One more week of the school semester. One more week of Chris teaching an evening class, working 7 days a week, and all the busyness in our lives and missing my husband that comes with that. I definitely enjoy spending time alone and pursuing things independently. But this year, with Chris starting Chow Locally and working on the weekends, I've had more independent time than would be my ideal. But I am so proud of how hard Chris has worked. Last August, Chow Locally was a brand new business. Today they provide local produce grown right here in the Phoenix... Read more →

Last weekend I made significant progress on the extra bedroom that will be my office/sewing room! It makes me smile just to walk in, I can tell it's going to be a space that I'll love working in. This weekend I’m excited to paint! I’m thinking a pale, sunny yellow like Behr Moon Dance. Chris will be working on Saturday so it'll be a one-woman painting show at our house. But I don't mind, I actually kind of love to paint, especially edges! I'm planning on making some coffee, queuing up a few podcasts and getting to work. Can't wait... Read more →

It seems that everyone can agree - phone interviews are no fun. Interviews are nerve-wracking already but it’s even harder when you can’t see the person interviewing you. But if you're applying for a job phone interviews are nearly unavoidable. I've had several over the years, starting when I applied to internships and graduate programs in college and as I've applied for jobs since graduate school. Despite having gone through the process several times I still don't look forward to phone interviews. BUT I do know how to prepare for them. I'd love to share my process and tips in... Read more →

So, I'm a little behind with my art-a-months. The last one I posted was January! It turns out I'm pretty good at buying affordable art for the house; I'm terrible at framing it and actually displaying it. So, for now, I'm not determined to buy a new piece of art each month. But I am determined to frame and hang what I have. I love the simple frames at IKEA so I just need to make a trip soon to stock up (that store can be so overwhelming so I always put off the trip). But I do have a... Read more →

When we travel, Chris and I usually try to stick to a hotel/accommodation budget of $80 – 120/night. At that budget we’re usually not staying in super nice hotels. They're OK – clean and safe - but nothing very stylish or fancy. That’s why I’m so glad we’ve found Home Away! For the same budget we can rent an apartment or studio with some local character and have the convenience of a small kitchen and a little bit more room than a standard hotel room. It's also nice having a person to email directly leading up to the trip to... Read more →

On Monday we started the week off with a bang and booked flights for two awesome summer trips: Honolulu, Hawaii and Missoula, Montana! My good friend, Angela, will be marrying her Spanish sweetheart in Honolulu in September. It’s going to be a very small and beautiful wedding and they are such a great match. Angela’s fiancé is a chef and his mother is a pastry chef and they’ll be doing all the cooking for a tapas and sangria rehearsal dinner – doesn’t that sound fabulous? Angela even said I could probably help out in the kitchen if I so desired.... Read more →

As I talked about, I've felt frustrated sometimes when I can't take the pictures I want (since I definitely still have a lot to learn about my camera and photography). I've also been wanting to give my blog a bit of an update. I've got that move-some-furniture-around, change-the-curtains kind of feeling. Well, good news on these fronts! Learning is happening and will be happening. My preferred approach to learning a new skill is usually to learn from someone. Of course, I do love reading about babies, but for the most part I'd rather learn from a person than a book.... Read more →

*Amendment: Is it so much to ask that my car has better gas mileage, cup holders, a gas tank that can be filled to the top, and a driver's side window. Ah, yes. I swiped my garage pass on my way into the parking structure this morning and then went to put my window up. It went all the way up...and then continued to go up. It came out of alignment and actually ended up at an angle so that it was outside of my car (if you can imagine it). This actually happened about 3 years ago and I... Read more →

Easter 2012 with the Whartons included... + this vegan pumpkin bread. So good. + an intense game of Red Rover. + a camera phone competition featuring moi as the subject. (Results: iPhone 4S has the best clarity, Droid has the best color, iPhone 3G won the participation award.) Happy Wednesday! Read more →

Big news: I'm officially looking for a used Prius, something I've been dreaming of for years! On my second day of working at my new job the Volvo just died while I was sitting at a traffic light. One minute I was listening to NPR and sipping my coffee, the next I was sitting in a car that was NOT on and frantically looking for my hazard light switch. Thank goodness I wasn't on the highway yet! And luckily my car restarted and I was able to get it to a nearby parking lot. But it was very unsettling not... Read more →