Author Archives: Farmgirl Hipster
Knights in Argyle
Last night my knight in shining armor decided that he wanted in on this blog as well. Ok, so I took his picture against his will and posted it. But, none-the-less, he was really styling. For work today he had to dress up as a “golfer” and they requested they wear a gray sweater with khakis. Naturally he wanted to look good as well and asked for a suggestion on how he should pair it with a collared shirt. So, I looked to Pinterest for inspiration. I saw this argyle sweater mixed with a plaid shirt and decided that he had to give it a shot. Personally, I think he looks really good! But then again I always do.
Trendy School-Teacher
On Thursday I’d found inspiration on Pinterest for an outfit…and then promptly lost the pin. I thought the outfit was cute – a trendy school-teacher looking thing, but I couldn’t for the life of me remember how I decided on the outfit. That is until today. I finally found it, embedded with other pictures! Enjoy.
Cardigan: Loft; Top: custom made; Belt: The Limited; Shoes: Lands End Canvas
No Biking = Dresses!
This week we have a new hire training at work that I’ll be attending. Included in this is dinner tonight with the group. Since it’s a bit of a commute to stay late for dinner tonight, take the train back up to SF, and then take the train early tomorrow morning for the training again, it made more sense for the company to put me up in a hotel. And, the Hilton at that. (Not too shabby, eh?)
Since I’ll be staying in the valley for two days I didn’t want to keep my bike at the office. I instead took a taxi to the train station today and then took the light rail from the train to my office. This meant I wasn’t going to be all sweaty and gross like 100% of the days when I bike. It also meant I could do my hair and make-up AND wear a dress and tights. Whoop, whoop! I love being girly and have been missing it the last couple of months. So, I wore a dress today and packed a dress for tomorrow as well.
The dress was a Christmas present from my knight’s brother’s girlfriend (did you follow all that)? I really, really like it. The only problem was that I felt like it looked too much like a going out dress to wear to more casual occasions and therefore have only worn it once, when we went out for a night on the town in Chicago. Well, oh boy did Pinterest have a solution for that!
Cardigan: Lands End Canvas; Dress: Express; Belt: Old Navy; Tights: Old Navy; Boots: Aldo
The Sweatpants vs. Yoga Pants Debate
Our “yoga pants”
My dad likes to wear sweatpants all the time, regardless of if company is coming over. My favorites are a pair of teal ones he wears with a hunter green sweatshirt. Naturally, my knight in shining armor picked up on this and would beg me to allow him to wear sweatpants when we’d go back to my hometown to see my family, pointing out that my dad did so why couldn’t he. He did make a compelling argument, but I never gave in. Well, now he points out that I wear “sweatpants” all the time, but I just call them “yoga pants”. (I don’t correct him and tell him they’re leggings in knowing that would only confuse him more.)
Yesterday when we were getting ready to go shopping for dress shoes for him I threw on my leggings with my favorite chambray shirt to head out. He noticed this and declared he too was going to wear his “yoga pants”. (I should mention that while he put them on to prove a point, he thankfully changed into jeans before we left the house.)
The ironic part in all of this is that he also teases me about my chambray shirt that I basically live in and will keep track of if I wear it twice in the same week (it’s the same as jeans, just air them out and they’re instantly clean again). I told him once that we should get him one, but he declined, saying he would feel like he was in 4th grade again, which apparently was the last time he owned one. During our shopping trip he was on the second floor while I was on the first floor and checked out without me. When we got home I looked in his bag…and found a men’s chambray shirt. I guess now we really can be twins in our “yoga pants” and chambray shirts.
Here was my inspiration for the day:
Shirt: J.Crew Factory (this season); Tee: Hanes; Leggings: Target; Shoes: Nine West
Whoa! White before Memorial Day?
Since it’s basically spring or fall here all year round, I figure I’m exempt from any and all rules of wearing white. Not that it bothered me back when I had seasons either. The only unfortunate thing about wearing white pants is riding a bike – the two don’t really go well together. Since it was drizzling a little this morning anyhow, I decided to wear my yoga pants to work and then change once I got there. When I left, I decided to live life on the edge a little and kept them on! Yep, I’m a rebel. I didn’t have any problems on either of the bike rides with getting them dirty – it wasn’t until I carried my bike up the steps at our apartment that my leg hit the wheel and I got tire tracks on my pants.
Cardigan: Lands End Canvas; Top: J.Crew Factory; Belt: Express; Jeans: Levis; Shoes: Lands End Canvas
Pull-Ups
My knight in shining armor jokes all the time about how I couldn’t pass The President’s Challenge Physical Fitness Test. Ok, so he’s right. However, in my defense I couldn’t do them when I was a child either. I don’t know if you remember having to do “The Mile” in gym class. I always walked it. Or else the shuttle run, that I dislocated my kneecap doing in 8th grade (it got me out of having to do them again). The only one I was ever good at was the V-sit reach. Mostly because it didn’t require any athletic ability, only flexibility.
Well, I can do all of them now, except a pull-up. Some women think it doesn’t sound that hard and they can do it, but when was the last time you really tried? You might surprise yourself as they’re super difficult. For men it’s easy because they naturally have upper body strength. In March I declared that I would be able to one pull-up by my 30th birthday, on May 10th. At that point in time my knight didn’t even believe I could do a push-up, much less a pull-out. However, I’ve proven him wrong on that. Mostly. I still can’t touch my chin like he wants to, but I can do them. And not on my knees, like I’d like to be able to.
My 30th is now just over a month away and I’m realizing that may be a more far fetched goal than I’d hoped. Thankfully, there is a machine at the gym to help you learn how to do a pull-up. You put in the weight of resistance that you want. Now, it’s backwards to what you’d think. Let’s say if you weight 150 lbs, you might start with the machine at 150 lbs so that there’s no resistance Then you gradually add less weight, which means that you’re lifting more of your weight rather than the machine doing it for you. So, you grab a hold of the bar at the top, stand on the platform (which lowers and makes you feel self-conscience), and then pull yourself up. It sounds simple, but it’s really not. I’m realizing how much of a wuss I am and that maybe my 31st birthday might be more realistic. I’ll keep you posted!
Lemon Garlic Tilapia and Sweet Potato Latkes
Tonight was my night off from cooking, so my knight in shining armor made dinner! Whoo-hoo!! Because of Lent we’ve been incorporating a lot more seafood into our diet on Fridays. Since he’s from the east coast and loves seafood he’s been ecstatic. I on the other hand had a difficult time with it, mostly for lunch. Peanut butter sandwiches weren’t quite enough and I didn’t want tuna fish with all the mayo, etc. However, it offered up an opportunity for me to try different kinds of fish and found there were a few I liked – especially bass and escolar. 
I realize Lent is over and it’s not Friday, but since we found a good fish market in town we bought some more fish last week that we wanted to incorporate into our weekly meals. He specifically had a recipe for tilapia that he wanted to try. We’d also come across a bunch of healthy sweet potato recipes and had some baked sweet potato latkes on Sunday night with steak. The recipe was very hearty, so he didn’t cook it all and saved it for dinner tonight.
The latkes took a considerable amount of effort on his part Sunday night to grate. The good news is he has some strong biceps that were up to the challenge. Now, I didn’t necessarily love the latkes. They weren’t bad, don’t get me wrong, they were just a little too sweet for me as a side dish and I found it overpowering with the meat both nights.
The tilapia on the other hand was magnificent! He actually added some Cajun seasoning to it that gave it a touch of a kick. He said the only thing he’d change next time would be less salt. Since I know nothing about cooking seafood, I’m not really sure why. But, I trust him; he has an uncanny ability to taste something and be able to tell exactly what it needs more or less of. I just trust what the recipe tells me.
Lemon Garlic Tilapia
Ingredients:
- 4 tilapia fillets
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
- Pepper to taste
- Cajun seasoning to taste
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Spray a baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
- Rinse tilapia fillets under cool water, and pat dry with paper towels.
- Place fillets in baking dish. Pour lemon juice over fillets, then drizzle butter on top. Sprinkle with garlic, parsley, and pepper.
- Bake in preheated oven until the fish is white and flakes when pulled apart with a fork, about 30 minutes.
Baked Sweet Potato Latkes
Ingredients:
- 2 pounds grated sweet potatoes
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Coat two baking sheets with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Drop by quarter-cupfuls onto the baking sheets. Flatten with a spatula.
- Bake for 25 minutes. Flip and bake for an additional 10 minutes.
Commuting in the Rain
Another downfall to depending on your bike every day to commute is you have to brave the elements. Hahaha! I don’t live in Wisconsin anymore, so the only elements here are wind and rain. Well, I’m finding even rain sucks. Big time. The good news is that the weather in the city and the weather where I work are completely different ecosystems. The bad news is that if you commit to rain gear, you are toting around rain gear all day, even if it’s sunny down on the peninsula.
Today it was down-pouring rain, so I had no choice but to commit to the rain gear. This is my full get-up: tank top and t-shirt underneath, my running pants that wick (and dry quickly), my polka dot Aldo galoshes, and my knight’s huge jacket that is rain repellent. It’s so huge it fits over my 17.6 lb. back pack. (Yes, I did actually weigh it so that you can understand the intensity of the weight I carry each day on the bike. It’s good so that I understand why I don’t want to gain an extra 17.6 lbs. and work that much harder at life.) One thing I’m finding that I need to add to my wardrobe is clear glasses so that I can see when I bike super fast in the rain. Anyhow, I’m thankful I remembered to pack all items of my work outfit today because it might be kind of awkward to forget a bra or shoes. Awkward for my coworkers, of course.
FarmGirlHipster 