Brunch

In these two years post-college, brunch has become my favorite weekend activity. I love the lazy mornings leading to a big, delicious meal with friends, bloody marys, and coffee. Brunch might be the only meal where it is normal to have three or more types of beverages in front of you (water, coffee, bloody mary/mimosa/etc.), and I love it! 

I am in love with breakfast food. This morning, a friend described it perfectly: One camp is "breakfast breakfast," the savory, and the other is "dessert breakfast," the sweet. I typically lean savory, but love to visit the sweet side every once in a while for the occasional donut or waffle. 

My go-to brunch order is eggs benedict. For me, it is the perfect combination of all my favorite breakfast items: eggs, ham, english muffin, and creamy Hollandaise sauce. Yum!  

Below are a few of my brunch favorites. If you live in the Pacific Northwest, I would highly recommend you check them out! 

Donut from Legendary Donuts in Tacoma, WA

Eggs Benedict and hash browns from Clyde Common in Portland, OR

Egg baked in an avocado, chez moi (don't let them fool you - this is actually not delicious at all. Who knew baked avocado tastes horrible? Got to have some Pinterest fails to keep things real.)

Bloody Mary, beer chaser, water at Clyde Common

Latte! This one is from the Commons in Woodinville, WA

Another donut featuring bacon - this one from Blue Star Donuts in Portland, OR

These are just a small sampling of some brunch highlights. I'm sure there will be more photos to come as I continue my weekend brunch routine! What is your favorite weekend tradition?

Tulips

On Saturday afternoon, in the rain and gloom, I decided to brave the weather in search of tulips. I'm always amazed by what wonders fresh flowers can do for a space and for my mood. They cheer me up, brighten up the room, and basically make everything look up. 

I do nice things for myself once in a while, and I call it "dating myself." The idea is that I do something on my own that makes me feel good, like getting a pedicure or a mid-day latte. I'd recommend trying it out sometime - it's good to be able to rely on yourself to make you happy. 

So I am sharing my tulip bouquet with you, and hopefully they will brighten up your day just a little bit. Get out there and do something nice for yourself! You deserve it.

Remembering fun

Yesterday after work, I played Frisbee with a group of friends after happy hour at a favorite local restaurant, and I had fun. I sometimes forget how important it is to play and be silly and move around when Netflix and my couch is readily available. It seems with technology being so prevalent, we forget to step outside of the social media veil and genuinely interact with our friends and connections. The realization that I am moving soon and will not have these friends close at hand anymore has prompted me to try a little harder, get out there, and make good memories. I am excited for this weekend to catch up with more friends, take care of taxes (eek!), and get centered in my yoga practice. Weekends truly are the best, and I'm so glad this one is here!

Sunday fun day

What's better on a Sunday than some DIY projects? A friend and I got together this afternoon to get creative and make some home decor. We decided to paint and "cork" some wooden letters that we picked up at the local craft store, and were very pleased with how things turned out. 

I started off with the letters "C & P," but only had enough corks saved up for the C! Till next time. 

I laid the corks out the way I wanted to glue them down using hot glue (hot glue gun pictured in the top right corner of this photo). 

Final product! (Minus the & P, soon to come after a few more bottles of wine!)

I decided to paint "love" as well, since the cork project was super quick and who doesn't need more love in their life?

I used outdoor paint to pain these letters, mixing coral with white to create the ombre effect. Check out the plate to see how I mixed the paint to get the ombre gradient.  

What you'll need for painting:

Wooden letters/words of your choice (I picked out ones that were already painted white, as then it was really easy to paint on them)

Outdoor paint, colors of your choosing (I recommend getting white if you want to get the ombre effect)

Paint brushes

Paper towel, for dabbing your paint brush

Cup of water, to rinse your paint brush

Masking tape (if you want to do cool patterns)

Any other decorating material that you think looks awesome!

What you'll need to cork:

Again, wood letters of your choosing

Many corks! 

Hot glue sticks

Hot glue gun

Get creative and make your letters your own. Just remember to cover your crafting surface - I just ripped up an old magazine to cover my table. It's also a good idea to have a plan of what you're going to make before you start, and maybe practice on a piece of paper before you dive in. Overall, get crafty and enjoy!

Weekend note

In reviewing my posts, I realize I may be leaving the impression that I am a fairly weepy and ill-adjusted human. Rest assured, this is not the case! (It's really only puppies and motivational ballads that get the tears going, and even so it must be an exceptionally cute puppy or an especially applicable motivational ballad).

I am enjoying a relaxing weekend so far with good friends, tasty food, and much needed laughter. Tomorrow, I am hopefully testing my creativity with a new craft project. Be on the lookout for a DIY in a couple days!

A blog you love

As a very, very new blogger who is seemingly lacking motivation and imagination, it is really helpful for me to bop about from famous blog to famous blog and read recommendations on how to make your blog a success. I was just reading a post from A Beautiful Mess, and they had a suggestion that really resonated with me: "Write the blog you want to read." How genuine and simple - I love it.

I have been exhausted after work the past couple days, and just not feeling very inspired to post anything or to be creative. After reading this nugget of advice from ABM, the inspiration returned! So here I am, ready to write the blog that I want to read.

What am I interested in reading? I like authentic and relatable stories about life. Yep, that is really general and basic, but that's my jam. Whether the topic be fashion, food, friends, your dog, a weird encounter on the sidewalk, whatever, if it is real and honest, I'm game. If there is an element of inspiration in there, that is an added bonus.

So here is an honest and maybe mundane story for you, care of my ordinary life:

I was out on a walk in the park the other week with a friend. We turned a bend, and there, in its full tiny adorableness, was a puppy. Now, let me tell you, I have been yearning for a puppy for several months. Bad. It's like my hormones are kicking in or something, but for a baby dog rather than for a baby human. This is mostly fine by me, except for when I actually see a puppy; My heart starts racing. I get super excited and nervous all at once. I have no choice but to go over and request a to pet the darn thing. And, as if controlled by some force beyond me, I cry.

I am not one to cry in public. Ever. But when I see a puppy, I lose all control. The excitement and emotion and longing is just all too much, and the tears just start flowing. So on this day in the park with my friend, I just started crying in public because of a puppy. Was my friend super embarrassed of me? Likely. Did the owner think I was nuts? Probably. Did I get to pet the puppy? Oh, yes!

Hopefully I will get to realize my dream when I move to Denver, but who knows. Being a dog owner requires a lot of time, reliability, and responsibility, and I'm not sure how soon I will have a handle on all those things in a new city. Perhaps I shall simply be relegated to crying over puppies for a while to come.

Veggie, goat cheese, and bacon frittata

Some of the ingredients: zucchini, tomatoes, mushrooms, kale, eggs, goat cheese

Pinterest can be so awesome when you come across a pin that inspires you to try something new and different from the regular routine, and that is just what happened here! I saw this recipe and thought to myself, what a good starting point for a delicious meal! Perhaps one day I will follow the recipe to a T, but this go around I put my own spin on it. 

When I cook, I like to have a recipe as a starting point, and then I change it up to fit my taste and mood. This recipe calls for jalapenos, and I just wasn't really in the mood for a spicy dish. So voila! I decided to add more veggies, bacon, and goat cheese to make it all my own. I would highly recommend starting from the recipe linked above, and then go with what sounds good to you. It is really quick and easy to make, and tastes great. 

I love recipes with lots of veggies and protein all mixed in at once, and I usually make a batch big enough to last me for a few days. Working full time, it is really nice to have a meal to bring to lunch or to have ready when I get home (or both!). You bet I'll be eating this frittata for a few days to come, and loving it!

Side note: this is my first time trying to capture food on my new camera. I have a lot of learning to do! 

The final product! 

Veggie, Goat Cheese, and Bacon Frittata

5 slices of bacon

1 onion, diced

1 zucchini, sliced 

1 cup tomatoes

1/2 cup sliced mushrooms

1/2 cup kale, chopped

8-10 eggs

1tbs milk

1/4 cup goat cheese

salt, pepper, and hot pepper flakes to season

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On the stove, cook bacon on medium heat in a cast iron pot (I used my Le Creuset small cast iron pot) until medium. Remove from heat, and add in the onions; cook until soft. Add zucchini, then tomatoes, mushrooms, and kale. Season with salt, pepper, and hot pepper flakes as you go. When the veggies are soft and the kale is cooked down, add the bacon back in. 

In a bowl, whisk eggs and milk with salt and pepper. Pour mixture into the pot of veggies and sir in goat cheese. Cover and transfer pot to oven and bake for 25-35 minutes. Once solid, uncover and broil for 4-7 minutes till top is toasty brown. 

Let set for 10-15 minutes; dish is very hot. 

Enjoy!