In a Western Place

The search for the perfect day bag had become a mild obsession of mine for nearly 2 years! And it wasn’t like I was looking for something unreasonable, in fact, my criteria was fairly basic: one large compartment, one small compartment, one pocket for phone and wallet, a hook to hang my keys, and a comfortable strap. Well I’m happy to say that after all of my searching (buying and returning) I found THE bag!

Our Thanksgiving 2009 feast was a success! Everything came out perfect, thanks in part to my unwillingness to follow recipes. And now we’ve got a ton of leftovers (5lbs of turkey breast is a lot of meat, who knew?) Here are some pics from our day; M was very helpful in the peeling/chopping/smashing department (thank you brand new set of Henckles and Cuisinart hand blender!), and Joey did what he does best, lay around.

We attempted to dress Joey up for our Christmas card photo. It didn’t go over well. What a loaf.

I’ve got Turkey on the brain! I love Thanksgiving, and I cannot wait until tomorrow. M and I will be staying in San Francisco for the holiday, and we’re skipping out on our other orphaned friends to eat our first Thanksgiving dinner cooked solely by me! A scary prospect, but there are several advantages to such. Here are a few:

• being that I live the Gluten-free life, I won’t have to skip out on anything because it’ll be Kirsten-friendly ; ) You can’t eat turkey without the gravy and stuffing!
• leftovers, leftovers, leftovers. Oh how I love leftovers!
• I can wear my PJs all-day-long

So, I made a late evening trip to Whole Foods last night and purchased 5lbs of fresh Turkey Breast (instead of a full turkey) and all the fixings for GF gravy, GF stuffing, homemade cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole (I made this last year, delicious!), mashed potatoes and garlic sauteed brussel sprouts. For dessert, I’ll be making a GF apple crumble. Everything will be made au-natural with very minimal ingredients — simple, just how I like it. Yum!

OK, I need to go wipe my mouth now. Happy Thanksgiving!

I found these photos that I took of my apartment in Nob Hill where I lived with two other gals (now pals) for six months. It was only a temporary living situation from the start, but I left with a lot of memories. I miss how the warm sunlight would explode through my bedroom window in the morning. I miss listening to my 20-something roommate’s tales of adventure. I miss how my daily hikes up and down California street turned my legs into steel.

While not nearly as picturesque as the famous Lombard street, Vermont street is another most crookedest street in San Francisco. Located in Potrero Hill, it’s a fun drive with a lovely view of the city (minus the distraction of photo snapping tourists.)

I’ve got a black thumb, so I rely on freshly cut flowers and succulents to make our home a bit more home-y. Both are low maintenance; flowers can be tossed into the compost after 2 weeks and the succulents require minimal watering. This week’s blossoms were acquired at the Alemany Farmer’s Market, my favorite place to buy all things floral.