Thinking about our life here in California. It's been almost six months and sometimes I really feel like I have a routine and a life here, but other days I really wish we were back on the East coast, especially as spring approaches (although I know you guys over there got some snow this week, which is not very spring-y now, is it?). 

In my reader survey last year, I had someone tell me I should stop "complaining about living in California," which took me by surprise because I never imagined that my homesickness would come across as ungratefulness, but I guess it did. Regardless, I stopped sharing as much about that topic, but as it comes up again I feel like sharing it. It's so complicated--I'm so proud of Rob and happy for the opportunities we've been given as a result of moving here, but I'm still allowed to miss my friends and routine back in Charlotte.

Loving the weather we're having here lately! It seriously rained all winter, which is so weird for the Bay Area. Ender was not happy as it sort of interfered with his dog park schedule. But now the sun is out and the ground is dry and yesterday it was in the 80s! It's so fun to drive with the windows down and soak up the sun--this past weekend Rob and I actually sat outside at our community pool and it was amazing. I think I'm going to try to make time to swim regularly this spring and summer, because I'm always really bad about taking advantage of having access to a pool and that's just silly.

Doing lots of Pure Barre. I started going to barre two years ago this month! Every March they do this challenge where you try to go 20 times in 31 days, and so far I'm on track to finish! When I go 5 days a week I really get super into it and feel way stronger. 

Missing my girlfriends, all over. I think I've written about this before, but I've never really lived in the same place as all my high school and/or college girlfriends. I think that's partly why I'm always so nostalgic for my time in college--we all lived together and we saw each other every day no matter what. Sometimes I find myself daydreaming about everyone settling down in the same city, even though we're scattered from California and Virginia to Florida and pretty much everywhere in between.

Looking forward to a trip to North Carolina next month! Rob and I are going to Charlotte in April and instead of staying with friends decided to book an Airbnb in our old neighborhood so we can walk to all of our favorite places. I think it's going to be so fun, plus we get to see our friends' new baby who was born in February! It'll be a long weekend full of friends, long walks down the Rail Trail, breweries, coffee shops, and all of our favorite food (get the nachos ready, Sabor!).

What have you been up to currently?

These beef-stuffed peppers aren't much to look at, but they were so good that I'm still thinking about them over a week later. They're super easy to make, they keep well in the fridge, and you can even make the filling ahead of time and assemble and bake right before serving!

I added some diced mushrooms to my meat mixture to beef it up a bit (no pun intended), but if you're a vegetarian I think you could completely substitute mushrooms for the ground beef and it would be delicious. Also if you're going for strict Paleo, just omit the cheese. Lately I've been adding a little bit of cheese to most of my meals because I'm still doing keto.

Ingredients: 

• 2 green bell peppers
• 1 pound of ground beef
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 of an onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 5-6 cremini mushrooms, diced
• 3-4 tablespoons ketchup
• A couple handfuls of shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions: 

1. In a large pan over medium-high heat, sauté onion in olive oil for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and give it a stir. Add the mushrooms and sauté for another 4-5 minutes. Add the ground beef and cook until brown, about 5-7 minutes.
2. Stir in the ketchup and some of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper and reduce heat to low. Allow to simmer for a couple minutes until everything is well incorporated. (At this point you could refrigerate the filling and save it until it's ready to serve, or you could just eat it as is--we usually put ours on a salad.)
3. Preheat the oven to 350. 
4. Slice the top of each green pepper off and remove the inside section and seeds. If necessary, slice a very thin layer from bottom of the pepper to make it stand up straight.
5. Place the peppers in a baking dish and fill with hamburger mixture. Top with more cheese if desired and bake at 350 for about 25 minutes, or until the pepper is fork-tender and the cheese has melted. Serve hot.

Happy Friday! This week has been a busy one working on stuff for my new cookbook. We had such a great time last weekend in Tahoe, but I'm excited to spend this weekend at home--the weather has been so nice here in the Bay Area and it's given me a little springtime energy to clean the house, do a lot of cooking, and finally fold a ton of laundry that's just been hanging out in the dryer.

This weekend I'm planning to read a lot (I love my book club but I always leave the book until the last minute), go to barre class, and meet my cousin and his girlfriend for dinner at a hot pot place in our neighborhood. I've never had hot pot before and I'm so excited about it (Rob had it in China a few years ago and said it's amazing). And let's not forget about Sunday night HBO! I still love Girls, but is anyone else watching Big Little Lies? I'm completely obsessed.

As usual, I'm sharing a list of links with you before I sign off for the weekend. If you read/watched/found something interesting on the Internet this week, I want to know about it! Feel free to leave a comment and share it with us.

• I'm totally obsessed with these clogs, and they're on sale! (Although the ones I've had my eye on for weeks are still full price.)
• I love everything Nora McInerny writes, including this piece about getting her eyebrows micro-bladed. Can we please be friends, Nora? I'll move back to Minneapolis and everything.
• Some food for thought: A lot of Instagram-loving foodies are perpetuating racist stereotypes about ethnic dishes.
• Gold Birkenstocks? Yes please.
• I just got this tank top and have been wearing it so much. It's so comfortable and looks really nice even if you aren't working out. #athleisure 
• Does anyone have any experience with Mario Badescu products? I love their rose spray but am thinking about trying out an actual skin care regimen through them. I'm intrigued by this cleanser.
• Game of Thrones Season 7--yassss. Not sure how I'm going to wait until July for it but man am I excited.
• Disney puts a "gay scene" in the new Beauty & the Beast film and people are already freaking out about it (although I think it'd be hard to argue that LeFou isn't clearly enamored with Gaston even in the cartoon). I personally am happy to see a character who may be exploring their sexual orientation get some attention on the big screen--I think it's going to be encouraging for young viewers (or adult ones) who may be in the same position.

That's all for now! I hope you have a great weekend--what's on your agenda?

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