We love Sundance market for soooo many reasons, but near the top of that list is 50% off produce. There are a few shelves that, throughout the day, are populated with assorted produce that is half-off, for some reason or another. It's kind of hit or miss, but sometimes you can really hit the jackpot; like we did on our most recent visit!

All of this beautiful organic bounty for 13$! 

Bananas, broccoli, 3 types of kale, chard, celery, bell peppers and lime...13$!

I know I will miss Sundance when we move; I have already started the mourning process.

end of spring break.

We had plans to finish off our spring break with a trip to Seattle, some hiking, and lots of Bikram yoga. Unfortunately however, I have come down with some icky virus that has rendered me lazy and immovable, and has resigned me to watching back to back episodes of Lost. To ensure that all the secrets of the island will be revealed to me I have decided to start from Season 1 and watch straight until the end.

The one positive point of my sickness is that I have spent my Lost viewing hours working on my website (I can't just watch t.v. and not do something, it drives me nuts). It's still under construction, and there is some CSS coding that I can't figure out, but let me know what you think and any input/suggestions you may have. 'Namaste'. (clicking on my name will link to my website)

doppleganger

this is totally my friend sam-sam dickens

via Sartorialist

a little nordic adventure

We wanted to get some xc skiing in before all the snow melted, so today we headed up the mountain. I will recount our day.

On the way we spotted an Oregon covered bridge

I started our trip all bundled up (notice my spiffy new backpack)...

but after about ten minutes, I was burning up from all the pushing and gliding so I shed a layer.

ten more minutes and I was still overheated. Cross-country skiing is waaay more work than alpine (or maybe I have just not yet perfected it).

 We made it to the 'warming hut' where we were going to stop for lunch. Cute right? WRONG!

Upon closer examination, I realized that I would rather eat in the snow than step foot in that hut (and contract hepatitis). 

so we did (eat outside, not contract hepatitis), quinoa kale and zucchini.

some sick fresh pow pow (powder).

confidential box!

My office at work shares the space with two other labs/organizations, and everyday I walk by this bookshelf with seemingly uniform boxes. 

Well, recently I noticed that one box is labeled "CONFIDENTIAL BOX!" (I circled it in red below)

It cracks me up/tempts me every time I walk by. Cracks me up because 1) if you don't want someone to look in the box, don't label it confidential and 2) the box is boring and blends with the other boxes so no one would have wanted to peak inside had you just left it as is.  I want to peak inside sooo bad but I learned my lesson from the "chris and the big red button incident". 

If you want to know more about this incident continue reading... if you have already read enough feel free to close your browser window. 

Chris and the Big Red Button

I think Chris (my brutha) was about 8, so I would have been 10 when this happened. Anyway we were doing dryland at swim practice, which is basically where you run and do weights and pushups before you get in the water. So we were running laps around the UNLV campus, and we kept passing this big red button, that would apparently call campus security. Well, I finish my laps and Chris hasn't returned yet..and I hear my swim coach Bill (who happens to be a former Navy Seal) freaking out saying he needs to go bail Chris out of jail. 

The reason Chris never returned was because he had pushed the giant red button, and campus security caught him. They gave him this huge lecture, Chris was crying, I was crying and when asked why in the world did he push the button he responded, "Every time I passed it, I just kept staring at it wanting to push it so I did." 

sleepy dan

sometimes i find dan passed out in funny positions. 

this was taken a year ago:  dan snoozing with handlebars.

here is how i found him the other night. both hands above his head, legs wrapping the bed, feet resting on the ground.

i tried to hold the camera steady, but i was giggling too much.

shoe rack put to use.

Before I show you the before picture, I have to say: 1) don't judge me and 2)Mom, I am sorry. 

It's not that  I don't respect my shoes, it's just that there isn't enough room in my closet, so they tend to spill everywhere...and I am not a very good picker-upper. 

Before: 

 After:

So much better. 

dan wood works

Dan took a woodworking class this term and made
1. a beautiful cutting board (walnut and cherry)

2. a shoe rack i designed. i chose this design because i thought it was a waste to use such nice wood and joinery for something that may just be kept in a closet. so we decided to make boxes that could be arranged in different ways to serve a variety of purposes: bookshelf, night stand, coffee table, etc; though the dimensions were based off my shoes and boots.

I am really excited that Dan and I both know woodworking; my dream of someday having a woodshop where we can make our furniture and designs is slowly becoming reality.

craft time

I am now officially on spring break...woooo!! Most my friends were done with finals by Tuesday morning, but I had a ridiculous final Friday at 8am, so I spent every hour last week either at work or memorizing the small intricacies of Gothic cathedrals.

I am starting to realize that often what I most enjoy about break is the ability to do projects of my own. I know I work on projects all term, but it's nice to be able to do projects for myself, on my own time, free of pressure. So to kick off Spring break, I did a little DIY project for me- a hexnut bracelet.

This is from the same site that posted the no-knit scarf, I just added a toggle clasp. 

boodle's birthday

Today is my baby brother's birthday!!! I made him some pretty great e-cards, and blitzed him. You wouldn't understand them because they are in inside jokes, but I will share anyway. 

#1: When my brother was little, he said to my mom, "mom, can you take me to arby's?" my mom said, "what? you have never been to arbys." My brother responded, "yeah, dad took me." Mom said, "Dad would never take you to arbys!" My brother's response...."Noooo, my other Dad!".  Yeah, my brother had an imaginary family, not just an imaginary friend but an entire family.  This card is from them.

title: 'we missed you all these years'

#2: When we were little I used to pretend to be this little elf who lived in a crayon box, and I would come out to play with my brother...this is from Elfie.

title: 'elfie, elfie, i want elfie'

#3: We had an inside joke with elephant seals

title: gahhh!

#4: just a cute lil' collage

I spend my procrastinating minutes looking at flats in London. Yes I know that it's wayyyy too early, and that the flats I look at now won't be available in 6 months, but what's the harm right? Well, the harm is I fall in love in with places, and then tell Dan that, 'I really really want to live here, and that I need to live here' and then I can't stop thinking about it. 

I should say that I have made an effort to only look at places in our price range and in areas near campus, otherwise it would just be too painful.  However, I did find the perfect place, and I am pained that it can't be ours.

fire place in the bedroom and a bay window!

a private yard

 

i could plant veggies!!

and have beautiful summer brunches

 clean and modern kitchen

love the shelving 

*sigh*

p.s. It feels very strange to be blogging about flats and weekend trips when there's so much destruction and devastation in Japan, just so trivial. But I haven't forgotten, I think about it everyday, pray, and have made donations.

 Dan and I had hoped to live in Japan someday, now I hope that at some point I can go back and help them rebuild, put my architecture degree to use. Shigeru Ban (a really great architect) is putting his skills to use by sending simple partitions for use in temporary relief  accommodations. 

all right, well I now officially feel terrible. Here I am talking about flats in London when there are so many displaced victims.

*sigh*

ma and pa visit eugene part 2

a trip to the Yaquina Head Lighthouse

ma and pa visit eugene part 1

chris and cathie got their vino tasting on at willamette valley vineyard.

 we got a v.i.p tour...faaaancy!  j/k, but it was really a fascinating tour. my favorite was the the oak barrels (one costs about $1200-empty), aren't they pretty? 

midterm

I am halfway through my thesis project...it feels sooo nice. It's also nice to have a whole another term to refine my design.

japan.

Thinking about Japan makes me sooo sad.

Thinking about the children in Japan makes me even more sad. 

 Japan will always hold a special place in my heart.  Keep them in your prayers.