BEARS, BEETS, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA.

I hope y'all are able to understand The Office reference about beets. I decided to roast some beets today to make a salad with and they turned out fabulous so I thought I'd share this super simple little recipe that I've been making a lot over the past couple of months.

Roasted Beets

1 // Clean and peel beets. Cut up peeled beets into about 1-inch pieces.
2 // Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
3 // Spread beets on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with thyme and S&P.
4 // Bake for about 90 minutes or until beets are easy to prick with a fork.

I like to put my beets in an arugula and balsamic salad, but they are also very good on their own.

THIS DREAM OF ADY'S IS ALIVE IN PORTLAND, PORTLAND.

Ever since going to Portland earlier this month, I can't get it off of my mind. I feel a bit restless here in Salt Lake, even with as much as I truly love it. For the past four years, I never had the option of moving because I was in college. Before that, I had to go where ever my parents went. Now that school is over (for now) I feel that this is my time to find a new adventure somewhere else before I go to law school. The past few days, I've been working hard on doing research on Oregon-area law schools to see if that could be an option and it looks like it is. The problem is getting residency because there's no way this girl can pay a non-resident tuition!

As a kid, we lived over the river from Portland in Vancouver, Washington for a couple of years. I liked it then but now it is a completely different story. I feel that it is the place for me. I can see myself there, being happy there, and being successful there. I love Salt Lake and it will always be home but after being here for this long, you realize that because it is such a small city, you've done everything you can and you've met everyone in it. Things start to feel repetitive and stagnant.

I don't know what will end up happening but it's all definitely in my thoughts. Maybe it's all just a dream, but you know what, dreams are good, too. ;-)

TIME TO GET CRAFTY.

After next week, I will be back to only working outside of the house three days a week, instead of six or seven. The rest of the days I can work from home again, which I love. And the weekends I can actually do the things that I want to do again. I always get jealous when springtime comes and I have to work on Saturdays and Sundays while everyone else gets day drunk at the park or goes on motorcycle rides.

I have a small list of little crafty projects thanks to good ole Pinterest that I haven't had time to do...

Origami Bipyramid Tutorial

Miniature Plant Hangers

Flower Pom Poms

NOBODY FRESHER THAN MY CLIQUE.

I was taking a quick look through some old photos today and realized that it is probably the time to post all of these. I have had the chance to work for the most amazing company for the past four years. I have worked in three out of the four, managed one, had the opportunity to be a buyer but none of that even compares to the wonderful people that I've met. Every single person that I've come across through the company has changed my life for the better. We have gone through the good, the bad, and the ugly, all together. I couldn't of lived the past few years without these ladies for the laughs, the tears, the screaming and yelling, the secrets that are safe within them, the odd experiences that you experience working retail, but most of all, without their unconditional love and support.

Our time at JMR and Lolabella is coming to an end, the stores will soon all be closing their doors and our wonderful owners are moving on to bigger and better things, as are we. The memories that we have all acquired will all be in our hearts, and the friends that we have acquired will all be on our speed-dials.

THE ONE SHOW.

Greg got invited a couple of months ago to be one of the featured builders at The One Show in Portland, so proud of him and his hard work. We decided to make an adventure of it and that it definitely was! We stopped and got tattooed in Boise and then went on. Right after leaving Boise, we found ourselves in quite the snow storm. Portland doesn't get much snow, some of the kids from up there that we met said that they hadn't really seen snow in about 5 years. While we were there, they got about a foot of snow and an ice storm to go with it. In a city that never sees snow, you can imagine how people react.

The drive from Boise to Portland on Thursday was pretty scary in itself, thank god I wasn't driving. Greg's much better at that than I am. Then we dropped the bike off at the building where the show was going to be held and on our way to our hotel saw an 8-car pileup and zero snow plows. We couldn't come to a complete stop on even the slightest slope or else we would have to roll back down and try again. The last night there was an ice storm and they decided to cancel the last day of the show because it was too hard for anyone to travel.

The show was great, though. Great bikes, beer, awesome people, couldn't of asked for a better time. It's always a good time to be surrounded with such talent. It's fascinating to see what someone's imagination and creativity, mixed with skill, can really do. We will definitely go again next year.

I lived in the Portland area for a couple of years growing up so we also got to visit an old friend and stayed with him and his roommates the last night. They showed us a few cool spots, I will be doing a post later this week of the fun bars/restaurants that we visited while we were in town.

Great trip!

[FEATURE] DAYS OFF.

I want to start a feature about what my day off each week consists of. Sometimes they are productive, sometimes they are lazy and relaxing, and sometimes they are nonexistent for weeks at a time. I always think that it's interesting what people do in their free time.

9:00 // Wake-up. I was so happy to have been able to fall back to sleep after Greg left for work.
9:30 // Morning coffee time. My morning coffee is always my favorite part of my day.
10:00 // Move my car. Living in the city sucks when it comes to parking. We have about 15 permanent spots to share between 140 apartments so you can imagine that some days it's next to impossible to snatch one unless you're constantly waiting around. The only other spots are either 2-hour or metered. Moving your car every two hours gets a liiiiittle irritating.
10:30 // Dropped a design project off at the printer.
11:00 // Went to three different grocery stores because I'm picky about certain items like chicken and different produce.
11:30 // Did my laundry and helped a nice new neighbor move a few things in.
12:00 // Made some bacon and eggs. Being on a diet that encourages eating bacon is amazing!
12:30 // Cleaned, cleaned, and...cleaned. I don't want to come home after vacation to a dirty house.
2:00 // Took a little nap. Just because I could.
3:00 // Made some new Paleo-friendly seasonings. The same chicken and fish are getting old, it was time to spice it up a little. Literally. I know, I'm hilarious.
4:00 // Started packing my clothes for the trip. I'm a weirdo, I actually really love packing.
5:00 // Wine and a bath in my newly cleaned bathroom.
6:00 // Some Pinterest-ing.
7:00 // Moto Monday. The first Monday of every month is Moto Monday at Este Pizza downtown. In the warmer months, there are bikes lined up and down the street out front but during these colder, snowy months it's more of just an excuse to eat pizza and talk about motorcycles.

I'd love to hear what you do on your days off.

AN EASY OUT.

Lately I have found myself having a good couple of hours after work each day before Greg gets home to just sit and think. I guess it isn't always a good thing. I tend to have the personality that I keep a lot of my feelings inside until I can't take it any longer and freak out by either erupting in tears or letting the person who is angering me most know every single thought in my head (that usually doesn't end well). I also have the personality that I need to organize everything, including my thoughts. Today I decided that the easiest and best way to relieve myself from the hell going on in my mind is to lay it out visually. I always try to start diaries and then I have this weird paranoia that someone will get a hold of it and my hand gets tired and yeah, maybe I'm just a wuss. I also have tried sketchbooks, which always end up beautiful but most days it is really difficult to figure out a way to put my feelings into drawings. So the easiest way for me to continue to put my thoughts on paper is to type them up, save them to my Cloud, and I can access them from any computer, my phone, and my iPad in case I need that friendly reminder that I can let it all out. It may sound crazy but trust me, I will do much more harm without it!

Here's some quick links that I have found lately and wanted to share with you all:
// Gluten-Free Coconut Lemon Meltaways
// The entire top row of these Isabel Marant pieces...
// Ginger Pear Bellini
// I'm reeeeally wanting to redo my home desk/office space area...