Fun in Denver with Ms. Catie-cat and Company!

I've been hanging out in Denver with Ms. Catie-cat for the last few days...

We've been taking walks and testing out all the fun kitchen gadgets she got for her wedding. What a lovely way to spend a weekend.

I love this pretty family oh so much.

Starting to drive east tomorrow morning!

Besitos,

Allie

Busy bee.

Anyone who knows me well is probably acutely aware that I have a fear of having nothing to do. I was trying not to dread this week. All of the courses I'm both taking and teaching ending one by one... leaving me with a few days of NOTHING before I take a (arguably insane) cross country air/road trip journey back east. (You've got to fill your time somehow, right?)

Okay, the NOTHING has not come. Little thing after little thing has kept my days so jam packed that I can't even keep up with the basic housework tasks needed to keep a 300 square foot apartment clean. Yay?

So, here are some pictures of the last days of class of all three of the ESL classes I had the pleasure to work in this fall.

Class 1: Burien Library

At our end of the semester party we played games...

And ate tamales....

And chit chatted....

Class Two: Student teaching in a Bellevue elementary school ESL class

Unfortunately I can't post pictures of these darling little faces without parental consent... so here are some pictures of darling little hands.

Class 3: Other Burien Class

We had a party (yes, more delicious tamales)....

And I finally remembered to get a class photo! Yayyy!

Besitos,

Allie

This is it!!

This is it!! The American solution to the food dilemma I was pondering while munching on street food in Bolivia!

It's trendy to a fault and still not accessible to every socio-economic strata of society, but it's a start! Cut down on variety! Do ONE THING well! Use sustainably produced and not overly processed raw ingredients! Go, America! Go!

Mwa,

Allie

Snowpocalypse and other adventures!

This week Seattle had it's annual SNOWPOCALYPSE in which a few inches of snow falls and the buses go flying off the streets (seriously, you tube it) and everything shuts down and we all just stay at home and watch movies and drink whatever we have lying around. It's nice.

When I woke up on Monday morning, I saw this outside my window...

My goodness, you would have thought there was 3 feet of snow out there with how giddy I was! I got right out the door to take some pictures...

It kept snowing lightly throughout the day and by the time I went to bed the snow had stopped and it looked like this outside.

I know, still not that exciting if you are from a place where it actually snows, which... urhm, I guess I am. But, whatever. I was EXCITED. And, get this, that was enough snow to keep the city pretty much paralyzed for the next 24 hours. It was awesome. All my classes were canceled. I went for a walk in volunteer park with the lovely Ms. Nico.

We wandered through the conservatory...

It was so weird to be in the hot, dry cactus room and to be able to look out the window at snow.

We climbed the water tower....

And looked down at our snowy city...

And I did other stuff too! Like, Thanksgiving, my most favorite of holidays. You've got to love a holiday that requires no more from you than to cook and eat a feast with the ones you love...

Today I taught a pie making class! Pear red wine and apple pies were lovingly crafted and consumed at the end of a week that was in no way in need of more pie....

Lovelovelove,

Allie

Weekend in Portlaaaand.

Went to Portland for the weekend. Stayed with lovely Elisa in her Portland cottage.

Funky Asian stuff...

Love this one...

The lovely Elisa...

Calories were consumed en mas. Fried tomato BLT amazingness that someone ordered at Tasty n Sons, one of the most magical places on earth...

Mr. Domonic...

Bloody mary with tonsssss of pickled stuff. New project.... pickling everything I can get my hands on...

What's this? Oh, only a vintage dress store in a double decker bus from Liverpool...

Lala...

Lalala...

La La Love it. Bought a frilly vintage love nest of a dress to wear to next summer's multitude of weddings. All of them. Oh yeah.

Besitos,

Allie

Clap your hands if you're working too hard...

This is a pretty accurate depiction of my life. Homemade cheese is the focus, and there is a bunch of crap I have to do looming in the background.

I made ricotta this week, which marks both the milestone of me using a candy thermometer and cheese cloth for the first time. Oh, and making cheese. I feel invincible. Dare I say that I am moving on to mozzarella next? I should probably look into how involved it is first...

Scout hung out with me for the cheese making process. Every time I checked on her she was doing something hysterical, like sleeping perched on the top of this chair.

Making a sour face, from atop of the chair, of course.

Or making her way inside my folded blanket, without unfolding it at all, mind you, to take a little cat nap.

Miss Nell and I foraged for nettles in Discovery Park on Wednesday morning.

It was fall at its finest.... even though nettles are kind of a spring thing. Whatever. Look at this excitement!

Lovely Nell looks kind of like a melancholy clown juggling leaves, doesn't she?

What a wonderful week....

mwamwa,

Allie

A few pictures per week...

Heyyyyyy everyone. I'm going to try out a new blogging format. Just a few pictures per week. Maybe some weeks I'll include a little explanation of the photos, but I probably won't for the most part. Just a few pictures per week... let's give this a go...

Meet Scout. She's my neighbor's cat, but she hangs out with me a few times a week. She appeared right when I was in greatest need for something cuddly to curl up on my lap, and cuddle she does with great gusto... I'm very thankful for her (mostly) quiet company.

Freshly baked acorn squash and apple muffins, nestled in a basket, awaiting their journey to a dear friend's home, where they were lovingly gobbled by a gaggle of costumed Seattle transplants...