Category Archives: Personal

When Za’atar met Dukkah

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Dukkah and Za'atar

I’ve been soul searching, trying to find my way around this new but old place. Over a month ago, I found a job that I thought was going to make life easier. It didn’t. In fact, it was something I had no desire to do. I struggled everyday. Moaned and groaned about it being miserable. It’s funny because everyone I was working with was great. Everyone was so supportive and was willing to help me become “successful”. I felt terrible because these people were willing to stick their necks out for me and help me out. Deep inside, I already knew this wasn’t the job for me. In the end, I had to come to terms with the fact that it just wasn’t the right fit. So I quit. I quit without having anything else lined up. I quit because I knew I couldn’t prolong the inevitable.

So here I am now, jobless and wondering what’s going to happen next. It’s a strange place to be, honestly. You’re kind of in lala land. But I’m taking it day by day. Each day I’m exploring a change in young adulthood. Figuring out what it is I actually want to do. (And applying for jobs like crazy. Because let’s be honest, the air isn’t going to pay my bills!)

While that’s happening, I also happen to have a lot of time on my hands. I’m back into the groove of working out and eating healthy…ish. Ok, heavier on the ish part.

After Bikram today, I needed a little snack. I grabbed some sourdough bread and olive oil for dipping. And just for fun I added these goodies:

Dukkah

Dukkah: Egyptian spice blend of almonds, sesame seeds, fennel seeds, coriander, anise seed and salt

Za'atar

Za’atar or Zahtar: Middle Eastern spice blend of sumac*, sesame seeds and thyme.

I mixed the Dukkah and the Za’atar with the olive oil, took my sourdough for a dunkin’ and began to think life ain’t half bad.

Gah, the mix is so good! If you’re looking to try it out. You can buy Dukkah at Trader Joes and Za’atar online at The Spice Hut.

Happy Soul Searching!

Cheers,

Camille

*Sumac is a spice that comes from a shrub-like plant. It’s flavor is tart and lemony.

What the heck, it’s 2013?

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In 2012…

I got engaged. (Ok, technically that was 2011)

Jake got me a Fiat 500. I named him Luigi.

I passed the Series 7, Series 63 and the Accredited Asset Management Specialist Tests.

I was finally making moves in my career.

But then…

We decided to move back to Washigton.

We decided that Arizona had been a good time, but it was time to be closer to our families.

So we put our house up for sale, packed our bags, postponed the wedding, I quit my job and we moved in with my parents.

Crazy, right?

2013 has started off even crazier!

As much as I’m dying for the sea to calm down, I’m already learning so many lessons in 2013. I’m being forced to figure out what it is I want to do in life.

We’re beginning our adventure back in Bellingham, WA. Funny how I’m back here. I remember writing in college that I envisioned myself settling down here.

Bellingham_sign

The Life and Times of a 25 Year Old

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I (Camille), have also dropped off the face of the planet. (At least as far as this blog goes.) I, however, have a terrible excuse. I’ve been at a standstill. I’ve got all these ideas running through my mind, but I haven’t taken action. “Wow, how great would it be to make this for the wedding, or ooh, I’ll cook that for dinner”. I was(am?) in a funk, I’ll admit it. I’m not sure what it was(is?). Quarter life crisis, maybe?

So let me explain. After college, there’s the shock of never having to go to school ever again. Then you freak out because society wants you to get a job. Then you get a job and life is all is gravy. You buy a house, get a dog and get engaged. And then…it hits you. You’re an adult and you need to make something of yourself. Its not just “finding the job”, but finding satisfaction in what you do and how you live.

But no worries, I’m back. I still may be facing this “Quarter Life Crisis”, but I figure you guys can come along for the ride.

Anyhoo, that’s MY update. More to come!

Cheers,

Camille

The Life and Times of a 22 Year Old

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So I (roxy) haven’t been blogging very regularly, but you have to understand that I just graduated from college in May, which entails a few weeks of depression resulting from complete shock that finally after 17 years in school it might be completely over and I DON’T HAVE A PLAN. Then I had to actually make a plan — apply for jobs, get rid of all my childhood things, reorganize my room, take excessive vacations to visit my boyfriend on the other side of the country. AND THEN in order to REALLY start my this new chapter in my life, I had to fly to Vermont and drive across country with my boyfriend so we could be in it together.

But now…. we are living at my parents’ house for the next 5 weeks. And then we are subletting a house for one month in October. AND THEN ONLY THEN we can finally get our own place that we will live in for at least 6 months. AH STABILITY.

So as you can imagine, it’s quite difficult to blog about homemaking and knitting and baking and weddings and all that when I’m in such a crazy transitional phase in my life… Anyway, that’s my update. Hope to have some stuff to post soon!!

 

xoxo

ROXXXY

 

Back East through Instagram

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Brooklyn to Burlington, VT to Long Beach Island, NJ back to Brooklyn before flying home to SeaTac. Two weeks captured via my new-found obsession with instagram.

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SeaTac Airport, Jet Blue Terminal, cloudsandclunkers by Peter Shelton.

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The evening I took this picture we decided to walk from the Old North End where my bf and I were staying to downtown Burlington instead of drive and were caught in the pouring rain. We had to hide under someone’s porch for a bit before it let up a little. But there was a beautiful rainbow afterwards. It spanned the entire sky and it was so big that I couldn’t get it all in the picture. (Burlington, VT)

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After Burlington, we drove down to Zack’s family beach house on Long Beach Island, New Jersey.

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The view from the windows. It was rainy most of the week and we spent most of our time in this magnificent house.

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The living room — the house was beautiful and I didn’t mind doing pretty much nothing. Perfect beach vacations always have no itinerary.

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A walk on the beach.

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Soft serve ice cream (or as Vermonters say creemees!!) as a reward for a long bike ride down the island.

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Us and ole Barney, the Barnegut Lighthouse. Finally a sunny day!

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When we got back to NYC, we spent a lot of time in Prospect Park in Brooklyn near the house where we were living. 1 Bigfoot in the park.

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Of course, had to go birdwatching. There’s a nice Audobon Center in the park with activities and such for kids.

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Walked all around the park. This pathway was called “Rick’s Place”.

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We went to a free Action Bronson and Das Racist concert at Red Hook Park in Brooklyn. I loved this old port authority grain building near the concert site. There were hipsters all over the park. When we were walking over, we could see swarms of them converging.

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And finally, the house in Brooklyn where we stayed used to be an old doctor’s office. There’s a sign in the living room that said “doctor’s office upstairs.” Wish I had remembered to take a picture of it.

- Roxy

Coffee

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Every morning, I drink a cup of strong black coffee, except when I’m at my parents’ house. They buy light coffee and brew it light.

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So, during my breaks from school, I have sweetened coffee-flavored milk for breakfast.

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Once when I was in Fremont, a barista claimed to be “anti- latte art”. I’m not even sure what that means, but I think she was probably just lazy because latte art is the best.

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Almost every day when I was in high school, I used to order vanilla lattes after school, usually with an everything bagel with cream cheese.  I would spend most of the afternoon doing homework or reading in coffee shops around my school until my dad picked me up. Coffee is probably the one drug I could never give up. If you cut me open, I’d probably bleed out coffee. Don’t be alarmed, though; it just proves I’m Seattle-bred and truly American.

Road Pix

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A photo set in honor of my bf’s now dead rose-colored 1992 Geo Prizm (RIP). I’ve been missing the freedom of having access to a car all the time. It’s such a pain in the butt to rely on other people for rides– to go to the grocery store, or out to that restaurant a little too far to walk, or to the city for the weekend. Most of all though I miss this:

 

And check out this photo set by Erica Segovia on Rookie Mag (click the picture). I was really inspired by the nostalgia of it — “The kind of day when you don’t want to get called inside for dinner” — and the models are fantastic, especially the little one. I wish this is how I spent my days…

A photo set by Erica Segovia on RookieMag.com