renegade homestead

fuzzy friday: house guest

2012-02-24T13:00:00.011-05:00

One of the dogs that I walk daily slept over at my house last weekend. She's a six-month-old Golden Retriever named Molly. She is the most mellow puppy that I know. Unless there's another dog present that she could potentially make friends with. Or she's playing tug-of-war. Or you have food in your hand.

Wishing you a mellow Molly sort of weekend. I'll be back early next week with pictures of the mountains.

how to reuse beer bottles for your home brew

2012-02-23T19:02:00.002-05:00

We're heading to the mountains tomorrow for a little weekend getaway with friends. I'm packing the essentials: flannels, boots and home brews. Since Beau moved to kegging instead of bottling, there's a real shortage of bottles around the house. So how are we going to get the beer up north? Per usual, I raided the recycling bin.

I started by soaking the bottles for about half an hour. The labels will become waterlogged and be easier to rip off. Return them to their kiddie pool for awhile and the adhesive will get easier to scratch off. I used a leftover bread clip to spare my nails.

Eventually, the labels will come off with a bit of scrubbing (OK - some will require a LOT of scrubbing). The labels on the brown bottles above were made of metallic paper and the adhesive was apparently super glue. A little vegetable oil helped convince them to leave. I used to swear by Goo Gone, but now I'm inclined to think it makes Al Gore and the polar bears cry.

Next up, the bottles went into a sink full of scorching hot water and dish soap. They soaked for awhile before I scrubbed the residual cooties off of them.

Once they'd been rinsed and dried, Beau filled them up with home brew. He used a bottle capper and some fresh caps to close them up.

Lastly, I slapped on some labels made by the Beer Labelizer to distinguish between the IPAs and the ales.

Thanks to the scavenged bottles, we pulled together enough containers to have a proper taste test this weekend.

spring wardrobe

2012-02-22T11:15:00.002-05:00

I'm not a fan of shopping for clothes anymore. I used to be. My wayward teen years were spent as a mall rat in New Jersey, mostly rummaging around in Wet Seal and Hot Topic. Sometime during college, this hobby began to lose it's luster. Now, my personal vision of hell is the mall on a Saturday afternoon: competing with other women for the last jeans in my size, waiting 10 minutes for a dressing room, paying full retail for anything. No thank you.

My closet has gotten harder to ignore lately as my wardrobe began to dwindle from weight loss and irreparable wear. Add together my frugality, impatience with stores, and the strong desire not to support retailers who abuse foreign garment workers' rights, and you're left with few options for replacing things. To begin supplementing before I reach the barrel-as-outfit level of clothing poverty, I ordered some new patterns during McCalls $1.99 Sale (going on till tomorrow).

1: M4769 2: M6396 3: M6506 4: M6167

First up will be #4 in (what else) plaid followed by #1 in blue chambray. Stay tuned!

P.S. If anyone knows a good source of organic, discount fabrics made by fairly treated workers or cheap upcycled/vintage fabric, I'd love to hear about it.

Linked to GNOWFGLIN's Simple Lives Thursday Blog Hop.

fuzzy friday: funny face edition

2012-02-17T07:53:00.000-05:00

Bruce's mug makes me smile every afternoon. I hope you're smiling now, too.

something from nothing

2012-02-16T15:18:00.002-05:00

I find two things VERY exciting in the picture below. Can you spot them?

First, the most obvious thing is that Beau rigged up a makeshift grow light for me! It's just an old fluorescent light fixture that used to be above his father's work bench. Now it's hovering over my seed starting trays, just waiting for the broccoli that I'll be planting in a few weeks.

The second bit of upcycled excitement in that photo is a little harder to spot than the light. Here's a hint.

The weird boards that used to box in the space over my cabinets were never thrown away when the kitchen was renovated. They sat patiently in the basement until Beau had time to turn them into badly needed shelves - one for the brewery, one in the garage for gardening supplies.

As you can see, this one is approximately a mile long and has already been filled with all manner of man space paraphernalia.

P.S. This entry is part of Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways.

my first purse

2012-02-15T14:03:00.000-05:00

I finished upcycling my old purse into a new one this weekend!

I adapted a tutorial from Obsessive Crafting Disorder to create the perfect size for dog walking. Big enough to fit what I need but compact enough to stay out of my way. I also used a tutorial from U Handbag to learn how to insert the zippers on the front.

The hardware, bright pink lining, and zippers were poached from my beloved old purse which had seen better days. The button has been sitting in my stash for ages. It probably popped off of some fancy winter coat once upon a time but since I didn't remember it, I consider it free game. Really sorry if any of my house guests DO recognize it. I promise to give it a good home.

fuzzy friday: just another day at the office

2012-02-10T11:55:00.000-05:00

booya

2012-02-09T19:19:00.002-05:00

Like many other gardeners, my January was about planning for springtime. A slightly obscene variety of organic heirloom seeds were ordered. A garden plan was drawn. Some seed starting equipment was purchased to make sure my frequent weekends away don't kill the tender little guys. But still, there was a major hole in my plan: containers. My garden is an 80 square foot cement slab so, yeah, containers should be a priority.

Per usual, the Internet, sweet mistress of inspiration, suggested a frugal, greener option than going to Home Depot to fill a cart with brand new plastic: check your local grocery store. It took me two tries at customer service, lots of polite smiles and a little hutzpah, but after my weekly visit to Shaw's on Monday, I walked out with a lot more than food. Behold my haul!

They gave me 16 food-grade 5-gallon buckets from their bakery. I'm going to use this tutorial to turn them into self-watering pots (which, by the way, usually start at $50 a pop). These ones were free, upcycled, and best of all, they smell like heavenly buttercream frosting. I'm in little gardener heaven.

P.S. This is my weekly entry at the Barn Hop. I get tons of ideas from there.

superbowl defeat eats

2012-02-07T08:53:00.002-05:00

On Sunday morning, I woke up early, painted on my eye black, and got to work in the kitchen. We spent all day prepping our Superbowl snacks just like last year, the main difference being that I made little food labels this time around. Beau just sorta shook his head. He does that sometimes.

Bill presented the artichoke dip

~~Buffalo~~ Boston Wings in Beau's own teriyaki glaze

Gisele shivered on the chili that our guests brought (WELL, I CRACK MYSELF UP)

Ever popular fried pickle chips

Addictive baked onion rings (I made these twice last week)

And my personal favorite: Brady jalapeno poppers

Things didn't turn out quite as planned for the Patriots but it didn't really matter in our living room where everyone was knee deep in snack food, beer, and good times.

weekend highlights: not all was lost

2012-02-06T08:24:00.001-05:00

Like most other New Englanders, Sunday was consumed by the Super Bowl. But Saturday saw some excellent crafting that made me even more eager for a spring garden.

Foster pup Jesse got in on the crafting action before his new family picked him up

Beau finished my new vertical gutter garden!

I can't wait to fill it with lettuce and radishes.

Got into football for the first time in my life

I'll be back tomorrow with the many snacks we made for the game. Naturally, I found a way to girl up the manliest event of the year.

fuzzy friday: too much of a good thing

2012-02-03T08:48:00.000-05:00

I'm exhausted. The type of exhausted that makes you shuffle around with stiff limbs and fall asleep on the couch at 8 pm. Part of that is due to a lovely boom in business (YAY!). The other part is due to the foster pup I picked up from Forever Home New England on Monday. His name is Jesse and he is supremely adoptable.

Jesse enjoys ice cubes, destroying raw hides, long walks in the park, and snuggling. He also worships Beau.

Hope there's something as enjoyable as ice cubes planned for your weekend.

weekend highlights: bride's slaving

2012-01-30T09:07:00.001-05:00

This weekend was full of secretive wedding planning for two of my best friends so I can't share many of the photos. I'm a bridesmaid (or as we like to call them in my circle, bride's slave) though there's no bride. This wedding has two grooms. Beau's a groomsman but he was spared the agony of dress shopping on Sunday. He manned the homestead while I was out playing.

wedding inspiration

the land of fancy dresses

Beau waxing his Gouda

On an unrelated note, it looks like I'll be getting a new foster dog today. Keep an eye out for her on Fuzzy Friday.

introducing fuzzy fridays

2012-01-27T08:19:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the dogs I work with, I have an impressive stash of adorable photos. What exactly is the point of that if I can't share the cuteness with someone else? So, to help launch your weekend with a smile on your face, I'll be posting one every Friday.

This is Brody. He's a three-month-old lab who loved sticks above all else until he met snow last week. Now his favorite activity is plowing headfirst into snow drifts. He's the reason that I'm looking forward to the next winter storm.

Happy weekend all! Hope it's full of whatever you love best.

is that a diet coke in your purse or are you just happy to see me?

2012-01-25T19:55:00.001-05:00

I finished my very guilty pleasure, a Diet Coke, on the Boston-bound train platform this afternoon and suddenly, I was saddled with an empty aluminum can and nothing but garbage bins for disposal. For convenience sake, I could have dropped it off. It's just one can after all. But I couldn't shake the thought of it sitting in a dump for at least the next 80 years. Instead, I tucked it into my purse for the day until I found a recycling bin (it ended up being the one in my kitchen).

We face small choices like that one every day: take the easy road, or accept a minor inconvenience for the betterment of something bigger than ourselves. What's an afternoon in my purse compared to a lifetime in a landfill?

weekend highlights: homebodies

2012-01-23T14:03:00.000-05:00

afternoon with my bread bible

first real snow of the season

ripping seems for my upcycled bag

second keg installation

french onion soup

Six inches of snow really isn't a lot by New England standards but it gave me an excuse to spend the weekend puttering around the house, making things, and chattering at my husband. My new purse is coming along and should be done by the end of this week. The pain ordinaire carême that I made on Sunday afternoon came out perfect with a crackly crust. No pictures of that though - we were too busy devouring it.

where the homesteading happens

2012-01-22T13:50:00.000-05:00

When we bought our condo in 2009, it was after half a year of searching and no fewer than 100 real estate appointments. Our demands weren't outlandish - just a modest home with good bones that needed some TLC. Instead, we saw houses that reeked of gas fumes, that were sheltering squatters and angry raccoons in the basements, that had black mold filled attics. Finally, we found our little gem in the suburbs. It was the least maintained condo in the complex but it was structurally sound. The inside was a sea of beige 80s decor that we gladly looked past.

Over the past few years, we've renovated one of the bathrooms, redone the front hall, and painted the bedroom. This past fall, we tackled the kitchen and finally, FINALLY, it's the kitchen of my dreams.

Instead of sending the cabinets to the dump, we gave them new life with a fresh coat of paint and some simple hardware. The wood that used to enclose the top portion was pulled down, opening up much needed storage space. Beau's turning those scraps into shelves for the basement

The appliances have been replaced with all energy-efficient models. The hideous microwave from the late Cretaceous period was exchanged for a hood that keeps me from smoking out the house when I cook dinner. We picked basic subway tiles for the backsplash.

We hung up a pot rack and magnetic knife strip over the extended countertop, which is now my official bread making headquarters. After much deliberation, we went with granite instead of the recycled glass counters that we both love so much. In this case, resale value won out over environmentally friendliness. Sigh. Next time, Gadget...

The walls got a fresh coat of non-beige paint. The floors are bamboo, a quicker growing alternative to regular hardwoods. The counters and floors were the only parts that professionals helped with. The rest was accomplished in our spare time. We still spend most of our free time in the kitchen actually. It's our favorite bar, restaurant, and hang out. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to get back in there.

the hannibal lecter of accessories

2012-01-20T09:38:00.005-05:00

Have you ever loved a purse so much that you refused to let it go, even when it clearly needed to be put out of its misery? I have. The pockets! The color! The cowboy-chic hardware!

I can't remember how long ago I found it at Marshalls, but the important part is that I did and it was only $20. If I saw it in a store today, I wouldn't buy it. First, it was pleather and I'm working on reducing my plastic intake. Second, it was made in China and if the manufacturer doesn't have a clear, public policy on labor rights, I tend to assume that the people making it abroad weren't paid a fair wage. That sort of limits my options for replacing it, so I've been holding out for eons, unable to mend the pleather without breaking my sewing machine. Meanwhile, the handles continued to catch on doorknobs, stick shifts, and bannisters, and my beloved purse ripped a little more every day.

Finally, I got the message. My mother-in-law bought me a beautiful new leather bag for Christmas that will last for ages. Too beautiful to carry with me while dog walking. As if my family members already knew that, my sister-in-law picked out some great sturdy fabrics for my stash. All I need to turn the fabric into a purse is some hardware and lining fabric. Guess where I found them.

Yep, I cannibalized my favorite purse. Bags must tell urban legends about me - that girl who'll show you a good time and then steal your ~~kidneys~~ zippers when you least expect it. The pleather has been deposited in the garbage, but these bits will live on.

P.S. A warm welcome to anyone joining from the Homestead Barn Hop!

upcycling a wall calendar into a monthly planner

2012-01-18T14:47:00.003-05:00

**I originally posted this entry over on the Crafty Christmas Club back in October 2010. I've made a few changes here.**

At the end of each year, I get a slew of wall calendars from charities. And every year, I ask them to take me off their mailing list to save paper and funds. There's already a chalkboard wall in my kitchen that I use for my calendar so these unsolicited ones usually end up in the recycling bin. What I really needed at the end of 2011 was a book version to keep track of appointments for my new business. So, when I received the wall type from the Nature Conservancy, I decided to convert it into a hardcover monthly planner. Here's how I did it:

Materials:

Wall calendar

Scissors

Glue stick

Corrugated cardboard

Water activated paper packaging tape

Clear packaging tape

1) Start by cutting up a wall calendar into individual pages.

2) Fold each page in half so that the calendar part is on the inside and the picture is on the outside. Stack them in chronological order.

3) Glue the back right side of each page to the back left side of the next one. When you're done you should have something that looks like this:

4) Now it's time to start the cover. Cut three pieces of cardboard: one for the spine that is 0.5" x 8.75" and two for the covers (each 5.5" x 8.75"). Fold paper packaging tape over the edges to finish them as shown below.... OR... hop over to this awesome Instructables tutorial for an even better version of book binding that will make a more finished looking product.

5) Put the three pieces of the cover together to form a triangle (see photo below). While they're in this position, use a strip of clear packaging tape to connect them. I centered the strip on the spine and pressed it down on either side. It's important to do this step in this position to make sure the book opens and closes properly.

6) Open the covers so that the side with the clear packaging tape is facing down. Put a strip of paper packaging tape down the center of the spine to connect it again to the covers. Before activating it with water, I made two creases in the tape where the covers would bend. You can see the creases on either side of the spine in the photo below.

7) Time to add the pages that were put together earlier. Glue the back left side of the January page to the front cover. Open and close the book a few times to see where the back page should sit. Once you've found a good spot, glue the back right side of the December page to the back cover.

8) I used an extra page that was left over from the wall calendar to pretty up the cover a bit. Just make sure you glue it on while the book is closed.

And done! Mine is now filling up with dog walking appointments and dinner plans instead of languishing in the recycling bin.

P.S. I submitted this entry to the Patchwork Living Blogging Bee. Bee sure to hop over there for other great ideas! (Oh now, that was just an uncalled for pun...)

hangover homesteading

2012-01-17T19:21:00.000-05:00

I was not very productive on Sunday. Not unless you consider watching five back-to-back episodes of Lost productive. Dinner with friends on Saturday night snowballed into a few more drinks than I had intended. An extra glass of wine always looks like a good idea until the next morning.

Late in the afternoon, I peeled myself off the couch and puttered around the kitchen looking for something to redeem myself with. Lo and behold, I found two wrinkly jalapenos in the corner of the produce drawer that were begging for a little attention. Instead of relegating them to the compost bin, I pulled up some quick instructions on how to pickle the little guys.

Less than 10 minutes later, I popped the jar in the fridge and started planning an excellent night of falafel sandwiches.

you're welcome, pancreas

2012-01-14T16:18:00.000-05:00

Did you hear the terrible news about bacon earlier this week? Or was I the only one quietly sobbing over my breakfast? Well, misery loves company, so let me be the first to tell you that a daily dose of bacon has now been linked with a 19% increase in a person's risk of developing pancreatic cancer. Now we're both sad.

Turns out the study isn't new. Similar information was released in an article in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute way back in 2005. And it actually finds a correlation between higher risk of pancreatic cancer and a daily dose of any processed meat. Thankfully, most of us aren't in the habit of eating bacon or sausage every day. But cold cuts, that's a different story. Those innocuous looking deli meats were a lunch staple in my household. Were. Meet my impeccably timed Christmas gift from Beau. It's a meat slicer.

Last weekend, long before I'd openly wept into a bowl of oatmeal, my husband and I spent an afternoon turning a $12 turkey into about $45 worth of groceries. Every shred of dark meat was ground, the bones were boiled for stock, and the breast was slathered in herbs and roasted.

When they emerged from the oven, they were the first pieces of meat to go through my new slicer. Inaugural sandwich meat. That's a noble calling, in my opinion.

After a quick five minutes of concentrating on not cutting off my thumb, we had a platter full of delicious, homemade cold cuts, free from nitrates, added sugar and bucketfuls of salt.

Isn't it beautiful? This is a new tradition that will keep my pancreas and mouth happy for a long time.

P.S. Welcome to anyone hopping over from the Homestead Barn Hop and the Patchwork Living Blogging Bee! Do you guys and girls make your own cold cuts, too?

the things i made

2012-01-11T19:20:00.000-05:00

Is it too late to still be talking about Christmas? I'm still getting over my crafting fatigue and this is the first I've felt like broaching the subject. I haven't been able to look at my sewing machine in the past three weeks without whimpering a bit. But it was all worth it! This year I had an almost entirely handmade Christmas. A few items I blogged about over at the Crafty Christmas Club (links to those entries are below).

A patchwork tote for my mother-in-law

Sailor's knot bracelets for some of my favorite ladies

A restaurant review journal for my sister-in-law

A rocket ship tent for my nephew

Also completed:
- Three pairs of men's PJ pants
- Christmas themed photo album
- Man's toiletry case (using this tutorial)
- Beer coozies (pictures and tutorial to come)
- Another tote bag with a felt applique

Though starting a small business has drained my resources, I desperately wanted to have a normal-ish Christmas. Instead of shopping my wallet dry, I spent almost two months making things for my friends and family. I think my hard work paid off in spite of the paper cuts, pin pricks, and that one little temper tantrum. The presents might have been smaller than usual this year but while I made each one, I spent the entire time thinking about the person I was making it for. I think that's what Christmas is really all about anyway.

who cut the cheese?

2012-01-02T16:14:00.000-05:00

Taking down the Christmas tree is always depressing. A whole year before another one takes its place. To cheer ourselves up after sweeping out the pine needles, we opened one of the presents I bought for Beau: a cheese making kit!

First up: gouda

Two gallons of whole milk heating up

Poor little Miss Muffet. Curds and whey are not appetizing.

Finally found a use for those old textbooks.

And when those inevitably toppled, we switched to unused exercise equipment

In a few months, we'll have our first two pounds of home made cheese. I plan on making crackers to go with them. What type goes well with gouda?

weekend highlights: last chance before christmas

2011-12-19T18:46:00.001-05:00

It shouldn't come as any surprise that Christmas tunes are being played on loop around here. We kept busier than Santa's elves this Saturday.

Building a rocket ship. No, really.

Beau's store-bought gift wrap has been segregated from my

upcycled packaging to prevent rumbles between the gangs.

Parsley is still alive and well, though production has considerably slowed.

The parsley photo shoot led to all out spring garden planning.

If a person can get carpal tunnel syndrome from a sewing machine, I think I'm halfway there. But since I've got less than half my gifts to finish, I guess I'll survive.

upcycling trash into wrapping paper

2011-12-14T19:50:00.001-05:00

Hidden deep in the recessives of my craft room for the past five months has been my personal shame. My husband accused me of hoarding when he found it. Stacked precariously in the closet was a collection of seeming garbage. Now it looks a lot more reasonable. It’s my holiday wrapping gear.

Way back in the heat of summer, I decided not to buy wrapping paper this holiday season. No new boxes, no unrecyclable paper, no metallic bows. Instead, I raided the recycling bin and removed a variety of wrapping superstars: newspapers, old boxes, catalogues, brown paper bags*, and, yes, one outdated textbook that no self respecting professor would have used after 2007. I found a bagful of supplemental ribbons for $0.50 at a thrift store on the Cape.

There are brown paper packages tied up with string...

Catalogue pages to make old boxes sing...

Newspaper pages from sometime last spring...

And a textbook from that guy who gave me a ring.

These ideas and tutorials can help you get started if you also want to limit your contribution to the four million tons of trash created annually from gift-wrap and shopping bags:

Making a Gift Bow from a Magazine Page

Pretty Add-Ons For Brown Paper Bags

Wax Paper Flowers (I used old pattern pieces for mine)

Snowflake Toppers

* Beau can attest to the fact that I frequently get into arguments with cashiers when attempting to refuse bags in favor of using my reusable canvas one or even my purse. Home Depot is the worst. Sometimes, they’ll continue to put things in plastic even as I pull them out and repeat “No really. No bags needed. For real.” On occasion, I just give in and walk out with one. Mostly though, our brown bags are conspicuously in the shape of wine bottles, which appear on my doorstep in the hands of friends. I’ll never, ever turn those ones away.

where i've been

2011-12-13T17:01:00.000-05:00

It’s been a whirlwind month, but things are finally starting to calm down. Thanksgiving came and went and it somehow involved chasing chickens as well as a two-year-old. Woodstock has long since been adopted by close friends who are currently lavishing him with affection. I landed and completed my first freelance writing gig. I helped rebuild a kitchen. I’ve flyered half of the South Shore. I picked up the cutest little pooch for my dog walking business. I’ve logged more hours crafting for Christmas than some of Santa’s elves can boast. I’ve ironed shirts, scrubbed bathrooms, and taught myself how to cook a respectable dinner.

But I’m back and boy, do I ever have a lot to talk about.

meet woodstock

2011-11-11T08:01:00.000-05:00

There's one of the good reasons why I disappeared for two weeks. His name is Woodstock and before you get too excited, he's not mine. He's an adoptable dog that I'm fostering from Forever Home Rescue New England. If you're interested in adopting this sweet dog and you're in the Boston area or know anyone who is, you can check out his Pet Finder profile for more information. A few things that profile won't mention:

1) He's very polite and never goes up or down the stairs until invited.
2) He's smart and already understands which furniture is off-limits and which is not.
3) He lifts his leg so high when he pees, I'm always a little worried he's going to topple over.

I'm especially glad to have him as a house guest because I walked out of my job in mid-October. Life is just too short and wonderful to spend it being miserable. I've spent the last month starting up my own dog walking and pet sitting business called Bark Breaks (and if any of my lovely, lovely readers would want to toss a link to that page on their blog, I would love them forever and ever). It's fun and exciting but also sort of terrifying. I'm learning about all sorts of things I never thought I'd be into - business development, SEO, accounting. Gracious!

Now it's time to go flyer the heck out of the surrounding suburbs. I'll be back next week. Have a great weekend everyone.

canned broth personally offends me

2011-10-30T09:12:00.001-04:00

Since our condo complex neighbors wouldn't appreciate a heaping pile of compost in my backyard, I'm still trying to find ways to reuse food scraps. By far, my most successful endeavor since learning how to regenerate scallions, was figuring out how to make my own chicken broth. It starts with a giant tupperware container that I keep in the freezer and periodically fill with dinner scraps. Things you'll find in my freezer stock pot:

- Carrot peels and ends
- Celery scraps and leaves (especially the leaves)
- Onion ends and skins
- Garlic ends and skins
- Parsley shoots
- Leftover chicken parts (bones, skin, fatty pieces that are trimmed off)

Once the tupperware container is full, fill a dutch oven with water and dump the block in - I don't even defrost it first. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder and a few bay leaves.

Bring it to a boil and then lower to a simmer. Leave it there for a 2-3 hours. Strain the solids out and retain the liquid. You'll be left with beautifully golden chicken stock that blows away the flavorless stuff they sell in a can.

After trying homemade broth, we're ruined for the canned stuff. There's no going back. It has revolutionized my risotto and changed the face of every soup in my repertoire. It's that tasty. Best of all, it's made entirely of things that would have been thrown out. Keeping in mind that it's made of scraps that could have been garbage, how do the processed brands get away with charging so much for it?

a school of fish

2011-10-27T20:15:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite ex-coworkers has a baby coming in mid-November. She decided to do things the old fashioned way and be surprised by the gender on the little one's birthday. That means I needed a baby-gender-neutral craft project to mark the occasion. After trolling her registry, I found that her nursery theme is animals, specifically fish and turtles. Conveniently enough, I didn't see a mobile on the list. Bingo!

School of Fish Baby Mobile Tutorial

Materials:

Fabric scraps

Felt scraps

Cardboard or paper

2 embroidery hoops of different sizes

Embroidery floss

Stuffing

Sewing machine (or infinite patience)

Thread

Needle

Scissors/rotary fabric cutter

Instructions:

1) Nest the embroidery hoops together and lash them together with embroidery floss. Knot tightly and tidy loose ends by securing with hot glue.

2) For the plushie fish, make pattern pieces for your fabric. I wish I could give you a template but I'm not gifted enough with computer sketching programs to make one. You can see the pieces that I used throughout the tutorial. I used fabric for the body of the fish and felt for all of the fins. In general, you'll need to:
- Cut two each per fish: top half of the fish, bottom half of the fish and side fin
- Cut one each per fish: top fin and tail fin.

3) Start by matching up the top and bottom halves of the fish and laying out the side fins like so.

4) Make little fish sandwiches by matching the the curved sides up like the photo below with the side fins still in between the two pieces of fabric. Sew along the flat bottom side of each sandwich about 1/4" from the edge.

5) After sewing that edge, open them up. They should look like this.

6) Take one sewed side and lay it flat with the fin side up (that's the outside of the fish). Place the top fin upside down at the top of the fish. Fold the tail fin in thirds, pin, and place at the back of the fish.

7) Take the other side of the fish and lay it on top of the laid-out fish half. Make sure that the side fins are both pointing towards the back fin. Unpin the back fin. The weight of the top piece of fabric should be enough to hold it in place.

8) Starting at the base of the tail area, sew 1/4" from the edge going counterclockwise around the fish. Stop when you get to where the pin is in the previous photo.

9) Trim excess edges and flip inside out. I used a bodkin to do so because the fish are pretty small. If I've explained things right, then you should have this once you've turned it right side out.

10) Stuff the fish and sew up the opening. I folded the raw edges in and closed it up with an overcast stitch because a) my attempts at an invisible stitch on something so tiny failed and b) I don't mind the homemade look.

11) Thread a piece of embroidery floss through the top of each fish right under the top fin. Double-knot one end of the floss and tie the other end to varying points of the embroidery hoops.

Then just repeat about eight more times. That's all. You'll be so sick of fish, you'll be avoiding the seafood counter at the market for weeks. But aren't cute things for babies always worth it?

Yes, I'm Already Thinking About Christmas

2011-10-16T17:05:00.000-04:00

This time last year, I started following the Crafty Christmas Club, a group blog dedicated to homemade holiday presents. It's a place for crafters to share their work without spoiling the surprise for their friends and family by posting the gifts on their own blog. And I'll let you in on a little secret: not being able to talk about something I'm working on EATS ME ALIVE. There's only so many times I can drag my husband to the sewing machine and show off french seams while he scratches his head.

This year, I'm tinkled pink to say I've joined as an official member and author of the Crafty Christmas Club! I'll be posting the gifts I'm making between now and the end of December. In the new year, I'll list the links to my entries over there in case any of my loved ones are wondering how their present came to be. In the meantime, I'm trusting all of you NOT to sneak peaks (I'm looking at you, Laura). Or if you do want to follow/join the blog, I'm asking that you please skim past my entries so I can see genuine surprise on your face on Christmas morning.

Is it time to put on Bing Crosby yet?

happy belated fall!

2011-10-10T09:57:00.000-04:00

I'm back from a spectacular weekend in New Hampshire and Maine with a mountain (har har) of laundry and a dozen errands to run. While I get my act together, picture-wise, here's a super quick project I slapped together to usher in the fall.

Original tutorial here at Two Butterflies

It's so rare that my projects take under five hours! This one couldn't have taken more than 20 minutes. I printed leaf clip art to trace for the felt pieces and then ran them through my sewing machine to make the center vein before sewing them to the wreath. The hoop is one half of an embroidery hoop that was leftover from another project and the fabric was leftover scraps from my last skirt. Now if the weather would just cooperate because 80° is not my idea of autumn.

simple substitution

2011-09-30T18:39:00.001-04:00

Despite working in an eco-friendly building, my office’s restroom stocks paper towels instead of electric hand dryers. If there’s one thing I hate, it’s using something once and then throwing it away. To combat this issue, I brought a seemingly strange item to work: a favor from my sister-in-law’s wedding. It was originally intended as a lobster bib or a golf bag accessory but since we don’t regularly lobster or golf (and its way too cute to turn into a dust rag), it’s been sitting in my basement for about two years. Now it’s been repurposed now as my personal office hand towel.

I did the math to figure out how much paper I would save by making this easy switch. Excluding weekends, vacations, holidays and sick time, I work about 218 days per year. I visit the girls' room about four times per day and on each visit, I use two to three paper towels to dry my hands. We’ll call that ten paper towels per day and a grand total of 2,180 towels or 10.9 lbs per year (yep, definitely got busted weighing a small stack of them on the mail machine scale). That’s a sizeable house cat worth of paper products that I’m not consuming and not tossing into a land fill, where, as William Rathje, director of the Garbage Project found out, newspapers can actually take decades to decompose.

As you can see from the picture, my hand towel conveniently has a grommet and carabineer poked through the corner, which makes it perfect for hanging it on a bathroom stall hook. You don’t need either to make your own though. Simply snipping a hole with scissors and threading a lanyard or bit of string through would work just as well and save just as many trees.

sweat equity

2011-09-21T20:54:00.000-04:00

There's been talk of renovating the kitchen for ages but this weekend, the right time was finally upon us. There was no looming wedding, no trips to the Cape. Just 48 hours and a sea of beige linoleum.

before

An order of tasks was established and the cabinets came up as the first logical step. In an effort to keep perfectly good materials out of a landfill, we decided to refinish them instead of replace them. Let me tell you though. Things quickly spiral out of control when it comes to home renovation.

during

No sooner had the cabinet doors been removed than we began eyeing the hideous laminate backsplash, Beau's least favorite kitchen feature. A few chisels, two hammers and an hour of elbow grease while belting out Bon Jovi later and the backsplash was relegated to the garbage can. Meanwhile, the cabinet doors sat around in a pile, patiently waiting their turn. We were too busy congratulating ourselves and admiring the lack of backsplash to bother with them at the moment. The new look of aging adhesive clinging to the naked dry wall feels like an improvement. We're calling it the "distressed" look, like those sandblasted jeans with holes that cost $100.

Attention was eventually returned to the heap of cabinet doors, quietly teetering on the stove. I couldn't help but notice the ancient, wall-mounted microwave right above it - my least favorite kitchen feature. Not once in over two years of habitation has it been used, namely because it looked capable of irradiating a small village. It was just an evil, greasy waste of space.

Drinks celebrating the lack of nuclear microwave

Several minutes later, the offending appliance was detached from the wall and sitting atop the precarious stack of cabinet doors. This is when we found out that microwaves from the early 80s weigh as much as a sectional couch. Determination won out though and it was relocated to the garage where I assume it is now terrorizing the cabinet doors, which after much perseverance have now been stripped, sanded and painted.

stick it in water, see if it grows

2011-09-15T09:47:00.001-04:00

Awhile back, I read about a woman who takes random produce - garlic, potatoes, onions - and puts them back in the ground to see what will happen. Sometimes she's rewarded with fresh growth, sometimes she digs up a rotten tuber. I admire that entrepreneurial spirit of homesteaders who aren't afraid of a little failure now and then. It's a wonderful attitude to adopt. The last bunch of scallions that I bought were the first victims of my own experimentation.

After cutting off the tops for dinner one night, I plunked the rest in a cup of water, using skewers to keep the bulbs from completely submerging and potentially getting the ick. The photo above was taken less than 24 hours after I plunked them in their new hydroponic haven. As you can see, after that short amount of time, there was already new growth creeping up from the cut line.

A few weeks later and they've completed regenerated. They just require a change of water every couple of days. I have no idea how long they'll last this way but considering I've learned how to cut the cost of a bunch of scallions at least in half, I'd call this test a success.

where to begin?

2011-09-07T20:29:00.000-04:00

Once I realized just how much I could create instead of purchase, the options were mind boggling to me. Instead of asking myself "what can I make?" I now ask "what can't I make?" Instead of turning the house into my own personal department store of randomly selected crafts, I narrowed my focus down to a few basics that I use on a daily basis: pitas, pickles and skirts.

Before starting on my baking on Labor Day, I needed to procure a rolling pin. Instead of heading to William Sonoma, I pointed Beau towards my old dress form stand, which has been sitting in the basement since it was ousted by my new one this past Christmas. Ten minutes later, he emerged wielding my upcycled rolling pin.

Baking looks much scarier than it actually is. I followed the directions prescribed by the very first pita recipe that popped up after I googled "how to make pitas" and was rewarded with fresh, pillowy success. Whole Foods is insane to charge something like $5.00 for a package of them. These cost me less than $0.50 and taste exponentially better.

My pickle budget was also an embarrassing $5.00 a week. Is there anything cheaper that tastes that good with falafel? I don't think so. I haven't progressed to canning yet, which made this item a little harder to replace. That was, until I found Red Fire Farms quickle recipe and promptly reused a few old Claussen jars that were loafing around. Quickles don't require actual canning, so I was able to do without those supplies. They just need to live in the fridge instead of the pantry. Not a huge sacrifice. Pickling cucumbers are at the top of my gardening list next year, which will reduce each batch to pennies a slice.

I wear skirts almost every day and most of them are either showing their ages or er, getting a little tight in the waist. This khaki one is the second skirt to date and by far my favorite. I used Buttericks 5421 again but the similarities end there since this time I had an inkling of what I was doing. Since it's grand unveiling a few weeks ago at my nephew's birthday party, it has already become a staple of my work wardrobe. And at under $10.00 for the entire bolt of cotton fabric at Ikea, it is also, an absolute steal.

I'm happy to think of how much plastic packaging will stay out of landfills from my new ability to make these three little items. I'm also avoiding an array of unseen chemicals, saving oodles of money and not fueling a garment industry that pays its workers an unlivable wage. This is a slippery slope I'm on. What's next? What can't I make?

little squares of delicious

2011-08-31T19:32:00.000-04:00

Beau is catching I-can-make-that-itis, the affliction that stifles purchasing anything that can be reasonably (or sometimes, unreasonably) made at home. So, instead of buying croutons for tomato soup this week, he decided to make them from a mouth watering loaf of pumpernickel bread. Just wait till I start making the bread, too.

Ingredients

1/2 loaf of bread

Butter

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp celery salt

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp thyme, dried

1 tsp rosemary, dried

1 tsp grated parmesan cheese

Cut bread up into cubes. If the bread is fresh, throw the pieces on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes at 200º F to dry them out a bit. If the bread is stale, you can skip this step. Combine the rest of the ingredients (except for the butter) in a large bowl and toss the dried bread cubes in it to thoroughly coat. Melt a pat of butter in a skillet over medium heat and saute the seasoned bread cubes for 2-3 minutes. Depending on the size of your skillet, you may need to do multiple batches. Add a new pat of butter for each batch.

Add to soup or salad or attempt to keep your spouse's grubby little hands out of the bowl.

come on irene

2011-08-29T20:11:00.000-04:00

We lucked out in my area of Massachusetts this weekend with just one big tree down on the road in front of my neighborhood and a smattering of leafy debris in the backyard. Still, I moved the garden inside before things got going on Sunday morning.

Easier than putting bike helmets on them

A baby turkey from the rival gang* ran into trouble though. One minute he was waddling around with his family, the next he was in the backyard, chirping the most heartbreaking cry. Lucky for him, Beau leapt into action and ran outside to hustle him back to the tree line where the rest of the flock had disappeared shortly before. St. Beau, patron saint of poultry, returned from his adventure unscathed.

The rest of the day was spent safely indoors engaging in various cabin-fever fighting activities. I taught myself how to cast-on and (generally) how to do the knit stitch but after half a dozen attempts, things were still going terribly wrong when I tried to start a second row. I figure some frustration is probably healthy for a person though. It reminded me that not everything comes so easy. I'm sure it'll make success that much sweeter in the end.

Knitting abortions

While I cussed and threw balls of yarn across the room, Beau was happily overhauling the basement and jamming out to a mix CD from high school that was discovered in the clean up (featuring among other gems NSync's It's Gonna Be Me). When I was finally permitted to enter the sacred man space, I was delighted to find that our dedicated junk room had been reborn into a home brewery.

Behold! The Man Cave

Like little alcoholic soldiers getting ready for battle

I hope everyone else out there faired as well as we did, both physically and organizationally this weekend!

* There are two flocks of turkeys in the woods behind our house. Our flock of six birds including three adults and three babies, which frequents our backyard in the morning and early evening, and the group that we call the rival gang, which is too large to get a clear count on the members.

mein haus ist ein biergarten

2011-08-23T18:30:00.000-04:00

It seems like only days ago that Beau was horsing around with his very first Mr. Beer kit, but he’s already outgrown the simplified brewing process. This weekend, he took me to the Witch’s Brew to buy all manner of big-boy supplies – hoses, buckets, giant carboys, sacks of grain and even a packet of special yeast that sat in my purse while we ate lunch in a restaurant because the poor little guys would have fried in the hot car.

My kitchen turned into a small scale brewery on Sunday. I’m inclined to think that makes me a relatively indulgent wife, considering I stepped in beer puddles on a few occasions and the smell was … unpleasant. Something that my entire arsenal of Yankee candles couldn’t handle. The aroma finally dissipated when the ribs that were being slow-grilled for dinner burned and I turned them into a divine broth. Nothing quite like pork and onions to clear the air.

But what’s a little stink between spouses anyway? Beau was happy as a (drunken) clam, which made me happy even if my feet were sticky. Now the house is aired out and we have five gallons of ale bubbling away in a corner. The bubbles, I have learned, are yeast farts (unrelated to the smelliness). The yeast eats the sugar and makes carbon dioxide. I’ve taken to watching the gas escape from the airlock while dinner is on the stove. Fttttp.

the cabbage worms of mordor

2011-08-21T19:57:00.000-04:00

I killed a cactus once. OK, twice. I've killed two cactuses. Yet despite the odds, my very first garden is still alive and well. I harvested another round of herbs today and even planted a few new additions in anticipation of the upcoming fall. It hasn't been entirely easy keeping everything alive. Some were not as lucky as others (RIP cilantro and dill) but in retrospect, they did not die in vain. I'm piecing together the lessons to be garnered from this year's garden:

Plants are not all created equal. They have personalities, diverse as an after school special. Some want as much sun as possible while others freak out in the heat. Some need very specific containers, some will thrive in anything filled with dirt and will reach their creepy little arms out in an attempt to hostilely take over the other plants (I'm looking at you, mint). For a successful garden, you have to cater to their quirks. I've learned to recognize the signs of stress and make the necessary accommodations.

Plants have unexpected needs. I started out the summer thinking that they just want sun and water. Then I read the container garden bible, which subtly suggested that it was a miracle that any of my plants were still alive. I invested in a few organic and incredibly smelly fertilizers - namely blood meal and fish emulsion - and witnessed a boom in production. I also learned how to give plant haircuts. Now I'm a pro at pruning and pinching and shaping.

I'm not the only one who wants to eat my plants. Other than one cute slug that I removed from my lettuce in June, I've been lucky in the pest department. Until last week, when I added cauliflower to collection. Over the past week, something has been steadily eating the leaves and hiding from my attempts to find it. Today, I examined every single leaf until I found a gross little caterpillar munching away. I didn't have the heart to kill it so instead I scooped it up and chucked it into the woods behind my house. I figure 20 feet to a one-inch insect is somewhere on par with Frodo's journey in length. Sure, it's possible the little asshole could cross Middle Earth again just to chew on my crops, but I think it's unlikely. Before I dropped the interloper off, I made it clear that Sauron will not be so merciful the next time around.

something new

2011-08-19T10:46:00.001-04:00

It has been a rough summer for me. I’ve taken the last month off from blogging because the only things I wanted to talk about (at length) were my work related grievances. Instead of dwell on the negative any more than I already have, I will summarize in a one short sentence and then move on: work is not so good lately. That’s all.

What that means for me is that my professional life is once again in a state of upheaval and I will have decided to move on . But it’s mighty hard trolling through job ads when you don’t want to relocate to a new cubicle in a new office with a new computer to stare at for eight hours a day. It’s a song I’ve been singing for years. Finally, I’ve decided to do something about it.

After much talk with my husband who is equally miserable living life from the confines of a desk, we’ve agreed that we are willing to work our asses off to escape and at least take a shot at living our dreams, which are conveniently compatible. He wants to start a microbrewery and I want to start a homestead. It won’t happen overnight but we’re teaching ourselves what we’ll need to know to succeed. It’s a start and that makes me very hopeful.

What does that mean around here? Well, it’s not that I’ve given up on my goals. More like I’ve finished prioritizing and refining them. I probably won’t be doing my monthly check-ins anymore (I never liked those much anyway). I’ll be committing myself to many more projects. More gardening, more sewing, more back-to-basics logistics. I will be putting it here to keep track of our progress and maybe to help someone else starting out on this sort of journey. So, here we go!

everybody's living for the weekend. i'm just eating.

2011-07-07T19:59:00.000-04:00

It's getting easier and easier to resist pre-dinner snacking and the delectable vegan baked goods that my coworkers bring into the office, but once I leave work on Friday, all bets are off. I am a cocktail-guzzling, bar-snack-inhaling, fridge-rummaging machine and all of those extracurricular activities are undermining all my hard work from Monday to, er, early Friday.

What I need is two-fold. First, I need a plan like I follow during the week. Check. Next, I need something to stop me from snacking as a recreational activity. Beau is too scared to get in between me and a cookie (granted, understandable) so I'm on my own. It's just me versus myself. That's why I decided to post these signs from my Reasonable Thursday Self to my Slobbering Saturday Self. These doses of tough love will go on the fridge and pantry doors. Stay tuned for Monday to see if they worked.

May you be successful in your weekend endeavors as well!

knick knacks drive me nuts

2011-06-30T20:35:00.000-04:00

I've never been a fan of clutter and extraneous stuff. Despite that natural inclination, putting down roots in one location has had a noticeable impact on me and the things that I keep around. It's been a few years since the time when I drifted around the Northeast and all of my worldly possessions fit into a Corolla. It's alright to have two bookshelves full of novels and twenty pairs of shoes when you don't plan on moving them anytime soon.

You go from a sedan to a 10-foot square bedroom to a two-bedroom apartment to a whole condo and thing are bound to accumulate. I'm not sure if I keep finding bigger living spaces to fit all my stuff or if I buy more stuff to fill up the extra room. It seems almost like a little of both. It starts with finding a shell a little bit bigger than the last, with a little extra room to grow into and it provides the perfect excuse to gain a few pounds of objects.

I found out recently that this natural penchant of mine has a name and even an ideology behind it: minimalism. After scouting around some blogs laden with dangerous ideas, I felt inspired to take back control by someone urging interested parties to start small - empty a junk drawer, clean out a closet, donate some clothing. I knew immediately where I'd start. My embarrassment of a makeup drawer.

Impressive, right? Not for most women but consider this: my daily makeup routine includes foundation and if I'm feeling fancy, a little mascara. So how in God's name did I end up with green eyeshadow? Why do I own an eyeliner sharpener when I don't own any pencil eyeliners? And, oh gross, is that lipstick from high school?!

I was ruthless. I kept enough to brush up nice for weddings but gone is the real nonsense. As a bonus, I found a little bottle of Purel, which is now safely in Beau's work bag and destined for his cubicle (I fear for his immune system now that he sits next to a guy that hoards dirty tissues). I'm hoping that the other surprise that I found will interest someone who's reading this.

Nestled in the back of the drawer was a full bottle of Burberry's Tender Touch perfume. It was a slightly off-target birthday gift. Much too girly and floral for me but I'm sure it will be perfect for someone else. There's where I'm hoping you come in. I'd like to find this bottle a new home and I'd much rather give it to a friend or reader (do I have any of those?) than Freecycle it. So, if you're interested, leave me a comment and it's yours. First come, first serve.

As for the Bucket

2011-06-23T19:29:00.000-04:00

We hopped the ferry to Nantucket for our very first wedding anniversary

Guess who's back to flickr? Friend me if you use it, too!

My First Refashion

2011-06-22T20:07:00.001-04:00

It's difficult for me to say "No, I don't like that" when someone buys me a piece of clothing. That's why I've had a white dress sitting in my closet for two years that was downright unwearable.

The elastic top, the oddly placed waist, the horrific neckline. Nope. Can't do it. But I also have a hard time disposing of those items. It just seems too wasteful. So this past weekend, I reinvented the dead-end dress into my new favorite summer skirt.

My last skirt project lasted months but this took only a few hours over the weekend. I detached the top, installed a zipper and gave it a clean waistband. It's officially saved from the donation bag! Do I hear the Salvation Army calling my name?

Mental Health Day

2011-06-20T16:58:00.000-04:00

I came home early today to indulge in a few of the activities that always help when I'm upset. I:

Folded underwear

Read a chapter of my current book, The Cider House Rules

Watched a slow loris get tickled

Snuck a few handfuls of Beau's Peanut Butter Pows

Filled the CD player with super girly music - Enya, Regina Spektor, Frou Frou, Feist and the soundtrack to (500) Days of Summer

Banged pots and pans around while emptying the dishwasher

Caught Anne of Green Gables on PBS

Ate really buttery toast

Snapped the ends off of asparagus

A Budding Romance with Fonts

2011-06-15T19:39:00.000-04:00

Alright, alright, it took me three and a half weeks to finish this project but it's done! Gone are the ratty, ugly pillows that came with our couch.

You are getting sleepy...

I stripped them down to reusable filling and recovered them with linen and our first initials in felt letters ala this tutorial from Design Sponge.

Aww, together forever... on the couch

Of course, the first thing that Beau said was, "Now everyone is going to think we went to Rutgers." I guess I'll eventually have to reupholster the couch in UMass colors to clarify.

A Quick Fix

2011-05-30T17:48:00.000-04:00

Our living room doesn't get much sun even at the brightest time of day. I blame looming foliage and an unfavorable angle of light. That didn't occur to me last winter when I bought the darkest, busiest curtains that money could buy. But now that we're officially out of the winter gloom, my poor little sitting room seemed to be suffocating, so the dark fabric was exchanged for lighter sheers.

Before: Smothered living room

After: A breath of fresh air

We're already planning on refinishing the fireplace, painting the walls and replacing the carpet with hardwood. Meanwhile, what am I going to do with the old curtains?

Fiddle dee dee

I'm sorely tempted since I found the discontinued sewing pattern for it.

Cough cough... Christmas... cough

A Very Domestic Weekend

2011-05-22T15:02:00.000-04:00

It feels like such a shame to only post pictures of craft projects once they're complete, especially since half the fun is in making them. I spent most of Saturday camped out at the Cape house alternately helping my mother-in-law crank out a double batch of chocolate chip cookies and sewing with my newly pedicured feet up.

Felt, linen, embroidery hoop

Stay tuned for the final product later this week. Meanwhile, I'm still thinking about my haircut. If you're thinking about getting one yourself or looking for an awesome way to waste a leisurely hour, I highly recommend Taaz.com. It's the most realistic free virtual makeover site I've found to date.

Wanted: Your Opinion

2011-05-21T08:01:00.000-04:00

My hair is slowly approaching the required length for a donation to Pantene's Beautiful Lengths and with summer right around the corner, I've decided to finally go for a haircut I've always wanted: a pixie. I'm useless when it comes to making the final call on a haircut though. Would you help me pick between these two finalists?

Option #1

Option #2

Please help determine my cranial future by leave a comment saying which one you vote for and why!

Reconstructed Lox and Bagels

2011-05-17T20:33:00.000-04:00

Now a word from our tummy sponsor, my husband:

A few weeks ago, Karen invested in a healthy-eating cookbook. As usual, I was initially skeptical about any effort to further healthify (technical term) my eating habits. I mean, I eat veggie burgers and vegan chicken patties now! Isn't that enough? Either way, I was reluctant to try the recipes in this new book, as I firmly believe that butter should be the base to any meal worth its weight. But after trying out a half dozen recipes or so, I've realized this book isn't half bad!

I let Karen weigh in on dinner options and this week, she suggested we try a smoked salmon and pasta dish from the new book - only issue being, this recipe had some odd ingredient combinations (condensed milk and snap peas? Weird). I took some artistic liberties and came up with my own rendition of the original recipe, drawing inspiration from our favorite cruise breakfast: smoked salmon on an english muffin with a little cream cheese, dill, capers, and lemon. Mmm.

Pasta:

4 oz smoked salmon, roughly chopped
2 cups shell pasta (dry)
1 lb grilled asparagus
1 tbsp capers
1 tbsp dill
2 tbsp flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
2 tbsp feta cheese (or similar creamy, tangy cheese)
Salt and pepper to taste

Lemon and Herb Vinaigrette:

1 lemon, juiced
1 tsp of oil
2 tbsp cold water
1 tsp sherry vinegar (can substitute another vinegar if you dont have this type)
1 handful of flat leaf parsley
1 tbsp capers
2 tbsp roughly chopped red onion
1 tsp dill, roughly chopped

Cook the pasta until al dente...however long that may be. Drain and set aside.

Combine all of the vinaigrette ingredients in a blender and puree for 1-2 minutes or until all ingredients are fully incorporated. The vinaigrette should be smooth. Salt and pepper to taste and set aside.

Grill the asparagus until cooked, then allow time to cool. Once cooled, roughly chop and set aside. In the pasta pot, combine cooked pasta, asparagus, chopped salmon, capers, dill, parsley and cheese. Salt and pepper to taste and lightly toss all ingredients. Stir in vinaigrette and toss again.

Makes two servings and takes about 40 minutes. Mangia!

The Facebook Sabbatical

2011-05-13T12:23:00.000-04:00

I have an addictive personality, if there is such a thing. At the very least, I’m prone to overindulgence in anything I enjoy: food, drink, the company of my favorite people. The necessary results are obvious. I’m chubby, frequently hung over, and have to be dragged away, kicking and screaming, from spending quiet nights at home with my husband. More troublesome, I also find I get sucked into easy, mindless entertainment. I’ve spent entire days on the couch watching Sex and the City marathons and most recently, I’ve realized just how much time I waste checking Facebook.

My complaints with Facebook are several:

1) While my close friends are on my feed, they’re buried in the white noise created by the kids I sat next to in 11th grade calculus and those guys from that college party when we hotboxed an igloo. It’s not that I don’t care about the difficult decision between getting an iPhone or a Droid. It’s just… who the hell are you?

2) Despite having no idea who these people are, I still read about every damn one of their wild Saturday nights, their insane workloads, and their political opinions. Even though I can’t always place their faces, this is the first thing I do in the morning when I reach my computer. Even as I write it, it makes no sense. I’m carefully following the activities of near strangers instead of catching up with real friends or the news or, whoops, work emails.

3) I can’t stop. It’s like snack food all over again. Once I pop, I just can’t stop. It doesn’t matter that I don’t care and that I consciously know that there are a dozen more productive and interesting ways to spend my time. If I’m logged into Facebook, I will check it at least once an hour while I’m in front of the computer. I began to feel powerless against this time suck. It can be a fun tool but my relationship with it is making me resent the whole damn thing.

4) Speaking of relationships, I’m afraid it’s changing how I communicate with others. I’m horrified to think that I drop close friends a two-line inane wall post once a week instead of having a real honest-to-God conversation with them once a month. There have been volumes written on how social media is changing how we communicate with one another and in this case, I don’t like it.

5) Did you ever notice that even sweet little old ladies will flip you off in traffic? Interacting through a computer seems to give us the same cajones that the highway does. Maybe it comes from physical separation or some sort of mental distancing? Maybe it’s the lack of reality? Whatever it is, it makes me dread every election as my feed fill up with the effluvium of political warfare and ever increasing frequency of sentences written in all caps. We’re all friends according to Facebook but we’re ready and eager for violent conversation. Most recently, I’ve even participated in one. Over the stupidest of topics with a close friend. But the conversation would never have spiraled out into an ugly mess had we been face to face.

So, last Friday morning, I logged out of Facebook for a one-week sabbatical. I don’t intend to totally eschew their services entirely. In moderation, I like what they offer. What my vacation did was help break the addictive spell over me and help me decide on some changes to make for the future:

1) I whittled down my feed to just the people I really care about. I don’t mean I unfriended, I just hid them. If I would feel uncomfortable getting caught in a one-on-one in-person conversation with them, I hid their posts. Why didn't I just purge my friend list? I’ve had several discussions about just that this week. In the end, I’m anti-purge. I don’t particularly care what my friend number is but I know it hurts some people’s feelings when their number depletes and I don’t want to do that for the sake of my own neurosis. Plus, I like the option of looking them up if a good reason presents itself.

2) Already, Facebook checking feels less compulsive. I’m going to limit my time there to once every few days instead of once every 15 minutes.

3) In my time away from Facebook this week, my communication habits have realligned. I exchanged delightfully and epically long emails with my best friend of almost 20 years. I had dinner with good friends that I haven’t seen in months. I called people.

4) My notifications are permanently staying off. I don’t need to be alerted by email every time someone comments on a picture that I liked two months ago.

Now I’m back and the first thing I did when I logged in this morning after a week’s silence was to make real plans with real friends. Then I logged out and got to work at my real job.

The Mojito of Doom

2011-05-10T19:30:00.000-04:00

The rain has been relentless over the past few weeks. It's been cold and gloomy all day - better suited to ghost stories than taco night. But taco night it is and there's nothing we can do about it. Since the foul weather and the Mexican food insist on coexisting, the only reasonable solution is to step aside and let them by inviting you to turn on your flashlight and roast some smores while I spin the tale of The Mojito of Doom:

We had the wrong kind of rum and it tasted terrible. DUN DUN DUN.

The End.

Mojito of DOOM

Project On Deck

2011-05-07T15:09:00.000-04:00

There's a green-sky kind of thunderstorm blowing in so I'm stuck puttering around the house for the afternoon instead of playing outside like I'd planned. I'm trying to be mindful of sitting for long periods of time since I'm officially off of the hazy-making muscle relaxants that have fogged up my brain for the past week so I'll make this relatively short and sweet. Instead of frolicking outdoors, I'm planning my next big craft project. I'm going to attempt to recreate a drool worthy Anthropologie dress.

The Summer Souffle Dress - $198

Vogue 7848 - $5.99 on sale

Swiped from here

My ambition thinks I'm going to wrap the embroidery from the right front of the dress up and around the bodice to peak out at the left side. My skepticism thinks otherwise.

I also bought $12 of white stretch poplin this morning. The zipper will probably cost me another $2 so if I can pull this off, my version of the dress will cost a whopping $20. Well, $20 plus several weeks of embroidery. I'll be replacing the large floral pattern (which would take me several YEARS of embroidery) with a lighter viney version.

Shrimp Dumplings with Dippin' Sauce

2011-04-27T20:31:00.000-04:00

Muahaha, Karen graciously let me hijack her blog, so looks like you're stuck with me again! In an effort to hedge against the ballooning food costs plaguing the world, we've tried to cut down on our meat consumption as it's one of the most expensive items on our grocery list.

As a result, I've been faced with a new challenge - trying to keep dinners interesting without copious amounts of meat. To be fair, I did use some shrimp for the dumpling filling, but you could just as easily make it completely vegetarian by substituting bok choy or bell pepper. I ran the filling through a meat grinder to make it fine and well-blended. A food processor would probably achieve similar results. So here we are: my rendition of fried dumplings.

Dumplings:

8-10 eggroll wrappers (you can find these in the refrigerated area of your produce section)
1/2 small head of cabbage, shredded
2-3 carrots, shredded
1/4 bunch of green onions, roughly chopped
1 Tbsp sesame seeds
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp fresh grated ginger
1 dozen cooked shrimp
2 cloves garlic, minced
Vegetable oil for frying

Dipping Sauce:

(Combine all dipping sauce ingredients in a ramekin)

2 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger
1/2 tsp grated garlic
Dash of sesame oil
Sprinkle of red chili flakes

Combine all of the dumpling ingredients, excluding the shrimp, into a sauté pan and cook over medium heat for about 5-7 minutes. Add the shrimp and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Process these ingredients (either through a meat grinder or in a food processor) until smooth. Use a tablespoon to add the filling to each wonton. If you have an awesome significant other (my obligatory shoutout to Karen), I suggest having him or her do the wrapping part. I may be great in the kitchen, but I lack the patience to wrap wontons.

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan until hot...but not smoking....nobody wants the fire department to show up. I added enough oil to fill the saucepan by about 1/4 inch (maybe 1/4 cup?). Drop a few wontons in at a time and cook for about 2 minutes per side, until golden brown.

The Hanging Gardens of Beaubylon

2011-04-21T19:39:00.000-04:00

After a quick trick to Home Depot on Saturday, I repotted these plants while Beau glued an embarrassing number of beer caps to the table he made. Then we sat outside for three hours listening to Jimmy Buffett and Kenny Chesney. I'm officially ready for spring.

Dill, basil, cilantro, romaine and tomatoes

I am determined not to kill them all by May. I know serial killers have said similar things in the past but I really mean it. Unlike like last year when my seedlings all baked to death on my skillet of a deck. This year, I'm not going to close the curtains and forget about them. I swear.

Terrified lettuce

Behold My Restraint!

2011-04-19T20:24:00.000-04:00

I've been bad lately. The pizza delivery guy knows the sound of my husband's voice. When our take-out Thai lady stopped to catch up for five minutes the last time she was here, I knew we had to get back to our usual routine. Today, we stocked the house with healthy food and veggies but there are still land mines all over my kitchen. Like the tub of Fudge Tracks ice cream that I would like to bathe in. To keep myself from further temptation, I created the Compromise Milkshake.

Compromise Milkshake

1 cup skim milk

2 spoonfuls of ice cream (be honest, you know what a real spoonful looks like)

Dollop of whip cream (and one hit from the can while your husband runs the garbage outside)

Sprinkle of cinnamon

Combine the milk and ice cream in a sizable bowl. Mix with an immersion blender. Pour into cup and top with whip cream and cinnamon. Guilt free dessert!

Beau's Pho Noodle Soup

2011-03-28T20:57:00.000-04:00

After several years of urging, my husband has FINALLY agreed to write down some of his recipes. While he decides if he become a slave to his own blog, I've offered him a guest spot for a very reasonable rate right here. Without further ado, I will now turn over the microphone...

Since the green age of 13, I've been interested in food...evidenced by my sturdy physique. I still haven't recovered from having to wear husky pants as a kid, but that's a separate discussion. Over the years, I've dabbled with cooking, baking and micro-brewing. At least I'll be prepared if prohibition returns. Contingency plans are critical. While my craft brews may not win Oktoberfest awards quite yet, my family and friends are convinced it's time to take my food public.

While I like to flirt with all flavors and spices, I suppose my home-base is cooking in a New American style - taking classic American dishes and classing them up a little bit. Unfortunately, my waistline doesn't appreciate too many nights of homestyle cooking, so I do my best to mix it up a bit and incorporate extra veggies.

As a general side note, I don't like to follow recipes too closely. These are just guidelines. We all have different pallets, so go ahead...sprinkle on that extra soy sauce and Sriracha!

Tonight's menu is Pho Noodle Soup with soy and ginger pulled-chicken:

Broth:

1 medium onion, diced
2 quarts low sodium chicken stock
2 chicken breasts (or equivalent amount of boneless chicken thighs), roasted w/ marinade (see below) and roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 bay leaf
2 star anise
Pinch of cloves
1 tablespoon Sriracha (or other chili sauce)
1/4 cup fish sauce
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 lime, juiced

Roast Chicken Marinade:

3 garlic cloves, pressed
1 tbsp minced ginger
1/4 cup, low sodium soy sauce
1 tsp, lime juice
1 tsp, rice vinegar
pinch of red pepper flakes
1 tbsp sesame seeds

Garnish:

Scallions
Lime wedge
Rice Noodles (In an attempt at being healthier, I use brown rice noodles)
Cilantro, roughly chopped
Mint, roughly chopped (very key!)
Basil, roughly chopped
Bean Sprouts, raw (the heated broth will warm them up enough)
Snap peas, blanched

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Combine all of the marinade ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Spread the marinade over the chicken breasts and then place in a small baking dish. Bake chicken until cooked through (~45 minutes).

Meanwhile, heat about 1 tablespoon of oil in a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and brown, approximately 5 - 7 minutes. Salt and pepper those puppies. After the onion has browned, add in the garlic and ginger and cook for about 2 minutes. Pour in the stock and bring to a boil. Combine the cinnamon, bay leaf, start anise, chili sauce, lime, fish sauce, and crushed red pepper. Salt and pepper to taste (I sound like a broken record). Simmer covered for approximately 1 hour.

Remove the chicken from the oven. When cooled, roughly chop into bite sized pieces and add to the soup. Simmer for an additional 15 minutes....the chicken-y goodness gets blended with the soup the longer you cook it.

Chef's note: I like to add a few extra herbs (cilantro, basil, and mint) to the broth at the end and let them simmer for a few minutes...but I also add extra herbs as a garnish when serving.

When you are ready to serve, pour the soup over rice noodles and add garnishes. Voila! Serve with an icy cold Coors Light (when the the Rockies are blue, of course). Just kidding... serve with something respectable like Sapporo.

It's like food porn

Where in the World is Karen Sandiego?

2011-03-23T15:01:00.000-04:00

I'm home for the rest of the month. No more cruises around the Latin American coast, no more business trips to Chicago. It's been a confusing experience for me. While I wasn't looking, my travel tastes have radically changed. The relief I felt when I curled up in my very own bed last night was on par with the relief I felt when I walked off a plane from London after three months of a very, very bad relationship to see my family standing at the end of the arrivals gate, waving American flags and smiling. So, what am I whining about now?

I hate cities. That's news to me. I've lived and worked in them for years. I grew up in the Sex and the City age when every college-bound girl that I knew dreamed of moving to Manhattan. Sometimes on my afternoon walks around Boston harbor, I still catch myself thinking about lofts and window shopping and sky-high stilettos despite the fact that I know perfectly well that I don't like apartment buildings, spending extravagantly or sore feet. But living in the suburbs has distanced me from the hum of a city and not just geographically. It took Chicago less than four days to make me realize how far I've really moved from metropolitan life. From the second I stepped foot in our hotel, I couldn't wait to trade concrete squares for grass and traffic lights for trees. Even the beatboxing homeless man who followed us down Wacker Drive couldn't cheer me up. I mean, I missed the Supermoon for that? It all felt cold and lonely and suffocating in a way that no city ever has. It's not Chicago's fault though. That's just where I realized that I've changed.

Not for me

I want something else. Before this traveling stint, I got up-in-arms reading a blog that asserted that most American cities feel the same, unlike New Orleans which has a vibe of its own. Now I agree. Another thing I didn't like about Chicago is that it just felt so done. Chicago felt like New York to me, like Atlanta, like Newark, like Philadelphia, like Providence. What I liked about New Orleans - other than the endless hurricanes and Jello shots - was that it was different. In that town, I was aware that I was on the edge of mayhem. There was an air of literal insanity. Not everyone-has-their-issues insanity. Pure, profound mental instability that suggests that literally anything is possible, even probable. I felt a little like Alice in Wonderland walking down Bourbon Street and that was before I was drunk.

The cruise stops were disappointing for a reason similar to Chicago's. The ports of Costa Maya, Belize City and Roatán were little more than outdoor malls. Probably because two of the three are owned by the cruise lines. I didn't even get off the boat at Cozumel which looked like Cancun 2.0. At the other ports, the intent locals crowded around the port exits were enough to deter us from going into town proper. Never before have I been afraid of going into less than savory areas. Hell, I've lived in several. This time, the close inspection of my purse, my clean clothes, my skin color made me too scared to explore. And I hated that. The next time I go to one of those countries or any others in the region, I won't be arriving from the direction of the ship terminal, that's for sure.

But there certainly were highlights. We saw sting rays, giant lobster and barracuda while snorkeling in Belize. We learned about the local Belizean beers from the friendliest waitress on Bannister Island while we swung in side-by-side hammocks. We molested half the statues on the Norwegian Spirit. We sat at a window in the front of the ship when it passed through a squall with hurricane force winds. We swam around and laughed and ate well (mostly).

Banana courtesy of me

Still, home is best. I've been steadily turning more homebody for the past few years but this is different. Maybe it's because for the first time since I was 18, I really feel like the word "home" applies to where I live. I'm not couch surfing and living out of my Corolla anymore. I'm not relocating constantly from town to town or apartment to crappy apartment. I like looking out the window and knowing the exact location of every shrubbery in my backyard. I like the neighbor with the cute golden retriever and the elderly one who takes 10 minutes to get her car in the driveway. In a world of constant comparison, everything else is being compared back here to my perfect little bubble where everything is to my liking. Nothing can compare to home, no matter how fabulous the cruise state room or how grand the view from a hotel room. I would trade any number of jacuzzis, fluffy towels and concierge stewards for the smell of my front hall.

Curiouser and curiouser

Why Can't Every Day Be Like Today?

2011-03-16T22:22:00.002-04:00

We woke up this morning to a chilly house. The furnace never came on after the guy from the gas company fiddled with it yesterday afternoon. Beau rampaged around the house and tried to get the pilot light lit but it was a lost cause. Instead of make him taking another day off to wait for them, I volunteered to wait around for the tech to come back. Besides, I needed a mental health day. Here it is, a picture an hour at a time.

8am: The waiting game with coffee and a little reading

9am: I'm watching you

10am: Finally unpacking from the cruise... two weeks ago

11am: Jillian Michaels is my favorite

12pm: Sicilian rice ball casserole for lunch

1pm: That's grass! In my yard! I haven't seen that in months

2pm: Ugh, three weeks worth of laundry

3pm: Finishing seams

4pm: Scratching my head and checking a reference

5pm: Watched Destination Truth reruns and

waited for Beau to get home at 6pm

6pm: Skyped with my sister and nephew

7pm: Spanish chicken with rice for dinner

8pm: Couched with my blanky

9pm: Cookie time (two of those are for Beau)

10pm: Goodnight

Beyond Western Civ 101

2011-02-21T14:20:00.000-05:00

After watching Invictus recently, I was reminded of how little I know about the history and cultures of other countries. Growing up, history classes stuck to American interests - wars, politics, discoveries - and reached only far enough to beat into our tender young minds that the ancient Greeks and Romans rocked for inventing our way of government. To remedy that gaping hole in my education, I've been reading more books that don't have a 20-something white female protagonist. Here are a few I've recently enjoyed:

First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung is a memoir of the author's childhood survival of the Cambodian Communist movement in the late 1970s.

Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver is a fictional novel about family of missionaries from Georgia who move to the Belgian Congo during the instability during their post-colonial era in the 1960s.

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy paints a dreamy, brilliant picture of the inequalities in India's caste system and the political climate in the 1960s.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See is a novel set in rural China in the mid to late 1800s. It touches on the Taiping Revolution, Southern China's civil war, that ranks as the 5th most deadly military conflict in world history.

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden is probably the most fictionalized work on my list but I thought it merited mention for opening the door to a very closed world. I heard Geisha, A Life, the autobiography of Golden's main source, Mineko Iwasaki, offers a very different account.

In addition to Iwasaki's memoir, I also have Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children on deck for future reading. I'm always looking for more books to add to my queue so recommendations are very welcome.

Now Watch as I Mangle a Cocktail Dress!

2011-02-20T12:48:00.000-05:00

In preparation for next week's cruise, I dug my only semi-formal dress that is not a wedding gown out from the depths of my closet. Luckily, it still fits but an age old problem persists. The straps need to be shortened to avoid exposing too much cleavage.

Hello boobs! Welcome to daylight!

So, I'm planning to rip the seams out and attempt to alter it myself. Who thinks this is going to end well? At least it was a $15 clearance dress to start with.

Ima cut you so bad.

Quotable

2011-02-16T19:11:00.000-05:00

This is day five of the sore throat that will not quit, so instead of writing about myself today, I'm going to curl up on the couch for an evening of Ghost Hunters International and Vietnamese noodle bowl with enough Sriracha to scorch this virus out of existence.

The Winner Is...

2011-02-13T15:39:00.000-05:00

No, don't be ridiculous. I don't watch the Grammys. I'm referring to the winners of a much more significant contest: my vacation wardrobe.

Most Valuable Hat

by echo design

I loved the painfully-named Luxury Diva hat but the product pictures were so bad I couldn't gauge the actual size of it.

Sandal of the Summer

by Bandolino

Sigh, I wish the Ralph Lauren espadrilles came in my size but sadly, Zappos is out of eights and I've got an impending deadline.

Best Party Dress

by Sandro

This one really didn't have any competition. The minute I saw it I was sure it was the right obnoxiously bright dress for me. Now I just need to get through two more weeks of cold, snow and rampant viruses. To help me do so, I'm imagining myself on deck seven of the Norwegian Spirit which features a club, casino, three other bars and a 23-hour cafe for midnight snacking. Despite the fact that I've been laid up all weekend with another nasty sore throat, winter suddenly doesn't seem as bad.

A Body at Rest, Stays at Rest. Maybe.

2011-02-07T20:21:00.000-05:00

I've always found it difficult to exercise. Not the act itself. The part where I put down the remote, lace up my sneakers and commit myself to half an hour of sweating. Despite sometimes even enjoying the sweating part, inertia is my main hurdle. At those times when standing up seems a physical impossibility, I pull out my bag of motivational tricks.

Cute Clothes: As little as five minutes of Sex and the City is usually enough to remind me how much I'd like to wear strapless dresses or high waisted jeans and that my fatty armpits and tummy pooch are the only things standing in my way.

Red Checks: Every night that I exercise, I put a red check on the calendar. The satisfaction I get from that is worth more than an endorphin buzz to me. Even though I didn't quite meet my goal at the end of January, seeing that army of little red checks helped me see how far I had come.

Variety: Most of the time, instead of putting on the same old Windsor Pilates video that I've had since college, I pick a new OnDemand exercise video. It keeps me from copping out on the basis of boredom or anticipating particularly painful moves (ya know, that ones that are actually good for you). As a fringe benefit, the range of moves keeps my muscles from getting used to a particular function. I'm an ab-crunchin', kick-boxin', disco-dancin' fiend.

Bad Photos: I may be one of the few women on earth with a mental body image that is actual skinnier than the one in the mirror. Sometimes my chubbiness even surprises me when I see my reflection because I would SWEAR I'm thinner than that. While that's all well and good for the psyche, it's not very helpful for motivation. A little vanity goes a long way here. When I'm really stuck in the doldrums, I refer to my absolute least favorite photos which turn the tables and make me look heavier than I actually am. The idea of another double-chin picture is enough to send me running… anywhere, so long as I'm running.

Self: I keep tabs on Self magazine to remind myself that exercising isn't just about looking less jiggly in a bathing suit. It's also about keeping my insidey bits in working condition. When I'm not picking up a copy, I poke around their website and follow a few of their blogs for a reminder that I owe it to my future self to take care of this. (You couldn't see it but I just did that up and down hand wiggle in front of my body).

Blogging: Publicly announcing that I actually have a goal has been immensely helpful as a last resort motivator. When none of the behind the scenes tools work, I think about how I don't want to admit that I didn't exercise as much as I said I would. The thought of broadcasting abject failure has gotten me moving more than once in the past month.

Of course, sometimes nothing is enough to get me moving. Mondays, for example, are miserable enough without adding another obligation so I've declared them my only devoted non-exercise day. The rest of the week is open season though. So, what motivates you?

Foozball Sunday

2011-02-06T19:31:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning prepared to be a good wife on Superbowl Sunday, albeit, a wife that has no understanding of it despite attending four years of high school football games. By 9 am I had done my best to prepare by putting my hair in a sloppy pony tail and donning a Red Sox t-shirt. While this may seem misguided to some, it is my firm belief that since the Patriots are not playing today, football is officially dead to New Englanders and we can now begin shouting "Jeter sucks" at will.

The errant enthusiasm continued as I greeted Ryan with a battle cry of "WHO'S READY FOR SOME FOOZBALL?!?!?!" nearly causing him to upend his morning coffee. Shortly after, he asked what I wanted for dinner and that I was ready for. I may not know the difference between a quarterback or a lineback or a hunchback, but I DID know the answer to that question. I informed him that we would be having appetizers while watching the game and, well, he misted just a little bit.

Then we spent the next four hours cooking a feast.

Teriyaki Ground Turkey Skewers

Green Bean Fries with Horseradish-Cucumber Sauce

Mini meatballs with this BBQ sauce

Southwestern Potato Skins

Pretzel Crusted Fried Pickle Chips with Mustard Sauce

We were already stuffed by kickoff, just moments after Christina Aguilera had finished butchering the National Anthem. I've recovered a bit now though and I think there are some pickles left so if you'll just excuse me a moment...

What Goes Best with Vacation?

2011-02-02T18:24:00.000-05:00

New England continues getting walloped by back to back storms. Today, I tuned out the sleet and focused on our upcoming vacation. Besides the promise of sun, beach and new ports, one of my favorite parts of cruising is that there's still a touch of the old-fashioned in it - playing shuffle board, strutting on the promenade deck, drinking a Tom Collins in the piano bar. Best of all, people still get dolled up. Granted, some show up to the formal dining room in sports jerseys but there's also the crowd that wears their pearls and cocktail dresses. I began my cruise wear shopping with the two most important accessories: a big floppy hat and little white heels. I've narrowed it down to two of each.

Karen from the block:

Echo vs Luxury Diva (shut up)

Labor Day be damned*:

Ralph Lauren vs Bandolino

So, any thoughts?

*If you haven't watched a Zappos product video yet, I highly recommend it. They set cute shoes to porn music. It's like being in one of Carrie Bradshaw's wet dreams.

Weekend Highlights: Discord & Rhyme

2011-01-23T16:47:00.000-05:00

I managed to leave the house on Saturday between frenzied bouts of crafting and hurting my back (again).

Lidingö ate my baby

Now that the downstairs bathroom is done, momentum is carrying us straight towards the kitchen. We headed to Ikea to pick out new cabinets. The rest of the necessaries will come from Home Depot.

Hudson Valley Duck with stuffing

We went to dinner at Tastings in Foxboro with friends. They source as much as possible from small local farms and infuse their own liquor, including the bacon bourbon that ended up in a Manhattan at our table.

Lady Gaga on Lips

The rest of the night was spent back at our house, singing karaoke... and ordering midnight pizza when our itty-bitty dinner portions wore off. There may have been voicemail serenades of Hungry Like the Wolf and Lean on Me left for a few lucky friends.

Needless to say, Sunday has been much quieter.

Pattern Bonanza

2011-01-22T15:12:00.000-05:00

After I finish Laura's birthday present, I'm determined to finally making things for myself at a leisurely pace - something I haven't done since before the wedding. In preparation for a few months of no-deadlines crafting, I raided SewingPatterns.com:

Vogue 7848

Not that I've sworn off sundresses. Quite the contrary. This pattern has six different length and strap versions to play with once I get the swing of the simplest construction (pictured here). Also, I don't plan to use Hawaiian print fabric and then attempt to look disdainful. What about luaus says haughtiness?

Vogue 2401

Sigh, the coup de grâce is my reach dress. It's a reissue of an original pattern from 1952. The reviews say it's for advanced seamstresses but it's the same cut as my four favorite dresses. If I can learn to make it, I will literally have an entire closet of them. Also, it would be a great excuse to invest in little white gloves and floppy hats.

Butterick 5421

It's likely that my first project will be version A of this skirt. The reviews say it's a good pattern for beginners, which I certainly am when it comes to apparel. The last sundress that I tried to make a few years ago turned into a pillow that lives in my craft room and mocks me from the comfort of the guest bed. I'll show it yet.

The Untrendiest Thing I've Ever Said

2011-01-21T13:20:00.000-05:00

I sort of want PajamaJeans. By sort of, I mean, I'm waging an internal struggle between my intense desire for them and my last shred of coolness. But really... imagine wearing these to Thanksgiving dinner and not needing to change into fat pants before dessert. You could go straight from the table to curling up on the couch to nap while the boys watch football. Heaven.

Weekend Highlights

2011-01-17T20:10:00.000-05:00

It was a happy, productive, economy-stimulating kind of weekend around here. We went out for dinner and a show on Saturday.

Dinner at Market

(I'm not up to taking pictures of food yet...

but I assure you, it was amazing)

Behold!

The bathroom is functional and near completion. I'm very lucky that my husband actually LIKES doing this sort of stuff. So far, my role has been limited to painting and moral support.

And though it's only evident from my side of the computer screen, I'm writing from an iMac finally! It's like buttah.

Jersey Boys at the Colonial Theater

Beau's sister bought us tickets for Christmas since he's a huge fan of the Four Seasons. After seeing the show, I think I am, too. We were the youngest people in the audience and jamming out nonetheless. It sort of reminded me of the summer I spent living in my Dad's retirement community - old people know how to party.

(Almost No TV) Snow Day - Part II

2011-01-15T14:17:00.000-05:00

When the Boston Public school system called another snow day on Wednesday night - meaning my office was closed again on Thursday - I had a very disgruntled husband on my hands. He became significantly more gruntled though when he realized that meant that I would spend my free time doing all the chores he hated doing on weekends.

Good to my word, I spent Thursday making the beds, washing four loads of laundry, doing dishes, dusting and generally puttering around making the place tidier... and watching four episodes of Sex and the City. But everyone needs a lunch break and there is something incredibly satisfying about midday viewing of a program that features impeccably dressed women doing everything but work.

I also whipped up a quick craft project that took under an hour. It would be a perfect beginner's introduction to sewing.
We've had the same gold tablecloth on there for a solid year. Instead of buying another one, I used a piece of fabric found during Wednesday's stash reorganization to make a table runner. I measured the length and width of the area I wanted to cover (the area that is actually a mismatched table leaf) and added an inch to the width and about 22 inches to the length.
Then I just folded the edges under to make a finished-ish seam and tried my darndest to keep the fabric straight when I fed it through my sewing machine. And voilà! Clean house and redecorated kitchen. All in a day's work.

No TV Snow Day

2011-01-12T16:55:00.000-05:00

When the Boston school system has a snow day, so does my office. Best company policy ever. Faced with the prospect of 10 straight hours of Destination Truth on Netflix, I decided to keep the TV off during business hours to make the most of my found free time. After sleeping in, I enjoyed a leisurely breakfast with a new book before launching myself into Productivity Central.

Crafted some of my sister’s birthday present

Watched the snow pile up

Organized my fabric stash

Made super easy chicken soup

No, really easy. Olive oil, one onion, six carrots, six celery stalks, three garlic cloves, heaping handful fresh parsley, two boxes of chicken stock, one pound (humanely-raised) chicken breast, salt, pepper and parmesan cheese. Sauté the onion and garlic while chopping the rest of the veggies. Once the bottom of the pot gets brown, toss in the chicken stock with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then throw in the chopped veggies and the whole chicken breast. Put the lid on, reduce to a summer and ignore it for an hour after which fish out the chicken and shred it with a couple of forks. Put the chicken back in and simmer for another two or three hours (the longer the better). Ladle over cooked egg noodles, top with an absurd amount of grated parmesan, and serve to delighted husband.

Supervised Beau’s bathroom renovation

Beamed at the grouted floor and new light fixture

Now I’m off to do a half an hour of Pilates before eating that chicken soup. I wish there was a snow day every Wednesday.

If I Broke a Sweat, It Counts As Exercise

2011-01-07T21:26:00.000-05:00

I remember reading somewhere that you can turn a behavior into a habit in one month. Theoretically, that’s how long you have to force yourself to engage in an activity for it to become second nature. That’s bad news when you get used to coming home from work and eating shredded cheese out of the bag before dinner (previously guilty) but good news when you’re a full week into your New Year’s resolutions and on track. Granted, these still seem like exciting, shiny new goals but on the other hand, I’m a quarter of the way to making them feel routine.

Of note, this is the first time in ages that I’ve actually exercised three times in one week. Tuesday night I exiled Beau to his man cave while I bopped around the living room to a free dance video from On Demand and I spent an hour on Wednesday and Thursday nights painting the powder room (see post title). Even if we only count each of those as ½ an exercise session each – which we shouldn’t since my biceps still hurt and the only way to paint a lower wall is sustained deep squats – then I’ll still meet my goal by the end of tomorrow. We’re leaving town in the morning for a snow shoeing trip up north. So, I’m feeling pretty good about that resolution.

The aforementioned powder room is also coming along nicely. It’s gone from Contractor’s Special…

All in all, I’d call this a successful week. Next up, a weekend trip to Vermont.

No one needs that much grout!

… to gutted down to the bare plumbing with a lovely new wall color and artfully done new tiles.

Beau feels some sort of yuppie shame that he hasn’t grouted yet

New Year’s Evolutions

2011-01-03T22:46:00.000-05:00

I was once quoted as saying that setting New Year’s resolutions are tantamount to putting an expiration date on your goals, but I realize now that that was just a snarky way of saying that I didn’t have goals. It was glorious while it lasted. I spent my early twenties the way every college grad should – binge drinking on Tuesdays and job hopping. Sometime between marriage, home ownership and getting a career, I grew up, much to the disappointment of some. I’ve spent a long time avoiding writing because I felt like I no longer had anything interesting to write about. I’ve mellowed out from my troublemaking youth, which provided a wealth of anecdotes.

I finally realized that I had stopped writing for myself a long time ago and was writing for an imaginary audience. It would be lovely if my friends and family found some enjoyment in this but if they don’t, then fiddle-dee-dee I say. I’m beginning this new project with the intention of writing about my new life – my real life – and naming it after an old, abandoned factory outside of Newark, NJ that still displays a moniker that suits me perfectly though maybe not at first glance. It has always suggested frilly things worn with combat boots to me. And, well, if you know me, then that must seem pretty spot on right about now.
via Flutter ProductionsIn the spirit of new beginnings, I’ve come full circle and decided New Year’s resolutions aren’t such a bad thing after all. I think of them less as resolutions and more as an extended to-do list for the upcoming year. They include things I’m already working on and things I’d like to tackle now that I’m not planning a wedding or buying a house. Either way, updates (and possible failures, cussing and bitterness) are likely to appear here in the future.

1) Be greener: Ecofriendliness is a major interest of mine and I’d like to go beyond shopping at Whole Foods and reading Tree Hugger.

2) Watch less TV: I used to plop myself on the couch after work for a minimum of 4 hours of boob tube. While I still consider my memorization of every one of the original Family Guy episodes an achievement, I’m ready to move on.

3) Learn something new: There’s a shiny new Nikon D3000 sitting on my coffee table but I treat it like a point and shoot. While we’re at it, I’d like to finally learn some graphic design considering I didn’t have time for it in college.

4) Go camping: Bears, bugs and being in bad shape will stop me no more. I’m determined to sleep outside in an honest to God tent… probably with a machete nearby.

5) Exercise three times per week: I got so good at exercising when I was on Weight Watchers, which was one of the most miserable months of my life, but without something to hold myself accountable, the siren song of lounging with a plate of brownies always wins this battle. I vote this goal most likely to fail.

6) Blog twice a week: In 2008, I had so little to do at work that I managed to write 90 entries all from the comfort of my cubicle. Writing fell to the wayside when I got a big-girl job. This year, I’m committed to break that record… from home. I’m planning to treat this space as an old fashioned journal and chronicle the happenings that interest me.

7) Travel: Up the road, we plan on having children but before then, I want to see places that are incompatible with strollers.

8) Renovate the condo: Our 1980s condo was a perfect buy for us: priced under value because the décor was firmly stuck in the age of beige linoleum. I’m going to change that (with the help of my do-it-yourselfer husband, Beau) one ugly etched-glass light fixture at a time.

9) Create more, buy less: Since making half the elements at our wedding, I’ve become a consummate crafter. With two sewing machines and a brand new dress form by my side, I hope to make more of the things that I would normally spend $100 and 15 minutes buying. Instead, I’ll spend $15 and 100 hours creating.

10) Cook more: Beau is an amazing cook and I’m still shamed that my signature dish used to be Karen’s Bachelorette Chili (can of black beans, ample dash of taco seasoning packet, smothered in cheddar). I’ve nominated myself Veggie Dictator of the household for 2011.

That seemed like a lot less before I wrote it all down but I suppose that’s the benefit of writing it out. Happy New Year.