Naughty Naughty

This is our kitchen. We have lived here for around 5 months now and despised looking at this color most days. The kitchen has no windows and with our yellow lightbulbs it can feel quite heavy and dreary in there. So, we decided to paint it. We, technically, arent allowed but D said we should do it anyway and I thought so too. So, with all the little nerve I could gather we went out looking for color chips. The floor is a really earthy stone tile of mostly milky-coffee color with green and red accents in it and I happened to see inside of the neighboring apartment and those lucky folks have a cafe au lait colored kitchen...not hideous orange! So, we do like orange - in fact, its one of the main colours of my favorite seasons - fall! But if we kept this color we decided we wouldnt be able to appreciate a golden leaf or a happy pumpkin when the time rolled around! For $8 we got this great kit that had a roller, brush and pan in it! And check out how it was recycled, super cool!100% biodegradable tray?!?!Bamboo brush - and i love the quality. It works great!OK, so we started with this chip that pulled out the really earthy green on the floor tiles, but when it went on the wall, it was not so earthy as we had hoped. Its not a bad color but not right for the space. Look how ugly the orange is above the cabinets. Gross.

So today I went back and got a color called Au Lait Ole :) The guy said its super popular. D thinks its going to be way better. I also think so, but i think that the kitchen will need hints of seasonal color in it - reds and yellows of flowers in spring, and greens and reds of apples during fall! :)

When I finish today I will post the final color. Hopefully it looks ok :)

Here is a smidgin of the Au Lait Ole

The Au Lait Ole over the green. It was quite dark in the kitchen so you cannot see it well but it is definitely lighter and less colorful than the green. What will it look like when finished?!

An Adventure in the UP

Sunday I joined my girlfriend Christa for a quick jaunt to the UP to see if there were any cozy places she and her family might want to call home. Her husband is looking to transfer to another job - a seemingly safer one - and they are both enthused with the idea of a slightly smaller, homey community. So, Christa, I and Faith, her spunky and sweet 4 year old, shared a quick three day adventure driving up to Marquette, seeing the area and surrounding neighborhoods and appreciating all the gorgeous scenery and weather we were blessed with!

Can you spot Faith? Iceberg straight ahead!!!
Gorgeous sunshine and sandy beaches...

Oh no, Christa has a fear of bridges! She wont stay in the right lane because she is afraid she'll be blown off and she freaks out driving over the grates in the left lane because she is scared she will fall through! Ha ha! Sorry Christa, but you are too cute!

The funny part was that they had one of the lanes blocked so we had to go extra slow over the bridge...poor christa. But Faith enjoyed it! She kept pointing out all the "boats" in the water - which were actually icebergs. :)

I love entering into St. Ignace because you see the immediate change in elevation by these jutting rocks.

A pause at a beach along lake Michigan on the south side of the UP.

Seashells...oops...lakeshells???

The historical Landmark Inn where we stayed in DT Marquette!

Pretty view from our FAVORITE cafe - Babycakes - which had fresh baked goodies (vegan ones too!) and yummy soups (veg too) and wraps. If you ever head up that way, I highly recommend their homemade granola with fruit (full of sesame seeds and super yummy) or their hummus veggie wrap (the hummus is like pureed sweet potatoes or something - sooo good). Faith had an especially good time with breakfast one morning which was a cinnamon roll the size of her head! Put sweet pastry together with spunky Faith and you have a tazmanian devil!!! :)

The Old Ore Docks. I still dont understand how these work.

Ishpeming: Home of the awkwardly creative and...totally OFF LIMITS! Unless, Christa plans on sporting one of these sweet hot tubs in her backyard, I declared the city a "no-go". :) hehehe. If you could look closer you would see that it had hookup!

As if the bathtub in the backyard wasnt enough to make Ishpeming cool, check out their amazing "SUICIDE BOWL".

Look closely and you will see the large mined area that they turned into a ski jumping slopes...SWEET!

Christa had a glorious idea to stop by Pictured Rocks on our way home (you dont "stop by" anything in the UP - just in case you werent aware). I love this place!

Faith was taking our picture. It was funny that we ended up in it because she seemed to be aiming at our feet!

It was a great trip. Marquette has some neat things going on in it. A cool co-op, a lot of veg friendly resturants, some neat festivals, and of course, all the natural UP beauty! We made great time considering we bummed in bed until 8:30 on Tuesday, went for breakfast and then visited Pictured Rocks before we left at 2:30pm. I was back in the Zoo at 10:00. Not to shabby. Thanks Christa and Faith!

Widsom From the Cereal Box...

"Treat the earth well.

It wasn't given to

you by your parents,

it was loaned to you by your children."

- Kenyan Proverb

Blueberry-Cornmeal Muffins

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup ground cornmeal (mine was medium ground)

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cinnamon (yah right, i put a TON MORE!) :)

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup milk

6 T unsalted butter, melted

1 cup frozen blueberries

2 T sugar + cinnamon mixed

400 degrees in 12 greased muffin cups for 15-18 minutes

MY VEGAN MODIFICATIONS:

whole wheat, no white flour

+ 2 large ripe bananas (my mom taught me to freeze them, thaw them, and mash them up)

no eggs

rice milk

lots and lots of cinnamon :)

canola oil, not butter

Daniel LOVED them and so did I. They peeled out of the cup liners really well and they were super moist. I was impressed with this recipe. The cornmeal definitely added something extra fun to the texture which I liked :)

Sarkozy's Bakery

This is Sarkozy's bakery and it is right beneath our apartment...which means (!!!!) I get to smell the delicious buttery delights they are baking everyday when I am coming and going! Daniel started a special treat of going downstairs every Saturday to pick up something yummy for him and I for breakfast and I have to say I love him just that much more for it. :) This past weekend we went together and had an extra special suprise! We were given a "sample" (the whole loaft) of their special Anise bread which they only make during lent. It is divine! It has anise and wine in it...and I cannot say I know what else but it is incredible. :)

Daniel told me that the paczkis were amazing and he FORCED me to try one. :)

I always thought they were super heavy and doughy but they were light, fluffy and not overly sweet. His was fresh (real - from Leduc MI) blueberry filling and mine was prune. I would almost say it is a shame the inside photos turned out so dark except that I would not want to give the impression I wasnt extatic to see the sunshine for an entire week straight for the first time since last October! Such a beautiful week and weekend!

Daniel discovered that they have a really neat turnplate oven outside that they make homemade pizzas on in 2 mins! The baker said the oven gets to over 1000 degrees! Oh, and no suprise, the pizzas look AMAZING! They make them every day from 11-2 if you are interested :)

Happenings

Have you ever seen a sleeping squirrel? :)

We just bought a mirror for our "fireplace"! Notice the reflection of the computer in the fireplace - Daniel put on a Youtube video of a crackling fire :)

A lot of love.

:) some of my favorite flowers

Getting back...

to you and me.

It's where my heart is. I love you.