Crazy About Citrus

This month I have been loving everything Citrus! It started when we took a trip to the farmer’s market and finally mandarins were among us. Ever since I’ve eaten those I have been immersed in this fragrant fruit. I’m loving:

 

 

Martha Stewart’s Clementine Vanilla Bean Quick Bread

So tasty! Make it. You will be proud. Great for breakfast or dessert.

The Body Shop’s Satsuma Body Butter

A couple sniffs of this creamy concoction in the morning and you are guaranteed to have a spring in your step. The scent lasts ALL day. No kidding, I still smell it when I leave work. And it always makes me smile.

Tazo’s Wild Sweet Orange Tea

This is my tea year round and I LOVE it!

Grow your own!

Four Wind Growers are a California company that grows and sells dwarf citrus. So great as gifts or for yourself!

Saturday Scarf

This is week was a little rough on the job front. Not because of the actual work but because I was off my game. I’m not sure what was up, but I could not wait till the weekend. And today proved to be a day worth waiting for. One of my favorite things from today was finally talking to my sister! Between the time change and the exhausting task that is life, we find it hard to pick up the phone on a regular basis. But once we do, I have a great time hearing about her life and venting about mine. I am so proud of her.

In the midst of organizing the patio and storage space, washing dishes, doing laundry and watching Downton Abbey, I made a scarf. If you have an addiction to Pintrest you have probably seen many tutorials on making a scarf out of an old tee-shirt. I used this post as guidelines but I wanted more volume so I used two shirts. My husband had some shirts with some pretty bad pit stains that were ready for the garbage, they were perfect for this project. I used iDye to make them a beautiful violet color before I started working with them. Here are some photos of the process and the finished product.

Supplies

Cut

Stretch

Wrap. Knot. Tuck.

Done

Sorry for the horrible phone photos.

2012 Resolution

You know that resolution that everyone makes? The one about losing weight and looking great? Yeah, I’ve made it before, about 5 or 6 times. I had always put it on my resolution list because who wouldn’t want to lose weight and look great? All those years before I never really put much effort in because I wasn’t dissatisfied with how I looked. I was wearing the clothes I always had so my body wasn’t changing much. But this year, things have changed and now I need to. I am feeling so ugly. I’m sorry to put it that bluntly but for real, I need to change. The thing is I’ve looked at all these lists of food that doctors and nutritionists suggest you eat, and guess what? I eat these things. I eat pretty healthy. So, I guess exercise is really the issue.

I don’t want to join a gym. I enjoy going to group fitness classes but I hate the actual gym. I’m determined to get fit on my own by working out at home and actually doing some outdoor activities.

If you know me personally, you know I’m not a water drinker. I know, I know. I have been drinking herbal tea all week long, all day long and I am seeing a difference. I pee more and my skin is less dry. This is a habit I hope to keep.

Now that our wedding and the excitement of 2011 is over I can focus on me and stick to this resolution: Be proud of what you see in the mirror! Good luck to everyone out there trying to change for the better this year!

A little inspiration.

 

Day Trip to Santa Cruz

This past Monday was a fantastic day. My hubby and I both had the day off so we headed down to Santa Cruz. I love exploring the areas around were we live. The drive was only an hour and fifteen minutes, with a detour to a San Jose art supply store.

 

We actually went to a beach near Watsonville first. Sunset State Beach. The sand and the birds reminded me of Florida’s Gulf. Very pretty and surprisingly quiet. Wish we had the dogs there.

Hunger was calling and Burger was the answer. I love places that I can order any burger on the menu and get it as a veggie burger and they had sweet potato fries, the love of my life. Very cute place with equally as cute customers and staff. Everyone there was so hip. lol I forgot to mention my burger had Mac and Cheese on it! Crazy good. It’s a good thing I was walking the whole day.

After burgers, the Patagonia outlet, shopping for turtles (Matt just finished all the seasons of My Name is Earl and was inspired by Mr. Turtle) and pottery we headed to the Boardwalk. Santa Cruz is SO California! Beach cruisers, volleyball and tons of color everywhere. Eating caramel apples and rock candy we walked the pier and people watched at the boardwalk. I finally saw a lifeguard stand like the ones on all the tv shows I used to watch growing up. I’m a nerd, I know.

To end the day appropriately we watched The Lost Boys (filmed in Santa Cruz). Kiefer Sutherland and Corey Feldman are in this 1987 Vampire flick. Vampires didn’t always look like Edward Cullen and Bill Compton.

The End.

Break Fast

I found where you can get grits in the bay area. Sadly you are limited to one egg. He he.

A little personal space is good.

Don Edwards

This weekend I went for a little walk around Don Edwards Wildlife Refuge. To be honest, the place isn’t that pretty and it smells bad. I know that sounds mean, I’m sorry. There is a big grassy hill and salt ponds edged with a marsh. The majority of the 30,00 acres being protected are out in the bay. Despite the ugly, I experienced some not so hideous moments and the 5.5 miles was good exercise.

 

Took the Loop Trail

 

 

 

 

Silk Birds

The internet is truly the world at our fingertips. It can bring good and it can bring the not so good into our lives. But one amazing thing I believe it has done is made us a global community. We are able to communicate from great distances and feel included in our loved ones lives, even if they are around the world.

My Aunt is a very talented artist who lives and plays in Athens, Georgia. She has dabbled in most mediums and is now trying to “kickstart” a way for everyone to enjoy her work. She has manipulated her photography and created unique prints you can wear as scarves.

With the help of the internet and kind souls she has the opportunity to start a business doing what she loves. Please check out her kickstarter page and donate (any amount helps)!

You can also view her website by clicking the Lady Bartram Audubon link in my Blogroll to the right.

 

Breakfast

Comfort