Vendredi

That's Friday in French. Just learned that. Just now. I cheated and looked it up on google translate. My French lessons are coming along...so far I have learned some basic vocab, phrases, food, animals and some new verbs and their conjugations. It's getting harder and harder but I guess that's just how it goes. 

This week I haven't accomplished much...I have felt under the weather (Brian too) so my energy level hasn't been up to par. But I did finish the 3rd Harry Potter book! Only 4 more. 

So really I don't have much to share except my music recommendation of the day. 

Lately I have been into some old country stuff like 70's Dolly Parton, etc. So I came across this album that Billy Bragg and Wilco did together...they cover Woody Guthrie songs. There are 3 volumes and I am enjoying the 2nd volume the most so far. 

Hope you all have a good weekend! 

Mermaid Avenue vol 2

Salad Dressing

This summer I have really been obsessed with making salads and my own dressing. Here are two dressing recipes that I have made over and over again. Both are super easy to make and very tasty! 

Caesar Salad Dressing:

6 cloves garlic

1 tbsp dijon mustard

1 tbsp vinegar

2 tbsp mayo

1/2 cup olive oil

salt 

pepper

lemon juice

anchovy paste - optional

I just throw all the ingredients into the food processor and it's ready to eat

Green Dressing 

(I don't remember the official name nor where the recipe came from) 

1 tbsp green onion

1 tbsp chives

a splash of olive oil

1 clove garlic

salt 

pepper

1 cup plain yogurt

1/4 cup mayo

First throw the green onion, chives, garlic and olive oil into the food processor to chop it all up. Next put in the yogurt, mayo, salt and pepper and mix until green. Once all mixed it is ready to be consumed! (my favorite part of course)

Over The Weekend

This weekend was jam packed! Usually after a long week of work for Brian he just wants to veg out and keep it low key. This weekend...totally opposite. We were go go go. Saturday afternoon we took a drive to Snoqualmie Falls...such a pretty drive! I just love driving on the 90 east towards Spokane going through Issaquah. The terrain is very hilly and is completely covered in trees. Then after the falls we decided to drive through downtown Issaquah just to take a look and see if Brian remembered anything. He said he might have remembered one store. It was a very small and cute downtown. Once we got home Brian was looking up something to do that evening. We chose going to a concert at the Neptune Theater featuring the Seattle Rock Orchestra playing Arcade Fire. We went into the city a tad early to buy tickets then decided to grab a drink before hand. We ended up at this really cute place called Flowers restaurant and bar. The inside is super cute - checkered floor, mirrored ceiling, cute little chairs and a fun wood bar. Every day they serve a vegetarian buffet that I really want to try...maybe next weekend! Anyways, we met a couple people (thanks to Brian, of course) and then went on to our concert. I haven't had that much fun in a while. I was slightly skeptical about the show...I pictured this string orchestra playing songs of one of my favorite bands and to be honest, butchering them. But boy was I wrong. They had the full string orchestra, electric bass and guitar, keyboard player, 4 singers (two boys and two girls) and one of the girls played the accordion. They were so good!! I pretty much cut a rug for 2 hours. If I had that much fun listening to this group...I just can't imagine how I'd feel seeing the real deal. I'll probably blow a gasket. 

Sunday we drove back to Seattle to the Pacific Science Center to see the King Tut exhibit. That was super cool...although I was slightly disappointed they didn't have a real mummy. But it was still amazing to see. After that exhibit we rushed over to the Butterfly Garden. That was a total blast...it's so beautiful to see all these butterflies just flying around you not even bothered by us. I told Brian, my dream is to have a butterfly land on me. Sure enough...I acquired a friend and he wouldn't leave! He stayed on my arm for a good 10 minutes then on my head. I did get pooped on but I suppose that just comes with the territory when you befriend a butterfly. So needless to say, last night I slept very good. I was pretty pooped but it was totally worth it!!  

Hard to tell but he's on my head

Pacific Science Center

Vertical Garden

Anyone else seen the new vertical garden craze? I'm into it. 

Leather Hanging Container

Porcelain Hanging Container

Second Hand

So last week I took a trip by myself to North Seattle and went to Buffalo Exchange where I have some credit because I sold some clothes to them. Well, I was pretty stoked to find some cute things and I still have money left over. Even better! 

A nice wool sweater for the cold weather coming up

I especially loved the gold buttons

I don't think a more feminine shirt exists

So here is my predicament coming up...living in Seattle gives us a ton of options for seeing great live music. Three of my favorite bands are coming here in the next two months: The Shins, Hot Chip and Beirut. Unfortunately my wallet isn't on the same page...so I will have to narrow it down. So far Beirut is in the lead. 

Fall Project

If any of you remember my long hike in the summer heat to Hobby Lobby, I returned some paints and of course walked out with more than I came in with, one being supplies to make my own fall wreath. Well, I finally made it last night. It was super easy, quick and fun. 

I simply cut off the flowers and some leaves

I used a glue gun to glue the flowers and leaves on...Voila! 

Camping

I have lived through my first camping expedition here in Washington! To be honest, I was slightly nervous just because my last trip back home several years ago was a tad scarring. I not only survived but had a blast. We drove about an hour outside of town which led us to some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen in my life. It's amazing here in Washington there is so much forest all it takes is an hour drive. And just to give you an idea, if you've seen the Twilight movies it looks exactly like that. Incredible. Our camp site was right outside of Skykomish along the river. When we arrived Friday evening it was super warm and very humid...I don't know why I was wearing pants. A couple people had already been at camp since Thursday so everything was all set up pretty much except for our little boy scout triangle tent and chairs. 

Saturday morning the boys got up very early to go fishing and by the time they came back we were getting ready for breakfast and heading out to Leavenworth, this little Bavarian town, to go tubing along the river. It was super warm and sunny, perfect for getting some sun and floating slowly down the river. When we were packing up the tubes into the truck the guy said it would take a good 3 hours to get down...well it actually took about 4-4 1/2 hours! It was quite the trek but so much fun and beautiful. I told Brian we need to drive back to Leavenworth for Oktoberfest for sure. 

We all pitched in for the food and were in charge of one meal. So Brian and I just brought brats and coleslaw because we thought that was super easy to make. Well, much to my surprise our fellow campers were able to make these awesome meals with all of their cooking equipment. We were having stew, corn cake, peach cobbler, bacon, pancakes, sausage, brisket hash, bacon s'mores...I mean, seriously, how can I go back to eating terrible canned food after this experience! We had a dutch oven, 2 iron skillets, 2 stove tops, and a percolator for our morning coffee. I felt pretty dang spoiled by everyone. So thanks for feeding me so well!! Brian and my drink of choice throughout the trip was our pack of Coors. It was glorious and the perfect camping beer. I blame my dad for that. 

I would really like to go camping once more before the weather turns so hopefully Brian and I can do that together. So now we are back home and back to our routine with 20 bug bites and sore muscles. So sad. I am excited for tomorrow however because Leah and Mike are rolling through town on their way to Vancouver. So they will come to check out our digs and have some lunch before they get back on the road. Yay! Here are a few pictures from our trip...I wish I had taken more but I didn't want my phone to get ruined. 

Little Things

This is week has pretty much flown by. What else is new?? This week has been full of applying for jobs, trying to get things done around the house before camping and working out (kind of). haha I have done more than usual this week so I am pretty stoked. On Saturday we are leaving our camp site to go tubing in Leavenworth so the thought of having to get into a bathing suit has me panicking a little bit. And on top of that I just might blind everyone with my white white white body. haha It is slightly alarming how white just my legs are. I guess that's what happens when you live in Washington eh? But here are a couple things that I have really enjoyed this week...nothing major but it's the little things that I love most. 

A little bit of Bailys

I just love getting new nail polish

Heat Warning

Apparently tomorrow and Thursday are supposed to be the two hottest days of the year. I am pretty excited about it except I don't like when the apartment feels like a sweat box. Bring on the warmth! 

Finished Canvas Project

I have finally finished my little canvas project! The California canvas didn't turn out quite as well as I would have liked but that's ok. The picture is far away enough so you can't see the details! :) 

Well folks, I am sad to report that I didn't get the job at Anthropologie. I found out this weekend. They were kind enough to let me know by postcard. Why not by owl or carrier pigeon?? The fact they didn't even call me was even more upsetting and annoying. All well. Time to move on and look for the next opportunity! Despite the news I still had a wonderful weekend spent with my love in the sun with some hiking, animal petting, Dark Knight movie going and eating. We have camping to look forward to this weekend so I guess I better start preparing!! 

Goodwill Goodies

So as you already know I went to Goodwill yesterday and found some goodies. That place is totally hit or miss. The goodwill here is constantly crowded and can be really picked over. But yesterday I found some cute stuff!!!

This owl is actually meant to be a tray but I am using is it as a wall decoration

It's Friday!

Wow, well this week kind of just flew by. Boy am I glad it's Friday. Today Brian is having is club manager interview/panel so I am hoping that goes really well. He looked so cute this morning dressed in slacks, button down shirt and skinny black tie. What a looker that boy! :) Alright alright...enough of that. I always loved one piece of advice that I received from a former boss...she said marry someone that is smarter than you and that inspires you. It's great to be challenged and learn new things from each other. I really do feel like I found that and will pass that tid-bit on to others. (I just hope Brian feels the same way about me! haha)

Dinner last night was kind of boring...I used what we had in the house so as far as calorie counting goes it wasn't a success. I defrosted 2 frozen chicken breasts which I baked in the oven with olive oil, some fresh herbs from our little indoor garden and garlic then once done I put pesto on top. We also had some leftover potatoes hanging around so I mashed them. It was pretty dang good. I feel like my default meal has become baked chicken because you really can make it however you want and just throw it in the oven! 

I have suddenly become ADD and started all these projects. I bought fake flowers and a wreath to make my own autumn wreath. Can I just say that pre-done wreaths in stores are so expensive!! What the heck! Like $60 bucks? Really? What a rip. So last Christmas I made my own and had a good time doing it so I just might make it a little tradition. I also saw a fun little way to spice up my light switch plates. Is that what they are called? Anyways, I bought some leopard print duct tape and am going to cover the plates with it. Not every one...don't worry. I'm not turning the apartment into a jungle. Just a few. I still need to paint my little California canvas. I finished taping the design so I need Brian to mix the paints for me. I was thinking a mustard yellow to go with the plum Washington canvas. Lastly...I took a trip to Goodwill yesterday and found a few goodies. One was a French text book. This little lady is going to learn some basic French! I have always wanted to but never did so for a $3 dollar book I think I can afford that. Plus if you don't know about Duolingo it's a free resource to learn another language! Check it out if you are a language person. I am starting French on that program. 

The last news I have for you is that yesterday I got my Washington license plates. I have mixed feelings about it...maybe the drivers around here won't be such jerks on the road anymore? That would be a plus huh? Getting my new license and plates has been such a cinch! Compared to getting everything done in CA...boy what a relief. No waiting at the dmv for HOURS, the people aren't cranky...it was great. 

With that, I will leave you with the band of the week....The Black Crowes. I have been listening to them nonstop all week! 

2 for 2

Seeing as how I am on this healthy dinner kick I came across this asian turkey burger recipe. It was delicious! This is the first time I have ever put together my own patty...I honestly don't know why I haven't attempted this before because it's so much better...more flavor, more juicy and you can tweak it any way you like. 

Asian Turkey Burger Recipe