Never enough time

What a whirlwind...can you count 20 days a a whirlwind?  Somehow it felt like it was.  I've just returned from visiting family in Washington for the holidays and I have the post-holiday blues.  It's a very strange thing to have the important people in your life split on separate coasts of the country.  Every time I go back to Washington, I spend the first week missing New York, then the second week soaking up my friends and family (namely my mom's babysitting), then the third week, I'm ready to go back to New York but simultaneously miss my family and friends already.  It may be some form of mental illness.  lol.  

I think this time was particularly hard because of the job situation.  Being in between jobs meant that I had plenty of downtime to see everyone, but the uncertainty also means I don't have a planned return trip, and this will probably have been my last 20 day trip. While my last job wasn't ideal, it meant that I was able to work remotely, so I could take these long trips without having to take vacation time, but it seems unlikely this will be the case in the future. 

Enough of the sap, I had an amazing time!  Here's a quick recap of what I've been up to the past month or so: 

As soon as I got back to Washington, my mom and I went into full Christmas mode!  She had already decorated just enough so it felt like Christmas when I got there, but we usually do most of it together so she saved a bunch...

Of course we had to have Christmas (or music) movies on while decorating...this year she graduated us all to small stockings, and J got his own, too! I guess I have to keep him around.

My brother was in desperate need for an Ugly Christmas Sweater, so I whipped this puppy up for him.  It was pretty amazing, all of that garland made it weigh a million pounds, and I sewed bells in it so when he shimmied it jingled.  haha...does anyone have any ideas how to make homemade ugly Christmas sweaters my livelihood?

I squeezed in as much Goodall time as possible.  First Kaitlin and I had a wild night on the town, which in our world means a dinner out at a wine bar, and a tasting flight of "bubbles." It was so good to reconnect and gossip like we don't live 3,000 miles apart.  I got my usual favorite, flat bread with roasted figs, goat cheese, honey, and pistachio.  It's the perfect balance of sweet and savory.

A couple of nights later I headed back over to the Goodalls for our annual gingerbread house building. Sweet little Lila got in on the action this year, and probably ate just as much candy as she put on her house, but she was so proud of herself and for the record, some of the candy did make it on her house.

My mom and I did our normal holiday bake-a-thon but she had to work throughout the holidays so we had to seriously scale back the variety of cookies.  We still made chocolate crinkles, sugar cookies, snickerdoodles, peanut butter, chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, fudge, and rice krispie treats, so I don't think any of our recipients really noticed. 

If you look closely you'll see Humphrey hoping my dad will share some of his sugar cookie with him...poor neglected Humphrey.

The Monday after Christmas both of my parents had the day off from work so we all went to this little Bavarian village on the side of the mountain, Leavenworth.  We indulged in bratwurst for lunch, spiced German wine, beer, and wandered through some of the cute little shops.  Living so close to it, I never thought about the history, but J was asking how it came to be...upon googling it was literally developed to be a tourist trap.  In the 60s the town wasn't doing well economically, so they decided to create a faux Bavarian village, and voila! Success!

Then came New Years...J and I couldn't decide what to do for New Years Eve.  As much as I love my family, we decided we should do something other than stay in with my parents so we went down to Portland for a couple of days.  We lucked out and found this really cool "speakeasy" style party, and spent the night dancing and drinking...So fun!

We had a few low key days with my family, and then headed to the airport early on the 6th.  I didn't cry but I did a little on the 4th.  To make coming back feel more monumental, there was a snowstorm in the morning that meant an extra 2 hours on the plane with Humphrey.

Where is home?

Last night I said something was at my house, and J asked if it was 'here' as in the apt I'm about to share with him. I said no, it's in Brooklyn, or maybe my parents' house in Washington. This got me thinking about the concept of home and how it becomes something less constant as you get older. Or maybe that's just me, as a child we lived in the same house as long as I can remember so my idea of home and family was also wrapped up in a physical location.

Here we are in front of our house on a rare snow day. Look at my mom's hair! Lol. And my outfit. Yikes. 

Please disregard my outfit, hair, and general look...my childhood wasn't a photogenic one.

I loved that house at 2325 Maple Street. My parents put so much into taking it from a tiny one bedroom house to a large three bedroom. I can't even be sure how many hours my dad spent remodeling it, move a wall here, add a new bedroom, double the size, add a bathroom, etc. When I was just about to graduate college my parents called to say they had sold the house and I was devastated. I literally sobbed like a baby. Haha. I cry easily...

All of our house pictures are of snow, but when else do you think, I know, I'll take a picture of the house?

They've lived in their new house for close to 10 years now I think, and even though I had my own apartment, their house felt like home. When I moved across the country to Brooklyn it took a while until I stopped feeling like I was just visiting and just about the time J and I started discussing living together my place started feeling like home. Ha! Of course! 

Now it's my last week in Brooklyn and while I'm sad that I'm leaving my neighborhood and apartment (it's really great), I realize that over the past few month especially it started to feel more and more like a collection of rooms and less a home, but I don't feel homeless. When I'm at J's/our apartment I feel like I can relax and just let the feeling of having a home sink in.  The cheesy line is, 'home is where the heart is' and maybe that's true. 

Easiest Cobbler Ever!

Over the weekend I had some peaches, some blueberries, and some time so I decided to make a delicious cobbler.  It was so easy to make and didn't last long at all. 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups ripe (but still firm) peaches
• 2 cups blueberries
• 4 tbs butter
• 1 1/2 c flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 c milk
• 2 tbs sugar

Weekend Update

It was nice and sunny and nice and busy this weekend.  My parents are in the swing of a major home improvement project and so I got to play gofer, errand runner, and bartender...

Homemade Margaritas...apparently the cups I was using were too small.  Also my efforts for making them without a mix were entirely underappreciated.

I never eat artificially blue things.  It's a strange OCD issue because I'm completely aware that other artificial flavors are just as bad if not worse, but I can't do it...luckily I have people who are willing to eat blue things for me. 

Things I don't miss

TRAFFIC! (And needing to pee during said traffic)

Meeting the (my) Parents

This trip home was the first time J met my parents, and we both did a good job pretending that we weren't nervous but I think it's safe to say that we were both holding our breath a little. (Spoiler alert: It went great!)

Here is my only tip for bringing someone home for the first time, over an extended period of time.  STAY BUSY!

Falling Can be Deadly

Sometimes I like to pretend that I'm outdoorsy and go hiking.  My brand of hiking includes a maintained trail, usually bathrooms at the trailhead, and something just hard enough to make me feel accomplished, but not so hard that I need hiking boots and pants with a million pockets.

I was super excited to drag J along who I'm happy to say seemed to genuinely enjoy it!  He especially enjoyed jogging ahead when I was huffing and puffing, lol...such a guy.  Look how much taller he is than me, AND I was carrying our bag so of course it was easier for him...right?

Click for more pictures...

The Pink Door

J and I spent a great day in Seattle which included more time wandering around Pike Place Market trying to remember where The Pink Door is exactly.  It is a little tricky to find if you're not looking for it (especially when the door is open and you walk right on past it) but so worth the effort. 

If it's a nice day, be sure to sit on the deck.  It has a great view, and also screens so you can feel like you're sitting in the sun without looking like a lobster.  Everything is great, but it can be a little expensive if you decide to splurge for the fresh seafood (do it!).

 

With that said, it is entirely possible to keep costs down and have an amazing meal.  Three words, INFUSED OLIVE OIL.  I can't even begin to tell you how delicious it is, and they just keep bringing you more bread....so many carbs

Here is what I would order for a budget Pink Door experience:

• Red Table Wine - it's soooo good
• Cheese Board - notice we practically licked it clean
• Fill up on bread basket / olive oil combo 
• If you're feeling too cheap, now is the time to sample one of their amazing desserts