Day 31: Where You Relax

Day 30: Toy

Late posting this. We got a puppy yesterday (as you guys already know thanks to my exuberant FB posts). This is part of the rope chew toy Nevan picked out for him. And yes, I've since realized you're not supposed to put soft bedding in the crate while training. Poor Fuji, he just wants a soft place to lay down.

Day 27: Your Name

I used to write my name or draw pictures in the blank pages in all my books. Of the few books remaining, this was one of my favorites - "Stand Back," Said The Elephant, "I'm Going To Sneeze". It's now Nevan's. It makes me smile when I see it, and so I encourage Nevan to do the same in his books as well :)

Day 26: Key

I try to keep it simple. An amulet I picked up in Thailand to keep me safe (no, I don't really believe in amulets, but that doesn't mean I can't give it a try!), a Mongolian brass bell to bring me good luck (from my SIL, as she lived there for a while), and a Hello Kitty to make me smile.

Day 25: Breakfast

I am not a breakfast person as in I don't normally have much of an appetite in the morning... however, I love breakfast foods. This morning I decided to have breakfast for the sake of our photo challenge. I seriously need to go grocery shopping, so Nevan and I had some strawberries, sourdough toast with red currant jelly, and my usual cup of PG Tips with milk and raw sugar. All foods that make me feel good, physically and emotionally. 

Real sourdough, something that is rare even in SoCal (ex: my friend's parents in Santa Barbara even have him ship them the real stuff every so often out of sheer homesickness for it), is one of the few foods I miss intensely whenever I'm not home, and is one of the best breads in the world (and the most annoying to make).

Day 24: An Animal...

...trying to find warmth.

Day 23: Moon

Day 21: Delicious

Drumstick and Mad Men. So much for any calories I burned off on my walk today.

Day 20: Before & After

Sometimes I think magic must exist when a person can take humble beginnings like these:

... and make it into a delicious sun-dried tomato parmesan gnocchi casserole. Served with a garlic chili tomato sauce on the side, and a big helping of salad.

New recipe win. It's from my Heidi Swanson cookbook, Super Natural Cooking, but I found someone who blogged it here in case you're interested. It's sort of half polenta, half gnocchi/dumpling. Plain by itself like gnocchi normally is, its flavor blooms when combining its outside parmesan crust and pillowy inside texture with the acidity of the tomato sauce. I halved the sun-dried tomato quantity and cut back on the chili in the sauce, and it came out great. Next time, a few fried sage leaves on top will make it perfect.

Day 19: Funny

Nevan is home sick and I'm not feeling great either, so it hasn't been a funny kind of day. As my funny stand-in, here is my fridge magnet.

Day 18: Corner of Your Home

We won't be home until late, so doing this one early. Family of snowy shoes drying in front of the corner fireplace.

Day 17: Green

Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Day 15: Car

I was sitting at a light tonight (behind a car just like mine, coincidentally). Who can look at cars with a sunset like that? Storms make for beautiful sunsets.

Day 14: Clouds

I couldn't get a picture I liked, so here are the two best of the worst. I tried to blur the top one to make it look a little like a model train.

Day 13: A Sign

Of the yet unfinished massive model train set. 

Day 12: Fork

Dumb theme, even dumber photo. I'll do better tomorrow. The watermelon was good, though.

Day 11: Someone You Talked To Today

I was outside and noticed them basking on their window bed. Ruby holds entire conversations with me almost every day. They go like this:

Ruby: Meow!

Me (baby voice): Hi, Ruby Boobie! What do you want?

Ruby: Meow. Meeeeow.

Me: Are you hungry? Or do you need love? Timmy stuck in a well?

Ruby jumps in my lap and rubs her face on mine, then: Meoooow. Purr.

Me: Oh, it's love. I wuv you too.

Ruby: Meow.

She can have much longer conversations than that, but you can imagine how they go. She's very noisy. It's eerie to think about how smart she can be. Caesar, not so much. He is cute and cuddly though :)

Day 10: Loud

This '64 Chevy II has been passed down three generations to Dave, who is in the middle of [very slowly] rebuilding her. She may not look like much on the outside, but she's had her little ticker replaced with an I6 motor along with other upgraded bits and pieces. It's going to be loud and proud, and if Dave felt like being an immature ass, he'll be able to wheelie it. Let's hope he doesn't.

Day 9: Red

My freesias are beginning to bloom. 

Day 8: Window

Rode my bike to my friend's house and had lunch together and geeked out over plants. 

She really likes green.

Day 7: Something You Wore

It's cold.

Day 6: 5pm

I am in my bedroom.

Day 5: A Smile

Getting him to stand still and not make a ridiculous face was nearly impossible! Here's a bonus photo that shows what face he really wanted me to photograph:

Nice.

Day 4: Bedside

I detest clutter, so I keep all my things inside my bedside table (Dave's side is covered in stuff... drives me nuts). I'm still slowly working on my art shelf above the bed, mainly because nice framing is expensive, so it's all still up there in rolls and whatnot. All except my possum totem, that is, because I absolutely adore him.

And yes, he's crooked in the frame because he was just thrown in there... no matting or anything yet.

Day 3: The Hood

Cuz the boys in the hood are always hard

Come talkin' that trash and we'll pull your card

Know nothin' in life but to be legit

Don't quote me boy, I ain't said shit

Day 2: Fruit

With my homemade caprese w/ aioli sandwich for lunch today. Juicy!

Day 1: Up

Ceiling + Instagram = Art

I think I might do all of the challenges for this month in Instagram.