A few things I'm loving on right now

Evening dinners on the porch…

 My little front porch haven

 Once the sun gets off of the tin, my front deck is the perfect place to hang out in the evenings. There is usually a slight breeze, and it’s the perfect place to escape the oppressive heat of my apartment. Tonight I threw together a potato and cucumber vichyssoise and stuck with my fast and loose theme and threw together some corn bread. I pressed sage leaves into the buttered pan, and added a handful of blue cheese to the batter. The result was tasty and savory.

Dry Rosé...

Oh how I love pink wines… I feel really girly drinking them, but to me they are just the epitome of a summer sipper. This evening I’m drinking a rosé from the Loire Valley, but my standard local fall back is Big Fire Dry Rosé.

Pastel nail polish...

I’ve been obsessed with this pale green color from Revlon called “Minted” It’s very soft looking, but great for summer… It doesn’t make a huge bold statement, but it is very whimsical.

Aloe Vera Plants...

After spending an afternoon on the water, I found myself a little crispy. Aloe plant to the rescue! It is so wonderful to be able to just break off a leaf as I need it. No added alcohol or artificial coloring, no taking up space in my medicine cabinet. I love that it is renewable, and compostable! It is so easy to care for… lots of light, a little water. It does have an interesting smell to it… very green, and actually almost meaty, but it’s a very natural smelling and isn’t off-putting. For unknown reasons my mother thinks that having an aloe plant is “hippie-ish” which makes me laugh a lot.  She thinks a lot of the things I do are on the verge of being “too green” but I have to remind her that I work at a specialty plant and herb nursery.  Having a copious amount of plants practically comes with the job description, and personally, I love plants that multi-task.

Vintage Silverware garden markers...

 Photo Courtesy of Anthropologie.com

These particular ones are from Anthropologie, but I’ve seen them all over Etsy. Perfect for the eclectic herb garden. I haven’t gotten any yet, but I like to day-dream about how quaint and fun they would look in my container gardens.

Nocellara del Belice Olives...

 Photo Courtesy of  Local Flavour UK

These giant green olives are my favorite splurge at Harvest Fresh. They are this un-real grassy green color, have a lot of meaty texture, and make a really fun snack. They don’t have any of the bitter green-olive flavor, they are just bright and fun and tasty.

Hidecote Pink Lavender...

From a distance this pink lavender is nothing special. It takes on almost a gray tinge, and overall doesn’t look very impressive. But when you get close to it you realize that it smells incredible. It isn’t overly lavendery, but it has a very sweet aroma, almost like honeysuckle. The buds are this great iridescent green (very similar to the above nail polish actually) and it forms such a beautiful contrast with the pale pink blooms. When it is dried, the flowers turn sort of brown (which is really unfortunate) but the scent is really intoxicatingly good… I cannot wait to make some sachets!

My Zen Timer App...

So my homework in yoga this past week was to spend 15 minutes a day in stillness. They left the assignment rather ambiguous, not really specifying meditation, but the overall goal was physical and mental stillness. I really struggle with the mental part, as it is next to impossible to shut off my stream of consciousness. Anyway, I found that one of my biggest distractions was always wondering “how long have I been sitting here… is my time almost up?” So I broke down and bought the Zen Timer for my phone. It is my new obsession. It has six different bells you can choose from, ranging from Basu, to Zhada (my personal favorite is the Dêngzê ) and you can set it to chime at different intervals. Having a calming chime remind me of how much time I had left, and also to re-focus my brain was exactly what I needed, and it had made my homework much easier than expected. The App also prompts you if you want to journal at the end of your meditation, and lets you save a profile so I could just put in “homework” and it would go directly to my 15 minute meditation with built in reminder chimes and everything.  I know I shouldn’t need an APP to me motivated to spend some time in Meditation daily, but it really does make it easier…

Start the Day Early, by Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers 

I pretty much have this song on repeat… I am actually really behind the curve on this one, since my whole family (yes, even my mom) has been listening to this band for a few years. It is the perfect summer anthem. Besides Stephen Kellogg, I’ve also been listening to Zac Brown Band, The Bangles, Phoenix, Rooney, She and Him, and Matt Nathanson nonstop (I have a really great playlist that I made for the roadtrip to Eastern Oregon) Can I just say how thrilled I am that Portland radio stations are finally playing She and Him?  I already had a huge girl crush on Zooey Deschanel, and I really really adore both Volume I and Volume II.  

 

Asian Pear Ginger Kombucha…

 Photo Courtesy of wonderdrink.com

Ok So I, (along with the rest of the greater Portland area) am sad that  GT Kombucha has been pulled off the shelves… but today in between yoga classes I needed a little boost, so I tried the Kombucha Wonder Drink… and actually it is delicious. I really enjoyed the Asian Pear Ginger combination. Plus it's local!