Two Exciting Things

This week I have worked long hours and slept very little. Last night I truly felt like a working woman when I got home from a long workday (yes, on a Saturday) and could not have been more excited for my night ahead: ordering take-out from the Thai place across the street and watching Sex and the City in my sweatpants.

Despite the long hours, I actually had a great week. Why, you may ask? Because I shook President Obama's hand on Friday! It is really more thrilling than I had imagined to shake the President's hand. And his hand is SO incredibly smooth! He must use lots of lotion.

In addition to meeting Mr. President, I am also excited for my afternoon today. My housemate Jenn and I are going to take a sewing class down the road. (I guess I'm following in Anna's footsteps on this one...)

(Via Bitsofthread.com)

We're going to the Bits of Thread studio for an intro to sewing class. I felt the need for a new hobby, and they have pretty reasonably priced classes. And if you get hooked, you can rent their sewing machines!

Happy Sunday!

Starting Over

Remember my new years resolution to read more?  Remember this?  Well, it all went downhill as I got further into Little Bee.  Turns out, the basis for the story is incredibly sad.  As my only real down-time for reading is right before bed, and considering I've developed a nasty habit of overthinking books (also: tv shows, movies, stories I've read online, etc.), I decided to leave Little Bee for another time--say, perhaps, when I'm on a tropical vacation, sipping a margarita, looking at the world through rose-colored glasses.

Instead, I picked up the newest book by my all-time favorite author, Atul Gawande. 

Aside from being a surgeon at Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston, he's a New Yorker contributor and and author of two previous books about health care.  His most recent book, The Checklist Manifesto, looks at the use of the simple checklist in complex settings (like hospitals).  So far, it's awesome.  You can read the introduction and first chapter here.

P.S. If you like watching "Mystery Diagnosis" and don't get grossed out too easily, this is the article that got me hooked on Atul Gawande and sparked my interest in medicine.

The BEST Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are the best cookies to have in your daily life as a mid-day snack, post-dinner treat, or even breakfast. (Yep. I said it.) They are not too rich, somewhat healthy, easy to make, and they will satisfy your sweet tooth. I just made a fresh batch for the week, and decided to share them with you all. I will try to eat only 2/day.

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
3 cups oat flour (store bought, or oatmeal ground to flour in a Quisinart)
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup banana puree (about 2 bananas)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup raw sugar
2/3 cup chocolate chips
2 teaspoons canola oil
2/3 cup light soy milk or skim milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

To Make Cookies
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl.
Combine all wet ingredients in a separate bowl.

Mix the dry and wet ingredients together, until well combined.

Use a large spoon to scoop batter onto an ungreased cookie sheet, or a cookie sheet covered with wax paper. Flatten a little with a fork.

Bake cookies for 16 minutes (a few minutes longer if you like them crunchy), rotating the pan halfway through.
Bake until the edges of the cookies are light brown.
Either eat the cookies while hot, or put them away in the freezer until ready to eat. Personally, I like 'em cold!

Helpful Hints:
1) Buy a large container of oatmeal so that you have plenty for turning into oat flour.
2) Trader Joe's has very affordable organic raw ("turbinado") sugar.

And a big ol' thanks to Lisa and Peggy for introducing me to this recipe.

Ebay Find

How totally awesome are these mid-century walnut nightstands?

I love them!! They'd look great with matching glass lamps like these on top!

Snow in New England, One Flurry in DC

Happy Friday!

While Anna is trudging through the snow in Maine, I wanted to share with you a few pictures that my mom sent me from the snow storm in Massachusetts. I am so jealous! I only saw one stray snow flake in DC on my way to work this morning.

This is the view from my cozy house in Massachusetts looking out onto the back deck:

And another shot, this time from my mom's work. She works at a veterinary school. The small black cages in the background on the left side of the photo are for recovering birds and mammals!

Surprise Me...

If you're anywhere near as addicted to food as we are, you've probably come across the delicious Smitten Kitchen.  Her site is awesome for many reasons, namely the witty dialogue, creative recipes and, oh yeah, insanely cute pictures of her kid. 

One of the best features, I think, is the "Surprise Me!" button on the left-hand side that pulls a random recipe from the Smitten Kitchen files.  It's how I found these layer bars, these pancakes, these espresso cookies, and this apple cake (she has healthier stuff too...I think my sweet tooth might be acting out.)

P.S. We have MORE snow on the way in Portland! 

P.P.S.  I can't talk about food blogging without giving a shout out to my amazing, talented sister at Diary of a Locavore.  Check out her super local, super healthy recipes here!  (Hint: her Portuguese Kale Soup is LITERALLY my favorite food in the world.)

Chix

For those of you who don't know, I (Liz) accomplished one of my New Years resolutions: I joined a gym. Tonight, I went to a great spinning class at the super-crowded-because-it's-post-New-Years-resolution-time gym near my house, and it happened to be Member Appreciation Day! My experience went a little like this:

Arrive for spinning 15 minutes early.

Get handed a bottle of coconut water for hydration.

Bike and sweat and listen to good music for 60 minutes.

Grab some delicious chicken, rice, and chickpea salad on my way out.

Member Appreciation Day is the BEST DAY EVER!

The point of this post, however, is not to brag. After all, I am paying way too much each month to run on a treadmill. What I really wanted to do was introduce all you DC folks to the great little restaurant that provided me with my delicious dinner. It is called Chix.

Located at 11th and U, Chix serves awesome Peruvian chicken as well as a Malbec for $4 during happy hour. Not to mention they support local business and are very eco-friendly. (They compost 90% of their waste!)

I recommend the Caribbean Curry Chicken Wrap and a side of the Chix Chick Salad (chick peas, green peppers, onions, & parsley).

What a Way to Start the Morning

I had an ooey, gooey, fluffy, nutty, best-oatmeal-I-ever-did-have kind of morning. And I owe it all to Kath, from Kath Eats Real Food. She has a whole Tribute to Oatmeal!! Today, I doctored her Whipped Banana Oatmeal recipe.

Whipped Banana Cinnamon Peanut Butter Oatmeal (a take on Kath's Whipped Banana Oatmeal)
You Will Need
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 large banana
1 cup skim milk
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon (a few sprinkles)

To Make Oatmeal
Boil milk in small saucepan.
Mash banana with a fork in small bowl (which you can later reuse as your oatmeal bowl)
When milk is boiling, pour oats and banana mush into milk.
Here is the most important part: For 4-5 minutes, whisk the banana oatmeal while it cooks on medium heat. By minute 4 or 5, it should become very creamy and fluffy.
Pour into bowl. Let sit for a minute or two.
Top with a pinch of cinnamon and a heaping spoonful of peanut butter.

Enjoy!

P.S. Next I'll be trying this whipped banana oatmeal with Nutella. YUM.

Capital Crescent Trail

Yesterday, Lisa and I went for a long, long walk on the Capital Crescent Trail in DC. It goes from Georgetown to Silver Spring, Maryland, and it makes you forget you're still in the city. In the summer it's beautifully green, and the water is sprinkled with kayakers. In the winter, there are fewer walkers and bikers, and the clothes you have to wear to stay warm make you look like marshmallow people. But it's a great escape. A few pictures below.

Happy Sunday :)

Food for Thought

Happy Saturday! Sorry I have been a bit MIA. Work is quite hectic and exhausting this month, but exciting too. Most nights this week have involved a good glass of red wine :)

I'd like to introduce you to a great blog, called Food & Think, created by those who write the Smithsonian magazine. As the tag line reads, it is: "A Heaping Helping of Food News, Science and Culture," and it is TOTALLY cool.

After digging through the blog for some time, I found an old post from May of 2010 about WWI and WWII food posters. The posters convey the themes of saving food and being resourceful (which makes sense, particularly when you take into account that it was during a time of food rationing). If you are at all interested in the history of food, I strongly suggest you read this blog post and click through all the food posters; the messages they convey are quite interesting.

Here is one of my favorite posters from the blog.

(Via Food & Think)

This poster was created in 1917, yet its teachings are still so relevant today. I think we all ought to do a little more of what this poster says.

As for now, I'm off for a long, winter walk with the lovely Lisa!

Snow Day!

It's blizzarding like crazy in Portland this morning!  I am happily cozied up on my couch, watching it come down.  I love this guy's idea for a snow storm time lapse, start to finish.  The umbrella is practically buried by the end!

Stay warm...

Music and Music Player of the Week

I have been looking for a reason to get one of these cute and incredibly functional Tivoli radios. Not only are they battery-powered, high-quality radios with iPod jacks that you can take anywhere you'd like, but some models are even water-resistant for the shower. I would like one in yellow.

(Via Tivoli Audio)

I would like to carry around my Tivoli radio and listen to the whole Glen Hansard album, The Swell Season. If you take this album for a spin, try track number 3, Falling Slowly.

(Via Amazon.com) 

A Cure

Recipe to cure a case of the Mondays:

1 post-work snack; milk + chocolate chip cookies

1 post-snack yoga practice; try this...

       <------ or this!

1 bowl white bean stew (poached egg and all)
1 glass Cary eggnog, last of the Christmas stash
Lots and lots of Grey's Anatomy (see below)





(Image via Petit Bliss)

Simple Sewing

Happy Sunday!  What have you been up to this weekend?  We've been having lazy mornings and productive afternoons in Portland.  I rediscovered my love of Grey's Anatomy, after a three year hiatus, and am getting wrapped up in the drama once more.  I've also justified my multiple-episode-mornings by convincing myself that watching medical dramas is one way of preparing to one day be a clinician myself (heh heh).  

Aside from catching up on the Izzie-George drama of Season 6, I also had a chance to take my brand new sewing machine for a test run.  I got this model for Christmas, and so far it is awesome!  My first project is a set of napkins (I'm starting slow here), and I've been using my all-time favorite sewing book for guidance:  Simple Sewing, by Lotta Jansdotter.  

All of her patterns are quick and easy, but also very cute and functional.  I love this gardening tote!

Father Daughter Duo

A pick-me-up video for the day. We already love the song Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, and this is even cuter. Thanks to housemate Cait for sending me this as a pick-me-up yesterday :)

Cauliflower and Capers

A simple and beautiful side dish.

Ingredients
1 large cauliflower, stem removed and washed
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 small lemon
2 tablespoons capers

Cauliflower
Preheat over to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
Evenly coat cauliflower in 2 tablespoons olive oil.
When oven is at 425 degrees, place cauliflower on middle rack.
Bake for 40 minutes to an hour, depending on the size of the cauliflower.
Remove when florets are light brown and crispy.
Test the stalk with a fork to make sure it is soft enough for your liking.

Dressing
In a small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons olive oil and the juice from 1 small lemon (or 1/2 of a larger lemon).
Add capers to the dressing. Stir.
Pour olive oil, lemon, and caper dressing evenly over cauliflower.

Serve whole.

Helpful Hints:
1) Goya brand capers (in the international aisle) are the most affordable capers in the store.
2) Cauliflower is available locally at many farmers markets well into the winter months!

See of Love Winter Boot Collection

The weather's been kind of tricky as of late–freezing cold, warm, blinding snow, warm again!  Andy blames it on 2012's impending doom.  End of the world or not, we still gotta keep our footsies warm, right?  Here's what's doing it for us this winter:

Clockwise from top: the snow boot, the work boot, the evening boot, the weekend boot.

Under the Weather

Some people are prone to sinus infections. Others get migraines. I get bronchitis. Every year when winter rolls around, so does bronchitis. Hopefully it won't last too long this year. For now, I will make the best of getting into bed early, reading my book, and watching bad t.v.

Sweet dreams :)

New Years Resolutions, Part 2

Usually I (Liz) don't make New Years resolutions. But this year I am going to make four very manageable resolutions. And each resolution will have a goal. Woo!

Resolution 1: Go to bed 20 minutes earlier every night. This means showering before 11:00 PM.

Goal 1: Hit snooze a maximum of three times each morning. (My housemate Jenn will be so happy to see this! We share a bedroom wall.)

Resolution 2: Buy a gym membership.

Goal 2: Save money. To clarify, I have very little intention of working out more. I wouldn't mind having some sort of arm muscle, but I'm in no rush. I simply want to take advantage of the post-New Years sale. And I miss my spinning classes.

Resolution 3: Go to the grocery store with a list.

Goal 3: Buy the stuff I need (e.g., my favorite coffee yogurt (see below), bananas, veggie burgers, avocados...), not the stuff I only buy because I'm hungry (usually Cheez-Its).

Resolution 4: Splurge just a little bit more on simple comforts. For you or for me.

Goal 4: More joy in life. Recently, my mom bought me these awesome over-sized super plush towels (we got them at Target), and they made my winter showers a heck of a lot better. Whether it's a nice towel or a good sandwich or a bouquet of flowers, if it will make your day or mine, in 2011 I'm going to say "Why not?"

Later gators. Resolution 1 won't happen unless I go now.

New Years Resolutions, Part 1

Happy 2011!  I can't believe 2010 has come and gone.  It was a big year for us at See of Love.  We graduated and were thrown out into the "real world;" we moved to new cities and started new jobs! 

Here in Portland, the year started with a very quiet bang.  New Years Day was spent almost entirely in bed, watching episodes of The Office (isn't that how January 1 should always be?!).  Despite the slow start, I'm thinking 2011 is going to be a good one.  I was planning on making a list of my resolutions, but really I think I'm just going to do this: 

This year I will: exercise my creative side.  explore my city.  read more books.  take more pictures.  be healthy and happy. 

What will you do?  

xoxo, anna

(Print by Matt Jones, via 20x200)