cold wind blowing.

Mark Twain wrote, "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco."

Couldn't count the number of times I heard these words once Chase and I decided to make the drive up north. Call it a self-fulfilling prophecy, but September in San Francisco was nippy (It really doesn't compare to the October in Utah that I'm now experiencing, but at the time there was definitely some whining going on).

But even with temperatures in the low 60s, we soldiered on.

First things first, we ate dim sum in Chinatown. I've blocked out most of the experience from my memory, but I recall enough to tell you: mistake.

We took the ferry to Alcatraz, which was really interesting. I think we were the only guests there who opted against the 45-minute audio tour; instead we ran around like ghosts in a world full of people with headphones on, yelling out only because we could. We created our own self-directed tour, in which we took turns fabricating stories about the island's notorious prisoners and creative attempts at escape. And when we disembarked from our ferry ride, we dropped 30 bones on a 5x7" photo of the two of us in front of a green screen (not really).

That night we met up with our friend Patrick, ate some pretty darn good seafood and got our Ghiradelli on. We also drove down Lombard street for the fourth time that day. Pat let us sleep on the floor of his hotel room that night, which led to Chase experiencing what he repeatedly referred to as "the best hotel breakfast he has ever had." Think Yoplait, mini boxes of corn flakes, and the game changer -- a waffle maker. I love my sweet husband and his low expectations.

We spent the next morning at the Sutro Baths on the coast. The "Baths" were actually a giant complex of seven swimming pools constructed by the mayor of San Francisco in 1896. The pools were built right on the water and were filled up by the ocean. The structure burnt down in the 60s, and the ruins eerily look like something from ancient Rome (that second picture is of the Baths).

We ate lunch at the famous Tartine Bakery, and were not disappointed. We got there at a good time and didn't wait in much of a line, but once we sat down outside, the place exploded. As we were leaving a bearded, vested, glasses-wearing man asked us in disbelief if our table was really going to be free. Four minutes after sitting down, he was still nervously grinning (and slightly shaking). A table outside Tartine Bakery at lunch time? On a Thursday?

After lunch we hit up Bi-Rite Creamery. Absolute bliss. Brown sugar, strawberry balsamic, honey graham, salted caramel... so many perfect ice cream flavors in one place. Really makes choosing one difficult.

And of course we crossed the Golden Gate bridge and spent the evening in Sausalito, marveling at the floating houses and peeking in cutesy shop windows. Crossing the bridge lands you in a much quieter part of the city, a perfect spot to unwind after receiving an $80 parking ticket earlier in the day (for parking in a tow-away zone.. but it had a meter? I still don't get it.)

All in all, San Francisco treated us well. I'd go back just for the ice cream.

cars and telephones.

Spent Monday in Boston. And fell in love.

My past with the city includes elementary school field trips to the Museum of Science and a duck boat tour (one hell of a ride!). Mow that I've matured, the better part of my time in any new city is spent seeking out the best food. Chase counts on me to do enough research to lead us to the good spots, and I (almost) always pull through.

His faith was recently shaken, however, after a horrific dim sum encounter involving room temperature deep-fried shrimp balls in San Francisco (though I think the problem was not with my judgment call, but with dim sum entirely). But I won it all back in boston. We ate pastries at Mike's--an espresso cannoli and a neapolitan with the most delightful pastry cream--and filled our bellies at Giacomo's in Little Italy. Words cannot express the way I feel about their butternut squash ravioli. Or their olive bread. Or scallops (from anywhere.. but Giacomo's did 'em right). 

The food alone was enough to win me over. . . but the city is gorgeous. The buildings are thoughtfully designed, with so much history left intact. The North End is overrun with weathered brick and impressive flora. The streets are clean, the sea so near.

And the city on a hill made a hero out of me. While walking through a park, Chase pointed out a loose scottie dog trailing its leash behind it and nudged me to return it to its owner. My attempt to catch it quickly spiraled into a dramatic dog chase across the park, ending only when I victoriously stomped on his leash and jerked him to a halt. I walked proudly, albeit a bit winded, towards his elderly owner to watch their sweet reunion. And she laughed and had me set the leash down so he could run free. And I went red. No idea why I listen to that boy sometimes.

We also visited the Boston LDS temple. It was closed since it was a Monday, but it's always a sweet feeling just to walk around temple grounds. 

I could really cozy up to Boston. 

vegan march.

chase & i declared this month vegan march. beginning last thursday, we cut out milk, eggs, cheese & ICE CREAM from our diets . . .we already don't eat meat (or i don't, so chase is pescatarian by default), and we will still be eating seafood during march. i just can't feel bad for dying marine life! and shrimp & poke are on my top 5 tastiest foods ever created list.

anywho, vegan march is posted on the fridge, so you know it's official. along with my other goals for the month, like wear my retainer & learn how to cross-step on a long board. yes, i PROMISE, i go to school, and yes, i PROMISE, i have a job, but compared to mr. school president who's taking physics, 2 chemistry classes, & trying to prepare for the DAT, my schedule's pretty wide open. taking 8 credits is pretty much the best thing i've ever done, & i wish i had done it my entire university career, so that i had more time to focus on goals more important than receiving a college degree, like keeping my skin bronzed.

i've played around with eating vegan before, primarily for health benefits after reading books like eating animals by jonathan safran foer, in defense of food by michael pollack, and the food revolution by john robbins. i'm a believer. i also keep flax & chia seeds in the fridge, snack on goji berries, & try to remember to take my fish oil in the mornings. i figure these are all necessary health precautions when you consume as much ice cream as i do each week and have hopes of living past 35.

saturday was only day 3, but already the universe was conspiring against us. we spent the day in town with our friends taylor & anna, and chase & i paced around in circles muttering inspiring phrases about willpower as our friends walked from honolulu cookie company (sample paradise) straight into yogurtland (sample wonderland) and we stayed outside. i then spent the afternoon dodging sample booths in costco, after turning down the cookie corner employee offering complimentary cookies on the waikiki strip.

cookie corner giving out cookies? for free? unheard of. seriously, someone alerted the big guy & now he's having fun testing us. still, we're now on day 5 and we're sticking to our guns. it's incredible how two people with extremely weak willpower can join together & turn into a couple of cookie-dodging superheroes. i guess that's the miracle of marriage for ya.

***THIS JUST IN: the malasada truck, full of deep-fried, cream-filled, piping hot dough deliciousness is now parked in the laie shopping center after a good year hiatus? this is a joke. welcome to vegan march. the world's out to get me.

from hot pavement and into the grass.

i've been workin' on a new project lately: a food blog.

chase jokingly came up with the name during church one sunday, & i have yet to come up with anything better. that boy.

it's still in its infancy, but i hope for it to grow lots.

check it out when you're hungry!

in my heart there's flowers growin'.

happy valentines day kids.

hope it's a good one.

don't wanna work in a building downtown.

we've been eating some good food around these parts lately. i told chase we're getting ethnic this week, so we stocked up on seaweed for making sushi, & fish sauce, chili paste, rice noodles & all those yummy thai spices. we also got a bunch of plums at costco yesterday (after passing by the salted caramels samples probably six times).

this semester has been so rad, largely because i'm only taking 8 credits. and, for the first time in my life i have my own kitchen & my own fridge.

(i couldn't count the number of times mag & i opened the fridge last semester and yelled, we have a shelf system people! come on! and removed a mug of blue goop supposed to cure acne from our respective chilled territories.)

anyways, cooking in your own home is a joy.

but it's my last semester. so somedays i worry about graduating in two months, & trying to find my place in that big scary real world out there.

all i wanna do is cook & feed my loves,

lay in the sun & surf,

& paint pictures

all day long.

if i could make a job outta that, shoot-- i'd be good at it.

lighting bolts a glowin'

i woke up today feeling like it should be my birthday.

so, i started acting like it was, & chase followed suit.

i woke up,

made a smoothie,

drove to castles with freezing inner thighs

surfed & laid on the beach until it started pouring

and came home to a clean house & a sweet note (chase's doing).

i jokingly declared that today, i'm doin' me (been listening to too much drake lately)

so chase insisted on doing the dishes & rubbing my back,

since today is my day.

then we had a perfect lunch

{shrimp, avocado & pineapple salad}

(seriously make this: cut up shrimp & mix it with pineapple, lime juice, red onion, salt & pepper. we fried up some chips to scoop it up with. soooo yummy.)

from now on, i'm just gonna start treating every day like my birthday.

although chase just called to tell me he got a perfect score on his physics test, so i guess tomorrow we celebrate him!

have a little jelly, have a little jam.

last sunday our new next-door neighbors, matt & lacee, had us over for dinner. while we were over there, lacee starts cutting up some homemade bread, & ten minutes later our other neighbor, rebecca, comes over with a loaf of piping hot cinnamon bread. duh, i tasted both of them, & duh, they were both delicious.

uh oh, i realized. apparently real wives make homemade bread.

once we got home i started hinting at chase; "do you wish i made homemade bread?"

he must've sensed that i was feeling inadequate & assured me no, no;

but really, who doesn't love warm bread fresh out of the oven?

so this week i earned my first wife merit badge:

the bread badge.

i made two loaves--one was plain french bread, the other rosemary.

seriously, this bread was so good that we ate most of it plain. but the rosemary made super yummy brie & asparagus sandwiches.

and the french bread was lovely topped with parmesan & paired with my favorite butternut squash soup.

it also made perfect peach french toast with whipped cream.

we both have been getting buff lately whisking whipped cream by hand for french toast & hot cocoa & strawberry shortcakes. but the stuff in the can just doesn't compare.

french bread

(makes 2 small loaves or 1 big one)

2 1/4 tsp. yeast

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 tbs. honey

3 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp. salt

3 tbs. olive oil

cornmeal

1 egg white

1 . mix the yeast with the water & honey. let sit for a couple of minutes.

2 . combine half of the flour with the salt & olive oil. add in the yeast mixture. add in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time. now would also be the time to add anything like rosemary or garlic or sunflower seeds or whatever sounds yummy.

3 . knead the dough on a floured surface for 5-10 minutes, until smooth & elastic. place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover, & let rise for 30 minutes.

4 . punch the dough (best part of the whole process) & form loaves. slash them or braid them or do whatever you want to 'em. sprinkle corn meal on baking sheet & place loaves on top. cover & let rise for another 30 minutes.

5 . preheat the oven to 400 degrees. beat the egg white until foamy, & brush over the tops of the loaves. bake for about 25-35 minutes, depending on size of loaf. just watch 'em & take them out when they look perfectly golden brown.

next i'm workin' towards the macaron merit badge. fingers crossed that this hawaiian humidity lets it happen.

live in the sunshine.

a fair description of my life the past couple weeks would probably be:
pancakes, laughing, books, sunburn, wrestling, goat cheese, milkshakes, singing, mangoes, surfing & being in love
got back to hawaii a couple weeks ago & it's been good. so good.
chase proposed the night i flew in! in our secret cave where we had our first kiss. it was perfect.
i turned twenty, which i understand to mean i can no longer justify stupid decisions with the reasoning that i'm still a teenager. i'm finally grown up.
chase & i have been on a very exhaustive milkshake hunt, trying to find the best shake on the island. still in progress.
i got an internship with honolulu magazine for the fall! i'm incredibly excited about it.i've also been interning with a travel website called dguides.com, writing articles about the island.
mostly i've just been enjoying being a bum, taking online classes & working a bit but otherwise playing in the sun, surfing, reading books & singing songs.
but.. i miss my girlies!i miss my maggie elize & her sweet sweet voice.i miss cat & her creativity.i miss em & denise & my little persian creature.i miss girls surf squad.
can't wait for fall time.

lately

birth days are the best days.

my sister carrie's birthday was this week. we celebrated early with bowling & fish & chips at jcw's.

(plus ice cream. wouldn't be a celebration without it.)

i love my fam bam. the more i grow up, the more grateful i am for them.

and the more i grow up, the bigger the fam gets. carrie's kids are the sweetest, smartest, most rule-abiding little kids. ike, who's five, totally has my back. when we go on bike rides, he makes sure i stay within two inches of the sidewalk so i don't get hit. or else he panics. he also chastises me for licking the spatula after mixing cake batter -- no aunt amy! it's NOT okay! you'll get sick from raw eggs!

(duh, his mother was a public health major.)

jonah is a little more crazy than his older brother. chase & i are convinced that while ike has reading time, jonah receives top-secret ninja training. you should have seen chase & jones sword fighting. at one point, chase was on the ground, jonah had claimed both swords, and was stepping on chase's arm while scissoring his neck.

they both love to wake me up by jumping on me, smothering my face in dirty socks, and insisting that i "EAT TRASH!!" as they pry my jaw open & force the contents of the garbage can inside my mouth. oh and there's always nerf guns involved. but ethan & noah got me primed for that.

gabe is less than year old, & he is pure sweetness. he has chubba cheeks & is sooo smiley. carrie taught me to get him to eat by waving m&ms in front of his face and spooning in the baby food while he salivates over chocolate. it's kind of a sad trick, but it works every time.

hanging out with them this summer has been such a riot. i'm gonna miss 'em.