On Mountains February 9, 2011

So, it’s been 6 months since I moved back here, and I am still stoked. Not just because of beautiful days like today (it’s cold but NO CLOUDS NO RAIN BRING ON THE SUN) … for a lot of reasons. One of these is MOUNTAINS.

For those of you who have only lived in the Pacific Northwest (or anywhere with substantial mountainous terrain), you may not realize how freaking awesome they are. While I love the beaches of Florida, it always felt like a little something was missing from the horizon. Having grown up in Washington, THERE WAS SOMETHING MISSING.

BEHOLD:

image from ellie

All kidding aside, this is exactly what you would see on a clear day as you went around your business anywhere in the Seattle area (including the Eastside). This, friends, was a part of the backdrop for me. And, I never realized how accustomed I’d grown to mountains until I moved somewhere without them.

Don’t get me wrong, Florida has incredible sunsets and amazingly lush greenery. But when it comes down to it, I still smile every time I catch a view of the mountains around here. This is a shot up on Snoqualmie Pass, about an hour from my house (I-90 runs through the Pass):

image from starmist1

And this was taken at an unidentified point in the Cascades. I’m sure it was massaged with Photoshop, but do you see what I’m getting at? The greenery and mountains up here are &$^%*#@ epic:

image from christygordon

I am kind of struggling right now, because the photos don’t quite do the views justice. It’s one thing to be looking at a photo … and then it’s another entirely to actually see an incredible view like that in person. Particularly so when you are doing something mundane like driving to the dry cleaner, or the grocery store.

Especially when it’s the big daddy:

image from dizfunkshinal

Every. Single. Time. I see this mountain, it makes me happy. While I’m sure the above photo was also Photo-massaged, here’s one that’s not quite the same quality … but Rainier still looks incredible.

image from jay galvin

Imagine seeing that during your commute

That being said,  a “clear day” is required to partake in this natural beauty. And I suppose at that point, the joke is on us. According to Seattle’s Wikipedia entry, the city has — on average — at least partly cloudy skies 294 days a year.

Enough with the photo-ing. My name is Lex, and I %^$#@(* love mountains (even though I can’t ski, board, sled, or climb, and I hate the cold). I still love them.

Currently loving (besides mountains): “Panic Switch” by the Silversun Pickups, this columnist’s response to the question “How do I know if she loves me?” (sent it to BF and apologized for never making him a shark-shaped pancake), fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu comics

 

COMMENCE: The best time of the year November 16, 2010

Guys? Guys? Guys? Guys? Guys? Guys? GUESS WHAT?

Thanksgiving is in T-minus NINE DAYS. There is no emoticon that can express the size of my smile right now.

Ok, just for the heck of it:

I know I wrote about it last year, but I have to do it again. People, this is my favorite holiday of the entire year. More than Christmas, more than my birthday (especially now that I’ve passed 25). Why? Because a D family Thanksgiving looks like this:

Cooking + eating + beer + football

Have you ever seen a more perfect equation?

As is our tradition, we’re going to shake up at least one of the recipes we always have. (TBH, I don’t know why we do this. Everything usually turns out SO delicious … we just can’t stop trying new stuff, I guess. Some people skydive. My dad and I shake up Thanksgiving recipes. It’s that kind of rush.) I’ve already done the unthinkable and decided on a new green bean casserole recipe, to get that french onion/mushroom soup monstrosity off of our table. Of course, the recipe I chose isn’t too risky … it’s Pioneer Woman’s green bean casserole recipe. I tell you, that woman does with food what Michaelangelo did with marble. To be honest, I am trying to resist copying her entire meal. Kind of kills the fun of recipe-hunting.

We really liked the stuffing recipes we did last year … gluten-free swiss chard stuffing (although I’ll be sure NOT to get any red chard this year. Pink stuffing never looks yummy, unfortunately), and a gluten-free cornbread and sausage stuffing. Over the next 9 days, I think I am going to try and turn my gravy recipe gluten-free … we’ll see what I can make work. It’s SUCH a good recipe, though. Thank you, Sunset magazine.

As far as everything else goes, it’s still up in the air. We generally have garlic mashed potatoes, crescent rolls, this jell-o ring my mom makes every year (I think that might be the one recipe out of my reach, though), sweet potatoes/yams, and cranberry sauce.

As I mentioned above, I am currently recipe-hunting. And, I am feeling sort of overwhelmed. I’ve developed quite the arsenal of food blogs over the last year, and THEY ARE ALL DOING A THANKSGIVING SERIES.

One thing I do want to accomplish this year, however, is to have some more vegetables that aren’t slathered in mini marshmallows, butter, or cream sauce. I know, blasphemy on the most gluttonous holiday of the year. But I’ve been doing a really excellent job incorporating more fruits and vegetables in my diet, and I’m going to be hurting next Friday if I don’t try and keep that up. We’ll see what I can slip by the family. Maybe something from Eat, Drink and Be Vegan?

Also … I want to tell you a secret before I sign off. (I am a huge nerd, I just did shifty eyes after typing that … and there is nobody here but me.) I think I am going to try and replace at least half of the mashed potatoes on our table with …

CAULIFLOWER.

Bear with me, and check out this recipe from Cheap, Healthy, Good. I’m going to lobby to replace the potatoes entirely, but I have it on good authority that you can mix potatoes and cauliflower without sacrificing taste … but saving serious calories. Or, maybe that broccoli/potato/red pepper mash I’ve made a few times?

Now you see the pickle I get myself into the week before Thanksgiving. And this is BEFORE I realize I haven’t even started thinking about Christmas yet.

Currently loving: Pumpkin yogurt, my new running shoes (Mizuno Wave Rider 11s) … they let me run without shin pain!, HARRY POTTER MOVIE RELEASE THIS WEEK

delicious picture by scubadive67

Letter writing June 25, 2010

In case you haven’t noticed in the 135 posts preceding this one, I’m kind of a “do stuff” person. I’m not the type to just sit around bitching about something that makes me unhappy.

That’s not to say I don’t do my fair share of bitching, but when it comes down to it, I feel much better having done something … getting involved in some sort of (hopefully) positive change.

I am also kind of an extremist in this category of people. Yes, yes … I am a letter-writer.

As a communications professional (seriously, the job description is “relations with the public,” people), I realize that there are a myriad of ways to get in touch with people and companies. But, also as a communications professional, I firmly believe that few are as effective as a rational, well-thought-out letter.

Of course, it’s way easier to shoot off an email, a Tweet or pick up the phone … but that’s why I like letter writing. Now that there’s a variety of arguably less labor-intensive ways to contact companies, there’s less competition for your letter in the mail bin. And this may be my naiveté showing through, but I firmly believe that someone reads all those letters. It may not be the CEO or even his assistant, but somewhere, someone is reading the letters. And if I am able to calmly and articulately present a rational argument, as well as my desired outcome … I like to think that that someone will pay attention to my letter, and even pass it on to someone who has some decisionmaking power.

I’ve written letters for a variety of reasons. Some have elicited responses, others have not. But you know what? I usually feel better regardless, having stated my case and given the company (or individual) in question a chance to respond. If they respond (even if I don’t get my way)? Kudos to them for acknowledging me.

If they didn’t respond? As a communications professional, screw you. Depending on the severity of the issue and the tenor of the complaint, you’re missing a valuable opportunity to make a customer feel important. And in an age where it’s easier than ever for people to express themselves … don’t you want to make sure that every customer is singing your praises instead of cursing you to the high heavens (*cough cough* Carnival is a terrible cruise line)?

Here’s just a sample of the reasons I’ve written letters over the years:

• Carnival Cruises’ mangled mishandling of a casino dispute between their casino manager and BF (no response, this was probably the worst experience because it was a customer service issue)
• Dan Fouts being an all-around terrible college football commentator and hijacking the conversation any chance he got to talk about when he played for the Oregon Ducks (no response, but Fouts was MIA the season after I wrote this letter. I will continue to take credit for this)
• Subway employee from Gillette, Wyoming holding my wallet after I left it there and drove to South Dakota … and then sending it to Florida on her own dime with all $450+ and credit cards still intact. I wrote a letter both to Subway corporate and the individual franchise (no response back, but I hope she got something. Talk about good karma on her)
• At the tender age of 12, I wanted to work for Nintendo, so I wrote a letter to the CEO of the company at the time, including a writing sample and a resume (the head of their HR department wrote me a letter back, telling me that my work was fantastic, but unfortunately due to labor laws they couldn’t hire me until I turned 16. I know he was probably just being nice, but this story still makes me happy. I still have the letter)

So, as you can see, I’m not exaggerating when I say that I am one of “those people” … a letter writer. And clearly I started from a young age.

But you know what? I get shit done

Currently loving: It’s Friday!, Yoga Download‘s “Hip Opening Flow” (got back into Yoga last night yeaaaaaahhhhh), wearing a fun sundress to work today

image from David Spender

The Holdout May 28, 2010

I know that I am not the last person on Earth without a smartphone … but I often feel that way. In fact, I was taking a customer service survey for Mint.com the other day, and I came to the realization that the answers to the obligatory question “What kind of smartphone do you have?” have changed dramatically, even in the last six months. There used to be a couple options, and then the “I do not own a smartphone” option that I had no shame checking.

In the Mint survey, there were more than SIX other options. Clearly, there is enough of a demand for smartphones that not three, not four, but SIX smartphone options hold enough of the market share to be listed on a survey.

I am starting to feel lame when I go places now with a group, and we get lost/need a restaurant or bar or gas station/can’t remember the name of a song that is playing/need an answer to a random trivia question, and someone goes, “Wait let me look on my iPhone!” (longest sentence ever, sorry)

My mind snarkily responds, “Oh, I’ll do it … NOT.” I look morosely at my poor little beat-up slider phone and get that “sad panda” feeling. Thanks, brain. Way to rub it in.

I am not an early adopter by any stretch of the imagination. I usually like to wait at least until 2nd gen items come out (with Apple, I often like to wait for 3rd gen) before making the purchase. The price has often gone down by then, and more bugs are fixed. But, I feel kind of ridiculous at this point.

I held out at first for some legitimate reasons, mostly being price and the whole 1st-gen thing. Since then, it’s been the price. I’m not a heavy cell phone user (I currently have the smallest plan for voice and texts that AT&T will allow me … and it still costs me nearly $60/mo). I don’t particularly want to carry around my work email with me all day. It will compel me to work when I’m not at the office, and I hate that.

But I’ve been wanting an iPhone more than usual lately. I even played with a coworker’s for 20 minutes (and did the worst possible thing and went into the app store swoon) to see if it was fun enough to justify the cost. See, it would be between $100-200 for the phone itself initially, and then an extra $30 a month for the added data plan (bringing my bill to $90/mo).

I may sound lame, but that’s just a lot for my current budget. It doesn’t even come down to value … I realize that there is so much I would use the iPhone for. Maps, restaurant locators, Mint, fitness/calorie tracking, Pandora, email, games …

I guess I just get stuck on the asking price. Call me old fashioned, but I’m used to free upgrades, dammit!

Is it worth it? Should I just bite the iPhone bullet and ride off into the sunset, my wallet a little lighter (and my face glued to my new toy)?

Currently loving: No real plans for the long weekend, my lunch salad monster (spinach, quinoa, shrimp, avocado, tomato, green onion, hummus), my badass teenybopper playlist on Grooveshark!!

Image from Spanination

Image from Gonzalo Baeza Hernandez

Just a normal night at the casa de D May 26, 2010

Why yes, that is a fort made out of our couches and some bedsheets. I can claim the design, but BF actually put it together. And yes, we have been shamelessly sitting in there for the last 3 hours, watching TV.

And yes, it is a Tuesday night. And we’re sober. Why do you ask?

Boys’ Club May 25, 2010

I’ve found that I always feel better about something once I’ve taken action. I know some people who are more content to sit in complacency about a problem, but fortunately, that’s not my style. In fact, I don’t know how they can stand it.

That being said, I went to the gym last night (after dinner, which is pretty much crazy for me). I stuck to the trainer’s recommendation of 20-30 minutes of cardio (while watching DWTS, Nicole is on fiyah!) and then proceeded downstairs to get my lift on.

Now, I’ve been a member of a number of gyms, but I have never in my life seen a racking problem like the one that exists at my new gym. The free weight area was packed (even at 8:45 at night!), and nothing under 45 lbs was racked. Clearly, that doesn’t do me a lot of good. I didn’t feel like searching among all the sweaty dudes for something in the 10-20 lb range, so I [grudgingly] vetoed parts of last night’s Summer Shape Up workout.

Instead, I went for some of the machines that targeted the same muscles, so everything worked out okay. I much prefer free weights, though.

I’ve always been the kind of girl who scoffs at girls who are like, “I can’t go into the free weights area, it’s scary and there’s guys everywhere.” Last night was the first time I actually sympathized with them. It was. So. Intimidating.

I don’t really have any workout buddies to go with … anyone have ideas on how to tackle this? We’ll see how the crowd is tomorrow morning, as well.

image from eyeliam

Coffeehouses April 24, 2010

The past few weekends (and weeks, really) have been outrageously busy for BF and I. I should say this with the caveat that he and I are pretty much homebodies. We don’t go out all that much (cheaper to drink at home and nobody has to take one for the team and drive!), we don’t go out to eat (we like to cook), we like video games and watching movies in our “comfies” (read: jammies).

Both BF and I were pretty hardcore partiers and “do stuff”-ers in college, so while friends of ours would likely be surprised at this … I think we just wore ourselves out after four years.

I really thought I’d have a great weekend this weekend because we had very little planned. There are a couple festivals I wanted to check out (Orlando GreekFest, Orlando HopFest and the Great American Pie Festival), and I wanted to volunteer at Pet Rescue by Judy. I did a hardcore clean of the apartment last Sunday, so besides a quick dusting/vacuuming, that doesn’t need to be done.

And I will never iron. I have come to this conclusion. I might as well as cross it off my to-do list, because it’s not happening.

I woke up this morning, eagerly anticipating a fun day … but for some reason the “get up and go” in me just kind of died. I was informed by BF that his friend was coming over later in the day for some “guy time” (read: GTFO of the house) … but I no longer WANTED to leave the house. Really, a day full of Dante’s Inferno, Final Fantasy VI, a gym stint and maybe some pool time sounded solid to me.

Not really wanting to go anywhere but being forced out of the house, I defaulted to something I haven’t done in a long time: A local coffeehouse.

So, here I am at Barnie’s at Waterford Lakes, remembering why I used to love doing this all the time. I am prepared to entertain myself for several hours, with my laptop, DS, and a couple books. I have already powered through a 16oz iced soy latte and a 160z iced tea.

I had a premonition that I wouldn’t be able to access my work computer from my laptop (I actually have paying work to do), so I took the initiative to download Steam. Braid should help ebb some time away.

What do I love about this? I love coffee (especially non-burnt beans), I love tea, I love being surrounded by people who just needed to get out of the house, like me. I love being surrounded by people who are probably much like me … they don’t necessarily want interaction, but they are nice and content being hooked up with free wi-fi and some sort of caffinated beverage.

I also discovered there are no less than THREE coffeehouses within 1 mile of my house. This could become a habit. Thank GOD I didn’t get rid of my laptop … no matter how much of a dinosaur it is.

Currently loving: Barnie’s iced Ginger Peach tea, Stumbling On Happiness, vegetarian, dairy and wheat free meals

image from DeusXFlorida

“Your” Dish March 16, 2010

At some point in my life, I heard or read someone/my mom/my grandma/BF (follow that? I have no idea where I learned it) say that while adventurous cooking can be fun, as a good cook you should have a few dishes in your repertoire that you can nail every time.

These are “your” dishes. You generally keep the required ingredients on hand, you don’t need a recipe, and should the perfect storm occur (you’re getting home late from work, you haven’t been to the store in a week and your well-meaning roommate/significant other is bringing his boss over for dinner), you can still pull it off.

I am a creature of habit with some things … breakfast, for example. Honestly, I don’t want to think too much in the morning. For other meals, I usually detest making the same recipe too often. It gets boring. And between How to Cook Everything, AllRecipes, SeriousEats, Epicurious and all the other food blogs out there (check out my Links page for what I read) … life is too short to eat the same stuff all the time!

That being said, I struggle with this “master one dish” idea. In order to master something, you have to have a lot of practice. If you see where I’m going with this … YOU HAVE TO MAKE IT A LOT. Clearly, this is a violation of my kitchen principles.

BF’s dish is beef stroganoff. I make fun of him for his taste in food sometimes (he’s not very daring), but damn can the guy make epic beef/noodles/sauce.

My mom’s dish is manicotti. I could eat this every night for dinner for a week and not get sick of it. If it wasn’t bursting at the seams with cheese, I’d make it on Sundays and take it for lunch all week.

My dad’s dish is mojo chicken. It’s this incredible barbecued chicken dripping with a garlic, lime and cilantro marinade/dressing.

It took me a while to find something that I could make “my” dish.  I discovered what it was when I realized that BF would ask me to make this one thing again … and again … and again. Not only was I getting practice, but I was consistently NOT screwing it up! The dish? A roasted chicken.

It’s kind of tricky to get the hang of. You have to be unafraid of handling a carcass, and becoming intimately familiar with the giblets, insides and even that space between the meat and the skin. But once you get it? As Emeril says, “BAM.”

I’ve done a lot of research on roasting chickens. It started when I saw Tyler Florence do it on “Tyler’s Ultimate,” and my obsession slowly grew from there. I read recipes and techniques all the time. Just today I found an adaptation of Thomas Keller’s recipe, and will definitely try to dry the bird out a bit in the fridge next time.

Another bonus? This technique can be adapted to other birds like turkeys and cornish game hens (if you have not tried to do these little guys, you are SERIOUSLY missing out). BAM indeed.

So, there’s MY dish. What’s yours?

chicken picture from stevendepolo

Miracle in a glass February 13, 2010

Finally went to the gym for the first time since Tuesday (eek!), felt awesome. I probably should have gone the day I wrote about that case of the blahs … endorphins are wonderful things.

I don’t have very long before my hot date with the Olympic opening ceremonies (gosh, aren’t I cool, on a Friday night and all), but I wanted to share the creation I just made in the Ninja.

So, I’ve been reading that after you do any sort of weightlifting (where you’re stressing the muscles, breaking them down so they’ll rebuild stronger, etc), you should have some protein 30-60 minutes post workout.

Because I was too lazy to go and get fruit or something else acceptable (although you know I stopped at the Publix liquor store for a bottle of wine … priorities, people), I decided to get a little crazy and work with what I have in my kitchen.

Behold, chocolate banana milk:

• Banana (mine was frozen. I also learned the valuable lesson of “peel bananas before you freeze them”)
• 1 c. unsweetened plain almond milk
• 1 T. vanilla-flavored brown rice protein powder
• 1/2 T. unsweetened cocoa powder

Blend. It’s freaking awesome.

Not sure if I’ll be hungry for the rest of my homemade burrito bowl tonight (my eating schedule was all kinds of crazy today), but I’m definitely popping some popcorn from scratch later! If that goes awry, I’ll have a good story. And maybe even pics!

Things I Wish I’d Created: Audiobooks December 14, 2009

My name is Lex_D, and I am an audiobook addict.

While I’ve listened to a handful of audiobooks in the past (mostly when I drove from Seattle to Orlando with BF), in the last four months they’ve been integral to my daily routine.

I didn’t realize how true this was, until this morning, when I finished Juliet, Naked (next month’s book club book), and decided I’d have to go to the library at lunch to pick up a new book to start on my commute home.

And, this is important (because I say I’m going to do things all the time, and never do them): I actually did it.

You should know that I am a dedicated “book in hand” reader (get your fancy-schmancy Kindle out of here), and a very visual learner. I wrote off audiobooks when I first heard about them. Even as an addict, there’s still nothing like reading a well-loved paperback in a coffeehouse, on the beach, or even just curled up in my living room. And yes, I like the musty smell of libraries and books.

But this sort of free time is becoming scarce in my life. On weekends it’s nice, but for me, it’s hard to put a book down for five days and then get 100% back into it.

A friend of mine from book club has a commute that’s similar to mine (in time spent in traffic, at least), and she encouraged me to try out an audiobook to see if I liked it. The clincher actually had nothing to do with books … she said it lowered her road rage. Given my high blood pressure reading at my last doctor visit, I was sold.

As it would happen (and this is how I know I was meant to get into audiobooks), I was perusing iTunes in mid-October, and just in time for Halloween, Carrie by Stephen King was the audiobook of the month, on sale for $9. I’ve been wanting to read Carrie, I am a huge Stephen King fan and the audiobook was actually performed by Sissy Spacek (who was the original Carrie), so I figured it would be a good trial book.

After one full day of commuting, I was hooked.

Since then, I’ve listened to/read (what is the correct terminology?) Carrie; Eat Pray Love; Juliet, Naked; and today I picked up Duma Key by Stephen King.

My friend was right, it does lessen road rage. And sometimes I catch myself sitting in my car in the parking lot at the gym, at home or at work, seeing if I can finish a chapter. Nerdy, I know.

While there’s no substitute for devouring the words with my own eyes, audiobooks are pretty damn fun.

In addition to the ones I’ve listened to since October, I’ve also listened to Freakanomics and Angels and Demons.

I am totally open to recommendations. Duma Key is 18 discs and by far my most ambitious book so far, but

a) it’s Stephen King

and

b) it’s read by John Slattery (Roger Sterling from Mad Men, he has a great voice)

so I think I’m going to stick with it.

kid reading book image by KOMU News’ Flickr