delinquent updater

Guilty as charged.

So I’m not sure what really happened in between my last post and now. Actually, I do know. Craziness and pure insanity. I’ve been at my new job for about a month and really love a lot of things about it so far. I’m working with kiddos who have various gastrointestinal disorders, and food allergies are a recurring theme, which is really interesting and challenging. Future post on that to come…

Here is a little preview of my new space. Lots and lots of character, hardwood floors, high ceilings, tons of natural light [I like it a lot].

View Full Album

And…I guess we’re officially cut off from summer weather now, although fall is my favorite season, and I love sweater weather and the colors of the changing leaves and all of that jazz. I snapped this at a wedding last weekend….the warm weather may be gone, but there are still fantastic sunsets to be enjoyed.

And with fall weather comes the first of many batches of homemade soup. Vegan carrot ginger soup is a fave and super easy to make. Get the recipe here.

 

Also, fall (for me) means pumpkin everything. Pumpkin pancakes were the star of Saturday morning breakfast. So good.

 

I’m still exploring Grand Rapids, but it seems to be a pretty artsy city with a bent toward the local food movement, which I appreciate. I had my first pumpkin ale of the season with a good friend visiting from Honduras earlier this week.

And ArtPrize just started today…there are a lot of random pieces of art in yards, on the side of buildings, restaurant lobbies, etc. It’s pretty cool.

Fave thing about fall?

you know you’re in hipsterville when…

There are more coffee shops than car dealerships.

    

You share the road with a cyclist 95% of the time.

There are restaurants like the Owlery (nod to Harry Potter), an all vegetarian eatery filled with kitschy owl decor.

Your sister and friends aren’t at all intimidated by eating a completely vegetarian meal. And they actually enjoy it.

Your waiter thinks veggie sandwiches are awesome (almost as awesome as his man-pris).

Drinking bacteria is perfectly normal.

I can’t believe it’s almost the weekend again…this week has been pretty crazy so far. I visited my sister in Bloomington, IN last weekend, and it was fantastic. I enjoyed hanging out with all of the artsy writers, dancing to bad music, running outside, and sitting in the park after sunset eating ice cream with the twin while chatting about life (obviously we are ridiculous…see photo below for reference). I may have eaten ice cream twice in one day. But it was 80 degrees, so cut me some slack.

 

Back home this weekend to hear On a Wire, a piece by Jennifer Higdon co-commissioned by the West Michigan Symphony. I played a couple of her pieces for wind symphony at Ohio State, and she writes pretty amazing stuff. I also love her philosophy about music…that it is best when shared with others.

Happy Weekend!

sustainability fused music

If you’ve been reading the blog for a while, you know that music has been a big part of my life. Last weekend I went home to see an orchestra concert centered around the theme of sustainability. Super nerdy, but I actually like going to concerts alone; I don’t enjoy them if I’m constantly worried that the people I’m with are bored or want to leave.

[I used to spend HOURS in a practice room…in college and grad school, I played at least 2-4 hrs/day!].

While there were some absolutely fantastic musical moments, the corresponding media presentation left a lot to be desired. But still, it was refreshing and exciting to see that my hometown is beginning to explore the concept of sustainability.

Speaking of green-friendly things, lately, I’ve been all about the smoothies. I especially crave them after running…

kale + banana + almond milk

kale + blueberries + banana + almond milk

Can you tell I’m kind of obsessed with kale right now?! And I’m excited for more produce to be in season. This summer, I’m pretty sure I’m going to pick a crazy amount of blueberries.

Also, CSN sent me this lovely set of knives to review [while I received them for free, the following review is my own opinion)].

After picking them up at a Fedex holding center (which very much resembled a maximum security prison), I tested them on some celery.

Their sharpness didn’t blow me away, but then again maybe that’s a good thing…I’d like all my fingers to remain intact, thank you very much. And let’s be honest, the last knife set I owned was a Target special, so these are a huge improvement.

favorite smoothie ingredient?! ready, go…

p.s. did anyone see the article in the NY Times about food dyes and behavioral problems?! pretty interesting stuff…but I still think companies should be required to disclose GMOs just as they’re required to alert us to artificial food dyes.