Life Update

It's been forever since I've blogged here. I have good excuses. The last time I blogged was in May, just before I moved across the state to intern at Allrecipes.com in Seattle. I had a great experience there learning about editing and marketing recipes, but I missed my husband (who was still living in Spokane), and I was ready to come home in August.

When I got back, I jumped into school with both feet. At the same time as taking classes, I was working four jobs: An internship with Defending Dissent Foundation, a research assistantship, my office job, and an editor position with my college newspaper.

I had the awesome opportunity to travel to New Orleans in October to attend a national collegiate media conference. At the conference, I was able to meet Mary Beth Tinker, a hero in the student speech rights community.

Nothing could have prepared me for what happened when I got back. The morning of my cross-country flight home, I woke up before the sun rose. I gathered my things, took a taxi to the airport with my colleagues, got on the plane. We had a quick layover in Minneapolis, where I called my husband.

The entire plane ride between Minnesota and Washington, I was thinking about how excited I was to go home to my husband. It was our 6-year dating anniversary, and we were supposed to go to dinner when I got back and then spend the evening cuddled up and watching movies.

When I walked through my front door, my husband was sitting in the living room looking deflated. "We need to talk," he said.

"What's wrong?" I replied.

"I'm leaving you. I moved out while you were gone."

Needless to say, my life has been turned upside down. That said, I'm still the same person. I'm still a driven woman. I'm still passionate about civil rights. I'm still in love with cooking.

I've started a second blog to chronicle my experience as a young divorcee. You can find that here, if you're interested. I'll probably talk about my experience on this blog from time to time, but I'd rather keep this blog more focused on food, budgets, and lifestyle.

That said, I'll be posting a couple recipes tonight, because I'm back.

Lifestyle: Summer Business-Casual Fashion

I just landed my dream internship at an awesome company of which I've been a fan for about 10 years. That's almost half of my life. I'll talk more details once I have my formal offer, but needless to say I'm ecstatic.

With a new job must come a new wardrobe, mostly because my current wardrobe is a hodgepodge of clothes from high school (that was three years ago) and professional looks suited for Fall and Winter. I kid you not. Just glancing at my closet from my position at the other side of the room, I can count six shirts that I've owned at least since the 12th grade, and another six shirts that are some variation of black.

It's time for a fashion intervention.

One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven

As you can see, I'm digging shades of yellow, mint, and a lovely hue of dusty peach. But finding colors I like isn't really the problem.

The tough part is fitting my body. I'm shaped roughly like this:

"A perfect hourglass," my mother chides. Yes. A perfect hourglass with an 8 inch difference between the measurements of my waist and my curves. 8 inches. Ain't no one got clothes for that.

And it's not that I need to lose weight, either (although I probably should). You know what happened when I gained my freshman 15? I gained a couple of inches around the waist, but my boobs and my hips kept their status quo.

I'm trying to find clothes that don't show cleavage (easier said than done with my 34H's), and don't make me look like my waist is as large as my breasts. 

I'm leaning toward some cute A-line dresses, a bunch of pencil skirts, and maybe a few somewhat form-fitting tops?

Suggestions?

Grocery Adventure: 4/27/13

I've been terrible about posting lately, and for that I am sorry. But I've got some goods for you today!

Here's my grocery diary. I spent less than $80 this trip! I decided to use some of the extra to buy a little basil windowsill garden and a dozen mason jars. You'll see why soon. :)

Meal Planning: April 13-27

Breakfasts - Weekdays

1. Rice cakes with tahini or nut butter (x10)
2. Instant oatmeal (x10)
3. Oatmeal squares with almond milk (x5)
4. Orange with toast and nut butter (x5)

Breakfasts/Brunches - Weekends

1. Flax waffles, yogurt, and fruit
2. Vegan breakfast scramble with vegan cheesy biscuits

Lunches - Weekdays

(As usual, leftovers fill up a lot of this section)

1. Peanut butter & jelly sandwiches with carrots (x10)
2. Assorted vegan soups (x5)

Lunches - Weekends

1. Sweet potato black bean quinoa soup
2. Gorditas with black beans
3. Quinoa tabbouleh salad

Dinners

1. Vegan macaroni and cheese with roasted green beans
2. Enchiladas with refried beans and spanish rice
3. Cashew fried rice and spring rolls
4. Coconut lentils with curried root vegetables
5. Creamy vegan broccoli soup
6. Twice baked potatoes with chili
7. Couscous with roasted chickpeas and broccoli
8. Lentil loaf with mashed potatoes, gravy, and brussels sprouts
9. Lemon dill rice with chickpeas
10. Pesto linguini with broccoli
11. Vegan vegetable chowder
12. Falafel pie
13. Vegan sushi with miso soup
14. Vegan pho and spring rolls

Grocery Adventures: 4/13/13

Co-Op Market

Coconut Aminos - $4.99

Organic Coconut Oil - $5.99

Lemon - $0.59

Dairy-Free Sour Cream - $4.29

Earth Balance Puffs - $4.49

Toothbrush - $3.09

Cabbage (0.86 lbs./small head) - $3.43

Dry Garbanzo Beans (1.62 lbs.) - $2.25

Garbanzo Flour (0.63 lbs.) - $1.00

Spinach (0.11 lbs.) - $0.66

Total - $31.05

Fred Meyer

Orange Juice (gallon) - $2.50

Instant Oatmeal - $1.49

Vegetable Broth (2) - $3.98

Frozen Vegetable Medley - $1.34

Frozen Lima Beans - $1.04

Limes (2) - $0.78

Jalapeno (0.14 lbs./2) - $0.13

Carrots (1 lb. bag) - $0.89

Hass Avocados (2) - $1.56

Radishes - $0.50

Rutabaga (0.37 lbs./1) - $0.37

Cilantro - $0.69

Vine-Ripe Tomatoes (0.92 lbs/3) - $1.35

Basil - $3.99

Total - $20.51

Safeway

Rice Cakes - $1.25 (rewards card savings $1.04)

Sesame Crackers - $2.00 (rewards card savings $0.69)

Apple Juice Jug - $1.52 (rewards card savings $0.30; store coupon savings $0.97)

Rice Milk - $2.29

Almond Milk (half gallon) - $1.49 (rewards card savings $0.20; store coupon savings $1.50)

Sweet Onion (0.57 lbs./1) - $0.74 (rewards card savings $0.11)

Leek (0.31 lbs./1) - $0.62

Navel Oranges (3 lb. bag) - $2.49 (store coupon savings $1.50)

White Mushroom (8 oz. container) - $1.79 (rewards card savings $0.20)

Total - $16.69

Winco

Chips - $1.78

Applesauce - $1.98

Onion Soup Mix - $1.24

Shiitake Mushrooms (0.42 lbs.) - $3.18

Lentils (0.82 lbs.) - $0.65

Yam (0.81 lbs./1) - $0.79

Walnuts (0.19 lbs.) - $1.27

Sprouts - $1.88

Corn (2 ears) - $0.64

Cucumber - $0.48

Ketchup - $0.89

Bean Sprouts - $1.68

Ginger (0.06 lbs.) - $0.12

Oyster Mushrooms (0.19 lbs.) - $1.33

Broccoli (1.19 lbs./3 heads) - $1.52

Total - $19.43

Rosauers

Baby Bok Choy (0.77 lbs./3) - $2.30

Brown Sushi Rice (0.61 lbs.) - $1.21

Total - $3.51

GRAND TOTAL - $91.19

Life Update: Cutting Out the Dairy & Soy

After being vegetarian for about 5 years, I've decided to heed my doctor's word and cut dairy and soy out of my diet ... or at least mostly cut dairy and soy out of my diet.

It hasn't been easy. A few days in, I had a mean craving for vegan pho, and I couldn't resist the supple pieces of tofu or the saltiness of a few squirts of soy sauce. Not to mention the clean flavor of the tofu in my vegan spring rolls. Yesterday, I broke down and ate my favorite spinach and artichoke dip. Only problem? It's filled with cream cheese. Lots and lots of cream cheese.

And today, I woke up from a dream about veggie eggs benedict. I'm talking whole wheat English muffins topped with layers of fresh spinach, lightly baked tomato slices, perfectly ripe avocado, beautifully soft poached eggs, and some delicious hollandaise sauce. I couldn't take it. God was telling me to eat veggie benedict. I gave in.

I've decided that being perfect isn't the point. Dinner's in the oven right now, and I've chosen a perfectly dairy- and soy-free meal of couscous, roasted chickpeas, and roasted brussels sprouts. I think I'm going to start by limiting myself to one meal a week with dairy and one every two weeks with soy. Let's see how that goes.

Have you ever struggled with cutting something out of your diet?

Origins

I have a deep history with blogging that stems from a 2-year commitment to Wed4Less Northwest, a budget-friendly wedding blog focused on the Pacific Northwest. As much as I loved Wed4Less, it became more and more a burden on the other aspects of my life. I had to put it down.

Not only that, but I sought a linguistic refuge without the limits of topical boundaries. In other words, I wanted to write about more than just weddings. I wanted to share my love for food, my love for media, my love for my family, my love for contemplation.

This blog will do all of that.

I will blog about cooking, grocery shopping, budget tips, personal struggles, healthy living, organization (or lack thereof), media, culture, my family, my life.

Through this blog, I hope to further explore a lifestyle in which I can find joy in simplicity and complexity--through my mind, body, and soul.

Photo by Fawn of L'Amore Photography