Ira Glass on Marriage

"Actually one of the things that's a comfort in marriage is that there isn't a door at 7 years. And so if something is messed up in the short term, there's a comfort of knowing we made this commitment so we're just going to work this out. And even if tonight there's something wrong or something between us doesn't feel right, we have a comfort in knowing we've got time, we're going to figure this out. And it makes it so much easier. Because you do have times when you hate each other's guts, you know what I mean? And the 'no escape' clause, weirdly, is a bigger comfort to being married than I ever would have thought before I got married."

From the latest episode from This American Life, What I Did for Love

Happy Friday, friends!

Young the Giant Concert

This past Friday morning a friend emailed me that she had an extra ticket to Young the Giant concert in San Diego and invited me along. I've been listening to the Young the Giant station on Pandora for months now, so even though I'm not usually a big concert person, I went along.

The venue, SOMA, is pretty grungy and was full of drunk, sweaty teenagers. But the show was really worth going to (including the opening band, Walk the Moon). Young the Giant is one of those rare bands that sounds just as amazing live as they do on their record. And they're from Irvine!

Apartments, live on Jimmy Kimmel


also My Body & Cough Syrup


If you aren't already listening to Young the Giant, you're welcome!
and if you are, I'm sure you'll enjoy another dose of it this Monday :-)


all photos taken by me via my iPhone.

Caribbean Cruise

We had an amazing time on our Royal Caribbean cruise. It was the perfect amount of relaxing, eating, sunning, swimming. The only thing that was missing was enough sleep. We were on a conference cruise, and got to meet a bunch of new people and stayed up waaay too late every single night talking, dancing, and sipping cocktails. 

And then E and I did crazy things like wake up at 6:30am to watch the sun rise. (you might want to turn down your volume as the wind in the video is kind of annoying.)

I can easily see why people who cruise get addicted to it - we'll definitely try it again! (We'd love to go on a Disney Cruise, and maybe one that is closer to home.)

The ports we stopped in were Falmouth, Jamaica and Labadee, Haiti. All of your comments and the site http://cruisecritic.com were really helpful. We ended up not booking any excursions to save some money, but it was perfect for us. We spent our time on the ship - mostly at the pool or the sports deck (that rock climbing wall was crazy high!), or on the beach.

I read the Hunger Games and it wasn't as good I had expected, so maybe a review will be forthcoming. That said, I am excited for the movies, because I think the story will translate well into film.

The food on the cruise ship was better than expected. I didn't have anything I didn't really like, and I got to try things I wouldn't normally eat, like escargot. We loved being able to eat at all hours of the day, basically anything we wanted, and we had a midnight pizza run every. single. night. (I miss it!)

It was amazing vacation, despite the craziness that awaited us at home. We felt rested and relaxed and ready for E's last semester of school (ever?!) and my busy season at work. Thanks again for all your advice!

Losing Picnik

Are you guys avid Picnik user like me? I don't edit my photos much, but Picnik got me started. I've been using the premium version for a couple of years as an alternative to purchasing a photo editing software (partly because of cost and partly because my old home computer couldn't handle another program). So you can imagine my dismay at the announcement that Picnik is shutting down on April 19! Google purchased Picnik in 2010 and has now decided to close down the site. (boo hoo)

Supposedly the alternative is going to be increased features on Google+. While I'm interested to see what changes they make to Google+, it's hard to imagine it being able to replace the features of Picnik! I use it to make collages, fix red-eye and a million other things.

Are you sad about losing Picnik too, or do you all use other photo-editing programs? Any alternatives I should be looking for?

What to do with leftover prime rib

I realized that this post-Christmas recipe isn't going to be relevant for most of your lives right now (especially not if you're vegetarian). I have 5-6 recipe posts that I've been procrastinating on.

So, in case you have a hefty prime rib to cook this week that will leave leftovers, here is my recipe for cheese steak sandwiches using left over meat. :-) This could be used with freshly cooked ribeye or other steak leftovers. It's simple, it's delicious, it's husband-approved.

1 tbls butter
1 onion, thinly sliced
8-10 button mushrooms, sliced
8 oz slice of brie (I used herbed brie)
1 french bread loaf or 4 small sandwich loaves
leftover prime rib (I had approximately 12 oz leftover)

Remove prime rib from the refrigerator at least an hour before an eating to bring to room temperature. Slice very thinly.

Preheat oven to 450. Melt 1 tbls of butter over medium high heat and add the onions. Stir frequently until softened about 7 minutes, add sliced mushrooms and cook until caramelized (15-20 min total).

 

While onions are cooking, cut bread in half, butter it, and toast it face-up in oven for 5-10 minutes. After bread is lightly browned, remove. Pile with thinly sliced meat and generous helpings of cheese and return to oven for 5 minutes.



When brie is melted, remove the sandwiches from oven and serve topped with the onion/mushroom mixture, a green salad and red wine!

obsessed with: knits

I picked up knitting again after a 5+ year hiatus and I've kind of obsessed. It's the perfect wintery activity. I can't stand watching a movie now without knitting in my hands - it feels so productive! My accessories wardrobe is increasing and I'm starting to make gifts for friends.

A few of my latest projects

The honey cowl (I was directed to this pattern by Holly - thanks!)

Ribbed cowl: I made this pattern up as I went. It's just a single rib pattern stitched into a cowl. Worn here

 

The Road scarf (worn here)


Montana Scarf for E


And headbands galore. The one I'm most proud of is this blue bow headband. I saw something similar when Christmas shopping at J.crew and I recreated the look. Now if only it was cold enough out here to wear!



Are you a knitting/crocheter? If you don't use it yet, ravelry.com is the best community website for yarn-lovers. Great patterns, advice, reviews, and you can keep a queue of projects you want to try and what supplies you need!