Meanwhile, this past week...

Ordinary. That is how I would describe the post-holiday world of January. But in a way, (minus the creative slump I keep mentioning) it hasn't been all bad. I blog. I take photos. Obviously, I like to capture life. And really, when it comes down to it, all of these creative outlets are just one way of capturing the ordinary. It makes it feel a little bit more than just that. True, photos have a way of making ordinary life feel super glamorous, especially if they aren't your own. (Thanks for that, Facebook). But in a way, I still love it. I like the challenge of thinking of interesting was to capture the every day. It might not be very interesting to you, dear reader, but here are bits and pieces of my life this past week.

And if, for some reason you think it looks glamorous, don't be fooled. It's just regular January life. Just like it is for you.

1. I think I am starting to unthaw a little bit. Because I am actually enjoying baking these days. (I am also enjoying eating sweets. Dang it). Recently, Levent and I made Lemon Bars, since Levent loves Lemons (and I love alliterations). We followed Joy the Baker's recipe and were pretty pleased with them. (I think I ate two of them and he ate the rest).

A few days later, I decided to make chocolate chip cookies. I think I have found my new favorite go-to recipe for these from Annie's Eats. Yum. Seriously. I wish I still had them in my freezer but I ate them all up.

2. Mother Nature has been doing it's crazy winter thing. The polar vortex has hit all of us twice now (though thankfully not as hard as up north). Yet, it still has managed to be about 60 degrees the past two Sundays. Thank you, Kansas, for that. (My sister was here last weekend and boy did the polar vortex mess up her original flight schedules).

Frozen pond waves

3. Yep. My sister was here last weekend! A group of her friends and I flew her out here for a weekend of food and friendship. It was wonderful. The flight drama, however, was not (though it did turn out fine). Leah's flight on Friday night to Wichita was cancelled. Thankfully, she still was able to catch a flight out of Chicago to Kansas City. So Levent and I went to pick her up. It was a long evening, but the three of us ate at this amazing Mediterranean place called Basha. Oh. My. Gosh. It was so good. I still think about it sometimes. We also got to sit in their "lounge" area, which was kind of Turkish style and a lot of fun. (I also learned that I do not like rosewater in my desserts).

The magnificent salad plate

Supper photo bomb

3. Last Saturday, I hosted a brunch for my sister and her friends, like we used to do when Leah lived in town. We mostly ate bread (and drank coffee, of course).

4. Leah and I are the best at eating food together. The main highlight was Sunday breakfast. I made my southern sister some creamy, dreamy grits and poached eggs. I've only poached eggs once before and it didn't turn out completely awesome. This time, however, it did. (I used these instructions from Smitten Kitchen).

Grilled cheese for lunch! Duh. 

5. Leah's flight going back to North Carolina was cancelled on Tuesday, which meant that we got to make up the "lost time" from Friday. So, that day we went to Wichita to go to our favorite restaurant, Tanya's Soup Kitchen. It was the best way to celebrate the polar vortex.

Happy Polar Vortex!

After lunch, we stopped in at Watermark Books (a local bookstore in Wichita) and browsed children's books, which helped me gain a lot of motivation again for writing. I am thankful that my sister is my biggest fan. She encourages me a lot.

6. After Leah went home, I got back to work. Let the mundane set it. I spent most of the week catching up with donation thank you cards from gifts that came in at the end of the year. (Seriously, why do so man people wait to make their yearly charitable gift until literally the last day of the year)? My favorite part about this whole process (besides seeing the nice, tall stack of envelops read to mail) were these new Valentine's Day stamps. Now, I know I should hate this fake holiday. But I really like these stamps. Can't even help it.

6. This week, while driving home, I've noticed the extreme amount of migrating birds, in what my friend Julie likes to call "bird tubes." This week, while driving to KC to pick up Leah, Levent and I also saw the most birds in a field that I've ever seen in my life. It was gross. The bird tube up close and personal. sick.

Well, yep. That's pretty much been my week. It wasn't necessarily ordinary since Leah was here (yay Leah), but whatever. It is now captured. Thanks for reading.