I'm Pregnant ... therefore eating is my friend...

Hey Everyone,

As you all probably know by now - I am Pregnant (just about 9 weeks right now - due September 24th, 2010 - and for those of you keeping track, yes that is THE DAY after Ryan's and I's 3rd wedding anniversary! Couldn't have done that on purpose if we tried, although we are hoping it will come early so our anniversary can remain "our" day.)

With all that in mind, I've been really trying to eat healthy, small portions as I've been told is best. It gets hard since I'm sick to my tummy a lot and not feeling any energy to put into feeding myself, but I've made some valiant efforts and I thought you all might be slightly curious what I'm eating!I started off eating pretty bland food, cause I was so sick to my stomach, here is the very un-elegant half of a Peanut Butter & Jelly and half a Banana. Not much to look at, but full of good things, whole wheat, protein, and fruit goodness! Sometimes I just can't handle even things this complicated so I'd go for a little:
Raisin bread and little Pineapple chunks in pineapple juice (No extra sugars, just good juice). Easy and still not too bad for me! As I started feeling better, or rather maybe the cause of feeling better - I started to branch out of the comfort bread and fruit routine and found that since I've gotten pregnant I suddenly like Cereal and Milk (2 things I never much cared for before... so I guess the rule is... don't be set in your ways... you never know what you might like... this should go for pregnant people and non-preggers alike!)

This is backed full of healthy goodness and sooo tasty - I used "Total" cereal, so it's got like practically all my prenatal vitamins in there! I love this breakfast, its easy, tasty and soo good for me and da-baby. :D

Then this morning I was craving something a bit more cozy so I went out on a limb and made this:
A nice 1/2 of an Everything bagel, 1/3 the fat cream cheese, a few little slices of tomato and a soft poached egg... with a nice side of super fresh crispy strawberries! OMG so indulgent yet not really that bad for me cause it has protein, dairy, veggies, grains, and fruit! Also made it for my step dad AL and he was totally into it. Next time I'm gonna add some steamed spinach... then it will be even better!

Dinner's are different every night mostly, sometimes we eat out cause I'm tired, but I've really tried to make an effort to make something. Sometimes its Turkey Tacos, or Turkey Spaghetti - both super crazy good if you haven't tried them. Sometimes its just a big salad. Last night I made this:
Some grilled herb chicken tenders, long grain wild rice and a nice little pile of fresh steamed spinach. This was a big hit as well, and really not hard to make. Also think of how good it is for you?

I eat other things of course too, but these are the items I thought would be accessible to most people and that I actually remembered to photograph.

I hope you enjoyed... and if any other pregnant mom's stumbled across this, I hope it gave you some ideas! Let me know if you have any questions or interested in any recipes (turkey goodness).

Thanks for reading!

xoxox,
Kela

The Joys Of Life

In this crazy world we live in, sometimes its the little things we must focus on... to realize just how wonderful the world is. I realize that I tend to focus on the negative, deciding to let them run my life. However today is not that kind of day. I've been watching Julie and Julia (Finally) and am stunned I didn't think to do what was done in this story. I've taken the last year off to do whatever I fancy... to find myself if you will... much like these women in the story... I know lots of people would view this as selfish or lazy... and of course it is... but it is also the most liberating, joyful experience of my life. I think that life is far too short not to follow your heart and do what feels right, as long as it doesn't negatively affect your life of course.

A few days ago I wrote down a list of things to accomplish for 2010... something I do every year... "New Years Resolutions" if you please. Most of the bullet points were generic - loose weight *and keep it off this time, try to be more patient and caring. Then I found myself writing down something I was surprised about - "keep a journal again". When I was younger... I wrote so much... I could barely take my eyes off the page... I'd right upwards to 10 pages a day and it never seemed like enough. Then... about 8-9 years ago... it just STOPPED. I could say it was Ryan's fault... but that's not really true. The reason I stopped is that I suddenly didn't feel I had anything of worth to write about - BECAUSE I didn't have any teen angst anymore... the constant inner conflict to deal with. So the writing stopped. Funny thing is... just because things aren't horrible doesn't mean I shouldn't write about them... in fact... as I said in the first paragraph... why only focus on the negative. This hit me like a ton of bricks this morning - as I realized I still had YET to start writing my journal. So I grabbed my purse and headed over to "Boarders" to find my new writing friend. The very first one I found was this beautiful spiral bound notebook... with the numbers 2010 on the front... and inside... one page for every day of the year. What a perfect motivation for me to stay focused and just write. This way if I miss a day... I'm killing trees for no reason... so I must write - FOR THE TREES! :D They died for me to be able to keep a promise to myself... so for them... I vow to do it. I wrote my first page today... I just hope I keep it up.

I know what your thinking.... "Kela -- Your writing on your blog right now... what's the difference?" For those of you who have not written in a journal... on a daily basis... I will tell you. The journal is for you... to look back and reflect on what your thinking and doing. The blog is to entertain all the folks who read online... I have been in this crazy limbo... deciding what to do with myself for the past year... experiencing new challenges and pushing myself to be a stronger more focused person. Yet... I've pulled away from what made me - me.

Back to food - cause you know that we all love to talk food. I picked up some of my favorite cheeses yesterday... and today... as my mom and I watched Julie and Julia we broke them out. From Raley's in Petaluma ... the ever elusive but highly sought after "Tuscan Pesto Brie" and the "Kerrygold - Reserve Cheddar (aged over 2 years - and imported from Ireland) - and as usual ... nothing can compare... it is really just THAT good. As amazing as the Reserve Cheddar is... if you have yet to try the Pesto brie... go... go get it now! You will not be disappointed. When I first found this cheese... not only did I not like Pesto ... but I wasn't huge on brie either. I know I'm Satan spawn or something, but its the truth... now... I just see its magic that much clearer. Also... I have noticed that my taste for food is ever evolving... things I never liked before suddenly are delicious and my tastebuds are yelling at me for not enjoying them earlier.

So with that said - I leave you with this. Life is too short to waste it on being good all the time. Indulge... enjoy... and savor life!

Thanks for listening,
Kela

How I Make Pierogies

Hey All,

I decided to do this for Annie, but whomever gets benefit out of it... I'm happy to share my wisdom.

So growing up my mom encouraged us to try a huge variety of foods, as far back as I can remember I was eating, Japanese food, Chinese food, Italian food and the list goes on and on... one of my very favorite foods is I guess Polish although various other cultures do very similar things so we can't give them all the credit and that is the Pierogie. What a pierogie is, is a dumping that is filled with various ingredients, most commonly potato... and usually onion and or cheese. More info can be found in Wikipedia.

I grew up on "Mrs. T's" brand pictured below, but I'm sure others are good, I have just haven't tried any yet.
The instructions tell you to EITHER boil them or fry them... my mom taught me how she did it, and after a few other attempts, I did find this to be the best way... and that is to do BOTH. First boil water, salt and oil just before dropping them in.

Then when they are al-dente put them into a med-hot pan with lots of butter (onion, pepper and whatever else sounds good can be added at this point... serving them with sausage is very popular as well.)
I like to put a tiny bit of butter (and pepper) on the top before I flip them just to really make sure you get a nice crispiness on the top too. Once they crispy up on the bottom... takes longer then you'd think but its well worth the wait, flip them over.

Once they are all crispy and happy, then plate.

Top with sour cream! You'll think you died and went to heaven. :)

They can be served with just about anything as I mentioned before, I decided to do Peas and Corn this time since its similar to mashed potatoes (and its something I had just laying around the house), I thought it would go good together, as it turned out, it totally did! :)

I hope you enjoyed my little picture/instruction on the ever elusive pierogie... maybe I inspired you to try something new and maybe just a bit sinful. ;)

ENJOY!

P.s There is a "fat free" sour cream made by "Naturally Yours" that is amazing... I'd say its the best tasting sour cream on the market I've had and FAT FREE... so you don't feel too bad giving a nice big dollop on each pierogie. :)

Unfinished Projects

I had this thought today that there are tons of unfinished projects around my house... I knew there were some, but it wasn't until I started to make a list I realized how much stuff I start but never finish... so I thought that if I owned up to them... actually wrote them down... perhaps I would be more motivated to finish them.

Started but Not Finished:

1. Desk For My Sister
2. Ryan's New Space Painting
3. Latch-hook Quilt
4. Winding Road Puzzle
5. Dragonfly Painting
6. Knitted Quilt
7. Bench/Sunset Painting
8. Milksted the Novel
9. New Horror Novel (not named yet)
10. Bills
    

Projects Not Yet Started:

1. Rocking Chair Refinish
2. Jeannette & Bob's Table Refinish (actually getting $ for this)
3. Birthday Gift/Wrap
4. Organize Photographs
5. Fish Tank Clean
6. File Papers
7. Fix Ryan's Pants (Button fell off)
   

Ok - it's been written, so now I can't deny its existence any longer!
WISH ME LUCK!

Love,
Kela

2 Steps Forward, 1 Step Back...

Hey All,

So I get to my apprenticing job today and I'm a few minutes late - something I hate to do, but I stroll in 5 minutes late hoping for the best, with a big smile on my face... and I'm immediately met by my boss lady there at the shop and her face is like the exact opposite of mine. She quickly escorts me into her office, saying "we need to talk." Expecting the worse, I sit down nervously and she promptly tells me that one of her guys will be leaving soon and she would like to offer me the position, but I need to take the time before he leaves to really prove that I can do it. She says my skills are there, but my need for perfection is definitely slowing me down too much for how busy she is. She asked me to step it up by about 3 times!

Seemed a little daunting but I'm pretty tough, and I really like a challenge, so I just go for it. First she throws me right into yet another thing I've never done before... using some pretty intense chemicals to strip the big pieces of wood from a piano. This stripper is incredibly mean to the skin, just burns like crazy. So basically it's hard work physically, plus the added fun of the burning flesh where it's splashed back. Boy does it get the job done though, very impressive. I find out after a few hours of that, at what I'm feeling like is a pretty good speed, for a newbie... that I'm actually doing a fair job and at a good speed! SCORE!

So I'm feeling pretty awesome by now... like things are really moving forward in this plan of mine. The guys go to lunch and the boss and I are left alone again. So I take this time to inquire about the pay and hours... if everything should work out as we're hoping. Turns out it's only 16 hours a week and the pay would have to be pretty incredible for that to work... the money is ok... but it's far from incredible. So of course I ask about room for advancement $ wise and about the possibilities for more hours... their business has been really picking up and they have a ton of work. As it turns out they are indeed hoping to expand in the near future... however there is still a limit on how much she can afford to pay us and still make a profit... so that's why the hours are cut back. So while it could definitely improve... maybe not enough.

So I go back to work and continue to learn and enjoy every second of this creative freedom. I worked almost an extra hour just trying to help the guys when I could and other times just watch their techniques; just trying to absorb everything I can. I can't tell you how much this experience (so far) has helped me... it's given me the confidence to try all these new and tricky things, ask questions, be heard, and even just the idea of working in a predominately male career, and be fairly successful at it.

Plus the people I work with are great. OMG - I can't tell you how much I just adore them, they are real people who laugh and joke and have fun, but have a serious side and are professionals too.. they are just so refreshing to work side by side with! Even their jokes are hardly at the expense of others and are tasteful and fun. They all sing to the radio and it doesn't even matter what's on. They don't hesitate to help me if I don't know how to do something, or if they think they are doing something I might find interesting they make sure to call me over. Also they are great about encouraging me to try things hands on, and I just love that!

Plus working with all these diverse pieces of furniture, some really amazing antiques as well as some regular Joe Schmo furniture, which I've learned even that can be cleaned up remarkably well. I can't tell you how often my preconceived thoughts on anything in that shop can be changed in just a split second. Love the active learning, just love it.... I think especially since it's about something I'm really passionate about.

Anyway... so basically I realize that while it's likely that this particular experience may not end in the career of my life... I have gotten soooo much out of it, and to me that's really key. I'm hopeful that everything happens for a reason and maybe if I keep plugging forward wisely - I'll find myself in some good job in the next few months, that works for me and that I can thrive at. I'm not cutting anything out yet!

Keep in mind that I have really POSITIVE DAYS and then some days when I forget about all these things I know to be true. Luckily the positive days are still out weighing the negative ones. :) So if I come back next time feeling a little bummed... remember... the positive Kela is just a day away. HA HA HA!

Thanks for listening,
Kela

P.s Send happy job thoughts my way! :)

Obsession 50's Style

I'm on this kick right now to try and find the perfect dress for me... I'm not sure what really started it.... but I'm leaning towards a classic 50's dress with a low waistline... so much of today's clothing has the empire waist, which accents just under your breasts... however, this is definitely not my my slenderest area... so why accent that? I'm 38"b, 30" w and 36"h. So here are a few examples of ones I think would work, and are still very sleek in today's fashion world...fabrics I might change...its more the cut I'm looking for...although these examples aren't bad.
Then today I started to sketch some of my own... thought you might like to see: The first one is probably my favorite... especially since that's sorta what I want to do with my hair:

And then just for fun I drew this.... I don't actually hope to wear it, I just thought it looked cool:
Not really much today, just thought I'd share a little in my obsession this week. ;)

Thanks for listening,
Kela

Update: Light On The Horizen!

Hey All,

So just a quick little update for you: I am currently working as a part time apprentice for a local furniture restoration company, getting to work side by side with professionals, learning the trade I love so passionately. I've gone the last 2 Thursday's and again last Friday... 4th day tomorrow and I can't wait! Nothing concrete yet, but I definitely feel like I'm heading in the right direction! Wish me luck! I'll try and keep you posted!

Thanks for listening,
Kela