Into the Woods

I have to share something with you. Okay, really someone. The wife of someone very special to me. Clare.

Have you ever met one of those people that as soon as you spend 10 seconds with them, you wish that you could live a day in their mind and learn as much as you could and bring it back to your everyday life? That's how I feel like with Clare.

She is quite possibly one of the most creative, talented, caresmatic people that I've ever met --and I've decided that in the accumulative time of 2 hours I've spent with her. But I just know. And the fact that our friend James loves her so much, just confirms that it is true. And they have a vespa, seriously, how much cuter can you be?

Anyway, last month Ryan I and made a trip down to Austin to help Lori move (boo), but one upside was that we got to spend a last night recap with James and Clare. And I completely fell in love with their little garage apartment,  I just have to share the pics with you. Especially the dining room that she HAND STENCILED.

 Check out the process of how she did it here.

And the rest of her apartment is just as adorable, too.

Almost as cute as their little puppy....Almost.

You should follow her blog, http://intothewoodshouse.blogspot.com/, and become as jelous of her creative mind as I am.

Tomato, ToMAto

About a year ago a coworker gave us a salsa recipe that revolutionized our lives (Thanks Traci!)! Hubby has to make it because it involves chopping a whole onion, and if I even look at an onion cross eyed, it starts the waterworks.

Anyway, a friend came over and shared a fresh tomato from his garden with us, and it is a GIANT! It's a brandywine tomato, and I loved how unpredictable it was. It grew bulges on top of bulges, unlike the refined tomato's of our age. So much more personality!

So Ryan made one batch with the store bought tomato's, and one with this rouge giant, and it made a load of difference! Nothing can beat fresh ingredients. Maybe next year I will get up the courage to start my own garden, instead of bumming off friends.

PS if you want it, here's the salsa recipe:

Traci's Tasty Salsa

• 2 large Roma tomatoes, coarsely chopped (or fresh grown Brandywine!!)
• 2 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes (Mexican style) -- put in the chopper to get a more fine texture
• 2 jalapenos, seeded and coarsely chopped
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon cumin, to taste
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large vidalia onion, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, to taste
• 1/3 cup cilantro, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne, to taste

So Blessed

The Chamber 5 is what we've been coined. Okay, so we coined that ourselves, but still, these are the lovely ladies I work with, and who have continually blessed my life over the past year. Brought together by everyone's favorite teen vampire book, Twilight (new moon movie comes out November 20th, Hollar!), the unique dynamic of everyone makes for a great group of people that I love to hang out with, even beyond the walls of work.

The transition from college to work has been a really hard one for me, particularly not having good female fellowship. And, as always, God knows what I need in my life at the right time, even when I don't recognize that very often. As many of the co-workers that I started my career with were moving on to different jobs, He started to replace them with these girls who have helped me to find my place and confidence in my work environment, and adult life.

Today they gave me a housewarming gift (from pottery barn, they know me so well!), and I am just overwhelmed by what great friends and people they are.

And as I finish out my day, listening to the New Kids on the Block, and Hannah Montana drifting from my office mate's side of our corner office, I feel very blessed.

Coming Home

Last month, one of my dear sweet friends moved back to Oklahoma after being gone for a year, living a schedule that was impossibly opposite of mine. And even though she's still 2 hours away, my heart feels more like I'm at home, having her more accessible in my life.

Husband and I made the journey to go see her and her family a couple of weeks ago, and had a grand time meeting their new home, and exploring the whole foods down the street. Completely jealous I am. Love the store. Please, Whole Foods, come and reside in Oklahoma City. I want you, I need you.

I want to start posting some pictures of things that i love, so here it goes. One of the things I love the most about my sweet friend is her creativity, and love of novelty. We had fun seeing all the different types of lettuce, rice, granola. I'm sure all of the earthy people thought we were crazy, like we had never seen fresh rutabaga before. But my most favorite thing we found were these itty bitty little apples at WF, and even though they were ridiculously expensive, couldn't resist buying them. Aren't they just the cutest thing???