new old

So this video is super old in that its me snowboarding in Aspen, but I just got it from a friend and thought I would share. Again, new camera = not old documentation starting soon!

digital gal

So I finally pulled the trigger, and purchased my very own digital camera. This blog is about to explode! I'm so excited to take pictures and post some fun things. Check back soon.

13.1

This weekend marked the first training run with Bess for our half marathon on Sunday, June 3. We ran around Green Lake and it was so much fun. Lake Calhoun will always prevail as far as lakes go, but it was beautiful and rainy and I had this great sense of starting a new project. The race is on San Juan island and we're going to camp out the night before. I threw on a picture of the San Juan Islands below.




The race is going to be awesome but its only half the goal. We're also using it as a form of training for climbing Mount Hood in Oregon. Bess's husband Josh is going to be our guide. Anyone else????????? We're tentatively thinking June 15ish.

more future

Our creative director just came back from TED. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design and its a conference hosted in CA. Some of this years' speakers included: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Clinton, Deborah Scranton, Paul Simon, Richard Branson, Michael Pollan, and Robin Chase ..to name just a few. We had a little agency debrief to talk about the conference. To me, TED seemed like a gathering place for ideas on how to make a better world and to provide inspiration for a more responsible future.

If you want to see a sweet website that's also connected with TED check out: http://www.worldchanging.com/

Its fantastic! So much to soak up and learn on this site! We also watched a couple of last years' speakers on DVD and its crazy inspiration to want to act. There is so much going on in our world and why not be a part of something (anything!) that can make a profound difference in the future.

You can also listen to the speakers by subscribing to TEDTalks - Each week, they'll release a new talk, in audio and video, to download or watch online. For best effect, plan to listen to at least three, start to finish. They have a cumulative effect... http://www.ted.com

Lastly, Deborah Scranton, who was one of the TED speakers directed a documentary called The War Tapes. THE WAR TAPES is the result – a uniquely collaborative film from a team that includes Director Deborah Scranton, Producer Robert May (THE FOG OF WAR) and Producer/Editor Steve James (HOOP DREAMS). Check out the trailer! www.thewartapes.com

new Olympic Sculpture Park in Seattle

For the record, I made the pizza again tonight. Serious yum.

Here are some photos of the Olympic Sculpture Park that opened in downtown Seattle in January. I really liked it. I also really liked being outside on a beautiful day after a long hiatus.

make this, and you will love me

Since I've been in Seattle, I've become pretty excited about cooking and I'm a much better cook than I used to be. I use a lot of recipes (from Cooking Light magazine), but I try to experiment and challenge myself: crab-stuffed ravioli (wrapped with gyoza wrappers!), chipotle chicken tortilla soup, potato and leek frites, AND tonight I made the YUMMIEST pizza. I'm not kidding, I almost died. Please, I'm begging you to make this. You and your belly will be smiling.



ARTICHOKE AND BASIL PIZZA WITH PROSCIUTTO
Move the oven rack to the lowest level for a crisp crust on the pizza.

Cooking spray
1 tablespoon cornmeal (or flour)
1 (13.8-ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust dough (i used Almost Whole Wheat Pizza Dough from Trader Joes)
2 tablespoons commercial pesto (Trader Joes - comes in a little tub)
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1 (9-ounce) package frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and drained (i used canned, drained artichokes and chopped them)
1 ounce thinly sliced prosciutto (Trader Joes)
2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cups Basil leaves
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Position oven rack to lowest setting. Preheat oven to 500°
Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray; sprinkle with cornmeal. Unroll dough onto prepared baking sheet, and pat into a 14 x 10-inch rectangle. Spread the pesto evenly over dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over pesto. Place baking sheet on the bottom oven rack; bake at 500° for 5 minutes. Remove pizza from oven.

Coarsely chop artichokes. Arrange artichokes on pizza; top with sliced prosciutto. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Return pizza to the bottom oven rack; bake an additional 6 minutes or until crust is browned.

Place Basil in a bowl. Drizzle lemon juice over arugula; toss gently. Top the pizza with arugula mixture. Cut the pizza into 4 (7 x 5-inch) rectangles; cut each rectangle diagonally into 2 wedges.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 2 wedges)

NUTRITION PER SERVING
CALORIES 419(28% from fat); FAT 13g (sat 4.4g,mono 6.4g,poly 0.6g); PROTEIN 20.1g; CHOLESTEROL 20mg; CALCIUM 265mg; SODIUM 1001mg; FIBER 5.7g; IRON 3.6mg; CARBOHYDRATE 55.3g

aspen

I spent last weekend in Aspen visiting a former co-worker < Lisa. Janna and I made the trip and it was like having the old gang back together. I had never been to Colorado so I wasn't totally sure what to expect. I have to say it was pretty incredible. So much sun, snow and fancy things. Oh and we met Jeremy Piven. When he approached Janna and I during our apres hot tub sesh, I think we actually said, "Is he coming over here? I think he's coming over here. Oh my god, he's coming over HERE." Which was immediately followed by, "Hey, what's up?" in just about as cool and non-shaky voice as we could muster. After a few minutes he asked for Janna's phone number. Yep. And after a giddy hour of getting ready we waited for the call. It never came. Jeremy Piven blew us off!

Ah well, it was still a great trip.

two speakers, one future

This post is late, but i was busy! Last week i attended two speakers with my new friends, Bess and Josh. Tuesday evening was crazy great. We went to see a speaker/architect Jason McLennan from the U.S. Green Building Council talk about "The Ethical Basis of Sustainable Design and the Future of Building". I've become increasingly interested in architecture and design and especially design using the standards developed within the LEED Green Building Rating System. Just five years ago achieving the standard alone was incredibly difficult, now people are reaching for the silver, gold and platinum ratings and simply being certified isn't nearly as impressive. Jason introduced to us his new "baby" = The Living Building. To quote him, "In the future, the houses we live in and the offices we work in will be designed to function like living organisms, specifically adapted to place and able to draw all of their requirements for energy and water from the surrounding sun, wind and rain. The architecture of the future will draw inspiration, not from the machines of the 20th century, but from the beautiful flowers that grow in the landscape that surrounds them." Pretty fantastic!
The Living Building Will:

•Harvest all its own water and energy needs on site

•Be adapted specifically to site, and climate and built primarily will local materials

•Operate pollution free and generate no wastes that aren’t useful for some other process in the building or immediate environment

• Promote the health and well being of all inhabitants–consistent with being an ecosystem

•Be comprised of integrated systems that maximize efficiency and comfort

•Be beautiful and inspire us to dream.

We drank our organic beer and soaked up all the info we could. Jason was hilarious, smart and I loved what he had to say. I really hope the living building becomes the next LEED movement. Interesting that we industrialized the world and now we just want to go back to nature. Love it.

http://www.usgbc.org/
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Wednesday was an addendum to the original stem cell research conversation that took place over President's weekend in Whistler. James McManus & Ron Reagan (yes, son of President Ronald Reagan) sat in "comfy" chairs and bantered about the current administration's position on stem cell research. The most interesting part of the talk wasn't the political ranting but at the end when folks from the audience were able to interrupt and ask questions. We learned how the stem cells are actually aquired. To some of you this may not be a shocking discovery as you may be more informed than I was...but the stem cells aren't actually acquired in a manner that, from my perspective, has any moral limitations. Embryos can either be made via reproduction -- merging sperm and egg -- or by cloning. Researchers aren't likely to create an embryo with sperm and egg, but many use fertilized embryos from fertility clinics. Sometimes, couples who are trying to have a baby create several fertilized embryos and don't implant them all. They may donate the ones that are left over to science.

Another way to create an embryo is via a technique called therapeutic cloning. This technique merges a cell (from the patient who needs the stem cell therapy) with a donor egg. The nucleus, which is what actually contains DNA and what makes the egg unique, is removed from the egg and replaced with the nucleus of the patient's cell. This egg is stimulated to divide either chemically or with electricity, and the resulting embryo carries the patient's genetic material, which significantly reduces the risk that his or her body will reject the stem cells once they are implanted. Hmm..who knew? Plus, people have been using adult stem cells for years for bone marrow transplants!