around here

Hello from this very pregnant woman & her growing Beeb! We are over halfway there and I can hardly believe it! Now that I'm past the days of day-long nausea, the time seems to be passing much more quickly. And let me tell you, I would trade constant sickness for exhaustion & discomfort any day. Bless the second trimester. Little Beeb girl (yes, girl!!!!!!) wiggles around every single day and feeling her getting bigger & stronger is thrilling, terrifying, mysterious, and magical. I know it's so cliche to say, but I really am getting so so very excited to meet this little human. Ryan and I have been compiling all her things on our registry and are just crawling out of our skin thinking about her being in that stroller and the little onesies and headbands. (who am I???) We are thrilled to pieces. She'll be here so soooooon!!

In other news - 

Other than growing a human, I've been keeping myself busy teaching Acting classes for kids at a dance studio here in town (I love it), reading, yoga-ing, and trying lots of new recipes. I made this soup the other day and it turned out really freakin delicious, so I thought I'd share! I didn't follow any recipe, I just threw in a bunch of delicious things, taste tested as I went, and it was a smashing success. (oh, and here are those cookies)

rustic chunky vegan cure-what-ails-you soup

serves 6 or so

(all quantities & amounts are estimates. eliminate or add as you see fit. :))

a big red onion

eight cloves of garlic

three big carrots

six brown mushrooms

a whole bunch of mini purple potatoes

five smallish tomatoes

three stalks of celery

five purple kale leaves

fresh rosemary

fresh thyme

salt & pepper

three boxes of veggie broth

- Dice onion & mince garlic. Sauté for a bit in some olive oil in a large soup pot (everything will go in this pot). Add carrot circles to sauté. Add some s&p. Add a few sprigs of fresh rosemary & thyme. Continue to sauté on low-medium for a little bit, maybe five minutes. 

- Add enough veggie broth to cover the veggies. Simmer while you chop up the other veggies. 

- Chop up mini purple potatoes and mushrooms in bite size chunks and add them to the pot. Continue to cover the veggies in more broth and add more s&p and r&t as you like. 

- Add chopped tomatoes and celery. Keep on simmering. Keep on taste testing. 

- Add chopped/ripped kale at the end, maybe 15 or so minutes before you plan on eating. It's still pretty nice and crunchy if you do that. 

Hope you enjoy! :) 

...

Other things - 

Ryan & I recently watched Before the Flood, the latest National Geographic documentary on climate change, and it was completely moving. It needs to be watched. 

I think this is amazing & incredible & wonderful. What huge, monumental steps we have made as a democracy. And how far we still have to go. I hope that tomorrow I will know I am bringing my little girl into a country I can start to be proud of again. #imwithher

I've been pretty into The Crown the last few days. It's so British and so monarchy-esque and all the people in it are beautiful. It's kind of the perfect escape from modern news right now. 

That's all for now! Next time I'll come at you with an even bigger blossoming belly. Aren't you excited??

~A

a new chapter & grapes of wrath

hello internets!

here's a bit of what i've been up to lately if you're so inclined.

the last three weeks, i've been making my home in this lovely place. earlier this summer, i was cast in "Grapes of Wrath" at Sacramento Theatre Company, and it's been a whirlwind being a part of putting together such an epic show in less than a month. 

but, we did it, and we did it together. which is a testimony to the story of Grapes of Wrath, itself. (read the book if you haven't & you will understand. or come see the show! :))

if i've said it once, i've said it a thousand times - i love this city. i am so happy to be in Sacramento doing what i love the most. to say i feel at home in every sense of the word would be an understatement, but it's the best way i know how to express how i feel about life right now. this place is home, what i'm doing is home, and i could not feel more lucky, more grateful, more honored, to be here, now. i am a part of something big & important & isn't that what good theatre (good art, really) is all about? 

Grapes of Wrath is a story of survival, of hope in the darkest of times, of human kindness when there seems to be nothing left. and this group of people i have the privilege of working with is an example of those very things. i am so so very lucky. 

i could write so much about what i've experienced & continue to experience through this production, but Jim Casy says it so much better than I ever could. 

"but, when they're all workin' together - kind of harnessed to the whole shebang - that's right, that's holy."

~A