My kind of celebrity.

I’ve had a few celebrity run-ins in my life. There was that time when my family saw Aaron Neville at the TV station where my dad worked when I was growing up, the time I got to meet Bill Cosby outside of some hotel in DC where I was attending a conference, the time my friend Yvette won tickets to a private Ben Fold’s concert for 20 people and took me as her guest (so awesome!), and that time when I met (and accidentally offended) Ben Gibbard  (lead singer for Death Cab for Cutie) before a concert at Red Butte Garden. Though, that last one maybe shouldn’t count because I didn’t actually recognize him and while chatting I told him that I thought Death Cab was “just okay.” Whoops! 

I digress. 

I’ve been a consistent follower of the Smitten Kitchen blog for…I don’t even know how many years now. A long time. Deb Perelman is the queen of accessible, non-fussy, but inventive recipes that she has tested to perfection. And on top of that, she’s an absolutely charming writer. I’m a fan. She came out with a cookbook this last year and has been on a book signing tour. Luckily she came to my very own neighborhood on this tour, so my dear friend Nicki and I went to King’s English last night so that I could meet Deb and have her sign my book (which David got me for Christmas, cause he’s awesome like that, and I literally spent HOURS on Christmas Day pouring over it, marking which recipes I was going to try first). 

She was darling. We chatted about her thick and chewy oatmeal raisin cookie recipe (which we both make on a regular basis) and adjusting recipes to make them healthier. I’m still kind of nerding out about how fun it was to meet her. I’ve got a long list of recipes that I’m anxious to try (almond cake with a strawberry rhubarb compote, anyone?) and thought I’d link a few of my favorite already tested Smitten Kitchen recipes for all of y’all. 

Happy cooking!

Thick, Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Peach Shortbread

Lemon Yogurt Anything Cake (This is a fun one. Super adaptable. I’ve made the lemon version, a cinnamon version, and an orange chocolate chunk version.)

Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip and Pecan Cookies with Orange Zest

**Note: She has plenty of savory and main dish recipes on her blog too, but I seldom get to them when there are chocolate swirl buns to be tested. I mean honestly. 

A Great (Mini) Escape

If you’ve been an Eh Lah Bah follower for years, you know how I feel about January. Maybe I should be more specific. January in Salt Lake City. Inversion filled Salt Lake City in January. Ugh. It’s been an especially smoggy valley this January, which is unfortunate because I understand that above all of this ugly gray soup we currently live in, there have been some beautiful blue skies and sunny days. When I overheard a coworker yesterday talking about how it was 45 degrees and beautiful up in the mountains (as opposed to 18 degrees and pollution filled where we live) I decided it was time for David and I to have a spontaneous post-work mid-week adventure in Park City. Best idea of the week! Maybe the whole month.

It was about a 10 minute drive before we were out of the gray and as our altitude climbed, so did the temperature outside. Such a welcome change!

We enjoyed some enchiladas at Loco Lizard and, with the Sundance Film Festival going on right now, we even had a celebrity sighting while were there. That one dude from That 70′s Show, whose name I found out (after a little googling) is Danny Masterson. Don’t worry. We played it cool.

 

Then it was off to the outlets where were able to enjoy walking around without freezing and we both found an amazing deals on winter coats (70% off!!!) to help us feel a little better about driving back down to into the cold gray abyss that is Salt Lake right now.

Thank goodness for even a short break from January. I think we just might make it to February.

In other news, in case you haven’t already seen one of our many announcements (Instagram, Facebook, etc…), baby Habben is a GIRL! We were expecting a boy, so it was a big surprise for us, but a very happy surprise. My nervousness from last week has changed to excitement and even more love for the little bean than I was already feeling. I can’t wait to meet her.

 

Boy or Girl?

David and I have our 20 week ultrasound tomorrow (I’m 22 weeks along) and will find out if baby Habben is a a little man or a little miss. We tried to find out before Christmas so that we could tell our families in our Christmas Eve poems (a Nagel tradition), but alas, the Habbeninkling decided that it would teach us our first lesson in parenting – to not get too attached to our plans. The baby moved around a ton and the doctor couldn’t get  a clear reading on what, in his words, was either boy parts or the umbilical chord.

At that appointment I felt excited and totally ready to know this bit of info. But for some reason, a month later, I’m just nervous. Maybe this whole baby thing is becoming much more of a reality to me and knowing the gender will make it even more so. We’re over the halfway point, my belly is getting bigger every day, I can feel the baby moving around and, on occasion, practicing a little kickboxing.

Once we know the gender I think it will feel like it’s time to really get going on our preparations for this life-changing of all life-changing events.  It’s exciting and scary and surreal and amazing all wrapped up in one little package that I have a feeling will seem 100% more real tomorrow.

So wish us luck and soon we’ll let you know if the little bean has ballet or boy scouts in its future!

In the spirit of Nola, Happy Kings Day!

Is anybody still out there? It has been a long while but reviving Eh La Bah is one of my resolutions for this new year. I’ve never been able to manage consistent journal writing, but once upon time, this here blog served as a decent record for the goings on in my life. And with so many things going on in life that I want to remember…you get the idea. 

In 2012 I had resolved to run a half marathon and plan a trip to either Paris or Thailand. My half marathon plans fell apart (only temporarily. I’m still determined to do this.) when I injured my achilles during my training. But I got up to an 8 mile run, a record for me, and enjoyed some quality time and good runs with David in the early morning hours. 

Thailand in August got couched when we moved twice (to Logan and back) and Paris for New Years got couched when my first trimester with baby Habben (due May 23) proved to suck out every last bit of my energy and made and enjoying food almost impossible. I assume that when one goes to Paris for the first time, the ability to thoroughly enjoy a pain au chocolat while strolling along the Seine at night is an absolute MUST. So we’re saving Paris for another day. 

The upside? We decided that a trip to New Orleans for New Years would be a good alternative and it was! David has never been to my hometown before and I love New Orleans during the holidays. Garlands, bows, and wreaths on everything from houses to streetcars to churches to the French Market and all with flowers still in bloom and a chance that the weather will be in the high 60′s. Throw in some gaudy light displays (care of Al Copland, may he rest in peace) and I couldn’t be more in the holiday spirit. 

So off to New Orleans we went and it did not disappoint. With my appetite back (thank you second trimester!) we enjoyed some great food*, took in some of the sights and entertainment, but as is true to form, the best part about being in New Orleans was spending time with truly great people. We rang in the new year with the Ortiz and the Garcias and a bajillion fireworks. That night earned its spot as my favorite New Year’s Eve ever. The whole neighborhood went CRAZY with fireworks at midnight. I’ve never seen anything like it. 

I loved being there with David. Not only was it fun to introduce him to some of my favorite people and show him some of my favorite spots in my hometown, we did quite a bit of exploring in areas I hadn’t spent much time in and was able to add a few new favorite spots to my list. The Sculpture Garden in City Park is beautiful and one of the best I’ve been to and the World War II Museum is now on my list of must-see locations for any Nola tourist. 

Getting back on a plane in 60 degree weather to come back to a place with a projected high of 20 degrees for the week was not my favorite. David and I both came back with little colds that quickly turned into hunker down on the sofa for days on end with a huge supply of tissues, cough drops, tea, and ramen noodles. Work starts again for me tomorrow, so I’ve got one more day to nurse myself back to health and then I have big plans to make the rest of January as awesome as it was on day one. 

So here’s to 2013! Happy New Year, everyone And a happy Kings Day (today) to you too – which marks the day the three kings found the baby Jesus, and therefore the start of Mardi Gras and eating king cake which I think I just might make today Laissez les bon temps rouler. 

*Food highlights for those inclined to care: Crawfish and Corn Chowder from the Garcias, Profiteroles at Mr. B’s Bistro (Cream puffs filled with ice cream and covered in the best dark chocolate sauce I’ve EVER ever had), a turkey and avocado sandwich from Cochon Butcher (I still don’t know what made this the best turkey sandwich ever, but MAN it was good), beignets dipped in hot chocolate at Cafe du Monde, and I had some amazing cannelloni at Vincents in Metairie. Did I mention the profiteroles? They deserve a second mention. I’m still dreaming about them. 

 

Home again, home again. Jiggity jog.

Over the last 6 months, we’ve made and remade some big decisions on jobs, school, and where we live. We’ve been all over the map (literally). So, if you have found yourself recently asking “What the what? The Habbens are moving back to Salt Lake from Logan? I thought they were moving to Maryland or something like that!” or something similar, then this blog post is for you!

Back in March, David and I took a trip to Baltimore to check out an MFA program that he had been accepted to. We initially decided not to go, but with the lure of scholarship money, we changed our minds, announced to our families that we were moving to Baltimore and then….. we decided not to go after all. Not the right opportunity or place for us, even if they were giving David a scholarship.

Soon after we got back from Baltimore, David was contacted by a company in northern Utah and they asked him to interview to be their new product designer. With both of us feeling anxious for a change, this unexpected opportunity falling into our laps felt like providence. Small town Utah wasn’t really anything either of us had hoped for or thought would be in the cards for us, but never ones to shy from an adventure, we decided to go for it and embrace Logan and all of its small town charm.

Unfortunately, it was pretty evident from day one that David’s job wasn’t what he expected or hoped it would be and that it wasn’t the sort of position that would help him grow in his career. I’ll spare you the details, but want to give my husband a shout out for trying his hardest everyday to find ways to take an obviously bad situation and turn it into a good one. I married a good man, y’all.

We both were feeling pretty discouraged about our circumstances here. I knew there would not be many job opportunities for me in development in such a small town, but with a university here, I had hoped there might be something. After several meetings with the heads of development at USU, it became obvious that I wasn’t likely to find a job for myself that would be a fit for me either. Not soon, anyway. Not happy.

Life with a bad job for David, no decent job for me and all in a town that is much smaller, colder, and isolated than either of us really want to live in (though Logan has its charms, no question. great dairy. great mountains.) left us feeling pretty discouraged about our decision to come here and not quite sure what to do next. We didn’t want to be “quitters” but we also didn’t want to feel stuck in a life where we didn’t feel like we were moving forward, especially if we didn’t have to be stuck.

Long story made short:

We decided to start looking for other options; doing better research this time around and being more deliberate in pursuing what we want instead of just going for whatever falls into our lap.

Luckily for me, I didn’t have to wait very long for a dream opportunity to come along and work out! I accepted a position last week as the Director of Annual Giving and Alumni at a private school in Salt Lake. It really is a dream position for me. It’s level of responsibility that I’ve been working towards for a long time and in an environment that I’m completely passionate about. I started this week and I couldn’t be more excited.

We’re both excited to be heading back to Salt Lake where we have friends and family that we love, there’s a great gallery stroll every month, and where you can actually look up movie times for all local theaters on the internet (Note to Logan on this matter: Seriously? Please get with the program.).

It’s been a really tough month and a half for us. But we’ve learned a ton. Mostly about ourselves and our priorities and the kind of life we really want to have together and what we are willing to do to and what we’re willing to give up to have it. We’ve also realized, even more so than we knew before, what great friends and family we have. Way to rally for us, people. We love your guts.

We’ll be in Logan for at least one more month, so if you were planning on coming to visit at some point, still do! Just plan on coming soon

Here are a few photos of our time in Logan

Logan is great for a good motorcycle ride through beautiful country.

Turns out I have a lot of family history in and around Logan. I’ve visited a few cemeteries to learn about my genealogy. This home in Wellsville was the the home of my great great grandfather and grandmother.

Fishing! Good times with some new friends.