I'm long overdue for a Felix and Arlo update (Felix turned one last week! Whoa!), but in the meantime here's a quick post about a project that I've been working on--our parking strip makeover! Than...

Oh, spring. Yay, yay, yay! We have had a string of beautiful, sunny days lately, and I've been spending as much time as possible outside (or just on the porch steps with the door cracked, if on...

Wow, lots to write about! I guess that's what happens when I only write one post per month. Here we have Felix at 8-12 weeks old. He's pretty good about hanging out in the orange chair while I take...

Here are a couple of Arlo's 22-month orange chair pictures, as promised in my last post. He was in kind of a grumpy mood, having just gotten up from his nap, but the tape measure cheered him up. ...

Here's Arlo at 45 and 46 weeks. Only a week left until he's 11 months old! He has picked up all sorts of fun new skills over the past few weeks--pointing at things, clicking his tongue and st...

Hmm, somehow it has been three weeks since I last posted. Arlo turned 10 months old on Friday! I have lots to share, including three weeks' worth of orange chair pictures: First, the State ...

Here's Mister Arlo at twenty-seven weeks (we love it when he makes that "O" face!): And at twenty-eight weeks, at rest and in a happy blur: Arlo's doing great and is so much fun (I f...

Wow, 30 weeks! Three-quarters of the way there. I'm definitely starting to feel a little unwieldy, but it's not too bad. I've been feeling fewer sharp kicks recently, which is consistent wi...

Twenty-nine weeks! This belly means business. I wasn't sure if I should mention this, because it might move me from the "slightly unorthodox pregnant lady" category to the "crazy new age pr...

Twenty-five weeks! Okay, twenty-five and a half--we've been having so much fun this weekend enjoying the beautiful early spring weather in Portland that this post got a little delayed. I'd forgotten h...

Twenty-four weeks! Can there really be only a few more weeks left in the second trimester? I'll be sad to see it go--it has been so fun! Increased energy and appetite, and tangible proof that there's ...

This past year has definitely had its ups and downs for friends and family and for the world in general, but we were lucky enough to have a pretty good year. Some highlights: We made new friends ...

Some recent tidbits: Shangri-La, the new Indian place at SE 26th and Clinton appears to have closed (already!). Bummer--we never got to try their full menu! They've scraped the paint off the wind...

Phew! August was a frenzy of preserving and trying to keep up with our garden and CSA. Things seem to be slowing down now, which is kind of a relief. We were lucky enough to be overrun with tom...

Patrick's family was in town this past weekend, so on the fourth of July we hosted a barbecue and then went to see the fireworks on the SE waterfront (it was very crowded, so next year we'll probably ...

I spent the past week in California for work and took a few days to visit my mom, grandma, and aunts while I was in the area (it's always so much fun when they all get together!). Now I'm back home in...

Here are some more recent garden pictures, for those of you who enjoy such things. It sure makes me happy to see everything growing so vigorously! (click through for more pictures on Flickr) ...

I've kept putting off talking about our garden because I wanted to wait until it was done, but that's silly--it will never be done. That's part of the beauty of a garden--it's always changing! So here...

Last Saturday, Patrick and I met up at the PSU farmers' market for lunch (I was downtown for a haircut, and he'd just finished a bike ride in the West Hills). Normally I shy away from the PSU market b...

I ate ice cream three times today, but I also ran for 16 minutes this morning (Couch to 5k Week 5!). I'm hoping the two balance each other out. They were small scoops of ice cream, at least. You se...

I'm loving the spring produce lately! I bought two big armfuls of rhubarb at the farmers' market on Wednesday (first of the season!), and after much consideration, I made Nigella Lawson's Irish tarte ...

Happy Easter! I made hot cross buns again this year, with a few tweaks. Instead of using storebought candied citron, I candied some lemon peels and then used the resulting syrup to glaze the fi...

Wonderfulness abounds lately! This past week we have done all sorts of great stuff (and are kind of exhausted, but in a good way): On Thursday we went to Laura Gibson's record release/potluck with ...

Spring is here! Spring is here! (That last one is from a house up the street from us. It makes me want to plant a star magnolia in our parking strip so we can enjoy it next spring!) I'm ...

It's exciting to see signs of spring here in Portland! Daffodils and a lone crocus have popped up around our yard, and we have other mystery bulbs poking up that have yet to bloom (maybe tulips?). A f...

It has been a very nice weekend so far. Yesterday, Patrick and I walked down to Genie's Cafe for lunch. I had a yummy vegetarian eggs benedict, and he had biscuits and gravy. The walk there was a litt...

Hmm, it appears that I haven't written in a while, based on my backlog of food photos. Let's see... We had a nice, low-key New Year's Eve. We went to Bar Avignon (a cozy bistro/wine bar) for dinner...

We woke up early on Saturday morning to the first frost of the season. We layered up with lots of Smartwool and headed over to a church in the Richmond neighborhood for our Friends of Trees planting d...

I bought some nice fall/winter clothes yesterday! My original plan was to stop by Pin Me to buy some Orla Kiely rain boots at 25% off (there seemed to be lots of big sales this weekend), but the boots...

I didn't do the project I had originally planned for today (painting two rain barrels for our yard) because it was cold and drizzly, which didn't seem like ideal spray-painting weather. Instead, I unp...

Last Friday night, we went back to Doug Fir to take in a show (that's what people our age are supposed to do, right?). We were there to see the second band of the night, A Weather, but we were very pu...

Patches came back on Saturday! We bought her some kitty treats to celebrate. I'm glad she turned up. Here are a few pictures from this evening. The sunset was really pretty, and weather was balmy. I s...

The mulching is finished! We actually finished last weekend, but we've been so busy rocking out at MFNW that I haven't had time to post (more about that coming soon). Here are some before and after pi...

Yesterday night we started vermicomposting! We had gotten a Reln Wriggly Wranch when we lived in Menlo Park, subsidized by San Mateo County, but we had never gotten around to filling it with worms and...

And so ends our first week working from Portland. I can't decide if working from home is good or bad. I'm finding it more relaxing than going to work, and I like that I can take a few minutes to put s...

Today we found out that Patches the cat has an owner and is not homeless or starving at all. What a sneaky kitty! Also, I found out that Patches pooped under our lemon tree at least twice in the past ...

Yesterday evening and this morning we spent a good chunk of time in the yard, pulling weeds and pruning our plants. It's satisfying work. I have been working on deadheading our two rose bushes, which ...

Our tomato plants are starting to produce. The oblong pink guys on the left are Maglia Rosa tomatoes, round red are Sweet 100s, round yellow are Sungold, and pear-shaped yellow are Austin's Yellow...

Our new camera has arrived! I think it will do a fine job. (Here's a photo Patrick took of our first Puglia pepper) ...

Two things that I meant to mention in my last post but forgot about (and a third thing for good measure!): 1. The inspector told Patrick that if he (the inspector) were the one buying the house, hi...

This has been an enjoyable weekend with awesome weather! On Friday, it was supposed to get up to 85F, so Patrick and I both took half days off of work and met up after lunch to enjoy the sun together....

Food post! Most of these dishes were made before our Mammoth and DC trips; I just never got around to posting about them. 1. In order to use up the last of the frozen cherry tomatoes from last summ...

Food roundup! 1. Granola Revisited from Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way. Another installment in my ongoing search for the perfect granola. This was very good. Not quite perfect, but I'd make it a...

We have enjoyed a string of nice, relaxed weekends recently. I love it! Last Saturday was especially nice. I made us a breakfast of Blueberry-Yogurt Waffles (from Dorie Greenspan's Waffles from Mornin...

Catching up, in list form: We have harvested two Crane melons from our garden so far. They're small, but they taste like melons all right! The flavor is similar to a cantaloupe, but with a hi...

Some bits and pieces: We went to the Menlo Park Connoisseur's Marketplace a few weekends ago. My coworkers said it was one of the best art and wine festivals in the Bay Area (I didn't realize ...

We started the week with two simple meals. First up was Gingery Shrimp and Couscous with leftover grilled vegetables and strawberries for dessert. It was easy enough, but nothing special. Nex...

I planted our summer garden today (pictures here). This summer, we'll have three new kinds of tomatoes (Supersweet 100s, Black Zebra, and Stupice), Crane melons, beets, and a bunch of herbs (basil, c...

Oh man, I've let things pile up, and now I have a bunch of stuff to write about. Let's see... Recent meals: I made a batch of Smoky Beef and Bacon Chili from Sunset a week or two ago. It was g...

First, it appears I forgot to mention that I planted some succulents (from Wegmans) in a large bowl a while back (idea and bowl from Anthropologie). I know nothing about growing succulents, and I was...

First, a picture of the granola I made a while ago with some dried blueberries (yum!) and milk. Not bad, but not amazing. Much healthier than commercial granola though. Our garden seems to ha...

I put up a few pictures of our latest garden setup. Click the daisies! As anticipated, the temperature has fallen below freezing at night for the past few days. The first night it happened, I...

We had dinner tonight at the very fancy Chez TJ in Mountain View, to celebrate the fact that we both recently got promoted and to take advantage of the discount program Patrick has at work (the offer ...

Patrick made some good soup for dinner last week--Lentil Soup with Balsamic-Roasted Winter Vegetables from Cooking Light. I made a salad of Belgian endive and radicchio with an orange vinaigrette to ...

We've done all sorts of good stuff lately! On Friday, we met up with Tree and Andrew and went to Zibibbo for dinner. Last time we both ordered from the prix fixe menu, so we were surprised to find ...

Our lemon tree has its first blossom! It seems like an odd time to start making fruit, but what do I know? It smells gooood! Last weekend, we dusted off our tripod and took a bunch of picture...

I haven't mentioned our garden much this summer, but it's doing well. I've taken pictures of its progress every so often. If you like that kind of thing, click the flowering Thai basil. I've given ...

A few nights ago, Patrick made us breakfast for dinner: Blueberry Buckwheat Pancakes, grapefruit, and Tomato and Chard Frittata (from Moosewood Low-Fat Favorites). I thought the frittata was ki...

We had yet another good weekend in a long line of good weekends this summer (how'd I get so lucky?). Patrick and I received a gift card to the Slanted Door for our birthdays, so we took the train u...

Things I meant to post about sooner: Last Sunday, we had some friends over for a birthday barbecue. It was a good time! We had farmer's market strawberries and pita and hummus to start. Then our...

We planted our summer garden today. It was kind of sad because our winter garden was still doing pretty well, but I'm looking forward to watching this new garden grow. And I salvaged a few poppy pla...

Yesterday, I got my hair cut at Juut. Nothing remarkable. I've found a length I like, and I'm sticking with it for now. None of the hair pictures we took turned out great, but here are two if you'd...

We had our first poppies bloom yesterday. It was such a nice surprise to come outside this morning and find a shock of pink in our garden. Patrick took a few pictures. Work has been busy. My...

I'm too busy enjoying life to write about it! Not much new to tell; like most weekends, this one was spent eating sushi at Akasaka, staring at our garden (only I do that), eating pastrami sandwiches ...

I finally cleaned up our garden. When we left for our honeymoon in October, I cut our tomato plants and collard greens down to nubs, figuring they'd die while we were gone, and that would be that. B...

I can't believe we're getting married in two weeks! How did that happen? I think we'll have a wonderful wedding and honeymoon, but I'm eager to be done planning and worrying and just get to the good...

This evening we had a tomato tasting (or a tomato flight, if you will). It consisted of two tomatoes from Patio Hybrid F, two from Dona (finally! Unfortunately, most of her tomatoes are cracked, whi...

I love lists! I've been reading overly much about New Orleans these past few weeks and haven't been sleeping well because of it. I wish I could make it all better. If you haven't seen it, int...

I haven't written for too long, and now I'm due for a long, boring recap of gardening and wedding stuff. I'll try to keep it brief! Sorry if this seems disjointed--it's past my bedtime! Garden: I...

No time to write a long, rambly post, but here are few things I've been meaning to mention: Patrick bought his first suit (to wear to our wedding and subsequent formal events) this weekend at Mac...

First of all, there are a few new garden pictures up. Click on the first peas of the summer to see the rest. A lot has happened in the past three weeks, garden-wise. Our tomato plants have gr...

As I said earlier, camping last weekend was fun. Every year, my stepdad's family goes camping for a week in Shaver Lake, CA, at Dinkey Creek campground. Patrick and I joined them (and my mom) for th...

You know how there were some holes in our collard greens? Well, they got much worse, and we also found holes in our tomato leaves, pea leaves, and radish leaves. No good! I got up close and perso...

So, this weekend. On Saturday, I drove down to Carmel for my trial wedding hair and makeup appointment with Rebecca, who was recommended by her sister-in-law, Freya, Ventana's recommended hair and ma...

Click for pictures of our garden at two weeks, if you're into that sort of thing :) I planted some parsley, thyme, and basil seeds (more basil! I love basil) outside yesterday in a secondary pot...

We've had Google-fried chicken for dinner the past few nights. We fried two batches on separate days, since it's okay to leave it marinating for up to 5 days prior to cooking it. Dinner 1 cons...

I kept meaning to write something this weekend, but it was just too nice lounging around instead. Here goes with the update... This past week, Patrick took a big step forward in organizing our tri...

We have a garden! We went to Wegman's yesterday and bought tomato and strawberry plants, plus seeds for snap peas and collard greens, and I planted everything while Patrick lounged around in the shad...

Patrick is so awesome! He built us a big planter box of his own design for our patio, since there isn't any garden space at our apartment (well, there are nice flowers and plants, but we don't get to...

We got our second box today, and with a little online tweaking of the contents beforehand, we had all the produce we needed for the New Best Recipe clam chowder recipe (conveniently online as well). ...

Great weekend so far! On Friday, we drove down to Monterey and stayed at the Travelodge for the night. I was pleasantly surprised at how nice it was. I mean, it was still a motel, but a nice one. ...

Today we had an afternoon snack of fresh-squeezed orange juice (I found a cheapo citrus juicer on clearance at Cost Plus this morning--just what I was looking for!) and grapefruit halves, both using f...

We had a decent dinner tonight. I made Beef Bourguignonne from our new Better Homes and Gardens cookbook (I figured it was a good inaugural recipe), and Patrick made biscuits to go with it (I think t...

Today we bought art. Menlo Park was having an arts and crafts sidewalk fair all weekend, and after much hemming and hawing, we decided it was worth the expense to have nice things on our walls. We g...

We had a great weekend! There are pictures here. If you want the whole long-winded recap, keep reading... Friday: Patrick and I drove up to Oakland around 2:30 to meet up with Tree, Andrew, an...

We have baby basil sprouts! They're cute. Two little chives appeared a few days ago too, but none of the other chives have sprouted yet. It's a little weird. Why were those two so early? Or are ...

Tonight, we had Halibut with Coconut-Curry Sauce for dinner (it was supposed to be sea bass, but Safeway didn't have any). It turned out well. The fish was unremarkable and kind of pricey, but the s...

I got my new bike yesterday. It's so pretty! Tomorrow I'm going to ride it for the first time. Every Sunday, part of Canada Road is closed to cars, and only pedestrians and cyclists are allowed on ...

We had a good dinner last night: Easy Zucchini, Tomato, and Cheese Tart. It's kind of like a quiche, but not quite. It was really good, and the phyllo dough makes it easier (although it still took a...

Last night, we had a hankering for ribs, so we went to Austin's for dinner. It's not awesome food, but I liked it better this time around than last time. I had a combo plate of St. Louis ribs and br...

I bought two boxes of Cocoa Krispies (although I guess now they're officially "Cocoa Rice Krispies") on sale at the store today! I hope they taste okay with soymilk. Of course, the problem with most...

I love spring! It's not totally here, but a few trees are really getting going. Like these stubby trees with big white flowers. There are some at the entrance to MIT, as well as outside my office w...

I feel a little better about grad school today. I think I'm going to wait until I get my results this weekend and meet with Anne, to see what she thinks of my progress. I wish I had an herb garden...

My mom and I started watching Season 1 of Sex and the City last night (she'd seen them all before, while I'd never seen any). I'm enjoying it so far; Carrie's hairstyles seem almost attainable by peo...

I just ate my first fresh fig! I saw them at the store today, and I figured that since they're pretty hard to get fresh, I should take advantage of the opportunity. It was a Calimyrna fig, and it wa...