August 21, 2016

My Everyday Life: Week 33

Here’s what My Everyday Life- Week 33 looked like:

My grandmother passed away this week. She was an incredible woman. She will be greatly missed.

I’ll be heading to NYC next week for her service so things will be a little sporadic around here.

Thanks for understanding!

I found out that my great grandmother’s name was Rosie.

My grandma’s name was Josephine and she went by Josie.

Coffee and to do lists.

Organizing.

Spot the cat.

Loves.

Packing for our trip to Tahoe.

TWO CATS cuddled up against me!!!

Epic breakfast with favorite women.

The view where we are staying in Tahoe.

August 19, 2016

I love lists

Welcome to I Love Lists! Let’s surf the internet together:

I love my new shower curtain.
For the next ladies craft night!
Flowers + Ice = heart eye emoji
Ooooh. This looks so fun + easy- DIY Temporary Tattoos.
Glowy Shrimp in Japan– whoa.
I got lavender 🙂
Enamel Pins for the ladies.
Do you travel alone? I actually kind of love it.
Man, I sure am glad I know how to cook.
For all the cat owners out there….
What it’s like to have high functioning anxiety
This photo pleases me.
How to fold bedding. ALL OF IT. Still can’t do a fitted sheet…oh well.
I’m so curious to find out what an everything bagel donut tastes like.
The coolest tree house!
Rainbow smoothie bowls look amazing.
A very good read.
This made me laugh.
Some parenting advice that’s actually pretty good.
I want to host my own ice cream social!
I have a crush on this dress.
Got insomnia? Apparently positive thinking can change that.

around the home, Inspiration

August 17, 2016

Ladies Craft Night : Coloring Book Edition

There was a 3-year period in my late 20s when my friends and I would have weekly Ladies Craft Night that coincided with the TV show, Project Runway. Oh, and I think we watched the first three seasons of Glee together too. Our Ladies Craft Nights involved dinner, cocktails, ladies chats, and some sort of paper craft. Us introverts were so talked out by the end of the night that it took us the rest of the week to regain our strength for next week’s craft night. It was awesome and it truly filled my heart to be around like-minded women. I feel fortunate that the three of us were dedicated to keep that routine going.

What I loved about these craft nights was that everyone shows up with something to offer. If it’s not a technique, it’s a good story, it’s a hug when you need one, it’s the support of people who are on your same wave length. It’s those moments of vulnerability when you’re laughing so hard and you’re not sure your bladder can handle it. Maybe you had a little whiskey? Maybe you’re just living? Maybe you just feel better when you’re coloring a drawing while talking.

In the back of my brain I’ve been daydreaming about hosting creative workshops in the Bay Area (and maybe BEYOND!). I want it to be similar to the ladies craft nights I used to have with my lady friends. Food + crafts + drinks. There’s a lot to work out, and I’m not sure how many people I would want to come for a workshop (ahem, introvert who prefers intimate gatherings). But there’s no way to figure out all of those things unless I actually do it.

Last week, I hosted a Ladies Craft Night at my friend’s shop Neve + Hawk in San Anselmo. It was 4 hour chunk of time with creative ladies and I think it went pretty well!

Let me show you what was involved:

recipes

August 15, 2016

Egg-In-A-Nest Pesto Pizza

My friend Katie’s new cookbook Rise & Shine: Better Breakfasts for Busy Mornings comes out tomorrow an it’s just what you need if you want to shake up your breakfast game. I am need of it, are you??! I’ve been on a toast with butter kick for the past 4 months and I need to legit quit it. It’s not the kind of breakfast that keeps me full. As a result, I get hungry before lunch and find myself eating too much to compensate. Time to change that with a filling breakfast.

In the book there are LOADS of healthy breakfast recipes and this one immediate stood out because I love arugula AND egg on pizza.

For this Egg-In-A-Hole Pesto Pizza, a pita is spread with fresh pesto. Cheese sprinkled on top of that. A nest is created with arugula. An egg is dropped into that nest and it all goes into the oven for some browning and crisping action. It’s blasphemous how easy it is. Breakfast game = stronger than ever. You just leveled up!

my everyday life, Photography

August 14, 2016

My Everyday Life: Week 32

Here’s what My Everyday Life – Week 32 looked like:

Sunflowers on the table. Baseball game on TV. This is Summer in the Benjamin household.

Thanks, trunk.

I had a ladies craft night this week. I am going to be editing photos of that soon.

It was so much fun.

Meow meows.

Lil Ella.

Recipe for One Potato. This is part of my grocery list.

August 12, 2016

I Love Lists

Welcome to I love lists! Let’s surf the internet together:

This is the greatest news ever.
I hope I can make Cooper a cool space like this one day.
Some major inspiration from literature.
I wish I could see this in person.
Fat cats + cat puns
I kinda want to make one of these.
For future reference.
Filing this cake under YUM.
A wonderful studio transformation.
Best things to eat in SF.
Put this book on my to read list.
Plant pot porn. Sorry that sounds weird.
I want this in Leo for my birthday. Also this too.
Rescued Film Project
This would be handy for an air plant.
Buildings that represent what they sell.
If you’re into makeup dupes
OMG these cocktail pops look bonkers.
The prettiest shave ice I’ve ever seen.
When I was a kid I saved up for the Caruso Molecular Hair Curlers. They were my everything.
I’ve saved $1k by doing a lot of my shopping at Thrive Market this year. CRAZY!

My friend Andrea posted this on her facebook wall.

It made me laugh. I mean…have times really changed that much?

recipes

August 10, 2016

Gluten Free Blueberry Cornmeal Muffins

I don’t want to look at the calendar right now because it means we are really close to Summer coming to an end and the school hustle will set in and before you know it, I’ll have an 8 year old and then it’s Christmas and AHHHHHHHH. I just had to pause and catch my breath. Oh, wait. My birthday is coming up. I will be in my late 30s. Closer to 40. Not freaking out about THAT or anything. Don’t want to talk about that week where I woke up drenched in sweat. Nope. Let’s not discuss that. Don’t want to talk about how my hair stylist cut too much hair off and now my dreams of having an a-line bob are shattered…until I grow all that hair back again. Not a bummer AT ALL.

Let me show you one of my coping mechanisms. It’s called BAKING! I don’t normally use this coping mechanism because it coincides with another one of my coping mechanisms- EATING and then all of sudden I’m working on two coping mechanisms at once and things are alllllllllllllllllllllll crazy up in my world. Willpower has to find its way in somehow….

Really, I’m fine. I swear. I wanted to have something to get excited about for breakfast this week. Enter these Gluten Free Blueberry Cornmeal Muffins. They’re actually made mostly with almond flour. They taste like a cross between a cornbread muffin, a blueberry muffin and a bran muffin. But there’s something about the egg that makes it kinda like a macaron. The top is crispy and the insides are studded with juicy blueberries. I want to eat one warm, in a bowl with a dollop of Greek yogurt on top.

BTW, in this food fantasy, I’m not stress eating it. Just enjoying it…like a non stressed person eating a delicious muffin.