Out with the old...

*from*

This decade is ending, and I feel like my whole life has happened during it. I know I grew up in other decades, and formed valuable personality traits during those years, but this has been the decade in which everything striking in my life has happened. I learned to drive, dated guys, graduated high school, graduated college, lived in two foreign countries, and got married. All the jobs I’ve ever had in my life, I’ve had in this decade. All the countries I’ve visited, I’ve visited in this decade. Now it’s ending, and I’m getting nostalgic, so here’s a look back at the double-ohs, the zeros, the two thousands, or whatever you want to call them…

The 10 best experiences of the decade:
1. Getting married. Duh.
2. Josh's proposal. It was so spontaneous, even he didn’t know it was going to happen until the words came out of his mouth. We were having tea at our favorite tea shop, and all of a sudden he said, “Stacey, will you marry me?” I laughed, and then said yes.
3. Attending Oxford University in England for a semester. Every day I walked down streets that the great minds of history walked down before me, in one of the most beautiful countries in the world. It was heaven.
4. Living in China. Yeah, I was a crappy teacher, and I was depressed while I was there, but I’d do it all over again if I could. My students adored me, I made some amazing friends there, and I got to experience life in a culture shockingly different from my own. It doesn’t get more interesting than that.
5. Losing my job at the beginning of this year. Not even kidding. It helped me to discover my favorite career so far, as a housewife. Also, it gave me a decent story to tell about why I was fired. (My boss told me – and I quote – that I’m “not warm and fuzzy enough with the customers.” If that’s not the lamest-sounding excuse for firing someone, I don’t know what is.)
6. Sitting next to Tom Shippey on an eight-hour plane flight. There is possibly no one in the world who could have appreciated this more than me. For those of you who don’t know, Tom Shippey is a Tolkien expert and a scholar extraordinaire, and I have all his books and am obsessed with all things Tolkien.
7. Having my favorite professor in college announce to me and my whole class that he thought I was an amazing writer. Dr. Baloian, you rock. That one little moment has kept me going whenever I thought my writing was horrible.
8. Winning the first classical piano competition I played in. It was a terrifying experience, but totally worth it once I found out that I won. It made me feel like all my years of practice had been worthwhile.
9. Finding out that I had been accepted to a prestigious music conservatory for college. I didn’t end up going there (that’s a long story for another time), but I was over the moon when I found out about it.
10. Getting my first car. It was a 1979 Plymouth Duster with a finicky engine, but I didn’t care, because I felt like I owned the world. It didn’t even matter that the CD player caught on fire once, or that the engine died one day as I was turning a corner, and I crashed into a bush. I have fond memories of that piece of junk.

So how about you guys? What’s your best experience from this decade?

Happy New Year! See you on the other side!

Calendars and cake plates

I made two fun Etsy purchases this weekend, and one of them arrived in the mail today! It was this charming, whimsical calendar of animals with hobbies from SadlyHarmless...


It is super cute, and I can't wait to start using it in a few days!

The other purchase is the Genevieve cake plate from OliviaRaeJames...


I've been dying to buy this plate ever since I saw it months ago, and when I got some cashola for Christmas, I splurged! I can't wait to get this in the mail!

Love's differences

Some people say that opposites attract, but then other people say that similar personalities attract, and I don't really know if either one is right, but I do know that Josh and I are polar opposites. Here are some stats to prove it:

Him:
home-schooled
raised in a shockingly conservative Christian family (i.e. no jeans for girls)
uber-conservative politically
doesn't care if the house is messy
has never been outside Oregon and Washington
night owl

Me:
attended public school
raised in a more relaxed Christian family (they let me wear jeans. And - gasp! - tank tops)
crazy liberal
hates messes in the house with a passion
adores traveling
can't stay awake past 11 p.m.

I own the TV show The West Wing on DVD, and earlier this year we watched a few episodes of it every night, and then would get into really intense arguments about the politics mentioned in the show. These were serious arguments - we would get really mad at each other (see picture above) and not speak for a few hours. We would always apologize in the end, but we still frequently have squabbles about the things that we hold different opinions on.

It worried me, at the beginning of our marriage, that we argued, but now I've come to realize arguing doesn't mean our relationship is falling apart. I'm pretty sure all couples do it, even if they don't argue in public. I mean, it's kind of amazing, isn't it, that two people who hold vastly different views on the world can love each other, and they can argue about things, but at the end of the day they always kiss and make up, and laugh at jokes together, and snuggle before going to sleep. I'm not saying we specifically are that amazing couple - I just think it's incredible that people have this capacity to accept others as they are, flaws and weird opinions and all.

Okay, I'm getting a little deep and mushy here. So in a nutshell: I'm a tough girl to live with, and this guy rocks for doing it.


And, just because I thought it was kind of funny and cute, here's a short video of Josh huddled up next to our space heater this morning. (And yes, I know my laugh at the end of the video sounds totally stupid.)

Vivid living

My new favorite website is Apartment Therapy, which I just discovered a few days ago. It has rockin' apartment tours, and decorating suggestions for apartment living. I've looked through quite a few of the apartments so far, and my favorite is an apartment belonging to a girl named Amy. I love being surrounded by color, and her apartment is definitely the brightest I've ever seen. She pulls it off well, though - while the walls are vivid, she uses accent pieces to draw the eyes to other parts of the room.

Oh, how I crave this red leather chair...

*from*

The bedroom is like a beautiful outdoor oasis, and I'm glad she chose a calm white bed to contrast the greens....

*from*

In the hallway is her Pez dispenser collection. Normally I'm not a big fan of Pez collections in adult apartments, because they seem kind of juvenile, but her collection is laid out in such a striking way, and it goes with the whole "bright" theme of the place, so I actually like it....

*from*

*from*

The kitchen and dining area is another fun splash of color, and I especially like the bookcase in the second picture, with the books organized by color. I may have to try that in our new apartment...

*from*

*from*

If you want to check out more pictures from this apartment, go here. And I would highly recommend checking out the rest of the Apartment Therapy website as well!

Housewifey goodness

You know what the best thing about being a housewife is? Getting to stay in bed until noon if I don't feel like getting up when Josh does, and getting to stay in my PJ's all day. To be fair, I don't stay in my PJ's every day - I'm not that much of a slob - but that's what I'm doing today, and I don't feel bad at all about it. [On a side note, I'm not the hugest fan of the word "housewife". It makes me think of this stupid booklet that someone at our church gave us before we were married, that said the woman's domain is the house, and she should try to avoid leaving the house at all costs. That actually made me so mad that I threw the booklet on the floor and stomped on it repeatedly. So you can see why I'm not a fan of that word. But I can't think of any other word to use. "Stay-at-home-wife" just sounds weird. Maybe I could just say "I work at home."]

Speaking of domesticity, I made spinach souffles last night. It was the first recipe I've used from the cookbook Josh gave me for Christmas, The Illustrated Kitchen Bible. I was a little apprehensive about making them, because souffles seem so fancy, and also because Josh has this memory of his mom making a spinach souffle when he was younger, and him and his siblings thought it looked so gross that they wouldn't eat any of it. But my little souffles turned out to be just perfect! Light, moist, and thoroughly delicious.


I made them in single-serving size ramekins that I got for Christmas. They totally rocked. So here's the recipe, in case you want to try it:

Spinach Souffles

Ingredients:
8oz (225g) spinach, rinsed but not dried
4 tbsp butter, plus extra for the ramekins
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole milk [I used 1% milk and it turned out just fine]
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg [I just used a pinch of ground nutmeg]
salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 large eggs, separated

1. Place the spinach with any clinging water in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cover and cook for 3 minutes, or until tender. Drain and let cool. A handful at a time, squeeze out the excess liquid.

2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter four ramekins and place on a baking sheet.

3. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Whisk in the flour and let bubble for 1 minute. Whisk in the milk and bring to a boil over medium heat. Return the heat to low and simmer for about 3 minutes. Stir 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese and the nutmeg into the saucepan. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer the sauce to a large bowl.

4. Roughly chop the spinach and stir into the cheese mixture. Cover with plastic wrap pressed on the surface and let cool to room temperature. Stir in the yolks.

5. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. [I would suggest using an electric mixer, because beating the whites by hand would take a really long time.] Stir about one-quarter of the whites into the spinach mixture, then fold in the remainder.

6. Divide the mixture among the ramekins. Using a knife, make a shallow circle around the ramekins about 1/4-inch from the edge. Sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese. Bake about 20 minutes, until puffed and golden. Serve at once.

Canning experience #2

Last night I went to the store and bought a box of pectin and four canning jars, and set out on my second canning experience. What did I make?



That's right, green slime.

No, just kidding! I made kiwi jam. My aunt Jan knows someone who had a yard full of ripe kiwis (btw, did not know that kiwis grew in Oregon in December), so she took some for herself, and gave some to me. I left them sitting on the counter for a few weeks, not really knowing what to do with them, but then yesterday I looked up a recipe for kiwi jam, and it looked insanely easy, so I spent an hour in the kitchen (which is less time than I've spent on some dinners), and ended up with four pretty (okay, gross-looking) jars of kiwi jam.


I haven't tasted it yet. Maybe I should do that now....

Okay, I just tested it, and my reaction was to exclaim, "Whoa! Holy crap, that's good!" Seriously, wow. That is some good jam. I may start eating it out of the jar with a spoon.

Well, since this recipe is now Stacey-approved, I'll let you know what it is, in case you know someone with a yard full of kiwis. I found the recipe here. And if you don't want to click on the link, here it is:

Kiwi Jam

Ingredients:
3 cups chopped, peeled kiwi

1 package dry pectin
1 cup unsweetened pineapple juice
4 cups sugar

Directions:
Combine kiwi, pectin and pineapple juice in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Add sugar, stirring until dissolved. Return to a rolling boil. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat - skim off foam. Ladle into clean hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Process 10 minutes in a boiling water bath at altitudes up to 1000 feet. [I'm not sure what you're supposed to do if you live about 1,000 feet.]

Decor obsession

Josh and I had a fun afternoon browsing the shops in Portland's Pearl District. Most of the stores are pretty pricey (except for the ever-glorious Powell's Books), but they were having great sales. Anthropologie was a madhouse. My parents got me an Anthro gift card for Christmas (yay, parents!), so I went to browse and see if anything caught my eye, but with that many crazed shoppers crowded into the store with me, it wasn't very fun to look around. So I went to West Elm instead, and found that they have some reasonably priced home decor items. I think Josh is a bit shocked by my home decorating obsession. It wasn't very obvious when we moved into our current apartment, because I knew there would hardly be enough room to fit all our possessions in it, let alone decorate, but now that we're moving to a new place, my head (and conversation) is constantly full of chatter about how to decorate the new apartment. So anyway, West Elm had some fantastico pieces, like these hammed silver bowls:

*from*

And this Pebble Table Lamp:

*from*

I'm thinking I want our living room/kitchen area to feature black, white, silver, and dusty pink items, so the above bowls and lamp would fit in perfectly. (But, since we have a limited budget, I may only be allowed to get one or the other.) One of my do-it-yourself projects once we move will be to make this zebra console table for our entryway. Josh and I are planning on taking a trip to the Fred Meyer clearance store soon to peruse their selection of inexpensive, new couches, and then we'll move on to Ikea to get some shelving. I seriously cannot wait to move in two weeks!

In other news, I got some rockin' Christmas presents. My parents bought Josh and I tickets to the Switchfoot concert, which I'm stoked about! Josh got me this gorgeous, inspiring cookbook from Anthropologie:

*from*

Every recipe in it is illustrated, and all the recipes are simple and classy. I've spent hours since yesterday reading through it.

My aunt Gail got me this excellent cookbook:

*from*

I've had it checked out from the library for months, and every time I renew it I'm afraid it'll say someone else has put it on hold, but now I don't need to worry about that! I highly recommend both these cookbooks - The Kitchen Bible has recipes with simpler ingredients, and The Spice Bible uses more uncommon ingredients.

My awesome brother Sam got me the Etsy poster I was dying to have! Well, he ordered it a few days before Christmas, so I should have it in a few weeks!

*from*

I got plenty of other presents (my family goes crazy at Christmastime!), but I couldn't find pictures of them online, and anyway, do y'all really want to look at pictures of all my loot? I didn't think so.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Santa and his elf!

I hope you've all had a wonderful holiday, filled with food...

...presents...


...and maybe a little bit of booze...

South American souvenirs

My parents got back from their South American cruise last night, so Josh and I went over to their house to say hi. It was so nice to see them again, and very fun to hear all about the luxuries of cruise life (food available 24 hours a day!), to see some pictures, and to hear about their crazy adventures (my mom was pickpocketed in Santiago, Chile. My dad, who totally rocks, saw it happen, grabbed the guy's arm, and took back what he had stolen).

They brought me back some excellent souvenirs/Christmas presents!

This rockin' leather belt from Uruguay...


Sheep's wool and alpaca wool from various places at the bottom of the continent. They told me I'm not allowed to use it to make anything for anyone but myself...


And the most adorable wooden penguin from the Falkland Islands. It has a tag around its neck that says "my name is Stacey"! Yay!

Do my parents have good taste or what?!

Other happy news is that Josh and I got the apartment that we applied for! We'll be moving in two and a half weeks, to an apartment that seems like the lap of luxury compared to the one we're living in now. Sure, our apartment is cute, but it's soooo small. This new apartment is a one-bedroom, with carpeted floors, a dishwasher, and a fitness center in the basement. See? Lap of luxury. I can't wait!

Blah, it's raining

*from*

It's rainy here in Portland today. I don't like the rain. Some people here in P-town get very touchy when you say you don't like the rain, and snap, "Then why don't you move somewhere else?" but I like almost everything else about this town apart from the rain.

I get really depressed when it rains. Maybe I should get one of those lamps for depressed people, the ones that mimic sunlight, and you're supposed to sit in front of it for a certain amount of time each day. Kind of like recharging your batteries. Anyway, the rain makes me feel "blah," as Josh calls it, and that's on top of a crappy time I had this weekend. Actually, most of the weekend was okay, but at one point someone said some hurtful things to me, and it devastated me. Thank goodness for Josh, who sat there with his arms around me while I sobbed for half an hour. People suck sometimes, you know that? Not all you excellent people who read my blog, and certainly not Josh, but other people. They just suck. They're insensitive and judgmental.

Sorry for all the negativity. I know that's not my usual frame of mind. I blame the rain. And sucky people.

Here are some things that don't suck, though...

This fella. I love him. He's the best....

This little smelly furball - my parents' dog Lucy....


My parents, who come back from South America tomorrow....

And chocolate. It's always been kind to me....

*from*

Babies galore

In high school I was known in my group of friends as "the girl who hates children." To be fair, I didn't hate children, I just didn't want to be anywhere near them or have any of my own someday. So of course it would be my luck to marry someone with 12 nieces and nephews. But over the past few months I've really been putting an effort into playing and hanging out with our nieces and nephews, and I've discovered that kids aren't all that bad. In fact, they're kind of cool, especially when they adore me and all clamor to sit next to me at mealtimes. They're still way too high-energy for me, though, which is saying a lot, since I'm the most energetic and enthusiastic person that I know.

Six people that I know are now due to have babies next year. Six! I feel like I hear about a new pregnancy every day. I've never known so many people who are pregnant at the same time. It's kind of weird. Also, I feel like there's a lot of pressure on me and Josh to start crackin' on the baby-making. Not from my parents - they know me well enough to know that if they hinted at us having children, I wouldn't have kids at all out of pure rebellion - but every once in a while Josh's dad sends him an email saying that we need to throw out our birth control and start popping 'em out. (TMI? Yeah, probably.) He thinks that Muslims are going to take over the world, because they're having more children than Christians are, so, as Christians, we need to start having more kids so that we can beat the Muslims at this race for world power. Or something like that.

Anyway, the more time I spend around children, and the more not-at-all-subtle hints I get that I should get pregnant, the less I want kids. How's that for reverse psychology? Not to knock people who want kids, especially those people who are going through struggles to get pregnant - but it's just not my thing. Just thinking about having to raise kids makes me start to hyperventilate. Plus, I'm really vain, and don't like to think about what pregnancy would do to my figure.

So instead of a kid, we're just going to get a dog. It'll still be a few more weeks (or months) before we can get one, but I spent a long time on the Humane Society website this morning, looking at all the dogs they have ready to adopt out. There were two that I thought were wonderful, and I kind of hope one of them is still there when we go to adopt. There's Rags, an Australian Shepherd mix...

*from*

...and Blade, another Australian Shepherd mix...

*from*

Aren't they sweet?! I know that adopting a dog is a big responsibility, but it's one that I'm looking forward to. So here's to hoping that Rags or Blade will be my new "baby" next year!

The wreath episode

One of my favorite websites, Design*Sponge, has been featuring do-it-yourself wreaths on their site the past few months. They're all super-creative, and fairly simple and inexpensive to make. I won't get around to doing one this year, but maybe one of you guys would like to try making one! My favorite is this gorgeous white ruffly felt wreath, which could actually be hung up year-round...

*from*

Then there's this colorful number...

*from*

This wreath made from wood scraps is such a resourceful way to recycle...

*from*

This wreath isn't particularly my style, but it sure is Christmasy...

*from*

This one seems like it would be the most difficult to make, but I love its natural look...

*from*

This one looks more like a traditional wreath than any of the others, but I like how they worked unusual elements in, like twigs and succulents...

*from*

Jobs, dogs, and apartments

Great things are happening, people - great things! Josh's job signed him on for another year, which was such a relief. He had been on a three-month contract, but yesterday he came home and told me that they wanted to keep him for at least another year. I was so happy I jumped around the apartment in circles. Now that we know we have a steady source of income for the next year, we can finally move to a bigger apartment! We were holding off on that, just in case Josh became unemployed. So this morning I dove into the internet in search of a one-bedroom apartment in the neighborhood, and I have my first apartment tour in an hour! I'm looking for only buildings that allow pets, because we want to adopt a dog! My own boundless energy makes me want a dog like a labrador or a Saint Bernard, but I'm realistic, and know that those are not good apartment dogs. I don't want an itty-bitty purse-sized dog, though. I want one kind of like this one belonging to Swedish artist Camilla Engman:

*from*

So once we settle on an apartment and move in, we're going to take a trip to the Humane Society to adopt a new family member! I'm ridiculously excited about this! Does anyone out there have any dog adoption tips? Or any tips for living with a dog in an apartment?

Guess where I want to be right now?

*from*

That's right, Antarctica. Maybe you think I'm crazy. Josh certainly does. He doesn't understand how a girl like me, who is happy as a clam in 90-degree weather, would want to travel to Antarctica. I've wanted to travel to Antarctica for about ten years now, ever since I read Madeleine L'Engle's Troubling a Star in high school. My intense desire to visit this frozen continent has only been compounded by the fact that my parents are closer to it right now than I've ever been. They're on the southernmost tip of Argentina right now, on a cruise. My insides pretty much shrivel up and die of jealousy every time I think about it. They've already been to the Falkland Islands, and seen penguins and glaciers. They considered hopping on a plane to Antarctica for an hour, but were deterred by the $600 cost for the flight. I think that would have been the best $600 they ever spent.

Josh and I watched "March of the Penguins" last weekend, and when I expressed a desire to be one of the cameramen filming the movie, he gave me a look like he thought I belonged in a straitjacket. Maybe I'm crazy. But I know I have to go to that beautiful place before I die. Does anyone else have a strong desire to travel somewhere insane?

Great things about this week

Well this week has been fantastic so far! Sure, it's been rainy (but this is Portland - what did I expect?), and I may have a sore back (serves me right for trying to do fancy ab workouts), but those are hardly important compared to fun things like:

1. Having the apartment all decorated for Christmas. Really, that makes me ridiculously happy. Last year I didn't decorate, because I was working full time and that made me constantly crabby and unwilling to do anything fun, but this year I have endless free time, so I hung up loads of fun decorations this past week, and it really makes it feel more like Christmastime.

2. I sold my first scarf on Etsy! It was this one:


I'll be off to mail it to its lucky new owner as soon as I finish writing this post!

3. I got a blogging award from my friend Lauren over at The Little Things We Do!


Getting this award means I'm supposed to list my 10 favorite blogs. Lauren listed her 11 favorite blogs. Maybe I'll do more, maybe I'll do less. Let's find out...

1. Am I allowed to list the blogger who gave me the award in the first place? I don't care, because Lauren's blog rocks that much. Over at The Little Things We Do, Lauren writes about home decor, married life, and all the little things that make her happy. It's a gorgeous, uplifting blog.

2. Sean and Chloe. I've never read a funnier blog in my life. Chloe writes about the random things she sees and does, and life with her new hubby Sean. She's hysterical. Sometimes I laugh so hard I almost cry when I read her blog.

3. Cupcakes and Cashmere. Written by the gorgeous Emily Schuman of Los Angeles, she features daily posts on fashion and food. The recipes are divine, and her outfits are out of this world. She's the same age as me, but infinitely more stylish. I have a bit of a girl crush on her.

4. I'm not a mother who homeschools her children (in fact, I'm not even a mother), but I still adore The Frugal Girl. Written by Kristen, a mother of four living in the Chicago suburbs, it's packed full of frugal tips and handy recipes. Kristen homeschools her children, cooks all her meals from scratch, and manages to do it all on an extraordinarily limited budget. I admire her so much.

5. The lovely ladies at BonBonRose. This blog is full of pretty photos and dreamy wish lists. I find myself constantly drooling over the adorable clothes, home decor, and knick-knacks that they post on their blog.

I'm going to leave it there with those five lovely blogs, because as I've been sitting here searching through my blog collection, I realized I can't make up my mind on which ones to mention out of the dozens of gems I follow. So, if you haven't checked out these five rockin' blogs, do it now! I promise you'll love them!

Family brunch

Hello, my lovelies! I just got back from a wonderful brunch with the women in my family. (And when I say "just got back" I mean "got back two hours ago and have been napping since then".) It's been a tradition for years for the women in my family to get together on a Sunday in December for brunch at the fancy-schmancy Benson Hotel in Portland. For various reasons (living in other countries, having to play the piano at church), I've never been able to attend the brunch until today. I've definitely been missing out, because the food was exquisite. Also, there was unlimited champagne. That alone made the $40 cost worthwhile. (Not that I paid for myself. I have a lovely, generous grandma who likes to take care of her poor granddaughter.) I tried to take a picture of every course I ate. Let's start off with all my drinks: coffee, champagne, water, and orange juice. It's possible that I drank four glasses of champagne during the course of the brunch...

This was course one: the best yogurt ever, mixed with berries and granola, with a cinnamon donut on the side....

Course two was where I failed to take a picture. I think at that point I was really excited to be on my second glass of champagne. But I will tell you that it involved a cheese blintz, four pieces of bacon, two sausages, and about two cups of some cheesy potatoes.

Course three involved all the other random things I wanted to eat that didn't necessarily go together, like caesar salad and waffles...


Course four was desserts. I'm not the classiest person in the world, and I was really full at this point, which is why I may or may not have taken most of my desserts home with me in a plastic baggie...

My Aunt Jan brought some gorgeous holiday decorations for everyone, which she made herself. Sorry for the bad lighting, but aren't they lovely? They're two glass vases glued together, filled with clear marbles and silver bells, with roses inside.

Sorry for the dark quality of the pictures. We got to dine in the wine cellar, which was pretty rad, seeing as how we were surrounded by thousands of bottles of wine, but that made for bad lighting. Maybe I'll find the energy to doctor them up in Photoshop later.

And of course, no photo-taking session would be complete without a (blurry) self-portrait. Yep, that's a mimosa in my hand....

It was a fun afternoon! Now that I know how awesome the annual Benson brunch is, I'll make sure to clear my calendar for next year!