HAPPY SEPTEMBER!!! A glorious new month, full of potential rain …let’s strive to make it memorable. It being the first of September and all, I figured it was time for a little recap of the highlights of the past month in the life of The Girl in the Orange. August was, incidentally, my first month of blogging!
So, let’s see, last month I officially started running, learned how to make my own almond milk, dived into this blog, wrote a good 30,000 words in my novel plus a couple thousand awful ones, had the most fun I’ve had at a party since I’ve moved here, ate too much hummus and too many cookies, received a good-quality fountain pen (SO EXCITING! and so nerdy…), wrote letters to my faraway friends that I’ve been unintentionally procrastinating for half a year, ate some delicious food, and laughed a lot. At myself, mostly, but no matter. Oh, and, yeah…
I GOT MY HAIR CHOPPED OFF.
Still so tickled by that! But you, on the other hand, are probably bored of it… moving on.
One Month of The Girl in the Orange in terms of…
…photography:
Unintentionally zoomed in dog photography. Ah, the loyal canine. They’ll take care of expression without you even having to say “Cheese!”
Although, if you do, I promise you their whole face will light up. In the case of my dogs, cheese does help with the whole photoshoot process (as a bribe, not a command).
Weird dewy zucchini flowers with inexplicable intrigue.
Blackberry cobbler breakfast attempt. The breakfast itself was nothing to get excited about, but the photo? Swoon-worthy. If you habitually swoon over that kind of thing.
My favorite outcome of Project: Present Peach Parfaits Perfectly. I love how the fancy-schmancy DSLR camera lets me focus on the parfait while diffusing the book in the background..! It still adds an air of mystery to the photo.
Carrot Cake Oatmeal from Oh She Glows. You guys probably think I’m an OSG stalker by now–I think I’ve referenced at least three of her recipes in the past month. This is because I am, in fact, an Oh She Glows stalker.
*Blushes* Hi, Angela.
If you’ll believe it, that oatmeal was made with this carrot…
…which we just, you know, grew ourselves. Can I get a woo-woo?! This would have never been possible in Wyoming..
*sniff sniff* They grow up so fast. This is a big deal for me, you guys. My very own carrot. Look at how handsome he is.
Pasta salad mother dearest threw together one night. Arugula (bleck–one of the few veggies I cannot tolerate!) extra-virgin olive oil, penne noodles, grape tomatoes, and various cheeses. Okay, so technically I took this picture in July, but it’s still one of my favorite food photos that I’ve ever shot. And I didn’t do a monthly recap in July.
..food:
This tofu-less “neat” loaf from the cookbook Let Them Eat Vegan!, which Susan Voisin posted on her blog. Oh my gosh, this was delicious, satisfying, flavorful…just overall yummy. And I didn’t need to run to the store to buy anything! Score two for the “neat” loaf. I recommend that you make it. Plus, when you’re mixing all of the seasonings together, they are so gorgeous in their eclectic disarray that you smile quietly to yourself and snap a picture:
That would be rolled oats, tahini, nutritional yeast, fresh thyme leaves, soy sauce, blackstrap molasses, oregano, fresh basil, flaxseed, and ketchup. Isn’t it just…cool-lookin’?
You know what’s really sad? I don’t think I even knew what half of this stuff was before I went vegetarian. But this delightful conglomeration was deliciously savory.
This Iron Woman Gingerbread Smoothie from…uh, well, hehe, Oh She Glows, is delicious and a perfect “transition” smoothie into our cozy fall months. Please, no one say I have to give up drinking smoothies once October hits! I’ve made this smoothie three times this month and loved every sip. The blackstrap molasses, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg combine to make a cold smoothie that somehow warms you up inside…it just feels so snuggly and Fally autumnal. Plus, what vegetarian girl doesn’t appreciate being able to drink a delicious 30%+ of her daily iron requirement through a straw??
Also, lots and lots of green smoothies made with farmer’s market kale. They are actually quite tasty, plus you feel so virtuous after drinking one you just want to go run a marathon.
Yeah…I bet you can figure out for yourself why this picture didn’t go into the “Photography Highlights” section. Do not judge a book by its cover. Or a smoothie by its apparent sliminess.
The aforementioned Carrot Cake Oatmeal was pretty insane, too.
…things that made me smile:
1st encounter: I was waiting in line for the self-checkout at the library when little bro pointed out to me that the regular checkouts were open. He wanted to know why we weren’t using one of them, so I confessed, “Because I’m scared of librarians.” I must have said it a little too loudly, because then a tall man walked in front of us (I can only assume he was a librarian) and arranged his face into the most bizarre expression ever, complete with fingers in his ears and his tongue sticking out. I was a little shocked at first, but on the bike ride back home I mulled over it and realized it actually made my day. Thank you, crazy scary librarian guy!
2nd encounter: On our mountain biking trip in the forest, as I have already mentioned, some more experienced biker saved us from the ‘Lost Valley’ course that we were dying on and directed us to the more user-friendly courses. I don’t think my excitement toward future mountain biking trips would exist had I thought that all the courses were like that. Thank you, kind mountain cyclist man!
Ah, August. Parting is such sweet sorrow.
The Girl In The Orange 