Corralling the Cords

Recently, I won the Most Awesome Girlfriend Award when I surprised Will by having our TV mounted on the wall above the fireplace while he was out of town.  I'd like to thank a little piece of rad internet called TaskRabbit.  You should check it out - and if you do, use my discount code (PAL40580) to get $10 off your first task! 

I was, in fact,  happy to be done with it. Our TV is now hung gloriously above the fireplace, rather than sitting on a table in front of the fireplace, and we can now watch TV with a roaring fire.  Of course, we haven't made a fire yet.  But we will.

Now, of course, there is the issue of the cords.  As you can see in the picture below, they are a bit of an eyesore.

a tangled mess of cords

also this.

Anyone out there have tips for wrangling this mess?  I'm going to get a small container or basket to go under the table, to hold the video games and controllers and any extra cables we may have. That will solve the problem of the messy piles. In front of the table, you'll notice the VCR/DVD player and the Tivo - both of which will be moved (Tivo will eventually be sold, VCR/DVD player will be moved to another location since we don't use it often). 

But there's the issue of the drapey mess hanging from the TV.  I could just kind of gather the cords together and secure them with nails, so at least they're in a straight line and not a jumble? They'd still look kinda funky, but at least it would be neater?  

Any ideas?

PS I made a fire.
PPS weird commercial.
LTD.

And We Have A Winner!

Congratulations to the lovely Patricia (from A Serious Girl)!

You are the winner of several bags of pistachios!

There were five comments.
I numbered them 1-5, in
order from top to bottom,
as they appear on my blog.
Random.org chose a winner.

I will be contacting you soon about your prize!

It's World Pistachio Day! Party Favors For You!

Did you know that?  Did you even know there was such a thing?  Me neither.  That is, until I met the lovely folks behind Wonderful Pistachios (at FoodFete).  They sent me home with a ton of pistachios, which is a good thing, because man.  I love pistachios.  There's something so satisfying about prying the shell open and devouring the little green nut inside.


The funny thing is that I didn't even know I liked pistachios until I started going to Will's parents' house for Christmas.  I always thought pistachio ice cream was the weirdest idea ever (perhaps because I always expected it to be mint), and I just never took to the little ole pistachio.  But Will's family always has a bowl of pistachios in the living room, with a smaller bowl sitting on top of the pile of nuts to catch the shells, and I quickly became addicted to these delicious nuts.  Thank goodness they're one of the healthiest nuts out there - and thank goodness the shells remain as evidence of how many I've devoured!  :)


Anyway, today is World Pistachio Day!  Celebrate good times, come on!  And now, a word from the wonderful folks at Wonderful Pistachios (you may know them from their funny ads). 

February 26 is World Pistachio Day, encouraging us all to take a moment to reflect on the amazing history and modern day health benefits of this wonderful nut.

• Did you know that pistachios are one of the oldest flowering nut trees? Evidence suggests that humans were enjoying them as early as 7,000 B.C.!
• Dubbed “the skinny nut” by nutrition experts, pistachios are one of the lowest calorie, lowest fat nuts!
• U.S. President Barack Obama is a self proclaimed fan of snacking on pistachios!
• And in China, pistachios are given as a gift during the Chinese New Year and are known as the “happy nut” because they look like they are smiling.   :)
• For more fun facts, click here! 

Sweet map courtesy of the folks at Paramount Farms

Ok, ok, pistachios are really good and all, but am I really just posting a whole post about pistachios for no reason other than because it's their special day?  Well, as much as I love any reason to celebrate, the most awesome part of all this Pistachio Party Time is that one of you lucky readers is going to win a sweet stash of these salty snacks!  The kind folks at Wonderful Pistachios are offering a giant (24 oz!) bag, as well as several small (8 oz) "snack" size bags as a way to celebrate World Pistachio Day.  Which, again, is today.  In case you missed that.


So how do you win?  Leave a comment telling me how you deal with the shells.  Do you keep a little bowl inside the big bowl?  Do you scatter them all over the floor?  Use them in your compost bin?  Do you have a ridiculously awesome (but sort of mono-tasking) contraption like this?  Let me know and you could win a pistash (ha ha, get it) of your own!  For extra entries, tweet this contest, share it on facebook, and/or blog about it - and then come back here and leave a comment for each thing that you do.  There is no limit to number of entries, so get crackin'! 


I'll be choosing a comment at random, and the contest is officially closed on Tuesday 3/1/11 at 11:59pm PST.


Oh, and super awesome bonus?  My friend Suki is also giving away pistachios!  Her contest ends at 11:59pm TONIGHT though, so if you want to enter, head on over to her blog!

A little PF talk

It's been a while since I blogged about personal finance/budgeting and such, and I've been thinking a bit about it lately, so here ya go.

Topic #1: Credit!  Hi.  My name is Kim, and I just got my first credit card.  Yes, my first.  Yes, I am almost 27 years old.  Yes, I have been living with just a debit card all this time.  I've been thinking about getting one for years, but the combination of not wanting to pay annual fees and wanting some sort of rewards system and not being able to make a decision meant I never had one.  And then along came Banana Republic.  I was already receiving some massive discounts on a recent trip to the flagship store, thanks to a big sale (oh so much pretty there), and the super-helpful salesgirl (no joke, she was great) convinced me to get one (further discounts! I shop here anyway!).  I am usually impervious to the siren song of the store credit card...so why did I give in?

For one, there is actually a decent rewards program when using my card at Banana Republic, Gap, and Old Navy (including the outlet).  Those are the only places I actually shop for clothes anyway, so I might as well be earning rewards for doing it!  I can use the card for other purchases, too (it's a Visa), which I may do eventually, but for now, I'm using it as a clothing shopping card.  I figure this will keep me from spending too much each month, since I don't do much clothing shopping anyway.  I will pay the balance every month (the one downside is a high interest rate - but I don't plan on carrying a balance on any credit card I might ever have).  So yeah.  Now I have a credit card.  So far so good.

I am considering getting a bank credit card through Wells Fargo when I open a new checking account (something I'm planning on doing relatively soon), just to have one for emergencies that has a low interest rate.  Is this something that would be useful?  I hate the idea of spending money I don't have (hence my being ok with a high interest rate on the BR card - I pay it off right after I spend it), but would it be a good idea to have a card I can use in a real emergency?  Something with a low interest rate, in case I have to pay for something I don't have money for (I don't know what kind of emergency that would be...medical expenses? Isn't that what my emergency fund is for?)?  Thoughts?

Topic #2: Debts and Savings!  Exciting news (for me)! I am thisclose to paying off my car loan! I've been working hard to get this paid off, doubling my payments for the last few months.  I gave myself the arbitrary deadline of my birthday (May 10) to have paid off my car, and I am on track to come in ahead of schedule.  I owe just over $1,000 and plan to pay $500 in March and the remainder in April.  And I am stoked.  Woo hoo!  The plan was to then take the $500 I'm not spending on the car payment and put it into my "high interest" savings account, but since the interest on that account is pretty low right now, I have other plans.

See, I also have this student loan.  The loan was originally for about $18,000.  I decided to check up on my account this morning, just for fun (ha).  And according to the loan website, I have paid about $5,000 since I graduated in 2006 (minus about a year when I was on financial hardship deferment during an unpaid internship).  And somehow, I still owe about $16,000.  That's what we call stupidcrazyinterest. omg.  So.  Since the interest on my student loan is significantly higher than what I'd be earning in the savings account, I'm going to take that extra $500 a month and aggressively work on the student loan repayment instead.  It's still going to take me forever to pay off, but if I'm paying $700 a month instead of $200 a month on it, at least it'll take a little less time.   I'm still budgeting about $200 a month for savings (I like a steady contribution to my emergency fund), but I figure it's better to throw my "extra" money at the loan right now.


It feels good to make grown-up decisions about my finances.

A little cleaning update

Yes, already.  Before I've even really begun to tackle the list.  Last night, I wrote about the little (sort of big) plan I have for getting our condo (and my brain) back under control.  I function much better when my home is a clean and organized place, and the results of three weekends out of town are starting to weigh on me.  And what better time to take back control than a three day weekend?

While yesterday was spent with the requisite lounging around, today brings a renewed sense of focus.  I work best with deadlines and goals, even if they are all self-imposed.  Perhaps especially if they're self-imposed, because then the onus is all on me.  I thought I'd share a little of this process here, because it can be overwhelming to look at a long list of to-do's with nobody telling you how to tackle it, and maybe someone out there in blogland needs a little push.  So here's how I sorted things for this weekend; maybe this example will help someone else who's trying to knock out a long list on a long weekend.

Saturday: Lay around all day. Get some rest so I feel like I'm up to the task of cleaning. Note: laying around all day staring at the mess also helps with the motivation to clean.  Start some laundry, since that's something that can be done while (mostly) laying around.  This lounge day also helps me to figure out what I need in terms of groceries, cleaning supplies, etc - and to really get a handle on what I want to accomplish.  Write a blog post talking about what I want to do, to put it out there and make it public. Sometimes I'll also just write it on a piece of paper and put it somewhere where I can see it.

Sunday: Try to sleep in a little since I didn't manage to do that yesterday. Wake up, eat something and turn my list into a schedule.  Schedules are easier to accomplish than lists! It's all about setting achievable goals and deadlines.  Here's what I came up with for today, as of 11:43am:

• Start a load of towels (done)
• Spend an hour straightening up and cleaning - take recycling down to garage, empty dishwasher, take care of lots of little things that will make a visual difference
• Go to Homeroom for lunch with friends (a reward for a solid hour of work)
• Work for a couple more hours - tackle dining room table, coffee table, TV area
• Get a pedicure, go to Trader Joe's (a reward for a couple more hours of work) - it helps to make an appointment for the pedicure so I have a clear stop-work/take-a-break time.
• File things in my file cabinet, a task I've put off for months.  This should take care of my "Hers" pile of mail, etc. as well, so all that will be left is Will's pile.
• See what else I feel up to doing tonight, if anything.
• Watch a cheesy movie, preferably a chick flick.

Monday: is not as structured, because some will depend on how much happens today.  I'll revisit today's list tonight to see what needs to go down tomorrow.  Here's what I have for now:

• Wake up by 10am, eat breakfast, make sure things are ready for Super Secret Project, which is happening at 11. 
• Sort through pile next to dining room table
• Sort through "the island" in the bedroom
• Clean the bathroom
• Hang out with a friend, possibly while I'm sorting through things.  If you have friends who are willing, chatting while cleaning makes the job more fun!  :)

And that's it!  I'm no expert, but this is generally what works for me.  Happy weekending!

Everybody's Resting for the Weekend

3 Day Weekend! Hollaaaaaa!

I have been looking forward to this three day weekend for quite some time.  We've been out of town the last three weekends in a row, and while it's been lovely to take some mini-vacations up to Lake Tahoe, I am wiped.  You don't tend to sleep in much when you're waking up in the morning to head to the slopes (even if you're not a skier). We haven't been grocery shopping in almost a month, and there are piles of...life...everywhere.  I look around the condo and I see laundry.  And boxes.  And papers.  And y'all know that when my space is cluttered, my brain feels cluttered.  I love a clean, organized space, and it stresses me out to live in a mess.

Nothing like a rainy day to get cozy and nest!

So I've been looking forward to this.  I planned on sleeping in this morning, and while  I ended up waking up at 9,  I happily spent most of the day lounging on the couch in my PJ's, watching movies with Will, and just enjoying the feeling of sitting still.  We did a bit of cleanup this afternoon, and now that we've gotten a good start on it, I look forward to waking up tomorrow and tackling the rest.

I enjoy the whole "it's cold outside; I'm going to burrow inside my little home and let my homebody flag fly" thing (that's a thing, right?).  And I like how when it rains, our patio gets all crazy flooded, but the water stops about two feet from the door (see pic).  It stops just before the little couch, which is convenient.  I think there must be a slight slope upwards towards the door.  Anyway, I think it's funny.  Like a little force field or something.

Will is going on a little two-day ski trip (yes, this is his 4th weekend in a row!) so I'll be all by myself for the next two days.  And honestly?  I'm looking forward to it.  I'm kind of excited to have the place to myself to power through some crazy cleanup.  There's something about deciding to do it that gets me motivated, and somehow I find myself less motivated when Will's home.  When he's home, I am definitely more likely to give in to lounging, snuggling on the couch watching our DVR'd shows.  Perhaps because he's not necessarily the one who gets that "Yeah! Let's Clean!" bug.  Perhaps because I like to be all "SURPRISE! See how awesome it is in here now?" when he gets home (this usually does get a good reaction, believe it or not).  Perhaps because it's just a little "me" time, and this is what I like to do in my "me" time.

For the record (because I love lists as much as I love a clean house), here's what's on the agenda for this weekend:

• laundry - 3 loads done tonight! Two loads done yesterday! Will probably do another load on Monday, but the hamper is officially back to normal!
• unpack from Tahoe - done! (now, Will is re-packing for tomorrow's trip, but still)
• grocery shopping
• dishes - dishwasher is almost full, and as soon as the dish rack items dry, I'll be doing another load.
• pedicure - I need it!
• lunch at Homeroom?
• clear piles of mail from kitchen counter - moved to His and Hers piles on the kitchen cart (in the dining room), but at least they're not in the kitchen anymore!
• clear dining room table
• clear pile next to dining room table
• clear piles on coffee table, fold blankets on the couch
• Super Secret Monday Project
• take large boxes down to recycling
• take out trash
• clean bathroom (sink, toilet, tub, mirrors)
• do something about "the island" - the pile of boxes we moved to make room in the living room on New Year's Eve, which is now in the bedroom, between the bed and the closet, which means I have to walk around "the island" to get to the closet, which is getting old.  Commas!

Niecy is full of sass.

And side note - Clean House just came on the tv.  Kismet?  Happenstance?  Clever scheduling?  I'll take it.  Niecy Nash is wearing a sassy, highlighter-hot pink dress, and I am loving her.  Also, seeing these omghoarderswhoarealsokindacrazy people makes me feel a whole lot better about my mess.  But it also makes me want to clean up and not have any spec of mess anywhere.  

Boom! Niecy, that is some décolletage.

Niecy and her crony laughing it up at with the messy people.
I don't ever want to be one of the messy people.
I may have a small complex.

Stranded in San Francisco

All week long, all I've been able to think about is how excited I am to come home on Friday night, put on my PJs, and stay in all glorious weekend.  I was looking forward to a 3-day weekend of lounging around, cleaning up the apartment, and generally just catching up on being a homebody.   The rainstorm only heightened my excitement about going home and cozying up.  And then...service delays on BART.

Will sent me a text from BART in Berkeley, telling me that there was some sort of delay at West Oakland (a major hub of BART through which most trains must pass - including mine).  Delays happen every so often, so I wasn't too worried.  And then I saw the warning, that there was a major delay at the stations, and no trains were going in or out.

I figured it wouldn't last long though, so off I went to the station near my office.  And there I saw this:

the crowd of people I pushed through to get on
the train waiting at the station

And then, once I had squished onto a train, I asked the tired-looking people around me how long this particular train had been sitting there.  "Oh, 5, 10 minutes or so" - not too bad.  And then, the announcement.  "ATTENTION PASSENGERS! This train will be turning around and heading to Millbrae, and will NOT be continuing on to the East Bay."  Uhhh no thank you.  That is the opposite of where I need to go.

So I got off.  The station announcer said that service to the East Bay was stopped, and they didn't know when it would be starting.  "Well, screw this," I thought, and started to make my way back up to street level, where at least I'd have cell reception.  Out of frustration, I exclaimed, "Anyone want to share a cab to Oakland?!" - someone did.  She and I scurried up to the street and to an ATM, and then hunted down a cab.  When we finally did (in the pouring rain, remember?), the cabbie apologized and said he wouldn't cross the bridge.  Because of traffic.  Even when we offered to pay double.

Frustrated, soaking wet, and out of options, I turned around and went back to the office.  Where I now sit, with a beer and free cable and my laptop.  Of course, as soon as I walked in the door, I got a text from a coworker saying he had gotten on a train and was in the East Bay, that service had been restored to the BART line.  Damnit.  

I'm going to sit here with my beer for another half hour or so until things calm down, because I do not wish to get stuck in that mess underground again.   When I get on that train, I want the station to be calm and empty (because I'll have to deal with the station agent dealing with my fare that's already been swiped one way on my transit pass), and I want a nice comfy (ish) seat on that train.

I just want to go home, but at least I'm in a warm office with TV and a beer.  Silver lining.

Garfunkel and Oates

I am kind of obsessed with Garfunkel and Oates. Why? They are hilarious. Duh. They just released their new, official, awesome video for "This Party Took a Turn for the Douche" which includes one of the most brilliant lines ever: "I ain't in love with you, cousin; I'm not George Michael Bluth." Yes.

So enjoy. These girls are up there on my list of Awesome Musical/Comedy Groups That I Love (which includes The Lonely Island, Flight of the Conchords and of course, Dakaboom), and are even more awesome because they are ladies. And ladies in comedy are the best. Enjoy their new video, featuring some surprise guest appearances and some ridiculously quotable lines.




PS I know I've talked about them before (and shared other hilarious videos), but the internet can't seem to find those old posts. Sadness. I'm still trying to figure out how to work out getting the internet (aka Google searching) to recognize my new custom URL as the same thing as my old .blogspot.com URL - which should be easy, since Google/Blogger did all the work for me. Come on, Google. I've got coworkers helping me sort it out, so hopefully this will be fixed soon.

Review: Pamela's Products

I am pleased to present the first in my series of Food Fete related reviews: Pamela's Products.  I sampled a ton of cookies, and a cake and frosting mix, and even though I am not under any dietary restrictions that require me to eat gluten-free foods, I give Pamela and her Products two thumbs up!

zee cake, made by me. and friends. and a monkey.

Pamela's Products makes gluten free treats, from cookies to cheesecake, and boy are they good.  The white chocolate cheesecake is so good I have been bugging my local Whole Foods to stock it.  They don't.  Yet.  But you can get all kinds of other products by Pamela there...for a full list of where to get her treats, click here.  Seriously, good stuff.  And I can vouch for Pamela - she's very nice!

Now, I would have taken pictures of all the cookies we tried.  I am, however, impatient when it comes to cookies (and so are my friends), and somehow all the cookies were gone by the time I remembered my camera.  Oops.  I guess we liked them.

We tried: Chunky Chocolate Chip, Organic Dark Chocolate - Chocolate Chunk, Organic Spicy Ginger with Crystallized Ginger, Ginger Mini Snapz, and Extreme Chocolate Mini Cookies.  I have to say, while I am normally an All Chocolate All The Time kinda gal, I think I preferred the ginger!  The Mini Snapz were perfectly crunchy little bites, and the big ones were soft and chewy; they had a nice spicy kick to them, and lovely little bits of crystallized ginger mixed in.  I really dug those ginger cookies.  When it comes to the chocolate chip, I think I just always prefer homemade, but I also really liked the chocolate mini cookies. Perfect with a mini glass of milk or just for a smaller sugar appetite.  But yeah.  Loved those ginger cookies.  We brought the cookies along on a trip to Tahoe, and as I mentioned, they were quickly devoured.

I remembered my camera for the cake making extravaganza - thank goodness, because the little monkey who helped us bake it had a really great time.  Check out our little (10-photo, mostly of Monkey) slideshow for pics!


This cake was seriously good.  Somehow both dense and fluffy, and with a really delightful taste. I can see how the batter is versatile too; it would be great with various extracts and zests (lemon? orange? mmmm), and it would be great for cupcakes.  Honestly, if you hadn't told me it was gluten free, I wouldn't have known.  Delish. 

And the icing?  I definitely used a spatula to scrape remnants out of the Cuisinart (yes, we made it - super easily - in the food processor! Love this thing!) and licked as much as I could.  I was worried there wouldn't be enough, but there was plenty to cover the entire cake, and fill in between the layers, and allow for lots of spoon/spatula-licking as well.  Mmmm!

In case you're wondering, it was the Classic Vanilla Cake Mix and the Dark Chocolate Frosting Mix.   The frosting seemed more like regular than dark chocolate, but I think you can tell that we liked it.  I have always been a red-box-mix and frosting-in-a-can kinda girl, but I think from now on, I'm going to stick to Pamela's!  This was seriously easy to make, and void of scary chemicals.  I approve!

My only complaint is that it didn't hold up as well the second day (after a night in the fridge) as its chemical preservative-laden counterparts (I love you, Betty and Duncan).  But if you're going to eat it all on the first day?  Totally awesome.  Spongey and light and delicious.  Any tips on helping gluten-free cake stay good for another day or two?  I normally do the toothpick-in-the-top, aluminum-foil-over-it-all method, but like I said, that didn't work as well this time.  Note: we still ate it.  Topped it with a little raspberry ice cream and we were good to go.   :)

Thanks, Pamela (and all the lovely people who help with your Products)! I can't wait to try the Baking & Pancake Mix and the Chocolate Brownie Mix you sent!

Food Fete

Recently, I had the privilege of attending a little event called FoodFete (with my buddy Suki), where I had the opportunity to connect with truly great food vendors. We had a grand old time, sampling tasty treats and learning about some really cool products, and left the event with (literally) bags of goodies. 

The Loot.

Seriously though, we had a great time.  And it was cool to sample teas and salamis and chocolates and scones and all sorts of delightful things I might never have tried (and I definitely drooled over some cookware, oh yes I did).  Some of these vendors have been kind enough to send me packages to sample, and I'll be posting reviews as I try things out.  Don't worry, nobody made me promise to be nice - so if I don't like something, I'll honestly let you know.  Though in the interest of full disclosure, if I didn't like what I saw (and sampled) at FoodFete, I wouldn't have given them my business card!  :)

Are you a food vendor of some sort?  Do you want me to review your product?  Do you have an event coming up?  Let me know!

Lemon "Bars"

Will got me the Cuisinart DLC-10S Pro Classic 7-Cup Food Processor for Chanukkah, and it. is. awesome.  I've wanted a food processor for a while, but figured it was something I'd get "eventually" or "someday," and never bought one for myself.  Mostly, I wanted one so that I could make latkes at Chanukkah time, and while I missed out on that this year (though never fear, we made them for Christmas, a new tradition) I still wanted to break in my new toy!

When I saw this recipe for lemon bars over at The Kitchen Sink Recipes, I knew I had to try it.  I mean, hazelnuts! Lemon! Using the food processor!  I've never made bars, so I was kind of excited to try this out. Besides, they just looked so good.

They turned out...fine.  I think I may not have baked them long enough, because when it got to the whole "add the lemon mixture to the hot crust" thing, I had a slight problem.  The crust didn't stay put when I poured the lemon mixture on top, but rather bubbled up and combined with the lemon, forming this crusty lemon combination. I hoped the crust would sink back down when it baked, but it didn't really, so some of the bars were more like sandwiches. Some of them were bar-like.  Some were just mushy.

Looks a little upside down, right?

This photo makes it look pretty delicious though...

The other issue was that the lemon filling was a bit oozy, like it didn't quite set right, even though I baked it for longer than I was supposed to.  The pieces in the middle were more like custardy goo than a lemon bar, but hey...we ate them all.  They were a little too sweet, so next time I'd probably use less sugar or more regular lemons (I used mostly Meyer lemons).  But overall, it was a nice experiment, and I had fun using my food processor.  I bought way too many hazelnuts, so I'll be sure to try these again!

Squash Explosion

A little while back, I decided to make spaghetti squash. I've made it before, and it's never been a problem, but I guess this time around, I didn't pierce enough holes before putting in the microwave or something, because this happened.

oops.

I was just going into the kitchen to see how long was left on the timer, and as soon as I walked into the kitchen and crossed in front of the microwave, BAM! The microwave door burst open with a bang, and squash flew everywhere. If I had been standing just a little bit closer or had leaned in for some reason, I might have been hit by the door as it flew open. Scary. No really, it totally scared me. The noise was so loud and the situation so unexpected that I was shaking as I started to clean up (because of course, my first instinct was to get everything cleaned up). Will came home a few minutes later, as I was shakily scooping squash into a bowl to be eaten - a good portion from the microwave was totally salvageable - and I had to explain to him what had happened.

Yikes. Not only did it explode, it cooked.
So lots of what you see was crusted on.

He calmed me down and helped me clean up, and we had ourselves a lovely dinner of spaghetti squash with bolognese.

The top half of the squash flew out of the microwave and
approximately four feet to the left into the entry. And note
the exploded squash on the cabinets. Fun.

The End.

ed note: when I hit "publish" just now, the Google Ad that displayed said "how to cook squash." Thanks, Google. Way to go.

Blog Self-Exchange

I recently joined 20 Something Bloggers, and haven't quite figured out how to best utilize the network yet, so when they presented an opportunity for a blog exchange, I jumped on it.  Unfortunately, my blog exchange partner never sent me her piece.  They were due on 12/20, so I've given her just about a month to reciprocate, and I've even warned her that I was going to be posting this myself instead.  So...that didn't quite work out as planned.  And every time I see her post something on Twitter, I get a little bit more irked that she's not responding to me.  It's like that thing where you see a friend posting on Facebook or Twitter or whatever, but they won't return your text messages?  It gets under my skin a bit; even though I don't actually even know this girl, I find myself thinking, "You have time to do make all sorts of comments to other people, but not to respond to me?"  Sigh.  Oh well.  Learning to take things in stride, I am.

Anyway.  She and I had decided to write about our blog goals for 2011, a slight variation on the official theme, but an appropriate topic nonetheless.  I'm not really one for "a year in review" type wrap-ups, but I definitely love anything relating to resolutions.  I think I like looking forward more than looking backward; after all, you can't change the past.  You can learn from it though, and I guess that's where resolutions come into play...but I think the most successful resolutions (for me, anyway) are not ones based on "I didn't do this last year and I want to next year" but rather ones that come from a place of true newness.  Let me explain.

I always used to make my annual new year's resolutions based on things I wished I had done the previous year.  This guilt-based resolve isn't surprising considering the Jewish guilt that runs through my veins, but it's not the most positive or cheery type of resolution if you really think about it.  I would so much rather decide upon goals for myself that have no relation to the past, ones that only speak of hopes for the future.  Besides, whenever I've resolved to "worry less" or "be better at cleaning"...well, it's not like I've been super successful.  I do much better with fresh goals that are free from the pressure and the burden of resolutions past.  (uh oh - in resolving to not make resolutions the same way I have in the past, am I being a hypocrite here? Let's just ignore that for now.)

I'm not going to resolve to blog more frequently (though the self-induced-pressure to make this a resolution is strong), because that's just an invitation to feel bad about myself when I don't.  And let's be honest, when life gets busy, the blog takes a backseat.  That's both the blessing and the curse of writing a little personal blog, isn't it?  Nobody is paying me to write, and really, I just do it for myself and for the amusement of whomever decides to stop by.  And I actually have a job that keeps me busy (as opposed to a job that allows for blog-writing during the day), so while I'd like to promise a post a week or more photos or something, I don't want to put that kind of pressure on myself.  Silly, maybe.  But there that is.  I'll write when I have time, or when I feel inspired, and if I have a backlog of ideas, they might just have to sit for a little while.  And that's ok.

I resolve to let my blog be what it is without pressuring myself to do more?

Really, truly, the one thing I want to do for/with my blog in 2011 is a big ole redesign.  While I like the cheery kitchen theme, I would love to overhaul the design and do something custom instead of just tweaking the pre-existing template from Blogger (lovely though it is).  I recently gave myself a custom URL (so easy! see how I did it here), which was a nice little gift to my blog, but I'd really like to take one more step forward and have a design that really reflects who I am and what I write about.  I feel like it's a little cluttery for my taste right now (though if I'm being honest, I am more cluttery than I like to think I am).

I also plan to create a real "about" page. Blogger has an easy way to add an "about" tab as a separate page, and I'd like to play around with that.

Lastly, I want to figure out why search seems to be messed up.  I first noticed it after the URL migration, but it's buggin me.  Using both the search box in the Blogger header and the custom Google search box I added result in incomplete searches.  For example, searching for "muffins" turns up no results, though I KNOW I've written several posts including the word.  I can't tell if it's all to do with the new URL, as sometimes it pulls up posts from pre-new URL, but whatever it is, it needs fixin'.  Any advice?

So those are three things I want to change, improve, do in the new year.  Specifically related to the blog.  Specifically related to the future.  Specifically related to awesome.

How about you?  Do you have any blog-resolutions?  Do you make resolutions?  Do you make them before the new year or after January 1 - it's January 19th - have you resolved to do anything yet? Do you care? If not, why not? And what kinds of resolutions do you tend to make, if you make them at all?

See how I got all turn-it-around-and-ask-you-some-questions there?  Yeah...encouraging discussion!  Or should I say...Disqussion? 

Organization Inspiration: Neat & Beautiful Kitchens

How could I NOT share this?

Organization Inspiration: Neat & Beautiful Kitchens:

Keeping the kitchen tidy enhances its function, appearance, and cleanliness - all important factors in this busy room of the home. However, with heavy use, it can sometimes seem a burden to keep the kitchen in tip-top shape if a good organizational system is not in place. Here are some tidy inspirations to get your wheels turning in your own home kitchen:

• Read the full post at Apartment Therapy

Emmaterializing

If you read this blog, you probably know about my friend Emily (I re-post pictures from her all. the. time.), whom I met while working at the Goog.  She finds the most beautiful photos and shares them on her Tumblr, Emmaterial, and while we don't connect as much as we used to, or as much as I'd like, I really do enjoy peeking into her Tumblr photos.

All of these photos are from Emmaterial, and I've included the links to the posts below (she cross-links to the source of the photos; I'm too lazy for that).  Enjoy these mostly-wintery-but-cozy-and-cheerful pictures!

http://emmaterial.tumblr.com/post/2601612107

http://emmaterial.tumblr.com/post/2601813906

http://emmaterial.tumblr.com/post/2592362076

http://emmaterial.tumblr.com/post/2591797525

http://emmaterial.tumblr.com/post/2591794345

http://emmaterial.tumblr.com/post/2591742658

http://emmaterial.tumblr.com/post/2398959611

http://emmaterial.tumblr.com/post/2614175696

Good Lord, So Many Kitchens

Coming back from the holidays after a few months in a new job that (gasp) actually keeps me busy during the day means I am backed up on my blog posting.  It also means that I am backed up on my blog reading. And that I have a ton of things that I keep marking as unread because I want to save them and share them here.  I'll start with the kitchens, since I know y'all love them so.

via Emily
Not 100% my style, but for some reason I just love it. Warmth.

via TheKitchn
The brightness, the yellow, the butcher block, the owls...

via TheKitchn
Again, not totally my style, but I'm kinda  digging the bar stools.

via TheKitchn
This just feels so earthy and comfortable. Love the brick.

via TheKitchn
I don't love the color of the cabinet doors, or the rug, but I
can't stop liking this just the same.

via TheKitchn
Love the tall ceilings and the pops of blue, and the glass doors,
and the cabinet hardware...

Hmmm that seems like less than I thought. That's a good thing, right?

Goodness

Tonight, I experienced my first video game frustration. Not the usual kind, where I am frustrated that someone else is getting frustrated over a video game. No, tonight, I was the one cursing and throwing my controller into my lap in protest. While playing Lego Star Wars. Which happens to be an awesome game. I am not super skilled (ha - understatement of the century), but this game is made for 10 year olds, so I am able to function fairly well most of the time (and fine, this was my 2nd time playing it). But we were on this one level with lots of jumping, and I was not too good at this jumping, and I kept either falling and dying or falling down to the bottom level once I was almost one with the jumping and I was just so sick of jumping and falling that I said, "I suck! I quit! Done! @#$%!!!" I kid you not.

But I took a breath and kept going and eventually we completed the level. I like the team aspect of the game. It's fun not trying to kill each other (as in most 1st person shooter games, at which I am terrible), and instead working as a team to complete missions. I like that. Will, I'm sorry I keep accidentally shooting you. Or punching you. Or destroying you with my light saber. I promise it's just my lack of skill. I sometimes hit the wrong button on the controller, you see. Or my finger cramps up (uh, maybe a sign it's time to stop) or I just slip. Oh well. I would not want to play a "serious" game - I like the cartoony-ness of it that keeps it all in perspective. Remembering that it's just a silly game to play for fun is key, I believe. And it was fun. And I totally want Lego Harry Potter too, even though Will doesn't care about HP (a tragedy, I know).

On another video game note...in case you haven't been reading (or following my tweets) lately, I love the Kinect. Seriously, this thing is awesome. We have played Kinect Adventures (can't find a link to just the game) and Joy Ride, and I'm seriously considering getting Dance Central too. Microsoft, you win this round. It's just fun. No controllers to mess with, just your own body. Will and I have each created avatars, so next time we play, it will be our little computerized mini-me's on the screen. It's really cool though, how it senses your body movements and mimics what you do. It has face-recognition too, so in theory, once you sync your avatar with yourself (by standing in front of the sensor and letting it recognize you), it will know it's you every time. If you're playing a game and want to add a player, he or she just needs to step in front of the screen. It's super neat. I promise. Even though I don't totally get the whole XBox Live + Kinect profiles/avatars thing I'm sure.

I should add that nobody is asking or telling or paying me to say this stuff (though I think I get some sort of kickback if you click those links and buy them from Amazon or something, I have no idea). I was lucky enough to win the Xbox360 and Kinect from Dooce, and honestly, if I hadn't won I A) probably would not have known about it and B) would not have thought it worth spending the money. I didn't grow up with video games, I don't usually like them all that much, and it just wouldn't have been on my radar. However, if you DO like (or want to like) video games, you DO have an extra $300-400 lying around, and you DO have this on your radar, I will tell you that it is totally worth it. It is ridiculous fun, easy for even a video game newbie (noob?) like me, and it's actually a good little workout too.

So yeah. Video games, up and down. I think I'm a little zonked out from an abundance of late nights lately, and the staring at the big ole TV screen (oh hi, new TV in all your 46" LCD glory - I think this is the one we got; if not, it's similar). I've been so tired today and yesterday that I haven't cooked, haven't really cleaned, haven't uploaded pictures, haven't done much of anything. But I suppose that happens sometimes, after a week and a half of travel and the holidays in general. After a last-minute decision to have a New Year's Eve party (more on that later), our bedroom looks like we just moved in, but I've been too tired to do anything about it yet. I'm not even going to go back and re-read and edit this post, even though it's much longer than I thought it would be. Oh well. Just kidding. I went back and re-read it, though I didn't make it shorter. I had kind of forgotten how it started, and then I just decided to leave it all. 2011!

I have many photos to share, and I'm still deciding whether I really want to write the standard "New Year's Resolutions" post, and things are getting busy again starting, oh, tomorrow, but it's all goodness. And busy goodness is a good way to both end and start a year, I'd say.

Happy New Year to all. I hope your holidays were lovely and not too stressful and full of delicious things and goodness of all sorts.

Chafing Dish

I love the Alameda Antiques Fair (aka Alameda Flea Market).  It’s massive, and I’ve never made it through the whole thing in one day, but it’s such great fun wandering around, up and down the aisles looking at treasures and oddities.  The last visit proved quite victorious…I ended up with some fantastic ornaments (I was told that estate sales are a great place to find these as well) and a gorgeous chafing dish.

This is no ordinary chafing dish.  This baby is practically in mint condition, with canisters for holding oil and wicks that twist upward to be lit and two pyrex dishes to hold a myriad of delightful dishes I just can’t wait to make.  Time to have a party, eh?

In this picture, you can see the little oil-holders below.
So pretty.

Buggin'

Does anyone know what kind of bugs these are?  They infested my poor planty (which totally needs a new pot, btw – I think it’s way too big for the one it’s in).  I don’t think this plant likes being outside too much, but I didn’t know where to put it in the house.  Maybe it’ll be happier when I re-pot it.  Poor planty.

Anyway, I came outside one day and noticed this infestation.  I didn’t know what to do, so I put one of the moth killer things next to the plant.  That killed all the bugs (though some are dead but still attached to the stem), but I don’t really know what to do.

I wish someone would just come over and fix all my plant problems for me.  I feel a little overwhelmed.

It’s a good thing I don’t have pets.

Gross.

Making a Mantle

Ever since we moved in, I’ve wanted our fireplace to have a mantle.  I was envisioning candles and photographs and stockings and besides, the fireplace felt a little naked without one.  I knew we’d have to build one, and I knew it wouldn’t be too difficult, but we just never got around to it (what with the boxes still to be unpacked and all).  Finally, on the same day we got our Christmas tree, we purchased the supplies and mantled the heck out of our fireplace.  And I love it.

We bought a piece of wood at Urban Ore, a salvage yard/warehouse that is just full of all kinds of crazy stuff.  I don’t know what this piece of wood used to be, but it was the perfect size and shape for our project.  And it set us back $2.  Another $1 for two L-shaped brackets, and we were on our way to Mantle Victory! 

When we installed the mantle, we noticed that the wood was just a little warped, but a quick screw through the top in the center pretty much straightened it out.  The left side still slants ever so slightly forward, but not so much as to make things slide off, and really, I’m ok with a little imperfection.

Now the mantle is decorated for the holidays, with lights and faux-berries.  I’ll probably leave the candles up there all year round, and I’d like to add a few pictures too. 

The Crate and Barrel version. 

Mine is almost as awesome.

Right now, I’m kind of (really) excited to have created my own version of this picture.  I almost bought those candleholders until I reminded myself that we had some very similar ones already. Ours were much cheaper ($1.99 for the tall ones and $0.99 for the small ones), and since they have dots instead of snowflakes, they’re less seasonal – booya!)

I'm proud of our handiwork.  Mantle!