• Pumpkin coconut bars

    pumpkin bars | marshmallows and margaritas

    Several years ago, when I was living in South Carolina, I had to work the day before and the day after Thanksgiving, so I couldn’t go to my family’s house in Michigan. Instead, I drove up to Charleston to have Thanksgiving dinner with my grandparents and my aunt and uncle. But said dinner wasn’t in […]

  • Cranberry applesauce

    cranberry applesauce

    As much as I love cranberry sauce, I also like to mix things up every once in a while. And with Thanksgiving coming up (so soon!), I wanted to try a slightly different cranberry recipe. This is super simple and doesn’t require as much sugar as regular cranberry sauce — the apples sweeten things up significantly. I […]

  • Marine Corps Marathon 10K recap

    mcm 10k

    One of the problems with big, popular races is that you have to sign up so far ahead of time that it’s difficult to know how you’re going to feel or what’s going to be happening in your life when the race actually rolls around. While I hurt my knee in February and swore off […]

  • A pencil a day

    pencil a day

    Do you have certain clothing items you tend to gravitate toward over and over again? I have a weakness for striped shirts, fit-and-flare dresses and pencil skirts. My friend Melissa apparently shares a similar affinity for pencil skirts, and a few weeks ago, she decided she was going to wear one every day for a […]

  • The best pitaya bowl

    pitaya bowl

    Acai bowls are definitely the more well-known and ubiquitous of the smoothie bowls, but pitaya — sometimes called dragon fruit — is really my favorite. But while frozen acai packets are relatively common, packs of frozen pitaya chunks are a little less easy to find. I was pretty excited to see them at our local Safeway, but you […]

  • Yoga in the outfield

    nats game

    Despite the fact that we lived in California for two years — which seems to be the yoga capital of the US, if not the world — we never really got into yoga. Meanwhile, my dad has become quite the yogi up in Michigan. He even borrowed my yoga mat when he drove Toby’s car […]

  • Go Navy!

    annapolis friends

    One of the first things we did upon arriving in the DC area was look up the Navy football schedule. We didn’t get season tickets or anything, but we did manage to get tickets for a few of the games, including the first home game of the season. I think you all know my philosophy on dressing […]

  • Kale pesto

    making kale pesto

    In the pantheon of trendy foods, kale is Jupiter. Everyone from Gwyneth to Beyonce is a fan, and even fast-food restaurants are trying to get in on the action. But, honestly? I don’t really like the way it tastes. If I’m going to be chowing down on raw leaves, I’ll take spinach any day. Still, I know […]

  • Pumpkin mochi cake

    pumpkin mochi cake

    Have you ever had mochi? I had not tried it — or even heard of it — until a few years ago, when a friend broght Trader Joe’s mochi ice cream bites to a party we attended. The flavors were all very good, but the best thing about mochi items is really the chewy/spongy texture. […]

  • Zucchini noodles with turkey meatballs

    zoodles with kale marinara and turkey meatballs

    I’m sorry I’ve been MIA most of the summer, y’all. Moving across the country and starting a new job made me a little crazy, and I feel like I haven’t had enough time to breathe. But I did finally cook something delicious recently, so I wanted to share it with you! And I promise I […]