Happy #thinkingoutloud Thursday! No idea what I’m going on about? Click here!
1. Can we please take a moment to talk about the crazy workout that is trying to wiggle into a pair of Wunder Unders right after you’ve showered and put on cream? Because it puts the act of trying to shimmy into a pair of jeans while your legs are still ‘misty’ to shame… and don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about, either. I had worked up such a sweat by the time I was done my shimmy-dance, that I was seriously considering taking another shower. Eesh.
2. All jokes aside, I have actually been enjoying (I use that word loosely) a lovely high-intensity workout a few times a week. There’s a set of stairs near my home that go aaaaaaaall the way down to hell into the river valley, and I’ll run up and down them (read: down and up since I start at the top) whenever the mood strikes. It’s a great way to get my heart rate up and test my fitness, even if it does leave me questioning my sanity when I’m done and gasping for breath…
3. And while we’re on the topic of “things we find around the Spoons household,” remember the resident Starbucks cat I told you about a few months back? I’d like to inform you that he’s still alive and well…
4. And while I have no qualms with him lazing about and climbing all over my stuff, I do wish his presence would do something to deter the crazy amount of sparrows out there…
I don’t generally mind birds (except for roosters — a result of getting chased by one when I was little), but when I’m calmly sitting at my table, typing away on my laptop, and a sparrow picks a flight path that goes directly between my face and my computer screen, then I start to mind. Starbucks sparrows? They’re bold (see what I did just there?). And plentiful. Also surprisingly slim considering the generous amount of cinnamon rolls and blueberry muffins that people always seem to be giving them.
5. Speaking of muffins… you guys love ’em! My Banana Oat Greek Yogurt Muffins have officially been pinned over 100,000 times. Mind.blown. Thank you so much to everyone who shared them! And an extra special thank you to everyone who’s tried them and sent me tweets, comments, messages, and pictures letting me know how much you loved ’em. That kind of stuff… it just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
6. So does this kind of stuff…
I went to Homesense the other day to look for some things to spruce up my home, and I came across that sign while I was standing in the checkout line (I swear, the checkout merch gets me every.single.time). I thought it was perfect so it obviously had to come home with me. It’s now hanging in my home office… and making me smile 🙂
7. But the real winner of my little shopping excursion was this beauty right here…
A new bookshelf 🙂 This is kind of embarrassing to admit, but despite the fact that it’s coming on 3 years now that I’ve been living in my current place, I still had some unpacked boxes lying around… and they were all filled with books. I think it mostly came down to the fact that I could never really decide how I wanted to organize them (in one room vs. sprinkled throughout the condo), so I adopted the “out of sight, out of mind” attitude. Well, over time I naturally gravitated towards the “sprinkled” method, so now I have a whole bunch of collections of books in a whole bunch of random places… and I just added one more ^^
Also embarrassing? The fact that it took me over two.freaking.HOURS to finish organizing my books once I started. Thank you, OCD tendencies! Please don’t ask me how many times I had to run from room to room to get a “bolder/mellower” looking book, or what that even means. I’m a freak — I don’t deny that.
8. So I came across this website called Game Oldies that let’s you play old-school video games for free. Uhm… hello trip down memory lane?!?!? They’ve got everything! Mario, Kirby, Zelda, Donkey Kong, Sonic, Spyro… all the games I played growing up. And yes, I’ve been a gamer for pretty much as long as I can remember. Now if only I actually had time to play for more than 15 minutes a day. Stupid grown-up responsibilities…
9. I think I accidentally discovered the secret to roasting the sweetest kabocha imaginable — letting it sit in the pantry for 2+ months prior to tossing it in the oven 😆 I must have picked up this particular squash at least that far back, but I think I may have burnt out on squash after eating it daily for months, so I didn’t get around to roasting it until the other day. It doesn’t have that dry, crumbly texture that I love, but it’s sooooo sweet and creamy that I don’t even care.
10. And last but not least… the destination for the Fall(ish) 2014 Spoons Family Vacation has been set! In exactly 2 weeks, we’ll be packing our fine selves into the car (dibs on riding shotgun!!), and driving out to beautiful Whistler, British Columbia. Can.not.WAIT.
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Yes! I love super mario bros 3! It was my favorite video game as a kid! Also, if I were your up close and personal real life friend, those boxes would have been unpacked and organized lovingly for you because I’m a tad compulsive about such things!
100,000 pins!?!?! I have NEVER seen anything pinned that much holy hell! That is so amazing. Congratulations. WEEE. I want to go on your family spoons trip…I’ll bring treats.
I actually have a Ninetendo Wii…is that right? And instead of buying new games for it, I downloaded all my old favorites, most of which you mentioned. Every so often, I think about busting it out and just losing hours gaming. One day I will. Maybe if you come to visit. How’s about that?!
That is wonderful news about your muffins. I’m thrilled for you!! It’s totally deserved and I couldn’t be happier. You should celebrate with a kitchen dance party.
… wait, wait… You found old school games for your Wii?!? We need to talk about this…
Yup, you can play all the Classics. I’m fairly certain I have a half finished game of Zelda, Mario 3, and a handful of others.
congrats on your pins on your muffins!!
That bookshelf is amazing – I love it! We moved into a new duplex, and I’m in love with decorating it a bit. Our old place was a little small, but this place is definitely more ‘homey’. And the fact that I have an office? Ah-mazing.
Eeeep! Organizing books is not one of my gifts, not that it takes gifting to do that….haha. And your muffin looks awesome! Congratulations on the 100,000! Positive reinforcement goes a looong way. 😉
I sooooo wish we had kabocha readily available in Aus! I want some! So happy to hear about your muffin recipe
LOVE the bookshelf!!!! And I’m going to pin that muffin recipe as well, YUM! I totally agree with the shimmy…lol. Those wunder unders paired with lotion are for people who like to live dangerously, lol.
Ohmmmmmgeee.. those muffins. They are perfection.. which is probably (definitely) why they have been pinned so many times. I may have even just made a grocery list to go buy the ingredients after work….. YUM!
believe it or not, we still have our super mario brothers nintendo set. I wonder what it is worth now?
p.s. love the book shelf!
I still have mine too! Even the original Zelda in the gold edition. Not sure I could ever part with it though…
Those stairs look killer! I always trip when I run stairs or bleachers *^.^* Your family vacation spot looks awesome!
I really like that bookshelf!
A) I burnt myself out on kabocha too… but bought two baby guys at Whole Foods last week so I’m excited to roast them soon 🙂
B) WHISTLER!! SO JEALOUS! Can’t wait to see your photos, it’s pretty high on my want-to-visit list!
That kabocha squash looks delicious!
Eeeee! I’m so excited for your trip to Whistler. I’ve never been, but that’s where Glenn is from & he raves about it all the time.
Weren’t you guys out there last summer, too?!
Nope! We did a road trip out to BC last fall, but we spent most of our time on Vancouver Island.
That bookshelf is ridiculously cool! I’m such a sucker for thrift store finds!! I just bought a bowl in the shape of a hamburger – it makes everything I eat out of it that much more delicious! 😉
Those stairs are incredible! I would love to get a workout on those! Even though I can see myself tripping and falling all the way down…eek.
Your new bookshelf is super cute! I love how you organized it. I’m a big fan of many of those books. Especially The Help 🙂
OMG my OCD tendencies would totally be the same way with that! I semi love yet procrastinate projects like that solely because I know they will take me so much longer than the average human.. like organizing my pantry WOMP WOMP
And as for the kabocha, oh my lord I do the same thing.. Let them sit for months until they are straight up ORANGE and probably mistaken for pumpkins, but they turn out sooo sweet and delicious! Then HAS to be eaten all cold and creamy 🙂
Not surprised AT ALL that your muffins reached over 100,000! All of your recipes cater to the main food groups (oats, nut butter, chocolate, etc) so it’s no coincidence that I have probably every single one pinned and every WIAW is like a dream.
ENJOY YOUR VACATION! 😀
OH MY GOSH Super Mario Bros 3 was my jam!!! LOVE that game. That entire website is awesome, actually. Annnnd now I will get no work done today, whatsoever. So thanks for that. 😉 Also, those muffins? I’m totally making. Thanks for the recipe and congrats on all that Pinterest love! That’s amazing!!
xo
That bookshelf is seriously gorgeous!!! Is it small? I need a picture of you next to it in order to picture it in my living room 😉
And I can’t even imagine getting that many pins on a recipe. Your photography really is amazing and those do sound yummy!! And semi-healthy! 😉
Nope! It’s a little taller than I am (I’m 5’9), and about shoulder-width. So… basically me as a bookshelf 😆
You are SO amazing! Congrats on 100k pins!! Incredible!!!! The bookcase is beautiful, too!
You are a rockstar! No surprise there, though. Those muffins look and sound amazing!
for some reason, i missed that muffin, how could i? I pinned it too coz it looks delicious!!!!
I recognize so many of your books in your absolute adorable new bookshelf. You love chic-lit like I do (just a guess here)! We were destined to be friends 😉 Your fam vacation sounds super fun, ours is in 3 weeks and I couldn’t be happier! xoxo, ganeeban
I definitely have a soft spot in my heart for chic-lit <3 Sometimes there's just no better way to unwind than with a nice, lighthearted read.
The struggle is areal whenever I need to put on skinny genes. I’m a girl with big ol’ muscular legs and calves and I feel like my workout for the day has been accomplished 43820483205x over by the time I get those suckers on 😯 .
ALSO. SQUEEEEEEEE to your muffins!! So much is happening with Spoons now in terms of Buzzfeed articles and this and I couldn’t be more happy for you 😀
Ok, Game Oldies – well there goes my afternoon! 🙂
I am that OCD too, honestly, it takes me forever to sort out new bookcases and shelves. And I always end up going ‘minimal’ and putting things back in the cupboard!
That holiday sounds like heaven! Wish I was joining you!
Gorgeous location for a family trip! And I definitely need to ride shotgun or be the one driving. I hate back seats. Poopy views.
AND I CANT WAIT TO PLAY SPYRO!!! You just killed any opportunity for me to be productive today. hahaha
Cngratulations on 100,000 pins! That’s awesome!! The Real Housewives of the OC went to Whistler on one of their vacations (don’t judge my bad tv!) and it looked beautiful! I’m sure you will have a great vacation!
I love cats and think every restaurant or cafe should have at least one (or ten).
We just moved and I keep having dreams where I need to buy bookshelves, a wall sconce, decorative plates, curtains…I hate the transitional phase and just want our home to look and feel put together!
I can completely relate to that! And the worst part for me was trying to decide what kind of style I wanted to go with, since so many of them can look so good! Hence why it’s taking me years and years — too indecisive!
Hahaha, oh I know that pants-dance shimmy all too well! I think it counts as cardio, right?
Those stairs sound hellish, but in a good way. Stair workouts make me feel like a spartan. A masochistic spartan, but still.
And that bookshelf has me swooning. I just want allthebooks, allthetime.
Whistler!!! Been there!
Some years ago I went on a 18 day trip to Canada from the West Coast to East Coast. I totally fell in love with this place. We stayed in a small wooden cabin and we got to see some bears! 🙂
Love that shelf!
Those stairs!! Bless your heart. And your legs.
YUP, I know exactly what you mean in regards to the struggle of putting on spandex-type pants after showering. Sometimes, I just do whatever else I need to do pants-less before putting them on, because it’s just too much for me to put them on right away. True story.
That’s amazing about your muffins! My roommate just bought some bananas, so I might try to steal one to make them! I need to buy a bookshelf for my office, but I am SO TIRED of putting furniture together that I know I’m going to procrastinate doing it too!
OMG. You got me Jonesing for some up up down down left right left right B A start. You know what I’m talking about!
😆 Literally can’t stop laughing right now. I know -exactly- what you mean 😉
Thank you for doing this! I just did my first Thinking Out Loud today! 🙂
I couldn’t help notice all the Emily Giffin books on your shelf – I LOVE HER BOOKS. I’ve read every single one of her novels! Have you read them all?
Glad to have ya join this week, Hanna! 😀 And yup! I’ve read (and loved) them all. Well, I haven’t gotten around to reading her newest one yet, but I’ll probably pick it up at some point as well.
I want to play Mario so bad right now! I also loved Donky Kong but only for Nintendo. I hate anything 3D or in more dimensions then left, right up and down =)
I loooove that book case and true story stairs are my faaaaavorite workout, even though they kill me every time.
Love Starbucks the cat! I’m not sure why, but since I was little I’ve always had this thing for black cats. I always end up walking over and picking them up { and honestly don’t realize what I’m doing until I’m touching them haha }. Good thing the boyfriend and I plan on getting a black pug, maybe that will help with the fixation/obsession! And I literally LOL’ed when you said they are surprisingly thin for all the muffins they eat hahahaha. It kind of sounds like they are dive bombing you though!
Black pugs are perfection <3 A good friend of mine has two of them, and they're just the most adorable things ever.