Xmas 2016

Just a short post today, recapping the highlights of hosting our first Christmas! Although my mother was originally rather vocal about not wanting to travel during the holidays, I guess the thought of not spending Christmas as family won out in the end, and both my parents and my brother joined Keizo and me in Takoma Park, MD. 

Not only were they the first guests to sleep in our guest room and on fold out couch, but it was the first major holiday I've ever hosted. Thankfully, they're pretty easy guests, and we all enjoy eating, beer tasting and jigsaw puzzles. We kept a few family traditions alive, including coffee cake for Christmas breakfast and wrapping up "gifts" that are really more odds-n-ends from around the house or essential items like toothbrushes. Sounds pretty terrible, but it wouldn't be Christmas at our house without at least a few of these things.

We had brunch with extended family in northern Virginia, took advantage of the trail close to our house on a bright sunny day, ate extremely well and spent an afternoon in downtown DC at the Natural History Museum and checking out the National Christmas Tree. One of the biggest highlights of their short visit was my brother gifting Keizo a cast iron dutch oven and some bread making lessons, both of which I hope will be used frequently in the new year. 

Happy (almost) 2017!

Currently - December '16

And just like that, it's the last month of 2016! November went by very quickly, and December seems to be moving along at the same rapid pace. But, since I pretty much live by the adage "better late than never," here is what I've been up to currently. For a more timely take, please stop by Anne and Kellie's excellent sites.

doing - Working hard or hardly working. I've always had a hard time finding a good in between, running myself ragged at work, and coming home with zero energy to do much more than sit on the couch. I'm looking forward to a few days later this month sans work when I can focus my energies on having fun.

enjoying - The Amazon series Good Girls Revolt. Powerful message, great styling, and very human characters; I hope there's a second season.

cooking - The last things I can remember making are a pumpkin roll cake for Thanksgiving and this creamy chicken fajita soup on a recent chilly Sunday. Keizo's still cooking dinner the nights that he's home, and when I am on my own I usually just reheat leftovers.

wrapping - My shopping is only about half done, and the wrapping is much less complete. Most of the purchased gifts are in a pile on a shelf, but a few have made their way under the tree covered in some festive paper.

playing - at being a runner. I've been consistently running 2-3 times per week for the past few months, and I'm starting to think about signing up for a race with a distance that I would have to train for (anything over a 5K, so options abound!)

Thanks for reading and have a wonderful holiday season!

Currently - October '16

The first part of October has been a bit hectic, with several work events outside of normal work hours for me and adjusting to Keizo's new work schedule (4:30 AM wake up calls and 9 PM dinners). Thankfully this weekend has been more low key and allowed me to do some catching up.

This month's link up is hosted by Anne and Jacqui. Please take a moment to go say hi!

Cheers-ing - My birthday, and dragging it out as long as possible! Last Sunday marked the end of a week of birthday celebrations with my 3rd Annual Bikes-n-Beer bike ride/brewery tour through DC. On my birthday the previous Saturday, Keizo took me out for dinner and dessert, followed the next day with a date at the National Arboretum. During the week, we met up with a friend at the Nationals game and I enjoyed a happy hour with my co-workers. So far, 31 still feels a lot like 30, but with a few new grey hairs.

Organizing - Still plugging away at the 2nd bedroom in the new apartment. It's become a catchall for things we don't use on a daily basis, but sometime soon I'd like it to be a functional and inviting study/guest bedroom instead of the current nightmare.

Dreaming - About vacation, and wondering when the next one will be. Keizo's new job is in retail, so I don't think we'll be going anywhere over the holidays. However, my family is planning on joining us here for Christmas, and Keizo is finally starting to talk about a trip back to Japan to see his parents and siblings after the holiday rush.

Buying - We're getting closer to finding the right couch and dining furniture for the new apartment. Even though this place feels spacious to us, we're finding most couches a just a tad too long, and we've seen some gargantuan dining room tables. At least the size constraints are helping narrow down the choices!

Listening - Ask Me Another is my go-to podcast for doing chores around the house; it's funny and I love it when I'm able to get the answer before the contestants. I've tried a few other, less interactive podcasts lately, but have found myself tuning out after just a few minutes.

Auf Wiedersehen #819!

Source

The Alexander House Apartments in Downtown Silver Spring made a great place to live for two years filled with some big life transitions. First was my move from quaint Charlottesville, VA to bustling Washington DC and starting my first real job after grad school. Almost exactly a year later, Keizo moved to the US, we got married and have spent the past twelve months figuring out how to live in very close proximity to each other in relative harmony. Thankfully, he's easy going and ascribes to the philosophy, "happy wife, happy life." ;-)

Source

I moved from Charlottesville with only a few big pieces of furniture: a futon, a dresser, an armchair and an outdoor bistro set, so the apartment--all 655 square feet of it--was a little sparse in the beginning. On my first trip to Ikea I bought a desk, shelves and two chairs for the breakfast bar. More trips to Ikea and the purchase of a real bed later, and things looked and functioned much better.

I was smart enough to take some 'before' photos the day I moved in, and then some 'after' ones a month or two before moving out. The 'after' photos were taken on a Saturday when I was feeling grumpy about having spent the better part of a nice day inside cleaning and tidying up. Looking around afterwards, I realized the place actually looked pretty good and it was the perfect opportunity to take photos before we tore it apart packing up to move.

As shown in the floor plan above, all of the rooms connected to one another. The "tour" below skips the kitchen and moves roughly clockwise around the apartment from the front door.

The dining area was just two chairs for the year before Keizo moved in. They barely reached the counter, but when it was just me I didn't care too much. Finding a table to fit in the small space (with the weird offset tiles and light fixture) took some searching; we eventually found one on Wayfair that matched both the chair legs and the wood sideboard we picked up at the local Habitat ReStore.

The living area also had a few different iterations before we settled on the arrangement above. The futon from Charlottesville served as the sofa and set the color palette for the rest of the room: black and white, with a few bright accents. Just visible on the far left of the photo is the desk, which was a perpetual holding zone for papers, catalogs and the odd things that never seemed to get put away. 

Buying a real bed made me feel like I finally made it to adulthood, and I still look back fondly on the first week of good sleep after it was delivered. The bedroom was more than just a place to sleep; it also had to serve most of Keizo's storage needs, as well as provided a place for us to keep our bikes out of the elements. We bought a vertical rack that allowed us to stack them on the wall at the foot of the bed. Off the right edge of the photos was my dresser and the entrance to the walk through closet, which led to...

...the bathroom. Nothing too special to note here; I still like the shower curtain I picked out two years ago at Target, and I have found storage bins to be my solution to many an organizational quandary. As long as you stick to a theme within each bin, and don't fill them to the brim, things are pretty easy to find.

There are just a few things I miss about this apartment since moving about 3 weeks ago. They are:

• the view looking west from the balcony = lots of pretty sunsets
• the dishwasher 
• the open kitchen.

The new place is really nice though, and so far I am loving:

• having more space (two bedrooms, large open living/dining room and 5 closets)
• the "hardwood" floors (the wall to wall carpet in #819 went from off-white to grey despite liberal use of carpet cleaner)
• the spa-like shower head
• ceiling fans throughout.

Currently - September '16

I'm a little behind schedule with this post, but rather excited to share that this is my 17th Currently post since first joining the linkup in December 2014. This month, Anne and Beth are co-hosting, so please stop by to say hello!

Reading – Both our old and new neighborhoods are peppered with Little Free Libraries in people’s yards, and I often stop to browse the offerings. Recently I picked up “Riding the Bus with My Sister,” (non-fiction) and “Yo!” (fiction). The first was a good lesson in empathy and trying to appreciate our differences, while the second was an interesting novel told from several different points of view. 

Trying - A capsule wardrobe (see photo above). In a perfect world, I would have spent time cleaning out my closet before moving, but unpacking presents an equally good opportunity to purge in my opinion (maybe even better, since the memory of all the beautiful, empty space is still fresh in my mind!) I settled on 40 items not including shoes and accessories for my first capsule. Some of my initial thoughts are: there's no way this enough! Will I have to do laundry more often? And right now it's >90* while the end of November is usually around 50*...let's hope it cools down a bit soon!

Hoping – My new bike commute will help my clothes fit better. One week in and it's mostly just making me arrive at work sweaty and even hungrier than usual.

Decorating – Our new apartment! While we have all of the basics and then some in terms of stuff, our new place has more space than our last, so it’s time to upgrade our 2-person counter height table to a proper dining table that will allow for dinner parties, large jigsaw puzzles and various craft projects. It's also time to invest in a proper sofa so we can move the futon into the second bedroom for guests.

To-do listing – Plenty of boring stuff: changing my address in a gazillion places and setting up a long overdue dentist appointment with some fun stuff mixed in: planning my birthday treats at the end of the month.

Seattle

Thinking back to our trip to Seattle last month, the things I remember most were the great weather and all of the fun we had celebrating Hannah and Nick's wedding with many of my friends from college. We kept our itinerary pretty relaxed; attending a few pre-wedding events and spending one day sightseeing, but otherwise sticking to the Othello/Columbia City neighborhoods near where we were staying and taking some time to relax. 

Top to bottom, L to R: Breakfast at Columbia City Bakery, Pike Place Market, taking a break at the Olympic Sculpture Park, our cute Airbnb, wedding reception fun, all dressed up, gorgeous centerpieces and Pitzer College alumni with the bride and groom.

Currently - August '16

Unfortunately, I missed the link-up hosted by Anne and Dana this month, but here's a quick look at what I've been up to currently. In general, I am ready for these hot, hot, humid days to pass, but already starting to mourn the sun going down earlier.

hearting - keeping a 5 minute journal. The first day I tried it, I was amazed at the difference it made in how I felt about tackling some of the things on my to do list. I don't experience the same boost on a daily basis, and it can be difficult to come up with new "amazing things that happened" because I like to stick to my routines, but I've also had a few days lately where there wasn't anything in particular I wanted to change, which is really satisfying.

watching - Like many others, I am enjoying the Olympics, having started at the very beginning with the opening ceremony last Friday. Rugby is making a comeback as an Olympic sport (the last time it was featured was 92 years ago) so I think Keizo is excited too.

exploring - We enjoyed adventures in Annapolis and Seattle last month, and are looking forward to exploring a new neighborhood when we move a few miles down the road at the end of the month. We will have a second bedroom(!) and a large living/dining room(!), so I've also started exploring Pinterest for ideas.

creating - a moving to-do list. We're slowly making progress, having picked up some boxes, lined up a mover and reserved our building's freight elevator, but there's a lot of packing ahead!

eating - more vegetables to keep up with the bounty of our weekly CSA box. This week's winning recipe was Spicy Chicken and Eggplant Stir Fry.

Thanks for reading!

Currently - July '16

It certainly feels like July around here, with plenty of hot, humid weather. I recommend grabbing a cold drink and taking a peek at what other's have been up to by visiting Anne and Jenna, the always gracious hosts of the Currently link up each month.

Enjoying America's pastime on America's 240th birthday! Go Nats!

toasting - Hamburger buns for tonight's dinner of leftover zucchini patties and sweet potato fries. Tomorrow we'll be toasting to Keizo's birthday and the end of his intensive summer writing class!

going - To Seattle in two weeks to celebrate a friend's wedding with a bunch of college friends. The last time I saw most of them was two years ago at another friend's wedding. We're sharing a house with the couple that got married two years ago and their adorable daughter who I am very excited to be meeting for the first time! Keizo will also be getting to meet many of my college friends for the first time too.

smelling - We've reached the height of summer, so things aren't always smelling so great but sunscreen always beats a sunburn, and I'd much rather be wearing sandals than socks!

wearing - Skirts and dresses to work, shorts and tank tops on the weekends. I have all but abandoned my pants as most are too fitted for this hot, sticky weather we've been having. I've been loving the couple of solid colored dresses I have, as they make getting ready really easy, yet can be reinterpreted multiple ways with different accessories. It's probably worth getting one more to mix in to the rotation.

wishlisting - The perfect new apartment! We're in need of a bit more space, and after two years in the same place, it's time for a change. We toured one we really liked, but sadly the landlord was looking to fill it right away and found another tenant. Hopefully we'll find something similar soon, as I really dislike having given notice but not having a new place lined up yet!

6 things for 2016: 6 month report

And just like that, it's July and 2016 is halfway through! Time to check in on my goals for the year and make plans for the next six months.

Source

More yoga - My approach to yoga has changed this year so instead of taking a one hour class once a week, I have been fitting in 15 to 20 minute sessions at home a few times a week. YouTube makes it really easy to select a routine based on style or length. I recommend videos from Sarah Beth Yoga (I've done her 7 day challenge a few times), Cole Chance at Yoga TX, and for a good laugh and lots of upper body conditioning between the down dogs, Tony Horton.

Exercise in the morning - Hitting the snooze button is a constant battle for me, so waking up with enough time to fit in a full workout before heading to work happens infrequently. Most days, I get in a mini workout of sorts; either yoga or some HIIT exercises, and then finish up after work with a run, long walk or more HIIT. I'm going to call this goal a work in progress.

Volunteer - I just finished up a week volunteering at a summer camp that teaches kids with different abilities how to ride bikes. All the campers start in the gym on specially designed bikes with rollers on the back that get them used to pedaling and slight variations in balance. As the week goes on, the rollers get thinner on the edges so the riders have to work more on balance until they are ready to ride on two wheels. The camper I was paired this week alternated between loving being on the bike to hating it as soon as he felt like he was going to fall. On Friday, he made one complete lap around the track without stopping. He was crying for part of it, but didn't stop pedaling which was really amazing to see! It might be hard to top bike camp, but I would really like to find a weekly or bi-weekly volunteer opportunity in the coming months.

Make time for hobbies - If going on walks and listening to podcasts counts as a hobby, I am doing pretty well with this one. That wasn't as much of a hobby of mine back in January when I wrote these goals, but the long summer evenings are too nice not to take advantage of! The original intent of this goal was to spend more time blogging, baking and crafting, three things I enjoy doing but often get lost in the shuffle. Like the exercising in the morning goal, this one is still very much a work in progress but I am on pace to blog more than last year, I created and hung up some art in the apartment and have knit a few baby items to give as gifts.

Travel every month - I haven't traveled for pleasure every month, but between work and play I am pretty close to hitting this goal for the first half of the year. The first real trip of the year was to New Orleans, followed by a weekend in Charlottesville, a week in Atlanta for work, camping in Tennessee and another quick work trip to central Ohio. I'm looking forward to traveling for fun this month with a weekend trip to Annapolis to celebrate Keizo's birthday and the end of his summer class, followed by a trip to Seattle for a dear friend's wedding later in the month. This is definitely a goal where it's better to plan in advance; picking dates and making reservations ahead of time to get it on the calendar, and then filling in the details as the trips get closer. 

Date my husband - Memorable dates this year have included a midnight walk through a blizzard followed by sledding amidst a bunch of kids on a slick hill the next day; eating sushi burritos and visiting the Wonder exhibition at the Renwick Gallery; several weekend bike rides; ice cream and board games at Moorenko's; and most recently dinner at Daikaya followed by an outdoor movie in Farragut Square on a lovely summer evening.

I don't know if I was fully conscious of it before, but all my goals for this year are really focused on moving beyond the day to day and enjoying life. It bothers me that I have to be so intentional about having fun sometimes, but I suppose like anything, you get better at it as you go! 

Recipe Roundup 6/2016

It's been a while since a 'recipe roundup,' and we've had several delicious dinners (and lunches) lately that I want to brag about, oops, I mean share.

Recipes are listed left to right, top to bottom.

Curry Chickpea Salad - We kicked off summer with this versatile recipe during a picnic dinner date at the park. The chickpeas taste just as good in pitas as they do over greens.

Spiced Pork Chops with Mashed Potatoes - This is a repeat Blue Apron recipe that happened to fit well with the contents of our CSA box last week: sweet potatoes, chard and snap peas. As more of a "one-pot wonder" type of cook myself, Blue Apron recipes can sometimes seem a bit fancy. Sometimes the little bit of extra effort and dirtied cooking vessels are worth it, sometimes not. All of the recipes here are definitely worth it.

Turkey Meatballs with Parsley Pesto (similar meatball recipe) - Another recipe featuring a CSA ingredient: parsley (and no small amount of it either!) The pesto recipe was from the newsletter that comes in our box every week and made enough to cover an entire box of pasta. The turkey meatballs were good too, and had some extra veggies thrown as well.

Nepalese Chicken Tarkari - Another Blue Apron repeat recipe featuring spinach from the CSA box.

General Tso's Chicken - Yet another Blue Apron recipe featuring CSA ingredients: snap peas and green onions. One of the best things about making these recipes again, aside from the fact that they are delicious, is that they can easily be doubled and the leftovers taken into work for lunch the next day. While none of my co-workers actually asked me if this was take-out, I like to think I could have easily convinced them that it was.  

In addition to the ingredients above, our CSA has featured a lot of lettuce and other leafy greens. Salads are a no brainer, but does anyone have other ideas? We've made summer rolls, and added lettuce to stir fries, but we get a huge bag of it every week and it's definitely a challenge to keep up.

Thanks for reading!

Camping in the Smokies

There's nothing like sleeping on the ground and not showering for four days to make you appreciate the comforts of home. Comforts like warm showers and clothes that don't smell like sweat, bug spray and campfire. A soft bed, solid walls and no chance of waking up to bears rooting around for food in the kitchen. 

That introduction makes it sound like I had a horrible time camping in the Great Smoky Mountains over Memorial Day when I really enjoyed everything up until the last night. We had great weather the whole time, spent the better part of our days hiking surrounded by lush forest, and shared some tasty meals over the campfire.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited National Park in the United States. We saw just a small portion of its eastern side. We arrived a little before dinner time on Friday and set up our home base in the Cosby campground. On Saturday, we set out from our campsite to hike part of the Appalachian Trail to the Mt. Cammerer lookout tower. The first part of the trail was very steep, but we were rewarded with an amazing panoramic view from the tower. We also saw a lot of wildlife: snails, birds, a rattlesnake and two black bears! The bears were in a grassy area on the right side of the trail when we approached, and the smaller of the two took off to the right as soon as he heard us. The larger (mama?) bear was much less concerned about our presence and ambled across the trail in front of us, ending up about 100 feet off the trail to our left. After a few moments of hoping both bears would end up on one side of the trail or the other, we got took out car keys, started clapping loudly and walked straight through the middle. In all of the excitement, no one remembered to take a photo.

Top to bottom, L to R: Our campsite; group shot; foliage; Clingman's Dome; view from Clingman's Dome; campfire; Mt. Cammerer lookout tower; view from close to the highest point in Tennessee.

On Sunday, we drove through Gatlinburg, TN to the park's main entrance and joined hoards of other people at the visitor's center. The main street of Gatlinburg is a boardwalk/Vegas Strip combination of shopping, motels and themed restaurants. We were very glad to have picked another place to stay, far from the crowds of people. After the visitor's center, we drove into the park towards Clingman's Dome, the highest point in Tennessee. About 3/4 of a mile from the parking lot at Clingman's Dome, we decided to join the other people parking on the side of the road and hiking the last bit. At the top is a space-age lookout tower, which we climbed in a heavy mist. We couldn't see much at all, but we did get to take one of my favorite photos from the trip: Keizo and I in front of a cloud (middle row). We did a short hike not too far from the base of the lookout tower which took us down below the clouds and through several different landscapes - rain forest, pine groves and grassy fields - before trekking back to the car and joining the line of traffic exiting the park in the late afternoon.

Our last evening proceeded like the two previous ones as we made dinner and s'mores over the campfire and turned in at very reasonable hour when watching the fire no longer held our interest. Around 3:00 AM there was a very loud, terrified scream not too far from our tent. I was instantly wide awake, but when I poked Keizo to ask if he had heard it, he hadn't heard a thing! We heard other people moving around in the campsites next to us, and after a quick trip to the bathroom where we met other campers who had seen two bears moving through the campsite, we tried to go back to sleep. Sleeping was challenging though, as further away people were banging on dumpsters and yelling.

Although tired from the lack of sleep, I was glad when morning came and we started to pack up our things for the trip home. We learned that the terrified scream was caused not by a run-in with a bear, but by a girl who had been spooked when she spotted a whole family sitting in their car and staring at her as she returned from the bathroom (the family had seen the bear and retreated to the comfort and safety of their vehicle). We thought this was it until we spotted the mess at a campsite about three away from ours. The food hadn't been locked up as instructed and the place was torn apart; we have no idea where the people went who were staying there, and can only guess that bears visited before 3 AM when we were woken up by the screaming. Surely we would have heard something otherwise? It was a rather sobering end to an otherwise great trip. I am looking forward to camping again, but hopefully in a place with fewer bears.

Currently - June '16

Hello June! Thank you for bringing summer to the DC area. May was a pretty dreary month around here, but it ended with some high notes, including a 17 mile bike ride around DC streets closed to traffic with 7,000 other people and a 4 day camping trip in the Great Smoky Mountains over Memorial Day weekend. There's a clear "summer" theme throughout this post, and checking in with others over on Anne and Jenna's blogs, it seems I am not alone in celebrating the arrival of a new season.

planning - Summer activities!  I haven't been to a baseball game yet this season, there are several beer gardens in town, and I'd want to block of a few weekends for another camping trip or visit to the beach. My parents, brother and several other members of my extended family will all be in town for a long weekend in July as well, and I am looking forward to seeing them for the first time since Christmas!

enjoying - Summer beers. With the temperatures hitting the 90's midday, lighter, fruity beers are where it's at. I've consumed a fair share of Leinenbugel's Summer Shandy over the years, and last summer I was introduced to their other varieties. I'm not a huge grapefruit fan, but I do like their Grapefruit Shandy.

buying - Summer CSA subscription. I've wanted to try a CSA for years, and now that Keizo lives here, I don't have to worry as much about not being able to use all of the vegetables before they go bad. We signed up for a weekly box from Spiral Path Farm, one of the vendors at the Downtown Silver Spring Farmer's Market. We pick up our first box on Saturday!

craving - More time, or is it energy? How about both, just to be on the safe side? I've just come through some very busy weeks at work, and it feels despite all of my efforts, I am barely staying on top of things. The weeks ahead look better, but there are certainly some adjustments that need to be made so I can spend more time doing the things I want and like to do and less time feeling tired and overwhelmed.

pinning - Given my recent stress levels, I have been drawn to motivational quotes, and given the sudden changes in temperature from 50-60's to 90's I need all the fashion inspiration I can get. I've forgotten about how to wear fewer than three layers and a scarf at a time!

Currently - May '16

This post has been in draft form for a week, and I've opened it and stared at it at least three times, adding a few words here and there. My writer's block/all around funk was not helped by the weather--several consecutive days of cold and rain, unbecoming of May. 

Thankfully this weekend has been sunnier, and my favorite link-up hosted by Anne and Jenna is still open!

Recipe

celebrating - One of the more exciting moments of the week was ordering a tent online. I've been wanting to go camping for more than a few years now, and one reason I haven't been is not owning any gear. Step 1 accomplished! The tent should arrive on Wednesday, and I plan to celebrate by setting it up in the living room and spending the night in it, just for fun.

reading -  I just finished "The Girl on the Train."  It's pretty dark and it took some perseverance to get through the first few chapters, but once I was over the hump I read the rest of it over the course of a weekend.

pondering - Fitness goals for May. Last month's focus on running worked really well in terms of helping me be more active and increasing my fitness levels, but I ended up skipping the race as it was cold and rainy and I didn't feel like the $25 registration fee was worth being miserable. There will be more races in the future I'm sure, but I already miss the motivation factor!

sipping - I've gotten into a pretty serious 2-3 cups of coffee/day habit, which as long as my last cup is at or before 3:00 PM doesn't seem to affect my sleep patterns too much, but I think I would be better off with 1-2 cups. I am also pretty sure I haven't been drinking as much water as I should lately. The water consumption will probably increase naturally as it gets warmer, but until then I took my liter sized water bottle into work to help remind me to sip more throughout the day.

going - There are two pretty great adventures coming up to help kick-off the summer: camping over Memorial Day weekend in Great Smoky Mountain Park with our friend Scott, and going to see Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats a few weeks later at Wolf Trap. 

This past week may not have been as productive as I would have liked, but now I have a tent on the way and tickets to a great concert!

Currently - April '16

It's starting to look a lot like spring around here! All the green leaves and beautiful blooms are a sight for sore eyes, and an encouraging reminder that brighter (warmer) days are ahead. I'm hoping the temperatures will catch up soon too.

I am too late to officially be part of this month's Currently link up with Anne and Jenna, but their blogs are always worth a read so be sure to visit.

making - Running my fitness focus for the month. I signed up for a 5K on May 1, and have not been in the habit of running regularly since I dislocated my knee last July. I found a training plan online, wrote it all out on the calendar in the kitchen, and while I haven't made all the workouts happen, I have run twice during each of the last two weeks. Can't even begin to remember the last time that happened!

wishlisting - Something big (new phone) and something small (water resistant picnic blanket). I'm not really ready to part with my yellow 5c, but I do envy the big shiny screen and crisp photos on Keizo's 6. Target (of course) had some great picnic blankets a few summers ago with really cute prints, but I haven't seen any I like quite as much since.

cleaning - No urges to do any major spring cleaning, but I'm hoping that it will soon be time to put away the sweaters and coats until fall. Along the same vein, I'd like to find some quick, easy ways to switch up the decorating a little to reflect the season a bit more.

posting - Something other than a Currently post! You can read a quick recap and see some photos from our New Orleans trip here.

tasting - Cocktails. I have developed an unexpected love for Old Fashioneds, so the Sazeracs we had in New Orleans appealed to me a lot as well. We also tried and really liked the Foreign Affair (gin, white wine, vanilla) at Delmonico. At home, we've made these Peachy Moscow Mules, which are great if you don't mind some pulp at the bottom. We don't drink every night, I swear!

New Orleans

Back in January, I saw an ad for a Southwest Airlines sale and clicked through to see what they were offering. There were a few deals to cities I'd never been to, and after deciding on some dates and looking at the number of stopovers, Keizo and I purchased tickets to New Orleans.

We arrived around 9 PM last Saturday and left just after lunch on Tuesday, which ended up being a good amount of time to get oriented, learn a bit about the city's history and indulge in its rich food, drink, and music.

We stayed in a rental apartment a few blocks from the French Quarter in Faubourg Marigny, which aside from being located along the route the horse drawn carriages took from the stables to the Quarter worked out perfectly (I've gotten pretty used to living above the metro in DC, but horse hooves on pavement were pretty disruptive). We enjoyed breakfast at two neighborhood places, each less than a block from the apartment and were surrounded by traditional, colorful houses.

Highlights of the trip included watching and then participating in an Easter parade, a bike tour that took us to a cemetery and introduced us to a sliver of City Park, and the live music on Frenchman Street. Our last day, we saw a bit of the Garden District, but we'd love to go back to spend more time in City Park as well as experience more of the history and nature outside of the city.

Top to bottom, L to R: Streetcar near CBD, shrimp po'boy; enjoying our beignets, Jackson Square, shrimp and grits, hand grenades on Bourbon Street, cemetery and joining in the Easter parade.

Currently - March '16

March means another Currently link up with Anne and Jenna. Please be sure to stop by and say hi!

wishing - I could clone my favorite pair of pants in multiple colors. I've gotten pickier when I go shopping, which has both its pros and cons. Pro - fewer unworn items in my closet, saves money. Cons - shopping tends to be less fun as I search endlessly for the right pieces. Cloning the things I have and love seems so much easier!

craving - Popcorn?!? I took care of things today and bought a big bag to snack on at work.

going - To New Orleans for 4 days at the end of the month! Not much planned yet, but very excited to get away for a few days of warmer weather, delicious food and exploring a new city.

wearing - Fewer boots and sweaters, and the occasional ballet flat. Spring must be on its way!

learning - Always something. Recently, I've become more interested in relationships, both personal and professional, and trying to learn better ways to manage them. A few episodes of the Labor of Love podcast have kept me company on a few walks lately, and I have found the combination of new subject matter and fresh air to be a good way to unwind.

Currently - February '16

January was good, but for once I am glad to see the start of another month. Things are picking up at work, there's work and fun travel in the weeks ahead, and there's plenty of chocolate and other sweet things to be had for Valentine's Day. 

Please be sure to visit the hosts of the Currently link-up, Anne and Jenna for their takes on this month's prompts. Thanks for visiting!  

sending - Mostly work-related emails...boring.

eating - Chipotle mango slow cooker pulled pork. For the first meal this week, we followed the serving suggestion and ate it with grits, while for the second meal, we drained some of the liquid and added tortillas, avocado, cheese and salsa to make some tasty tacos.

dreaming - Of longer days and warmer weather. I am already heartened by the fact there is some light left in the sky when I leave work these days, and while 2 feet of snow two weekends ago was a bit much all at once, the winter has really been pretty mild.

smelling - Pickled daikon (radish). We made pickled daikon for inclusion in some bento box lunches we shared with friends last Sunday. Although there was still snow on the ground, it was warm and sunny and we ended up eating outside! The pickles taste great, but they are really pungent and the smell takes over every time we open up the fridge.

hearting - The friends I've made through a small running group. We've had a hard time meeting up lately with the winter weather, but when I said I was headed out this evening after work, I had a running buddy to meet up with almost instantly.

Recipe Roundup - 1/2016

It's been a while since I've written about food on this blog, which at one time was all about food.

In part, I attribute this to the fact I do less cooking and have assumed more of a management role in the kitchen since Keizo moved in. I plan the menu and make a grocery list while he takes care of the shopping and a lot of the prep work. This doesn't always work out quite as planned as he's much more of a free spirit in the kitchen, using recipes (or a photo) as inspiration, and then making things up as he goes along. While I wasn't particularly thrilled when he substituted black beans for lentils in a curry recipe, at least he's been experimenting in the kitchen long enough to make completely edible, and usually pretty tasty dishes.

Recipes were followed pretty closely for each of the standout meals from January, including taco/margarita night, a flavorful deep dish pizza, a creamy pasta dish and some homestyle Japanese cooking.

Shrimp Tacos - Another winner from Real Simple. Keizo made the filling, and I assembled the avocado creme and made a quick salsa from some odds and ends we had on hand: onions, bell pepper, lime juice and thawed pineapple chunks. The margaritas were basic, but oh so tasty after a busy week at work.

Moroccan Spiced Deep Dish Pizza - I bought Keizo a cast iron skillet for Christmas, and it quickly became a prominent player in our kitchen. This was our first ever attempt at deep dish pizza as well as the first time we used the skillet in the oven. The flavors in this recipe are intense and rather different from what we usually cook, but really my only complaint was how chewy the dough turned out.

Salmon and Lemon Bucatini - Back in December, friends gave us a code for a free Blue Apron delivery, and we ended up using the service for the rest of the month. This was one of the recipes we really liked, and decided to buy our own ingredients to make it again. The dish is tasty, comes together quickly, and hits all of the major food groups - what's not to like? We found this to be true of about half of the recipes from Blue Apron. We also got to try some new foods, cooking techniques and only shopped for breakfast and lunch staples. On the other hand, with the two-person option there were never any leftovers, and the pre-portioned ingredients arrived in a ton of packaging. We paused our deliveries through the end of January, but we're thinking about trying it again, maybe one week a month for new ideas.

Nikujaga - Literally "meat and potatoes" in Japanese, nikujaga is a simple, yet oh so tasty dish that really banishes the winter cold. Keizo mastered this meal, serving the nikujaga, miso soup, salad, and pickled daikon the traditional way on different plates. Maybe I can get used to this new management role after all ;-)

Real Life Resolutions

I've been thinking about my resolutions for 2016 for nearly a month now, and it seemed like time to finally put them down in writing.

I started the month by creating an elaborate chart with different goals grouped by themes, but never finished filling it out. In some categories I had a goal for every month; in others, only one or two goals for the year. What was supposed be to a super organized way of looking at my goals quickly became a mess I didn't want to look at.

Three weeks later, I am abandoning the ridiculous chart in favor of the handful of goals that have stuck in my mind throughout the month.

6 things for 2016

1. More yoga
2. Exercise in the morning
3. Volunteer
4. Make time for hobbies
5. Travel every month
6. Date my husband

Even as I am typing this, I have to remind myself that having a short list of resolutions doesn't limit my ability to accomplish other things. I still want to read more, try new recipes, get my finances in order, organize the kitchen drawers, improve at work (and on and on and on). My hope is that the shorter list above, and the first two items in particular, will help me do all of those things too. When I get a bit lost and overwhelmed, I can return to my word for the year, CONTRIBUTE, and the six things above to help me find my way again.

To a happy, healthy and fulfilling 2016!

Currently - January '16

Happy New Year! I hope everyone's 2016 is off to a good start. Need some inspiration? Go visit Anne and Jenna and see what others are up to this month. 

resolving - For the first time, I have picked a word for the year. In past years, the thought of boiling everything down into one word was terribly overwhelming. Although it sounds terribly cliche, this year's word just came to me while I was out on the first bike ride of the year. My word for 2016 is CONTRIBUTE, and I am working on a list of goals/actions that fit this theme.

reading - Trying to finish up Freedom by Johnathan Franzen and just started my first non-fiction book of the year, Washington: The Making of the American Capital.

organizing - After a few years of keeping a dedicated log of my spending (and saving receipts until I manually entered them into my budget worksheet) I am trying to embrace new technologies and stop bringing all those little scraps of paper into the house. If anyone has any money management tips or favorite apps, please share in the comments :-)

loving - The homemade tamales a friend gave us for New Year's. It had been years since I've eaten homemade tamales and Keizo had never tried tamales, period. The tamales lasted for two meals, and are now a delicious memory. Thank you Allison for making them and driving eight hours to bring them to us!

craving - Travel and adventure! One of my goals for the year is taking a trip every month. Reality dictates that most of these will be shorter, local adventures but even a small change of scenery can lead to new discoveries and offer a welcome respite from the day to day.

Thanks for stopping by!

30 before 30: Final Report

September 24, 2015 marked the beginning of my third decade, and December 31, 2015 was my self-imposed deadline for wrapping up my 30 before 30 list. While this list was created to be a fun motivational tool, I have analyzed the results nearly to death in a detailed accounting below, following a few ruminations on the experience as a whole.

• Slightly better than resolutions? Making this list was more fun than making resolutions, and having two years to cross things off gave me more time to accomplish some of the bigger tasks.
• One and done.  If I make a similar list again (40 before 40?) I will focus on more "one and done" type accomplishments, which made crossing things off and moving on to the next thing a lot easier and more fun.
• Categories. I liked having the different categories for the items in my list, something that I plan to carry over to my resolutions/goals for 2016.

Blog - 2.5/4 
1. Edit labels  12/2014

2. Participate in a link up (edited 12/2015) - Without the 'Currently' link up at the beginning of each month, I would have barely blogged at all the past 6 months. I am grateful for the inspiration and easy-to-follow prompts each month that have kept this blog afloat.

3. Aim for more professional appearance -  What does this mean? A classic example of the importance of setting specific, measurable goals!

4. Post 1X/week (edited 1/2015) - 2014=29/52; 2015=19/52; 48/104 - If at first you don't succeed, try, try again! This one is going to make another appearance as part of my goals for 2016.

Cooking - 2.75/5
5. Make a soufflé

6. Bake bread from scratch - 4/2014; Chocolate Almond Swirl

7. Host non-potluck dinner party - I have come to realize that this rather challenging when you don't have an eat-in kitchen. I'm adding "dining area" to the ever-growing list of wants for our next living space.

8. Try 5 new/unusual foods - 7/5; This was one of the funnest things on the list, and apart from the seitan, I would eat all of them again!

• 10/2014 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
• 12/2014 dragon fruit 
• 3/2015 seitan 
• 6/2015 chia seeds
• 10/2015 rabbit bolognese
• 11/2015 sunchokes 
• 12/2015 celeriac 

9. New recipe 1X/week - 2014=33/52; 2015=45/52; 78/104. All in all, I am really impressed with this one. It's hard for me to even think about remembering all 78 recipes, probably half of which are worth repeating. We got a big boost at the end of 2015 by trying Blue Apron - three new recipes a week!  

Fitness- 3.4/5
10. Run color/electric race - 5/2014, Rainbow Rush "5K"

11. Run a 10K - 3/2015, St. Patrick's Day 10K

12. Train & run 10 miles or half marathon

13. Try new activity - 6/2015, 6 AM Bootcamp class

14. Yoga 1X/week - 2014=33/52; 2015=12/52; 45/104

Personal Growth - 4/6
15. Study and take JLPT - For someone with a Japanese husband, my command of the Japanese language is pathetic. Unfortunately, it's something that I haven't made a priority and honestly have trouble seeing where it fits in with all of the other goals I have.

16. Complete 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - I read "You Are a Badass" instead. Good advice delivered with a dose of humor. 

17. Attend 2  professional conferences - 3/2014, National Women's Bicycle Bicycling Forum, 10/2014, Safe Routes to School National Partnership Regional Meeting

18. Find & commit to a regular volunteer opportunity - Spring 2014, Girl Scout Troop 788 Cookie Manager/Volunteer

19. Read 12 non-fiction books - 12/12 - Consumer's Guide to Effective Environmental Choices, Visual Display of Quantitative Information, Bikenomics, Blink, At Home, The Rolodex Network Builder, Walkable City; How to Win Friends and Influence People, Hidden Power, Lost Washington, District Comics: An Unconventional History of Washington DC; You are a Badass

20. Donate blood  - 7/2014

Relationships - 3.5/4
21. Plan wedding - Joined Pinterest 11/2014; planned and executed wedding weekend including civil ceremony, segway tour, happy hour and brunch 10/23-25/2-15.

22. Get married - Engaged 8/29/2014; Fiance visa paperwork filed 10/2014; Notice of Action 6/3/2015; Fiance visa approved 8/2015; married 10/23/2015!!!

23. Live in same time zone - As of 9/2015

24. Write letter 1X/week - 2014=37/52; 2015=18/52; 55/104. Not included in the counts: approximately 50 holiday cards and all the thank you notes from the wedding. After having this goal on the books for the past couple of years, I won't be including it in 2016. I will still make an effort to write, but I've found keeping track of the letters I send really isn't that meaningful.

Travel - 3/6
25. Go camping - Not owning any camping gear has been a bit of a hurdle for this one, but now that Keizo is here, and somewhat obsessed with REI, I have high hopes for this one in 2016.

26. Beach vacation - 8/2015; My first trip to the Outer Banks did not disappoint, and was a fantastic way to forget about work for a few days. I'd like to make a beach trip every year for my mental health.

27. New York City - 7/2015; I believe this was the hottest weekend of the year and I was still hobbling around in a knee brace, but I had a grand time exploring NYC's enviable public places, eating everything in sight and catching up with my hostess with the mostest, Margot.

28. Utah - Both sets of friends that lived in Utah when I made this list have since moved, moving the state down in my list of top destinations.

29. Renew passport (edited 6/2015) - 8/2015; yet to be used for travel.

30. New or repeat passport stamp (not Japan) - With a new passport, any and all stamps count! However, I am concerned that I haven't added a new country since Spain in 2010.

Total = 19.5/30