Honolulu Zoo

  

Last weekend, we headed to the Honolulu Zoo!  I've only been to one zoo in my life (now two) and the first time I went, I could not get over how amazing the giraffes were.  This time, I loved the gigantic tortoises and alligators.  I mean, come on, have  you seen alligators in person?  They're huge!  

It was very hot and as I was scanning through the quick snaps we took, I noticed that throughout the day my hair got crazier over the three hours.  Apparently the humidity was slightly high, along with the temperature.  I welcome any suggestions for keeping the craziness at bay.  I have pretty thin hair and it just loves to frizz away.

New recipes

I've been on a total cooking rampage lately.  Despite how limited my time has become with the start of school, I'm trying to find as many new recipes as possible.  I came across Homemade while looking through some cookbooks Amazon suggested.  It's a beautiful book full of great recipes, exactly what I look for in a cookbook.  This last week I made fondue and limoncello and both turned out beautifully.

Sundays tend to be the fancy brunch day, so yesterday, I made crepes for breakfast and considering the ample amount of leftovers, I put together a savory zucchini brie filling and had more crepes for dinner!  I altered a spinach and brie filling recipe from Culinarious and want to share.

Zucchini Brie Crepe Filling

1 large zucchini

3 tbsp butter

2 cloves garlic

1/2 yellow onion

2 tbsp flour

1 cup milk

1/2 lb brie, rind removed

salt and pepper to taste

Wash and grate zucchini and set aside.  Heat 1 Tbsp butter in a deep-sided pan and sauté the garlic and onion until onion is translucent. Add the zucchini, and stir until heated thoroughly. Remove zucchini mixture and set aside.

Using the same pan, melt the butter, then add the flour to make a paste.  Cook until bubbling being careful not to let it brown.  Pour in the milk, dissolving the paste, and stir in the cheese. Allow the cheese to melt, then add the zucchini and season with salt and pepper. If you need to thicken, dissolve a few teaspoons flour in equal part milk, and stir into the mixture.  Spoon mixture onto warm crepes and enjoy!

It's been a busy week here, as I've started my last semester (yay!) and needed to spend time getting myself organized.  So far, so good, and I'm incredibly excited that this is my final semester.  Now to just get through it without too severe a case of senioritis.

Last night, a friend and I went to the Death Cab for Cutie concert in Honolulu.  When I stated that the first time, I thought "Oh my goodness, a death cab concert---in Hawaii!"  Once we got there and they started playing, I became overwhelmed with complete peace and contentedness.  I have some great life-long friends, an amazing husband, a beautiful place to live and incredible music to listen to.

What I thought most about the feeling it gave me, was the importance of music and its connection to emotion.  I adore Death Cab and they hold a special place in my heart, especially certain songs, because their lyrics are so..emotional.  As a person who truly feels, I am often moved by pieces of music, either from true musicality or lyrical genius.  And in some cases, both.

Music is, for me, essential.

A quick snippet of one of the best moments last night.

If you would be so kind..

Headband: Target

Dress: Ruche

Necklace: Shy of Perfect

Blazer: Thrift store find

Shoes: Payless

I've never entered this sort of contest, but I decided to go for the ShopRuche.com Ruchette contest.  A $100 gift card is a little difficult to pass up.  I've really enjoyed sharing more of my outfits with everyone and this is just another step forward.  

I would love it if you would be so kind as to vote for me!  Go to the Ruche Facebook page and click "like" on the photo.  If you don't want to, I won't mind :).  I hate to be a bother.

Have a happy Monday!

Food Reviews//Yard House Waikiki

On Friday, I met Erik after work and we headed down to Waikiki for happy hour at Yard House and then on to pick up my new computer!  It was an exciting way to end the work week :).

We've been there a few times before, but as getting downtown is kind of a pain in the butt, it's been months since we have been back.  The food is always delicious and there are tons of beers on tap.  I really appreciate that they have such a huge vegetarian selection on their menu, with an entire listing of Gardein entrees.  

For Friday, we ordered the margherita pizza, spinach cheese dip and Erik insisted on chicken nachos.  It was way too much food, but during happy hour there are several appetizers and pizzas for half off, so we decided we would just take home our extensive leftovers.

I definitely recommend the Yard House, especially as a vegetarian.

Nightstands

For some reason, getting our bedroom together has been extremely difficult.  I can't seem to find what exactly I want for it, and I have an even harder time even imagining what I want.  I tend to move from one idea to the next.  All I do know is that it needs to be a calm and clutter-free area, mostly by request of my dear husband.  Thank goodness he can offer some sort of direction.

But once I came home from my vacation, you might remember that I mentioned getting in a nesting mood, so last weekend Erik and I spent some time in Ross looking for a few things.  Our main goal was to get two nightstands, as we only had one ugly plastic drawer.  The last time we entered Ross, it turned into a frustrating adventure looking for dining area wall art.  However, this time it was a much less frustrating, and actually quite enjoyable, excursion.  Immediately we found these small stands for only $8.99 each!  After setting them up, I think it's already vastly improved.

Also, don't you love this One Line a Day journal?  It's been sitting in my wishlist for months now and finally got it.  I leave it on my nightstand so I can fill it in before I go to bed.  Journaling is something I do sporadically, but I think with such small entries, I can keep at it regularly.

What room do you have the hardest time decorating?

A lovely vacation

One thing I always seem to wish for after a trip is having taken more photos.  I don't know why I didn't bring my camera.  My phone was totally out of service during the whole coastal part so I turned it off and off went the only camera I had.  Oops.  Here are a few that my uncle got, as well as some later on in the trip that I took.

One of my brothers and I at the Quinault Big Cedar Tree trail

We all had a great time painting sand dollars

Driving through the Palouse. 

Pines through Snoqualmie

Some delicious eats (veggie eggs benedict) and drinks (rice milk latte)

Saying goodbye at the airport with a few of my siblings.

While I truly enjoyed my time away, I have really started to feel like Oahu is my home, now.  So with that newfound feeling, I've been tackling the never-ending process of making our home homey-er (is that a word?).  Things are getting exciting around here!

Have a happy Monday!

Home again

What a beautiful trip.  Full of clouds, family, road trips and wonderful wide open spaces.  But I'm ever so happy to be home.

There's no place like it.