Broccoli & Apple Quick Slaw

My life has felt pretty full lately.
On one hand, it is wonderful. I’ve been working hard doing the things I love to do. I pretty much get to take pictures for a living. I get to put words to paper. I get to meet lots of new people and forge new connections. I get to use my hands to create things. I also get the chance to come here and chat with you and share my unbridled enthusiasm about smoothies and shoving things in a crock pot. Chatting with you is one of my favorite things. I feel pretty darn lucky.
On the other hand…
The dishes occasionally get piled a little higher than I would like. The number of emails in my inbox seem to be staring at me funny. The mountain of laundry is intimidating and something I would rather nap in than fully tackle. I have a brand new David Sedaris book that seems to be stuck in rabbit ears around page 12. The amount of scrap paper and weird Amazon packaging that seems to have accumulated in my office could be considered light hoarding. Seriously, as I type this, I am sitting in close proximity to: Magazines, duct tape, three cardboard boxes, poster board, a water color painting of  Justin Bieber as a polar bear, scotch tape, unsorted mail, and about three different camera bags that look like they have all exploded. This is real life.
I am sure you get this. Maybe you’re sitting around less debris. I should really get rid of these boxes. It’s another level. […]

Strawberry, Honey & Lime Spritzer

Sometimes, I can be a little dramatic. I’m not proud of this. It just happens.

My Italian side decides to flip a switch, and the drama starts coming out of my pores. It’s like watching a train wreck.

Let me give you an example:

Yesterday I woke up in one of those moods where everything – and I really mean everything – made me feel like I was going to lose my mind. I woke up, rolled out of bed, and seemed to be on a certain path of  emotional self-destruction. We’re not talking about big and terrible events that sent me into dramatic upheaval, but instead, basic things.

I made myself eggs. I wanted to put salsa on my eggs. I love salsa on my eggs. I opened the fridge. I couldn’t find the salsa. I almost cried…over salsa. This is never a good sign. Big, glaring red flag. […]

How To Make Coconut Butter

So, butter.

We have a history.

This weekend I was hanging out with my family, and these words were inevitably spoken to me:

“Hey, Gina! Remember how you used to sneak into the fridge and leave finger prints in the butter container?”

Yes. Yes I do. It went something like this…

I would wait until no one was in my grandparent’s kitchen. I would sneak over to the fridge and pray that the large tub of Country Crock was within my stubby-four-year-old-arm’s reach. If it was, I would sneakily remove it from its place in the fridge and bring it over to the kitchen table. Silently, I would remove the top off of the tub of butter. Eureka! I would dip my fat little fingers inside of the container and eat the butter off my hands. Carefully, I would put the top back on the container and make sure to place it back where I found it in the refrigerator. My four-year old self did not understand that I had left substantial evidence of my shenanigans behind. There were little finger divots and prints left in the butter tub. I was the only four-year-old that frequented that house. I was caught red-handed. Several times. I will also NEVER live this down. […]

Stay Cool

I am trying to take a tip from this cheetah in stunner shades. It’s just not always that easy.
Let me just give you a quick recap of my Monday:
Wake up. The water heater is leaking. Husband takes car in to be serviced. I decide to do laundry. The laundry machine fails to work and starts beeping. It shuts down and locks our bed-sheets inside.  The guy comes to fix the water heater. The dog and the cat decide this is a great moment to start fighting. This is not the normal cat hits dog in face and dog gets annoyed, but rather the cartoon-y dust cloud kind of ruckus  I try to break it up. Chaos. It doesn’t work. I decide to let them hash it out and try to liberate my bed sheets from the locked up washing machine. I press a lot of buttons. I shake it a little. I finally get it to start going again. I go into the kitchen to wash some dishes and promptly realize that the water has been shut off due to the water heater situation.
Stay cool. […]