Years that ask questions

This quote has been one of my favorites ever since reading Their Eyes Were Watching God in high school (gosh, I miss those classics sometimes...)

I truly can't believe 2013 is upon us. I've always felt that time was rushing forward -- that the days and weeks and months and years were lunging past me uncontrollably -- and this year especially seemed to fly right on by. But time did stop on a few occasions for a few brief moments. Like this one. :) And those moments I cherish. 2012 taught me many things about myself, about life, about love, about starting a career. 2011 was a year of questions, but this year gave me some clarity, some definitive answers. Maybe that was true for you as well, or maybe your year was more uncertain. I have a feeling 2013 will bring many more challenges, questions, answers and great memories. 

How are you celebrating the close of 2012? We're going to watch the fireworks over Tower Bridge in Old Town Sac tonight. Happy New Year, everyone! See ya next year. ;)


*Photo from that dubious summer 2011 in Torrington, WY 

On kindness and Christmas

There's a nice man who works at the ticket booth in our parking garage. Whenever I swing by to leave work for the evening, he's there with a smile, a nod and a "have a good night!" It's a simple gesture, but it's become something familiar and pleasant. Sometimes I'll pick his line of cars at the exit just to wish him well and have him send me on my journey home. I don't know much about him. All I know is that his simple kindness makes a big difference... 

And speaking of kindness, our mantel (well, cabinet) with cards from family and friends reminds me how blessed we are. Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season! Andrew and I spent the weekend before Christmas in Los Angeles, visiting my aunt MaryAnn and her boyfriend Dominick and cruising through the crowded streets of Hollywood and Beverly Hills in her new car. We held a party (Kim came over!), went on a hike near Dodgers stadium, ate Mexican food on Olvera Street, browsed the Redondo Pier fish market and went on a long walk in Marina Del Rey with Andrew's brother Tony and his wife Jana. It was my first time meeting them and I couldn't have been happier to have an afternoon together! We spent Christmas in Grass Valley, opening presents, eating way too much as usual and watching "The Christmas Story" -- my favorite. :)

Life of Pi

I once read that you judge whether or not you'll like a movie within the first three minutes of watching. But even after the first 30 seconds of Life of Pi, with it's simple yet creative opening credits, I was spellbound. Andrew and I stopped to see it in 3D in Davis over the weekend.

Based on the novel by Yann Martel (which I now want to read), the story follows a young boy named Pi and a tiger named Richard Parker. And that’s all I’m going to say.

Other than the fact that it’s so visually scintillating, it kept me intrigued for the entire 126 minutes. This time, paying the few bucks more for a 3D experience was worth it.  Ann Hornaday from The Washington Post put it well when she said, “In a year when 3-D has added little or nothing to the films it nominally enhanced…'Life of Pi' arrives just in time to breathe life and possibility into an otherwise moribund marketing gimmick.”

And get this – a make-shift movie theater (above) was created inside an indoor swimming pool in Paris called the Piscine Pailleron, which was featured in the film. People watched from lifeboats swaying in the water. Leave it to the French! 

What's the best season for a wedding?

Winter, spring, summer or fall? We’re having a summer wedding (like many people do) but I love the idea of off-season celebrations.

A friend I used to work with told me about her winter wedding – there was a blizzard that left feet upon feet of snow where they were supposed to have their ceremony and the venue flooded! So, loved ones gathered at her parents' house. It was cramped, but family and friends pitched in to push away furniture, move in chairs and everyone squeezed inside for the day. It turned out unexpected, but became a great memory...and a funny story they can forever tell.

What do you think? What's the best season to tie the knot? Today is a rainy one throughout northern California, so here are some beautiful rainy weddings.

Window seats

When I was a little girl I used to try to squeeze up onto the ledge of the window in my room to read, pretending it was a window seat. 

With only about six inches to spare on the windowsill, it was anything but comfortable and I couldn't last up there for more than a few minutes, stretching my leg across and pushing my foot against the space where the window frame meets the wall to keep myself steady. 

Maybe I had read about window seats in a book somewhere...I don't know. But ever since then, one of my dreams has been to have a window seat. There would be nothing better than snuggling up to a good book on a winter afternoon on a window seat. (I just finished Half Broke Horses and The Glass Castle. Jeannette Walls' writing is heartbreaking and heartwarming all at once.)

Check out these pretty reading spots below! Plus, 36 cozy window seats from Freshome. Do you have a window seat? If so, I'm coming over...

And, an awesome window BED...

*Top painting "The Window Seat" by Sir William Orpen 

Fall Recipes: Pumpkin bread

Thanksgiving is tomorrow, so it's only fitting that all of my posts have been about food this week, right? :)

I like to think of certain foods as a bit magical. Some are more magical than others. Why? Because they can disappear quickly, into thin air, leaving only tiny crumbs strewn across the kitchen counter. This pumpkin bread is one of those magical foods. Plus, it employs a "two-bowl method" as I like to call it (meaning, the recipe only requires two mixing bowls  -- one for dry ingredients and one for wet ingredients). Done and done.

Pumpkin bread

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the wet ingredients, you'll need:
- One 28 oz can of pure pumpkin
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 4 eggs

For the dry ingredients, you'll need:
- 3 1/3 cup of flour (or 3 cups white flour plus 1/3 wheat)
- 2 cups of sugar (I used 1 cup brown sugar, one cup white)
- 1 1/2 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. nutmeg
- 2 tsp. cinnamon

Mix both in their respective bowls, then add the dry ingredients to the wet. Stir until smooth, and spread evenly into 2 loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour or until knife comes out clean from loaf.

You can totally leave the recipe at that. But I got a little fancy and put on my baker's thinking cap. I chopped and caramelized some walnuts by sautéing them with smidgen of butter and a generous handful of brown sugar (Paula Deen would be so proud) until they were coated in sweetness. Walnuts never tasted so good!

Then, I mixed up some frosting with a cup of confectioners sugar, combined with a splash of milk and another splash of vanilla extract, and drizzled the icing on each loaf after they cooled from the oven. On top, I sprinkled the candied walnuts. 

And there you have it! I brought one of the loaves to work with me last week, and it was happily devoured. Thanks to my mom for this original recipe. :)

Mad for mandarins

Yesterday afternoon, Andrew and I drove out to the Gold Country Fairgrounds to get our daily dose of Vitamin C (plus some!) at the 19th annual Mountain Mandarin Festival in Auburn. 

I had the chance to speak with Joanne Neft, the festival's founder, back when we did a profile on her for Sactown's April/May issue, and since then, I've been wanting to attend the festival -- especially since it's practically in my backyard of Grass Valley and I've never gone! The fairgrounds were filled with vendors selling everything from handmade crafts to homemade toffee and from mandarin milkshakes to hefty 10 lb. bags of mandarin oranges grown in the area. Fun farming fact: warm days and cool nights in the Sierra foothills make it a prime growing climate for mandarins, hence the yearly festival. :)

We wandered and snacked on free samples and then dug into a delicious pizza from the portable wood-fired oven of Bella Familia Pizza topped with bacon and, yes, mandarin slices. Delicious...

Placer County was glowing with fall colors and we couldn't help get a bit carried away before we headed home toting our own 10 lb. bag of yummy, bright little citrus orbs...

Fall Recipes: Butternut squash soup

Last weekend, I went a little crazy in the kitchen. Something about that crisp chill of fall and that early hint of winter in the air makes me want to bustle around from mixing bowl to oven all day. So that's just what I did. I took out my old handwritten recipe book and whipped up some creamy butternut squash soup and some dense pumpkin bread. Our apartment sure smelled like fall all day! Because it's our first full rainy weekend in the area, I'm sharing my soup recipe to start. Get ready to chow down and warm up...

Butternut Squash Soup

This soup recipe is good for three reasons. It's cheap, it's simple and it's soul-warming. What more could you ask for? Well, maybe that the soup had magical powers. But who's to say it doesn't? First, you'll want to gather some veggies and a plump butternut squash (which happens to be one of the cheapest items at the grocery store/farmers market this time of year).

- Slice the squash into four sections, brush with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and place face-up in a roasting pan. Turn the oven to broil and let it heat up.

- In the meantime, finely chop up the following: half of an onion, 2 ribs of celery, 1 large carrot, and 1 pear (or apple, depending on your preference or what happens to be in your fridge at the time). Sauté these with 1 tbsp. of butter in a large saucepan until the onions are clear and the veggies are soft.

- Stick the squash in the oven to broil until it's roasted on the edges and until you can easily poke a fork through it (about 10-15 minutes). Ah, look how lovely it looks...

- Set the squash aside to let it cool slightly. In the meantime, add 3 cups of chicken broth to the sautéed veggie mix (I used 3 chicken bouillon cubes, dissolved into 2 cups of water + 1 cup of milk to make the soup a tad more creamy) and bring everything to a boil.

- While the squash is still warm, take a paring knife and peel off its skin. Cut the squash into chunks and add it to soup mix. Boil until soft. 

- Then (here comes the messy part), purée the soup using a blender, hand blender or food processor until smooth--but not too smooth. Add salt, pepper and a dash of nutmeg to taste. Serve immediately, and enjoy!

Autumn pomegranate

Ahhhh......that's me sighing the ceremonial "end of deadline week" sigh of relief. This new issue of Sactown is going to be so cool. Literally. ;) Looking forward to a relaxing, rainy weekend and next week's holiday festivities. 

If you're wondering what the photo is about...my mom and dad saved me this huge (like, the-size-of-my-hand huge) pomegranate from the tree in our front yard and it's almost too pretty to eat. So, of course, I photographed it and its lovely crown.

P.S. Speaking of which, have you ever heard this quote by Frederick the Great? 

P.S.S. How to eat a pomegranate. I'll be using these instructions soon...

Have a happy weekend, everyone!

Echoes: lost and laughing

Actually, as my woods-treckin' mama has taught me, you should stay put if you're lost in the woods. ;) Nonetheless, Ellen's words are worth a Wednesday chuckle. This quote is from her 2009 commencement speech at Tulane University...what a lucky class!

P.s. A birthday shout-out my bff Kimmy K - the girl who always follows her own path, marches to the beat of her own saxophone, and takes time for nature walks... :) 

*Photo from the Tahoe wilderness

All the color

Last weekend, Andrew and I gathered with thousands of other locals and visitors to watch the 33rd annual Sikh parade as it came strolling down the street in our neighborhood in Yuba City. I was completely mesmerized by all the color, especially of the women's beautiful saris. (And I kept thinking how comfortable they look!) I snapped these photos while we stood on the sidewalk, and The Appeal-Democrat, where Andrew works, was there capturing the event. Check out a slideshow of their photos here.

Our engagement photos

I'm thrilled to (finally!) post me and Andrew's engagement photos, captured beautifully by the talented Hannah Nicholson, who I went to high school with and who just happens to be my good friend Heather's little sis (follow that?). We ventured out to Empire Mine State Park in Grass Valley, with its beautiful stone house and gardens, and had a blast setting up shots around the grounds there in the beautiful late-summer afternoon light. Hannah snapped away, Andrew and I tried not to pose awkwardly and Heather helped us pick out good spots and faithfully carried around purses/water bottles/extra lenses. 

I must say, it was so much fun doing this kind of outdoor photo session with friends. All the pressure of a formal, stuffy engagement shoot went out the window and we could just relax, be ourselves and make it our own. Lots of laughter was involved that day. And the photos we'll cherish forever...We call this first one below our "album cover." ;)

Hannah also brought her film camera (yes, film!) I'm so glad some people still believe in this "old fashioned" photography method, because the results are truly phenomenal. As Hannah would agree, the grain, depth and captured light in film can't be beat. Below are some images she shot in film. LOVE the ring and daisy one. 

"Lovers don't finally meet somewhere. They're in each other all along." -Rumi

THANKS, HANNAH & HEATHER! You can view more of our engagement photos on our wedding website here!

Nashville

Have you been watching the new ABC show "Nashville"? I got drawn right into it. Yes, I'm a sucker for anything with country music and a plot line. I never realized what a brilliant actress Connie Britton is...she's got the classic Faith Hill/Martina McBride thing down. But the song below from the premiere stopped. me. in. my. tracks. If you listen to anything today, listen to this song! It was originally recorded by The Civil Wars, a brilliant duo.

A bicycle story

I once had a beautiful, sea blue beach cruiser bicycle with a white wire basket and a matching bell that chimed pleasantly to warn passersby of my arrival. I saved up for the bike between my freshman and sophomore year of college and rode it happily to school and work each day, zooming along the blackberry bush-lined bike trail that connected my apartment to campus. I took my bike to the park on weekends, rode it back from the store with groceries in the basket, and when my friend Jenny visited from England, she rode it around too, fascinated at how our California "university" culture was obsessed with these oversized two-wheelers meant for boardwalks.

Then one day, someone cut the lock and took my bike away in broad daylight. I was furious. And I’ve always wondered what happened to it. Sold for parts? Sold in another county? Another state? It's one of life's little mysteries...And I later learned that bike thieves make off with 200,000 bikes every single year. The madness!!

Now I have a new bike - great and less valuable - but not nearly as magical. ;)

Also:
- a famous Australian bicycle poem
- the coolest hand-painted bike bells
- the app by my mountain biking enthusiast of a brother uses when riding crazy trails like this 

*Painting: "A Dog's Pace" by Carolee Clark

My bucket list

Do you have a bucket list? 

I clearly remember that day in freshman English class at the computer lab, sitting next to my bff Katherine, as we typed up our dreams and goals. Our assignment? Create a 100-item bucket list.

The other day I was thinking of that list, wondering how my goals (however mundane or far-flung) may have changed since then. So I dug into my computer files, way back 10 years ago. Sheesh, was it really that long ago?? Katherine, we’re getting’ old!

Lo and behold, I found that list from 5th period English. I skimmed through it laughing and shaking my head. A lot of my dreams have remained the same (travel around the world, write a novel or two, learn to play the guitar, hike the P.C.T. ...) but some have changed completely (learn to yodel, ride all the roller coasters in the U.S., have lunch with Kobe Bryant??) What was my 9th grade mind thinking? Funny how 10 years can completely alter your perception of the world. But then again, the core of who we are and how we think stays pretty consistent, I believe.

I was proud to learn I've already accomplished some of those goals I wrote down that day (work for a while as a newspaper reporter, go skydiving, travel to Australia). And one item in particular on my bucket list made me smile. It said, "marry someone I trust and love." 

You see, dreams, goals, wishes (and buckets) do come true.

Echoes: make your path

Thursday night inspiration...I can see Friday on the horizon!

*My photo from an endless eastern Wyoming wheat field 

Happy Halloween!

One of my most favorite Halloween costume ever -- a baby burrito! I hope this kid grows up knowing that his parents are geniuses. 

Happy Halloween, everyone! 

P.S. Chipotle is giving away $2 burritos to anyone who shows up tonight in costume, and it's all for charity. Ten years ago, Halloween centered around finding the house with the full-sized candy bars. Now? Cheap dinner options! 

P.S.S. Many more cuties...

Bridesmaid boxes

As soon as we began planning the wedding, I knew I wanted to ask my bridesmaids in some special way to join me on the "journey to the alter" as I like to call it. We are all scattered around California and across the globe (literally!), so sending a little box seemed like just the ticket. I'd seen a few inspirational ideas for bridesmaids boxes around the web (like these and these beautiful ones) and fell in love with the idea, but I wanted to make them unique with my favorite colors and filled with little treasures made just for my ladies. It was my turn to pop the question, after all!

Here's how they turned out, with a little tutorial on the project...

Secret trail

Feeling a little guilty that while all my relatives on the east coast are battening down the hatches to prepare for hurricane Sandy, we are enjoying radiant sunshine and crisp fall weather here in California...

I say, come on out west, folks! (we only have earthquakes to worry about...and sometimes tornadoes...)

Yesterday, Andrew and I went on a hidden hike up by Collins Lake, the kind in which you don't see another soul on the entire five mile trail and I'm constantly scanning my surroundings for mountain lions. But it was refreshingly peaceful nonetheless! 

We planned to hike to the lake, but an impassable flowing creek led us to a lunch spot and we stopped to enjoy the silence and fall colors and stringent scent of pines in the area.

I've realized that as soon as you start working full-time in your 20s, you understand how valuable these relaxing weekend moments can be! All part of growing up I guess...
:)

More coffee, please.

At the little on-campus café called Charlie Brown's at Sonoma State University, there was a sign hanging near the cash register that said “Instant human, just add coffee.” I can still picture it. Maybe it's still there.

Life is a little hectic lately, and I've fully realized my caffeine addiction as a result...so this artwork above made me chuckle. :)

I inherited a deep and unwavering appreciation for good, strong coffee. One of the best cups I’ve ever tasted is pictured to the left, from Zatori café in Nelson, New Zealand. And I’m sure there’s much more great coffee to be tasted out there in the world. Have you ever been coffee tasting? Think wine tasting but with sips of fine espresso and roasted brews. I just discovered they do tastings at Sacramento's Temple Coffee and classes on making latte art with foam and milk (which has become an intense competitive sport these days). Sounds like an energy boost!

And this concludes a very jumpy post. Happy sipping, and happy Friday, everyone.

P.s. Some insider information: Peet's Coffee locations have been giving away free cups of coffee every Wednesday in October. Halloween is the last chance to pick up a cup. 

Echoes: Launch yourself on every wave

Wise words. Happy Monday, everyone.

*My cloud photo from Torrington, WY

The coolest children's book

We live in an age in which toddlers know how to use iPads, grandmas chat on their cell phones and our cars recognize our voices.

So, when browsing through the toy store on my lunch break last week (doesn’t everyone?), I was amused to come across this children’s book: Press Here by artist Hervé Tullet. It begins with a single yellow, painted dot. You press the dot and on the next page, it turns into two dots. Then, three. Then they change color, get bigger as you press harder and shift to one side when you tilt the book. Genius! 

The New York Times bestseller was published just last year, but is a comical and refreshingly simple take on the power of a regular old printed page in a world of touch screens. But still, there’s an app for it. Lol. One day when I'm a mom, I'll have to remember this little story. You can watch the book trailer below: