Author: Lauren

I'm Lauren and this is my life.

Odds & Ends, Take 5

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I got a V Day mani, because yeah, I’m THAT person.  Call it a Hallmark holiday, but I love Valentine’s Day!  Always have, always will and you can’t take that away from me.

On Monday, I was so NOT into going to the gym.  So I didn’t.  Trying to be better about trusting my gut when I make decisions and my gut was saying, “you should take it easy instead.”  Plus I actually fell asleep in the car while Joey was driving us home.

Tuesday was National Pancake Day and Mardi Gras.  Does it get any better than that?!  I ate a flight of pancakes at Snooze but what I’m always more excited about is making Red Beans and Rice.  I’m straight up DELIGHTED  every time I open the pressure cooker to find beans and pickled pork that are cooked to perfection.

It’s been nice this week (and next!) and it’s making me so antsy and excited about SPRING.  Inevitably, it will snow in March and I will remember that it’s still winter.  Shudder!

I spent a large chunk of time researching Chemex brewing methods this week after we brewed two batches of what I’d call coffee flavored water.  Detailed notes were taken, a kitchen scale was purchased and I’m determined to make perfect coffee tomorrow.

I’m all about Revive Kombucha right now.  GT’s is still great and all, but I’m realizing there are plenty of other brands that have interesting flavors and don’t taste mostly like carbonated sugar.  Revive favorites include Coffee Brew and Genmaicha Brew.  Try it!

We went to Zoe Ma Ma last week and it made me think we should be having casual Wednesday night noodle dinners more often.  Ain’t nothing wrong with leaving the couch (and Netflix!) for a night to treat yourself to some steamed buns, potstickers and a big bowl of saucy noodles.

I’ve been going to yoga!  I haven’t had a consistent yoga schedule since we moved to Denver and had been making excuses like “it’s too expensive,” “I don’t know which studio to go to,” “parking will be a nightmare,” and “I won’t know anyone and I’ll feel dumb!”  And then I remembered I took myself to a book club where I didn’t know anyone and that turned out fine, so I could totally do this new yoga studio thing.  I’M SO HAPPY TO BE BACK.

Ugh, by the way, I’m well aware how long it’s taking me to post the next chapter of our trip to Hawaii, but here’s the thing… I do not enjoy editing photos.  Every night/weekend, I think to myself, “I’m gonna edit those photos!”  And then almost ANYTHING else sounds more fun and I end up procrastinating another day.  One day, one day.

Do you have weekend plans?  Tell me, tell me!

 

Super Bowl Weekend Things

Lauren6 Comments

SUCH. A GOOD. WEEKEND.

And not even just because the Broncos won the Super Bowl.  Though I’d say that played a significant role.  Other factors being steak dinners, a brewery visit, back to back nights at the movie theater, coffee in our new Chemex, a facial, Valentine’s crafts and… ordering groceries online!!!  Trying to pretend I’m more excited about the Broncos than having my groceries show up at my door while I’m still in my pajamas at noon.

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Friday night, Joey made THIS!  And this would be steak and creamy chive potatoes, a recipe I’ve been hoarding for months and finally put on our weekly menu.  GUYS!  It was life changing.  I don’t even really like potatoes and I wanted to eat the entire batch.  Full disclosure: we used almond milk, so basically the opposite of the half and half it called for, but it was still so creamy and perfect.

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And then we grabbed a beer at Baere Brewing before seeing the Oscar Nominated Live Action Shorts at the Mayan.  I’ll be honest, though there were a couple of more lighthearted ones, the majority of the shorts were intense.  Since they come from a variety of countries, a lot of them are religious or political and I always wish I had more context or knew more about the history of other countries, but even so, it is INSANE how powerful these short films are.  It blew us away.  Unanimous favorite was “Stutterer.”  So sweet!

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I semi-jokingly told Joey I wasn’t going to be able to sleep on Friday because I was too excited for coffee and pancakes on Saturday morning.  We’d been using a regular coffee machine but it started doing this thing where we’d put six cups of water in and three cups of coffee would come out.  I’d had it with that thing so we decided to get a new one and then decided to make the leap into the world of Chemex brewing.  Many YouTube videos have been watched.  We still need some practice but dang, that coffee tasted good.

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I made honey-sesame pancakes to go with and I’m maybe thinking of posting the recipe because I love the flavor combo that much.  What do you think?  Spontaneous cleaning energy appeared post-breakfast (thanks, coffee!) and then right in the middle of cleaning our living room, my groceries showed up!Read More »