A Visit to MM Designs

When T and I spent our holidays in Pennsylvania with his family, my favorite place to go while away the afternoon was Jim Thorpe, a town about a half hour away that has a rich historical heritage, amazing architecture, and a ton of sweet shops.

During our post wedding, pre second reception week I may go up to Jim Thorpe and take a lot of town pictures to post, because really, I've never been anywhere like it.

But, back to the point.

One of the shops that I visited (and have been meaning to do a post on for the past 5 months - sorry!) was called Marianne Monteleone Design.

Marianne designs her own line of clothing and jewelry.

Her shop is delightful, not only because of the beautiful wares,

but because of the care and thought that are put into every detail.

(I was partial to the scarves, myself)

Upstairs is a darling bed and breakfast called the Suites on Broadway.

I couldn't get enough of the charm that was in every corner here.

Her guests felt the same way I did, judging by the notes left behind in her signing book...

The rooms were unique and charming.

There were even cozy balconies to have your morning coffee on (that was my favorite part)

And again, the details made the place, like old fashioned framed embroidery,

Bronzed radiators,

and signs that looked like they'd been there since Jim Thorpe was new (in a good way!)

Not a bad couple of floors to go visit, I say!

Stop by if you're ever in town, this place was a treat!

Happy Monday :)

A WHAT from that blue sky?!

After an awe inspiring thunderstorm last night followed by a gloriously bright rainbow against a gray sky backdrop, today was beautiful and sunny, the world awash in impossibly bright colors.

(from the backyard, after we got home)

T and I drove down to Amarillo for some coffee shop reading and writing, and a grocery trip (organic produce is hard to come by outside the city). 


Along the drive we discussed nature and thought and God and plans and timelines, until all the sudden there was a dark cloud on the right horizon. 


I pointed to it as we sang along to his ipod, making a yucky face, indicating that the factory over there was polluting the beautiful day.
Ew.
Except, a moment later, I realized that the factory cloud I'd pointed to had just moved to be just next to the actual factory, rather than covering it.


...wait a second...


And another 30 seconds passed, where the mysterious "cloud" on the ground moved again - 


-and then I realized. That was no cloud.


It was a tornado.


Yesiree. When my sister and I drove up to Napa for a debaucherous weekend in the spring of '08, there were tons of little twisters on the side of the road, stirring up the fields where crops were not quite beginning to appear. M is also a weekend skydiver, and has seen dust devils below her on the ground as she's floated beneath her chute, hoping to avoid one (having that fickle circular wind grab the thin material of her parachute would certainly mean injury, maybe worse). 


I know what one looks like.


And that WAS one. The super clear day made most of it invisible, but we could see that wide bowl shaped funnel of thin blue-black soil from the fields where it was dancing, puffing out a thinner cloud beneath, along the surface of the ground.


And it was coming closer.


So I took a breath and said a little prayer, and by the time I was done, it was dissipating, so no worries. I learned a moment later that T had never had a minute's apprehension, but was excited to be seeing one this close. Yeah, it was close. And we saw it. Well, the bottom of it.


Then we went and had salads followed by chai tea whilst doing some reading and writing (I started perusing the Gospel of Thomas, which is awesome, just saying), and got groceries, and now we're back. No worse for wear. 


But who needs caffeine when you've got a tornado filling up your windshield to wake you up?!


Not I!


Happy Friday, have a marvelous weekend, and here's today's quote:
In those days, we finally chose to walk like giants and hold the world in arms grown strong with love
And there may be many things we forget in the days to come,
But this will not be one of them.
— Brian Andreas 

Such Is My Love

My love is fresh and ruddy,
to be known among ten thousand.
His head is golden, purest gold,
his locks are palm fronds
and black as the raven.
His eyes are like doves
beside the water-courses,
bathing themselves in milk,
perching on a fountain-rim.
His cheeks are beds of spices,
banks sweetly scented.
His lips are lilies,
distilling pure myrrh.
His hands are golden, rounded,
set with jewels of Tarshish.
His belly a block of ivory
covered with sapphires.
His legs are alabaster columns
set in sockets of pure gold.
His appearance is that of Lebanon,
unrivalled as the cedars.
His conversation is sweetness itself,
he is altogether lovable.
Such is my love, such is my friend
                      ~Song of Solomon, 5:10-16

 ....and I get to marry him one month from today.
Who's happier than me? I think you'd be hard pressed to find that girl....

Delicious

I can't think of many things better than sitting with your feet up, sipping lemon water and listening to your gorgeous fiance read you love poems and scriptures and proverbs and prose as the two of you plan your wedding ceremony. 


At the moment we're narrowing the readings down. 


It's a good time.

Happy Wednesday!




Today's quote: 
If there is any secret to this life i live, this is it: the sound of what cannot be seen sings within everything that can. and there is nothing more to it than that.
~Brian Andreas

Volcano Lightning

I think we should discuss this. 

image source

image source

image source

They say that, zoomed in really closely (of course), thoughts in our brains look like lightning storms.

image source

Who's to say the Mother (Earth) isn't alive? 

Seriously. 


Healthy respect, that's all I'm saying. And hopefully no volcanoes will reach over into Portland.


On that note, enjoy your day. And send a little love down beneath your feet - she's had a rough hundred years.


love,
Charis

Dear Deceased Spider in my Shower:

I was dismayed to discover you there in the morning.


Your significant size signaled a sigh of relief on my part (because I would have been in quite a quandary if you had been still alive - I would have preferred to place you outside, but squeamishness and doubt about your degree of deadly or debilitating poison may have overridden my altruistic intent and made me secure a solid shoe in my grasp instead...)


You took a simple stroll with your eight furry legs sometime during the night down into the tub, never to climb out again.


I was surprised and saddened to see you, empty of a little spider soul, in that curled-leg perplexing and peculiar posture that is prevalent and particular to arachnid deaths.


Then I irreverently conducted a photo shoot, since you were so huge and I  knew I'd blog about you. Consider it a memorial.

I'll utilize a broom and dustpan to deliver you to a green and grassy grave today (in the front bushes).


Now, that is, that four days have passed and I am completely and confidently convinced that you are, actually, dead.


(don't judge me. I use another shower anyway.)


Happy Monday!

Regarding Kisses

Yesterday at 2:42pm I received an inquisitive text from Shenna, one of my best friends in high school and one of the few that I've remained close with.


S: Did U see the movie "The Wedding Singer"? Have U & Terry decided yet.... open or closed mouth kiss when U r pronounced man/wife?


C: Half open yo. Maybe a LITTLE tongue. We've been practicing!


S: See I love it how U r a progressive thinker like me! Terry is gonna fit in just fine in our circle!


C: Oh you bet your ass he is!


But no, seriously, really, we have been practicing. (I'm not complaining) It'll be between 3 and 5 seconds, no visible tongue. Cut and print.


That was your TMI for the day.

The End.

this was taken less than a week after we met...we've been practicing for awhile.

Today's quote: 
Is not a kiss the very autograph of love?
~Henry Fink

Gratitude List

...taken from my personal writings this evening...

I'm grateful to be doing these lists – they put me in a state of mind that I'd like to cultivate more often and intensely. Today, according to the Essenes, is the day of the Angel of Joy. I read the prayer this morning that asks the Joy Angel to descend into my body and the bodies of all people on the Earth, and most of the day has been filled with Terry's and my laughter and lovingly joyful conversation, which I'm also grateful for.

I'm grateful for our growth. We've come so far over these months that it isn't a stretch at all to say that we are actually different people. Our bodies are different – even our bodily proportions are changing. I'll have to get an entirely new wardrobe in Portland – none of my clothes fit anymore! So I'm grateful for the opportunity to be able to recreate my new self through my apparel and appearance.

As I type I smell cookies. Yesterday, a package arrived for me. It contained two small bottles of essential oil – one vanilla flavored, from organic vanilla beans that are pressed in such a way that rather than reminding you of a candle, this smells just like cooking vanilla, only more delicious. The other bottle was lavender flavored, so I've mixed them together on my wrists yesterday and today. I've finally found a smell that isn't harmful to my body (most of the perfumes on the market have dicey ingredients), and that not only describes me, but that smells really good – Terry loves the new scent, which I'm very happy about. So I'm grateful for that, the whole bundle of it. I like having a smell. I remember my mother's perfume from when I was a little girl – it felt so warm and lovely and soft, not to mention “dressy” - spraying it on was the last thing she would do when she got ready, so I thought of the smell as her all dolled up. I haven't smelled it, Avon's Far Away, in probably 15 years, yet I remember it in such detail, I bet I'd recognize it anywhere. I even remember the pink bottle with the black tassel. I'm grateful for those memories.

Today we had a wedding meeting, which included discussion on the very unconventional wedding we're planning together. We talked about entrances (I won't be walking down the aisle, rather Terry and I will be separately walking around the attendants and our paths will, combined, create a circle of sacredness and intention for this ritual, which will include the most important promises we may make in our entire life), and about other parts of the wedding – songs, prayers, the incorporation of aspects of our heritage, which combined include Native American, Celtic, Irish, African, Lebanese, and Italian. I'm grateful for the excitement and sparkle that comes with planning a completely personalized wedding. It will be a wonder, and an evening that we'll never forget.

I'm grateful to be marrying such a wonderful man, who I haven't been able to take my eyes off of all day as he changes before my very eyes through our practices and diet into the best of what he can be. I also have a deep and sweet knowledge that this will only continue. I can sit now and think about amazing growth that has happened in weeks and months to him (and I), and I know that I'll be able to do the same thing weeks, months, and years from now. I am certainly grateful for this. It's such a magical experience, to see my own and my lover's unfolding into our Real Selves.

I'm grateful that we've had the freedom and the opportunity, not to mention the supplies, to undergo this transformation. I know that, had we picked a different path for this year and not come to Texas, these growth spurts would not have happened yet. 

I'm grateful for the time to come. I'm grateful that we've picked Portland, an amazing city, and I'm grateful for the joyful plans that we're making there. I'm grateful for the people now living there who will become our friends and emotional “family.” I'm grateful for the experiences we'll have on the way, and once we arrive.

Today we drove down to the city and Terry bought me an early birthday present – a beautiful flowing dress with a tropical feel to wear on our honeymoon and jewelry to go with. I'm grateful that I now have things to wear to make me feel beautiful (I do like to parade around in front of him, knowing what he sees in me). I'm grateful that my to-be husband is sincere and loving and that he always knows what to say to make me feel loved.

I'm a smidgeroo grateful that I'm about done with this list (in one minute I'll have reached the mandated 15), cause I'm a little tired. I'm grateful for my sweet dreams to come. I'm grateful for the wind chimes that I can hear outside the window. I'm grateful for those plush white linens on the bed across the room that I'm about to sink into. I'm grateful that we'll be awakening early tomorrow, to start a new daily practice of greeting the dawn. I'm grateful for the dawning of new mornings and soft, restful nights.

Now I'm off to bed, gratefully.

Adventures in Raw Cooking

This weekend we tried a couple of things.


Here's the deal - I don't eat food I don't like. For instance, a half hour ago we made my very favorite chocolate pudding for lunch, only we used arugula rather than a milder tasting green, so let's just say that the flavor combination is NOT my favorite. Aware of all the nutrients that are in this funny tasting smoothie, I'm eating it, but very very slowly. Maybe it's been more like an hour.


The point of that was to say that this raw food change we've made would not be happening if we (read that to be  I) didn't like what we were eating. It has to be delicious, or else I won't stick to it.


So, when we (I) have cravings for random food, I try to make it raw. And this weekend, I tried two things. The first:

source

I don't think I need to say anything more about WHY I wanted to figure this out, right?


So I thought about the ingredients: hazlenuts, oil, milk, chocolate, and a bunch of other stuff that's less important. Ok, I'll try it.


So I soaked some hazlenuts for one day, which turned out to be two days, to get them all soft and blendable.


(I also soaked cashews, which went a little fermented and I vetoed for the nutella, but I DID make a frigging amazing nacho cheese with - what do you think the milk does to make nacho cheese?)


And blended them up with store bought hazlenut milk, cacao, agave, a little stevia, and young coconut meat.


As far as nutella went, it was awful.


Really, it was very very bad. Horrible, in fact. The nuts didn't blend smoothly and it was chunky and not as rich as real nutella.


At the last moment before a trip to the trashcan, T and I noticed that the texture was very Wendy's Frosty-like.


So we put it in the freezer for awhile, and voila: DELICIOUS CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM/FROZEN YOGURT STUFF.


Score!


The second thing was the nacho cheese, which I've already discussed. I adapted this guy's recipe by using the fermented cashews instead of macadamia nuts, and I don't know how much lemon juice I added, if any, but it was out and out AWESOME in the end. 


I've tried a cashew ricotta recipe that instructed you to leave the blended cheese mixture out at room temperature overnight, to make it ferment, and it ended up tasting JUST like ricotta, only more flavorful!


So score #2!


And finally, I tried the bread I mentioned a couple posts ago. Made with sun dried tomatoes, herbs, flax seeds and almonds, among other things. And it's dehydrated for an entire 10 hours, but lemme tell you it tastes just like bread!


Score #3.


We've made some staple recipes so far, and want to be finding at least one new delicious recipe each week.


I'm looking forward to living in Portland after the wedding and inviting friends to come stay with us, pig out on delicious albeit strange food, and go home healthier than before! Gonna be good times.


On another note, I'm going to start a gratitude list. It was mentioned today on one of my favorite blogs, which you can read here. It's written by an ex-teacher and current mentor of mine, who's one of the smartest and most compassionate people I know, and who has written two amazing books which you should immediately read - they'll make your life better. And they're short, which makes them all the more readable! Anyway, on the blog today he spoke of organ donors who cultivated a practice of spending 15 minutes a day writing a list of things they were grateful for. They recovered from the donations sooner AND with less complications. I'd be willing to bet that their internal happiness state elevated quite a bit too as a result. 


And as I'm healthy already (haven't donated any organs recently), how much more beneficial would it be?


(the same goes for everyone reading this. And I do think it would also work if you divided it up into three 5 minutes sessions a day, so for those of you sitting at your desks at work reading this, DO IT three times a day. It's 5 minutes. And it'll make you happier and more productive, even at your job. Scribble on a piece of computer paper and keep it in your drawer. Totally doable).


So, I'll be posting it from time to time.


Happy Sunday!

Chapel Chatter: Not So Fine Fittings, otherwise entitled Is That A Bridezilla I See In the Mirror?

I've learned a valuable lesson this week and it is that yes, sometimes, you absolutely do, in order to be a functional and fulfilled and healthy human being, have to be a bitch.

(enter my realization that there is a time and place for every bridezilla to emerge)

Before I begin my story, let me just say that if you live in Amarillo, TX, do not, I repeat - DO NOT - get anything of value altered at Sara's Alterations on 34th and Bell. Sure, get your pants hemmed there. But if this is a piece of clothing that means something to you,

run the other way.

(screaming is optional, but recommended. If you scream a four letter word or two, I won't judge you. In fact, I did the same thing myself, in the comfort of my own closet, on the phone with my mother, yes, but I did...)

If you read my blog on any sort of repeated basis, you'll know that I don't talk much smack. I don't badmouth anyone and try to do the same for anything - in fact, I was sent a book last summer and asked to review it for a publishing company, and after I realized it was horrendous and I'd be lying if I said anything positive about it, I contacted the publisher and told them that I wasn't comfortable giving the review - I say that if you can't say anything nice, keep those typing fingers still. So they sent me a better book to review. :)

Case in point, that's why I didn't mention that I saw the Wolfman movie on its opening weekend, which just happened to be Valentine's Day this year, I believe. That's cause it was awful. And I'm saying this now, cause I think if you haven't seen the movie you won't see it, I'm not influencing you.

It's my belief that we're pulled in the directions we travel because of good feelings - attraction, intrigue, curiosity, beauty. I don't think we should spend a moment idly thinking about bad stuff, because that just attracts it into our lives. You know, we've all seen The Secret. Those principles.

But.

In the interest of honesty and of giving you snapshots into my life (after all, isn't that one of the points of blogging at all?) and so I don't have to repeat this story a gazillion times for my friends who read this blog, and because, as I said, God forbid that ANY other bride-to-be go through this bunch of baloney, I'm about to tell you all the gory details.

I was advised to go to Sara's Alterations because of a friend who says she's good (it's an individually owned place). I don't know, however, whether my friend has gotten any dresses or formal attire altered there...I'll have to check.

Anyway, since we've spent the spring in Texas, far away from the wedding in Virginia, I brought my dress with me, to get it altered down here.

I'd gotten it made nearly in my size already (not exactly though because of weightage I'd gained over the rich-food holidays), but the main problem was that I have an extremely high waist that you could either say is Fantasia fairy style,or Olive Oil style,
depending on how you look at it.

So all the dress needed was to have the waist raised. Yes, it was a little tight too, but hello, it's SUPPOSED to be tight in the way that it was, and I was about to lose a bunch of weight via raw, vegan food (and yeppers, I've lost just about 20 lbs. I think I'm evening out now, no weight loss in over a week, however only my yoga clothes and maxi dresses fit anymore so it's time to go shopping...)

So I go in, try on the dress for her, describe how only the weight needs to be raised, point, here and here and there,

and she shakes her head. No, she tells me, it's too small. It needs to be let out some.

Okay. Here's where MY lesson came in. Throughout this process, I've learned that I need to stick up for myself. In this situation, I figured that she, as a professional seamstress, knew more than me. And you'll see what happened.

So, I go back when she tells me to, a couple weeks later. Yep, I make the hour and a half drive to Amarillo, and the dress isn't ready.
REALLY?
My number is right there on the card attached to the dress hanger. She couldn't have called me and told me not to come?

But I didn't worry, she was backed up, it's Spring and prom time and all that. I came back the next week, and tried on the dress.

And of course, it didn't fit at all. Not a lick better than it had been before, just different.

But she steamrolled me again, told me what it needed, DIDN'T LISTEN TO WHAT I SAID, and I left.

A few weeks later, a THIRD trip, and this time I also brought in my reception dress (for the 2nd reception a week after the wedding, that'll be in my fiance's home town in PA), which just needed to be taken in a little. And sure enough, this time the dress STILL didn't fit, and she still didn't really listen, and not only that, but SHE was put out that I wasn't ready to take it home!

So I left both the dresses after she pinned the second one to be taken in (yes, I know this was a stupid moment on my part but I'm not from here and would have no clue about where else to go).

Come back next week.
Okay.

So I go back, and only the first dress is ready. Again, she couldn't have given me a call? I would have just waited!

But I took it, and T's pants to his wedding attire which had needed to be hemmed (and were fine, I assume), and went home.

I did try it on again once I got home and I'll be honest, I don't like it. There are creases where there shouldn't be and space where things should be tight. There's tightness where things shouldn't be. It's just not good work, especially considering how many times I had to go back.

OH. And not only that, but she charged me nearly what the entire dress COST. I didn't think much of it (although as she told me the price, she looked at me sideways and seemed to say "I'm being defensive about the price in case you contest it because I think you will because I'm WAY overcharging you - are you going to say anything?")

I'm sorry. I didn't know I was supposed to HAGGLE WITH MY FRIGGIN SEAMSTRESS. My bad! I thought, you know, you do a service, tell me what it's worth, and I pay you. I don't expect to be cheated and I REALLY don't like it.

So, the following week, which was yesterday, I called HER in the morning to make sure my dress was ready before I made the drive. In looking for her number online, I found her website with the price list of her services.

Wanna know what I found out?

That, according to her OWN price list, she charged me more than double what it should have cost to alter my wedding dress, EVEN if she had re-charged me for each of my visits.

Not cool.

And when I mentioned the price list online during our phone conversation, she instantly got defensive and confrontational. If she'd been above board, why the panic attack? I was calm. She started going nuts. Obviously something was up.

So we hurried down to Amarillo, to pick up the dress. T came with me this time, and I could tell she was a bit intimidated (which I'm ashamed to say, made me happy) by his straightforward manner and gaze.

(my, how I love my fiance)

First, she said I was there early, when I'd come at the time she'd given me. I said I'd just take the dress as it was (she said it wasn't finished), and after she disappeared into the back for awhile, she emerged and asked if we could wait 15 minutes for her to finish the dress.

We thought about it, and agreed. Yes, I may have to take it somewhere else, but I might not, and so what's 15 minutes?

She brought the dress out after awhile and hung it up. No thanks, I wouldn't be trying it on, I'd just take it. What was the total?

Again, a gross overcharge but this time she came out with an hourly rate that wasn't listed anywhere, or even mentioned, and can totally be faked, obviously (and probably was, since I doubt she started working on my dress before the day I picked it up).

So I wrote a check, loaded the dress into the back seat, and we went home. I was just relieved to have it in my hands.

After we got to the house, I put our groceries away, washed off my makeup (I have a newfound obsession with sunbathing in the warm afternoons. It's not the tan, it's the AWESOMENESS - my body is loving the sun lately, I just feel so calm and relaxed and healthy when I'm lying there, soaking up rays. The tan doesn't hurt though), and before I went out, decided to try on my dress I'd just picked up.

Here's the kicker.

At the top of a side seam under my right arm, a two inch piece was taken in so much that there wasn't a HOPE of zipping the dress.

Now I see what she'd been doing for that last 15 minutes.

My frame may have slimmed a bit, but there is no way my ribcage has expanded by three inches in the past two weeks.

Dirty.

So, I promptly went online and stopped payment on the check I'd written that day and sent her an email. Now I'm in the process of reporting her to the Better Business Bureau (say that 5 times fast) in Amarillo.

Drama!

On a bright note, when I called my mother hysterical because of lost months and hundreds of dollars, she informed me that just this weekend, she'd been at a party at the house of our wedding caterer, who's also a friend of hers. His sister is a seamstress. Mom called her last night and she said that sure, this happens all the time, it's no big deal, and at the two week prewedding mark that I'll arrive in Richmond on, I can bring in the dresses and she can fix them.

What's the moral of this story? Well, there are two.
#1) When you know about your OWN stuff, don't let someone steamroll you and tell you that you're wrong. This goes for teachers, doctors, and especially seamstresses. I've had each of them proved completely wrong before, and not without a fight.

#2) It's no biggie. Every difficulty is an opportunity for us to learn and grow. As soon as you figure out what the lesson is, fixing the problem falls into place.

And an added moral: Sometimes you need to be a bridezilla. I wasn't this time, and wish I had been. But considering how smooth this whole wedding planning business has been, I think that I'll take it :)

Happy Friday! Go enjoy your weekend, I'll be laying in the sun!

Greens

I was writing a post last night all about our day trip to Amarillo yesterday, and how we gorged on potato chips (decidedly neither raw NOR vegan ones), and how it put me in not-so-nice of a mood AND bellyache, but by the time the post was done it was really long and grumpy, and (gasp) a tad preachy, so I won't post it.

In fact, it's getting deleted as soon as I put this replacer up.

We like to focus on the goodies around here!

Which is why I will post the following picture, of when I was trying to offset the greasy delicious disgustingness of potato chips in my tummy on the ride home:And also why I'm now drinking a glass of forest green liquid, which is, to be specific, juiced celery, cilantro, and lime.

It's not very good.
Don't do it.

"I've decided one thing," I told T as we stood at the kitchen island, sipping our pond moss looking drinks. "I'm all about going raw. But I refuse to force myself to eat things that don't taste good."

He nodded.

We're in agreement. Lovely. (I'll start soaking the flax seeds tomorrow morning for some yummy flax seed crackers that just taste like really good tortilla chips, and this time we're adding the spinach pulp from these nasty drinks, to make things more interesting)

Happy Wednesday!

Today's quote:
There is no sincerer love than the love of food.
~George Bernard Shaw

Day at the Park

Spring has arrived and overnight there are new colors draped over the world!
We drink our water out of mason jars now - it keeps water cool, once you do it for awhile you totally taste how oily and plasticky water from water bottles is, and there's enough space to squeeze a lime in! (hence the floaties you see above)...
Dandelions by the park bridge
Our trusty white blanket - it's been well loved, and has the grass stains to prove it...
Lots of reading and writing today.
(have I mentioned how cool copper bracelets are? They're also very good for you. Google the benefits of copper and see for yourself. We got these for $5 at the mall a monthish ago and have worn them ever since)
Today's quote:
Man's heart away from Nature becomes hard.
~Standing Bear

In other news, our wedding site is finally up. Yay!

Chapel Chatter: Ringing

This beauty arrived this morning.
It's gorgeous, and fits so well that it's lit a fire under me to get my engagement ring resized and reset (I don't like how high the stones are, they get caught on things, and I want them nestled down into the band more).

But, rather than focusing on what I need to do, I'll do a little text-based jump for joy that my ring has finally arrived.
hear that? It was my imaginary feet hitting the imaginary floor after my imaginary jump.
Yay.

I promised T that I wouldn't try it on again (after the initial check to make sure it fit), so here's another, not-trying-it-on view:
Right now I have a doctored up version of these, with more herbs and some minced garlic added, and the crust for this in the dehydrating oven. Gonna make this guacamole tonight, and once I pick up some more almonds, I'm trying this for the first time. Deliciousness.

Happy Friday!