What I'm Wearing Today

Not that the rain really ever keeps me from baring my blindingly pale legs but today there is sun! Which means that wearing this skirt, that has been sitting in my closet for four months with the tags on it, without tights is acceptable.

Pizza Pie, Oh My!

I made pizza with Craig for dinner last night. Except I'm using the word "made" very loosely. Really we just topped a frozen pizza with things we wanted to eat but it turned out amazingly and the whole dinner took 15 minutes to make.


If you don't know what leeks are or haven't used them in your cooking you definitely should. They're basically just a more mild onion but my favorite thing about them is how easy they are to chop. You just slice off rounds and separate the circles. Plus they don't make you cry.


I also diced up some red pepper.


I chopped up zucchini as well and sauteed it with the leeks and red pepper in a tiny bit of olive oil with some salt and pepper.


I threw the pizza in sans toppings so the veggies wouldn't end up as mush. This is my all time most favorite frozen pizza. I keep one in my freezer at all times in case of an emergency (or um, laziness). It only takes ten minutes to bake and you bake it directly on the rack which means less dishes to wash! Yay!


While the pizza cooked for a bit I sliced up some black olives. When the pizza had about three minutes to go I threw all the topping on.


Doesn't that totally look like not a frozen pizza? I served it with a salad of mixed greens topped with gorgonzola, cucumber, and pepitas with a blush wine vinaigrette.

I mean, it takes me longer to shower than it did to make this meal.

The Outfit I Want to Wear Every Single Day of Spring

I mean seriously? Does it get any more gorgeous? I am pretty sure I am turning into a 'riding through a meadow on a wild horse while wearing a daisy crown' girl this Spring.

A Chocolate-less Home

I moved around a lot growing up. You'd think that the whole leaving people/people leaving thing would get easier but it never does. Yesterday Lana moved back to Philly. It was a hard day for me. I had an amazing friend who had so many similar interests to mine yet was different enough to be constantly opening my eyes to new wonderful pieces of life. And the most awesome part was living three blocks from each other. Late at night when one of us was bored or sad or wanted out of our houses all it took was a quick text and a few minutes walk and things were fun again.

We spent her last days in Portland doing all the things you don't do when you live in a city because they're always there. One of those things being a tour of cupcake bakeries. Even though the last week she was here I always had in my mind the number of days until she would be gone we somehow still managed to have fun and not be sad until the very last day.

I'm not going to say I lost a friend because I don't think I did. Our friendship has changed but it's not gone. And I am truly glad that she's in a place that makes her so happy now.

This is going to sound weird, there's no way to make it not, but in some ways I'm thankful for the experience of her leaving. I would take her back here in a heartbeat but for the first time in my life someone has left and I don't feel like my entire world is ending. I don't feel like I want to close up and not talk to people again. I mean, okay, for a minute there when this became real yeah, I did feel like "Why is this happening AGAIN?" but I realized yesterday that this is okay. And knowing that I can now handle something like this without falling apart is so invaluable. I feel like all that time spent sitting in that giant leather chair in my therapist's office actually produced something.

I have to give Lana some credit though because even though I never mentioned it to her my biggest fear about her leaving was that she would end up back with all the people who love her and fill up her life and there would no longer be any room for me. I think it's a testament to how close we are that she knew how much that was weighing on me without one word uttered. I won't get into the mushy details but she wrote me a letter and in it addressed that fear of mine. And I love her so much for just knowing that that's what I needed, and for helping to make this huge change in my life seem not so daunting. I'm going to miss you Miss Lana.

There Will Be No Pillow Fights

Well, it's official. Lana is moving back to Philly. I'm going to miss her terribly but lucky for me today is her last day in her apartment and she doesn't actually leave until next week. Know what that means?

Lana and Lauren sleepover extravaganza!!

What I'm Wearing Today

Warm Weather Eats

I can't wait for it to be Spring and have all the fresh, light foods that come with warmer weather! I always buy high quality ingredients and it's important to me to eat organically and if given a choice I always go for local foods but I haven't been terribly diligent about eating seasonally. Which is really a shame because I feel a lot of creativity comes from using foods you might not be familiar with. This Summer though I'm wanting to make a better effort to shop at farmer's markets and grow my own herbs. I can't wait to make glazed salmon and fresh pasta salads and cold veggies and fruit and popsicles and gallete and everything else. I also see my ice cream maker getting a whole lot of use.

These are some of the things inspiring me right now.

What I'm Wearing Today

Ravioli Update (hint, it was amazing!)

So, I took the ravioli class I mentioned last week.

I've written about my plight of finding a great place to take cooking classes before. I searched for years for a place that was in a format I would enjoy, had delicious menus, was hands on, and that didn't break the bank. I finally discovered classes at Sur La Table and while I haven't taken classes anywhere else I also don't plan to. I love how much everyone gets to participate and how fun the environment is. And ravioli making was for sure one of the best classes I've taken.

The menu was...
Fresh Pasta Dough
Acorn Squash Ravioli with Brown Butter-Sherry Sauce
Goat Cheese and Arugula Ravioli with Roasted Cherry Tomato, Almond and Olive Tapenade
Three-Cheese Ravioli with Tomato-Balsamic Sauce and Parmesan Curls

And then, because they are awesome, they let us make a sweet dessert ravioli filled with apples and then fried and topped with powdered sugar and some delicious nutmeg whipped cream.