UNPACKING, DAY 1

First day (or night, I should say) of unpacking -- successful! I forgot about most of what I opened so it was fun...Merry Christmas to me!

Best thing I re-discovered:

My TEXAS serving platter from Kyle and Steph for my graduation.

HOOK 'EM!

TWO FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT TODAY

1.  I finally set up my new mini reed diffuser that Shan gave me for (I'm embarassed to say) Christmas!

It looks perfect on my desk next to my sweet DR photo taken by the one and only, fabulous Hayley Stewart; and it smells AMAZING (when you work in an office of all boys, that doesn't happen too often!).

2. In 3 hours and 54 minutes (but who's counting, really...) I'll be the proud tenant of a new apartment! Yep, you heard me right! You might remember when I packed my stuff in Austin, and now, after 29 months, I finally get to unpack it all! I'm super excited. It seems like it's been a long time in the making, but God is so good; so faithful. His protection throughout the process from the littlest details to driving halfway across the country has been evident and I'm beyond thankful. Thank God that He is in control and not me, or who knows where I'd be!

RooTimes

For you, Family. Saw this on an umbrella at the Manayunk Arts Festival and naturally had to take a picture.

♥ Roo

OLD BANANAS + FRESH BLUEBERRIES

I bought some bananas at Trader Joes (Whole Foods for the not-completely-hardcore veggies) a couple weeks ago. I feel like I always buy bananas. I always have high hopes that I'll eat a banana a day for the whole week. And after seven days I always end up with five (I like to buy bananas in fives, it's a weird quirk...) lumps of brown mush. 


It's true, I don't love bananas. I mean, I love bananas in things and banana flavor (yes, I was the kid that would sit and pick out only the banana runts at the candy store...and maybe I still do...), but I don't like the way they always make me feel so full after I eat one. I'd take an apple over a banana any day.


All that aside, I was still stuck with five sad bananas. It's a good thing (1) that Dad's learn to eat anything whether old or leftover after having kids (I think it's part of their Dad contract or something), and that mine still does even after his kids are grown :) and (2) that banana bread is delicious.


So the Dad ate two over cereal throughout the week and I put the other three, along with some fresh hand-picked blueberries from Linvilla Orchards, into this awesome Banana-Blueberry Bread via the FatFree Vegan blog I love.

Blueberry-Banana Bread

3 large over-ripe bananas
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/3 cup (80 ml) vanilla soymilk (or apple sauce)
1/2 cup (120 ml) agave nectar
2 cups (240 g) white whole wheat flour (or regular whole wheat flour)
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (240 ml) blueberries

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray or wipe a 9×5-inch loaf pan with oil (I used a silicon loaf pan).

Mix the soymilk with 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice and let stand until it curdles. (If using apple sauce, skip this step and add the lemon juice to the bananas.)

In a large bowl, mash the bananas and add the remaining lemon juice, soymilk, and agave nectar. Stir well to combine. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture, and stir just until the mixture is well-combined. Fold in the blueberries.

Spread the mixture evenly in the prepared pan and bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50-60 minutes. Allow to cool before cutting and serving.

So good. Try it. And now you don't have to feel guilty about those un-eaten bananas; you're not the only one that lets them go brown!

PROUD NEW OWNER

No, no, it's not a car, don't get too excited. But it is..... (drum roll)

A sewing machine!

Thanks to the mom and dad, I got my very own sewing machine.

Complete with:

First projects? Finish my quilt and fill my very first ORDER (!!!!!)

PRINCESS MICA

Every morning she likes her water cold, fresh, and close to the ground so she can quench the thirst while laying down (and hold it with both paws).

And you can always tell when she's real thirsty, because after minutes and minutes of slowly sipping her own personal fresh water, she looks like this (notice water droplets all over her face):

I give you Princess Mica.

Maybe the most spoiled cat ever; but that's just the way I like her.

IT'S FRIDAY

1.  A very nostalgic place that reminds me of being a kid is     the Ocean City, NJ boardwalk. Wonderland, skee ball, putt-putt, salt water taffy, Rita's Water Ice, Kohr Brother's ice cream, riding bikes, hermit crabs, and (although not on the boardwalk) Ward's Pastries; such sweet memories of family summer vacations as a kid.     .

2.  If someone really wants to show me how much they love me      they would do something simple but sweet and thoughtful; or make me veg chocolate chip cookie dough. Both would work  .

3.  Lately I've been wondering a lot about      the future of our country. Scares me  .

4.  When it comes to saving money I am       not too bad; I like to travel and shop, but i'm pretty thrifty and try to make a point to save when and where I can   .

5.  I'd prefer     a skirt and cute heels    over    pants and flats    any day!

6.  I wish I knew how to make       cool photographs; I'm so envious of artsy photographers, what an awesome profession  .

7.  I'm just waiting for      the perfect house to fall in my lap. Probably not going to happen that easy, but a girl can dream, can't she?      .

MOM: SURPRISE!

You're iPad case is waiting for you when you get home.

I've become quite the sewing machine (hah, no pun intended) in my 'in-between-jobs-then-houses-so-i'm-squatting-with-mom-and-dad' days. It's quite neat actually.


My siblings and I all have a quilt that my mom handmade for each of us as babies. Who knows with four kids when she had the time to do this (and be done by the time each of us turned one years old), but she's super mom so I don't ask questions. 


A few months ago when the mom and I were talking about our baby quilts and brainstorming about possible quilts for my niece and nephew, I realized that this is something, a tradition I guess, that I one day want to pass on to my kids, but with absolutely no idea how to use a sewing machine I don't think I'd get too far or my kids would be graduating college by the time I finish hand-sewing the whole thing.


So the mom sat down with me to teach me the lay of the land, everything she knew, and we started my first 'practice' quilt. And so began my love for the sewing machine. It's super easy to use and being able to make your own things rather than buy saves so much money! I've cranked out a couple iPad cases and an iPod pocket (all made from discounted scrap pieces at the fabric store).

Want one? Email me, kara.denholm(at)gmail(dot)com. I'm taking orders! Any excuse to keep sewing :) I can't guarantee that it'll be the exact fabric you want because I get to pick it, but I can guarantee that it'll be cute...(and free!)

I'VE HAD MY EYE ON IT

For so long now I've been drooling over a Nikon Digital SLR camera. So expensive, but so amazing. I went from [wanting] the D80 to [wanting] the D90 over the past couple years, to April of this year when I decided I was finally going to break down and treat myself. But I still couldn't bring myself to actually purchasing the darn thing! I think I was afraid of buyers remorse, or afraid that I had to be some super duper photographer to warrant spending the money on it.


But that is not true, and if I'm still in love with the camera after two years, then it's totally worth it. So Saturday night I became the proud new owner of the Nikon D5000.

I'm sooo excited; it's amazing and I don't even know how to barely use it yet! I'm excited to find a beginners photo class and even more excited to start 'Photo Hikes' with my sweet friend Jaime.

TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL