Hi friends! Didn’t mean to disappear on you. I had to migrate the site over to a new host, so this site is now just a plain wordpress.com site and won’t be updated anymore. Be sure to update your bookmarks/RSS to:
There are a couple of posts there already, so hope to see you there!
xoxo
ami
A patch of pretty blue sky.
Sundaes made from Trader Joe’s ingredients for Father’s Day– vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, candied pecans, and two little chewy chocolate chip cookies.
A card from the wonderfully talented Joyce Chai. Joyce does beautiful lettering (that’s my name in her handwriting!), which she often posts on her instagram here (in addition to gorgeous photos).
Look whose book I found at the local bookstore! That would be Miss Jesse Klausmeier’s Open This Little Book! (Remember her interview?) So very cool.
Was going down the front porch stairs, and saw this little flower poking through. Made me happy.
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Back to my Friday five! This week we were lucky enough to get a few days of sunshine, so I l felt very lucky to spend some sunny afternoons in a hammock (which was actually a gift my dad got for Father’s Day and he was nice enough to share). If you’ve never been in a hammock (I hadn’t), they are amazing! Even more amazing is bringing out a pillow to rest your head on and dragging a side-table over to place your snacks and drink on. Because snacks are the best part!
I hope you had a great week and a fun weekend planned. Monster’s University is being released today, so I think I know where I’ll be! Pixar fo life!
See you here on Monday!
― Maurice Switzer
I was at the grocery store in the checkout line today, when the cashier turned to me and exclaimed, “You look like…!”
He stopped while he tried to remember the name.
“…that girl from Smallville!”
I laughed because before he even said it I knew what he was going to say.
Ever since high school, if anyone’s ever said I look like someone, it’s always been Kristin Kreuk. It honestly makes me happy though because it’s someone I really like! I can kind of see it– maybe it’s the forehead? And that we’re both half Asian? I don’t know.
Other than Kreuk, in the past I’ve also gotten Lindsay Price (from Lipstick Jungle) on a couple of occasions. I wish!
It made me curious about doppelgangers, so I asked the cashier if people told him he looked like anyone. “Tobey Maguire. At least once a day”.
As soon as he said it I could totally see it! What’s really funny though, is that he told me that his wife is ironically not attracted to Toby Maguire at all! Hahaha. I guess some people just see it and others don’t.
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Do you have a doppelganger? Who do people tell you that you look like?
Back in February, I did a roundup of shows and movies that I think are worth watching on Netflix. Since the content is regularly updated, I figured it’s time for an update!
Here’s what I’ve been watching:
The Vampire Diaries, Season 1 through 3– Okay, so until now I hadn’t jumped on the whole vampire/werewolves/supernatural bandwagon (aside from Buffy, which was basically a million years ago). I’ve never seen Twilight or any other recent vampire show/movie. BUT. BIG BUT. The Vampire Diaries (forgive the forthcoming pun) totally SUCKED ME IN. Every episode, every season. I realize that I’m not a teenager, but I don’t care!
I had been interested in watching True Blood, but heard it’s pretty violent, and I’m a bit squeamish when it comes to violence. So I figured that Vampire Diaries, being on The CW would be really tame. Wrong! I was actually pretty surprised at the level of violence on the show. I mean, for a show on CW, it takes it much further than Buffy ever did. Somehow, though, it manages not to cross the WTF line (okay, maybe once or twice, but more shock than violence).
The basic premise is that Continue reading
My happy corner from this weekend: a blanket, a book, some green juice (still obsessed, and with a bendy straw!), and plenty of sunshine.
It’s the little things.
My brother hooked it up with some zaru soba (Japanese buckwheat noodles served with cold broth).
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I know, three weeks with just one photo on my weekly roundups! For shame. Promise that will change soon.
Did you know that summer officially starts next Friday? Mentally I’ve been in summer mode for a while now because the weather has been so good here. We’ve already been out BBQ-ing, kids have been getting out of school and graduating, and the town has just been generally livelier with the increase in sunny days. Summer really is when the Northwest shines the most– figuratively and literally. The scenery is spectacular and there is little more beautiful than the bay gleaming in the early morning and late afternoon.
I hope you have fun plans this weekend, and I’ll see you here on Monday!
“Picture a beautiful mountain, perhaps a peak covered in snow. As you look at it, you can see that it has an inner core of constant peace and constant temperature so that no matter what happens on the outside, the inside remains unchanged.
Now imagine that the seasons come and go. Summer comes with lightning, with storms, with flooding and fires, yet inside the mountain remains completely still, tranquil and calm. The summer becomes fall, with howling winds and leaves falling off trees; then winter arrives with snows and freezing temperatures. Yet the inner core, the beautiful space deep within the mountain is unaffected by any of these changing seasons.
We are like the mountain. We do not have to let outside events rob us of our joy and harmony, no matter how strongly the storms rage, no matter how loudly the winds howl. We all have that inner core of calm and quiet. It is there whenever we need it.
No matter what people say about us, no matter what criticisms or judgements they may offer up, we are already divine. We are solid and grounded in the earth like a mountain. We are spiritual beings. The words of others cannot rob us of our inner peace and joy unless we give them the power to do so. The mountain, inside, is perfect, and so are we.”
–The Meditation of the Mountain by Dr. Brian Weiss via Spirit Miner
So, as you know, I’m juice-crazy right now and I’m all about making the green juice and the orange juice and juices that are all of the colors of the wind (shoutout to Miss T on that one, WINK).
But the problem with juicing has been that I’ve mostly been restricted to juice that’s smoothie-like in it’s consistency. I have a blender, not a juicer, and juicers are about a million dollars. Just kidding, more like two hundred dollars. The price tag would even be fine, but when you move around as much as I do, it gets, you know, a bit heavy.
So. ALTERNATIVE TIME! I found this cheesecloth at Bed, Bath, and Beyond for $3.99 and it does just the trick!
You just drape it over a bowl and strain your juice over it. Then squeeze like crazy. The more you squeeze, the more juice you extract. Just, you know, make sure your hands are clean. The juice comes out nice and clear which is especially good if you’re the fiber-sensitive type (if you know what I mean).
The only caveat to the cheesecloth is cleanup. I’ve been rinsing it off, which mostly works, but it can sometimes be hard to get the little pieces out. Overall, though, solid B+ in lieu of a a juicer, and highly recommend it!
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Have you ever used a cheesecloth to juice or for anything else? (Making mozzarella cheese, perhaps?) Do you have any advice or tips for cleanup?
If you’re ever having a funky day, my two favorite pick-me-up Youtube channels are Ellen’s and Jimmy Fallon’s. So many of their videos have me cracking up in my seat.
Late Night in particular lately has been seriously on point. Love this Brian Williams / Snoop Dogg video that they made last week:
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What are your favorite Youtube channels?
mon ami 