june!

june is almost over? what's happening here, time just decided to skip june? this means it's been almost two months living in fresno now....(& we still haven't bought our sectional & haven't finished painting. ay papi, it may take us some-time to make our house perfect(to us))

well, we've been busy with our little etsy shop, lately. we're getting ready for our second flea market (first sunday, July 1st,  at the Alameda Pointe Antiques Faire)! we will be in space D15 this time! which is really close to the front! i am wondering if this will be a good or bad thing, tho.
i'm not sure if most people come in & spend their money at the front rows or wait until the rows in the back. we will see.
anyway, of course i still think it's a much better spot than last times L9 spot & am very optimistic about it :) i'm just excited to hang out with our friends & have the best food for lunch, all the while making some sales (hopefully)!


in other news, coop is still wanting to escape. he sits by the screen door,  cries & cries.  finally, under very close supervision, let him out. of course, we are on high alert b/c he can definitely out run us if he wanted to... but he's just such a scardy-cat, i'm not too afraid of that.

 he's just my goofy little cat. likes to make me laugh. (i like to think he's being funny on purpose)

my niece & nephew were gone for summer camp & sleepovers for a week, came back & look so much more grown up to me! kids change so quickly...sigh.

we're loving our outdoor bbq dinners with them. my sister & her husband have been really sweet & making food i like too :) delicious pear salad, veggies  & quinoa w/ cauliflower.
i brought a "raw borcht," some homemade pickles & a (can't go wrong) white wine.

that's all for now. happy mid-week!
we're going to the farmers market to get the best tamales ever, in a bit! (they have vegan choices... i mean c'mon!)


see ya!!

clovis farmers market  (being photo-bombed)

one of my favorite breakfasts is avocado toast. i'm not the biggest fan of bread, i can talk about why i don't like most bread & why, for a while, but i'll spare you and tell you about my favorite bread!
it's Julian Bakery bread!
they sell it at some stores, but you can also order & have it shipped to you (which is what i do!) they have vegan bread, and each slice is full of protein and other important nutrients. love it.
i've almost tried all their vegan breads and haven't found one i don't like!


ps. my avocado toast is evolving...homemade pickles!

design sponge did a post called  best of vegan recipes, & so far i've tried two of the recipes & both were outstanding/terrific!
the pickles & the  sesame pancake bread recipes!

i tweaked both recipes ever so slightly, so now i can say this is my recipe adapted from yaddayadaa. 

for the pickles, i cut their recipe in half & added a few little things that i think made it special.

Pickles

4 cups water

2 cups apple cider vinegar

5 tbsp salt

2 tbsp agave

8-10 cucumbers

1/2 red onion

garlic to taste (i used 5 cloves)

lots of dill

while you slice all the cucumbers, red onion & garlic, bring the water, vinegar, salt & agave to a boil.
layer the cucumbers, red onion, garlic & dill into jars. (depending on the size, could be 3-4 jars)
use as much or as little of dill & garlic. i used a lot of both & they turned out great. pour the hot water/vinegar into the jars to cover all the cucumbers. put a lid on the jar, let it sit until it has cooled (about an hour) and put into the fridge. they're ready over night. easy peasy.

for the sesame bread, i followed their recipe exactly, except i used whole wheat flour. it turned out great too.... but i also piled on a ton of avocado, so who's to say it turned out great?

hope you're having a good weekend.

i bought a camera at a yard sale today, for $5. the battery for it cost $12... ha ha. k bye guys.

weekend (very hairless cat kind-a-weekend)

coop was just sitting there, watching us take pictures, sitting there some more, letting out little pitiful meows every now & again. when finally he saw an opportunity & he made a dash for it. he's run out the door several times now. once we didn't even realize he was out!  we were in the backyard hanging out,  when he just walks up,  casually next to us, like "oh hey guys" & continues to smell flowers.
he doesn't struggle when he gets  caught, just kinda expects it,  i guess.
poor little guy just wants to explore. maybe i'll let you out more once we build a fence.

i discovered there is a horse living in a backyard, down the street from us! i'll have to bring her an apple next time. very bizarre ...seeing a horse, in someone's backyard. (not complaining tho!)

[fye : it's going to be 108 in fresno tomorrow! & it's not even officially summer yet! ]

nate was saying how it's harder to dress interesting during the summer, b/c you don't have many options. shorts & a tank top or tee. a little better for girls, since we can wear dresses.
so, we started dip dyeing regular tees to spruce 'em up a bit & add some variety.  we're on the look out for comfy regular shirts now, so we can give them a new life. here are a couple recent ones.

  

 k. that's all for now. have a berry relaxing weekend! (& i mean berry...& peach & plum & nectarine & pluots ...relaxing kinda weekend ;) )

some of us will have no problems having a relaxing weekend...

hey guys, how's your (almost) summer going? it's going pretty good here.

we've been dip dyeing clothes like crazy.
since we sold out, last time at the flea market, we wanna be sure & have enough for everyone july 1st ;)

nate found a few little shirts for my niece & nephew to dip dye. being able to see these guys on a regular basis has been awesome. they're so funny & smart... & very picky eaters!  (they hate indian food and avocados! can you believe that?! two of my favorite things. my guess would be that most kids aren't into indian food... well wait, they like the "indian pizza bread" (naan)... i'll just have to babysit them one day, wait til they're starving & serve only naan & chana masala. jk jk. i respect their food picky-ness!)

we painted our office "white" but after we were done, it looked more gray-white than just whitewhite. luckily everyone is super nice in fresno, & allowed us to return 5 gallons of tinted paint & get real white paint. #firstworldproblems.

finally finished. why does white make everything look so much better? 

we decided to paint one wall sea foam.... nothing to write home about, but we love how subtle it is.

this is the before. 

so ugly, to me. 

i just really don't like walls painted red! i like red pants, and lipstick, toasters... but not walls.

next weekend we start on the main living room... many many hours of painting ahead of us. yay.

here are a few of the new dip dyes.

k. bye guys.

ps.
i'm thinking of starting a "sleeping photos of my cats" series.... they're just so ridiculous.

visitors

hi guys.
we had our second guest stay at hotel cole :) [still working on the name, ha]

our friend lives in NYC, but was in LA visiting family. since we're in fresno, a three hour drive north of LA, she borrowed a car & brought us a succulent plant.

there's not a lot to do in fresno, so we spent a lot of time having drinks, eating avocado sandwiches, talking, inspiring each other.  we almost went to big sur on an impulse! but since we all liked being at our house, we decided to save camping for next time.

this is my first weekend at our new house!  we finally started painting.
painting is so time consuming! just a little office is taking all weekend! it is therapeutic, just standing there, painting, thinking.
we are painting the ceiling, and trying to decide whether we should paint it all white, or leave the beams dark...
we'll leave them dark for now, but if we don't like it, we'll just paint 'em white. open to opinions too! (phew! will never have to see that red wall again!!!)

we were running low on fruits so we went to the clovis farmer's market & picked up some cherries, apricots, peaches, plums & all sorts of hybrid fruits. $1 per pound for most of the fruit, can't beat that price!

lots of dip dying, fruit eatin', drink makin', hair cuttin' is goin' on in fresno this weekend.
here's a quick "cheater" recipe for your summer mix. loving mint in everything i drink these days.

minty beer

lots of mint

ice

1 beer (we used rolling rock)

1 can of pelligrino blood orange (new amazing flavor!)

put mint and ice in a glass. 

mash it around in there. 

then add mostly beer & a little pellegrino! 

enjoy!

wearing my new dip dyed shorts, they'll be going up in the shop next week, maybe. unless i decide to keep them :)

we're dip dying lots & lots of new things for the alameda flea next month. i'm also excited to hang out with our pals olga & elizabeth, they'll both be bringing vintage to sell at the same booth.

i've been making raw green soups, but still haven't nailed down the perfect recipe to share.
i love soups, but in this fresno heat, turning on the stove sounds like...hell.

see ya later!