Blueberry crumble

My Mom just gave me two huge bins of blueberries (Thanks Mom!) that being said there are a whole lot of blueberry recipes being made at my house right now. This one is especially good, Blueberry Crumble you can get the recipe HERE I love baking them, the whole apartment smells like fresh berries! ~ LOVE ~ I know I have said it time and time again but I cannot wait until fall-time I am already getting excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas baking projects... for now I guess I should finish my giant tubs of blueberries. Stay tuned for more baked goods. 

oh and try this! ....

Demonstration Garden Walk

Paul and I took a walk to the Master Gardeners Demonstration Garden in Bellevue today. I guess we wanted to get some inspiration for our little patio garden and future gardens to come. You can check out the Demonstration Garden HERE plus there are pictures of the pretty flowers below, I love the white and purple one it looks like paint was splatterd on it. I decided to go with a bohemian look >>> I guess that fits the garden theme right? I definatly need to find some more head wraps. 

Hope you enjoy the flowers and I can't wait until we have pumpkins and sunflowers to show off this fall!

christmas blueberry jam

So I have totally been thinking about fall-time and Christmas a lot lately! In that I am super excited for brisk cold air and pumpkin spice latte's. What can I say I like to plan ahead. This summer I learned how to make jam (the hard kind not freezer jam) and I made a bunch so if you are family members you will probly get a jar from me. If you survive then well this can be the start of a new tradition. Really, making jam is not that hard if you want to try for yourself just follow the directions below. Oh and if your looking for a great place to get blueberry's check out my post from last year >>> Larsen Lake Blueberry Farm. 

Directions:

1 Thaw and drain blueberries.
2 Crush blueberries one layer at a time.
3 Combine 3 cups crushed blueberries and lemon juice in a large saucepot.
4 Stir in Fruit Jell pectin.
5 Bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly.
6 Add sugar, stirring to dissolve.
7 Return mixture to a rolling boil.
8 Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly.
9 Remove from heat.
10 Skim foam if necessary.
11 Preserve It...
12 Ladle hot jam into hot "Ball" 8-oz jelly jar to 1/4 inch below rim.
13 Wipe jar rim clean.
14 Place lid on jar and tighten band, just until a point of resistance is met.
15 Process 10 minutes in a boiling-water canner.
16 Cool for 12 to 24 hours.
17 Remove bands.
18 Lids should be concave in middle.
19 Yield: About 6 half pints.

horse people

A little while back I did some photography of my parents and our horse Graf Top II it was really fun and I think they turned out ok for being a ameture photographer. 

quick sketches

I have been sketching alot lately getting prepared for a drawing class I am teaching in the fall... here are a few farm animals I used for my class poster.

dream forward

You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.
~C.S. Lewis

I guess I have made up my mind that after I finish my Masters I want to go back to Hawaii... maybe for good! (just kidding) I really miss the warm tropical island and I cannot wait to get back over there... 2014 cannot come soon enough!

L.A. and The Daytime Emmy's

Paul and I packed up and headed down to L.A. on Friday June 14th... Why were we going? Because Paul was invited to the 40th Annual Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Awards he was nominated for Outstanding Sound Editing in Live Action. I had an absolute blast accompanying him to the ceremony. Although, I do not know much about sound it was thrilling to be at the awards and see people honored for the hard work they put into the TV Shows we enjoy so much.

What are we wearing?... Vera Wang and Adrianna Papell 

We stayed at The Standard Downtown L.A. and I have to admit it was a pretty fun/quirky hotel... Why do I say quirky we'll as you can see in the picture below our room had a perfectly clear glass wall looking into the bathroom, which I guess was ok for a married couple but I would imagine it being a little interesting for anyone else. (Interesting in a not so fun sense)

After the Emmy's we went to the roof top of the Standard, which was absolutely beautiful... Below is a picture of myself and my handsome date by the rooftop pool.

The next day, Paul and I were able to explore L.A. just a little which was also really fun! We were able to use our NARM Cards to get into MOCA for Free (I'm telling you if you don't have this membership you should come see me at the Bellevue Arts Museum to purchase one >>> hint hint ; ) >>> AH I love Art Museums so much and MOCA had some really great works from Rauschenberg to Miro annnnnd this really crazy exhibit by Urs Fischer who basically cut through entire walls of the museum, dropped boulders all around the gallery's and built things like a giant house made out of bread (yes I went inside) and hung rain drops from the ceiling.

We had a wonderful time! I guess overall California is growing on me, Paul might actually be able to get me to move there one day afterall.