Day 247: Tour Success!

Blue skies and the open road. 

Tour de Lopez happened today, and it was great! 

I think I blew my nose 1,000 times. 

More on the Tour later - 

I need to get a few photos from Kate to complete the "story". 

Day 246: noooooo

Dean is helping me get my clothes ready for Tour de Lopez tomorrow, 

but the going is rough thanks to this cold I caught all of a sudden. 
I hope it wasn't that gusher I ate after it fell on the track at yesterday's meet... 

I felt fine going to bed but woke up in the 

middle of the night with a horrible sore throat. 

I went to work anyway and by the end of 4th period I was a mess. 

Huge thank you to Barb for forcing me to leave 

and for the two teachers who gave up their planning period 

to teach my hooligans for the last two classes.  

I slept for about 5 hours when I got home, 

but my throat kept waking me up. 

Now the sore throat is fading and the cold is moving into my head, 

so I'm still going to attempt the bike tour. 

It only happens once a year, I already paid for it, 

and it's supposed to be sunny. 

Hoping I feel better in the morning! 

Flashback Friday: Tour de Lopez

Tomorrow is Tour de Lopez! 

This is an annual bike tour on Lopez Island. 

Kate and I are going for a second year, 

and we're really hoping it doesn't rain! 

Today's Flashback Friday 

is all about the tour last year. 

Here we are in Anacortes will all of our camping gear. 

 On the ferry to Lopez Island

 Scenes along the route. So pretty!

 Fun route markers and the open road. 

A pitstop at  Lopez Island Vineyards 

as we headed back toward the campground. 

My water bottle cage came in handy...

Our campsite right on the beach. 

Last year was cold but we mostly avoided the rain 

and spent a lovely afternoon drinking wine on the beach! 

Day 245: Pokemon party?

 Every month we get to have a celebration day in homeroom. 

This month my kids asked if they could have a Pokemon party. 

I said yes not knowing what that really meant... 

Turns out my kids are a bunch of nerds! Love them. 

 These games all belong to one kid... 

Someone brought a Pikachu... 
they crack me up :)

10 Things I Love

Here it is...
10 Things I Love this week! 

1. Gorgeous wallpaper. 
It's expensive, but it would be fun to do one wall. 
Image here, wallpaper sold here. 

2. A bachelorette party camping trip. 
Genius! Awesome photos here, go check them out. 

3. Libraries. This is the one at Western. 



4. This perfect aqua pyrex collection found here. 
I think if I spotted these at an estate sale 
I would punch someone in the face who tried to snag them before me. 

5. This setup would be kind of perfect in my apartment... 

6. These sandals in this color! 
If only Urban Outfitters made shoes in my size...sad. 

7. Zoe Muth's new album, "Starlight Hotel" 
You can listen to clips on her website here! 
My favorite is "Before the Night is Gone". 

8. Dreamcatcher DIY by Lune Vintage. 
Anyone want to have a dreamcatcher-making-party? 

9. The cutest picture ever!!! source

10. This book looks brilliant. Anyone have it? 


What's your favorite? 

Day 244: libraries

After work today, Barb, Jackie, Emily and I 

had a "team meeting" (happy hour). 

By the time I started home traffic was terrrrible. 

So I stopped off at the Bellevue library 

and worked on grading some lab reports. 

I was reminded of how much I love libraries! 

The little study rooms, getting lost in the shelves, 

working in a cubby so I can't people watch. 

I started to really miss Western's library, 

where I used to go to get work done in college. 

I would choose a random floor and get as lost as possible, 

or spend the night in the basement computer lab busting out last minute papers.  

I also remember reviewing in the study rooms and writing on the chalkboard. 

Wish I could remember what I was reviewing... 

Cedar Butte

It's Wilderness Wednesday and I actually went hiking this time! 

Saturday was a perfectly gorgeous day in Seattle, and the local trails were packed. 

Emily, Barb and I hiked Cedar Butte. 

Close to Rattlesnake Ledge but not nearly as popular, 

and thus much more enjoyable on a sunny Saturday. 

 The hike is just two miles up. 

Perfect for trying to get back into hiking shape. 

 

My favorite photo of the day. 

 View from the top! 

 "Ceder Butt"? Someone can't spell. 

 The gals. 

 Llamas on the trail. Because that's normal... 

Check here for details. 

P.S. I told my students I went hiking and they wanted to know where. 

When I told them the name of the hike, they were blown away 

by the word "Butte" and the fact that no, it's not the same word as "butt". 

Oh, 8th grade, I love you. 

Day 243: book club barbecue

This month's book club meeting had a 

barbecue theme to fit with our book, The Slap. 

I made the above pesto potato and green bean salad. 

 Lydia hosted. Here she is grillin' up some veggies. 

She also made chicken with her own homemade balsamic barbecue sauce. 

I don't eat chicken so I can't give a review, but I hear it's amazing. 

 Here's Kelly boozin' it up while we waited for the rest of the girls to arrive. 

Also in the background you can see the amazing 

strawberry rhubarb pie she made. 

And this is Junior, Lydia's cat, who is a total sweetheart. 

Speaking of cats, when I got home Dean decided 

to sneak out the door not once but twice. 

I had a blast chasing him around the yard, 

up a tree, under my neighbors porch, etc. 

Also I spotted a racoon that was really into my vegetable garden. 

Pretty exciting evening... 

And I just found more twigs in my hair. Lovely. 

Champagne Cupcakes (gluten free!) with Champagne Frosting

Today's Recipe Tuesday is for my gluten-free gal pals (or guy pals): 

Champagne Cupcakes (gluten free) 

with Champagne Frosting

(yummmm)

This is the second year I've baked these cupcakes 

for a bridal shower for a gluten free bride. 

I first made them for Alysn last May, but that was pre-blog. 

You may remember them recently from Stacy's shower, 

where I made the cupcake toppers. 

Well, here's the recipe! 

Adapted from this one. 

***xanthum gum not pictured because I completely forgot about it. 

I had to run out and buy some after taking this photo! 

Ingredients for 24 cupcakes: 

3 c. gluten free flour mix (I love Bobs Red Mill brand)) 

1/2 t. salt

3 t. baking powder

1 t. xanthum gum

2 c. sugar

4 eggs at room temperature 

1 c. vegetable oil 

1 c. champagne (cheap, freshly opened, and at room temp) 

2 T. milk 

1 t. vanilla 

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 and 

place paper liners in 2 pans (for 24 cupcakes). 

Step 2: Stir together flour, salt, baking powder 

and xanthum gum in a medium-sized bowl. 

Step 3: Beat sugar and eggs for about a minute in an electric mixer. 

Gently stir in oil, champagne, milk, and vanilla. 

Step 4: Add the dry ingredients to the wet 

and beat for one minute on medium speed. 

Step 5: Divide batter between liners, filling each about 3/4 full. 

Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

Step 6: Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes, then remove 

and allow to cool completely before frosting. 

Ingredients for frosting: 

3 1/4 c. powdered sugar 

1 c. butter (at room temp) 

1/2 t. vanilla 

5 T. champagne 

Step 1: Beat butter and sugar together in an electric mixer 

until well blended. Mix on medium for another two minutes. 

Step 2: Add the vanilla and champagne and beat for another minute. 

Step 3: Pipe the frosting onto your cupcakes. 

This is a truly delicious, lightweight frosting. 

I would use this recipe on any cupcake, gluten free or gluten-tastic! 

P.S. If you were at Stacy's shower and noticed the cupcakes were a bit crumbly, 

I just had an epiphany while writing this. I was working off the original 

slightly different recipe and doubling it, and I forgot to double the eggs! 

Silly me. Normally they are perfection, I promise ;) 

Lykke Li

Happy Music Monday! 

source

Today I have to share my obsession with Lykke Li. 
Yet another Swedish artist to add to my list! 
She released a new album, Wounded Rhymes, in March. 
I've had it on repeat a lot lately. 
My absolute favorite song on the album is this one: 

I also love this one: 



That first song was actually featured on Glee last week! 
What do you think? 

Day 242: honeys I'm home

Excuse the dirty window...but how cute are my cats? 

Every time I park out front I see them in the window waiting. 

They are always soooo happy to see me. 

It makes me wish I didn't have to go to work at all! 

Day 241: Easter dinner

 We did a family dinner since it was a holiday and all. 

Here's my dad making his delicious crabcakes. 

For our main course we had this cod my dad makes. Yum. 

And veggies, also yum! 

I made strawberry shortcake for dessert. 

Other festivities today involved laundry and dishes. 

How did you celebrate? 

Suitcases in Action

Sadly I don't have any new finds for this weekend's 

Sale and Salvage post, 

but I thought I'd share how I'm using a couple 

of my suitcases from my growing collection: 

Suitcase Cat Perch! 

Dean was a great model this morning. 

As soon as I open the blinds in the morning, 

the cats are all about the suitcases. 


Here are some other great ideas:

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In the future I will be featuring more ways 

I'm using my finds around the house for 

Sale and Salvage Saturday/Sunday posts. 

Stay tuned!