Farmers Market and Cookies

I bet you are wondering what I did this weekend, cause I am so thrilling and all. Well, I will tell you. On Sunday Brendan and I went to the Mountain View Farmers Market. It is a pretty great farmer's market. They have all sorts of crazy produce that you wouldn't find in Colorado like grapes, figs, all sorts of weird Asian vegetables.

Don't be jealous....

It is a pretty great, but overwhelming experience. Brendan's expression pretty much sums up how he feels about being draged to the farmers market every week. In this picture we are waiting in line for bread. It's the only place at the market that sells bread. Which is really great bread.

Here is what I made for dinner from our farmer's market outing: stuffed tomatoes, salad, and of course bread.

Here is what I got back after buying bok choy at an Asian stand

Definitely not a quarter

I also made some really great lemon cookies. Well they are lemon cookies stuffed with lemon frosting. You can find the recipe here They are pretty good and full of butter and sugar. Two things that will make me feel better about moving.

Getting the ingredients together

Finished product

Tomorrow I will post what my office looks like!

Crafts Time!

After an unbelievably torturous time at Ikea today, I indulged in some crafts. A quick disclaimer though..... Californians love their Ikea. It was a mad house there. I know it was Saturday afternoon and all, but Ikea has been open here for centuries (it's a fact, I checked). We stood in line so long that I went and bought ice cream, we ate it, and still weren't checked out. Jeez. But while waiting in the most epic line ever I heard my new favorite quote that I will use forever and ever. A little girls said to here mom "I want to eat what I smell", at the time there was fresh baking cinnamon rolls being wafted through the entire check out area. Probably to make everyone more crazy then there already were, like pumping oxygen through the vents in Vegas. Pretty much the same thing. Anyways, thanks kid for the great quote.

The whole point of going to Ikea was to get me a desk/table to put my sewing machine on so it can be out in the open, always. I am pretty juiced to have my own arts and crafts table!

It's so glamourous.....

Oh and you can see what I made today, that pillow looking thing on the left. I made it out of an old t-shirt because I had a little bit of stuffing left over. But, like the cool kid I am there wasn't enough stuffing to complete the pillow and thus will have to buy another bag and once again be stuck with an awkward amount of stuffing. I will let you know how long this cycle lasts.

Here is the front of the pillow.

And here is the back!

I know this is really thrilling stuff.

New Job!

I recently accepted an Americorps position that will last for the next 11 months! I am really excited about the position and am really amazed I found a job so soon after moving. My position is through the Community Alliance of Family Farmers (or CAFF). My position title is "Farm to School Coordinator". I will basically be teaching kids about nutrition, farms, food cycles, etc. and get them excited about eating local fruits and veggies. To do this I coordinate a "Know your Farmer" Program. This entails three different steps that take place throughout the school year. First, I come to the classroom and teach a lesson, then I bring a local farmer into the classroom to talk to the kids, and finally we do a farm visit field trip. I will be working with at least 40 classes throughout the district, so it will be a busy year!

Today I had a farm field trip orientation where I learned about the different activities I can do with the kids on the farm. The field trip usually has stations and the kids rotate between stations. Here are some pictures from the training.

This is the site of the training, ugly huh?

This is Laura, the Americorp person I am replacing. She is super neato.

Volunteers learning about teaching kiddos.

I am pretty excited about all this. Did I mention I work in a trailer on a farm? I do and will upload some pictures on Monday.

A little side note. It is so hard dressing for this position. I refuse to wear pants/jeans when it is 85+ degrees out and its hard to work on a farm in a skirt. I went to training thinking that we would be inside talking about the lessons, but nope! We were going through them like the kids do (I bet alot of the other trainees judged me for wearing a skirt while they were all in jeans and sneaker, what can I say I am still in city mode). Its a good thing I don't mind kneeling and sitting in dirt while wearing a skirt AND that I brought a change of shoes. This is so different than my other jobs and everyday life of thinking about my outfit. I am trying to work out how to look nice and professional, while being able to chase kids around a farm for 1/3 of the year. At least the other 2/3 I will be in a classroom or office so I can wear my normal garb.

Trying Hard

To beat the moving blues I decided to take Cricket for a hike. It turns out that only 6 (out of 33) close trails allow dogs. What a bummer. But we found some open spaces that I could bring Cricket on and we went forth to conquer some hills.

Hiking in California is very different than hiking in Oregon. In Oregon, it's like a tropical forest. It feels like you are hiking through a scene in Jurassic Park and are waiting for some velociraptors to jump out and eat you. California is more dry and close to hiking in Arizona.

A nice low smog here

Cricket is hunting Mountain Lions, apparently they are rampant here...

At least when I got to the top this was here!

Coping Mechanisms

Everyone has different ways of coping with change. I choose to bake and drink, then I tend to eat all of the baked goods. Both may not be the best for my health but both are definitely good for the soul. As most of my fellow grad school buddies can attest to, baked goods solve all problems. Especially biostatistic problems.

Here is an example of my coping:

Thats a blueberry pie, the Kraken Rum, and a free-form apple tart.

My woes are feeling better already.

Welcome to Silicon Valley

I just moved to Silicon Valley with Brendan, my boyfriend (after four and a half years it doesn't seem to do justice by just calling him my boyfriend), and our dog. Brendan was offered a pretty sweet job at Mozilla, the people who make the internet browser Firefox. I on the other hand, moved here jobless.

Unlike the previous cities I have lived in (Portland, OR and Fort Collins, CO) this city is not uber bike friendly, obsessed with using everything local, nor do they a coffee shop on every corner. Bummer. But this city is dedicated to an extensive list of Asian and Indian food and taquerias, which I can get into, I just have to rearrange my priorities.

I wanted to start this blog to document what my life is like in this strange area of the U.S. and include what life is like for a stay at home dog mom who loves baking, eating, hiking, biking, and sleeping. Welcome, to A Day in the Life Of.....