Grossipede

So much for organic gardening, I will use any amount of chemicals necessary to keep these off my porch! This one (~ 4 inches long) crawled out of my rosemary pot this morning and ran to the wall. I bravely snapped a picture before spraying it with Raid. It ran away and we can only hope it is dying somewhere in a neighbor's yard. The worst part is that apparently they give nasty bites and I've heard some species travel in packs and will appear if one is killed. I find that I do better if I think of them as the "grubs" that Timon and Pumbaa eat in The Lion King, hakuna matata right?

Cranes

Whenever I feel a spell of homesickness approaching, I look out to find the cranes and pretend I am somewhere in West Seattle looking over at the shipping yards. It takes a little bit of focus to block out the very volcanic looking peek, but to make things easier we now have a Lego model of the Space Needle given to us as a wedding gift. If I hold it up to the left as I close one eye  it really authenticates my imaginary vision of the Seattle skyline. However, the cranes are still my favorite because they remind me of being little and riding home on the Bainbridge ferry from the Beach. I would see them all on the water and think ‘Wow, that’s a lot of cranes! Whatever they’re building, it’s going to be good!’. I’m not sure at what point the slow construction on the pier led me to suspect that the cranes were actually there for unloading shipping vessels, but I imagine it was somewhat of a disappointing realization for me.

To the left

When I first arrived, driving on the left side of the road was absolutely terrifying, I avoided shifting above second gear at nearly all costs. As time went on I became comfortable changing gears with my left hand and no longer had to sing Beyoncé's Irreplaceable ("to the left to the left") to remember to turn into the correct lane.

This is my car, the Suzuki WagonR, it is automatic and I am fairly certain it has the equivalent of a golf cart engine in it. Now I know there is only one word that comes to mind when you look at this car, sexy. All you can do is hope the rumors of launching the car in North America are true.

It came with the hang loose sticker and I decided to keep it to maintain its sporty character. I also added my own stickers, so someone please tell Granddad that there are golden W stickers on both our cars, I know he will be pleased.

Aioli Kirby

Another recent discovery of ours is aioli, so delicious we are very seriously considering naming our first born child after this heavenly condiment. Bellow are sweet potato fries, original aioli, lime Sriracha aioli, and avocado aioli.

Easy Aioli (Better Homes and Gardens)

1/3 cup mayonnaise
3 cloves minced garlic
2 tsp water
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/8 tsp kosher salt
1/4 olive oil

Combine mayonnaise and garlic, then whisk in water, lemon juice and salt. Whisk in olive oil until smooth, cover and chill.

For Sriracha lime aioli; omit water and add hot sauce to taste. Substitute lime juice for lemon juice. Also, may add lime zest for additional flavor while preventing sauce from becoming too drizzly.

For Avocado aioli; add 1/2 an avocado or more to above recipe, add extra salt.

Sasebo Sliders

Sasebo is famous for being home to both American and Japanese naval bases, a peculiar but impressive Dutch theme park, a stripe-painted spinning top, the Kujuku Islands (99 islands) featured in the opening scenes of The Last Samurai, aaaaaand the Sasebo burger! This burger began appearing in town in the 1950's, unique for its bacon and fried egg. While Mom was visiting we had the most clever idea to make Sasebo sliders! We used Hawaiian sweet rolls, quail eggs, Kraft singles cut into quarters and shallots to construct our mini burgers.

Kris and I later made Sasebo sliders again and invited friends for a "mini themed" dinner party. There were mini chocolate chip cookies, mini milkshakes, mini strawberries, I wore a mini-mouse-esque polka dot shirt, but my very favorite interpretation of the theme was Kendall's; he wore a Maurice Jones-Drew jersey, the Jaguar's #32 running back who at the height of 5'7' is one of the shortest players in the NFL.

I want a puppy

And this is why Kris tells me I can't have a puppy...

The basil on the left did not live but I was able to revive the Italian parsley. The truth is I want all the positives of having a dog, like cuddles and playing, but none of the negatives like walking, feeding, grooming and the guilt that comes with not being a consistent walker, feeder, groomer. So for now the lizard that shriveled up and died in our bedroom light will continue to be the closest thing to a pet we have.