Great new music finds

I find I go through stages of wanting and finding new music and periods where I'm overloaded with too much. Well, lately I've been excited about finding some great stuff. Here is what I'm listening to now. The Civil Wars album is on sale for $3.99 digital download on Amazon today. Buy it!

 

Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi - Rome

The Civil Wars - Barton Hollow

Eddie Vedder - Ukulele Songs

 

Foo Fighters - Wasting Light

I got to see them last weekend at the Hangout Music Festival in Gulf Shores, AL. It was an amazing show!!! I love Dave Grohl. We even had a fish named after him :) Here's a pic of Pinky and I from the festival, right before the show.

I'm also excited about the new My Morning Jacket album. Getting it today. We saw them as well at the festival and as usual they were incredible.

It was SO packed there this year compared to last year, their first year holding the festival. I so enjoyed the music this year, but the crowds were just too much. 5000 last year, 35,000 this year in the SAME amount of space. Too much Hangout Fest people. You gotta figure that out for next year because a festival on the beach is an amazing idea, but it needs to be more well-organized. We had a blast though regardless and are making a trip there an annual thing. Whether we go to the festival again is TBD, but we have such fun with our great friends down there hanging on the beach and eating TONS of fresh seafood. I can't even count the number of raw oysters I had. YUMMMMMMM.

Well, I'm off to pack some more. It's getting REALLY close to move day. We think it will be June 22nd but are waiting to hear a confirmation from the moving company. Btw, I have a lot of STUFF. I can't seem to pair it down as much as I want. I tell myself it's because I'm an artist/creative person...I need all of this stuff for inspiration, right? ♥♥♥♥♥

Porcelaine Paint Markers & the Hangout Fest

I recently discovered this lovely blog, AestheticOutburst. She hipped me to Pebeo Porcelaine Paint markers for writing and drawing on ceramic, porcelain, glass, and metal. I LOVE her teapot.

You can buy the markers from dickblick.com. So fun! I really want to try these.

But maybe after the move.

We are getting closer and closer to the big day. We are hoping and hoping that the rental house we have an application on goes through today. It is a seriously trying process to find a good home rental in Portland when you live far away. Rental companies have not been the easiest to work with and are not good at responding to calls or emails. Frustrating! Isn't that their main job?? Anyhoo, this rental company finally responded, we were the first to get our application and deposit in and we LOVE the house. I will post pictures as soon as we know it's final. Just waiting for them to approve our application and do the credit/background checks. I hope all the paper work goes through without a hitch. This would be the relief I need! Finding a place will make it so much easier to picture ourselves out there. I have been a ball of stress lately over it all! That's why I've left the hunting up to my lovely and capable husband.

We're getting excited though to start on our new adventure. It's only just now starting to feel real. We were fortunate to find renters for our house this week as well. Thank goodness! Now it comes down to all the details. I'm much better at the details than I am at the big stressful parts :) I've numbered all of my boxes I've packed and made a list on the computer of what is in each one. SUPER helpful and I thank Real Simple magazine for the idea.

More on the big move later. We're off to Hangout Music Festival tomorrow! It starts next weekend, but we get a nice week at the beach before it starts. Thanks to our friends the Sloane's and their generosity! (They have a house down there where we get to crash!) I am hoping to hear about the house soon so I can really relax on the beach with a cold drink. Yay! More to come soon about all this craziness, but now I'm off to pack my swimsuits :) xoxo

Healthy, yummy Dijon dressing

Dijon dressing for blog, a photo by elletrain on Flickr.

I've recently been interested in making more of my own condiments and dressings at home. I had just never thought of it before, but it's likely you have most of the ingredients you need for many of the recipes. I made BBQ sauce a few weeks ago and have been making various salad dressings for a while now. It's great to know what is going in your sauces...you can actually pronounce all of the ingredients!

My newest favorite is one we had for lunch today. It's a simple Dijon dressing that is a healthy choice for a lovely salad. I found this recipe online somewhere, but I've change it slightly:

Dijon Dressing

3 tbsp of Dijon mustard (any kind)
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 c water
2 tsp lemon juice (i wish I had fresh lemons, but today we were out)
2 dashes of garlic powder
salt & pepper to taste

Mix ingredients in a leftover jar or lidded cup and just shake shake shake! You can adjust the salt or acid after tasting if you'd like.

Today my husband made a lovely salad with greens, mushrooms, tomatoes and rotisserie chicken. I wish I had taken a photo of that too, but I ate it too fast. :)

This dressing was great on it! It is much healthier than some other options because it has very little oil, no cheese, and no milk or cream. You get a nice 'bite' from the Dijon and even my friend who doesn't care for mustard likes this dressing! It's a nice break from the oil and vinegar I usually put on my salads, and it's a little more interesting! I hope you'll try it!

My next project

Happy Friday! Today included a trip to my LYS, Bliss Yarns, for their monthly double-stamp day. It's the first Friday of every month and you get 2 stamps for every $20 spent, instead of 1! Fun!

So, we're heading to the beach next weekend (yay!!) and I needed a good project to work on. I decided upon this lovely for our new home (wherever it may be!! Still searching for rentals in Portland).

 Isn't it great! I am making it in the same color as they've used here (of course, it's my favorite!) I have quite a few vases and accessories that will tie this color in to the rest of whatever room I put it in. The pattern is from Classic Elite Yarns Spring 2011 book called "Home Sweet Home." The pattern is Lacy Valance and calls for 3 skeins of their Firefly linen blend yarn. I'm excited to do this because I've always wanted to make a knitted or crocheted curtain for my home. With the yarn being a blend of linen it will be a good beach knitting project. Lightweight and not too heavy or too large of an item.

What are you knitting this spring? I'd love to know!

exactly that.

I'm adopting this quote for the summer ahead:


"what is the feeling when you’re driving away from people, and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing? -it’s the too huge world vaulting us, and it’s good-bye. but we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies.”

- jack kerouac