Locavore

As I mentioned in my previous post, my husband has gone totally vegetarian.  I'm not quite there yet, but I'm darn close, usually only eating meat once a week, and at this point it's only at a restaurant or at my parents' house. 

One area where I have pretty much committed is eating local as much as possible.  Yup, I'm a locavore.

Here's this past weekend's farmer's market haul:

I wound up roasting a lot of those veggies for dinner on Tuesday and served them with some gnocchi.  There were basically no leftovers.  I think I need to make more time for those kinds of meals, because they are easy to prepare (I was able to quickly clean and chop up the veggies while Amelia amused herself in her high chair), and they are actually quite inexpensive. 

That's the neat thing about shopping at the farmer's market:  When you're buying produce, it's often both fresher and cheaper than the grocery store stuff, and quite frequently it's organically grown as well. 

The budget busters at the farmers market tend to be the pre-made foods.  $6 for jam, $4 for black bean hummus... I could certainly get those things cheaper at the grocery store, but the truth is that the local stuff truly tastes better.  Those are our splurges, which we justify because overall we're still saving money.  And when I get the chance, I make my own hummus, which is even cheaper than buying it at the grocery store.

Have you seen the USDA Food Plan charts?  They're updated monthly.  For June, the "thrifty plan" for 2 adults aged 19-50 is $378.90/month.  I'm pretty sure we did go over that a bit this month, but most of the time our food budget is in the $350-ish range.  That includes non-food groceries and my extra 500 calories a day.  As long as you don't live in a food desert, it's definitely possible to eat well on a budget.  And for the record, we found ourselves relying on convenience foods more than usual this month, in part because I went back to work full-time and was working off-site a bunch.  We went over budget by something like $100.  Time to start menu planning!

So, which plan do you fall under on the USDA charts?  Is it just me or do those numbers seem kind of high?  Or do I just have our farmers market and mostly cooking from scratch to thank for our comparatively low budget? 


And here's some fun stuff that's been going on with Amelia lately:

Not even 6 months old and the kid can already stand while supporting herself on furniture!  Time to start baby-proofing??

Elvis was kind of wary of this new little person at first, but yesterday he jumped up on our bed and laid down next to her.  He was letting her hold his paws and touch his face, and it was adorable.

Here's a picture Glen took of the two of them:

Amelia's face in that picture is pretty much the greatest thing I've ever seen!  

April: Concerts, Anniversaries and Tummy Time

April was my first full month back at work, albeit still part-time.  It was a busy month, nonetheless.

On April 10, we took Amelia on her first road trip, to visit our friend Eric in Philadelphia.  While we were down there, I met up with some friends to see Andrew McMahon:

 

The concert was amazing, a mix of Something Corporate, Jack's Mannequin, and his new solo stuff.  

Oh yeah, and I made out with Eric's chinchilla, Mittens:

 

Amelia turned 2 months old on the 10th, but this picture was taken the following day, since we spent the 10th in Philly:

As of her two-month appointment, she was 23 1/2 inches long, which they told me was 90th percentile for height.  She clearly does not get her height from me!

On the 22nd, Glen and I celebrated 7 years of marriage with our traditional trip to Minado, which has an amazing sushi buffet.

I love that picture above.  Three of my favorite things: My husband, my daughter, and all-you-can-eat sushi!

And even though Amelia's been holding up her head pretty consistently since she was a few weeks old, we finally figured out the trick to tear-free tummy time:

It seems that propped up on the Boppy, in the crib is the way to go.  This past Sunday, we tried it without the Boppy, and she rolled from her stomach to her back twice! 

In other news, I've been debating downgrading my jewelry business to a hobby, because clearly once I go back to work 10 weeks from now, I will have even less than the currently-almost-nonexistent free time I have now.  For the past 3 years, I ran it as a business, complete with sales tax returns each quarter and a Schedule C each year.  

At this point, based on this IRS publication, I don't think it really qualifies as a business, since I'm not really able to put much time and effort into it and I don't depend on the income to make a living since I already have two other jobs!  The hassle of filing quarterly sales tax returns and filling out a Schedule C doesn't seem worth it as this point, but I still want to continue to make and sell jewelry as a creative outlet.  If I report it as hobby income, I could still deduct certain expenses, I just couldn't claim a loss.  Potentially having to pay slightly more taxes feels worth it to me since I'd have more free time, and right now time is more important to me than saving a few bucks!  

One Month!

That's how long it's been since my last post. 

It's also how old Amelia is now!  Crazy!

Anyway, as promised, here are the 39-week belly pictures:

Posing in the nursery.  I was totally using the crib to hang maternity clothes.

Belly close-up!  Hard to believe that's Amelia in there!

Amelia is a super easy baby most of the time, we just need to work on getting longer stretches of sleep at night.  Part of the problem is that she seems to like to sleep on her stomach (during the day she will often take naps on her stomach, lying on my chest), but she is not a fan of sleeping on her back.  Once she can roll to her stomach on her own, I think we'll be golden.

And of course, she's super adorable all the time.  Here's one of my favorite pictures of her, at 10 days old:

There are a TON of pictures of her on Glen's website, but first you have to get through the many, many pictures he took of Amelia's stuffed robot, Mr. Toyboto - Glen took him on a comedy tour in Nebraska this past week, and it seems Mr. Toyboto may have a drinking problem. ;-)

Amelia, Elvis and I have been spending a good chunk of that time at my parents' house, since I'm not quite ready to deal with caring for a new baby and a dog (the functional equivalent of a toddler) on my own.  Right now Amelia and Elvis are napping together on my mom, and I can't end this post without sharing:

Seriously, I have the cutest kids, furry and otherwise. ;-)

Elvis's Buddy

Sorry guys, no Maternity Monday post today!  Baby-related stuff has been fairly uneventful.  No appointments or progress on the office-to-nursery conversion.  Although I guess today's post is tangentially baby-related.

Not long after we found out we were having a girl, my parents bought some cute baby girl outfits and a toy that Elvis thought was his.  To be fair, it was a doll that rattled and had that stuff that makes a crinkly noise inside it, so can you really blame him?

My mom felt so awful about buying stuff for the baby and not for Elvis that the following week she stopped by and dropped off a big, soft, squeaky bunny. 

He is a big fan of Bunny.

Lounging with Bunny on his bed

A really, really big fan.

Thank goodness for Bunny's foot.  Elvis has never been a fan of the "modesty tail." ;-)

Doggy Jail?

Shortly after buying our new car, we learned that Elvis can and will jump from the trunk to the back seat.  This wouldn't be *such* a big deal for the next couple of months if it wasn't for the fact that he sheds and slobbers all over the place, and no one can ride in the back of my car without being thoroughly disgusted and/or fur-covered.

We decided that since we'd need a pet barrier eventually anyway, why not get one sooner rather than later?  I wasn't sure what Elvis would think of his new spot in the car, but I was worried he'd think he was being put in doggy jail.  I decided it would be best to try out the pet barrier for a short drive from our house to the vet's office and back this past weekend.

 

He seemed a little bit confused by the barrier at first, but once he realized he was stuck back there, he went right back to his usual routine of making ridiculous noises while wagging his tail and licking the windows. 

And in case you were wondering, Elvis's annual check-up went wonderfully!

Pretty sure that last comment was because he immediately offered his paw to the veterinarian when she walked into the examine room.  He's such a charmer. ;-)

My Amphibious Friend

I just wanted to pop in and share some pictures of the frog that's been living in my pond for the past month or so.  I'd have shared photos sooner, but my automatic reaction every time I've seen him thus far was to shout "FROGGY!!!" and immediately try to catch him.

This time I restrained myself, ran inside to grab my camera, snapped a couple of pictures...

 

... and THEN I tried to catch him. ;-)

Elvis's Big Announcement

Hey everyone! Elvis has some big news he wants to share with you...

And just to clarify, since anyone who knows Glen and me knows our obsession with our pets is a bit extreme and we would probably also do something like this if we were adopting a second dog, we're talking about a *human* little brother or sister, arriving sometime in early February!!

Look carefully.  That's a copy of The Great Gatsby that my husband Photoshopped into the ultrasound.

It's actually a good thing I've been so absurdly busy lately (I kid you not, in addition to extra library hours during the week, we are averaging 3-4 social commitments per weekend this summer!), because for the past 3 1/2 months it's been kind of hard to think of things to post about without spilling the beans. ;-) So I guess it's a good thing that I've just plain not had time to post!

Glen and I are both super excited, as are our parents, who have already bought the baby gifts such as books (including the latest Mo Willems Pigeon book, which I may have immediately claimed as my own...) and Batman onesies.  We don't know yet if it's a boy or a girl, so in the meantime, we've been referring to him/her as Stormageddon, which is a reference I expect precisely one of you to get. (I'm looking at you, Niki!!)

If you want to read about Glen's perspective on this new journey of ours, check out his new blog, The Baby Tickle.  And while I doubt this will become a super baby-centric blog, this will certainly be added to the mix of posts about my garden, pets, jewelry business, and room remodels, and I'm totally looking forward to adding our office-to-nursery remodel to my Before and After series. ;-)

You Know You've Gone Too Long Without Posting When...

... You check your email and find a note from a concerned reader asking if everything is ok. 

Don't worry, folks, I am alive and well! 

Work has been pretty crazy lately, I've been spending a lot of time outside my office around people I don't know well, or at all.  As an introvert, this has been kind of rough psychologically, since spending time around people, especially those I don't know well, can be draining.  Combine that with a busy concert season, some extra hours at the library, and lots of social stuff going on this summer, and I just haven't been inclined to do anything except zone out in front of the TV when I actually have some free time.

I do have a few amusing photos to share from the past month and a half, though!

In case anyone was wondering what I wake up to most mornings:

Elvis is super excited right now, because earlier this month, we finally had a fence put in!  Now he can run around the entire back yard all he likes, and he has been taking full advantage of the situation.

I've been showing this photo to pretty much everyone.  Even though I look kind of awful in it, Bailey's curiosity with the camera on my phone is just too amusing not to share:

I was trying to get a picture of me with both the degus to send to my husband, at the last possible second Bailey decided to upstage Barnum.  I love that you can see his little orange teeth. :-)

One of my very best friends is getting married this fall, and her bridal shower was in June.  As so often seems to be the case, I was nominated to make the hat.  We were kind of ill-prepared for hat-making, but somehow I managed to attach every last bow and ribbon to a single paper plate without a single piece of tape:

And while we're talking bridal showers, over the weekend I attended a coworker's bridal shower.  It was a gorgeous day, and it was an outdoor shower, basically in the middle of nowhere.  Here's my view of the giant cornfield that was literally right next to where I was sitting:

My blog hasn't been the only victim of my busy schedule.  My poor little jewelry business has fallen by the wayside these past few months as well.  I tend not to do many shows during the summer anyway, but I haven't been able to find a single show I'd have been available for so far this year.  It seems like there is something going on every single weekend!  But now that fall is approaching, I need to get in gear and start scheduling some shows!  Wish me luck. ;-)

Pond Ponderings

Lately I've been thinking about the things I can to to further beautfy our pond area:

We don't have any lighting in that area, so while it's nice to hear the sound of the waterfall at night, we can't see it.  I found this gorgeous light on the Home Depot website, and I think I will pick a few of them up:

It got great reviews, and I think it would look wonderful around the pond! 

I debating getting some sort of underwater pond lighting, but since the pond is on the small side and the water lilies pretty much take over, I'm not sure it'd really be worth it.

I'm also planning to pick up some more goldfish, since it looks like only one made it through the winter.  He needs friends. ;-)

For the time being I'm sticking with the usual 29-cent feeder fish and hoping for the best, but how cool is this calico fantail goldfish?

Maybe next year, if I'm feeling confident in my ability to keep fish alive...

Last, but not least, I've been thinking about seating... After all, how can I fully enjoy my little pond paradise without a place to sit?

My mother-in-law told me about this bench she saw at Lowe's:

The design is adorable and it's small enough that it wouldn't overwhelm our not-very-big pond... but I'm not crazy about the color.  I'd hate to spend $98 on a bench just to spray paint it... So something tells me I'll be prowling thrift store and yard sales this summer. ;-)


I'm hoping to take care of the light and fish situation after work today, since tomorrow I'm seeing Newsies and eating dinner at Veselka with some friends from high school.  So excited!!  What are you plans for this weekend??



Garden Photos 2012 - Getting Started

I got a later start than usual on gardening this year - too much rain!  But my gardens are off to a good start.

I decided to change up the large planter in the front yard.  No more icky, scraped up plastic thing (which is now home to our roma tomatoes, as you'll see later), instead I got a nice cedar one:

For years now, I've done coleus surrounded by alyssum, but this year I decided to start completely fresh and do a spike plant (I already managed to lose the card and I don't remember the exact variety!) surrounded by trailing vincas (Mediterranean apricot broadeye, which I used in another part of the yard last year).

I hadn't planted zinnias at this house yet, but I used to plant them at our apartment all the time.  I decided to return to an old favorite, the swizzle cherry and ivory, in the front flower bed.

I also planted some petunias and some of the extra vincas, along with the usual perennials - coreopsis and blue flax. I'll share more photos of that garden once it's filled in a bit more.

I rearranged the rozannes so they'd form a straight line in this bed, and eventually fill the whole thing out:

And I moved our herb garden to a tab le on the patio:

So far, we just have chives, parsley, basil, rosemary, and dill.  I've been picking up a few herbs from the farmer's market each week, so I'm sure there will be more here soon!

We're also trying our hand at growing tomatoes:

We're also going to add some peppers, and maybe spinach and/or kale in the near future.

Elvis's beloved catmint is back in full force:

Or at least I'm assuming the catmint is his favorite, since it attracts the bees he so loves to stalk!

And here's the pond, all spruced up:

I finally laid down some weed fabric under the rocks, so now I won't be stuck pulling weeds in that area practically every day.  At least one of our fish survived the winter, as did a lot of the snails we bought last year!  I even found one of those pea-sized babies, so hopefully we will have a nice, self-sustaining, algae-eating community of Japanese trapdoor snails for years to come.

And of course, all that gardening and lawn care is hard work, and our old hammock was in terrible was in terrible shape, and could only hold one person... So we treated ourselves to a nice, new, two-person hammock to relax in and enjoy our back yard:

Next project: a fence!  (But, uh, we're paying someone else to do that!)  Expect videos of Elvis running around like a maniac in the near future. ;-)

This Little Piggy

So... I guess I just went 5 weeks without posting.

It's been a crazy month, between work and trying to get my gardens in shape.  But by far, the most exciting thing that happened during my hiatus was the return of the Easton Farmers' Market for it's 260th (!!!) season.  I'm absolutely loving all the fresh produce!

This past weekend, the Pig Placement Network was at the market, and I got to meet this little guy:

So stinking cute!!!  The lady said he's only eight weeks old.  I have no idea if potbelly pigs are even legal in my town, but if they are, I totally want one some day. ;-)

Up next, I'll be posting some garden photos!  I've rearranged and/or improved some areas, and this weekend I'm planning to get a container garden going on the patio for herbs and veggies.

Oh, and while I was off neglecting my blog (oops!) Rebecca of Baby Sloth gave me a Liebster Award!

 

 'Liebster' means 'favorite' or 'dearest' in German. This award, which originated in Germany, recognizes up and coming bloggers with less than 200 followers. In accepting the award, the recipient agrees to: Thank the person that gave the award and link back to their blog, copy and paste the award to your blog, and reveal the 5 blogs you have chosen to award and let them know by commenting on their blog!

(I could actually only come up with 3 blogs that are definitely below the 200-follower limit, plus one that doesn't list the number of followers, but is awesome just the same!)

1. Kathy (Keeping Up With No One) - My wonderful sister-in-law, who started a personal finance blog earlier this year.
2. Niki (Debt Free by Thirty) - Another fantastic personal finance blogger, and fellow fan of Doctor Who and The Adventures of Pete and Pete!
3. Faye (A Tree-Climber Goes to Texas) - One of my college roommates who abandoned me to live in Texas, but I love her anyway! ;-)  She only posts intermittently, but it's always fun to read about her adventures.
4. Alicia (Eco Friendly Homemaking) - I'm actually not sure how many followers she has, so she may be over the 200-follower limit, but you should definitely check out her blog (and her online shop!) either way. :-)

Puppy Love

I was hoping to have clean the dining room over the weekend so I could share a before and after at the beginning of this week, but things were much busier than I expected!  Glen and I went out to dinner Friday night with some friends, followed by bowling, and Saturday I went to Ikea to pick up some more SLOM jars, which are amazing for storing food.  Keeping rice, lentils, barley, etc. in plastic bags secured with rubber bands was just not cutting it, organization-wise.

I felt like I was starting to get a bit of a cold on Sunday, so I spent the afternoon napping (and woke up feeling even worse!), but I still managed to go to Glen's show that night.  Yesterday I worked 12 hours, because I got called in for an extra evening shift at the library.  Needless to say, by the time I got home, this was pretty much all I was feeling up to:

Elvis is an excellent snuggler. :-)

Goals for this week include:

• Clean/photograph the dining room.
• Do inventory!!  This is the longest I've waited to do it, and I can't file my taxes until it's done.
• File said taxes.
• Put up the window film on the laundry room door, so I can at least feel like I've made some progress on my laundry room remodel.

Hopefully putting this goals in writing will motivate me to accomplish them!

Happy (Belated) New Year!

Yup, I'm still alive.  My original intent was to just take the week between Christmas and New Years off from blogging, but I accidentally added an extra 5 days. Sorry about that!

Anyway, I did spend plenty of time relaxing and reading.  Last week I read Fathers and Sons, Sleeping Arrangements, and My Life as a Furry, Red Monster.  Yes, that's Turgenev, chick lit, and an autobiography by a Muppeteer.  I'm very well-rounded. ;-)

Anyway, here's a quick recap of my break:

Our fireplace was pretty great even when it was broken...

But it was even better after we got it fixed!!!

I got to spend lots of time with these handsome guys.

Unfortunately, this little guy (Sery) passed away a couple of days after Christmas. He was getting up there in age (most rats only live 2-3 years, he was 2 years and 8 months) so it wasn't entirely unexpected, but I will still miss him very much.

As usual, we spent New Years Eve in Wildwood with some friends from college.  This was the view from our balcony.

So pretty. :-)

Oh, and Glen was interviewed about our dog Elvis on Coffee with a Canine, check it out!

I hope 2012 is treating everyone well so far!  How did you ring in the new year??

A Shiny, New Dog Park!

Until this past weekend, the closest dog park was a 20-minute drive away.  Elvis is absolutely insane in the car, so it was usually a very long 20 minutes!

So naturally, I was incredibly excited when a new dog park opened on Saturday, a mere 10 minutes from my house.  The park is located next to the also newly-opened Karl Stirner Arts Trail, along the Bushkill Creek, and you have to walk a little ways along the trail to get to it - no problem for a high-energy guy like Elvis. ;-)

The park isn't huge, but it's certainly big enough for Elvis to run around like a maniac:

That's him on the right-hand side of the photo, near the rock. 

Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of Elvis with his new friends, but he did make a bunch of them.  One of his favorite games at home is for Glen or I to chase him in circles around the dining room table.  Well, I think that game has been supplanted by getting chased in circles around the dog park by 5 of his new doggy friends.  He had the biggest, goofiest grin on his face the whole time, with a hint of smugness because he knew he was faster than any of them.  We even got a mention in the local paper, as did Elvis' new buddy Nemo.  And for the record, Mr. Malone, Elvis is a black and white ball of energy, NOT a brown and white ball of energy. ;-)

I have to admit that at first I was annoyed by the lack of parking in close proximity to the dog park... but I guess if this is where I have to walk to get to the park, I can't be too mad about it:

How was your weekend?  Did you get to enjoy the same wonderful, crisp fall weather we had here in the Lehigh Valley?