I’d tell you that I’ve recently started drinking many more homemade Matcha Lattes.
I’ve followed the blogger trend and will blend my matcha to achieve optimal foam. One part water, one part oat milk, a dash of sweetener, and one teaspoon matcha powder. Blend it up for 30 seconds and pour into mug. It really does make the best foamy at-home matcha.
Allergies in Seattle this year are insane. I once swore I did not suffer from seasonal allergies, but there’s no escaping the pollen, grass, tree, and EVERYTHING that is floating in the breeze. I’m not feeling so “Claritin Clear” this year.
Jumpsuits. I’m really digging the return of the jumpsuits for similar reasons that I adore wearing dresses; you don’t have to take time to match an outfit and you appear as though you spent great time putting yourself together. Do I look like Audrey?
We just returned from a wedding in Davis, CA. A long weekend with all of my favorite people from college under one roof was a treat. Five years later and we’ve all changed, but have largely stayed the same.
I’d tell you that Mamma Mia 2: Here We Go Again is a much higher quality movie than Mamma Mia 1. This movie is most enjoyed in theaters while wearing a jumpsuit to really immerse yourself in the era. We sang and danced and had a really, really, really, good time (name that song!)
We left off the last Croatia post as we boarded the plane from Munich to return to Croatia, this time landing in Zagreb. Zagreb is the polar opposite of Dubrovnik, it’s a fast paced metropolis that slows down in the evening only to continue business meetings over dinner and drinks. I enjoyed the hustle of the scene, but was ready to head back to the slow old city feel of Dubrovnik.
We stopped over in Zagreb for two nights and after four nights sharing a room with four strangers in a hostel we decided to splurge for a 4 star hotel. Chocolates on our pillows and beer in the fridge was the ultimate warm welcome.
We walked around and enjoyed the city views, breakfast off the square with the freshest eggs I’ve ever tasted, and many prosciutto platters.
We rested up and after two days rest began our drive out to the Plitvike Lakes National Park. After taking an electric boat off the main entrance visitors choose to take one of five routes. We opted for a shorter hike, approximately 5 miles due to starting later in the day and still having a long drive to go. You can expect to see dozens of waterfalls, birds, and beautiful lakes that are essentially untouched.
This hike was the highlight of my trip. If we’d known to plan for more time around the park we would easily have spent an entire day and gone for a longer hike. If you visit Croatia, this national park should be a must see on your list.
We kicked off WTF 2018 with some good ol’ southern style fried chicken. We have a few folks with hometown roots in Kentucky and Texas and they take their fried chicken seriously. “Ain’t nothing better than a good ol’ piece of fried chicken to warm the soul in the middle of Winter,” said our native Kentuckian.
A new restaurant, JuneBaby, opened in Ravenna, a neighborhood just north of the University of Washington campus. JuneBaby boasts of a nightly dinner special paired with a quality southern side. Chicken fried steak, roasted turkey leg, brisket, and mac and cheese are just a few of the authentic daily main specials. Our table made reservations specifically to indulge in the Sunday night fried chicken. We ordered a few appetizers to tame our appetites while we awaited the main course.
Crispy Fried Pig Ears
If you’ve been itching for a taste of frog legs or crispy pig ears, have no fear- JuneBaby’s crew can fry a mean pig ear. Having never tried pig ear before, I was impressed that frying something makes everything taste great. If pig ears aren’t the appetizer you’re looking for, the charred okra should suit you just fine. The okra is dressed in a smoked chili vinaigrette with peanuts and is a lighter appetizer to start your evening.
Sunday Night Fried Chicken
Our table exclusively ordered the fried chicken this Sunday evening, as word on the street is they run out by 6pm,so it must be something special. Half a chicken each, a buttermilk biscuit, and diced yams appeared 20 minutes later and we were not disappointed. Those with lighter appetites were able to bring home some chicken, but easily gobbled down their biscuit and yams. The biscuit was drizzled with cane syrup and was lighter and fluffier than your best homemade biscuit. The diced yams, equally great as the biscuit, were mixed with diced pineapple and tossed in a light honey habanero sauce. The sides balanced the salty fried chicken perfectly and left everyone content and satisfied with their JuneBaby dining experience.
JuneBaby is open 5 days a week for dinner and lunch on weekends, closed Monday and Tuesday. Reservations are available for parties greater than 10 guests.
WTF Club gives JuneBaby 12/10 for Sunday Night Fried Chicken, cocktails, and an overall terrific dining experience.
It’s another Friday and we’re two weeks into February, six weeks into the new year, only 319 days until Christmas (better start shopping now).
First, a few housekeeping items, how are your goal sheets coming along? They aren’t? Well, feel free to download your copy of “Champion Your Life” the bullet journal gone digital here. I’ve knocked one item off my list and see being able to check one more off this weekend.
If not, take a peek at some of our comical takes on life ranging from commuting, reading, and computer usage. This series is still up and coming, but we’d love your feedback!
Now, onto High-Five Friday Favorites/Thoughts:
After numerous conversations with friends in varying career paths (psychology, marketing, teaching, and tech), we’ve decided that going forward basic coding will be an essential skill in life. Knowing any HTML, CSS, or Python, might be useful in the future. Kids are already taking programming classes in 3rd grade, many millennials may need to up their skill set to stay current in the near future.What are your thoughts on this?
Boats that are actual hot tubs AKA hot tubs boats are amazing. Everyone should give it a try, AKA something new I tried last Sunday.
Housing is so expensive to rent or buy in Seattle, I’m going to be poor the rest of my life. #shouldHaveBeenAnEngineer #iWishIwasBetteratMath #maybeI’llFranchiseHotTubBoats?
Old Friends are Gold. Even across time zones. I’m grateful for having friends near and far.
We had a Girls Night Out and watched the latest 50 Shades of Grey. I’d never seen any of the others, so my expectations were LOW. This movie turned out to be a little funny and have some action. I was pleasantly surprised, I’d give it 1 out of 5 stars.
It’s a Tuesday that feels like a Thursday with a Monday that felt like Friday.
That’s what happens when your friend matches with her Med School Residency program on a Monday and there’s glitter EVERYWHERE. I shook a little glitter out of my hair during a meeting on Tuesday and said, “No, I wasn’t at a Ke$ha concert, just a residency program reveal party.” They nod as though they understand, but to be honest, I also didn’t know what to expect until we were at the party. It looked a little something like this…
Aside from this week taking on the state of molasses, I wanted to take a peek at what was happening on this day the past 1, 3, and 9 years ago.
2/7/17: The last day we were wandering around Havana. When we learned the difference between the Spanish word for tortilla and its translation in Cuba are different. Think eggs.
2/7/15: Hiking around the Seattle area at Little Si while wearing the largest gloves I owned at that point. They still froze.
2/7/10: Adventures with high school friends around Vancouver and conquering fears of suspension bridges. Taken with a high quality iPhone 4(?)
That’s all for today.
What were you doing the past few years on this day?
I’m taking my bullet journal and going digital.
I know, I know, the whole point of BUJO is the physicality of the book. But, I’m no Martha Stewart when it comes to crafting. I still love to plan and craft, so I turned to PowerPoint to make things colorful, neat, and easy to track. We loved the gold start system as kids, so why not use it as adults? #Millenial.
I’m building off last month’s theme and use of the Self-Care Bingo card. Combining the inspiration from my bullet journal and the easy to read digital format I’ve shifted the Bullet Journal monthly spread on to a PowerPoint slide.
The previous card had 25 target goals to complete, but that turned out to be a bit lofty when some required multiple days or hours. I’ve take the card this month and cut it down to 16 items that vary in time, energy, and thought. The idea of the running list in the bullet journal is to eliminate any weekly items that roll over at the end of the month. I have a couple items that I’d still like to complete by the month’s end, so you’ll notice a few repeats. If you’d like to use this template for your own purposes, feel free to download it and edit in PowerPoint.
The Christmas tree is still up and there are no plans to take it down until after Feb. 14th. It’s now been dubbed the “holiday” tree.
Global warming seems real right now; it’s 55 degrees in Seattle in the middle of January. But, I’m not mad about it at all…look at this afternoon sun lighting up our plates!
The first full week back at work is rough, I’m not the only one feeling this, right?
I’m plowing through my Self Care Bingo and I’m getting down to the items that will take more time than a couple hours. I think I’ll have to start planning these a bit further in advance.
The Annual Cookie Exchange lives on and the 4th annual party was held a bit late this year, Jan 7th. I’m glad it was thrown together last minute, our friends brought their A-Game. Surprisingly, not a single cookie was repeated! Here’s a before and after picture.
The book High Performance Habits is still on my bookshelf and I’m still loving it and having “ah-ha” moments every chapter.
Just listened to the RD Real Talk podcast and learned a little bit more about one of my favorite bloggers.
I’m attending a career workshop this Saturday that came highly recommend from a friend. I’m eager to learn more about resume tips and always having a prepped Linkedin website. We’ll see how it goes!
After a quick exploration of Dubrovnik we were once again headed to the airport towards our 2nd stop, Munich. Yes, Munich is not in Croatia and yes, we did miss Oktoberfest by 4 days, but this was to our benefit. You see, by missing a major holiday by a mere 4 days we were able to take full advantage of discounted prices. Dirndl and Lederhosen for 50% of the price? Yes, please!
On our first full day we fought through our colds (that we picked up on day one in Dubrovnik) and caught an early train to see the Neuschwanstein Castle that inspired Mr. Disney’s Cinderella Castle. What a view, eh?!
My favorite hostel vibe of the trip was here, we stayed at the Wombat City Hostel and it was positioned perfectly by a subway, but off the main street. 12/10 we both highly recommend this as a stop during your European travels.
A few highlights for us were:
The Standing Wave
Dachau
BIER at Hofbräuhaus
Other highlights from Munich were our Michelin star lunch, a day at the zoo, stumbling into the Glockespiel at noon, a modern art gallery, the National Theater, and many other sights. After four nights in Munich we head back to Croatia for the reminder of our trip!
![Virtual Coffee Date [4]](https://i2.wp.com/withessenceofcurry.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/jumpsuit.png?fit=816%2C579&ssl=1)
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