had eroded it into sharp points in places. The views from here were spectacular.

Next up was the Nakalele Blowhole. This was easily one of the best stops of the whole trip. After a bit of a trek down to the water, we reached the blowhole, found a nearby rock, and sat there mesmerized by what we were seeing. Over time, the ocean undercut the lava shelf that shapes the shoreline and when the waves crash against the shore, the water shoots up through a man-sized hole in the lava.

It's hard to really appreciate the natural wonder of the Nakalele Blowhole without seeing it in person, but here's some video in case a crazy Maui adventure isn't in your future:

We could have stayed at the Blowhole all afternoon, but we had to keep moving. Fortunately, our next stop was also pretty fantastic - the Olivine Pools. The hike down to the pools was a bit of a beast, but totally worth it. The rocks have little bits of olivine encrusted in them, making them glitter in the sun, and the pools were so wonderful to swim in.

After a long dip in the pools, we got back on the road, picked up some more banana bread at Julia's, and purchased a few souvenirs at the wonderful little Kaukini Gallery. Our very last stop before completing our journey around Maui was the Lower Makamaka'ole Falls. Though we couldn't get up close, they were still pretty beautiful from the highway. (The point at which I get sick of seeing waterfalls is the point at which I need to chuck my iPhone out the window and seriously reevaluate my life.)

We felt a huge sense of accomplishment as we drove back into Kahului. It tooks us 5 days and 314 miles to see and do everything we wanted to do during the "adventure" part of our Maui vacation, and in spite of the sunburns and dirty feet, it felt seriously awesome.

We'd already decided that we didn't want to camp another night... as much as we loved Betty White, we were in desperate need of a real bed and a hot shower. So we called Kat at the Sugar Inn in Pa'ia and booked a room. She was so nice and our room was exactly what we needed. We dropped our stuff, had a much needed scrub down in the shower, and hung out on the lenai until dinner.

For dinner that night we went to Milagros in Pa'ia, which was good but not great. Thankfully, the same can't be said for the post-dinner gelato we got at Ono Gelato.

Ono Gelato makes their gelato right there in the store and uses local, organic ingredients. These facts were a nice little bonus, but I don't care what they use as long as they keep making unbelievably delicious gelato. That cup of 1/2 pineapple 1/2 strawberry was as good, if not better, than the gelato I had in Italy. I definitely need to add gelato to my frozen treats repertoire.

After some more hang-time on the lenai, we crashed fairly early. To say we were exhausted would be a HUGE understatement.

Day 6... we bid a fond farewell to Betty and try our best to adjust to the harsh realities of resort-life.

{maui} day 4

The sunrise the morning of Day 4 was so beautiful it nearly made us forget the awful, stormy night we just had.

We even had another rainbow sighting over the Seven Sacred Pools.

Another breakfast of oatmeal and banana bread in our bellies and we headed out to drive the southern coast of Maui and make our way up to Haleakala.  Past Kipahulu, the landscape abruptly went from lush greenery to dry desert (complete with stray cattle and mountain goats), and the road became even windier and narrower than usual.  Several stretches were unpaved, or used to be paved and are now simply a mosaic of pothole patches.

After an hour or so of driving we started making our way up Haleakala.  The road to the summit is essentially 20 miles of switchbacks, climbing up to the visitor center at 7,000 feet, and then higher to the summit at 10,000 feet.  Betty did surprisingly okay and the views made up for the nausea.  (There were points at which we could actually see turbulence in the clouds as we climbed above the cloud line.)

We finally got to the Leleiwi Lookout (around 9,000 feet and a few miles from the summit) and it became very clear why we'd endured all those switchbacks - Haleakala Crater was vast, impressive, and stunning.  The temperature drop was very noticeable at this altitude, so I was even colder than usual.

We made our way up to the summit, which I thought wasn't as impressive as the view from the Lookout.  Don't get me wrong, it was still beautiful, but the view from the Lookout felt more like we were in the crater.  Still, looking out into the crater it was hard to believe that it was all once an active, lava-filled volcano.

We also saw these cool plants called silverswords.  The summit of Haleakala is the only place they exist in the entire world, and - like salmon - they only spawn once in their lifetime before they die.

After a lazy lunch at Hosmer Grove (the campground about halfway up Haleakala), it was time to tackle the switchbacks again.  Going down the mountain was much much worse.  There wasn't a gear low enough that made it possible to not ride Betty's brakes the entire time.  The smell of raw brakes greeted us as we got back to civilization, but the old girl came through for us.

We made our way back to South Maui to tour the beach towns that stretch from Kihei to La Perouse Bay.  There were some very nice houses and hotels, but the towns themselves lacked a lot of the character we saw in Central and East Maui.  The lava fields we saw down at Cape Kina'u were probably the best thing we saw along this stretch.

After that it was more driving - this time back up the coast to Hwy 30 and West Maui.  It was here that we finally got closer to real shave ice at the Olowalu Market.  It was much bigger, the ice was more finely shaven, and the syrup was much more flavorful.  Jared had been driving for 10 hours at this point so he probably would have welcomed anything that was cold and sweet, but it was a nice little bonus for the shave ice to be so good.

We struggled to find a good spot to camp for the night, and after getting stuck in the sand at one beach, and weirded out by the chickens and stray cats at another, we decided it was best to fork over the $20 to park Betty at Camp Olowalu for the night.  I was finally able to get in a short military-style shower, which was cold but extremely enjoyable.  We cooked up another dinner of hot dogs and Kraft Mac 'n Cheese and settled in for the night.

On the menu for Day 5... we finally complete the trek around the entire coast of Maui and visit one of the best sites of the whole trip - the Nakalele Blowhole.

{maui} day 3

Day 3 in Maui was our 1 year anniversary!  We woke up very early to drive to the Venus Pool because the views are supposed to be spectacular at sunrise.  We missed it by about 30 minutes because the drive back there took a bit longer than we anticipated, but it was still beautiful.

We popped a squat on a hill overlooking where the pools met the ocean and had a little breakfast of banana bread.  We had the whole site to ourselves, which is extremely rare for any sightseeing spot along the Hana Highway.  We didn't even mind when a light rain started to fall.  Which led to finding this when we got back to the car...

It was tough to leave this beautiful site, but we were in need of more supplies so we headed back to Hana to stock up.  On our way back to Kipahulu we wound up at Hamoa Beach for an early morning swim and to watch the surfers.  We were there at the perfect time... it was just us, the surfers, and a few locals doing some sort of traditional Hawaiian blessing on the hills above us.  It made for the best beach experience of the trip thus far, despite nearly drowning twice when I got pummeled by huge waves.  Seriously.  Absolutely blasted.  It wasn't pretty.

Back at Kipahulu, we managed to nab our same campsite and fixed up a snack.  The rain had come back a bit, but it had been falling on and off all day so we decided to continue with our plan to hike the Pipiwai Trail.  The first falls along the trail, the Makahiku Falls, sadly weren't falling.  Based on what the book said, we had high hopes for taking a swim in the Infinity Pool but it also wasn't flowing and was covered in mosquitoes.   It still made for some pretty pictures, though...

There were more pretty pools and vegetation along the trail, leading up to an amazing bamboo forest that was like another world.  When the breeze would blow the bamboo would knock against each other like a wind chime.

Now comes the part of this hike that I debated about including in this post... It was around the bamboo forest that we got stuck behind two female hikers.  Two insanely slow, oblivious hikers that walked even slower when they talked to each other about stupid unimportant things like cats and how one of them doesn't like stairs.  I wish I was kidding.  The hike at this point was just a narrow boardwalk, making it impossible to walk around them.  Now, I've been on dozens of hikes in my life and I assumed it was common knowledge that the proper hiking etiquette is to step aside and let faster hikers pass you.  And when I say common knowledge what I really mean is common sense.  I've really never experienced anything quite like it.  Which is why I felt the need to write about it... so that no one I know and love will ever have to experience the misery that was the last mile and a half of that hike.  So here's my little PSA: if you're on a hike and two very nice, non-aggressive people are clearly walking faster than you, please step aside and let them pass.  Sorry to get all preachy.  I'll move on now.  Oh - one more thing!  Feel free to apply this same common sense rule to driving in the left lane.  If you're not actively passing someone, please move over.  No matter how fast you think you're going, there's always someone who wants to go faster.  Thanks.  Okay, now I'm really moving on.

Thankfully the payoff at the end of the hike made that last mile and a half totally worth it - the Waimoku Falls...

It's hard to get a sense for the scale in this picture, but the falls are 400 feet tall and you can sort of see the size compared to the person in the blue in the bottom right corner.

Jared took a quick dip in the pool under the falls, then we headed back down the trail toward the campsite.  We dropped our stuff and went for a swim at the Seven Sacred Pools.  It was so nice and refreshing and a much needed opportunity to get off the last of the sand from Hamoa.  The sun showers were still falling on and off, so we ended up spending much of the rest of the afternoon stuck inside the camper.  We made a nice lunch and Jared settled in for a nap while I engrossed myself in Little Bee (I highly recommend reading it if you haven't already.)  Not long after after lunch, the biggest, brightest, and most complete rainbow I've ever seen started to appear over the ocean.

It continued to get stronger, and then...

DOUBLE RAINBOW!  OMG!!  :-)  It was very exciting.  We pretty much spent the next 2 hours transfixed by this rainbow.

Here's what happened in between this last photo and the next...

The monsoon finally stopped and the double rainbow reappeared.  By now it had gotten so big I had to walk clear across the campground to be able to fit half of it in the frame.  (That's Betty in the bottom right...)

It was awesome in every sense of the word.  Sadly, more rains arrived (probably still Jared's fault) and didn't seem to be letting up this time.  We made hot dogs and chili for our anniversary dinner, then got boozy and played cards while we waited for the rain to stop.  It didn't.  The rain and wind gusts lasted all night long.  Nothing says Happy Anniversary like having a terrible night's sleep in the top bunk of a VW camper because you left the back open during a rain storm and the regular bed got soaked.  Good times.  :)

Day 4 couldn't come soon enough after such a crappy night... up next - we see more rainbows, summit Haleakala, and head west toward better weather.

{maui} day 2

We woke up early on our second day in Maui to very light rain sprinkles.  Getting rained on in paradise is way better than getting rained on in Portland, so we didn't really sweat it when the rain turned monsoon-like about an hour later.  We broke out the stove and cooked up a small breakfast of oatmeal while we waited out the storm.

After taking our last hot shower for the next 3 days, the rain stopped and we packed up and got back on the Road to Hana.  Our first stop was Aunty Sandy's in Ke'anae.  (I should mention that we were religiously following the advice in Maui Revealed, a must have if you're going to Maui and a total lifesaver for us.  The author is a BIG fan of the banana bread in Maui, and it wasn't hard to see why once we had our first taste of the stuff.)

One of the handful of things my dad is really spectacular at making in the kitchen is banana bread from scratch... I haven't had it in years but I remember it being insanely good.  He said the secret was using overly ripe bananas.  The warm banana bread we got at Aunty Sandy's was even better than my dad's.  Far and away the best banana bread I've ever had.  I really can't put into words how moist and delicious it was.

Aunty Sandy's is located where it is because there also happens to be a great little stretch of coastline there that tourists flock to for photo ops.  It was here that we got our first up-close glimpse of the lava rocks that make up the majority of Maui's beaches.

Back on the Hana Highway we stopped at a blink-and-you'll-miss-it gravel lot on the side of the road beneath the Wailua Valley State Wayside.  The steep flight of stairs to the Wayside were definitely worth the climb, as once we got up there we had sweeping views of the Pacific below us, the tiny village of Wailua and several small taro fields.  Behind us was a great view of Haleakala.

The next stop was the Upper Waikani Falls (also called the Three Bears Falls.)  They were pretty, but it was a really busy stop so we didn't stay long.

Pua'a Ka'a State Park a little further down the road was a surprisingly pretty stop and slightly less busy.  It was here that I finally figured out the settings for getting a nice waterfall pic, which got me super excited.

The book makes a big deal about a little community down the road a bit called Nahiku - going so far as to say "As you stand there in your own private paradise, you can't help but wonder if there's a more beautiful place in the world."  Well, Mr. Doughty, you need to book yourself a week at the Thala Beach Lodge in Port Douglas, Australia.  Or stand on the cliffs in Capri, Italy looking out onto the Mediterranean.  Nahiku was pretty, but not nearly as impressive as the book makes it out to be.  For one, the road to the actual beach is closed to non-residents (a result of being mentioned so enthusiastically in the book, no doubt.)  There were plenty of tourists who disregarded the signs, but we parked at the head of the road and walked through the town and down to the beach.  The swimming holes the author highlighted were all dried up, and the beach itself wasn't really anything special compared to elsewhere in Maui.  This was once of the few places where the book led us astray, and if you're taking the Road to Hana, I'd recommend not bothering with this stop.

Our next stop was Wai'anapanapa State Park where we had a picnic lunch on the beautiful black sand beach.  There was also a cool little cave / lava tube there that we explored.

After the black sand beach we went to a red sand beach at Ka'uiki Hill, which was also beautiful but we were hot and desperate for a beach where we could do some swimming so we picked up our first Shave Ice and got back on the road.  Not all Shave Ice is created equal, and this first sampling was basically just a slightly tastier snow cone.  Thankfully the cooldown we were looking for was only a few miles away at Koki Beach.  It was one of the prettiest beaches I've ever been to and we got in some much needed bodysurfing in the warm clear water.

Back on the Hana Highway we skipped a few waterfalls and the Venus Pool (we'd get to them the next day) to nab a good campsite at Haleakala National Park in Kipahulu.  The campground was busy since it was a Saturday, but we were right along the coastline and the views were unreal.

About 200 yards from our campground stood one of the best sites of our whole trip: 'Ohe'o Gulch (aka Seven Sacred Pools).  We got there just as the sun was starting to set, which made the water appear several shades of blue.

A dip in the pools would have to wait, since daylight was fading and we were starving.  On the menu for dinner: hot dogs and Kraft Mac 'n Cheese.  Low in nutrition, high in sodium, and completely delicious.

Up next for Day 3... our anniversary, sunrise at the Venus Pool, bodysurfing at Hamoa, 400 ft falls, and a massive double rainbow.  OMG!  :)

{maui} day 1

After a very bumpy flight into Maui, Jared and I stepped out of OGG into exactly the kind of weather we'd been hoping for - hot, tropical, and most importantly SUNNY! A brief cab ride to Kihei and we arrived at our first stop: Aloha Campers. Our friends Erin and John had gone to Maui earlier in the year and rented a VW Westfalia to take camping around the island for the first part of their trip. We loved the idea so much we decided to do the exact same thing! The plan was to camp for 5 days, and stay at a nice resort for the last 4. But we started to question that plan when we pulled up to pick up the Westie. The Aloha Campers sign is basically Sharpie on cardboard and it more closely resembled a junk yard than a car rental place. But this was supposed to be an adventure, right? And Erin and John are good, normal people who would have told us if this was a shady operation, right? Thankfully, the manager arrived shortly after us and put our minds at ease. He showed us around our late 80s/early 90s Westfalia - white, automatic, sink, stove, fold down bed, pop-up roof with a 2nd bed and vented windows. Neither of us had ever been in a Westfalia before, much less driven one, but nervous excitement carried us from Kihei back up to Kahului where we picked up food and supplies for the next 5 days. After that, we hit the Hana Highway!

(Somewhere between Kahului and Pa'ia I decided we should nickname our Westie "Betty White." She was old but still kicking, and had us laughing from the start. This nickname naturally led to many immature jokes throughout the rest of the trip... particularly when periods of rain made it rather hot and muggy inside the van. I'll leave the rest to your imagination.)

Our first stop was Pa'ia, a very cute little beach town that reminded me a bit of my days in Venice Beach. It has a lot of character - probably the most of any town we visited in Maui - and felt less touristy than we expected. We ate lunch at Charley's, which is owned by Willie Nelson and named after his late dog. We both had salads and got our first sampling of local beer from the Maui Brewing Company. I had the Bikini Blonde Lager and Jared had the Big Swell IPA. We both agreed mine was better.

We drove the Hana Highway to Ke'anea and came very close to dying several times. The Hana Highway is no joke - it's narrow, windy, hilly, and pretty much terrifying (especially in a clunky old van that we were still getting used to driving.) Betty White was a champ, though. I think she handled the drive better than we did.

We stopped at the YMCA camp in Ke'anea for the night. It had great views of the ocean, lush greenery, and hot showers. Another Westfalia was already there, so we chatted with them for a bit... Wendy and Joe from San Fran, celebrating their 5 yr anniversary, also rented from Aloha Campers. They were jealous of Betty's condition, as their's was stick-shift, had a bit of rust around the kitchen area, and didn't have the side vents in the pop-up top. When you're stuck in a van together for 5 days these things start to matter.

We had some drinks, played several rounds of Gin Rummy, and called it a night. (If I admitted that Jared whooped me at cards that first night I'd also have to admit that I returned the favor nearly every night from that point on and that would be insensitive, so why bring it up? I'm way more mature than that.) ;)

Stay tuned for Day 2, when we get our first taste of the best banana bread on the planet, go waterfall hunting, and finally get in some beach time...

I'm back...

Sorry it's been so long since my last post! Here's a little recap of what I've been up to: (1) Hawaii: The hubs and I just got back from our 1 year anniversary trip to Maui. (A year? Already?? Where has the time gone?!?) I'm so excited to tell you all about it. We had an amazing time and did and saw so much that I could write an entire post for each day we were there. Soooo... that's exactly what I'm going to do over the next week or so. Stay tuned.

(2) Etsy shop status: Alright, so September was a little crazier than I anticipated and October's shaping up to be the same. I have a wedding this weekend (see below), a memorial service next weekend, a work party and another wedding the weekend after that, maybe an off weekend, and then the annual cabin trip. Sprinkle in a few shows and a full-time job, and I'm looking at some very sewing-filled weeknights this month. So given all of that, the plan is to launch on 11/7. There. It's in writing. Dealines are good. Not at all stressful or panic inducing. Nope. Uh uh. 38 days. Holy moly. Breathe, Allie. Breathe...

(3) Hesse & Haase - the end of an era: I'm writing this from the train headed up to Seattle for the wedding of one of my dearest girlfriends in the whole world, Heather. Heather and I moved to Seattle around the same time 4 and a half years ago, and were introduced by a mutual friend we both knew from Michigan (she grew up there, I went to school there.) We bonded immediately over our love for good music and bad 80s movies (Teen Witch, anyone?), and a general dislike for stupid girls and crappy ex-boyfriends. We were both recently out of relationships at the time and filled our nights and weekends making the most of our mid-20s singledom. We moved on to new relationships, me with Jared, Heather with what we like to call a GGBB - good guy, bad boyfriend. Thankfully that ended, and Heather met a super great guy named Alex. He completely adores her, and gets her even when she's at her worst. He balances her in a way I've never seen any other guy be able to do. He's the kind of guy you hope your girlfriend ends up with, so I couldn't be happier that they're getting married. It's bittersweet that the Hesse & Haase era has come to an end. Shellaway & Contreras, though happier and blissfully more mature, doesn't quite have the same ring to it... but hey, no matter what - we will always go dancing.

it's all happening...

With my Etsy shop launch only a few weeks away, I've been hunkered down in my basement most nights churning out bag after bag (okay, and catching up on Project Runway and Sarah's House.) I'm really excited about how the designs and fabric combinations are coming together, and wanted to give you a little preview...

The first bag I'll be selling is actually what inspired this whole crazy Etsy shop idea. I've always been a take-your-lunch-to-work kind of girl, and spent years trying to find a good lunch bag. The insulated kind you find at Target left a lot to be desired from a style standpoint, and though seemingly large from the outside - my various tupperware containers never seemed to fit. So like most working women who take their lunch, I resorted to using small shopping bags (Sephora worked the best for me.) The size was perfect, but they would inevitably wear out after a few weeks of use. I needed a fabric lunch bag that was the same size and shape of my favorite small shopping bags... so after years of searching, I finally just I made one myself. I originally made the bags using oil cloth, but decided to switch to fabric for my Etsy shop because I wanted them to be a bit more eco-friendly.

(Please try to ignore my dirty windows... I keep hoping they'll magically clean themselves and it shockingly never happens.) The bags are the size of a small department store shopper, and I'll be selling them in 3 different fabric options. (All fabrics are by Amy Butler, because I love her and I couldn't imagine cheating on her for my very first collection.) To make them nice and sturdy, I used home decorator weight fabric backed by an extra firm stabilizer. I also took a trick I learned from making the Weekender Bags and added a bottom insert to the bag to help it keep its form when it's loaded up with leftovers. Finally, the bags are lined with a coordinating solid fabric to give them a nice finished look.

I've been using the Lunch Tote prototype as my lunch bag for a few months now and am very pleased with how it's held up. It's been through the wash a few times and all I've needed was a hot iron to get it back to its original shape. (Btw, each bag will ship with washing instructions, and I'll have them up on the blog for reference.)

And now for my next act...

The second bag I'll be selling was also born out of necessity. Being a fairly eco-conscious person, I try very hard to avoid using disposable (especially plastic) bags. We always have reusable shopping bags when we go to the grocery store, Home Depot, and other big box stores, but they're not practical to keep in your purse for unplanned shopping trips (i.e. the pharmacy, "accidental" Anthro excursions, etc.) Usually if I find myself at the checkout counter without a reusable bag, I'll jam as much as possible into my purse and carry the rest by hand. In addition to looking a little ridiculous, there are times when this just isn't practical and I have to get one of those dang dreaded disposable bags. This is promptly followed by self-loathing and fears of being lectured and guilted out of money by the annoyingly eager Greenpeace canvassers that occupy nearly every corner in downtown Portland. Anyway, you get the point... I needed a reusable shopper big enough to hold the contents of a standard $60 Target trip, and that I could fold or roll up so it's small enough to keep in my purse. Voila... my Roll Up Shopping Tote.

Like the Lunch Totes, this bag will also come in 3 different Amy Butler fabric options. It has a sling shoulder strap, and a wrap sewn into the back with a velcro closure for when you need it stowed away. To reduce the bulk when the bag is rolled up, there's no lining... instead I used French seams. This type of seam basically encases the original seam so that no raw edges are exposed and fraying doesn't become an issue. The Shopping Tote is also machine washable.

Though over 2 ft in length - once rolled up, the bag is smaller than a CD. All you do to roll it up is fold the shoulder strap down toward the bottom of the bag, do a length-wise tri-fold using the width of the wrap as your guide, then roll up from the bottom, pull the wrap around the rolled bag, and fasten the velcro. It was surprisingly easy to do... I didn't even need to lay it out on a table first. (Along with the washing instructions for this bag, I'll include a diagram for how to roll it up. I feel like it's pretty intuitive, but I realize I'm also a little biased.)

Next steps... oh, about a million. I'm still aiming for an end of September / beginning of October launch, but I'll post an exact date once I have it pinned down (no pun intended, I swear.) Stay tuned!

swept away

When I think about the songs that have meant the most to me in my life, Swept Away tops the list. I make no claims about it being a brilliant song, or even my favorite Avett Brothers song, but it will always hold a special place in my heart.

Swept Away was one of the first Avett Brothers songs that I really fell in love with – it had no personal meaning for me at the time, it was just a very sweet and honest love song. The kind of song that’s very hard to not be touched by. But it took on new meaning after Jared and I started dating. We had been very close friends for about a year and a half, so we thankfully got to bypass all the getting to you know you awkwardness of new relationships. He’d seen me at my worst and vice versa. It didn’t take long for either of us to realize that what we shared was very different from what we’d experienced in past relationships (i.e. drama, frustration, self-doubt… the general BS that comes along with staying with the wrong person for way too long.) We never had to question how we felt about each other… the love we came to share was something I could trust in completely. It’s why when people ask me how I knew Jared was “the one,” I always reply: I just knew.

About 6 months after we began dating, a lot of things started changing for us… Jared got a job in Portland and had to move there without me until I could find a new job and join him. Neither of us wanted to leave Seattle (we didn’t know at the time how much we’d end up loving Portland) and we didn’t know how long we’d have to live in different cities. Around that time, Jared and I were riding in the car together and Swept Away came on. This wasn't anything out of the ordinary since The Avett Brothers dominate our iPods, but this particular song hit us differently that day… we both kinda looked at each other, and from that point on, it was our song. Maybe because it put into words what we were unable to:

“Well life is ever changing but I will always find a constant and comfort in your love…”

Swept Away would come to be a big part of some of the most important days of my life. It was playing when I walked down the stairs of our house to find rose petals, the biggest vase of roses I'd ever seen, and then Jared down on one knee asking me to marry him. And it was playing 9 months later when Jared and I had our first dance at our wedding.

This past Monday, The Avett Brothers were in town to play a last minute benefit show (for the Terra Nova Community Farm) at the Crystal Ballroom. The Avetts' Ballroom shows are pretty legendary (to this day, their 2nd night at the Ballroom last year is without question the best show I've ever seen), and on top of that Langhorne Slim and Black Prairie were opening and they only planned to release 500 tickets. Not surprisingly, the announcement lured in hardcore fans from across the country.

The morning of the show they recorded a short live performance at Kink.fm that we were fortunate enough to win tickets to. We got a chance to meet them after the performance and while I was a speechless goof, my wonderful husband managed to mention to them that Swept Away was our wedding song, which prompted me out of my stupor long enough to ask them to play it that night. (It would be our 10th Avett Brothers show, and we had yet to see them play it live.)

Later that night, they started in on the 18th song of what was an already unbelievable, fan wishlist filled set, and I couldn't believe my ears. They were actually playing it. There we were, standing in the front row, finally getting to see them play this song that meant so much to us. For the entire length of the song I stood there filled with gratitude, disbelief, and love... love for Jared, love for this song, this band, this night. And when we thanked them after the show Seth said "Aw, we were hoping you guys were here to hear it. We played it for you." Even typing that just now I still can't believe it all went down the way it did.

It's hard to put into words how special this show was... the crowd was filled with diehard fans, and they knew it. They played every song as though it was a thank you to the fans... fans that loved them long before they were on a major label and getting radio play, when they were just 3 guys and sometimes a cellist, playing without a setlist, breaking strings and screaming out country tunes. If I had to pick any show from the last 3 years to see them play Swept Away at, this would have been it. It was a perfect night, and I’m so grateful to have been there.

Click here to watch The Avett Brothers performing Swept Away at the Crystal Ballroom on 8.30.10.

basil lime sorbet

After a cold spring during which most of our veggies and herbs died, our basil has made quite the comeback over the past couple of months. It's basically a basil bush now. We've made a variety of pastas, pestos, and caprese salads, but we can't seem to make a dent in it. So I got a little excited when I came across a recipe for basil lime sorbet. It sounded a bit strange, but I figured it was worth a shot. I'll take any excuse I can get to make sorbet, ice cream, or really anything that calls for a large amount of sugar.

I decided to double the recipe to use up even more basil, so it took about 9 small organic limes to get 1 1/2 cups of fresh lime juice.

Our basil leaves were bigger than what we normally get from the store, but I didn't want to deviate from the recipe on the first try so I used the full 40 leaves (recipe x 2).

I started to get a little concerned about the end result after blending all the ingredients together.  The color was similar to mushy peas.

But the taste was interesting... and not in a bad way.  So I stuck with it.  After the blending I had to stray from the recipe because I wanted to use my ice cream maker instead of the freeze and chop method they suggested.  I let the mixture sit out on the counter for 30 minutes to let it cool a bit, then covered it and put it in the fridge until the temperature reached 40 degrees.  Once it reached the right temp, I put it in the ice cream maker and let it churn for about 25 minutes.  Then I scraped it into a bowl, covered the sorbet with wax paper, and put the air-tight cover on.  I stuck it in the freezer to finish hardening for a few hours, then it was time to try it out...

So here's the thing about this sorbet... despite it's strange color - it's good.  It might be really good.  If it was part of a prix fixe meal at a fancy Italian restaurant I'd probably be really impressed.  The basil and lime were surprisingly complimentary, and it was a great way to use up a ton of basil.  But it's not something I'm going to crave - which is probably a good thing considering we're going to Hawaii in a few weeks.  It's kind of like Red Vines.  It's really close to what you want (Twizzlers), but it doesn't quite hit the spot.  It leaves you wishing you'd saved those calories for the treat you really wanted (in this case a huge honkin' bowl of chocolate gelato.)  But the recipe gets great reviews on AllRecipes.com, so maybe you'll love it.  If you have your own basil bush in your backyard, or you just really love basil, give it a try...

Basil Lime Sorbet

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 3/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 20 fresh basil leaves, minced

Method:

1) Make a simple syrup by bringing the sugar and water to a boil in a small saucepan; allow to boil 1 minute; remove from heat.

2) Combine the syrup, lime juice, and basil in a blender; puree.

3) Pour the mixture into a container and cover; store in freezer until completely frozen, about 2 hours.

4) Break the frozen mixture into pieces and place in the blender; blend until smooth. Return to the container and cover. Store in freezer until ready to serve.

OR, if you're going to use an ice cream maker...

3) Pour the mixture into a container and set it on the counter to cool for 30 minutes.  Then cover and place in the refrigerator until the mixture reaches 40 degrees or colder.

4) Pour the mixture into your ice cream maker and churn according to the machine's instructions.  Scrape into an air-tight container, cover with wax paper and then the bowl cover, and place in the freezer for at least an hour to let it harden.

the secret to perfect hash browns

My husband is a bit of a hash brown connoisseur. Perfect hash browns to him are golden and crispy on top, light and buttery underneath. These hash browns exist at Dockside here in Portland. (Don't be fooled by the dive bar atmosphere... the breakfast is delicious.) But we could never get them to turn out right at home. They always congealed and turned grayish and kinda chewy. Tasty in a weird way, but not quite right. Then we came across this recipe that said the only way to get them perfect is to use a potato ricer to squeeze all of the moisture from the shredded potatoes. Now, Alton Brown taught us to never buy a kitchen gadget that can only do one thing (a rule that likely saved our wedding registry and subsequently our kitchen drawers.) But the idea of being able to make perfect hash browns at home was so tempting! Thankfully we came across a recipe in a recent Food Network Magazine that said you needed a potato ricer to make homemade gnocchi. Hash browns AND homemade gnocchi! Even AB would understand. So we caved and bought the Cuisipro potato ricer. (There are less expensive models, but all the reviews I read said that the quality of this one made it worth the extra money.) I'm happy to report that we tested it out this past Sunday and it was, well... see for yourself:

We followed the recipe I mentioned above, and they were so so so good. Just the right amount of crispiness. We had them with bacon and scrambled eggs with fried shallots. I'm thinking there will be a lot more brinners in our future (breakfast for dinner = brinner) so that we don't have to wait a whole week in between making them.

I'm tempted to try making the hash browns with butter next time instead of oil... I know it would make them a bit worse health-wise, but really - when you're going to serve them with bacon anyway, you might as well go all in.

Here's the recipe (courtesy of Elise @ Simply Recipes):

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbsp olive oil, canola oil, or grapeseed oil
• 1 lb Russet baking potatoes, peeled and grated
• Salt and pepper

Equipment needed:

• Large frying pan (at least a 9" diameter bottom)
• Potato ricer

Method:

1) Heat 3 Tbsp of oil in a large frying pan on medium high heat.

2) While the pan is heating, squeeze out as much moisture as you can from the grated potatoes. It's easiest to do this with a potato ricer, using it much like you would a garlic press, except you don't force the potatoes through the ricer. You just press out the moisture. If you don't have a ricer, use paper towels to squeeze out as much moisture as you can from the grated potatoes.

3) When the oil in the pan heats up to the point of shimmering, but not smoking, add the grated potatoes, spreading them out along the bottom of the pan. The potatoes should not be too thick in any one place, no more than a half inch thick. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on the potatoes. After a few minutes, lift up one edge of the potatoes and see how done they are. If they have fried to a golden brown they are ready to flip. Use a large spatula to flip the potatoes over all at once, or divide the large potato cake into halves or quarters and flip. Continue to cook until they are golden brown on the bottom.

Serves 4.

the schedule

I used to be a really organized person.  I had a Franklin Covey planner, to-do lists that actually got done, a cleaning schedule that I stuck to, and there was order... blissful, wonderful order.  Now?  Not so much.  About a year ago I was a month away from getting married and our lives went from fairly routine to barely managed chaos.  I figured after we got back from our honeymoon I'd easily fall back into my nice, ordered routine... but that was not meant to be.  There was house hunting to do, a job change, Christmas, moving, painting, decorating, building, landscaping, a trip back east, summer... and that brings us to now.  Yep - a year later and the only routine I've managed to maintain from my previously organized life is my always painfully inefficient morning routine. So I got to thinking and realized that what I needed most to help me get back on track was a schedule... set days to take care of myself and my house.  Here's what it looks like:

Sunday: laundry While I don't love doing laundry, I do love starting the week off with clean clothes and fresh sheets and towels.  That should be enough of a motivator to get the laundry done on Sundays, but it's not always. A few weeks ago Jared almost ran out of white undershirts. He has at least 15. It was not my finest hour.

Monday: dusting & floors, Wednesday: kitchen & bathrooms In our old house, Jared and I split the cleaning duties.  But now that we have a front and back yard to take care of, he's taken charge of the outdoor maintenance, and the indoor maintenance has become my responsibility.  I'm not complaining, though.  Jared works his tail off outside, the grass gets mowed every week, the veggies and flowers actually grow... it's impressive.  He also cooks us dinner every night.  Let's be honest, I have it pretty damn good.  Which makes it even worse when I regularly put off my domestic duties.  I look at the tumbleweeds of dog hair floating across our beautiful hardwood floors and can't help but feel like a terrible wife.  Or at the very least, a crappy roommate.  I've been using the approach of super cleaning the house about once a month, usually all in one tiring, sweaty, sigh-filled day.  Needless to say, this approach ain't exactly working for us.  So I'm hoping that splitting out the cleaning over two days and making sure things don't get out of hand by cleaning every week will make this chore a little less painful.  Okay, it'll probably be just as painful... but at least it'll look good when I'm done.

Tuesday & Saturday: running I'm not training for a race right now, so my motivation to run has all but disappeared.  But we're going to Hawaii next month and I'm still carrying around the 5 pounds I gained on our honeymoon, so I need to get my butt in gear.  Immediately.

Thursday: strength training Speaking of weight gain, I gain all my weight in my mid-section, and running doesn't do as much to firm up that area as I'd like.  So I've been trying to add in pilates and balance ball workouts once a week.  I've done them twice in the past two months, hence why they ended up on The Schedule.

Friday: date night This certainly isn't a chore or a to-do, but having my favorite night of the week sandwiched in with all this cleaning and working out makes me very happy.  I don't really know when Fridays became date night for us, but it's been that way for about two years now.  We usually try to go to a restaurant we haven't been to yet, which there seem to be an endless supply of here in Portland.  (This past Friday we finally went to Belly and we both had their famous Belly Burger.  Bacon, blue cheese aioli, and fried shallots.  So freaking good.)

So there it is.  The Schedule.  A no more dirty floors and buddha bellies master plan.  Wish me luck.

before & after: our sun room

Of all the rooms in our house, our sun room has probably undergone the biggest transformation since we moved in.  The previous owners used it as a rather awkward family/tv room, but since Jared and I knew we'd be putting our TV in the living room, we had to come up with an alternate use.  We had a couple of big things we had no place for - mainly our small kitchen table and the bar/bookcase set Jared's parents got us as a wedding gift (seriously awesome.)  So we decided to make the room into a combo breakfast nook/lounging/reading/music listening room.  It sounds like a disastrous hodge-podge of a room idea, but bear with me... Here's what we started with:

This room was built as an addition to the original house, and the previous owners went with builder's beige, bare trim, and polished brass hardware.  No thanks.  So before we even moved in we hired the very awesome Benjamin at Portland Painting & Restoration to spray all the trim (it feels like glass now) and paint the walls with low VOC paint (Cape May Cobblestone from Benjamin Moore.)  We normally try to DIY the painting, but the trim made this job way beyond our abilities.  Given how great it looked when Ben and his team were done, we know we made the right call.

I love how the walls play off the stone tile, and the painted trim really helps connect the room to the rest of the house.  The table is the same one I had in my kitchen growing up, but spruced up with dark brown paint and white Ikea Ingolf chairs.

See, this is how the previous owners had it set up.  Pretty lame, in my opinion.  What's the point of a sun room if you're going to block the windows with roman blinds and a huge TV?  Clearly we love and appreciate this house way more than they did and are most likely far superior people.  ;)

And here's how they had the other side of the room set up...

I'll be honest... I've always found it a little strange that they didn't even bother to straighten the pillows for their listing photo.  My friend Sarah would make such things illegal if she could.  Anyway, here's how it looks now:

This is the lounging/reading/music listening portion of the room.  Alcohol may also get consumed here from time to time.  The chairs are the black leather Tullsta chairs (covered with Blekinge white Ektorp Tullsta slip covers) from Ikea that used to occupy Jared's office in Seattle.  The ottoman and side table are also from Ikea, and the jute rug is from Pottery Barn.  We thankfully already had all of these items so it was only a matter of re-imagining and re-purposing to give them a new life in the sun room.  The green accents were added to coordinate with the green placemats in the breakfast nook (the pillows are from Target and the tray is from West Elm.)

I'm not quite sure what this wall was before...

The sconces seemed strange since the room gets so much natural light and has a fairly bright overhead light, so we took them out and patched up the walls before painting.  Here's how it looks now...

Much better!  Believe it or not, those shelves are currently holding about 500 CDs.  Stylish CD storage has actually been a bit of a challenge for me since Jared and I moved in together.  Jared is a CDs on display kind of person... I'd be content having everything digital.  He'd be content not having a million candles strewn about the house, so we compromise.  I got a bunch of leather CD cases from Ikea (are you noticing a theme yet?) which enabled me to stack nearly 100 CDs on each shelf.   We were both skeptical about how it would look, so we were relieved that it ended up working out so well.  Which I guess could be said for the room as a whole... what started out as an awkward room turned out to be one of my favorite rooms in the whole house!  All it took was a little imagination, a bit of re-purposing, and a whole lot of paint.

DIY Modern Farm Dining Table

When Jared and I bought our first house earlier this year the one room that we had absolutely zero furniture for was our dining room.  This was the blank slate we had to fill:

I got as far as painting those plum walls a nice warm red, and then went looking for decor inspiration.  I immediately fell in love with this collection from Pottery Barn:

Unfortunately the table and chairs in the picture came to about $4,000.  Thankfully, it was around this same time that I discovered Knock Off Wood.  I saw the plans for the Modern Farmhouse Table and convinced Jared that we could just build our own table. Yet another shining example of my tendency to bite off way more than I can chew!  But it did make sense for us - we wanted a hard wood table that would last us several years and everything in our budget was wood veneer (including the table this plan is based on at West Elm.)  So we bought a miter saw and headed to Wood Crafters here in Portland.  Why didn't we just go to Home Depot and get all our lumber for $30 like the plan says?  Because if we were going through all the effort to build a dining room table that was to last a generation, we were going to use high quality - and most importantly - STRAIGHT boards.  I can't stress how important it is to have straight boards when building this table.  So, we ended up spending about $500 on wood, and received priceless advice from the kind folks at Wood Crafters who took pity on us and didn't make us feel like our stupid questions were - well, stupid.

The table frame was easier than we thought to put together and get square.  A little too easy, actually, since the next steps would prove rather frustrating.

One plank in!  So easy!  Yeah, one goes in great - it's getting all 6 in place that makes you want to give up and start rationalizing how artsy and different a one planked dining table would be.  Apparently, no matter how straight and perfect boards look to the naked eye, when you try to squeeze them in together you discover that each has its own little geographical quirks and that you'll need to try every combination possible before finding the perfect fit.  Fun.

A million screws and 10+ passes with the sander later, and we were ready to stain.  We used gel stain at the recommendation of the guys at Wood Crafters and it was about how I thought it would be - a pain in the rear, unforgiving, and a complete mess.  But the result was beautiful.

The final step was to apply multiple coats of table top varnish.   Then it was off to West Elm for chairs and a rug (Garvey leather chairs and the Jute Boucle rug, to be exact.)  A few candles, a handful of plants, a lot of picture frames and we finally had a formal dining room...

What I love about this table is that if it ever gets screwed up, we can sand, stain, re-coat with varnish, and it'll be as good as new.  You can't do that with wood veneer!  (I repeated those last two sentences to myself about 50 times during the course of making this table.)  In the end, we probably ended up spending about $600 to build and finish the table, and about $1500 for the chairs and rug.  We got the rustic formal dining room of my dreams for a lot more work but almost half the cost.  Not too shabby.