Yellow

First two images via Conifer, third via LoGE

YUM.

via Bap Story

I've been throwing cream into everything lately -- tomato cream sauce, garlic cream sauce, cheddar bechamel sauce, etc. Overkill. This tofu recipe, on talented Jeana's new blog project, was just what I needed to break the pattern last night. And let me tell you, it was delicious and so simple! The tofu was crunchy outside and soft inside, just perfect. A do-over, certainly.

the way it is

My collegue took this picture during one of our legal aid clinic field visits in Phnom Penh, on a sweltering April day. To me, this picture says it all -- the realities of life for many of these communities, the man of the household away from the home for work (probably working as a motorbike driver, a laborer, etc.), the woman tending the house, watching the children. And that boy, with his look of surprise, a plastic spoon in hand, ready to dig in, is pretty great.

Happy Easter!

via Passports & Postcards

My Easter memories, as far back as I can dig into my childhood at least, have always involved bright splashes of color -- coloring Easter eggs with my sisters, hunting for them in garden, baskets full of confections, cakes, and pastel dresses. This year, in Cambodia, the holiday almost passed without notice. I know at home, in Los Angeles, my family is gathering around for dinner, amid bouts of argument and laughter.

This picture of French macaroons reminds of this holiday. It also reminds me of visits to Pix Patisserie, in Southeast Portland, Oregon, where I noshed on colorful macaroons, which I often washed down with one of their tasty beers.

Cold(er) Weather Wear

via Totokaelo

It's funny. In the States, I keep reading and hearing about warming weather and wear, but I remain fixated on the idea of necessary layers, pants, sweaters, and scarves -- the total effect of which is a kind of grown-up polish that has eluded me for the past 11 months. This would be perfect for me right now. Those nude/blush shoes are great.

Adopted

Three weeks ago, an orange tabby adopted us. She wandered into our yard one bright morning, menacing me by jumping in front of my feet as I walked and sitting under the tires of Ethan's bicycle, preventing him from leaving. After a few mornings like this, Clarisse and I could not stop ourselves, and we fed her. She appeared to grow a little plumper by the day, until about a week ago when we, sitting in our kitchen, discussed Vivian -- named after the hooker in Pretty Woman--and agreed that she looked very plump recently -- pregnant-plump, in fact.

This afternoon, we heard small kitten cries coming from the narrow, dark space that runs the side of our house. Three kittens -- a black one, a tabby, and a calico!! I am so excited, though worried because that narrow space captures quite a bit of rain. And the rain has arrived early. We've moved the food closer to Vivian, and we are watching.

[About the picture: Marnie, Dom's wife, exchanges pictures of kittens with me now and then, funny pictures, United Bamboo calendar pictures, and this one.]

More on Sapa

via Bruno flickr

Sapa's green hills and cold mornings offered me the short respite I craved from my chaotic schedule, one that appears to keep growing with tasks and responsibilities I did not expect when I signed my contract: Establish a community-based legal clinic? Sure. Manage law students and international lawyer volunteers? Sure. Lead a research team and publish? Sure.

I'm certainly not complaining about these opportunities -- they are more than I could have asked for when the idea of moving to Cambodia to pursue international human rights lawyering entered my head -- but it's amusing how this project keeps mushrooming into more and more. Most days, I am frankly too busy tending to daily tasks to appreciate the work that lands on my desk. But somedays, someone like Anna, the Russian lawyer volunteering with our organization, stops me after I've been for rambling five minutes about a meeting or the findings of a field visit and blurts out, "That is amazing!" And then I stop for a minute, mull over her words, and remember that it is. It really is.