weekend thru a lens

 

 Happy Weekend.

pancake party

I don't know when I suddenly started making pancakes like a mad woman, but since this summer I seem to wake up on Sunday mornings and want pancakes.  I have tried tons of recipes and ingredients - blueberry, chocolate chip, raspberry....... but since it is now fall, and I am obsessed with pumpkin, I had to try some pumpkin pancakes.  I have to say these are hands down the best pancakes I have made in a while, and they are healthy too.  They are super easy so you should definitely try them out. And get a griddle.  What did I do before my stovetop griddle?!  Happy Sunday.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes 

 

1 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
¼ teaspoons Salt
½ teaspoons Cinnamon
¼ teaspoons Nutmeg
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar (or 1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar and 1 Tablespoon Stevia)
⅓ cups Pumpkin Purée
1 whole Egg
1 cup Milk
½ teaspoons Vanilla
2 Tablespoons unsweetened apple sauce (Can also sub in 2 Tablespoons butter) 

Mix the dry ingredients together in one bowl (flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar). Whisk the rest of the ingredients together in another bowl (pumpkin, egg, milk, vanilla and applecause). Make a little well in the dry ingredients - add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined.  Let the batter rest for a few minutes. Pour 1/3 cup of batter onto a pre-heated griddle on medium heat. Wait until the batter bubbles a bit around the edges and flip. Cook until both sides are lightly golden. Enjoy!

Back in the Day

I was a counselor at Camp Henry Pratt in Columbus. I have many memories of those fun days.  One of my campers, Ruby Jane, was deathly allergic to dairy.  To ease her mother's thoughts, I took it upon me to make sure Ruby Jane did not ingest anything that had the scent of cow. Since those days, she has become quite the artist.  In 2005, Ruby Jane became the youngest invited fiddler in history to play the Grand Ole Opry, sharing the stage with Opry legend Mike Snider.  Now 16, she plays 11 different instruments and has played at many other venues including another stint at the Grand Ole Opry and Lollapalooza.

Last night, she played at Hill Country in Chinatown, so Lo and I, along with our buddies, Jackson and MVB, went down to grab some bbq and listen to Ruby Jane. And boy did she rock it. Below are a couple of pics and videos of her performance.

Not sure what this anon couple is doing.....

 

A little singing.

Then a fiddle rock out.

Great night.

Happy Birthday Papacat

He's turning the big 4-0 this year. hahaha. Not so much, but I will agree with what he said this morning. "As long as the Good Lord keeps me on the earth, healthy and happy, I don't care about the age."  May his patience and OURS grow stronger with his age.

Cool hat. I think I may have on just like it right now.

Teleprompter

In light of the recent news that President Obama's beloved and over-used teleprompter was stolen, 

I will leave you with this funny. 

 

 

Saturday Morning Thought

Just a thought. What if Steve Jobs' mom would have aborted him when her father disapproved of her pregnancy? She chose to give the little life an opportunity to live. She chose to give him up for adoption so that he could thrive. Think about that while you play on your iPhone, your iPad, watch an animated movie in 3-D at home, and enjoy your music through an ipod.

Member Appreciation Day

Wednesday was Member Appreciation Day at our gym.  We have been members since 2008, so it is safe to say, we should be appreciated. Well, Lauren did not get the appreciation she wanted/deserved. So of course it was the topic of our early morning email conversation...

Lauren to Wesley :
Subject: Wednesday

Im so snoozy.  Im going to have to go have a tea party before my interview at 10:30 am.  I am pissed about the coffee.  I am a valued customer and there is no reason all the coffee should be gone by 8:40.

Like any good husband, I wrote an email expressing my frustration that my wife was not properly taken care of.  Preface: For whatever reason, our gym likes to serve very unhealthy breakfast food on member appreciation day.....

Dear Vida,

It would be appreciated if on Member Appreciation Day, you would have enough coffee for those who like to be appreciated. Also, it is a bit of an oxymoron to serve creme filled danishes, muffin, croissants, and bagels at a GYM Appreciation Day.  You should know that is takes 20 minutes of intense running to burn off one croissant, so after getting up at the ass-crack of dawn, sweating my butt off to burn a few cals, why the HELL would you think I would want any of those options. You are promoting a "healthy lifestyle", yet serve items that Trainer Bob says should never be on your daily menu. Come on now. Wake up. Maybe if you would have had more coffee, you would have been able to wake up and realize your stupidity.

Unregards,

An Unappreciated Member's Husband

P.S. I really didnt send this, but should have.

IT'S FALL!!

So what does that mean for me? Just the following.

First Email
Title: i love all these things. and i am in desperate need of shoes.

http://us.topshop.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?beginIndex=0&viewAllFlag=&catalogId=33060&storeId=13052&productId=2526127&langId=-1&sort_field=Relevance&categoryId=208588&parent_categoryId=&pageSize=20&refinements=category~[360999|208588]&noOfRefinements=1 

http://us.topshop.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?beginIndex=0&viewAllFlag=&catalogId=33060&storeId=13052&productId=3122594&langId=-1&sort_field=Relevance&categoryId=208588&parent_categoryId=&pageSize=20&refinements=category~[360999|208588]&noOfRefinements=1

http://us.topshop.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?beginIndex=0&viewAllFlag=&catalogId=33060&storeId=13052&productId=2584368&langId=-1&sort_field=Relevance&categoryId=208588&parent_categoryId=&pageSize=20&refinements=category~[360999|208588]&noOfRefinements=1

http://us.topshop.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?beginIndex=0&viewAllFlag=&catalogId=33060&storeId=13052&productId=2598544&langId=-1&sort_field=Relevance&categoryId=208588&parent_categoryId=&pageSize=20&refinements=category~[360999|208588]&noOfRefinements=1

http://us.topshop.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?beginIndex=0&viewAllFlag=&catalogId=33060&storeId=13052&productId=2554015&langId=-1&sort_field=Relevance&categoryId=208588&parent_categoryId=&pageSize=20&refinements=category~[360999|208588]&noOfRefinements=1

http://us.topshop.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?beginIndex=0&viewAllFlag=&catalogId=33060&storeId=13052&productId=2553197&langId=-1&sort_field=Relevance&categoryId=208588&parent_categoryId=&pageSize=20&refinements=category~[360999|208588]&noOfRefinements=1

Second Email
Title: shoes for me

http://us.topshop.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?beginIndex=0&viewAllFlag=&catalogId=33060&storeId=13052&productId=2599356&langId=-1&sort_field=Relevance&categoryId=330539&parent_categoryId=208581&pageSize=200

http://us.topshop.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?beginIndex=0&viewAllFlag=&catalogId=33060&storeId=13052&productId=3249333&langId=-1&sort_field=Relevance&categoryId=330539&parent_categoryId=208581&pageSize=200

http://us.topshop.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?beginIndex=0&viewAllFlag=&catalogId=33060&storeId=13052&productId=3123979&langId=-1&sort_field=Relevance&categoryId=330539&parent_categoryId=208581&pageSize=200

http://us.topshop.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?beginIndex=0&viewAllFlag=&catalogId=33060&storeId=13052&categoryId=208692&parent_categoryId=208581&productId=2629848&langId=-1&intcmpid=W_SUPERCAT_SHOES_US_WK3_AS_SEEN_ON_STYLE_SET

love her. so much. 

Post Work Jog

Lo and I decided to sleep in this morning and go for a run after work. It was quite the perfect day for a jog down the National Mall to the Lincoln Memorial, then back to the Capitol and on to Lincoln Park. After running up the treacherous hill that hugs the Capitol, we decided to stop and take in the beauty of the sunset. It was very calming and peaceful, considering the very tense weekend that just passed.

natural disaster week

well, we start out the week with an earthquake and end the week with a hurricane. hopefully, things will for the most part miss us. since we live in a basement apartment where our bedroom floods even with a little rain, we have taken a few precautions. wesley has just finished rigging up a tarp and sandbags (well topsoil..... there is no sand left in the city) over our bedroom door. also, the electric in dc is notorious for going out so we are stocked up with some candles and trail mix, and of course wine. i started a crockpot with bbq pulled chicken this morning... so at least we will have some food!! now it is just kind of a waiting game. watching tv, getting some laundry done and maybe catching up on some blogging. we will keep yall updated (if we have internet!) things and praying for our friends in NC / lower VA and of course NYC. Stay dry!!!!