the weekender

On Saturday morning I woke up at 7 am to the most glorious weather that ever was.  The leaves were SPARKLING I tell you.  I did my usual routine of showering, taking out the dogs, and eating some fruit (and okay, a cookie) for breakfast and popped on You’ve Got Mail, because Darrell was still sleeping and I had the rental for a few more hours.  I can pretty much watch that movie into oblivion.  I was on a mission to let Darrell sleep in because he’d gone to a concert with his brother the previous night, so he was out pretty late, but around 8:30 the morning it was starting to feel a little bit too much like a weekday.  Luckily at EXACTLY the moment I had planned to start poking him he got up and asked what we were going to do.  

So I said, “you’re going to make us eggs, and then we’re going to go to get you some new guitar strings.”  And since no guitar-playing man can argue with that he did make some eggs, and I failed to tell him that I’d already eaten some strawberries and two chocolate chip cookies.  

Then, off we went.  We found the most gorgeous guitar shop and wandered the Maplewood neighborhood for a bit, I bribed a shop owner into letting me use the bathroom without buying anything, and then we headed back home to take Fitz to the park.  We were attempting to see a "Shakespeare in the streets" performance I had heard about (I am a serious nerd for Shakespeare) but we missed it, so Darrell took about a million photos of all the gorgeous spring flowers instead.  

One of the rare photos my husband will let me take of him.  Those Chuck Taylors are my favorite.  

This house is basically my dream house.  It's inside the park, and someone lives there because there's a big PRIVATE RESIDENCE sign on the front gate.  I'm fairly sure it's owned by the Shaw family (who founded the park and entire surrounding neighborhood) and they probably inserted some clause when the park was built saying they could never be forced to give up this house - that's my best guess, I really have no idea.  They also have a gigantic mansion inside the Missouri Botanical Gardens, but I think this one's even prettier.  

After all that walking, I needed some reallllly good food & a root beer of course, so we headed to Blues City Deli to see a great band and eat some awesome sandwiches.  If you live in St. Louis and have never seen Mrs. Jubilee & the Humdingers, please check them out!  And get the tuna - I know, sounds like a weird recommendation, but it's the best tuna sandwich ever.  We capped off the day with tacos at Gringo, which I rallied for despite being pretty exhausted because a) I cannot resist eating on a pretty patio in the Central West End, and b) actually cooking would’ve involved cleaning the kitchen first.  For some reason we had so much to talk about we pretty much shut the restaurant down (warm weather and margaritas - Mexican soda for me - will sometimes just keep good conversation going as long as you let it, I find.)  It was pretty much the most perfect Saturday of all time.  

Hope you all had a lovely weekend and are ready for (ugh) Monday.  

things.im.loving

I'm going to get a little hippy-dippy earth mother on you with this list, but you can't say I didn't warn you!

1. This video

2. Oatmeal + Peanut Butter + Banana or Apple

How did I not think of this combination? The oatmeal and peanut butter mesh up to become this perfect, creamy, oat-y apple dip. Awesome.

3. Lululemon yoga clothes - okay, they are kind of pricey. But there's a lot to be said for pants that make your butt look like that. And yet still make you want to go work out despite having obtained the perfect butt for no work at all since you own their pants.

4. Finding an awesome yoga studio where I'm super challenged. I can do that. In the picture....and then jump back to plank. Okay, a lot of you could probably do it too but I was impressed with myself, and that makes me want to go back to do yoga all the time! If only it was free...

5. Eating seasonal food - my new favorite restaurant in St Louis is Local Harvest Cafe and they only serve local and seasonal food! With TONS of vegan options. Kale, citrus, and brussels sprouts? Who knew January was so awesome for food?

"Maybe if they all could be combined - art, rock and fashion. Those were always my favorite things."-Stephen Sprouse

the.recipe

I don't think I've ever truly known the meaning of "Indian Summer" in the way that I've experienced it this year. I know a lot of people are loving it - 80s in October in St. Louis was actually pretty perfect for the outdoor beer festival we went to this weekend - but I'm really itching to break out my winter clothes, and the cozy is totally eluding my autumn.

So in lieu of the fact that it's not yet cold enough to make chili - sad face - I decided to play pretend and make this yummy bowl of happiness.

When other people are hungover from a crazy weekend, they order pizza.

I make soup. It's my favorite food - I know, I'm an odd bird. I also invited this pretty much from scratch, so I'm a little proud of it!

Roasted Winter Vegetable Soup

you need:
1 butternut squash - peeled, cored, and cut into four big pieces
1 sweet potato - unpeeled
1 apple - peeled, cored, and cut into chunks
1 large onion, chopped
4 cups vegetable broth
1 head of garlic - prepped for roasting, excellent instructions on that HERE
1.5 tbsp earth balance, 3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup soy creamer
1/2 cup soy milk
1/4 cup apple cider
dash vegan worcestershire
cumin
3 tsp sage
salt & pepper

step 1: preheat your oven to 425. wrap the sweet potato and apple in aluminum foil and place on roasting pan with prepped garlic. get your hands good and oiled up with 2 tbsp of that olive oil, and rub it all over the squash. then sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a mild smattering of cumin. roast for an hour, or until squash and potato or easily smushed with a fork.
step 2: melt earth balance with the last tbsp of olive oil over medium high heat, and sautee onion and sage for 5 minutes or so, until very soft. add squash, potato (skin on), apple, and roasted garlic (squish out the garlic from the cloves), and sautee for another 2 or 3 minutes. add vegetable broth, apple cider, a few dashes of worcestershire, and a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper. lower heat to medium low and simmer for 23 minutes, tasting at 5 minute intervals to test for seasoning (i.e. more sage, salt, or pepper.)
step 3: add soy milk and soy creamer and stir, taste for seasoning. let simmer 2 more minutes.
step 4: puree soup in batches in a blender, food processor, or with an immersion blender. a blender will make a very smooth, creamy soup, a food processor a slightly chunker soup, and an immersion blender will really do whatever you want! then serve ad enjoy!

"Maybe if they all could be combined - art, rock and fashion. Those were always my favorite things."-Stephen Sprouse

vegan.eats

As a vegan, there are two questions I get a LOT. The number one question is "where do you get your protein?" and that's getting old, so if you are still wondering, check out the answer HERE.

Number two is "what do you EAT??," usually followed by the most obvious punch line, delivered by a bystander: "grass, duh..."

So here's what I do eat! To show some good examples I wrote down everything for 7 full days, and these are the most interesting, and most boring/unhealthy days, respectively.