New Cards: Flowery Easter and Mother's Day

Have you seen the new cards in the shop? :)

I guess another benefit of losing my job is that I have plenty of time to be creative and design new cards.... although I guess if I'm going to hike the PCT I'll need to close my shop for a while. Which is a bummer because Mother's and Father's Day are coming up soon.

Maybe I can convince someone to run it in my absence. The trick is to find someone who is as obsessive about the details as I am. (I know, I know... no such person exists, right?? Ha!)

In the meantime... pick up those Mother's Day/Father's Day cards in case the shop closes next month!

Opportunities

Thanks to everyone for giving me a week off blogging. I needed some time to get my life in order before focusing again on things to come.

For those of you who were curious, due to some unexpected management restructuring, I lost my job last week. It was a very rough few days as I hit full-out panic mode and wondered how I was going to get through the next few months without a source of income. There was a lot of distraught crying involved, worst-case scenario paranoia, and some serious lows in personal self-esteem, all of which I imagine are pretty normal for people who have lost something so central to their lives.

But after the panic subsided, I had a chance to look at the silver lining, and thanks to some severance and wise advice in the past from Suze Orman, I've ultimately decided that things aren't as bad as they could be. In fact, I have begun to think of my newly acquired free time as an opportunity to reassess some life decisions and decide what I want to do with my life.

Isn't that the trickiest question there is? My generation in particular, as we reach this quarter-life-crisis time in our lives, can find it particularly difficult. Our parents generation, after all, had a much different life plan than we do. They finished school, often got married young (ish), started a family, started a career, and created life therein. I know so many older adults who have been in the same career path for 30-40-50 years, watching their family grow up while moving steadily toward retirement. Stability. A house, a family, a steady paycheck.

It's a daunting act to follow. Because things just aren't like that anymore. It seems people job-hop much more frequently these days - career paths change, job markets change, people change.

In grade school we were asked:
what do you want to be when you grow up?

In high school we were asked,
what do you want to major in?

In college we were asked,
what career path do you want to pursue?

But what if there isn't just one answer? What if the ten year old kid who says,
I want to be an astronaut, and a fireman, and a doctor can be all of those things? What if the high schooler who likes her art classes as much as algebra doesn't have to choose between them? What if the college student who majors in architectural design suddenly decides he wants to pursue a job in business management?

Why does our society push us so hard to pick one career path? Suddenly that ten year old kid with four dreams is forced to abandon three of them. Until, perhaps, he loses his job. Or life takes a unexpected turn. Or he decides he's not content with spending 40 years at the same company.

I have never really known what I want to do with my life. Or perhaps I've just had too many things I've wanted to do, and society makes me choose between them. But I don't want to be categorized. I don't like the question, what do you do for a living?

Rather, what don't I do? I didn't go to school to be a doctor, or an engineer, or even a designer. I didn't pick one predetermined path. I enjoy being a jack of all trades, master of none, even if it is frustrating sometimes.

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When I was in grade school I wanted to be an author and illustrator of children's books. I picked up reading and writing very quickly as a child and spent every day journaling, writing stories, reading books, and drawing. I won several writing awards as a kid, got placed in special enrichment classes, got published in different local books and articles, and was the study of a college thesis on my aptitude for word comprehension as a kindergartner.

When I was in high school I wanted to be an astronomer or a marine biologist. I taught myself the names of the constellations and stars, studied biology and marine sciences in my free time, applied to participate in a two-week canoe trip to the Boundary Waters to paddle and portage through 100 miles of wilderness, and considered taking up an internship as a dolphin trainer at the Chicago aquarium.

I majored in physics my first two years of college so that I could be a cosmologist. I was told point-blank by my professors that my math SAT scores weren't high enough to be in the physics major and that I should consider a different field. I refused to switch and proceeded to ace every one of my math and science classes that year.

After two years I grew so frustrated with the rigidity of the physics program that I switched to theatrical design for the rest of my college career. I was tired of people telling me how to be a woman in a man's career, so I started stage managing shows and volunteering in the local carpentry shop building sets. Pretty soon I was more competent with a chop saw and a screwgun than most of the other volunteers, and they offered me a job. I worked there for four years, always covered in sawdust and paint, and loved every minute.

Since college I have worked in freelance theatrical design, as a carpenter and set painter, as a stage manager, as a lighting designer and stage hand. I have worked in the outdoor field, and in teaching, and retail, and business management, and non-profit enterprises.

Every six months or so I get bored with whatever I'm doing and need to learn something new. I once left my job to work as a deckhand on a 140' tall ship for six months. I took up yoga for a while. I enrolled myself in guitar classes. I took up skiing to perfect the art. I joined a sailing club and became a competent racer in two years - I helped win second place in the national Buccaneer regatta. I took evening art classes. I re-taught myself basic French. I've traveled to almost all 50 states and six different countries. I started backpacking every month and have hiked most sections of the Appalachian Trail in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. I started writing a blog. I opened my own Etsy site and business last year making greeting cards. I moved 3,000 across the country to a place I had never been.

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The funny thing is - I'm terrified of most of these things. I'm a walking dichotomy: I'm scared of heights but I've spent most of my careers at the top of one thing or another: 30 foot ladders, 100 foot sailing masts, 7,000 foot mountain cliffs. I'm a nervous wreck about big changes but I make big changes to my life every year or so. I hate physics but I love astronomy. I'm petrified of rollercoasters but I love skiing at top speed. I struggle with math but I love solving mathematical puzzles. I love science and art. I'm OCD about being dirty/messy/unorganized but I love camping and working in shops. I get horribly seasick, but I love sailing. I hate the beach but I love the ocean.

I feel like I spend most of my life overcoming one fear or the other. I'm essentially the most introverted, obsessive compulsive, non-risk Adventurer there is. Is that even a thing?

Anyway, I didn't really mean to ramble on this much about my own personal evaluation of my life. The point I wanted to make is that every change in my life (warranted or not) has always led to something amazing. And this particular job layoff merely points me in a new direction and opens my life up to some new possibilities. In the past it has led me on some grand adventures, and now it leads me on another: next month I'm going to hike the 2,650 mile Pacific Crest Trail.

More to come!

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White Chocolate Biscoff Blondies

I have deemed this recipe the most amazing thing I have ever baked.
And it only takes ten minutes to prepare.
So easy.
Soooo dangerous.

Originally when I saw the recipe, I thought, "oh, only a half stick of butter. That's not so bad!"
But then I realized the recipe only makes 12 blondies.
And I ate them all in one sitting.
So.... bad.

But soooo good.

The recipe also incorporates my new favorite obsession: cookie butter. (Or biscoff spread, whatever you want to call it.) You can find it at Trader Joe's, and it is like the crispy, salty/sweet awesome version of Nutella. But Biscoff cookie flavored. And the "crunchy" version has actual pieces of Biscoff cookies in it. Mmmmmmm.

I think Cookie Butter is an obsession that is currently taking Pinterest recipes by storm, since every girl I know seems to already own/eat this stuff from a jar with a spoon. (I'm looking at you, Elizabeth.)

In fact, when Tanner stopped by Trader Joes to pick me up a jar, he asked where to find it and the cashier said, "oh, yeah. Girlfriend sent you, huh?"
They must get that a lot.

But I digress. I know you want to delve into the awesomeness and eat a whole plate for yourself, so here it is! (I treated myself after 10pm, I might add... totally worth it.)

{white chocolate biscoff blondies}

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup Biscoff Spread/Cookie Butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8x8 baking pan with tin foil sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

Place butter in a microwaveable bowl and microwave until butter is melted (about 30 seconds). Add the 3/4 cup of white chocolate chips to the butter, and stir until smooth. Reheat if necessary to melt the white chocolate chips.

Place flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt into a large mixing bowl. Stir to combine. Stir in butter/chocolate mixture, the 1/2 cup white chocolate chips, eggs, and biscoff spread. Stir until combined.

Transfer to prepared baking dish, spreading evenly. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Here is my obligatory warning about baking times: I have an overly hot oven, so I set my timer for 20 minutes. At 17 minutes the edges were turning golden brown, so I pulled the blondies out. They were crispy around the outside and perfectly soft and spongy on the inside. If you like your blondies softer, lessen your baking time. If you like them crisp and crunchy (more like a cookie) then bake them longer. If you have a temperamental oven like I do, keep a close eye on the edges and take them out when they're golden brown.

Cut into squares and serve warm or chilled. Try not to eat them all at once. (I dare you.) YUM!

Birthday Festivities and Frivolity

My 29th birthday was on Tuesday. (No old jokes, please.)

For this festive occasion, my friends and I planned to go out to dinner at one of Portland's best restaurants, Andina. And being that Portland is a foodie city with tons of top notch restaurants (seriously. I could live here and do nothing but eat at amazing local eateries all day... not to mention the food carts...) it means something when everyone I talk to raves about the food at Andina.

But before our fancy-times dinner party, I wanted to go on a birthday hike in the Gorge. It has been ages since I've been hiking, and I've been missing it... the Gorge is one of those places where even on a gross, rainy day, it is something magical. Fortunately for us, it was a gross, rainy day!

But I jest. This winter has actually been something of a God-send, as we have had an unprecedented number of sunny and mild days this year and a good amount of snow on the mountain. Last year I remember being in a severe state of depression around the February-March time period, slinking through my days on low doses of Vitamin D.

This year, I've seen sunshine more often than I like to admit (shhh... don't call attention to it or it might go away again!) but after a week of sunshine, March 5 happened to be a typical rainy spring day again.

We got up early and went to brunch before striking out into the Columbia Gorge. It was raining the whole drive there, but cleared up by the time we started hiking, leaving behind a cool, misty breeze. It was a pleasant and short jaunt through the mossy trees, our walk taking us past the strikingly beautiful Elowah Falls and Upper McCord Creek Falls.

Since the hike was fairly short, we still had time leftover when we got back to our car. The boys wanted to take a nap, so they stayed in the car, but Elizabeth and I walked the short loop around Latourell Falls and returned back by lunchtime.

We went to a local burger spot called Burgerville for lunch, one of our favorite post-hike rituals, and then had exactly an hour and a half to go home and change before dinner. We cleaned up, dressed up, and drove into the fancier part of downtown Portland - the Pearl district - to the Peruvian restaurant Andina. The dishes (though pricey) were delicious, beautifully presented, and incredibly flavorful. Two more of our friends met us for dinner and we enjoyed good conversation while passing around bites of our dishes.

Afterward there was a suggestion for dessert, so went to a small ice cream parlor a few blocks away from Andina called Salt and Straw.

The ice creams are all made in house with real ingredients and the true draw of the establishment is its unique array of eclectic flavors. In fact, we were all so delighted by them that there were constant pleas of "can I try that one?" before we could narrow it down to just one scoop. Seasonal flavors come and go, so no experience is ever quite the same there. On a rainy March Tuesday evening at 9:00 pm, Salt and Straw was packed with customers and the menu consisted of:

Sea salt with caramel
Almond brittle with salted ganache
Freckled woodblock chocolate
Chocolate gooey brownie
Orbequina olive oil
Coffee and bourbon
Cinnamon snickerdoodle
Strawberry honey balsamic and black pepper
Pear with blue cheese
Lumberjack stack (maple syrup with blueberry pancakes)
Spicy banana with walnut
Rose City riot (rosewater, saffron and pistachios)
Chocolate meyer lemon sorbet

Apparently the most famous flavor is the Olive Oil, which sounds ridiculously horrible but actually tastes pretty cool. My taste buds couldn't handle a whole scoop of it, though, so I ultimately decided on the pear with blue cheese. (Which also sounds like it would be horrible, but the combo of sweet pear and tangy cheese is absolutely divine.) It was a tough decision - the close runner up was the spicy banana and walnut (which had cayenne pepper in it) and the lumberjack stack.

After all the great foodie delights we had today, it's no wonder that when you ask a local Oregonian, "what is there to do in Portland?"  inevitably the answer is: "oh, you just have to eat here ... and here... and have you been here yet?...."