Crafternoon

A few Saturdays ago, some girlfriends and I got together for what we've affectionally taken to calling Crafternoon.  I really hope we pull it together to do this more often, because it was super fun.  Dana hosted, and honestly, she provided most of the crafts.  And the motivation.  Good hosting, Dana!

We watched Bridesmaids and looked at wedding stuff, and oh the crafting.

There were attempts at string-balloon-lanterns...

puff paint pumpkins...

 

and a framed letter made of buttons...

a chore chart...

Silhouette die cut machine, I love you.

and a homemade stamp...

...not to mention the (not pictured) knitting trials and giant crocheted flower.  And oh,  the delicious food that I neglected to photograph.


It was a lovely gathering of ladies, and lots of (dare I say productive?) fun -- we must make this a regular affair!  Thanks to everyone for a lovely Crafternoon :)

Some Ethan Allen Houselusting

A few weeks ago, I took a silly little "what kind of style are you" quiz from Ethan Allan.  Not surprisingly at all, it turns out that my style is Vintage.

If you know me at all, you will know I am drooling over these photos...

So cozy and wonderful.

Perfect. Although...who lives here? And why are the walls
so empty? Maybe they just moved in.

A little too nautical, but I like it.

A little too whitewashed, but so romantic.

Dream breakfast nook situation.

Minus the his and hers and scottie dog pillows.

Not crazy about the throw pillows, but otherwise...

Now that you've wiped the drool off your keyboard (I know I have...ok, now I have), tell me what your dream house looks like!  I'll be back with some more beefy posts later this week...craft night, pumpkin patch and jack-o-lanterns, and yes, more giveaways!

PS this post was in no way whatsoever sponsored by Ethan Allen.  But if they found this and wanted to give me a gift certificate, I wouldn't complain. Hint. Hint. Hint. Sigh.

Salame Winner!

Update:

Nichan63 never responded, so I had the Random Number Generator choose a new winner!

Congratulations, Colette! You won!

Congratulations to Nichan63, the winner of the Columbus Salame Giveaway!

Nichan63, please contact me with your mailing address so we can get you some salame :)

Miss Representation

This video has been making the rounds on the internet lately, and I finally had a chance to watch it.  It's too powerful, too true, too interesting, too important not to share.

From the Miss Representation website:

The film Miss Representation exposes how American youth are being sold the concept that women and girls’ value lies in their youth, beauty and sexuality. It’s time to break that cycle of mistruths.

In response we created MissRepresentation.org, a call-to-action campaign that seeks to empower women and girls to challenge limiting labels in order to realize their potential.

We are uniting individuals around a common, meaningful goal to spark millions of small actions that ultimately lead to a cross-generational movement to eradicate gender stereotypes and create lasting cultural and sociological change.

Miss Representation premiered in the documentary competition at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and was immediately picked up by OWN: the Oprah Winfrey Network for their documentary club series.

I would love to organize a screening in Berkeley...anyone have a venue and want to partner up with me to do it?  Email me at kimskitchensink [at] gmail [dot] com.

Columbus Salami, Columbus Day

In honor of Columbus Day today, I thought I'd post my recap of our recent salami tasting party, which was generously sponsored by Columbus Salame!  Now, I am a huge Columbus Salame fan.  I love their salami, their prosciutto, their pancetta...even their lunch meats.  They're a Bay Area company, which makes me feel good about supporting them, though I'd been buying their products long before moving up here.

The kind folks at Columbus sent me six different types of salami to review, and we decided to host our salami tasting party in conjunction with our housewarming party (and a Cal football watching party).  Fun for all!

So much salami!
You can see the tasting guides, pens, and adorable
Columbus cutting board in the background :)
Not pictured: Columbus tote bags

Everyone had a great time tasting the salami, and reading about the differences between salume and salame in the tasting guides!  A brief review, based on feedback from the group:

Chorizo Casero: Not as spicy as we'd expected from a chorizo, but it had a pleasant, smoky chorizo flavor. 

Soprasetta: Slightly oily, I think this is the fattiest of the selections?  It is mighty tasty, with a hint of fennel. 

Cajun Salame: This was the spiciest of all, with a surprising kick that hits you towards the end of the bite. One of my favorites, because it's quite different. 

Pepper Salame: This was also a bit spicy, but more peppery really (perhaps because it's coated in black peppercorn? maybe?).   

Herb Salame: One of the messiest, but also one of the most delicious. The herb salame is coated in a lovely herb mixture, which yes, gets all over your hands, but it's so worth it. 

Italian Dry Salame: The basic salame, though some thought it wasn't dry enough. I don't mind my salami a little wetter, so I had no problem with its texture.  Mild, yet rich, it's just your classic salam.  :)

We pre-sliced half for easy grab-n-go tasting.

We got through just about half of the salame at the party, and Will and I have been enjoying our leftovers quite a lot.  Chopping it into salads, mixing it into breakfast (both alongside fried eggs and in scrambles), and we took a full log up to Tahoe when we drove up to look at venues -- it's a great car snack as long as you have a sharp knife and something to cut on.

Gratuitous salame closeup by Suki

The party was a great success, and a fantastic way to warm our new house!  Thanks, Columbus, for the tasty housewarming gift!

Will says this could be a stock photo for
Columbus. I agree. Thanks, Suki, for the
cool photo (and thanks, Dana, for not
being mad that I posted a picture of you
eating :) 

And because it was damn good, and I'm proud of the design,
I present to you...Script Cal Peanut Butter Snickers Pie.
Sadly, it did not help the Bears beat the Huskies that day.

Oh, you're still here?  You're still reading? Well, lucky you, you get to find out about the giveaway!  That's right, because they are super nice, Columbus is going to send a selection of 3 salamis to one of you lucky readers! 

To Enter:

• Comment on this post and tell me what kind of salami you would like to try.
• Comment on this post to tell me where around the internet you've shared this (twitter? facebook? your blog?  leave one comment for each place)

That's it!  So easy!  :)

I'll choose a winner on Sunday 10/16 - contest remains open until 11:59pm on Saturday 10/15.


You can also visit their Facebook page for a chance to win a grab-n-go salami...they're giving them away (in honor of their fans and their Italian heritage) to the first 1,000 people to enter!

Special thanks to Reed, Suki and Dana, who were especially
helpful in getting this party set up. Salami slicing masters!
Not pictured: Katherine (for some odd reason)

A Weekend Off

This is the first weekend in over two months where we have not had back to back crazy plans or way too much stuff to do on the weekend.  We had planned on going camping, or maybe checking out one last wedding venue in Tahoe. But for several reasons, including indecisiveness and exhaustion, we ended up just staying home.  Well, not entirely...we had a super fun night at Cafe Biere last night to celebrate Reed's birthday, full of beer, sangria, mussels, and Taboo.   So fun.

It also occurred to me that I won't have a quiet weekend of nesting/relaxing for a while; what with the wedding dress shopping (eee!), the holidays, and various other activities, life's just going to continue to be busy for a while!

But today?  Suddenly we find ourselves with no plans.  We have to do some wedding planning (budgets, ick, scary), and oh goodness! Laundry! Cleaning! 2 year old's birthday party tomorrow!  I'm looking forward to some lounging around and nesting this weekend, with some much-needed R&R. 

Things that are on my "maybe I'll do it this weekend" list now:

• unpack new mesh baskets and organize the skinny cart next to the stove - DONE!
• install mesh baskets to expand spice rack wall
• unpack the last bedroom box and set up the top of my dresser
• unpack the last kitchen stuff box
• figure out how to get the stuff to fit in the kitchen (place to display glass jars full of grains?)
• wash new glass jars and transplant remaining grains
• sort mail, pay bills
• clear off dining room table
• sort through giant bag of BlogHer swag...and blog about it? Gee, BlogHer was only 2 months ago.
• laundry - we seem to not be very good at doing it on weeknights these days
• wedding budgeting - must get done!

It's really exciting (ok, maybe that's not the right word) to just have a weekend of lounging around, taking care of projects, and maybe even just taking a nap in the backyard.  Will is playing the piano as I type this and try to decide what to eat (I'm a bad Jew on Yom Kippur), and it's looking to be a lovely weekend!

Bon Ami! Bon Prix!

For months years now, I've been saying I'm going to start using non-toxic cleaning products. I don't like the idea of harsh chemicals in my house - especially in the kitchen. I have started buying natural products, replacing the chemicals with their green alternatives wherever possible (still haven't found a viable replacement for Clorox in the toilet bowl though - natural cleaners just didn't do the trick).  I even hired a cleaning crew who says they use eco-friendly products. However, I'm a little bit too lazy to go the baking soda and vinegar and lemon juice and "omg I'm making my own cleaning products" route.  I know, mock all you want, but for whatever reason (laziness) I just have never done it.  I know it's easy, but I prefer to not have to make my cleaning products. Whatever.

When we moved, I boxed up all the cleaning products we don't use any more (a combination of having a cleaning crew twice a month and realizing we had accumulated a ton of random bottles) and Will brought them down to the basement. If we realize there's something we need, we'll bring it upstairs, but in a few months, I'm planning to leave them on the curb with a big FREE sign. I don't want to rid the house of cleaning products entirely (sometimes a girl has to clean between cleaning crew days!), but I also don't want to use those harsh chemicals. What's a girl to do?

hint: it has to do with this chick

Enter: the kind folks at Bon Ami, who oh-so-generously sent me a rad gift pack to review on ye olde blog.  First of all, it came in a cute wooden box.  I'm totally going to hang the lid on my wall in the kitchen.  So cute.  Second, the box was packed to the brim with awesome Bon Ami cleaning supplies!  In case you didn't know, Bon Ami's products are toxin-free, produced in an eco-conscious way, and have proven the test of time...they're celebrating their 125th anniversary this month!  To celebrate this milestone, they have produced a limited run of the "your grandmother probably used this in her kitchen, and probably your great-grandma too" Bon Ami Cleaning Cakes!  They only created 1886 of them (in honor of the year Bon Ami became a company), and I was lucky enough to get one!  I love me a little nostalgia!

cleaning cake and commemorative tin!
love me a commemorative tin!

I think you see where this is going...you can win one too!  But not only can you win a super cool Cleaning Cake, which comes with a cleaning cloth, in an adorable tin, if you win this giveaway, you'll also win Tangerine Thyme All Purpose Cleaner, Tangerine Thyme Liquid Cleanser, Tangerine Thyme Dish Soap, the original Powder Cleanser, recipes from Bon Ami, and the wooden box with the cutie pie chick on it!

liquid cleanser, all-purpose cleanser, powder
cleanser, dish soap. all for you!

Like the powder products that Bon Ami is known for, the new liquid line of products uses the same toxin-free approach making the products biodegradable and hypoallergenic. They smell good. And they seriously work, you guys. I used the All Purpose Cleaner to get some seriously nasty burned on Idon'tevenknowwhat off my stove, and I only needed my Mr. Clean Magic Eraser for some tiny spots. And let's be honest, if I had been more patient and let it sit, or um, I don't know, used the Powder Cleanser, I wouldn't have used Mr. Clean at all.

HOLY WOW!

A little blurb from the good folks at Bon Ami:

For every good meal, a messy kitchen is born. Grease lingers on the stove top, flour clings to countertops and that sink that was once shining and clean is filled with dishes. Whether or not you like to clean, it’s always part of the cooking process. But it shouldn’t be painful. Chances are you are careful about the kinds of food you bring into your kitchen, so why not be as careful about the way you clean your kitchen.  All dishes should start in a toxin-free kitchen.
Don't you agree?  I know I do!

Ok, enough talk about how much I adore Bon Ami.  You want to win some stuff!

To Enter:

• Leave a comment telling me about one truly awful mess you've had to clean up (no judgment here; I just want funny stories!)

For Additional Entries:

you must come back here and leave a comment for each thing you do in order for it to count!

• Visit and Like Bon Ami on Facebook (www.facebook.com/bonamiclean)
• Follow Bon Ami on Twitter (@BonAmiClean)
• Share this giveaway on Facebook, or Twitter, or your blog, or Google Plus, or wherever you want!

There is no limit to number of entries per person, and you have until Sunday, October 2 at 11:59pm to enter! The winner will be selected by the unbiased hand of the Random Number Generator.

Happy cleaning!  And bonne chance!

The FCC would like me to remind you that Bon Ami products were sent to me for free. I would like to remind you that my opinions remain my own, and that I wouldn't ever give something away on my blog unless I really, truly loved it.

UPDATE: Congratulations to Tricia! Comment number 6!  There are more giveaways coming, folks, so don't give up if you didn't win this time around :)

Pasta Prima Ravioli Giveaway!

That's right folks - another giveaway!

The folks at Pasta Prima were kind enough to reach out to me to see if I would be interested in reviewing some of their ravioli.  Um, duh. Pasta? Count me in.

They sent me Spinach & Cheese, Butternut Squash, and Grilled Chicken & Mozzarella - and a cute little package including a chef's hat and an herb garden kit.  So sweet.  And so yummy.

Hooray!  I've tried them all, and they are all delicious.  The butternut squash is also super pretty, with the stripes.  I mean, hello fancy! Plus, they are organic and natural and all that good stuff. Super good.

Lucky for you, the Pasta Prima folks are being super nice and letting me give a gift pack with an assortment of three flavors to one lucky reader! Yeah! Woo hoo! You can't wait!

To enter:

• Visit www.pastaprima.com, check out the flavors and post a comment telling me which one you'd most like to try.
• Do any of these things for an additional entry (but make sure you come back here and leave a comment for each thing you do)
• Like Pasta Prima on Facebook: www.facebook.com/pastaprimafoods 
• Post about the giveaway on their own Facebook page 
• Mention the giveaway on your blog
• Tweet about this giveaway

I'll choose a winner on Saturday 9/24, so the contest will be open until 11:59pm on FRIDAY 9/23!  Please note that this contest only open to US residents.

FCC regulations want me to let you know that the ravioli I am reviewing was provided to me by Pasta Prima. However, my ravioli opinions are my own.  Yum.

Planning a Wedding

So we've been engaged for just about three weeks now, and since we've decided on a February 2012 wedding, the planning has begun in earnest!

My superawesome friend Aly has volunteered to be our wedding planner, and she made this crazy organized Google Docs spreadsheet (based on the Martha Stewart wedding planning guide, I believe) full of to do items and vendor organization and so many things to think abut that I would not have remembered.  She's great, and we are so lucky to have her around.  Aly, I love you.

We have two weekends in mind, and are planning a snowy wedding in Tahoe (ceremony outside, reception inside).  Yay snow! Pretty! Magical!  I've started some inspiration boards on Pinterest, to collect ideas and start seeing what we might like (so far we're really into the mason jars with candles, especially in the snow).  Check 'em out if you like!  It's all very fun!

Of course, there is the stress of wedding planning, realizing how much things cost and trying to figure out what we can cut back on (Reed and I are going to be knitting and crafting up a storm this winter!).  I never thought I'd be a stressed out bride, but here we are only 3 weeks in and I'm finding myself narrowly avoiding panic attacks, mostly around the sticker shock of how much things cost.  Luckily, Will keeps me grounded. At the end of the day, we're going to get married and that's all that matters.  :)

Anyway, people have been asking for updates, and that's where we are so far!  Checking out venues and trying to get an idea of per person costs so we can finalize the guest list.  Gathering ideas and talking about what kind of wedding we want to have.

Only 4.5 months to go! Eep!

Circulon Giveaway Winners!

Presenting...winners!

Aein Hope!

Suki!

Congratulations, you two!


Everyone else...stay tuned!  I have several more giveaways coming up in the next few weeks!  Thanks for playing :)

Circulon Pots and Pans Oh My!

I am a fan of Circulon, have been ever since I purchased two from CSN. A few months ago, I was able to attend a super cool "Circulon Cooks" event in San Francisco, to preview a new line and learn about their (honestly, it's awesome) iPad app.  Seriously, I wish I had an iPad just so I could get this app.  So great.  And the display of pots and pans? To die for.

I swooned a little at the pots and pans on display.
photo by Irvin the Awesome

Anyway, Circulon is rad.  Their magical (and frankly, neat-looking) circular pattern inside the pots/pans does some sort of nonstick wizardry, and I am not lying to you when I said I HAVE MADE FRIED EGGS IN THESE PANS WITH NO OIL OR BUTTER OR PAM OR ANYTHING AND THE EGGS DO NOT STICK.  I mean, that's just crazy talk.  I had to put it in all caps, it's so crazy talk.

I was a fan of their pans before the event (obviously), and I was really disappointed to have missed the chance to enter their raffle for a free 10-piece set of pots and pans.  I happened to be standing next to one of their marketing guys while lamenting this to a friend, and suddenly, I was being told I could have "a little something" sent to me.

One more pretty picture of pots.
photo by Irvin the Incredible

Turns out, "a little something" was my very own 10-piece set of Circulon Contempo cookware to try out and review.  AND (dun dun dun dunnnnnnnnnnn trumpets blaring!) they are giving me TWO (not one, T.W.O.) to give away.  Actually, I already have the two extra sets.  They are sitting in my living room right now, waiting for me to choose their new owners and arrange for UPS to pick them up!

In case I haven't provided enough of a review, this set is great. Every piece features the sweet nonstickiness that I love, but it's also just a handy set.  Two fry pans, a perfectly-deep skillet, a big ole stockpot (thankyouomgineededoneofthese), a saucepan, and the cutest little pot ever.  The stockpot is perfect for making spaghetti, the tiny pot is great for sauce, the skillet is awesome for making veggies (heating some frozen peas with butter, anyone? yes)...basically, you can make whatever you want with this set because it is so kickass.

Do you want to be one of TWO lucky people to receive your very own (crazyawesome) set of pots and pans?  I know you do!

This could be yours!

Here be the rules:

• Leave a comment telling me what your favorite thing about this cookware set is (aka why you want to win).
• The giveaway will remain open until Wednesday, 9/14/11 at 11:59pm.  
• A winner will be chosen via random.org on Thursday 9/15/11.
• You must leave me a method of contacting you (if you comment anonymously with no contact info, please email me at kimskitchensink [at] gmail [dot] com to let me know).

But wait! Bonus entries!  For each bonus entry, please come back here and leave a comment telling me what you did (one comment per bonus entry) so I know to count your bonuses :)

• Go to www.facebook.com/circulon and Like them
• Follow @circulon on Twitter
• Tweet this post
• Share this post on Facebook
• Blog about this giveaway
• Spread the word in some way of your choosing - skywriting, anyone? (you better prove it with a picture though)

Best of all...there are no limits to how many bonus entries you can earn! Tweet every day for a week and get an entry every day as long as you come back here and comment to tell me you did it! 

I am seriously tickled about this giveaway, and I can't wait to send these babies to their new homes so you can enjoy them as much as I do!  Super huge thanks to the Circulon team for being so awesome.


Disclosure: While Meyer Corp. sent me a free set of pots and pans for review, I was not otherwise compensated for this post. All omgIloveCirculonomgpotsandpans opinions are my own.

I guess he really liked it

On Thursday August 25, 2011 I left the house at 8:30am.  I drove to Yosemite, where (after erroneously being pulled over by a childcop who admitted/yelled at me that the reason he wasn't issuing a citation was because he didn't know what kind of citation he could give me) I was to pick Will up as he was finished with the John Muir Trail.

On my way there, Will called to tell me to pick him up at Bridal Veil Fall instead of the Crane Flat gas station as planned, because it was an easier location for his hiking partner's ride to reach. I figured he knew I wouldn't mind driving into the valley, and that I certainly wouldn't mind waiting for him at my favorite waterfall.  As I sat on a rock at the base of the falls, reading The New Yorker and people watching, I was relaxed and unsuspecting, taking pictures of the falls and lounging about.

It was a beautiful day

After about an hour, I started wondering when the heck the boys were going to arrive, so I sent Will a text asking when they'd arrive. When he responded that he was about to walk up the trail, I got a little of that nervous-excited-butterflies-in-the-tummy thing.  I tried to act all cool though, and went back to reading my magazine to avoid anxiously staring down the path (though, duh, I looked up every 5 words or so to see if I could see him coming).

Finally, there he was (awww).  I believe my first word to him was, "Hey." to which he responded "Hi."  I'll say it's because we were so happy to see each other that words escaped us.  Sure.  Anyway, I got up off my rock and walked over to give him a hug, but holycrap suddenly he was down on one knee.  My initial thought was that he was messing with me, but when I saw the ring, and heard him ask me to spend the rest of my life with him...for reals, I was freaking out.  I believe my thoughts went something like "holy shit this is actually happening, oh my god, Will is proposing."

Will's hiking partner James was stealthily crouching on the
path, taking pictures the whole time. 

He proposed with a hand-carved wooden ring: when you decide you want to marry your girlfriend while backpacking in the Sierras, your jewelry options are somewhat limited.  So I got a freaking awesomely cool and totally unique ring, carved just for me with love.  And it totally fit, so awesome points for Will there.  And double awesome points for having a friend there to photograph it, so that we can have pictures like this to remind us of this moment.

I like this picture because
A) it shows off the ring
B) it reminds me of just how utterly
overjoyed I was in that moment.

So yeah. Giddy and excited were we.  Happy happy happy.  I was genuinely surprised...several friends had done the "omg do you think he's going to propose when he gets back!?" thing, and I had actually managed to shut those thoughts out of my mind.  I was just happy that I was going to pick him up and that we were going to go home together.  In hindsight, I probably should have been suspicious, but I had succeeded in convincing myself to just be happy he was home and not to think about a potential proposal.  You know, as to not set myself up for disappointment or something. While I still can't believe I was so surprised, I'm glad I was, because that was sure fun.

fat and happy

The drive home was full of giggles (from my side of the car) and hand holding, feeling like the newly-engaged people we were.  We stopped by our favorite fruit stand and headed home to relax (it had been a long day for both of us).

And then...not even 5 days later, this happened.

HELLOOOOOO DIAMOND!

In the five minutes between changing for Pilates and leaving for Pilates, he asked me to play a game of cards.  Again, totally unsuspecting (maybe I'm just gullible) little ole me said sure.  I mean, he had just taught me a new game the night before, and I had time to squeeze in a round or two.  I did think it was weird that he was making me shuffle the deck (why didn't he just do it?), but when I reached for it there was a shiny black engagement-ring-sized box on the table.  

another angle of le ring. so sparkly.

Now I have a huge freaking rock beautiful sparkly giant truly wonderful engagement ring on my finger, in addition to the beautiful one carved just for me out of wood from the Sierras (not currently wearing it due to some fears of ruining it).  I am planning to coat the wooden one with some sort of protective shellack or something (any product suggestions? let me know!) so I can keep it forever..it looks really good as a necklace, btw.  And the diamond ring? Custom-ordered the day after we returned from Yosemite, it is perfect and unique and I love it so.  The jeweler down the street who made it can even make a wedding band to go with it, and I feel so fancy I could just barf.  Just kidding, no barfing. Just squealing.

I am a very lucky girl, with two engagement rings - both given to me in surprising ways.  Even luckier to be marrying the guy I love, my best friend, the one who makes me laugh daily.  He's a good one, that Will. 

Artsy fartsy shot of the rings, together in awesomeness.

If you don't understand the title, you obviously don't have this stuck in your head. If you do, hopefully it's stuck in your head now. You're welcome!

My heart is open

Suzanne is a friend of mine in the blogosphere. She and I have been blog buddies for a few years; I feel like I know her (ok, just a little. not in a creepy way).


She posted today, and emailed me directly, about a close friend who recently lost both of her babies soon after birth.  The family is struggling, and Suzanne is hosting a fundraiser to help cover their hospital bills, lost income, and costs back at home.  While a small donation certainly won't heal their emotional wounds, it might help ease the financial strain that they are facing.


Suzanne has written a beautiful post, which includes photos and a message from her friend (the mother), and more information about the family and how you can help.  I encourage you to check it if you have a moment.  She has also gotten several great companies to sponsor the fundraiser, and she is offering entries to win a ton of cool prizes if you donate and help spread the word.


It's not often that I use this space to ask for help on behalf of myself or a friend, but I felt compelled to share.  I can't even imagine what they must be going through, but I want to help however I can.  I've made a donation to the Love to Zaria fundraiser, and I've added a badge to my sidebar to make it easy to donate if you feel so moved.


Thanks for listening.  

How Not to Get a Job

A quickie little post to tide you over until I post a big, photo-laden post about the proposal...

I've been helping our CEO hire for one of our open positions at Disqus, and I've been absolutely horrified (and ok, entertained) by some of the atrocious cover letters in my inbox.  I remember going through the same thing last year at Fantasy, and it never fails to make me just a little bit sad.

That said, I thought I'd offer a little advice (or anti-advice, really) -- How Not To Get A Job 

• Capitalize random words in the middle of your sentences.
• Use the wrong job title in your cover letter. The more times the better!
• Better yet, don't include a cover letter at all!
• Write entire paragraphs with no punctuation.
• Address your letter to "sirs".
• Have a 2 (or three!) page resume when you just graduated from college 6 months ago.
• Just copy paste chunks of your resume (or worse, our job posting) into your cover letter. No need to customize!
• Wax on and on about your "freakish obsession with grammar" but fail to recognize the difference between a comma and a semicolon only one sentence later. 

These are just a few of the lovely tips I have to offer.  I'd quote bits from cover letters, but that just seems mean.

Seriously, people.  If you want a job, learn to write.  And if you're applying for a job in recruiting, you should probably know how to submit a proper application.

Rant over.

I love a piano

We interrupt the "blogging about unpacking and also about how I have a bunch of giveaways to do and reviews to write and a salami party to plan but omg I'm buried in boxes and can't write that fun stuff yet" for some breaking news!

Last night, I saw an ad on Craigslist for a free piano. And then I saw this photo.

I decided that if there was anything I could do about it, this piano would be mine ours.  I talked to the guy who posted the listing this morning, and he said the only catch was that it had to be picked up by Wednesday at noon.  After confirming with my landlord that it was ok to have a piano, I started calling around to figure out how I would be able to get this piano to our house in under 24 hours.

I unsuccessfully posted a TaskRabbit Task, but thanks to Craigslist, I found movers who listed both pianos and last minute moves as things they could do. They asked for $180. I went to look at the piano to make sure I wanted it (you know, to make sure it wasn't broken or anything). I haggled the movers down to $160.  I'm meeting them at the piano's current home between 9-9:30am so they can load it in the truck and drive it to our place.  And then the piano will be mine ours.  I even cleared a little space for it in the formal living room room where I am currently keeping the giant stash one of the giant stashes of boxes yet to be unpacked.

"But Kim! There's no such thing as a free piano! Are you sure it's not terrible? Why would they just give away a perfectly good piano?"  That's why I checked it out tonight, genius.  :)  It actually sounds really nice.  It's in pretty good tune, though I'm sure it'll need to be tuned after the move.  The guys getting rid of it have to move (landlords are selling their house), and don't have room for it in the new place.  One of their old roommates brought the piano with him and left it in the house when he moved out, so they're not losing money on it or anything.  They just need it to be out of the house and can't take it.

Win for me us!  Of course, I am just assuming that Will is going to be happy about this (I'm sure he will be), because it's going to be a big surprise for him when he gets home (along with the Everything Is Unpacked Yay surprise? Right? That's still gonna happen?).  I might get to talk to him tomorrow, and I'll try my best not to say anything about it...hooray for surprises! And a piano!

Virtual House Tour! And An Update Update!

Hello! 

A fun little update...in the form of a video tour! What? I know! Just what you've always wanted! An awkward and slightly (hopefully not too) nauseating video of my new house! Yehaw! 

Oh yeah, apparently since I'm not a YouTube partner, I can't change the thumbnail for the video to be the first frame of the recording, which was KINDA the whole reason I decided to start outside the front door, but whatever youtubes. I could've added captions and stuff apparently, but I am far too lazy for that. I mean, the reason I did a video was that I am too lazy to take a bunch of pictures and upload them.  Besides, that's what awkward narration is for, right?  :)

I've also included a little update of that nasty "little" list I posted the other day. In case you're wondering how things are going.

• Thursday after work
• get a massage oh yeah woo hoo! massage cancelled due to therapist's migraine.  :(
  
• Google+ hangout with Aly decided not to due to amount of stuff to do.  :(
• unpack swag bag suitcase from BlogHer
• pack bag for LA (going home this weekend)
• mail something to Will. It's tricky, because he gets to his next resupply in 4 days, and the one after that only 6 days or so after that. So I have to get on it. And possibly pay for some quick shipping. Hopefully I don't have to do this Friday/Saturday, but I might have to. I mailed it. Because I am awesome. And he got it today, and it made him happy. I am the best ever.
• Friday after work
• fly home fell asleep on the plane before we even took off. Maybe I was tired?
• Saturday
• relax with the folks, maybe ship a package to Will? Send Lyz her post-blogher "left behind" package?
• not planned: deal with a bunch of crap going on with the final weekend of our office redesign/installation. boo. :(
• evening dinner with Los Angeles bloggy ladyfriends on my way out the door now! See you soon, A Serious Girl and Dopey LaRue (who is also here)! We'll miss you, Junket!
• Sunday
• Disneyland!
• Monday
• Fly home in the morning
• Disqus beach trip in the evening cancelled due to me not realizing the timing was terrible for everyone, which will actually be better because I should keep on unpacking.
• Tuesday after work
• pilates! (also yoga at work)
• unpack something! 
• move gift wrap stuff to guest room
• assemble kitchen cart, assuming it's arrived? maybe wait for a friend to help with this one.
• do some laundry? I can only assume I'll have a ton by then.
• Wednesday after work
• ballet...hopefully I'll find my shoes by then shoes = found!
• dinner with a visiting friend (Hi, Rachel)
• unpack? assemble kitchen cart?
• decide whether to hire a TaskRabbit to help with furniture assembly
• Thursday after work
• happy hour officewarming party fun times at work
• Reed flies in
• Friday
• take the day off work, spa day! I have a feeling this will be much-needed.
• evening at IKEA :)
• main closet organization?
• dinner at Biere or Homeroom?
• Saturday
• brunch? 
• pick up stuff I bought from Steve & Kate's Camp in El Cerrito
• Target run?
• unpack, assemble IKEA furniture (bookcase, dresser, tv stand)? 
• Taskrabbit the assembly while we unpack?
• reorganize office/guest room furniture?
• dinner at Biere or Homeroom?
• Sunday
• unpack
• Reed flies home
• haircut
• Monday after work
• NOTHIN BUT UNPACKING!
• Tuesday after work
• pilates (also yoga at work)
• unpack 
• make sure things are tidy enough for the housekeepers to come tomorrow
• Wednesday after work
• ballet 
• walk around the house, marveling at how clean it suddenly is (hopefully)
• unpack - can I please be done unpacking by this time?
• Thursday after work
• office managers meetup night?
• Friday
• drive to Yosemite to pick up Will!
• Sara B concert at Shoreline cancelled because Sara isn't performing after all, due to conflicts with The Sing Off's schedule, boo hoo, but less stressful
• sleep over in San Carlos?
• Saturday
• Monterey Bay Aquarium with Katherine - and Will!
• Sunday
• lounge around all day with Will, finally.
• Sleep.

A Not So Quickie Update

Project: Unpack Before Will Gets Back From The JMT is well underway, despite its lengthy title (and despite the curveball he threw me...he's coming home a week early!).

I've made lists of things I need to buy, and with the help of a few friends, have actually gotten quite a bit of unpacking done. Dude, I did like, 5 boxes tonight. Because I like to organize my brain in lists, here's a little list of to-do's. Warning: it's long. This is the next two weeks of my life. Starting with...tomorrow.

• Thursday after work
• get a massage oh yeah woo hoo!
• Google+ hangout with Aly
• unpack swag bag suitcase from BlogHer
• pack bag for LA (going home this weekend)
• mail something to Will. It's tricky, because he gets to his next resupply in 4 days, and the one after that only 6 days or so after that. So I have to get on it. And possibly pay for some quick shipping. Hopefully I don't have to do this Friday/Saturday, but I might have to. 
• Friday after work
• fly home
• Saturday
• relax with the folks, maybe ship a package to Will? Send Lyz her post-blogher "left behind" package?
• evening dinner with Los Angeles bloggy ladyfriends
• Sunday
• Disneyland!
• Monday
• Fly home in the morning
• Disqus beach trip in the evening
• Tuesday after work
• pilates!
• unpack something! 
• move gift wrap stuff to guest room
• assemble kitchen cart, assuming it's arrived? maybe wait for a friend to help with this one.
• do some laundry? I can only assume I'll have a ton by then.
• Wednesday after work
• ballet...hopefully I'll find my shoes by then
• dinner with a visiting friend (Hi, Rachel)
• unpack? assemble kitchen cart?
• Thursday after work
• happy hour officewarming party fun times at work
• Reed flies in
• Friday
• take the day off work, spa day! I have a feeling this will be much-needed.
• evening at IKEA :)
• main closet organization?
• dinner at Biere or Homeroom?
• Saturday
• brunch? 
• pick up stuff I bought from Steve & Kate's Camp in El Cerrito
• Target run?
• unpack, assemble IKEA furniture (bookcase, dresser, tv stand)? 
• Taskrabbit the assembly while we unpack?
• reorganize office/guest room furniture?
• dinner at Biere or Homeroom?
• Sunday
• unpack
• Reed flies home
• haircut
• Monday after work
• NOTHIN BUT UNPACKING!
• Tuesday after work
• pilates
• unpack 
• make sure things are tidy enough for the housekeepers to come tomorrow
• Wednesday after work
• ballet 
• walk around the house, marveling at how clean it suddenly is (hopefully)
• unpack - can I please be done unpacking by this time?
• Thursday after work
• office managers meetup night?
• Friday
• drive to Yosemite to pick up Will!
• Sara B concert at Shoreline
• sleep over in San Carlos?
• Saturday
• Monterey Bay Aquarium with Katherine.
• Sunday
• lounge around all day with Will, finally.
• Sleep.

Unpacking schedule may vary based on my mood.  Things to unpack: pots and pans (waiting on kitchen cart), books (waiting on 2nd bookshelf), movies (waiting on tv stand), games, tech crap, office stuff, canned food, dresser stuff...and I feel like there are more things but I don't want to walk around the living room taking inventory right now.

I think it's reasonable, though looking at the list makes me feel a little crazy.  I can do it!!?

PS no plans (well, besides Tues Pilates and Weds ballet) the week after this list of wonders...except oh wait, that next weekend we fly to Washington for a wedding, and the one after that we go to Colorado, and the one after that probably a wedding in Santa Barbara (travel plans permitting), and then we will both crash and sleep for a few days?


I feel lucky to have so much awesome in my life, but um, am I a crazy person?  Seriously, please let me know.  I'll be in bed.

The first post-BlogHer11 post

So BlogHer was fun.  It was really fun. And now I am well stocked on Allegra and Command Hooks and Glad containers and all sorts of goodies.  I had a ridiculous amount of fun with Tricia, Lyz and Suki.

Obviously.

We made friends, and I'll do some shout outs when I go through and organize the gigundo stack of business cards I collected (like a boss). I didn't use my digital camera once, but I took a TON of iphone photos - tweeting #blogher11 was what all the cool kids were doing, and y'all know I'm the coolest of kids (ha). 

Some favorites include:

• Being socially rejected
• Eye Candy at the Expo
• The joys of walking
• A Serious Sleepy Girl
• Last night at the conference
• Drunk Ricki Lake

Yeah, the conference was fun (did I mention that already?). We've been waiting for 4 hours at the airport for our severely delayed flight, but we're going to be boarding soon and oh man, I'm gonna sleep on my new Tempur-pedic travel pillow. 

More posts to come, with lots of giveaways and updates and blog love.  For now, I could use a drink. And a nap.

Yosemite

I love Yosemite.  I've been going there practically since I was born (there are pictures of me there as a newborn, when my parents were not much older than I am now) and I feel a sort of calmness when I'm there. Even the drive there fills me with a sense of centeredness, I feel myself start to loosen up and give in to nature.  I know that sounds sort of hippy dippy.  It's hard to explain...I guess it's the closest thing I have to a religious/spiritual connection of some sort.  When I go to the park, I'm happy. I could stare at the river or rest under the trees for hours, breathing in the piney air and listening to the sounds of rushing water.  I love it.

When I heard about the record snow levels this year, and the resulting record high water levels, I knew I had to get there to see it.  Will was planning a camping trip for early August (this weekend), but I am (obviously) at BlogHer and unable to go (sadface, but not totally, because BlogHer is awesome), so I convinced him to join me on an impromptu trip to the park.

We didn't have a reservation, and my only requirement was to see the waterfalls. Specifically Vernal Falls, because in my mind that was an easy walk with a good payoff (oops, I forgot the part where it's a steep uphill walk that is not as short as I thought - oh well, worth it).  We left early, around 7:15am if I remember correctly, and got to the park around 10:30, right around when the Crane Flat campground was opening. For the first time all summer. We got a spot, and though it wasn't the *best* spot in the world, it was a campsite within the park's boundaries, and I was happy.

We made a little list of things we wanted to do, and every single thing on that list was vetoed by the park rangers who told us the river was too high and fast for rafting, Hardin meadow was still soggy and snow-patchy, and the bridge at Hetch Hetchy was closed due to too much water coming off the waterfalls.  We decided to go for North Dome, a strenuous hike, but one I was gearing myself up for.  Except when we got to the trailhead, a group of hikers told us they had gone about 1.5 miles in only to be stopped by a huge snow bank covering the trail.  Not wanting to lose the trail (and because at this point, it was already around 4pm), we drove onward towards Lembert Dome (at the suggestion of the hikers).  We stopped at various points along the way, whenever we felt like stopping.  It was new for us, not planning and just kind of going with the flow.  I'm glad we did it.  It felt good to be out there just the two of us, driving and stopping and admiring this beautiful part of the park that we had never visited together.

The slideshow below features around 60 of my favorite photos from that weekend (we took over 300). If you don't want to watch the whole thing, you can click here to just browse the photos on PicasaWeb (and leave comments too!).

Checking In From BlogHer

I'm writing this from the plane, on my way down to my hotel room in San Diego for the 2011 BlogHer Conference.  It's been quite a week, and it's looking like this will be quite a weekend...and quite a next month or so as well.

If you've been following along on Twitter, you know that Will is in Yosemite, getting ready to hike the approximately 220 miles of the John Muir Trail, which begins at Happy Isles (in Yosemite Valley) and ends at the top of Mount Whitney. He'll be gone for about 3.5 weeks, and I'm doing my best to fill my schedule so the time passes quickly!  We were up until about 2am last night getting his gear packed, and arose at 5am today to shave his head before his friends picked him up. I got to sleep again from about 6:30-9:30am after saying goodbye (ps - goodbyes are hard), but was fighting the sleepy eyelids as the plane drifted through sunny skies.

Now I'm sitting on my bed in the hotel room at BlogHer, waiting for Tricia to arrive (our 3rd roommate, Lyz, doesn't get in until late). I just got here, and I'm already a little overwhelmed.  In that excited way, of course, but still a little overwhelmed. This is a HUGE hotel (and very fancy, I might add), with restaurants and stores and all that jazz, and I'm a little worried about getting lost running from event to event. I hope we scheduled enough buffer/travel time between things! We have a nice view out the window, of a hotel (maybe?) whose name I can't make out, but it's pretty odd looking.  I think the sign says San Diego Wine & Chfaslkfj Club? Fallbrook Dining Somethingorother? And I want my roooooooomies to get here!


The next month and a half will include a visit from Tricia (post-conference), a trip home and a day at Disneyland, a visit from Reed, an officewarming party at work, SaraB at Shoreline, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and as many pilates/dailey method/ballet classes as I can squeeze in before I drive either to Yosemite or Mammoth to pick Will and his hiking partner up from the end of the trail. Oh, and we're going to some weddings and a football game in Colorado. And I'm probably forgetting something.  Oof!

For now, vacation BlogHer!

I'm hoping to post a few things while I'm at the conference this weekend, including some beautiful pictures from our recent trip to Yosemite (in honor of Will's trip) and a massively awesome giveaway.  Stay tuned!

Teaser pic:

Will and I on our way into Yosemite Valley a few weeks ago.

Oh Dang

Ok, so there's this thing.  When life is boring, I don't feel much like blogging.  When life is busy, I don't have time.  Such is life.  No apologies; I've just been busy living.  And apparently Blogger got a redesign while I was away. I'm not sure how I feel about it (I'm always skeptical of changes to my favorite techthings) but it seems fine? I guess? It more closely resembles the new look of Google's products, which I find kind of annoying (too blocky, too much white space), but oh well. It works.  Anyway...

There are lots of things in the pipeline (aka in my brain) that I want to blog about, and hopefully I'll actually get to it one of these days.  To give you an idea of what's been going on:

• We went to Yosemite and saw the record-high water levels. Definitely will blog about this later.
• We went camping at Sardine Lake over 4th of July weekend - highly recommended!
• I hired a team of designers at work, and am currently in the midst of a crazy (awesome) office redesign project. 
• My lemon tree pot is growing these little weeds, but they're so pretty I don't have the heart to pull them out. The flower pot is a quarter dead, but I keep forgetting to pull out the dead parts. My herb garden seems a little unhappy, but I don't know what to do. This probably deserves a whole blog post.
• Will is leaving a week from Thursday for a 3.5 week hike (he's doing the John Muir Trail).
• I am leaving a week from Thursday for BlogHer in San Diego. I'm way excited, but I feel like I haven't really started preparing yet. I did make some "these will do for now" business cards though.
• My friend Nick is working on a gorgeous new blog design for this little space. Stay tuned!
• And oh yeah, we signed a lease! Pictures below.  We move in a week, so, yeah. Things are a little nuts!

I have much to blog about, and I'm sure I've forgotten a thing or two, but I felt like it was time for a little update. Things are going to be crazy around here for the next 6 weeks or so, but I'll try to get back into regular blogging? Maybe? I'll try to try? We'll see?