Being happy makes me happy.

If you have a case of the Mondays, if deep down you are wishing you could rewind time 12 months and soak up the foggy + rainy mornings with your best friend.  If you wish it was possible to travel the  hundreds of miles to hug the people you know need hugs the most today.  If you long for just one more weekend afternoon spent with your better half + hot cider + miles to drive and hundreds of fall trees to ohh and ahh over.  If you are feeling slightly sad, slightly angry and slightly lost then I hope you enjoy this post with a few of my favorite things.  A few things that help me breathe a sigh of relief and for a split second help me get lost in the calm and ease of the photos.  

Happy Monday, friends.  We've got this.

All images are found on my Being happy makes me happy Pinterest board.  A little place where I collect images that for no good reason make me happy.

i made this :: butternut squash + leek risotto

When it comes time to complete my Door to Door Organics order each week, I have one internet window open with my order, and one internet window open with my Pinterest food board.  Cross referencing the two helps me stay organized comparing what I want to make and what we'll be getting in our organic box that week.  When I saw both butternut squash and leeks pop up on Door to Door, I knew this risotto needed to be made sooner than later.

The dish came together in a cinch and the first step of cooking the butternut squash gave it a nice sweet almost caramelized coating.   I also subbed out the rosemary + sage and used some fresh oregano we'd been growing at the house.   The dish came out especially creamy and paired awesome with a little side salad Hunter threw together while I was getting my arm workout in....I mean stirring the risotto.  I give this recipe 5 stars!

//so summer.

Happy first day of Fall!

While I am welcoming this new beautiful { and not to mention my very favorite! } season with wide open arms, I do want to share a few memories and moments over these past few months that were just so summer to me.  Moments that made me pause, smile and give silent thanks to the constant beauty and love that surrounds my life.  These are the tiniest of moments that would stop me in my tracks and think oh summer - you are so good.

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The lightest scent of sunscreen on my still warm from the sun body

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Riding home on bikes at night with friends in town.  Looking up to see the crisp black sky littered with stars and my best friend Sara behind me and hearing nothing but her constant giggle

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Sitting in the creek that cuts through our backyard still sweaty after biking 7+ miles while snacking on a handful of peanuts,  Hunter at my side and watching the trickling water ripple over my feet

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Enjoying a beer in the backyard with a group of friends and seeing a momma and it's baby moose snack on the trees in the field next to our house

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Legs dangling off the top of the boat and splashes of water spitting up hitting my toes

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Watching the stars in silence on a camping trip with the company of Hunter, Lindsey and a good beer

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Reading a good book while laying in the backyard with freshly brewed sun-tea with { you guessed it - the creek again } the trickle of the creek in the background

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Losing any and all sense of time while being surrounded with the beauty of Steamboat and showing my best friend Jaime some lesser known Steamboat hiking trails.

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Headed down the road in the van, reggae music blasting, windows down and the rush of adventure pulsing through our veins.

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Logging hours upon hours of mountain biking throughout the summer

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I will be back later this week sharing more specific summer memories + trips + photos but I really wanted to give these tiny little moments their own story on this ol' blog.

I like this.

::via::

{Cook}Book it.

Cookbooks are my jam.  I do love the insane variety + recipe options online (thank you, Pinterest!), but there is something about not having to unlock your phone with wet/doughy hands while gunking up your screen trying to find your place in the online recipe.  That is why I've been especially thrilled at the book announcements that have been popping up in my little group of bloggers lately.  Most of them are cookbooks, but a few are not.  I feel like I should pick and choose to prioritize which books to buy first, butttttt let's be honest.  I know I'll buy them all the second I can (preorder or otherwise).  Most of them are vegan/vegetarian cookbooks (#winning!), but 2 of them are lifestyle books.  I don't care - I'll take them all!

ohdeardrea

::via::

Deliciously Ella  

::via::

The Whole Pantry

::via::

My New Roots

::via::

The Green Kitchen

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Seriously Delish

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It's Grace

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Hey Natalie Jean

//no photo but you should click that link to see her darling son!

These ladies above are truly some of my most favorite food bloggers (and lifestyle bloggers x2!) and I really am too excited about each one of these books.  Now.  Who wants to come over for dinner?

My best friend.

I have been known to talk in seriously exaggerated terms.  Either an experience is either THE BEST I've ever had or THE WORST I've ever experienced.   I understand it's an incredibly dramatic way of expressing myself, especially when it comes to simple things such as 

OMGTHIS IS THE BEST PIZZA I.HAVE.EVER.HAD.IN.ALL.MY.LIFE.LONG EXISTENCE or omg I can't believe people even put beer that foul tasting on the menu and expect people to be ok with it.  Why the pizza can't simply be really good or the beer be simply I've had better is beyond me.  Regardless, it's how I gauge my life experiences.  Sooooooo.  Deal with it.

I feel like this overdramatic exaggerated way of life gets most annoying confusing when I am talking with people who haven't known me very long i.e. new friends/coworkers.  It's come out more and more when I would talk about upcoming visits/trips with friends.  Since moving to Steamboat, they've heard:

YOU GUYSSSS!!!  MY BEST FRIEND FROM BREMERTON, WASHINGTON IS COMING TO VISIT THIS WEEKEND!

Then a handful of months later it was MY VERYVERYVERY BEST AND LONG TIME FRIEND FROM DENVER  IS COMING TO VISIT THIS WEEKEND!

Shortly after was WE ARE GOING TO MY.BEST.FRIEND WHO MIGHT AS WELL BE MY SISTER.IN.THE.WHOLE.WORLD'S WEDDING IN MONTANA!!!  AND I GET TO SEE ALL MY BESTEST FRIENDS FROM JR HIGH AND BEYOND!

A hop and a skip later MY BEST FRIEND AND MOST FAVORITE AND FUNNIEST ROOMMATE EVER IS COMING TO VISIT US IN STEAMBOAT!!!!!!@#%^!!!#@$%$&$%#%@!@!@#!!!

Fast forward a few weeks to a blissful weekend in Denver when I GOT TO SEE THE BEST FRIENDS I'VE EVER HAD WHO HAVE BEEN THERE THROUGH THICK AND THIN.

A week or so after that trip it was I CAN'T BELIEVE WE ARE THIS LUCKY: MY BEST FRIEND FROM SALT LAKE/PORTLAND IS MOVING TO STEAMBOAT FOR 4 WEEKS!!!!

And now?  Now it is  OMG MY BEST MOST FUNNIEST FRIEND WHO HAS BEEN THERE TO SUPPORT + PICK ME UP AND SHARE IN LIFE'S BIGGEST JOYS IS COMING TO VISIT THIS WEEKEND!!!

It's a little embarrassing and I understand it's a completely unrefined way of speaking, but I genuinely get that excited about all of these people.  To me - they are all my best friend(s).

All of this to say that Jaime and her husband are planning a trip to Steamboat this weekend and I am ecstatic.  Maybe the happiest I've been all month.  

i made this :: creamy { vegan! } dill potato salad!

I know a vegan potato salad is nothing earth breaking but this quick recipe was just what we needed last night.  We got back from a { almost too good to be true } 24 hours spent camping and mountain biking and had little to no energy left to throw together dinner. When we got back to town after our ride, all we could muster was the idea of grilling some lone brats { seriously, who knows how long they'd been in the fridge } and we needed something to go along side them. I ordered an organic Bountiful Box and their Grilling Add On Option over the weekend { read: so.many.veggies. } and still managed to forget to cancel our Door to Door Delivery box which was patiently waiting for us on Monday when we got back from our ride { read: so.so.so.so.many.veggies. }  This potato salad came together in a snap as we had everything on hand minus the dill.  I ended up doubling the recipe...and then some.  We love leftovers in our house.  I do wish I had thrown some extra veggies in with it...red pepper, celery, asparagus etc to beef up the salad and clear out our fridge a little more!  Good thing is I had extra of each ingredient still at home, so a second batch isn't too far off.

Like I said, I know this isn't groundbreaking by any stretch however it was delicious, quick, filling and rather inexpensive.  #winning.