(In)Conveniences

Isn't it amazing how spoiled you get by conveniences?

My credit union was pretty late to the whole mobile deposit party. I was thrilled when they got a mobile deposit app because there's nothing more soul-draining than a trip to the bank. Well - maybe a trip to the post office or the IRS - but still, the bank is right up there.

So today - I've been trying to make two mobile deposits. I had to do the first one twice - and I was so mad! It took forever to tell me it failed.

The second one, I'm STILL trying to make - I think I'm on round 4. And in the middle of being annoyed, I had to laugh at myself. For being annoyed.

How ridiculous is it to be aggravated that my cell phone is turning a piece of paper in my hand - 10 miles from my bank - into money in my bank account in about 5 seconds??? I am literally living a Jetson life. I got over myself quickly :). It reminded me of one of my fave videos - I've posted this before, but it's worth seeing again.

That guy is wise beyond his years :)

Today I taught one of my technique classes, which was a hoot, despite a kerfuffle about where we were sitting during the class. We survived. Resilience is good. I think my stamping students would make a great zombie apocalypse team.

Speaking of techniques - I have the classes lined up for the retreat - taught by me and some guest instructors! We're doing an advanced heat embossing class, 3D card elements, a mini album class, mixed media madness, die cutting secrets of the stars, MISTI tricks, a class all about H2O, and stencil and mask secrets!

I believe I am out of two person rooms, so if you're interested in picking your own roommates and getting your own 3 or 4 person rooms, book soon!. Each person gets a goodie bag full of products, 8 quick tip demonstrations in between the 8 classes, breakfast and lunch by my celebrity chef, and 24 access to our retreat room for late night stamping! I will also be giving away some amazing prizes, like a Silhouette Cameo and a few MISTIs and more.

When I run out of sleeping rooms, you can still attend the retreat - but I will send you a list of nearby hotels.

Register here!

Now today was one of those days when I really was craving a nice salad or something green. I've been so busy for the last month or so that I haven't eaten enough veggies. Good food takes time, for sure. And I haven't had much of that. So after class today, I headed to the Whole Foods (it's in the same parking lot) and got the ingredients for one of my fave salads on earth - their own sweet summer kale. They sell this pre-packaged in their prepared food sections, but I have a phobia about vegetables I haven't washed myself - so I prefer to make my own. And they were nice enough to provide the recipe a few years ago, which I will share with you now!

Sweet Summer Kale:

• 1 lb. kale (I hand tear it into bite sized pieces)
• 1.25 C Slivered almonds, toasted
• 1.25 C sun dried cranberries (If buying at WFM, get the sugar infused ones, not the apple juice infused ones - they taste much better. I'd prefer no sugar at all but I haven't found those anywhere.)
• 1.25 C dried apple rings, chopped (I prefer the deydrated, crispy ones from WFM - the chewy ones are not my fave. I just smash them in the bag with my pounder thingy and add them.)
• 1.5 TBS garlic, chopped (I use 1/2 this amount, microplaned)
• ⅓ C red onion, brunoise (Chef talk for grated or finely diced onions. Those snobs!)
• ¾ C orange juice (Florida's Natural - it's from America)
• ¾ C white balsamic vinegar (I use Alessi)
• 2 ¼ tsp red chili flakes (less or optional, if you're a sissy :) )
• 1 TBS oregano, chopped (I use fresh from my yard - not sure what the dried equivalent would be.)
• 1/2 C honey
• 4 oz. olive oil
• 2.25 tsp kosher salt
• 2.25 tsp black pepper

You’ll have oodles of dressing left over so make it up but don’t add all of it to the kale - start with half maybe. I put it into a container I can really shake it in. Shake it and let it sit for a few hours, shake again, let it sit. The kale will absorb the dressing and become amazing. It also compresses a LOT after sitting for a bit. I put it into a container that I can BARELY close the lid on, and after shaking and chilling it's about 25% full. This gets better the longer it sits. Amazingly amazing. Enjoy. 

They initially published this recipe on their site, but I can no longer find it, so I don't know if they removed it or if Google hates kale, but I'm unable to link you to the original, which was published by an NYC Whole Foods. 

I promise you, unless you're dead inside, you will LOVE this salad. It keeps very well too.

Now when I was at the retreat in March, I borrowed my friend Leslie's Distress Inks and just goofed around making fun backgrounds on watercolor paper to make into cards later. I love the vivid colors and the unpredictability of the "smoosh" background - just smoosh the inks onto a craft sheet, spritz them a bit with water, and then smoosh the watercolor paper into the smooshpile. I got two prints from each spritzing. 

I paired that with the greetings from Big On You - because they're big! 

For my little dots, I took my Essentials piercing template and aligned it above the watercolor paper on my card. My Energel .5 is the PERFECT size to make dots using the template as a guide. If you scribble on your mat in between dots, you get more perfect dots.

It IS your day - it's Caturday! With a glorious Sunday stretched before you. Make the most of it.

I'd like to spend most of it sleeping, but that probably won't happen. A girl can dream, right?

Loveyameanitbye.