Naming the Good Stuff No. 10

I haven’t done a Naming the Good Stuff post in so long (almost two months)! They make me so happy though, and I’d love nothing more to start doing these regularly on Fridays again. This one is going to be short, just a way of popping in and sharing what’s been good in the past week.

First up, my dogs have been so lovey with each other! I guess they missed each other while we were in Europe (they were boarding at different facilities - they have very different needs), because they’ve been more tuned into each other than I’ve ever seen them. To be honest, Willie and Jellybean have never been best best friends, but they’ve been constantly looking for each other, sniffing, kissing, nuzzling, and it warms my heart so much to see it. They have a brotherly relationship that is only getting better with time, and I’m so grateful for that.

Second, I’m so happy that I’ve gotten a chance to blog more regularly in the past week! It feels great to get back into that routine. This past week I blogged my September goals (better late than never huh?) and my simple Fall house decorations, plus this post! I already have a really fun post written and pre-scheduled to go up Sunday, so keep an eye out!

Third, I just wanted to share a snap of these lovely little buds I spotted on a hike the other day! They reminded me of spring, even though it’s almost Fall.

Fourth and last, the pumpkin pancakes in the photo above are SO GOOD! I made them using the Trader Joe’s boxed pumpkin pancake and waffle mix, and Grace requested them two days in a row they are so yummy. They do have actual pumpkin in them, plus all the spices that make us think of pumpkin pie, but they aren’t overly sweet on their own. They go great with maple syrup!

Overall, my “good stuff” lately is just how nice it is to be home. I had some post-vacation blues last week when we were first back, but it really does feel so cozy and nice to be home now. How lucky am I to have a real life that feels sweeter than vacation!

Hope you had a great week!

Naming the Good Stuff No. 9

It’s been awhile since I’ve done a Naming the Good Stuff post and I miss it! I started this “tradition” as a type of blog post to do on Fridays, but the overall sentiment behind it (just reflecting on what’s been good lately) also feels fitting for the start of a new week, and I’m writing this on Sunday night while I wait for some veggies to roast in the oven :)

1. Number one on my Naming the Good Stuff list is summer veggies! Getting home from the grocery store and breathing in the scent of fresh basil as I unpack grocery bags, and stocking the kitchen with avocados, squash, corn, tomatoes, and green beans is just the best.

2. Next is how cute and snuggly Willie has been lately! He sometimes wants alone time, so when he “chooses” you to cuddle with, it’s sooo cute and special.

In case anyone was missing some Bean content in this post (lol), here’s a mini collage I made of how cute his stubby little legs/paws are.

3. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve probably seen that I’ve been super into bread making lately! I’m planning on doing a whole post about it, because it’s been so fun. Here are some loafs I recently made:

4. A couple of weeks ago we got some flower arrangements as a gift (actually Grace did), and most of the flowers used ended up drying really beautifully! It’s been the gift that keeps on giving, I’ve just been changing the water out every few days but they’re still going strong.

5. I’m really proud that we FINALLY put together an earthquake kit. I’ve been meaning to do this for literally years, and recent quakes in LA were the motivation I needed to actually get it done.

6. Grace got me a make-your-own neon sign kit, and I used it to make this “cozy” sign for our guest room! I actually rearranged the whole guest room layout, which has been really helpful since it is my office too. I think this corner feels so homey, and I hope our guests do too!

7. I know for some people this one might be a “naming the BAD stuff” item, haha, but I’ve been loving the hot summer weather we’ve had lately! Grace and I have been getting outside a lot, enjoying the dry heat, and drinking iced drinks.

8. We’ve been checking a LOT of things off our Summer Bucket List lately. One of the things on the list was wine nights in our yard, and even though I’m the only one who really drinks wine, I have been loving it!

9. Lastly, one of the things making me happiest right now is that we have three vacations coming up next month!! Neither of us has taken a real vacation all year, and now we have a bunch coming up at once which is so exciting.

Hope you’ve had lots of the Good Stuff in your life lately, too!

Naming the Good Stuff No. 8: Life Lately

Happy Friday! I have missed a couple of Naming the Good Stuff Friday posts, but life has been so good lately! So I wanted to pop in and share a few favorite things.

1. Easter! Easter is one of my favorite holidays, and this year was really special and meaningful to me. Grace and I dyed eggs (which was not necessarily the meaningful part haha . . . but it was fun!) and they turned out cool, I think!

2. I recently got a chance to go to LA’s Eataly for the first time! I have been to the Eataly locations in New York and Chicago, but not the one in LA until a couple weekends ago. Grace and I went and met my friend Sarah, who was hosting a vodka tasting there (she does some PR work for a vodka company). Once she was done doing the demonstration we all got a bunch of Eataly pizza and it was SOOO good!

Cutie Sarah

Cutie pizza

3. With it being Springtime, I’ve been super into tending to my plants and even trying to propagate some of them! I am trying to add to my collection while keeping up Grace’s and my financial goals for this first year of marriage, so I got lucky when I found this baby growing outside (so I plucked it and am seeing how it likes living indoors with me):

And, the other day my office building was giving away plants for free for Earth Day! I snagged this cutie and repotted it in our house later:

4. If you read my recent everything-but-the-kitchen-sink bowls blog post, you know how much I love making a whole meal out of a one-dish “bowl.” Well, even since writing that post earlier this month, I discovered a new type of bowl: cottage cheese bowls. I put about a cup of cottage cheese on the bottom and then top it with chopped tomatoes, sugar snap peas, radishes, hard boiled eggs, avocado, sesame seeds, hot sauce, and salt and pepper. SUCH A GOOD LUNCH! Grace and I have been obsessed.

5. Also on the topic of food we love, I have recently transitioned from eating individually-packaged cups of yogurt in the morning to buying a large container of Greek yogurt and making Greek yogurt bowls. They are so much yummier than just eating yogurt out of a cup AND I feel like I am cutting down on how much plastic I use. Win-win!

I like topping my Greek yogurt with sliced banana and strawberries, granola, dark chocolate chips, chia seeds, and honey. Because I’m adding chocolate and honey to it, I get the totally unsweetened Greek yogurt.

6. Lately our dogs have been so snuggly and they make our evenings so nice at home. I love them so much!

7. Lastly, Grace and I did something recently that we have never done in over 6 years of knowing each other: we baked cookies together! It was the sweetest night. I know it sounds so simple, but it just made me so happy. We made a basic dough and then added our own extra ingredients - I added dark chocolate chips to my half, and Grace added a swirl of peanut butter to hers. They were both so good but Grace’s were honestly the best out of the two! We also froze some of each kind so we can make more whenever!

Naming the Good Stuff No. 7

Happy Friday! Even though I’m not the most consistent with it, I love this little tradition of Naming the Good Stuff on Fridays (you can find all my Naming the Good Stuff posts here). There was so much goodness this week. Here are a few of my favorite things from the last few days!

1. Salt and Straw’s new April flavors. I went with my best friend Sarah on Monday and between the two of us, we tried them all—they’re unreal! She ended up picking the Chocolate Rose Petal (with whipped cream) and I got the Wildflower Honey with Ricotta Walnut Lace Cookies. I know they don’t have Salt and Straw everywhere (I think it’s only on the West Coast), but if you live near one, GO try the April flavors this month!

2. The new season of the OA on Netflix

Grace and I watched the first season back in 2016 and it took them three years to release another season. I’ll be honest, we felt a strange pull to finish the first season but we weren’t blown away. And we really did not love the ending of the first season. But now watching the second season, it’s like all the weirdness from season one was WORTH IT because it’s clear there was a big, complex plan for the storyline all along. We are halfway through the second season and loving it (another show we’re watching like crazy right now—The Act on Hulu. So creepy but so good).

3. This photo of Bean in his natural habitat.

He is the weirdest, but cutest, and he constantly makes me laugh. I love him so much!

4. Our power outage candlelit pizza dinner

Earlier this week, we lost power for a few hours and it was so odd because there was no bad weather or anything like that. It was annoying, but it ended up being really sweet because not being able to use electricity in the kitchen to cook, we ordered pizza and had a romantic candlelit Domino’s dinner. It forced us to be present, not watching TV or on a laptop or anything, and it was super sweet. Of course, the power came back on right after we finished the last bite of pizza, haha! If you’re wondering, my go-to Domino’s pizza order is build your own, thin crust, garlic white sauce for the base, mozzarella cheese, and topped with pineapple, mushrooms, and banana peppers. Try it, it’s SO good!

5. On Tuesday night, I had a girl’s night out with my best friend Caroline and it was so much fun.

As I’m getting older I feel like I really cherish that one-on-one time with friends more so than being in a big group (even though that’s always fun too). So I’m grateful we got to go out and catch up!

6. Blogging more! I have finally made more intentional time for Have Dog, Will Drive, and I’m excited about a few posts scheduled to come out and in the works. On Wednesday, I posted about my Winter Bucket List, and next week you can expect posts about a spending challenge I did from January-March and one of my favorite types of meals to make.

7. On Wednesday I got to meet my new “newphew,” GRIFFEY! One of my best friends Sara (not the Sarah I got ice cream with, haha - so many Sara/hs in my life) got a puppy a couple of weeks ago and although Grace met him earlier, I hadn’t yet. He is a dream come true, just the floppiest, sleepiest, sweetest puppy. I am in love. It’s so fun to see your friends become pet parents (and of course real parents, I just don’t have that many friends who are yet), and Sara is doing so great with Griffey!

This picture is honestly a better representation of how my time with him went:

Can’t wait for him to finish up his puppy shots so he can meet our boys!

That’s all for now, hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Naming the Good Stuff No. 6: When Life Hands You LOTS of Lemons

Happy Friday friends! I am loving the flexibility of these “Naming the Good Stuff” posts to write a quick post on Fridays about what’s good, what I’m thankful for, and what’s been on my heart this week. And this week, I’m feeling so very thankful for my lemon tree!

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve probably seen me post stories and pictures about our lemon tree. I just can’t get over what a gift it is! I’ve laughed out loud so many times seeing the huge bags of lemons I’ll pick—I’ve probably picked close to 200 lemons this winter. I can’t believe it. What’s most striking about it, to me, is that I’ve done no work whatsoever to cultivate this lemon tree. It was here when we moved into the house (it was off-season, so I barely noticed it). It doesn’t even really have soil; it’s growing on the edge of our driveway wedged up next to a fence. The weather has been all over the place this year in LA—a super dry, hot summer, followed by an incredibly rainy winter. Smoke has filled the air from fires across our county. And yet, this lemon tree just keeps on making lemons.

And we’re not talking scrawny, scrappy lemons. These are huge, beautiful, juicy, better-than-grocery-store lemons! The smell is intoxicating right when you pick them (also, I’ve learned, the branches are spiky and getting cut with one feels like you’ve had lemon juice poured into a wound. But worth it). I would honestly say that this lemon tree is one of the top 10 things I’ve been grateful for this winter. And it’s taught me a few poignant lessons.

First, radical generosity. We didn’t plant this lemon tree. We did nothing to earn it. And yet, it just keeps making lemons for us, and I’m overwhelmed with what a generous gift it is. There have been so many lemons that I’ve had to come up with new and creative ways to use them. THAT is radical generosity—giving not just enough, but in abundance.

Second, rekindling childlike wonder. I have felt such magic seeing lemons ripen seemingly overnight, climbing in the branches of the lemon tree (yes . . . it’s so big there are lemons I can’t even reach!), and reflecting on how this amazing plant came to be. From ONE little lemon seed—the tiny things I fish out of a lemon slice before squeezing it into my tea—this tree grew. Big enough that birds perch in its branches.

And third, simply gratitude and balance. The funny thing is, we’ve lived in this house for two winters now and this is the first one that I’ve enjoyed the lemon tree. Last year, I was so busy and juggling WAY too much, and I probably got a handful of lemons all winter and the rest fell on the ground and rotted. I’m by no means an expert on achieving balance, but right now, I feel pretty good about it :)

Here are some of the fun things I’ve done with my lemons!

Used them in all kinds of cooking (soups, roasts, sheet pan dinners, salads, etc.):

Gifted bags upon bags of them to friends:

Made preserved lemons (kind of like dry-pickling lemons in salt, sugar, garlic, and paprika, turns them into an AMAZING pickled pantry staple):

And made sheet pan roast dinners using the preserved slices:

And last but not least, made my lemon bars!

Thank you, lemon tree.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Naming the Good Stuff No. 5: Valentine's Edition

Happy Friday! I hope you had a sweet Valentine’s Day yesterday. Today’s Naming the Good Stuff post is going up a bit late in the day and I’m dedicating it to Valentine’s Day - there was enough Good Stuff yesterday to fill a whole week!

I should say, I am NOT one of the “I don’t really care about Valentine’s Day/Valentine’s Day is dumb” people. I love Valentine’s Day. Always have, always will. Loved it single, loved it dating, loved it engaged, loving it now married. As a kid, I was obsessed with the Valentines you’d give the whole class, and before I got married I sent out Valentine’s cards to all my friends instead of Christmas cards (I wanted to save Christmas cards for when I was married). I feel like it’s cool to hate Valentine’s Day, but oh well :)

This first-married Valentine’s Day happened alongside a recent revelation for Grace and me. We are feeling super passionate about our finances as a married couple and wanted to come up with an idea for V-Day on a budget. And it was one of my favorites yet!

My Valentine’s Day started the night of the 13th, when Grace came home with a huge bouquet of pink roses for me. It was so big, I split it up into three separate arrangements for different parts of our house (one of them, on our coffee table, is in the pic above).

During the day on the 14th, we had a slow day at home, both getting some work done and just enjoying the simple joys of our little house. We have the most amazing lemon tree behind the house, and I went out and picked lemons in the afternoon. Probably my biggest harvest yet!

It rained so much in LA on Valentine’s Day. In the evening after feeding the dogs, Grace and I got dressed to go out (a little bit dressed down, given the rain), and headed out to our perpetual fav (and perfect budget-friendly date night): Hamburger Haven! It’s cheap comfort food at its finest. We got a veggie burger and a tuna melt and had the whole place to ourselves.

After dinner we walked across the street to Salt & Straw! The best ice cream around. Grace got the chocolate hazelnut praline, one of the February seasonal flavors, and I got the honey lavender, which I probably get about every other time I go there. It’s so good.

Another sweet thing was that while we were eating our cones inside to avoid the rain, we ended up chatting with a cute couple standing beside us. They were two guys and had met at their temple so we bonded over attending gay-friendly congregations. It was just awesome. As we were walking to our car, Grace and I were both saying this is what we LOVE about living in West Hollywood. These days, it’s great that there are so many gay friendly places to live in the US, but there are very few where it’s more common than not that the couple sharing ice cream next to you will also be gay. It’s hard to describe to other people why that’s so good for the soul . . . but it is. I can’t imagine living anywhere else, at least not at this stage of life :)

Lastly, when we got home we watched a movie on our little temporary home theater—a projector and 80-inch screen we rented recently. It definitely elevates the at-home movie experience. We watched Silver Linings Playbook, which I realize is old but I’d never seen it. And it was very cute. I thought it would be kind of sad and was relieved that it wasn’t.

The end!

Naming the Good Stuff No. 4

Happy Friday!! In the midst of a packed January and February without as much blogging as I’d like, I’m popping in with some of the Good Stuff from the past week.

1. The flower confetti my camellia tree has been raining on my front steps recently, shown in the picture above.

2. This brand/flavor of almonds - my new fav snack while I’m working.

3. This article I recently read that just GETS me! I relate so much and would be curious if anyone else does, too.

4. These cookies my best friend made me—tahini, with a maple glaze and baharat-sea salt topping. So good. She went to culinary school, if you can’t tell.

5. This picture of my constant companion, Bean, and how much he looks like a PUPPY even though he’s 1.5 now! I can’t handle it.

6. The lunch bowls I made this week. I ended up eating the same thing three days in a row because they were so good and I kept craving them!

6. Speaking of cravings, I cannot get enough roasted veggies lately for dinner. Pretty much no matter what, I’ll make a protein for dinner alongside a big sheet pan of whatever veggies are in the fridge. Olive oil + salt + 20-30 minutes at 415 degrees and they’re perfect!

7. Lastly, I’m feeling super grateful for Grace. I’ve been honestly kind of tired and cranky lately and Grace has been such a literal embodiment of “love is patient, love is kind”… just feeling sappy about it!

Hope you have a beautiful weekend!

Naming the Good Stuff No. 3

Popping in for a super quick Naming the Good Stuff Friday post! It was a good, FULL week (even though it was actually a short week-thanks, MLK Jr.).

Some of the Good Stuff this week:

Making progress on my name change (barely anything left now!). Wearing all gray sweats to unwind (pictured above). Getting my favorite flavor at Salt & Straw again (vegan lemon chevre cheesecake). Drinking red wine with my best friend in the middle of the day because we noticed it was made in the year we met (2013). Realizing I’ve known my best friend’s dog longer than I’ve known my best friend OR Grace (long story). Going on a work trip and hitting a big milestone professionally (arguing in Federal Court). Picking dozens of lemons off my tree (and making preserved lemons). A long catch-up call with my mom (love her). Watching the Bachelor with my ride or die Bachelor group (still figuring out how I feel about this season). Making big healthy chopped salads for dinner this week (secret ingredient is pomegranate seeds). Sending out happy mail to friends (what’s up January babies). Finding a new podcast I’m loving (Wild Thing). Drinking apple cider tea before bed (herbal realness).

I’m loving getting more into the practice of noticing and naming these good things in my life. I hope your week was filled with the Good Stuff too!

Naming the Good Stuff No. 2

Happy FRIDAY! I’m back with another post Naming the Good Stuff from the week. My intention was that I would have another post or two in between last week’s Friday post and now… but now I’m hoping I’ll have some time this weekend to get ahead with writing.

1. My first good thing from the week is that our camellia tree is blooming (pictured above)! Having a camellia tree in the front yard was a big selling point for me in picking the house we live in now. But it only blooms in winter here, so I’m sooo happy it started blooming this month and is now in full swing! This is the second time it’s bloomed since we’ve lived in our house.

2. I started off this week by going to the dog park with my best friend! The picture above is her holding one of the dogs she babysits. I love our tradition of bringing our dogs to the dog park together at least once a week.

3. Relatedly, I worked from her house on Wednesday and we had three crazy dogs running around while we worked! The picture below is hilarious to me—it looks like Bean and Ziggy (the black and white dog) are gossiping and catching up.

4. I posted about this on my IG story as well, but I made lemon bars this week and they are almost gone already—so good! I used lemons from our tree which made it extra special.

5. This one is kind of random, but I finally set up my printer and enrolled in instant ink! The nerd in me is very excited about this. Instant ink is where you don’t have to remember to buy ink for your printer, it just automatically senses when your printer needs ink and mails it to the address you set up with. It also sends the replacement before you’ll need it, so you never unexpectedly run out. Now that I’m working mostly from home this is clutch!!

6. I hope this isn’t a bombshell or controversial or gross, but our dog Willie is old and kind of incontinent. He is completely potty trained—so it’s not that he’s just willfully going in the house—but he can’t hold it when he’s asleep anymore. I’ll be honest and say that before I had dogs of my own and became a true dog person, the thought of having a dog that had continence issues would be gross and not something I would want to deal with. Now that Willie is my fur child, it literally doesn’t bother me at all. It’s a little sad that he’s getting old but I’m SO happy that we found a great solution:

We have him in diapers (adult human diapers actually—they fit the best) and we got a cute little plaid overall set that holds them up! We had diapers for him but they would accidentally get pulled off in the night if he rolled over and stood up. Now that we have a liner with a little suspender situation for him, they stay on and we have had zero issues! We just take it off in the morning and throw the diaper away. We LOVE this setup so much and Willie seems fine with it too!

I want to do a whole post on this because it’s been a journey. But I’m happy old man Willie is secure and we have been so much more at ease knowing if there’s an accident, it’s alright.

8. Lastly, just a few minutes ago I bought Kim Petras tickets for next month!! Soooo excited!

Hope you have a wonderful long MLK weekend!

"Naming the Good Stuff" Fridays

Happy Friday! I had an idea recently that I want to implement in the new year (aka, starting now): quick Friday posts “naming the good stuff” from the week. I am one to write lengthy blog posts about trips or our wedding or you name it, so I thought this would be a fun way for me to pop into Have Dog, Will Drive for updates when I don’t have time for a whole in depth post. But I hope to be back with more of those soon, too!

Now onto the Good Stuff from this week:

1. The sunset pictured above. I snapped it (note-while my car was stopped!) one evening this week and it really did take my breath away. I turned off the podcast I was listening to and just stared and gave thanks for it.

2. Speaking of podcasts, this AMAZING podcast has been a breath of fresh air to me lately.

It is about setting goals, but it is also so much more than that. It is faith (Christianity) based so just a heads up if that’s not your thing, but I would say this is my favorite and most inspiring podcast I have ever listened to.

3. My little dog Beanie falling asleep on me tonight after what was a very long day for me. I changed into sweats when I got home and he just started snoozing on my shoulder. Heaven.

4. I don’t have a picture, but I went to Salt and Straw with my best friend a few days ago and got a cone of the vegan Lemon Chevre Cheesecake flavor that’s a limited edition this month. It was so good I am STILL THINKING ABOUT IT days later. I have to go back before the end of January when the flavor is gone!

5. Grace got me a FitBit for Christmas and I love it. I should probably mention, it was one of the things I asked for on my Christmas list I gave her. I don’t want you to think she is not-so-subtly saying I need to increase my steps, haha. Anyway, I have been so into my steps that I decided to walk to the grocery store the other day and it was the best decision ever! The Whole Foods near our house has such parking lot drama-it’s always stressful finding a space. I felt so at peace just breezing through the parking lot and on up into the store on foot. I want to keep doing this all year!

That’s it for me-I hope your week was filled with the Good Stuff, too!