Starbucks came out with VIA about a year ago and ever since I have been saying, What?  I once was a barista at an Alderwood Starbucks and they prided themselves in having the freshest coffee. We would throw out stale coffee every hour. We would grind the coffee within hours of its making.

When VIA was introduced my skin crawled: Instant coffee. Coffee that is brewed, dried and then reconstituted, isn’t it? That is as far from fresh as you can get. I understand the appeal of opening new markets, but to me it goes against everything the empire was founded on. Good coffee. Fresh coffee. 

Sure their instant coffee tasts good, but what about that wonderful experience of smelling the grounds, the vaper from the brewing? As a kid I always loved the smell of coffee grounds before they were brewed. It invokes wonderful memories of my parents on the weekends. Instant coffee has none of the same appeal. What kid will say, “I remember my parents ripping open a package of instant and pouring it into hot water.

Sure I used some crystals in college. I enjoyed them for what they were: a mediocre substitute for the real thing, but what college student is going to shell out for the Starbucks VIA when the other brands are much cheaper? They are more likely to go to a coffee shop and have the fresh brew.

Starbucks doesn’t need my approval to sling their dehydrated coffee, but are they hurting their brand? Only time will tell.

We are embarking on a new adventure as we are selling our condo in order to buy a new place. The market is slow, but our Condo has held its value well. We had to remove about half our belongings in order to “stage” our place. This meant renting a large office space in our building. Luckily, the space is inexpensive and has ample room- enough to even keep my art stuff out for use.

The flyer box is going up today and our listing is in the MLS. Now we play the waiting game. Do any of you know what it is like to have your house on the market? You must keep it clean at all times. This means no leaving a dish in the sink or the blankets unfolded, and definitely no unmade beds. I can not imagine how hard it would be to have kids while trying to do this. That would be a nightmare.

As I am a freelance interpreter, I have a sporadic schedule and that means I am home more often then most. This means I must be willing to pick up and leave at any moment if someone wants to see the place. That is not so bad considering I want the place to sell. It is just a bit inconvenient.
Well, all this said- it is only day two so you will have to wait for the update.

Happy house hunting.

Crystal and I just invested a few hundred dollars that we hope will give great returns… all summer. Not exactly the “long-view” strategy for stocks, but it works for food. Specifically, organically-grown local produce from a farm about ten miles from our house. We invested in community-supported agriculture, or CSA.

We both recently read Michael Pollan’s book In Defense of Food, whose succinct tagline is “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” I’d say it was eye-opening, but much of what it contained was stuff we already knew. In short: stay away from food that’s more a product of a lab than the earth. Much of the book talked about the benefits of eating not just more vegetables, but vegetables that are grown organically and to the extent possible, locally. His reasons are not just tree-hugging hippie ones, either; he explains how giant, commercial farming has reduced the potency of our produce and why smaller, organic farms provide better quality food for us.

Lake Forest Park, the town adjoining ours, has a Farmer’s Market on Sunday afternoon, and we’ve been to Farmer’s Markets in Edmonds and Everett for years (my dad and uncle sell fuchsias and plants there) so we’re familiar with local produce. Other than fresh-baked pastries or kettle corn, we’d just not bought much at the markets. Since I’m a vegetarian we already eat more veggies than most, but after reading In Defense of Food, our mindset has changed. We’re “voting with our dollars,” as the saying goes by committing to 18 weeks’ worth of produce from Growing Washington. They’re a local growing cooperative that offers many programs, including the weekly produce box that we signed up for.

Beginning June 15 and running through mid-October, we can chose from among eight different crops—including eggs from truly free-range chickens—each week. On Sunday we just stop by the LFP Farmer’s Market and pick up our box. Sure, it’s a lot of veggies but I think having pre-paid for them will help us eat more produce. And that’s goal, right? (Or we can just share what we can’t get through with friends and family.)

As people try to get more healthy and as more and more “green” initiatives gain popularity, I think we’ll see a rise in CSA (here are some facts on CSA). Yes, right now it is an elitist method of obtaining food, favored by those who can afford it and are educated enough to know why the extra money is worth it. (A recent study by the American Dietetic Association showed that college-educated women are most likely to enjoy a healthier diet.) We can hope it will soon “trickle down” to middle- and lower-income families. Diet really is one of those areas where a small investment upfront can yield great savings from better health.

So if you come by for dinner this summer, expect to have some good veggies and a salad.

This entry is a repost of an entry over at scottbush.net.

Vacation time

Scott and I went to Mexico for our much needed vacation. Our airline miles got us as far as Cancun, so we decided to tour the Mayan Ruins on the Yucatan peninsula.  My parents (Susie and Larry) also joined us for the tour portion of our trip.

Thankfully we were there during their “winter” which is about 25° cooler then their summers. As you can guess Scott and I are true Washingtonians and don’t do well at 105° weather. The humidity is high in their winters and we were experiencing 85% or more for the whole time.  Besides the sand flee bites which I am apparently allergic to – we were healthy as can be.

Mexico was gorgeous.  The white sand beaches and turquoise waters. We saw 7 different ruined cities. Two Spanish missions and one Catholic church.

The mission in Izamal was my favorite. It had the largest courtyard besides the Vatican. Everything was painted a cheery yellow including the arches of the courtyard “walls.” Inside the mission they keep a special prayer room for pope to come and pray to a sculpture of the Virgin Mary. Pope John Paul II had visited there once. In order to keep the Mission from being torn down or updated they keep this wall painted with fresh gold accents yearly and have for generations.

Scott and I headed to Tulûm, which is 2 hours South of Cancun, for the last two and a half days of our trip. We spent those days without a TV, phone, or clock. We woke when rested, ate when we were hungry and went to bed when we were tired. This was the most beautiful and relaxing portion of the trip. The beaches are just like a Corona commercial. Our beach cabana was “garden” facing, meaning it was the least expensive and was not directly in front of the water.  We were maybe 100 ft from the water and spent much of the time playing in the waves.

I would highly recommend our tour outfit to anyone who desires to see the ruins. We went through the Mayan Traveler. Themayantraveler.com The actual tour company was called Halach Winik  and they were very good. We had a small group 7 tourists with one driver and one tour guide- 9 in total. The food and accommodations were great and our guide, Juan adjusted the tour a little to give us the optimal touring schedule.

There were lots of vacationers there that go yearly for parting and drinking on the beach both in Cancun and Playa Del Carmen. So, if that is more your thing you can also find that on the beautiful sands of Mexico.

By now, some of our friends and family already received their copy of our 2008 Holiday Letter—our third annual. If you’re expecting one, just hold tight… it should be there soon.

Of course, why wait? You can download a copy right here (in PDF format).

Now that you’ve read up on everything, allow me to add a bit about this year’s design. Crystal had the idea of going “vintage,” and I agreed. It seemed appropriate after 2007’s computer-styled approach (you can remind yourself with it here: 2007 Holiday Report).

We started by looking for an iconic Christmas figure. Vintage santas are easily found. After some enjoyable time searching, we picked this one. The santa figure is clad in a purple cloak and hat and is clearly headed to the cottage in the distance. He’s laden with gifts and even a tree. I especially enjoyed the wisp of smoke against the field of stars.

We augmented the vintage feel with two fonts I found online: Kingthings Christmas (from DaFont.com) and Typogropher’s Woodcut Initials One (from FontRiver.com). Both are free and give the perfect vintage Christmas feel. Neither could be used exclusively for the text, as they are too “busy” for body text. That duty fell to the venerable Baskerville Old Face.

Visually, we added the holly as a border and frame for the photos, and the bluebird bell. These, plus the green and red accent colors makes for a strong Christmas theme.

We hope you enjoy this year’s letter, both for the content it includes as well as how it looks. Crystal and I wish you all a wonderful holiday and hope 2009 is a great one for you and yours.

This year is the second year of making all our gifts and I have to say that it is very enjoyable. We are getting our newsletter printed up and will be mailing it out soon and I will be working on baking cakes for the family.

We will be renting a live tree again this year from Scott’s dad and uncle. We have been doing that for about 4 years now. Stu brings us a tree from their plant farm with the root ball rapped in burlap and in a plastic bag and we prop it up in a packing box. Then we use the tree skirt to hid the box and bag. The trees are fairly small, but with the added height of the roots it makes for a great Christmas tree. The needles tend to be a bit sharper, but gloves help decorate them. We feel good about not killing a tree for Christmas every year. We usually water the roots once or twice during the 3 weeks - month that we have it and misting can be a good option too, but with lights you would have to do this when you do not plan on turning on the tree for a few hours. Stu comes by and picks it up from us when the season is over. It is a great Christmas gift and could be a good business if he ever wants to go that route.

No, this is not the tree. But is funny…he..he..he. I’ll post a photo this year after decorating the said tree.

Well the Susan G. Komen’s walk for the cure went smashingly. It was three days of lots of cars driving by honking their support, women in pink chatting and walking at different paces, standing at street corners stretching while the light changes, and high -carb low flavor foods. I enjoyed the experience immensely. 

All my training paid off and I had no blisters at all; I did have sore feet though. Saying that is the biggest understatement I think I have ever written. “Sore feet” - Wow I don’t think I have ever really know the meaning. By the last day I felt as if all the blood in my body was in my feet. They were boiling hot and shooting pains from my bunions did not help. Amazingly the next day I could walk on them with no pain. I was sore and tired, but felt great. I do have some sensitivity missing on a few toes but that should come back I assume.

It is awe inspiring to finish walking 60 miles. It makes you realize you can do anything if you set your mind to it. So, yes I did walk the full 60 miles. I actually pushed myself at the end and finished with an hour to rest my feet before closing ceremonies. 

Since the walk is done I have a bit more time on my hands, but I still desire to walk. I don’t think I will be walking 18 miles in one day anymore, but a three mile walk to the store and back sounds super easy. I think hiking this year may be where it is at. Only time will tell. 

 
Work is picking up for me and I have been busy interpreting. Scott and I still attend Karate and Aikido classes Tuesday, Thursday and some Saturdays and Sundays. So, we are keeping ourselves fit. 

Thanks everyone for all your support and happy walking!

Crystal

I just bought a Debbie Bliss knitting book and so far I am loving it. The pictures are super high quality and make it easy to see what your finished project should look like. The photos always help me to figure out also how the project is worked. I have to say that I really like her baby cashmerino product. I started a project today and found it to work quickly. I am still working on my first project out of the book, so I will give you an update on how it goes.

Well the Susan G. Komen’s walk for the cure went smashingly. It was three days of lots of cars driving by honking their support, women in pink chatting and walking at different paces, standing at street corners stretching while the light changes, and high -carb low flavor foods. I enjoyed the experience immensely. 

All my training paid off and I had no blisters at all; I did have sore feet though. Saying that is the biggest understatement I think I have ever written. “Sore feet” - Wow I don’t think I have ever really know the meaning. By the last day I felt as if all the blood in my body was in my feet. They were boiling hot and shooting pains from my bunions did not help. Amazingly the next day I could walk on them with no pain. I was sore and tired, but felt great. I do have some sensitivity missing on a few toes but that should come back I assume.

It is awe inspiring to finish walking 60 miles. It makes you realize you can do anything if you set your mind to it. So, yes I did walk the full 60 miles. I actually pushed myself at the end and finished with an hour to rest my feet before closing ceremonies.

Since the walk is done I have a bit more time on my hands, but I still desire to walk. I don’t think I will be walking 18 miles in one day anymore, but a three mile walk to the store and back sounds super easy. I think hiking this year may be where it is at. Only time will tell. 

 
Work is picking up for me and I have been busy interpreting. Scott and I still attend Karate and Aikido classes Tuesday, Thursday and some Saturdays and Sundays. So, we are keeping ourselves fit. 

Thanks everyone for all your support and happy walking!

Crystal

This is a fab new website for swapping kids stuff. Really cool instead of exchanging money you get points for every item you “sell” and you can “spend” these points to “buy” new items.

You should check it out. If you decide you want to join you should use my referral code and receive two free points. My Referral Code: TT3AXX

Right now I posted a dress I have and don’t need. This will be my first item for Kizoodling. Here is a link to the item on Kizoodle.com and the photo of the item.   my kiz item