Food Truck Monday

Sugarhouse just keeps getting better and better - Food Truck Mondays all summer long!

Plus any town with the name Sugarhouse has to come with some pretty sweet perks :).

It might not look like it, but it was smoooookin hot this evening!

Poor Lydia was sweating up a storm in there, but she can't walk yet and I didn't want her crawling all over the blazing cement! Walking will make everything so. much. easier.

We got a pizza and a trio of sliders: pulled pork, hamburger and fried chicken. 

So everything was very paleo/vegan/gluten free/whole 30/calorie free ;).

Wall = the only shady spot available.

And I gotta be honest here, the best thing we ordered was hands down the sea salt fries! We were slightly underwhelmed by everything else... boo! Next time we're skipping dinner and going straight to the Art City Donuts truck, ha. We're still dying to try them.

Cute cute.

This mural also happens to be the snapchat location filter for the area! Find me (and a thousand videos of Lydia ;) ) on snap at annikajames :).

All the Photos I Forgot to Post from Three Weekends Ago

A few weeks back Michael and I had a dream weekend because #yolo and #summer and #noresponsibilities*. And we haven't crossed anything off the Summer Bucket List yet so we have to do double up when we can, ya know?

(*Michael does indeed have responsibilities, they are just super chill compared to school! I on the other hand am always free as a bird. Let's grab lunch sometime! ;) )

We started off at Foothill to grab pizza and meander. 

Bubblegum-colored bikes?? I'll take all of them, thank you.

Babinskis has the cutest baby stuff all in one place! So fun to take a peek in there.

And Banburry Cross donuts were definitely on the top of the List.

Lydia thinks she's a hot shot pushin the stroller :). Monkey see monkey do!

Aaand when J.Crew gives out free donuts a couple hours later (woot woot!) you just have to go with sugar rush round two - HA!

The next day we perused through a (very interesting) farmers market, and although the booths weren't quite our style, we loved spying on the little kid soccer game and helping Lydia "run! run! run!"

Yes, white jean flares(!?) are indeed happening here. And shockingly I didn't spill on 'em and shockingly I kinda liked 'em! 

I forgot how easy it is to take off flares. You just step on one flared end and pull your leg out and then step on the other and TIME! 2 seconds! Inching out of skinnies is typically an entire process of bending over and wriggling the ankle hem over my heel and slooowly shimmying down all the fabric and then repeating. Usually accompanied by falling over at some point. Why did we ever said goodbye to flares?

Lydia was obviously loving the swing as demonstrated by her expression (not).

Those eyes get me everytime!

And closing out with Lydia's all-time favorite, the spinny thingy! (Technical name anyone?) She is all giggles when she's in anything that spins or turns or drops (i.e. Dada letting her fall a few inches onto the bed). That's my girl!! We're gonna be lining up for roller coasters together since Michael's stomach can't do too many spins and twists. Pretty thrilled that she inherited my love of rides.

Speaking of which, I haven't been on a roller coaster in at least 2 years and I am d.y.i.n.g. When I was pregnant, there was nothing I missed more (besides sushi) than roller coasters!! I need to get to one stat.

Coconut Vanilla Granola

Granola is an easy peasy way to make you feel super productive and homemaker-y and connected to nature (or something like that?), all in under 20 minutes!

My sisters and I used to help my mom make big batches of granola on Saturday mornings, and then I kind of forgot how simple it was until a couple weeks ago!

This version is a straightforward, no fail route that isn't necessarily a pillar of health, but it's perfect on yogurt or in a ziplock for your diaper bag!

Also apparently there are different crunchiness camps for granola. Michael prefers smaller sprinkly pieces with minimal chewiness and maximum texture. I am all about the bigger chewy chunks that you can actually pick up with your fingers and eat on the go. For crunchier, piecier granola, stir the mixture immediately after baking. For chewier granola, don't stir!

Pictured is a non-stir version. See how it's all coming up in clumps? Clumps = chewy = gimme.

Whilst stirring, your daughter will probably pull every item out of your bag...

...and proceed to shimmy under the couch ;).

Goooooood morning!

Coconut Vanilla Granola

Ingredients: 

- 1 cup almonds, divided 

- 3 cups oats 

- ½ tsp salt

- ⅓ cup brown sugar

- ⅓ cup honey 

- 3 Tbsp coconut oil

- ¼ tsp vanilla extract 

- ¼ tsp almond extract 

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350*.

In a food processor, pulse ½ the almonds until finely chopped and pour in a bowl.

Chop other ½ the almonds coursely and pour in same bowl.

Pour oats, salt and brown sugar in the bowl and stir with almonds.

Microwave honey and coconut oil for 30 seconds, stir to combine, then add vanilla and almond extracts.

Combine honey and oats until evenly coated, then spread on a slipmat lined baking sheet.

Bake 5 minutes, then stir and spread back to an even layer.

Bake another 5 minutes. 

For crunchier granola - stir immediately (and if you want, stir every couple minutes) til cooled.

For chewier granola, let sit for 10 minutes and then break into pieces.

Store in an airtight container and enjoy!

Recipe from Lovely Little Kitchen

Thorns and Roses

HIGH Fitness! (Please disregard how terribly red my face gets when I work out. Ew.)

The last few weeks have been loaded with high highs and low lows. It's funny how that works for me, I'm such an all-or-nothing personality. I'm either having "the best" day or "the worst" day, haha. Ideally I find some balance, ya? And sweet Michael just keeps putting up with me in all my up down ying yang zig zagging.  I owe you big time boo.

A few sours and a few sweets as of recent: 

Thorns:

- This ^^^. Yep, just shattered my screen into a million pieces. To be honest, considering how frequently I drop my phone without it cracking I was kind of overdue. Thanks universe for holding out for so long!

- Had an extremely Monday-ish Monday last week. 10 minutes into grocery shopping when Michael called and said he was locked out. Raced through the grocery store so I could hurry home to let Michael in when Lydia drops a huge tub of yogurt which busts apart and sprays everywhere. Slip n Slide on Aisle 8! Once home, a nameless person who lives in our house and rides a bike accidentally knocked over a vase with said bike and that shattered, too. There's kind of this breaking theme going on? Literally that's how every single thing went on Monday. 3 cheers for Tuesdays!

- TMI here but we cannot regulate Lydia's poop? She's either blowing out 5 times a day or constipated. Poor girl...

Roses: 

- Lydi Girl can kind of communicate!! It is the cutest thing ever. When she's done with her dinner she'll raise her arms and say, "Ahhhhh dahhnn!" which interpreted means "All done!" If we ask for kisses she'll lean in with her mouth wiiiide open :). If we say, "Do you want a drink?" she'll look for the sippy cup and open her mouth. It's getting so fun! 

- This is not a big deal to anyone but my sisters and me but our family got more data!!! Raise the roof! With 5 girls on one plan we would always run out of data by the end of the month, which meant no looking up directions, no googling recipes in the grocery store, no Siri-ing all my texts, and most importantly no snapchatting ;). After a few months of relentless complaints from all of us sisters my dad upped our plan! 

- Attending the massive outdoor HIGH fitness class at City Creek last week! Such a fun way to get in a work out - it's kind of a dance/cheer/jumping/sweaty combo to music!

- My mom winning funniest sentence award a couple weeks ago with this one, said with much enthusiasm: "Ahh Barbie packaging is the worst - I just want to BLOW THEM ALL UP!!"

- After a rough flight alone with Lydia and lots of delays, the darling airport cart riding people zoomed over and asked if I wanted a ride. I declined because I had no money, and he said and I quote, "Ah sugar this one's on the house." So sweet!! So these cart people drove Lydia and me all the way to baggage claim and made jokes about who Lydia liked the best and I literally had tears in my eyes I was so thankful. Just what I needed. There are still good people in this world!!

- And finally, we bought a grill! Dreaming of all the grilled things we can cook up this summer - chicken of course, asparagus, pineapple, hamburgers, any delicious grill recipes I should know about??

"Acai" What You Did There

As mentioned previously, Michael waxes poetic about acai bowls. 

But not just any acai bowls, Banzai Bowls from California. 

These are brought up in our home at least twice a week accompanied by moans and nostalgic eye rolls. All the toppings. The honey. The bee pollen. The huge plastic container. The fact that we can eat them on the beach.

Ya they're pretty much perfect.

So naturally we've become quite the acai critics over heeeyurr. And after a family run around Sugarhouse Park, Acai with a Blend was the perfect dinner! They've only been open for 4 months but the atmosphere is darling and I actually really liked the bowl! (Okay not quite Banzai but I mean what is.)

And side note, I'm finally appreciating running without an ipod. I used to be terrified of running without music. Like literally would forego the run if my ipod ran out of battery. But the last few times I've ran I've done so sans music and it's pretty nice! Just my thoughts, my (loud) breath, and the scenery!

3 mile run + acai bowl + posing awkwardly on a bench = happy.

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Michael's Third Love

1st = me, hopefully ;)

2nd = Lydia 

3rd = golf

(4th = tie between deep dark chocolate cake and cycling)

A couple hours of golfing yesterday morning with these cuties! Lydia loved riding in the cart and I loved watching my hot husband do something he rocks at. As much as I think golf takes way too long, (4+ hours? really?), and I'm not totally sure it's a sport since you wear the same pants on the course as you do to church, I can't deny there's something calm and refreshing and... happy about being surrounded by beautiful green mountains and hearing the birds and not worrying about a thing in the world except where a tiny white ball is headed.