Peonies from the farmers market

They were buds this morning.

Adorable emails.

Both my dad and my grandma write the most hilarious and adorable emails. Also, my dad often sends his in all caps because he stares at the keys and doesn't realize his entire email was capitalized until he's ready to hit send. And for some reason the text in his emails is often bright blue. Here is a sampling:

From Dad, talking about me doing Grandma's oral history last weekend:

Hey bring your recorder you'll have gma to yourself take her up in the loft I'll bring you a glass of wine or a beer with lime in it and we'll give her some tea and a piece of banana bread.

From Grandma:

I had a weird experience on Wed., I went to the Hallmark card store to pick up some cards & it was pouring out plus high winds so I zipped up my reversible jacket so I could pop the hood on & when I got in the store I was there for a bit & decided to unzip it but I couldn't get zipper to move down so I moved it up a bit to get it started and it still wouldn't budge so I tried it again, wouldn't budge, now I have it up to my adams apple & I started to panic, there was only one clerk in the store so I waited & peeked to see if she was free and I asked her to PLEASE cut the damn thing off me but she thought she could get it to work, buy this time people in the store started coming to her rescue, I had my head locked into this jacket & I was sooooo embarrassed you have no idea plus the hot flashes were back full score. I knew I couldn't drive home that way, but she was determined and she finally got it to work. Man, I was a nervous wreck and we surely didn't need an audience. I know people thought they could be helpful. Sooo, that's the end of that story & I'm signing off.

From Dad, describing his mother's day present to my mom:

SHE'LL GET A KICK OUT OF YOUR SURPRISE VISIT. i GOT HER A COOL RED RAIN COAT FOR FISHING IN THE RAIN AND A POCKET KNIVE FOR CUTTING LINE, PUTTING NEW LURES ON, ETC. SHE CAN ALSO USE IT TO KILL PEOPLE THAT WOULD ATTACK HER.

The dessert so nice I made it twice

Although I would consider myself a semi-competent cooktress, I haven't made many forays into baking. Whether this is due to rabid fear of failure or my complacency with a good ol' pint of B & J's Oatmeal Cookie Chunk, I do not know. My repertoire consisted solely of apple crisp and that ill-fated Disaster Cake... until now.

Do you read food blogs? You should. By blogs, of course, I am only referring to the exalted Smitten Kitchen, which I discovered through my dear friend McSamalama. All other blogs pale in comparison to Deb's beautious photos, story-ful prose and down-right darn good eatin'. I've made this Moroccan Stew for a few dinner parties, and each time it enters my guests' mouths they literally shriek with deliciousness.

Deb has often tempted me with her delectable desserts, but until yesterday I was too chicken to give them a go. Dangle anything strawberry-rhubarb in front of my face, though, and I'll do anything you say. Her strawberry-rhubarb crumble was too mouth-watering to pass by.

I made a batch last night along with some Quiche Gone Wild and broiled asparagus to surprise the manf after his long day of selling snake oil at Barnes and Noble. The guy thought he hated rhubarb. You bet your bip he thought again. His verdict? "Perfect."

We got invited to a Memorial Day barbecue today. I got a little cocky, and decided to use the same recipe to make my very first pie with the extra shell I had (I'm too chicken to make my own crust just yet). Behold:


I know that if the pie fell or if the stray alley cat jumped up and snatched it, it would make for a much better tale. But that hasn't happened. So this is the end. OKBYE.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

These geese wandered within five feet of me while I was waiting to be picked up from my Excel training at a "learning center" in Beaverton. I derived great amusement from imagining them waddling up to my instructor and honking, "You're a quack!" (He wasn't, but, you know... puns.)


The farmers market has been back in action for weeks now, but I only just made my way down there this morning. I wish I could send you a smell-o-gram from this place. Eau de Sustainability, I tell you.


I stumbled upon proof of what I've always known while at the Rose Garden this week. That could totally be my handwriting from a past life.

Old people are cute when they podcast.

To help explain how easy podcasting is, three "senior citizens" stopped by our studios to record an informational song this week. I really think you're going to like it.

Please enjoy.

Pay close attention to Betty. She might sound a bit......familiar.......to you. If you know what I'm saying. Ahem.

My life as a fish.

When I started my other blog (which is really just the exact stuff I put on this blog with the occasional added musings), I decided to take every blog entry that I had written in my 20th to 21st years of life and put them in one giant entry so that they may be preserved in order for me to take note of and/or make fun of them for all eternity. Then, I decided to wordle that giant entry's ass.

What comes up, is a fish.

Some of my favorite combinations of frequently used words are as follows.

• kind amazing man work
• little Daily go friend
• always happy well never
• love Anna sleep girl
• Kristin maybe stuff face
• new shower year
• every semester day got things

and the winner (quite applicable to my life, I might add)

• just really probably good

I love my bike but...

Listen. I apologize for never formally introducing my new bike Lucy to you. But as she and I biked just shy of 100 miles together last week, I figured it was high time. So. Lucy, meet TP readers. TP readers, meet Lucy. She lives upstairs in my apartment with me because she gets rusty if she's outside and it rains. That means I frequently can be spotted hauling her up and down stairs.

Thing is, Lucy is super sharp. Yes, in the smart way, but also in the way that cuts me, bruises me, makes me bleed, and fills my cuts with chain grease. Luckily my cell phone takes crap pictures so the details of my injuries will not be too graphic for you. But you get the idea. My legs (though strong like bull) look like they've been attacked by a greasy alley cat who knows how to punch.

Tea parties and shower curtains.

You know how much I love my new apartment. To show it off a few weeks ago I held a tea party for five of my lady friends. Please feast your eyes on these delectables:


After we ate but before we watched "Drop Dead Gorgeous" - a Minnesota staple - we perused (and I do mean the correct definition of peruse, which is to examine or consider with attention and in detail) these inappropriate naked man cards circa 1982 that I snatched at a recent clothing swap.


I have to admit though, there is something incredibly weird about my apartment that I have been holding back from you. I have very odd-shaped ceilings that even affect the way my shower is laid out. Since I'm on the top floor of my house, enormous chunks of my ceilings are taken out, thus resulting in this disaster of a shower rod:

I crafted an elaborate clip system to keep the bottom of the curtain in check. I think you'll be impressed with my precision and ingenuity. Observe.

So the house of sunshine has a few quirks, including having no kitchen storage space. But no matter - I store the cleaning supplies in the bathroom and I hang my pots on the wall. I'm like a modern day Boxcard Kid.

Plus, allow me to introduce you to my two new roomies, Mark and Bedilia.

The Next American Dream

The national business show Marketplace, which airs on many public radio stations across the country, just launched a big project called "The Next American Dream", and I helped. Here is an audio slideshow I made, but I'm not geeky enough to figure out how to embed it onto this page so you'll have to settle for a screenshot (though it is, admittedly, one of my favorite photos from the slideshow).

Please enjoy.

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/features/nextamericandream/ss/pij/

My first piece of crocheted art

About a month ago I went to a crochet-a-thon at the Museum of Contemporary Craft to aid in a new project by fiber artist Mandy Greer. Though I've been knitting for about six years, the only crocheting I've mastered is the chain stitch. With the help of a crochet book my ma got me for Channukah to augment what I learned at the museum, I decided to make a doily.

I thought I was following the directions correctly, but instead of a flat, circular piece of fabric, I ended up with a cone:


At first, I thought: baby hat! I don't know too many infants with cone heads, though, so that was out. Eventually, inspiration struck: bra cup. I set to work making a bridge to go between them, and attempted to make the new cup from the bottom up. Things didn't quite go as planned, and I ended up with the doily I had originally tried to make:


Whoopsies. Do you want to see how silly this looks? Of course you do.


Since the only mirror we have in our new apartment is this small one in the bathroom, I enlisted the help of my infinitely helpful and very shirtless boyfriend to further illustrate the depth of my art.


And now, a side view:


Hawt.

Allow me to introduce evil to you.

My boss has two pet turtles. She was away for the week and asked me to take care of them. One got out of her tank and hid under a chair and then when I picked her up she hissed and flailed her claws and tried to kill me. So I lobbed her into the tank and ran for my life, stopping in the kitchen to wipe the evil off my hands. One of my coworkers got the interaction on cell phone video.

There is a debate going on at my work about two things. 1. Whether or not these turtles are adorable and great pets. 2. Whether I abused the turtle by, um, hurling her into the tank when I thought she was going to kill me. Check out the (really bad) video and see what you think. And while you're at it, go ahead and take a hard look into the beady eyes of my reptilian nemesis, and see if she doesn't send a shiver straight down your back.

Media creds
picture: Tom "you should totally say how great a photog I am" Weber
video: Molly "you're so brave" Bloom

Evil, evil girl scouts!

I've eaten eight Tagalongs today.



EIGHT.

TAG.

ALONGS.

I love my neighborhood.