Books I love(d)

As an English teacher, it comes as no surprise that I was a voracious reader growing up. This stems from my wonderful parents taking my sister and me to the library multiple times per week, with the only rule being that we followed the 12-book check-out limit. Many of my favorite memories are from the Jackson Public Library- that was the sacred place I first fell in love with reading. The smell of books takes me right back there, and in my mind, it will always remain an incredibly magical place. I remember sitting for hours at the small, child-size tables, sifting through book after book, making piles of the ones I wanted to check out, and then teetering, tottering out of the building, carrying a stack of precariously perched books atop my little hands. My parents would offer to help, but I was adamant that I could carry them all on my own. Then came the glorious afternoon, when, arriving home, I could spend the entire day reading my new treasures, exploring, and feeling so inspired. My earliest memories are books- my mother and father reading to me, my sister and I reading to each other, the aforementioned trips to the library. Lauren and I would join the library's book club, summer reading groups, and we especially loved "Book It," which was a reading-reward system that Pizza Hut sponsored. Personal pan pizzas for reading books? Ok! To me, reading was always cool. And it still is...there isn't a time in my life when I haven't enjoyed it, and I am so grateful for all of this.

Being at my parents' home, I am surrounded by my past. Old photos, old letters, and namely, old books. Tonight I was reminded of so many of the old titles I used to hold so dear, the books I would devour in a single sitting. Some of my favorites: The Babysitter's Club series and The Sleepover Friends. I couldn't get enough Judy Blume or Beverly Cleary either. A couple of my favorite titles: "Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret?" and "Ramona Quimby, Age 8."

With that said, what are some of your favorite childhood books or series? This is on my mind as I've decided to embark on a nostalgic journey and begin reading a long list of my personal favorites, and I'd love to know what some of yours are. So feel free to share some series or books you adored growing up! I'm so curious! :)

Friday night- birthday fun

Last night was such a great night. Two of my closest friends, Alana and Erin, celebrated their birthdays. The night began in downtown Phoenix, at the First Friday Art Walk, continued at a couple of bars- including Lost Leaf, my favorite...and ended at Hanny's, for a late night birthday dinner. The older I get, the more I appreciate birthdays. I'm not one to get sad about them at all- I think it's so awesome to have "made it" another year, and the whole idea of the celebration is fantastic! YES! Let's celebrate you and your life, and this past year, and let's toast to the next year. Birthdays are my favorite days, and this is even more so when they are the birthdays of people I love.

I've been friends with Erin since our freshman year in college, when we lived in the same dorm, and we both ended up rushing Pi Phi. We've been close ever since, spending birthdays and holiday parties, nights out, girl's trips and vacations across the country together. She's a really special person to me, so her birthday is a special day to me too, since I'm so happy she was born...as weird as it sounds! haha. And my sweet Alana- I met her my sophomore year of college and immediately fell in friend love with her. We've been the same kind of close ever since- spending those same girl's nights, trips, etc. Alana is one of my all-time favorite people, and to know her is to love her forever. Our group of girl friends has been close for a long time, and once you get to the point where you've all been friends for close to a decade, it's really just a big family. We're all so incredibly different, and it's so neat that over the years we've remained so close. Weddings, babies, up and downs...we've all been there for one another.

Last night was no different! It was super fun, and a night to remember for sure. Here are some photos from the evening-

downtown Art Walk


the birthday girls and me


my cute little besties and me


the gorgeous sisters


Erin, Kyle and Jeff (this was one of the few photos I took with my D60- you can totally tell the picture quality!)



Erin and me


sisters!


same shirt, kinda...


Alana, Em and me- these ladies are the best.


Pi Phis ;)


The Kolbes


Shirls and Sarah


Leah and Alana


Shirley and Nate, aren't they the cutest couple?!


walking downtown to Hanny's


birthday table one!


birthday table two! (still missing a couple of people)


Happy birthday Alana!


dinner


The Barnas...good people :)


me


Kati! I love this photo so much.


annnd, one of the lovely birthday girls! So pretty.


I hope all of you had a wonderful Friday night, whatever you did! I slept in super late this morning, and now I'm off for a day at the salon with Rhonda. Have a great day. :)

Quick and EASY dinner idea: baked Sriracha tofu

Hi everyone! I wanted to share a super simple vegan dinner idea with all of you...baked Sriracha tofu plus veggies and grains. If you're unfamiliar with Sriracha, it's a spicy, spicy sauce that's works in all types of foods, but particularly works best in Asian dishes (in my humble opinion). With that said, if you decide to make this recipe, it's VERY spicy. Hank and I eat tons of spicy food (I order my Thai dishes "Thai hot" if it gives you an idea of what I like), so this isn't a big deal to us. But my Mom, for instance, couldn't handle it. (Love you Mama!) :)



So here's what you need for the whole meal-

1 block extra-firm tofu
Sriracha sauce
couple of cloves fresh garlic
half box/bag of fresh spinach
salt/pepper
brown rice
pinto beans (or any bean)
veggies of your choice

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Drain the tofu and press the liquid out of it using paper towels. Once it's fairly dry, cut it into slices.

3. Squirt (yes squirt- the bottle has a twist top! haha) some Sriracha into a shallow dish, and coat both sides of your piece of tofu.

4. Line them on a non-stick bake sheet and place in oven. Bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until you can tell the top is looking a little more firm/crispy.

5. At the 15-20 minute mark, take the tofu out of the over and flip each piece over. Squirt a small amount of Sriracha on each piece, and spread it evenly with the back of a spoon. Put the tofu back in the oven for another 15 minutes or so.

6. While the tofu is finishing baking, heat up the beans, cook or reheat the rice, and whatever other veggies you'd like to include. Tonight we used an organic steamed mixed veggie bag in the microwave.

7. Additionally, while the tofu is finishing up, chop up about 2 cloves of garlic.

8. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a skillet, and when heated, add the chopped garlic. Brown on low heat.

9. Once the garlic is browned, add spinach. It looks like a lot at first, but it will quickly cook down. Keep moving the spinach around in the olive oil until you reach a consistency you like. I prefer it to be soft, but not too mushy. If you've never cooked spinach this way you'll see what I mean while you're cooking. You can also add salt/pepper to taste.

10. Remove the tofu from the oven, making sure it looks slightly crispy on the outside.

11. At this point, you should have quite a few finished products, depending on which parts you chose to make- rice, veggies, beans, spinach and tofu.

12. Plate and enjoy!

So, this was a super easy, throw together ingredients kind of meal. The tofu is nothing special- I just kind of made it up but Hank and I love it...and I hope you do too. It's also yummy to use in a sandwich, or on top of a salad! And remember you can always substitute the Sriracha with anything- soy sauce, bbq sauce, peanut sauce etc! This meal is such a good mix of protein and veggies and grains, and 100% vegan! Awesome.

Let me know if you try it.

:)

Wednesday

Today was a fairly non-eventful day. School went by quickly and pleasantly. My sophomores worked on vocabulary (some of our words are vociferous, discern, and obviate, if you were curious) :) and finished up Ray Bradbury's short story "A Sound of Thunder." My seniors continued our documentary unit with the end of "Food Inc." Very fun day overall!

I wanted to share a book recommendation with all of you, and I will try and continue to recommend a book once a week or so, as requested! One of my students gave me this book to borrow a few months back, and it quickly became one of my favorites. It is a young adult book, but I still really enjoyed it and got into the story right away. You can click on the book to view it via amazon.com.



Have any of you read it? Two of my ALL-TIME favorite books are "A Wrinkle in Time"(another YA book- but a classic) and "The Handmaid's Tale." If you liked either of those books, or books like "Brave New World" or "Fahrenheit 451" you will be into this series. If you don't like books set in fictional, futuristic time periods, or science fiction-esque writing...you more than likely won't like this book! BUT I still recommend though, because due to it being a YA book, it's an incredibly quick and engaging read and you never know if maybe this is a genre you will end up loving!

The Hunger Games is set in a dystopian society- a futuristic post-USA, where the nation is divided into districts, and led by an insane government/dictatorship. The main idea is that each district must send in two "tributes," or representatives to fight in the Hunger Games each year- a televised "to the death" battle with only one winner. The purpose of the Games is to remind the districts and common people that they are just pawns in the government's hands, following an uprising many years ago. The book is so much more than that though- there is a love story finely woven throughout the chapters, and the best part is...it's just book one of a three part series! Book two, "Catching Fire," is JUST as wonderful (if not more wonderful), and I am anxiously awaiting book three, which will be released this summer. They are also currently beginning film production of this book, which is always exciting.

If you check it out, let me know what you think! You can find it in the Young Adult section of your bookstore, or online of course. It's been really neat for me to be able to suggest this to many of my students, as it is completely classroom and age appropriate, but in my opinion, just as intriguing for readers of all ages.

So, I hope all of you had a great day. I've been feeling a little "off" lately, and I'm not too sure why. I finally feel better tonight, which is making me happy, but it's just really annoying to not know why you're not feeling 100% yourself. I'm just going to chalk it up to feeling a bit hormonal and leave it at that. Oh, how wonderful it is to be a girl. ;)

This week has literally flown by! Tomorrow, then off to Phoenix for a quick trip that is all about Alana and Erin and celebrating their birthdays. I really can't wait to spend another weekend with my lovely girlfriends. AND, baby Carter is due to arrive next week. So much goodness happening right now. I hope that goodness is finding itself in your neck of the woods, wherever you may be!

Have a great night!

Tattoo Tuesday V.4

Welcome to the fourth edition of Tattoo Tuesday, I hope all of you have enjoyed it so far. This week I'll just be sharing one wonderful lady, rather than two! I decided to bring it back to one person per week (like the first week with Elsie) for now, so the focus is just on one person's beautiful art. I hope that's okay with all of you! ;) I may change it up from time to time. Also, I'll be featuring my arm within the next couple of weeks since I've gotten so many questions about it!

So without further adieu, our lovely lady for this week's edition is the darling Vivianna! Don't forget you can click on any of the photos to view them in a larger size.

Name and blog name: Vivianna at blog.polkadotrobot.com

Tattoo/location: Pirate ship with pirate pin-up girl on right side rib panel; Anchor with banner, back upper left arm; Lettering, inside left upper arm

Artist/shop/location: Joe Frisco Tattoo (arm tattoos); Obie Speak Easy (pirate ship and pin-up girl)

1) Tell us about the tattoo you are sharing with us- is there a background story or special meaning? Why did you choose this particular piece of art?



I don't really have any story or meaning behind most my tattoos, but I do have this thing with traditional style and Sailor Jerry tattoos. I still have a lot of work to get done on my pirate ship and I hope to get it done soon. The only thing that keeps me from finishing my ship is...I still remember the pain.



"This Too Shall Pass" I deal with anxiety every day and this helps me remember that it will pass.



"Omphroy" is my family's name

2) Do you have any other tattoos? If so, what do you have and where?

I have 15 tattoos. I have a star with "Lulu" on my stomach, strawberries on my lower back, waves with dates 1935-1995 around my right ankle, Swallow inner left ankle and much more.

3) Do you plan on getting more?

I plan on getting a sleeve on my left arm and then we will see after that.

4) How do your family and friends feel about your tattoo(s)? Have you run into any adversity or negativity because of them?

Some of my family are fine with all my tattoos and some are not. In the past I got a lot of negativity from strangers about my tattoos and because of that I am really private and would get tattoos that I could cover or show whenever I wanted. The arm tattoos I got in the past few months are the only tattoos that show the most.

5) Any advice for those interested in getting tattooed but haven't gotten one yet?

Do your research on tattoo artists and shops. Know that any good tattoo artist might have a waiting list. You would rather wait than get a crappy tattoo. I know my tattoo guys are booked months out.

Happy Monday!

When my alarm went off this morning, I knew it wasn't going to be the easiest day. Last night Hank had to stay at work pretty late while the tech guys upgraded some new software. Because I was missing him after being in Phoenix all weekend I wanted to stay up for him, so I was still awake when he got home at midnight. We ended up talking and being silly for over an hour, so I didn't even get into bed until 1am. By the time I fell asleep it was almost two, and I had to get up at 6. Yikes! My morning was one of those mornings where everything was annoying (I hate moods like that), but when I got to work my kids immediately put me in the best mood. It's really, really hard to stay irritable when you have so many little smiling faces greeting you when you walk in the door. And I guess 16-year olds aren't so little, but they seem like it to me!

So yes, my day got a lot better. After work Robyn and I completed a nice outdoor workout, and by the time I got home Hank was off work. We originally were going to cook dinner tonight, but both of us were feeling lazy so we went out and ate dinner. Corn tamale with lots of veggies and beans for me!

I feel like I am definitely still recovering a bit from my weekend. It wasn't a crazy time by any means, but I feel really exhausted from all of the driving, I guess. Friday night I arrived in Phoenix later in the evening and hung out at my parents and slept for a glorious ten hours that evening. The bed in the guest room that Hank and I always sleep in has the most divine, comfortable bed in it and I always have the best sleep there. When I woke up on Saturday I got ready for Autumn's baby shower, and spent the afternoon with some of my besties. It was so lovely, and if you didn't get a chance to check out that post, you can do so here. After I left Autumn's I had a million errands to run, and I ended up getting home pretty late to my parents'. I came home to Prescott the next day after spending a few hours out and about shopping, and was unpleasantly greeted with very cold weather! I really cannot wait until spring hits our little town. I don't mind winter, but I am much more at home in little sundresses and spring/summer clothing. Just a few more months...

I also wanted to add that I took the formspring box off. I just felt that it was getting a little out of control. There were so many questions and it took so long to answer them all that it kind of took the fun out of it for me. Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate all of you taking the time to ask some wonderful questions, but 5 weeks later and so many inquiries answered...I don't think I can bear to do it again! And more so, I know that blogging is really "self-centered" as it is (and I don't mean that in the conceited sense of the word- I mean centered around one's life, etc), but I just felt a little uncomfortable asking so many things about myself, my life, every little detail. Does that make sense? It sounds weird once I type it out but that's the feeling I was getting- this blog is about wonderful me ;) - but it was way too much me me me...for me. haha. I will probably put it up from time to time for short periods, but as always, you can email me or leave a comment if you'd like to ask me anything. My email can be found in the left hand column, toward the top! So again, thanks for all of your participation, love you guys so much.

The rest of this week will be fairly low key. Hank and I have some around-the-house projects to work on, and I have a couple of Valentine's presents to complete! Top secret, of course. ;) As far as the blog- there are two things I will be posting that I've said I would post last week, but never got around to- a baked tofu recipe and also a book recommendation post. So stay tuuuuned! I'm already looking forward to next weekend. I'm heading down to Phoenix on Friday to spend the evening with my lovely best friends again, this time celebrating Alana and Erin's birthdays! We'll be having dinner in downtown Phoenix, and then doing First Friday. I'm really excited. Then Saturday I'll get to spend the afternoon with my friend Rhonda while she colors my hair (my roots are SO bad right now). I also hope to see Dear John with my sister-in-law...I've posted about it before but I loved the book and I've been looking forward to the movie forever. I hope it's good.

I'll leave you wonderful friends with some photos from today! Have a super splendid evening.

today's outfit:

top: Marc by Marc Jacobs (worn backwards!)
skirt: Anthropologie
shoes: Old Navy

(weird lighting- sorry!)



top detail- I love the little bows!




Monday shoes, thanks $7 special at Old Navy last year! :)



Check out these adorable, adorable dolls! Hank and I ordered them from Spitfire Girl. I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE them. Click here to visit the shop! The dolls are actually designed by Los Angeles based tattoo artist, Jason Schroder.





Also in great mail today- my friend Courtney sent me this adorable, nautical themed necklace. It was so sweet to receive this as a gift today! Mail is the best, and especially mail with cute jewelry inside! Thanks Courtney. You guys should check out her adorable shop Dolly and Boy Jewelry by clicking here, and say hi to her!



Oh, and ps...everyone should go check out my bud James' new website that is officially up and running! Click here to head over to Bleubird Vintage and be prepared to swoon over some of her lovely finds. :)

Goodnight everyone!

Markjames Helps Start February with a Hoot

February 1st found me scowling optimistically.

I was pondering how I had managed, since Christmas Eve, to only post ink-spotted tattoos only twice. Some days over the summer I easily eclipse that total on my lunch break.

But this is the heart of winter and, when the temperatures haven't been cooperating, things go slowly.

I was passing through the New Jersey Transit section of Penn Station and was about to head back to the office when I spotted Markjames.

He had tattoos on his hands, neck, and head and answered affirmatively whenI asked if he was a tattoo artist.

After taking a picture of his knuckles to share with the good folks at KnuckleTattoos.com, he offered up this wonderful neck piece:


He wanted a bird of some sort on his throat and collaborated with the artist Matt Rosenthal at Tattoo Nation in Wayne, New Jersey. Work from Tattoo Nation has appeared previously on the site here.

The owl as a symbol of wisdom is a popular tattoo motif, as is evident from the folks over at Owl Tattoos and their site dedicated solely to owl ink.

Markjames works out of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and will be tattooing at Triple VI Tattoos, beginning in April.

Thanks to Markjames for sharing his amazing tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!