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!

Look, I made a hat

Starting on a hat..
Finishing a hat...
Look, I made a hat...
Where there never was a hat


Oh Sondheim, you're always there for me with an appropriate quotation.  Even when it really doesn't have much to do with what I'm actually saying.


A while ago, I mentioned that I was knitting a hat for Patternworks’ Chemo Cap donation project.  It was a new pattern for me, and while it wasn’t super difficult, there were aspects that required some thinking (I had forgotten some ribbing details, like whether to start with a knit or a purl stitch at the beginning of each row…I really need to remember that better). I thought I’d share some pictures, because I think it turned out really well.

The hat.  I really like how the border looks a little knobbly.

They say when you make something by hand, you're supposed
to leave a mistake.  This shows God (or something) that you
don't think you're perfect. I think. I just made a mistake and
didn't know how to fix it. Plus, a little error brings the handmade,
humanelement to it, right?

Love the way it looks from the top.

I even think it looks cool inside out.

All ready to send!  And yes, I sent it on time!

Plant Killer

they look ok from here...

I know I don’t have the greenest thumb in the world, but I never realized I was such a plant killer.  When we moved into this condo, I had grand plans of a patio garden – especially when the landlords left us three large pots and a huge bag of mulch.  Things started off well enough, my zucchini seeds grew into little sprouts, and my squash starter from Whole Foods seemed happy.  I bought tomato cages to help support the droopy tomato plants that had grown on their own after seeds fell from an upstairs neighbor long before we moved in.  I planted basil and a collection of other herbs in the window box my dad got me over a year ago.  Things were looking good.

And then…not so much.  The zucchini grew so quickly that it overcrowded the pot, and slowly died.  Whether this is due to the salt-air from the lake nearby, my lack of confidence in my pruning abilities (I probably should have uprooted a few of the plants to give them more space), or the fact that zucchini probably would rather be in the ground than in a pot, I do not know.  But the plants are sad.  I would come home from work to find them droopy in the heat, though they’d perk right back up again with some water and shade.  The leaves started to succumb to the fuzzy mold, though I sprayed them with edible-plant-specific antifungal spray.  The flowers bloomed in beautiful abundance only to wither and die without ever yielding squash.  I should have just plucked the blossoms and eaten them (stuffed with goat cheese) when I had the chance.

yum yum yum

They looked totally fine (albeit a little crowded) at this point!

The other plants didn’t fare so well either.  The squash I purchase as a starter also fell victim to the fuzz mold, though it did bear one tiny squash (which I never picked and ate because I was hoping it would continue to grow.  It didn’t.  It died).  The tomato vines withered, though I can’t tell if they are actually worse than they were before I got involved, or if it’s just more noticeable now that the vines are on display instead of hanging over the edge of the pot. The lemon tree seems to be doing ok, and the garden center lady at OSH said I shouldn’t have to re-plant it until next season (which is also when it will supposedly bear fruit). 

I don’t know why I’ve failed so heartily at this.  I always thought I was a good gardener, though I’m not sure where this confidence came from, as I’ve never actually had a garden of my own.  Perhaps it’s because as a child, I spent so many happy weekend days at the local nursery.  We would look at the model train set, wander through the beautiful, fragrant rows of flowers, take solace in the misty greenhouse on hot days, and of course, eat salty popcorn – they had one of those awesome vintage-y popcorn machines, and the popcorn was free (this was beyond thrilling to me as a kid).  We would usually go home with a flat or two of flowers and spend a few hours planting them in the yard.  I loved this weekend activity, and because of this, I suppose I just naively thought I had a green thumb.  Alas.

Perhaps growing food is different from growing flowers, and perhaps this spring, I’ll try my hand at flowers instead.  For now, I welcome any advice or tips you might have for my struggling “garden”.  Here are a ton of pictures.

zucchini plant. overcrowded?
you can see hints of the fuzzy mildew stuff.

sad, droopy leaves

but they totally perk right back up!

sad fuzzy mold on my squash starter. though it did grow a bit.

tiniest squash ever.

ugh.

so so sad.

womp womp womp

Christmastime is Here

Merry Christmas!  My Christmas (and late Chanukkah) gift to you is six straight days of new posts!  They're all scheduled and ready to go, so enjoy! See ya next year!

We are a multi-holiday household

 I’ve already talked about the Chanukkah side of this holiday season, so now it’s time for a little Christmas.  Since it's Christmas Day. Because we have nice, high ceilings in our new place, we could get a large tree this year.  Totally awesome.

Our tree is 7 feet tall, and we purchased it at Whole Foods (yeah, ok, but we heard the trees were better than the ones at the lot, and they smelled great, and Whole Foods is 4 blocks from apartment which meant less distance to drive with a tree tied to the roof of my car). 

I recently bought a remote control for the lights, so now we don’t have to crawl around behind the tree to turn the lights off at night, which means no more knocking ornaments and tinsel off the tree.  It also means I can turn the lights on and off from the couch.  Not that I’ve done that.  That would be silly.  Of course.

We also hung stockings (by the chimney with care), though I don’t know if St. Nicholas will be coming by our place this year, since we’ll be in Washington.  They look festive, anyway.

As I’ve done for the last two years, I got out the materials to make a wreath and didn’t make one.  Once I get out the wreath frame and the wire, I realize how much work it will take to turn the spare branches (discarded from the bottom of the tree when putting it in the stand) into a wreath.  Also, what do you do about the branches drying out?  Do you spray them with water occasionally? Do they just last without water?  So many questions!  Perhaps next year I’ll make one out of fabric scraps or felt or something.  That seems like it could be fun (and long-lasting).  Maybe I should have a wreath-making party...oooh, crafty ideas!

I love the warm and coziness of this time of year.  Making a fire, cuddling up on the couch, drinking hot cider.  Turning off all the lights and looking at the tree as it shimmers and twinkles.  Unwrapping the ornaments and remembering where they came from and smelling the tree.  Oh yes, I am a tree-smeller.  And I do love Christmas music.  Even the ones about Jesus and all that – I’m not big on the religious aspect (the whole “I’m Jewish” thing), but the music is so pretty.  And there’s nothing like a little Bing Crosby to fill a girl with holiday cheer.

Here's a slideshow of our Christmas decorations...it’s all so delightful, isn’t it?

PS: here's a picture of the tree at Will's parents' house. I think it's 9 feet tall.

Chanukkah

It can be spelled in many ways, but I prefer the one that uses as many letters as possible.  While this really isn’t a major Jewish holiday, it gives Jewish American kids something to celebrate this time of year.  Though I envied my friends with their Christmas trees and lights, I have fond memories of lighting the menorah and making latkes while listening to Chanukah at Home (only the best CD ever for this time of year…probably not as great without the nostalgia though, fair warning).  This post is rather late, almost a month after the holiday has passed, but I’d still like to share my holiday with you.

Now, I have some very strong feelings about the use of the word “holiday” this time of year, because in general, I feel like “holiday” is just a PC way to say “Christmas,” and I really think that if you mean Christmas you should just say it.  This blogger says it better than I did (here here here here and here).  I’ve always loved Christmas, even though I didn’t celebrate it until Will and I started dating (hey Jews – want to settle that Christmas Envy? Date a goy!), and it always felt so hollow when people wished me Happy Holidays with a card that featured a jolly guy in a red suit (uh, hi. Santa doesn’t come to my house. Thanks for rubbing it in).  It’s not that I wanted them to wish me a Merry Christmas, because I knew that wasn’t my holiday, but there just didn’t really seem like a good way for a little Jew girl to be involved with the mainstream commercialism of Christmastime (though The Nutcracker has been a big part of December for me for as long as I can remember).  As much as I wanted the tree and the Santa and all that, I knew that just wasn’t our thing.  And while I know the non-Jewish people try, the Happy Hanukah wishes that come weeks after the holiday has ended just reinforce that nobody knows what to do with a Jew at Christmastime.  Especially since Chanukkah comes at a different time each year (dang Jewish calendar, so confusing).  So I sang the carols and ate candy canes, because this time of year is all about the Joy of the Season for most people, and I like to be swept up in the festivity.  But I don’t forget where I come from.

Though I happily celebrate both holidays these days, I do love Chanukkah (what’s not to love about the Festival of Light and the story of the Maccabees’ miraculous victory over Antiochus’ army?), and I’ve amassed a little collection of decorations…dreidels and a star of david made of Popsicle sticks and the like.  This year, I got a few more and had a lovely time decorating the apartment. Five days after Thanksgiving.  Oy. 

Don’t know how Jews decorate for the holidays?  There’s no standard, like a Christmas tree and stockings, but these are the types of decorations I grew up with, so this is how I do it.  Enjoy!  And don’t worry; you’ll see pictures of our Christmas decorations too.

Please ignore (or note) the pumpkins.  Yes, our Fall decor was
still up when we hung the Chanukkah banner. Granted, it was
only 5 days after Thanksgiving.

The first night of Chanukkah, using up the
candles I bought in Israel three years ago.

The last night of Chanukkah.  Note that by
this point, we had gotten rid of the pumpkins.

hanging foil dreidel - there's also one made of
tissue paper.

Our attempt to make something fried during Chanukkah.
We were going for meatballs.  They ended up becoming
mashed-and-fried-meat because we don't know how to fry meat.

To Do: Procrastinate

Why is it that even when I make a lovely little to do list, I still put things off until the last minute? This weekend, I wrote my to do list up on the blog...in order to guilt myself into doing things quickly, I suppose.  Here's what's left, with commentary!

• pack for Washington - I tried to start this tonight, I really did.  I packed the suitcase of gifts (the largest suitcase we own, which is now almost entirely filled with presents) and even had to wrap a few (which meant organizing my new ribbon container - yes).  I started to get my clothes out to pack, but first I had to fold and put away the two loads of laundry I did last night.  And then I was tired.  And indecisive, because it was already after 11pm.  So, as always, I will be packing the night before I leave (and not getting home until around 10:30 or so because I'm going to the theatre tomorrow night).
• write 20SB blog exchange post (by the 20th! aah!) - Fortunately (or unfortunately), my blog exchange partner is also running behind schedule.  We decided to do our exchange tomorrow instead of today.  Have I finished (or started) it yet?  What do you think?  I think I know what I'm doing tomorrow morning...at least I know what I'm writing about.
• write pipelined blog posts (you know what you are - maybe from the plane) - yeah, this will likely be done from the plane. I'm guessing my flight won't have wifi, but maybe I can upload my pictures, select the ones I want, and write posts up in Word to be copy-pasted at a later time. Or I'll fall asleep on the plane. Ideally, I'd like to write them all and schedule them to post every few days while I'm out of town.  Wouldn't it be funny if my most regular posting happened while I was out of town?  Har de har har hilarious.  But seriously, there are at least 5 in the pipeline.  (and PS how cool is scheduling posts? For example, I am writing this at 11:54pm, but it will be posted tomorrow morning, so y'all don't think I'm a loon staying up late writing about how I'm procrastinating. Oh wait, blew my cover.  Oh well. I love scheduling posts, and I do it often.  When I actually write posts, that is.  And we've come full circle.  Sort of.)
• put away bedding from a sleepover a week ago - I put away the sheets and pillow, and forgot that the comforter was sitting next to me on the couch.  Oh, hi comforter. How are you?  I'll bring it into the bedroom with me when I get up.  I promise.  

On the upside, I bought a remote control for the Christmas tree lights, so now I don't have to crawl around behind the tree to turn the lights on and off!  Win!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year...for making lists

Ok, folks.  You know what's coming.  I still have 5 blog posts in the pipeline, more photos to upload than I care to count, and an amount of things to do that make me start to get that my-chest-is-a-little-tight feeling.  So, it's time for the blog post listing the things I need to so that I feel like I have a little control over the situation.  Heeeere we go!

• shop for 1.5 presents
• wrap 2.5 presents
• laundry: 2 loads
• play with friends' baby and decorate gingerbread cookies
• pack for Washington
• find someone to drive me to the airport at 9am on Wednesday?
• write 20SB blog exchange post (by the 20th! aah!)
• write pipelined blog posts (you know what you are - maybe from the plane)
• put away bedding from a sleepover a week ago
• put away dishes, clean up kitchen
• figure out what to do with a quart of 2% milk (won't have time to use it before I leave)

Now it's time to eat some pudding!

Rainboots' Law

I have this theory.  Basically, it states that while I am wearing rainboots, it shall not rain.  Seriously.  I am not kidding about this.  The weather report says that it is currently raining and has been all day.  Not true.  Why?  Because I decided to put on my rainboots this morning.  This happens every time there is a rain prediction - I wear my galoshes and water fails to fall from the sky.  Even when, like today, there is a 60% chance of rain.  But should I choose to ignore the 30% chance of rain and wear sneakers?  You better believe it will pour.

I know it will start raining again as soon as I change into my party shoes for the company holiday party tonight.  Because that is Rainboots' Law.


Side note: I discovered a tear in my left boot when I got to work today.  Does this mean I have an excuse to get a new pair?  You know, in case it's supposed to rain?

yes, that is a bit of pink fuzzy sock under there.

rip.

Ed note: 2:59pm.  

It started raining about 10 minutes ago.  Did I call that or what?

A Winner!

A hearty congratulations goes out to Cath Curtis (a truly beautiful writer - and woman), who is the winner of my most recent drawing for a $30 CSNStores gift certificate!  Congrats, Cath!

Gratitude

I know I'm a little late for Thanksgiving, but tonight I've been thinking about gratitude and how thankful I am for so many things in my life.  I am in a joyous little mood tonight, so I thought I'd share.

• Having the luxury to do laundry for free in our apartment...so when I am facing a pile of laundry that looks like this, and suddenly it's after 11pm, I can just say, "Oh what the hell? I'll leave those clothes in the dryer until the morning."  (PS I used to be so crazy type A that I would not be able to sleep until they were all out, folded and put away. I am getting better at not caring so much.)
• Lighting my menorah with candles I bought in Israel three years ago, even though this year I'll use them up.  Using a menorah that was handed down to me by my aunt.
• Friendships that don't age, and friendships that withstand the test of "will we be friends in real life?".  A few months ago, I reconnected with a friend from high school, and it was like no time had passed.  We're both a little older, a little wiser and all that, but getting together with her made me very happy that we're living in the same city again.  Over Thanksgiving, A Serious Girl and I had an epic 3 hour lunch at an awesome little British pub down the street from our parents' houses.  We grew up in the same town, went to the same high school (though not at the same time), and yet we were meeting in person for the first time (well, ok, except for an awkward introduction after a play in high school, which we each remember differently).  Connected through a beloved teacher's incredible email update list, we became fast friends and pen pals, and we got along so swimmingly last week that we even forgot to take a photo for posterity. And then this week, I reconnected with three friends whom I hadn't seen in years. Three.  In one week.  I love them all, and it was just so lovely to pick up right where we left off.  This was a long bullet point, but seriously, my heart is happy.
• Homemade soup.  Thanks Jacqui; I finally made it.  I can't find it on your blog right now, but it's the one with the spinach and artichokes and tortellini and white beans and oh my goodness it was delicious.  There are leftovers galore, too.  
• The feeling I get when I come home from work with an unusual amount of energy and decide to wrap presents,  clean the house, start laundry, and make soup from scratch.  I feel very lucky that these types of activities relax me, and that coming home and nesting gives me such a sense of calm and happiness.  
• Having cuts on my fingers from diving into some ridiculously good crab last night.  It's such a silly thing to complain about that I can't even do it. I have two painful slices on my thumbs, which I got when I devised a brilliant tactic for getting crab meat out of the legs: pressing down firmly with both thumbs until the shell snapped open.  Hey, it worked.  And it was so worth it.
• A great new job with great coworkers.  I can honestly say that I am proud of the work my team is doing and that I enjoy going to work every day.  I am excited about the work that I'm doing, and I feel like I've found a really good fit.  It feels...good.
• Random luck...I've won two blog contests in the last couple of weeks: a basket of kitchen gadgets and accessories from Food on the Table, and an XBox 360 with a Kinect gaming console and a racing game from Dooce (and I actually know one of the other winners!).  I mean, what?  When did I become Miss Luck all of a sudden?  I feel like I should buy a lotto ticket.
• Sharing a home with the guy I love.  Last night, we opened our first Chanukkah presents and lit the candles together, and this weekend we'll get our Christmas tree.  He's learned the blessing to say while we light the candles, and we're pulling our advent calendar out of the holiday decoration bin.  I love combining our family traditions and being home together, and I just feel incredibly lucky. 

Ok, sappy time is over.  I have so many things I want to write about that I literally have placeholder posts waiting to be written.  I could complain about not having time, but really, I'm lucky that I have been having such a wonderfully full life lately.  Insert happy sigh here.  Time to curl up with Harry Potter (I'm re-reading book 7) for a little bit before I fall asleep.

Don't forget to enter the latest giveaway to win $30 from CSNStores (y'all know I love them) before the weekend is over!

$30 CSN Stores Giveaway!

CSNStores is graciously offering me another giveaway opportunity!  If you're a regular reader, you probably know the drill by now, but in case you don't know, CSNStores is a large network of online stores, where you can buy things from sling backpacks to telescopes.  Personally, I love their giant collection of cookware (I've gotten all sorts of things from cookware.com myself).

To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment on this blog post!  I'm feeling open-ended today, so you can leave any sort of comment you want, no theme or question of the day.  Happy Chanukkah (starts at sundown tomorrow night, December 1*)!

If you want to enter multiple times (no limit on number of entries!), here's what you do:

• Comment on this post (required, 1 entry)
• Mention this giveaway on Twitter, Facebook, or anywhere else with a link to this post, then come back here and leave a second (or third or fourth) comment to tell me that you tweeted (1 entry each)

A winner will be chosen at random by the Random Number Generator.  I'll be picking a winner on Monday, so please comment by 11:59pm on Sunday, December 5th.

If you are interested in doing a giveaway on your blog, email me (kimskitchensink [at] gmail [dot] com) and I might be able to hook you up with CSN.

*for the last month or so, I have been under the impression that Chanukkah starts on Thursday night.  Oops. It really starts Wednesday night.  Guess I'm decorating tonight!!

Hello, Custom Domain!

At long last, I have upgraded my domain name.  What was once www.kimskitchensink.blogspot.com is now the much simpler www.kimskitchensink.com.  And thanks to Google, it was supremely easy.  File this one under "These are the reasons I love Google."  Also under "It was really that easy?" and "It was cheap!" and "I am one happy camper."

I've been thinking of making this switch for some time, but was too lazy or intimidated or something to actually do it.  I thought it would be complicated, and expensive, and hey, what's so bad about having "blogspot" in the url of your blog anyway?  The tipping point?  I'm going to be attending some bloggy networky types of events soon, and I'm making some fancy business cards so that I can connect with other bloggers or potential sponsors or people who want me to review their products or who want to give stuff away to you guys.  Because that sounds like fun.  Anyway, the blogspot-inclusive url was too long to fit on the card, and it looked messy, and I think I'm ready to step it up a notch (is that even a phrase?).  Go blog.

If you blog using blogger and you want a custom domain, just read the instructions here.  It was seriously as easy as telling Google what name I wanted, agreeing to pay $10/year, and waiting about 15 minutes for it to become active.

If you read this blog via RSS feed, you may need to update your feed subscription. I think it should still work as-is (that is, if you were subscribed before, you should still get the feed without having to change anything), but I don't know for sure.  Let me know if you have problems and I'll figure it out.

But hey! What about those events you mentioned?  Why, do you want to join me?  Ok!

1. BlogHer Holiday Meetup (San Francisco, December 7, 2010)
2. FoodFete  (San Francisco, January 17, 2011)
3. BlogHer 2011 (San Diego, August 5-6, 2011)!

Are you attending any of these?  Let me know!

PS - know what else is new this week?  Disqus!  We launched v4 of our website and product...it's a complete overhaul, and it's pretty exciting.  Personally, I like the sweet, interactive design element on the new homepage, because I am easily amused.  The backend and admin changes are also great though - for complete info on the new stuff, read our CEO's blog post.  If you're not using Disqus for commenting on your site, and you want to, what are you waiting for?  It's pretty easy to set up, and our customer service team is supremo excellente if you have troubles.  Plus, I can see them from my desk. 

And that's all, folks!

Brownies

I have a confession to make.  I'm not much one for recipes.  I love to read them, don't get me wrong.  I read food blogs (which more often than not contain, oh, recipes) like the food I'm reading about will actually fill my belly.  I pore over cookbooks and the recipes in the back of Real Simple, dreaming of the dishes I'll create.  But if I'm being honest?  Most of the time, when I cook, I just make things up as I go along.  I gather information, ideas, inspiration from recipes, but when it comes down to hungry-time, more often than not, I don't have all of the ingredients on hand.  Or I'm just not quite in the mood for the thinking and the measuring and the reading involved with cooking from a recipe.

This might be why I have literally hundreds (tried to count to give you an accurate number, gave up) of untried recipes.  From Food Loves Writing, from Happy Jack Eats, from Hungry Girl from Smitten Kitchen.  From the 4+ years worth of Real Simple Magazines, of which I am finally ready to just let go.   Because you see, when the time comes to prepare food, I like to just let loose.  Yes, ok, I often use semi-pre-prepared items, though I'll admit to not being a huge fan of Sandra Lee (she scares me a little).  I guess what I'm saying is that I admire people who are able to cook 100% from scratch, beautifully recipe'd meals, I just don't always have the energy. And I'm ok with that.

Today had me thinking about self-acceptance.  I was asked to join a few colleagues in speaking to Berkeley Rep's current group of Fellows about our time in the program and how we transitioned into our lives and jobs afterwards.  I wanted to let them know that it's ok if your internship teaches you what you don't want out of a career (even if you have a great, fun, wonderful ole time while in it).  I remember vividly how difficult it was to reconcile a lifetime preparing for a career in the arts with the fact that I was about to start working in tech.  I wanted to impress upon them that they are building real, valuable marketable skills now, and that whether or not they decide to pursue careers in the craft to which they've so diligently harnessed themselves, having a theatre background will help.  I could go on and on on the merits of experience with the arts, arts education, and being the most holistically, well-rounded person you can be, but this is not the post for that.

This is the post for brownies (digression much?).  These are really good brownies.  Brownies made mostly from a box, with a little twist thrown in.  Because that's how I roll, when I want to fill my pretty new cake plate, and I need something to go with the pumpkin ice cream I just bought, and it's 9:00pm, and I just don't have the cocoa powder or the patience to make it from scratch.

I have only found this brownie mix at Costco.  It is worth a trip to Costco on a Sunday afternoon.  I added cinnamon and nutmeg because there are pumpkins on my countertop and I felt like making these brownies a little bit more...autumny.

pumpkins and brownies. delightful.

*PS: if you look carefully, you'll see something new hanging in the back of the shot.  That is, if you remember what our curtains looked like when we moved in.  There will be a whole post about that, don't you worry.

Update: brownie, pumpkin ice cream, and whipped cream.
Which I made from scratch. With cinnamon and vanilla.
Make of that what you will. It was delicious.  At midnight.

BlogHer: It's Official

See? It's official!

Ok dudes, I registered.  Officially.  I know the conference is not until August of 2011, and I know the Early Bird pricing is on sale until February, but I got an email today about how they do sometimes sell out, and how if you want to go, you should just buy the damn ticket already (I'm paraphrasing, here).  And since I just deposited my first paycheck from Lunchbox, I figure I should buy the ticket before I spend the money on something else.  Like food.  Or shoes.

Cause I promised myself that I'd use this money to pay for BlogHer.


If you are going, or planning on going, or wanting to go(ing), and you haven't filled out my awesome survey yet, please do!  Oh look, here it is again!  There are so many of you that I want to see and talk to and hug and cheers and learn with.  Let's do this!



Is it too early to book a hotel room?  BlogHer's website says it's not, and they have a special block room rate ($199/night), so fill out that form and let me know if you want to get in on some sharesies!  In a couple of weeks (arbitrary date: November 30), I'll send an email to anyone who signed up on the "I want to stay in communication with you about what you're doing at BlogHer '11" email list so we can start talking.  To each other.