Join a CSA (#31)

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Basically, you pay a farm directly, and every so often you get a box of whatever fruits and vegetables they grow on their farm delivered to you. I'd been wanting to do this for awhile, because I love the idea of the people who grow the crop actually getting paid for it directly, rather than selling it for less than what it is worth to large companies, who sell it to grocery stores, who sell it to you. Also, cuts way down on the amount the food has to travel before it gets to you. This way it gets picked, and delivered...that's all.

The CSA we chose has a pretty wide distribution in the Bay Area and they have the option of pasture raised eggs, which I'm pretty excited about. The picture shows everything we got in our box last week. We get a box every other week because it is actually a LOT of food in there.

If you click on the picture to make it larger, you can see: swiss chard (leafy green with bright red stems), radishes (small, purple and white), onions (huge and purple), a bundle of fresh rosemary, fava beans (right in the middle, they look like huge pea pods), carrots, a bag of fresh baby spinach, asparagus, green onions, strawberries, sweet potatoes and the eggs. The paper bag on the left side has dried peaches in it.

We've picked up two boxes so far, and we're pretty happy with it. It does take some adjusting to, and it does help if you've been comfortable making dishes that rely on vegetables, which we'd gotten used to. But now, we get our box and then have to plan our recipes and go to the farmer's market to pick up anything else we want/need. Also - this is all fresh picked, harvested. That bag of spinach still had dirt and mud, so it is a little bit more time intensive to clean/prepare, but we enjoy it.

I'm not sure we'll stick with this specific farm (we have two more boxes to go on our trial run) but I think the CSA idea may stick. Either way, goal complete.

Can. Not. Take. It. Anymore.

While the blog has undergone a mini makeover, I am SO TIRED of Blogger. We will probably be migrating soon to a new site, stay tuned.

Also, Dan started a (small) fire in our kitchen. We're down two kitchen towels, a knife block, and some knives. Full story to come.

Impressive, no?

Last weekend, my mom completed her 3rd Avon Walk for Breast Cancer!

She and her friend Loretta walked 39.3 miles over two days in the 90 degree heat.

The whole walk had 3000 participants, including 271 breast cancer survivors, and they raised $6.8 MILLION for breast cancer research.

STRONG.

Congratulations v.14

Congratulations to my cousin Christine and her fiance Kevin! 

They got engaged yesterday :) And isn't this picture sort of ridiculously happy looking (this is not from yesterday, apparently they are always this happy looking).

You may remember this post where I was having dreams about this very event, but my predicting the future skills are a little off - I was about...10 months early.

Progress Report

Happy Birthday Missy! :) 

Congratulations to Meghan and Jess on being gainfully employed! I'm so happy for both of you :)

Before my dad sends me another entry about his visit here, I just wanted to say that for maybe two days after finishing my 100 things list, I was a bit overwhelmed. But, since then, I've pulled myself together and some items are being knocked off my list, and others have been started, although I still have a long way to go.

One of the other blogs I read posts an update to her life list every Friday, and she's mentioned it helps keep her accountable to keep working on her goals, and also that it helps her feel supported.

I don't know about all that weekly update business, but I'll try to occasionally.

Monthly stuff
#10 - Go somewhere new and local once a month - haven't missed it yet. that's right, I'm 100% for 2 months in a row!
#78 - Write a letter to someone every month. This one actually started in April, so I'm doing awesome so far.

In Progress
#7 - Go to New Orleans for Mardi Gras - planning has definitely begun!
#12 - Plan a trip with friends - Mardi Gras will be double counting it seems.
#18 - Figure out when it's necessary to make a will - Yes, it seems that it is in fact necessary, especially as Dan and I live together but are not married or partners in the eyes of the government
#34 - Transition from plastic to other materials in the kitchen - almost there with this one. Just have to get rid of some of our plastics, but we have replacements for them.
#46 - Learn to play chess - I have learned how, but I'm waiting to play 5 complete games with Dan before I count this as complete. We're currently 1.5 games in, played the first one with my dad!

The big news of today is that we have joined a CSA (#31). We picked up our first box today but I'll write more about that later.

See, writing that all down definitely feels like progress.

Dad's visit, Day 3

(Sidenote: My dad came to visit in late March, and he's going to be sending me his account of what we did on his visit. The day he is talking about we drove north to eat oysters fresh out of the water.)

So many highlights – each day was unique and memorable! I’m jumping right to the oyster experience of day 3… sooo cool. The tastes and the ocean ambiance – sun and breezes and water lapping the shore mere feet from our picnic table - were all amazing, but maybe the best part was Kristin’s coming out: she really dug the raw oysters! We ate 3 dozen raw and 1 dozen slightly grilled and barbequed (almost shockingly scrumptious). Best oysters I’ve ever eaten!!

The drive up the coast was peaceful and scenic once we left the highway. The road wove through quaint little towns calling out for further exploration (maybe next time), then chugged through dense forested areas smelling of pine and chilled by shadows and cold mountain streams. Closer to our destination we were treated to expansive vistas with alternating views of near-ocean inlets to the left and steep hills to the right with grazing goats and cows. I can’t get enough of the road not traveled, so being a witness to this part of California – the Pacific Coast Highway - was such an unexpected treat for me, especially since I didn’t have to keep my eyes on the road! (Thanks KK & Dan… now that’s showing respect to your elderly elder.)

City Walk: Presidio (#88)

If you look up the Golden Gate Bridge on GoogleMaps, directly to the south, there's a big green area - that's the Presidio. It's 1490 acres - much of which is just open space. It used to be a US military post, as recently as 1994. Congress wrote a law stipulating that if it wasn't needed by the Army, it would be maintained by the Park Service and become part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. So, here we are. This walk only covers a tiny part of the Presidio, specifically in an area called Fort Scott, named after a general.

We walked by the parade grounds, and all the old barracks which are being updated to be leased out as housing. We walked by the pits where the artillery used to test dynamite, the Brig and the officers Rec Hall. We peeked through windows of other abandoned, decrepit buildings. We explored the old batteries where cannons used to protect the California coast line. It's a bit creepy - an entire civilization completely abandoned and just allowed to run down. Except that on the parade ground were people out for runs, walking their dogs and a little league baseball game. Strange juxtaposition.

It is one of the only places in the city I've visited where you get pictures from "behind" the bridge, and this is the only spot to get them so close. From here, you can see how the bridge actually has a bit of a rise in it that you don't notice from far away, or when you're on it.

This is the pit where they used to blow things up. We couldn't get inside of it, and Dan was sad.

This is one of the buildings that has recently been renovated, you can tell from the non moldy paint on the exterior. I couldn't get over the fact that they installed the chest high phallic looking artillery shells on either side of the entrance. For serious?

We completely missed this cemetery when we drove in, but had to stop and take pictures once we finally noticed it. Clearly, the similarities to Arlington Cemetery are obvious, but this is much more secluded.

Walk Stats:1.8 miles, 70 minutes

Coming next: My dad as a guest blogger!