“My Whole Soul Is In This”
-Joe Biden
I watched the inauguration yesterday and felt tremendous feelings of relief, hope, and optimism. Not only did I feel President Biden’s speech came from his good heart, but I loved how directly he spoke about the challenges our country is facing. There was no beating around the bush.
And Vice President Harris! What a momentous moment for women, and woman of color particularly. I welled up with emotion when she was sworn in.
I thought the highlight of the speakers was Amanda Gorman, whose poem was incredibly powerful, on point, and beautifully spoken.
I hope that no matter what your core political beliefs are, we can agree that this country got the refresh it needed yesterday.
My House Has A New Boss Too
Mazen and Birch have been playing “businessman” these past few days.
Mazen is the boss (of course) and Birch aka Mr. Blippi is his associate. I’m not sure if Birch knows what’s going on, but he does what Mazen says, which usually involves coloring.
Note the bowtie and “suit” 
(Also not sure what industry they are in with the skull and crossbones drawing… eek!)
Here are they are in the back office. They scheduled me for an appointment. I think they sometimes run a psychologist practice and sometimes a business consulting firm. They have a deep talent stack!
They also work long hours – I hope they are making good money for all the work they’re putting in!
Food + More
Here are some of my meals lately!
Breakfasts
Simple yogurt bowl with plain yogurt, bananas, almond butter, and crunchy granola. #BetterBeauty coffee.
B likes the “special yogurt” too when it comes in a “special” cup.
Splendid Spoon
Splendid Spoon meals FTW! We had a busy-ish week and the arrival of this stock up box was perfect timing. I had two of the smoothies for my breakfast and a noodle bowl for lunch. I’m really into their noodles!
Leftover pizza + salad
Mellow Mushroom Cosmic Karma (leftover from Grammie + Pea’s visit) and a simple spinach salad with TJ’s truffle almonds!
Dinners
Cilantro Chicken with Tahini Veggies
Blue Apron Cilantro Chicken with roasted veggies. I’m a sauce girl through and through, and this was one saucy dinner!
Blue Apron is doing a flash sale right now – $100 off your first 5 boxes!
Black Bean Enchiladas
These were Blue Apron black bean enchiladas with rice and kale. A big dollop of sour cream and lots of sriracha on the side! We had this meal two nights this week.
Crab Cakes with Coconut Rice and Beans
And a simple meal of fun finds from Whole Foods. The crab cakes were frozen, and I bought them to keep in the freezer for easy nights. We thought they were pretty good!
And the coconut rice was from a shelf stable pouch. It turned out a little dry, but that might have been our fault. Will try once more time because I love coconut and it was so easy.
Mozzarella stick a bonus from the kid dinner : )
The Lion
Remember when I mentioned we have a lion who lives in our neighborhood?
HERE HE IS! Sweet Birch is now scared of him because one time he was up against his fence and caught B by surprise.
Patio
Thinking ahead to spring…consider this your before picture! Now that the big couch is on the screened-in porch, we need a better happy hour situation down in the open air. To be continued…
Andrea says
So cute! Love to see them playing together!! That is one fluffy and gorgeous dog, I’m curious to know the breed!!
Louise RD says
Just made a yummy & easy coconut rice recipe I’d like to share:-)
https://alexandracooks.com/2019/10/15/easy-thai-chicken-satay-with-coconut-rice/
Best part is both chix & rice recipes used up one can of coconut cream ?
Kath Younger says
Yum!!
Sarah says
THis was such a cute post. Nice balance of all things family, real life, food ideas. Loved it! Question-do you think you could put a picture of a box up whenever you talk about a prepared product you liked? Maybe that’s not visually pleasing but I would love to buy those crab cakes and if you show the box, I can easily ID them! Just an idea. No worries if not on brand. I love your blog!
Kath Younger says
I’ll try to make more of an effort on this! The box was in the frozen seafood area where you’d find shrimp, salmon burgers, etc. It was the whole foods “Fresh catch” brand.
Sarah says
Thank you!
Ali says
Love your patio! I’m also counting down the minutes to outdoor happy hour. We have a similar situation where our patio is walk out from our basement. What part of your house opens to the patio? Is it your work out room? Or do you carry food and drinks down and out from the screen porch?
Kath Younger says
It’s off of our basement. If you wanted to carry food down, you’d either go out of the kitchen door and down the exterior side steps OR you’d have to walk through the house to the basement (and white carpets…) to the basement door. The porch doesn’t have stairs down (it’s really high up). We usually exit the kitchen door and go down the outdoor steps with food because there are fewer doors and none of it is carpeted.
K~ says
Morning ! Loved the story of b&m’s new working jobs. Needed that laugh. Thanks ! I hiked all day yesterdy and was relieved to come home to no assinations or drama. whew.
K~
Kath Younger says
Whew indeed!
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog says
Your patio is so cute! Such a nice spot for spring time! 🙂
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Laurie says
Glad to see there is a new boss in your house as well as in “OUR” house. The way they are interacting is adorable.
Dawn Skorczewski says
One of my favorite posts ever—thank you for being so honest and soulful yourself. I love coming here every day!! What a fun little business you have there, too. Cheers!!
Kath Younger says
Thank you <3
Judith Scott says
I find it interesting that all the comments are regarding the 2nd part of your post. I totally agreed with everything you said about the inauguration. What a class act! I, too, was blown away by Amanda G, not only words, but her delivery was so powerful. Also JLo and Gaga nailed it, both with their singing and their outfits! Such a wonderful , optomistic start for the “New Boss”…although I must admit that your boys playing office was too cute!
B says
Thank you for acknowledging the new boss (of the country). There were so many great moments throughout the day, but the poem was one of my favorites.
Tracy says
Love to see your guys working hard & playing together! That must make you so happy!
I’ve been craving crab cakes. I’ll have to look for those next trip to Whole Foods!
Lizzie says
LOVE all of this!! A new dawn, a new day, and I’m feeling good, to quote Nina Simone! I laughed out loud at Mr. Blippi…clearly good modeling from their boss mama. My 3 year old said the following to me yesterday after I had a quick work call: “That was a short call. Usually your calls go for hours and hours and we have to figure things out for ourselves!” I mean… there are worse things! Haha.
Kath Younger says
Haha!
Caitlin says
Such a sweet post to end a very hope-filled week! If you get a chance, you should read about Amanda Gorman’s background – such an interesting person! Best wishes to the businessmen!
Angelica says
To this day, I still remember the “lion doggy” (a chow mix) in my neighborhood when I was 2-3! I was also terrified of it!
Also, no judgment, but now that I see it, I can’t I see it… M’s haircut reminds me of the Karen memes, although I guess he wouldn’t want to talk to the manager since he IS the manager! ?
Kath Younger says
I haven’t seen those memes!
Beth says
Yay for new Prez! I started crying the moment Kamala started walking towards the doors. I already feel less stress.
When you order Blue Apron, do you get it for 2 or 4 to share with kids & have leftovers?
Kath Younger says
We do 4 so we either share with kids OR eat the same meal two different nights.