just laura

I felt like I was doing pretty good for a while with working out regularly, whether at the gym, hiking, or biking. January tapered off way too much. (Didn’t help that I was out of town/away from the gym for 2+ weeks). February was hectic too… I didn’t hit the gym at all during the 2 weeks of packing and moving. But, I’m trying to rev it back up.

Last week I hit the gym twice and today I did a big 40 mile bike ride with friends. Caroline, Jon, Jess, Mark, M and I all rode from Montlake to Woodinville for lunch at the Red Hook Brewery. The ride out was chilly (45F) but not bad. The ride back was more uphill, still chilly, and raining steadily on us the whole way. It was my first ride of the spring, and all things considered, felt remarkably good. I was pleasantly tired by the end, and was soo pleased to be able to hop right into the waiting hot tub to relax after the rainy, cold, long ride. :)

We’re hoping to continue weekend jaunts… biking on Saturdays and hiking on Sundays, but haven’t really gotten our schedule down yet. (Most hikes are still covered in snow, so it might be more biking for a couple of months). If anyone’s interested in joining us for social fitness time on the weekends, let me know!

Yesterday we did my first “house tea” to chat about all households things… emptying the dishwasher, art placement, parties to host, etc. It’s all fun stuff and I’m excited to be part of this wonderful new community!

In addition to me and M, my other housemates are:

• Lesley, thrower of dinner parties and lover of wine. She’s beautiful and sophisticated PhD in linguistics at Microsoft who is heading out to China from March-July for work.
• Mars, a creative artist who is a developer at Microsoft during the day and plays music and creates wearable art in his free time at night.
• Alexis, an avid rock climber and carpenter/handyman, who works freelance as a developer.

The 5 Spot’s theme menu right now is “Austin foods” and they’ve done a fantastic job! Many thanks to the many friend’s who’ve reminded me to go eat there during this season’s theme! Leo got sick yesterday, canceled our plans to cook dinner together, and M and I spontaneously decided to go out to eat instead. Who knew the 5 Spot was exactly what we needed? This kinda upscale “diner” in Queen Anne is always fabulous and always themed, but right now for Texas they’ve outdone themselves. They decorated with a giant 10 ft armadillo hanging from the ceiling, cow skulls from wagon wheel fixtures, paintings of Willie Nelson and Farrah Fawcett, stories of Eyeore’s Birthday Parties and the Congress Avenue bat colony, and so much more! Shiner Bock and Texas Tea, fried chicken, friend green tomatoes, brisket, biscuits, chicken soft tacos, and so more call out to you on the menu. Entrees were grand and their late night happy hour is to die for. Yum! My tri-tip steak with cojita mashers and arugula salad was fantastic, and our fried green tomatoes starter was perfect! Congrats to 5 Spot for a terrific meal and the ability to make me a bit homesick for good ol’ Austin, Tejas…

5 Spot
http://www.chowfoods.com/five/
1502 Queen Anne Ave N
Seattle, WA 98109
(206) 285-SPOT
Hours 8:30 a.m. — Midnight Daily
Closed 3-5 p.m. Sat & Sun

“Blue- and white-collars rub elbows in this Queen Anne eatery, and unshaven faces are definitely OK. Arrive early for breakfast and take advantage of exceptional people-watching opportunities during the moderate wait for a table. Open spaces and chirpy menu descriptions keep the place casual and relaxed, but servers are speedy and highly competent–mason-jar water glasses won’t be empty for a moment.

Owners Peter Levy and Jeremy Hardy have traveled the country in search of blue-collar cuisine. As a result, the menu–and its featured regions–changes several times a year. Nothing beats diner fare, which translates to heaping portions of often good, simple food. From “blunch” to a late-night menu, choices abound: omelettes, home-style biscuits and gravy, halibut and chips, buttery fried chicken, and red beans and rice round out the greasy-spoon staples.”

My new furry hat!

M and I were planning to do a long bike ride on Saturday with Stefan and Garwood, but snow, hail, and rain came instead so we spent a relaxing day at the house instead. Question: Since when did it snow so much in Seattle?? Answer: Never.

Saturday afternoon we hit “Bizarre Bazaar: Alternative Visionary Market” for local crafts. I got a shirt and warm furry hat! M got candles for himself and a baby gift for Noe.
Bizarre Bazaar: Alternative Visionary Market
Location: The Church of Bass
Date: Saturday, March 7 from 2:00 pm to 7:00 pm

The pretty shirt I got from Lotus Luxuries… “This intricately draped top is made from 92% bamboo fibers which wics moisture away, is anti-microbial, good for the environment, and the next “all the rage” in textiles.

Saturday night we decided for a low key date night, ate at Taco Time, and saw a movie – The Watchmen. Saturday night it snowed more.

Sunday, no surprise, it also snowed. We continued our relaxing weekend theme. Got the office fully cleaned out, spent some time in the hot tub, made a super brief visit to see Mason, Corrie, and 2 week old Noe, and then did dinner with Heater and friends.

Now it’s Monday and, of course, it’s snowing again. The climate change thing really is just wacky. Hope y’all had a good weekend!

Unemployment means no money for eating out… but happily it means I have lots of time for cooking! This weekend I made gluten free banana bread. Today I’m making high fiber orange cranberry muffins. And for my lunch today (and for leftovers during the week), I made my favorite Coconut Red Lentil Soup. Yum!

Coconut Red Lentil Soup
1 hour (15 min prep)
Serves 4

* 2 tablespoons oil
* 2 red onions, chopped fine
* 3 garlic cloves, chopped
* 1 inch fresh lemongrass, outer layers removed and inside finely sliced
* 1 cup red lentil, rinsed
* 1 teaspoon Hungarian paprika
* 1 2/3 cups coconut milk (1 can)
* 4 cups water
* 1 lime, juice of
* 3 scallions, chopped
* salt & fresh ground pepper

1. Heat oil in a large pan and fry onions, garlic and lemongrass for 5 minutes, until onions are softened but not brown, stirring occasionally.
2. Add lentils and spices to the pan.
3. Add the coconut milk and water and stir.
4. Bring to a boil, stir, and then reduce heat. Allow mixture to simmer for 45 minutes until lentils are nice and soft, almost mushy.
5. Add the lime juice and scallions
6. Season with salt and pepper
7. Serve hot

The internet is full of genius and I’ve stumbled upon some of it. :) I wanted to make high fiber muffins without all of the fat normal muffins have, and all of the recipes I was finding called for buying wheat bran, all bran, whole wheat flour, fake sweetners, flax seed meal, and a bunch of other ingredients I didn’t have and didn’t want to spend the money on. And then I stumbled upon this concept: use a fat free store bought muffin mix, add just add 3 cups wheat bran with 2.5 cups water. So easy! I modified it slightly to make it more tasty and I think they turned out pretty nicely!

High Fiber Low Fat Muffins Recipe

5 minutes prep
18 minutes baking
24 regular muffins (or 48 mini muffins)

* 3 cups oat bran (has more fiber than wheat bran and is gluten free!)
* 3 cups water
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 18 ounces fat-free orange cranberry muffin mix
* 3 ounces chopped prunes (8g fiber)
* 1 1/2 pears chopped (8g fiber)
* 1/4 c pecans (8g fiber)

1. Soak cereal in the water for 5 minutes.
2. Add the baking powder and muffin mix and stir well to blend. Mixture will be
3. Spoon into muffin pans sprayed with nonstick spray. Bake about 20 minutes.

After a quiet Friday (dinner with M and Ava at Cactus), I flew home to Austin on Saturday morning.

Last night Mom, Dad, Charlie, Stef, Gus, and I all hung out in Mountain City, ate dinner, and watched some Monsters Inc with Gus. Today Mom, Dad, and I had sweet potato corn bread for breakfast, did some house cleaning, and went to Rudy’s BBQ for lunch. This afternoon was a lazy afternoon with Mom and I are clearing out clutter from the house and Dad doing yard work. I’ve started scanning in some old papers, cards, souvineers and then tossing out the original. As much as I loved my first and only Swatch watch, I have no need to store it in closets for the rest of my life and won’t be wearing it either. It’s now scanned and ready to be preserved electronically! Look for lots of random posts and pictures sometime soon. :)

Tonight I’m off to meet Susie, Jacob, Caroline, and anyone else for fun in Austin. Wahoo!

I extended my trip to Austin and ended up staying 13 days total. Long trip! I managed to be here during the busiest weekend of the year, all so I could be home during Chris’s gallery show at the LBJ Wildflower Center. It was also SXSW, the Rodeo, basketball championships, and the carnival was in town as well. Good times. I was mostly busy seeing friends and family, but did manage to fit in one music afternoon showcase with Beal, one music evening with Mez, and and one film with Caroline.

SXSW Film:
Wake Up (world premier)
Film Awards and SXSW Film Closing Night Party

SXSW Music:
Bob Schneider (lovely as always, though it was a clean set)
Raul Malo (made me want to get up and partner dance)
Anathallo (entertaining, but almost tried too hard to be unique)
Samantha Crain (not much stage presence, but great music)
Amanda Palmer (liked the Creep cover she did on banjo)
Max Tundra (he was awful lame)
The Thermals (totally rocked)
Loney Dear (quite endearing)
Wild Light (hard working rock)

I’m planning to start a garden this year… my first ever! I’ve planted peas and tomatoes inside, and both are doing great! My pea vines are over a foot tall and my tomato starts are 1-2 inches each.

Last week I took a chain saw to the overgrown blackberry brambles in the back yard to clear a path and uncover what are rumored to be raised beds. I eventually found them but still have lots more clearing to do. I also tore up lots of invasive English Ivy… my arms are still sore a few days later. Last week I also rebuilt the compost bin and ordered bio bags from Amazon. Compost pile… here we come!

This week I need to get my lettuce and beet starts, till the beds, plant my peas, and build trellises. If I have time, I’d love to start an herb garden too. :) We’ll see how much progress I make. The yard needs much help, and I’m very much a newbie with lots of learning to do!

Today was a glorious sunny blue sky day in Seattle! Caroline, Jess, and I went for a bike ride out to West Seattle and back… did 33 miles and it was lovely! My arms were still a bit sore from gardening earlier this week, but I popped a few Advil before the ride and had no problems. Yay!

I’m happy to say I have my first two job leads of my whole job search. :) Neither is even at an interview stage, but I’m just happy to get contact from employers that might someday turn into something more. I’ve been searching daily since Dec when I got laid off, and I know the economy is still projected to continue sinking for a long while longer, but hearing a tiny bit of interest keeps the spirits up a little bit.