4 years

Tomorrow will be the 4 year anniversary of one of the most important and life-changing days of my life. That is the day I met my husband. It may be weird to some people that we still celebrate our dating anniversary after we were married... but for some reason, the day we met stands out to me more than the day we married. The day we met was the first time I actually believed that I would ever find love. Really. Before that, I thought I would find someone I got along with who I would not get totally annoyed with over time. I did not believe in love, (especially at first sight! How ridiculous!) Because I had never met anyone who was really even close. And then we met. And our first date lasted for 7 hours because neither of us wanted it to end or to stop talking to the other one. And I started to suspect that this man may just be the one I would be with forever. We knew for sure a week and a half later. It was just right.
The first month we dated, I ran up a ridiculously large phone bill from constantly texting through the day. I was on my surgery rotation, and was on call every 3rd night. Ethan was working a late shift in a pharmacy. The two together meant our dates would start at 9 or 10 pm and I was still getting up at about 4:00-4:30 to go in to the hospital. I am not sure how I even physically did that now! When I was on call, he would come to the hospital and we would just hang out in the courtyard for as long as we could. It was scary and crazy and amazing all at the same time.
the wedding? That was really just getting some paperwork in order. We still celebrate that anniversary, but the dating anniversary has always felt more meaningful to me.

4 years. And many more to come.

Pictures

So this blog gets neglected a lot. But it is because I am doing things in real life! Here are some pics from the last month.

Portland

Pictures of life

Ikea rug hack idea

We need a rug for the office. It has to be 1. able to stand up to a wild dog named Reagan 2. Inexpensive 3. Awesome and durable. I saw this runner at Ikea and I really like the pattern. Unfortunately, it doesn't come in a room-sized rug. but they are only $24.99 each! so, I'm thinking... Sew three of them together for a 6'7" by 7'9" rug, using heavy duty upholstery thread in a pretty color. It seems very doable, and I'm planning to pick up a few of the rugs next time I'm anywhere near Frisco.

Why the hell not.

Stream of consciousness

Today I am post-call. Which is not so bad. Here are some things on my mind recently.

I finished my first quilt. It is a very simple pattern, and hand tied rather than quilted on a machine. It is good for snuggling on the couch with my pup.

Picture 2: the new Parkland. It's coming along quickly, and I am excited about what it will bring for Dallas.

3: orange nails, gold glitter.

4: Kendra Scott earrings in chalcedony. They are gorgeous, and I have no where to wear them. .

San Francisco

Today my sister had to work, so I kept myself entertained by walking all over the city. Like 9.5 miles with hills all over the place. I met my college girl friend LC (now an important lawyer lady) for lunch, and we walked to the ferry building. I am definitely going to have buns of steel after this vacation. The only bad part is how much I'm missing Ethan. It sounds cheesy, but I just don't sleep well without him nearby.

Fort Worth

Today we went over to Cow Town. We ate at the Ft Worth Spiral Diner, wandered around the Kimbell, and went to the botanic gardens. Then we met up with a friend and went to this fun bar inside the old railway station, and walked around downtown a bit before heading home. It's cool to have another city close by that has a totally different feeling than Dallas, where we can periodically escape. It was a lovely day out.

Chihuly

By now if you read this blog you will know I am in love with the Dallas arboretum. I am taking this week off work for my birthday, and today I took advantage of the gorgeous spring weather by walking to the arboretum

They are in the process of installing a Chihuly art glass exhibit within the gardens, and it is beautiful. I wandered around for about 40 minutes before parking myself on a grassy knoll and reading Jane Austen for a few hours. It was a wonderfully relaxing day.

I took photos with my camera, but the cord is MIA, so the phone pics must suffice for now.

What I am working on

A patchwork quilt, my first ever. These things are not as easy as they seem- even when you choose a pattern that seems like it will hide mistakes well. I've been getting philosophical while making it; as in, why do humans feel the need to cut large pieces of fabric into smaller pieces of fabric only to sew them back together in a different order to make a larger piece of fabric?

On a different note, I just realized I've had jam on my face for the last five or six hours. So that's what's going on with me today.

Hippie Stuff

Sometimes, I feel like I'm turning into a total hippie. Especially when I wear my ridiculously long hair down (My hair-stylist is in Austin, and booked a month out. My last haircut was in October.) Here's some of the crazy-ass hippie shit that's been going on in the Losefast house.


I bought some bee pollen (made by local bees, of course) at the farmer's market in hopes that it would help my allergies. How does it work? so far, not that great, but I think I haven't been consistent enough with eating it. For now, I'm not giving up on the rest of my allergy regimen which includes claritin, eating lots of hot peppery food (to clear my sinuses), and when things get really bad, a neti-pot. I'll update if it turns out local bee pollen is a lifesaver. I do think there's some scientific basis for it working, by a mechanism parallel to that of the oral polio vaccine.

Hippie gardening lesson: if you cut a sprig of rosemary off of a live plant, and place it in some water in a sunny spot, it will grow rootlets, and then roots. I used a pinch of sugar in the water to accelerate the process. I'm going to be planting this bad-boy outside as soon as I've cut through the jungle of weeds in our backyard.

of course, I'm not really a hippie. I don't smoke, I shower daily, and wear deodorant that's not made of a crystal. I also hate outdoor music festivals.

In my mind today.

Quiet Weekend

Last week, Reagan suddenly stopped walking on his right hind leg. We took him to the vet last Saturday, and found out that he had a torn ACL! He had reconstructive surgery yesterday. We got him back from the vet this morning, and between tramadol and neurontin, he's pretty wiped out. So it's a quiet weekend at home for us, cleaning a bit here and there and taking care of the baby. His whole right hindquarter is shaved, and he looks so pitiful.

Lasagna

yesterday we had dinner with Ethan's whole family (he's got 3 brothers). One of my sisters-in-law has a dairy sensitivity, and she brought over an awesome dairy-free (and vegan) lasagna. I'm not sure where the recipe is originally from, but here it is!

Ingredients:
Lasagna Pasta Noodles
10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry (or fresh)
1 lb tofu (regular, not silken)
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
2 tsp oregano
2 cloves garlic chopped
1 tsp basil
1 tsp. salt
1 26-oz jar of spaghetti sauce (or home-made)
Dairy- Free cheese

Boil water and cook noodles(follow box directions).

While the noodles are cooking, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the tofu(break into smaller chunks) and thawed spinach in the food processor and process briefly. Add the remaining ingredients–except the noodles and sauce–to the processor and blend until smooth.

Spread a thin layer of the sauce in the bottom of a 9X11-inch pan (spraying the pan first with non-stick spray will help prevent sticking). Place a layer of noodles over the sauce, covering the entire bottom of the pan. Spread 1/3 of the tofu mixture on the noodles. Sprinkle tofu mixture with cheese. Cover with another layer of noodles and then spread 1/3 of tofu mixture over it. Sprinkle with cheese. Cover with another layer of noodles and then spread 1/3 of tofu mixture over it. Top with a final layer of noodles, and cover. (Option: Sprinkle top with cheese or nutritional yeast.)

Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes; remove the foil and bake for 10 more minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

This was enjoyed by omnivores and herbivores alike.
I am very lucky that Ethan's extended family has been so welcoming of our diet. The entire meal yesterday (with exception of some hot dogs for my nephews) was completely vegan! and completely delicious.

Random phone pictures

A lace garter I'm making for a girlfriend from college
My trendy one-glitter-nail manicure (it's COOL. I saw it on pinterest. It has to be!)
A nice wine we got from Spec's (thank you for coming to Dallas!)
Some pretty flowers from our next door neighbors
Some equally pretty little lace flowers that I will be making soon!

Looky-loo what I made!

I planned on making this silverware roll about 7 months ago. I had all the pieces cut out, and then my sewing machine decided to forget how a bobbin worked. Ethan took pity on me after about 6 months and took it in to get fixed. It now works better than new! (HIGHLY recommend Mr. Sewing Machine in Dallas.)

Basically, it's two equally sized squares of fabric, one slightly smaller to make the pocket, and a strip sewed into a tie. The fabric was left over from other projects, or found in the scrap bin at Crate & Barrel outlet. If you have never been there, they sell decently sized scraps of Marimekko fabric (perfect for small projects or pillows) for $1.00 per pound. They also sell by the yard for $4.00- not bad for some classic modern designer fabric!

I made a matching bag out of scraps, so now I can brown-bag in style.

RED

My lipstick.

Rain outside my window

For the last two days, my clinic patients have cancelled/ not shown up, and I have had ZERO consults. In other words, I've been sitting in the resident's office from 8:00-4:30 for two days with zero patient contact. I'm filling my time with a combination of studying, catching up on the news, and crocheting. In all honesty, I don't mind the slower days as I'm battling a lingering virus picked up from my adorable, but runny- nosed, nieces. I hope tomorrow is a bit more lively, though. It gets pretty boring just sitting around.

Picture: rain outside my office window, and Reagan the snuggle dog.

Something I wore-photo a day.

Today I'm showing off my sweet Dr. Gear. Every day I get to wear a pager and a nametag. And most days I end up in my trusty Sanita clogs, which weigh about 10 lbs each, are extremely comfortable for standing in, and make my feet look like hooves. It's a glamorous life I live.