Delirity

Because Jenni and Melissa tagged me… 

4 Dishes I Like to cook

1. Pot roast
2. Ratatouille
3. Corned beef and cabbage
4. Roasted yams

4 Qualities I Love in People

1. Openness
2. Responsibility
3. Joy
4. Gratitude

4 Places I Have Been

1. Washington (state and DC)
2. Florence (Oregon and Italy)
3. Milwaukie (OR) and Milwaukee (WI)
4. Claremont (CA) and Clairmont (CA)

4 Things in My Bedroom

1. vanilla scented candle
2. jasmine plant
3. hippy the hippo (a hippo shaped stress ball)
4. flannel sheets

4 Dirty Words I Like

1. crap
2. pooper
3. dangit
4. junkus (does that count? like “oh junkus!”)

And I’m supposed to tag 4 people, but I just can’t bring myself to do it. So, if you think it would be fun to play along, why not just pretend I tagged you?

I’ve been wanting more houseplants for a while. I’ve had a few little ones here and there that live in my window sills, but they haven’t been enough to really perk up the apartment and certainly not enough to clean the air. One of the best things I’ve picked up recently is a topiary jasmine plant that’s in our bedroom (from Trader Joe’s – they always have fun plants) – I’m really excited for it to start blooming and making the room smell gorgeous. I’ve also been experimenting with taking clippings of my plants to grow more. It’s fun. And beautiful.

Also, I have to tell you, I love kale crisps. Best snack ever. I know it’s probably not as good for me as eating raw kale, but still better than a lot of other things. You have to try it. Here’s how I make it:

• Preheat oven to 325
• Wash a bunch of kale, then rip it up into pieces (a little bigger than salad size is what I do)
• Put kale pieces on cookie sheet, spray with olive oil, then sprinkle with sea salt
• Bake for 10-15 minutes (for me, lacinto kale takes closer to 10, regular very wavy kale takes closer to 15) until crispy, but not burnt

Yum. If you’ll excuse me now, my timer is going off. My kale crispies are done.

I’ve been in a girly/pampering mood recently. Last weekend (over Valentine’s!) Jesse was away at a conference, so I treated myself to a pedicure, a really lovely run, a long soak in a hot tub and a haircut. Today I treated myself to a facial ($25 at Portland’s Aveda Institute). I’m planning a wonderful run for tomorrow and maybe a massage in the near future.

I’m not sure what causes me to get into moods like this, but I really appreciate them. I think it’s usually a reaction to working a lot, especially during times that I do extra (like working on a weekend, or lots of lateish nights). Doesn’t really matter – all I know is that it’s good for me and I plan to make it continue! Especially all the really nice running and soaks in the tub.

Willard, me and Mukka

I just realized that I never posted pictures from my birthday back in January. I had completely forgotten that my mom took pictures (which means she’s not in any of them)!

For my birthday, we had the family over. My mom made fun of me, but we celebrated with a nice dinner of BLTs (mine on  rice bread) with chips and salsa, then followed it up with a Trader Joe’s gluten-free brownie “cake”. It was definitely a nice way to celebrate.

Time to blow out the candles!