Friday, October 30, 2009

Identifying With Women On TV

Wow, I bet the title of this post made you think this would be a well-thought out essay or something, dissecting the role of women in television shows or something equally thought-provoking and yet not so original. Sorry. You're wrong. It's about necklaces. And boobs.

Ok, so I don't particularly like the show Community (sorry, Zach) but it is enjoyable when I have to take my lunch break sitting at my desk (and therefore, not actually taking a break). And I must say, I was happy to see that in this recent episode, the continuity people didn't fix this lady's necklace. Because, people? This happens. I call it boob necklace. Or maybe sidenecklaceboob. Or "jeez, my necklace is stuck on my boob again." So thank you, Community, for not fixing her necklace.

This happens to me ALL THE TIME. I know it's normal, but it is very annoying to me! It's like that scene in Thoroughly Modern Millie (at least in the movie with Julie Andrews) where Millie is frustrated that her necklace doesn't hang straight. (see video, 2:30-3:20). And I quote: "Gee, I wish my fronts weren't so full...they sure ruin the line of your beads."

Now I do agree that "it's criminal what women'll do," blah blah blah the issue is that we think our beads should hang straight down and we should accept our bodies and all that...but whatever. Sometimes, your necklace gets caught on your boob, and it's not as amusing as one might think it is. And whenever I see this "problem" reflected in movies/tv, it makes me happy. So there!

Was this blog post inappropriate? Nah.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Free Snuggie?

I may or may not have ordered myself a free Snuggie. Hey...it's free! From what I have gathered, you have to sign up for their mailing list (big whoop), and I'm sure it will result in some spam (but I have a great spam filter - thanks, Gmail!), and I also heard that after you receive it, you may be asked to do a survey over the phone. These are all things I can deal with in order to receive a free blanket with sleeves.

It's supposed to take up to 6 weeks to arrive, so I may not be reporting on my awesome free Snuggie for a while, but I'll definitely let you know what happens.

Monday, October 26, 2009

It never ceases to thrill me

From The Michelle Obama fashion website that I totally subscribe to:
"First Lady Mrs. O dazzled on The Jay Leno Show this evening, wearing Thakoon's inside-out lattice rose print dress, seen more than a year ago for the first presidential debate. Notice that Mrs. O again accessorized with a bow at the collar, though the 2009 version features added sparkle.

What fun facts did we learn about our first lady this evening? She can name all six Brady Bunch children in under 10 seconds, plus Oliver (we don't know who Oliver is!). She felt nervous to meet the Pope, the Queen and 'her musical hero' Stevie Wonder. And on the first lady's iPod? Robin Thicke, Mary J. Blige, Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock and ... hmm, we know we're missing one ...

P.S. Thanks everyone. Oliver is the dog cousin, and Sara Bareilles and Sting are the other artists on Mrs. O's iPod.

20080926_Oxford_MS_FirstDebate0886

Photo via Flickr users Barack Obama / David Katz for Obama for America / Creative Commons"

On her iPod: Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, Mary J. Blige, Robin Thicke (ok so I don't know who that is) Sting, and Sara Bareilles. No big deal.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Walk Everywhere, Park Nowhere.

So, y'all know I love to browse apartment listings, even though I do not want to move no siree not right now not for a while oh lord I hate to move. Moving sucks.

This listing was so good (confusing) that I had to share. Because the listing will eventually expire on Craigslist, I will copy-paste it for you. Here it is, in all its glory. There are too many amazing (awful) things for me to list my favorites...please leave your favs in the comments!

$1400 / 2br - 2nd Floor Apt. on College Ave. Walk Everywhere, Park Nowhere. (oakland rockridge / claremont) (map)


Date: 2009-10-20, 8:46PM PDT
Reply to: hous-xcx7f-1430748728@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]


This unit has undergone recent renovations including painting, floor refinishing, drapes and some new windows. The location is right on College Avenue, so there is noise associated with traffic and neighborhood businesses, including a tavern. Additionally, parking is often difficult to find. The apartment features Oak floors and wood moldings. This building was constructed in 1908, so it has some anomalies found in older construction . There is a water heater in the kitchen and electrical outlets are few and often not grounded. There is a single natural gas wall furnace in the living room. Too many electric heaters and a fuse will blow. The apartment occupants downstairs moved in an exuberant dog which now owns the back yard. There is a small deck which has a view of a concrete block wall. Also, despite the difficult economic environment, you will need to pay rent, deposit of one months rent, $700 damage deposit (refundable). Two person may live here, but no pets of any kind including fish.


College Ave at Bryant (google map) (yahoo map)
  • it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests



This is Possibly Genius

'Green Box' Product Promo (Pizza Box) from Green Box on Vimeo.


So simple, and yet...brilliant.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Lusting over open floorplans...

I just love the layout of this living room. The furniture is a bit modern for me, but oh boy how nice it would be to have this floorplan...and if only that built-in desk thing was a fireplace...

Feels like Fall


October feels like fall to me, even if the weather is (on most days) sunny and warmish. Fall in Berkeley may not mean scarves and hats, but it does mean long-sleeved sweaters every so often, and maybe only wearing flip-flops once a week! Shockingly fall-ish, I know. Some of you out there are probably gasping in horror that I even wore flip-flops in October at all, but hey - I have worn sweaters for the last two days! It rained yesterday! It's fall!

Maybe the fall season hits me hard in October because that's when stores start carrying pumpkins and gourds and all the lovely fall decor items that make things cozy. I am lighting candles almost every night, and last night, the sheets actually felt cold when I got into bed. Wow.

I love this season, I do. And all of a sudden, October is half-over, and Thanksgiving doesn't seem too far away, and we all know that as soon as Thanksgiving ends it's almost Chanukkah and Christmastime. Which is just crazy. We are talking about booking flights and planning travel for December already...is it really that time of year? It is, apparently, and I couldn't be more pleased about it. There's just something lovely about the weather getting colder and cozier and I have this overwhelming urge just to bake things all the time. And I want a big stock pot and a "hand-stick" blender so I can make soups. This season is all about being a homebody, which is something I am very, very good at! :)


Even the iHome is getting in the spirit of Fall!


Wheat and pumpkins...purdee

With Halloween coming up, it definitely felt like time to visit my favorite creamery/dairy farm, Spring Hill. I've been buying their cheese from the farmer's market for a few years, and every October, they turn part of the dairy farm into what they call the Peter Pumpkin Patch. We finally went on Sunday, and man oh man was it fun! We ate fresh ice cream (and cheese and pumpkin pie), dug for potatoes (which we ate that night and the night after - PS digging for potatoes is the most fun ever!), milked a cow, wandered a hay maze, and of course, picked our own pumpkins! Some pictures from our little adventure in Petaluma...


Cheese! So much cheese, so little time!


Hay maze! Definitely for children!


Petting a baby cow...


Boo! There were so many little baby pumpkins, I could hardly contain myself.


aaand...

Unrelated to the pumpkin patch, but we went camping a few weeks ago at Half Moon Bay, and I liked this picture. Cozy camping at the beach!

Friday, October 16, 2009

Starting Fresh, Mid-October

I haven't written in a while. And yesterday, when I went to Curves, I realized that I hadn't exercised in a while either. 11 days, to be exact. I had thought it was more like 5. How does that happen? How do 5 days turn into 11? How does blogging every day turn into "oh crap, it's been 8 days"? The apartment is mostly clean, work has been busy, I could make excuses all day. But the reality is that I just haven't been doing it. I've been taking a break. And I know, 8 days of no blogging isn't a huge disaster or anything. But 11 days with no exercise (not counting a hike we took while camping last week)? And no excuse other than "I just wanted to come home after work and veg out"? That's not good. Not good for my waistline, not good for my health...not good.

Last night, I joined the Biggest Loser competition at my local Curves. It begins on October 19th, and goes until the end of November. Every competitor has a sheet taped to the wall, and we are supposed to check off (or maybe the staff does it?) every time we come in to work out. I think we also check off when we work out on our own (taking a 30 minute walk, hiking, etc.) - at Curves, you're supposed to do 3x a week of Curves, and then 30 minutes of activity 2-3 times a week as well. We get weighed and measured at the beginning, and then at the end. To join cost $5, and the winners in each category (total pounds lost, inches lost, body fat % points lost) will split the pot at the end.

I joined because maybe (maybe maybe) if I am being held accountable in a public sort of way, I will actually come in on days when I feel like going home and sitting on the couch. Looking up at those check boxes, and seeing other people's boxes checked, will make me want to be able to check mine as well. I won't want to be the only person who looks like a slacker up on that wall! I hope.

Since I have officially signed up as a fully-paying member (instead of being on a cheapo discount "student" plan), I will also be starting to use the Curves Smart electronic monitoring type thingie that they have, where you plug your little card into the reader on each machine, and it tells you if you're working hard enough. I've never used it before, but from what I hear, you enter in your goals, and get measured and all that (just like when I first joined Curves), and then the machines track your progress. If you're not pushing hard enough, it lets you know. I like the idea of tracking my progress, and having a sort of personalized coach type of thing, even if it's just a machine.

So we'll see. Hopefully these things will motivate me to hit the gym after work as the days get shorter and it's darker and darker as I leave work. Because, oh man, when I leave work and it's cold and getting dark, all I want to do is go home, light some candles, and snuggle up on the couch. I do not, however, want to gain 10 pounds this holiday season.

Wish me luck!

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Ooh Pretty

I love (love love) this room. I don't particularly like the furniture/decor, but the room itself? Wonderful.

Monday, October 5, 2009

It's an Addiction

Folks, my name is Kim, and I'm addicted to house hunting. Now for a disclaimer: I love my apartment. Love it. We are settling into living there together very nicely. At the moment, we are not running out of space. In fact, after some nice cleaning this weekend, we actually have plenty of space (thank you, garage storage that we share with the landlord). Ok, maybe not plenty, but certainly enough. I love our cheap rent ($1100 for an approx. 650 sq foot 1-bedroom apartment, literally across the street from BART, with a yard and off-street parking and in-unit laundry). I know we have it pretty darn good.

BUT. But. but. I have an addiction. No matter how much I am ready to just stay put, no matter how much the thought of moving makes my head spin, I just cannot stop looking at real estate listings.

Take a look at this cutie-pie bungalow. It has 3 bedrooms, plus 2 bonus rooms and a detached "garden cottage" and "2+" bathrooms. It is a mere $639,000. That's nothing, right? Ha. Ha. Ha. Anyway, I swear, this house is speaking to me. Keep looking to see what I mean.

Warning: Gratuitous Pictures!!!

oh hi. i am adorable.

i have a beautiful living room, with built-ins and a fireplace.

is that a forest campground? no, it's my yard. complete with hot tub, deck, and tall trees.

you won't even mind the knotty wood paneling once you see this skylight! just pretend you're in a cabin in the forest (see backyard photo)!

ok, i know my kitchen is kind of nonexistent (do i even have a fridge?), but look at how much room you have to develop it on your own! and that kitchen island you bought will look just lovely in here...
*note: this may be a picture of the kitchenette in the detached cottage. but there is no way to be certain,
as this is the only kitchen picture on the website*


In other HouseLusting news, I drive past this awesome, bright blue Victorian every day when driving to and from work.

According to Craigslist, it has been completely redone. Everything has been upgraded, and there are fruit trees, native landscaping, and a hot tub in the back yard. I love that it is painted like a Smurf. 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, $589,000. *note: the craigslist listing photo expired, so I pulled this from Google Maps, not at all creepily*

I might go to some open houses...or perhaps I shouldn't feed the addiction. It's just so fun!

Come on, Fall! Come on!

The air is noticeably crisper, and it certainly feels like Fall is in the air (thanks to grocery store displays), but weather-wise, it's just not quite there. The weather forecast for the week says sunny skies and temperatures in the low 70's, and while I'm not complaining about the beautiful weather, I am ready for it to cool down. Sort of.

I love wearing short sleeves, and I love waking up and not freezing my hiney off, but I am SO ready for squash and cinnamon and pumpkin everything! I love when the leaves change colors (even though I know that our few changing trees here are nothing compared to the East Coast), and I love when I can turn the crock pot on in the morning and have a hot pot of chili waiting for me at home. I love decorating my apartment. Which is now our apartment. I hope Will doesn't mind the invasion of squashes that is about to happen, because whether he likes it or not, it's coming!

So yes. The air is slightly more crisp, though it's not really cool enough to justify the soups and squashes that I so desperately crave today. But to get me in the mood...do you have a favorite fall recipe? Easy homemade squash soups? Yummy things for my crock pot? Right now, I'm particularly in the mood for acorn squash, sliced and roasted to perfection. I love me some summer squash, but when fall comes around, I'm always ready for winter squash! This year, I think I will decorate with different kinds of squash, and then find ways to eat them. And then buy more. And then eat them. Rinse and repeat. It's going to be a lovely season, I can already tell.

Shannalee wrote a beautiful post about this season of change, and I highly recommend checking it out if you love fall (or delicious apple desserts).

Friday, October 2, 2009

Wise Children

A friend shared this with me, and I felt the urge to share it with all of you. I feel very strongly about gay marriage, and to me, it's so simple: If two consenting adults want to get married, why should it matter what gender they are? Don't get me started on the "But the Bible says being gay is bad" thing - the Bible says a lot of things that are not applicable to today's society. As always, it is the children who see things in their simplest, most obvious lights. This video has the right idea. I can't say it in the right words...so just check it out.


"When you mention the possibility of teaching — in schools! — young kids about what The Gay is all about,some people freak out and, like a mother throwing her arm around her child sitting shotgun in the car, get all protective. They think even a conversation about homosexuality means seven-year-olds will be learning about anal sex. And yet somehow, when a teacher posits a "boyfriend and girlfriend split the dinner check" to explain an arithmetic problem, or tackles the whole "how babies are made" question, the possibility of telling kids about penis-in-vagina sex isn't such a big concern. But it turns out, there is a way to talk to young people, even grade school kids, about gays. And not only is it possible, it's crucial."

What? PCT?

So yeah, in case you hadn't noticed, Will is back from his PCT hike. Duh. He lost about 20 pounds (probably more, since he gained muscle). And we had to drill a new hole in his belt that was about 1.5" past the hole that was too tight on him before he left. Excuse me? How is THAT fair?

Oh right. He walked 650 miles, carrying 40 pounds on his back. That.

So yes. Things are good, and having him back is wonderful.

He's been slowly updating his trail journal, and will be uploading photos soon, I hear. Slowly but surely, the trip will be documented! I know this is kind of an odd post, but I just realized I had never posted an official "The trip is over, and here's what happened" update.

I'll leave the rest of the actual trip updates to him and his journal, but for those of you not checking it religiously, I'll post a link when it's actually complete.

Ta-dow!

Thursday, October 1, 2009

No Butter Cookies

I wanted to make chocolate chip cookies today, to bring to a coworker who is going to be working very late and very early hours today and tomorrow. When I realized I was out of butter, I started to wonder how I might attempt chocolate chip cookies without the blessed butter. I found this recipe, which looked to be the best out of all the butterless chocolate chip cookies out there on the internets. I followed the recipe exactly (I substituted 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour in place of 1/2 a cup of the white flour), but it looked a little dry, and the last bit of flour wouldn't blend in. I thought about adding a second egg, since my usual cookie recipe calls for two, and this called for just one, but I decided not to.

But I did add a little applesauce. I had read that sometimes applesauce could work as a butter substitute - I've used it to replace oil in cake mixes, but never in cookies. I added about 1/2 cup of applesauce, maybe less, and stirred until the batter looked like it was ready. Then I added some oatmeal. I have no idea how much; I just poured some in. Why? I don't know. I'm not always one for precision, and I felt the winds of experimentation brewing. I added the chocolate chips until I was sure I had put too many in the bowl - they didn't all get stuck in the batter. Some were just rolling around in the bowl. I thought, "Wow. These are going to be full of chocolate chips."

And then, I plopped the sticky batter on the baking sheet (on my trusty Silpat), and baked. They turned out...fine. They taste good, but the texture is a little rough. Maybe these are just a different kind of cookie, and I'm not used to butterless cookies. I mean, they don't taste bad. They pretty much taste like your standard chocolate chip cookie. But I do miss the butter.

I am full of chocolate chips. I taste good, but not spectacular.