Spring is here

Sorry to the family in Michigan:

A few things I want right now

There hasn't been a lot that I've been really loving this spring in terms of fashion, but here are a few things I think are particularly lust-worthy.

I have two black purses, but neither of them are quite right. They're either too big or too small, but this may be just right! I have a 15% off coupon for Hayden-Harnett and I'm really tempted. Maybe next month though.

Love this top. It's backordered until April 15, which actually isn't that far away now. I might have to buy it.

These I wish I could buy. But I can't really envision spending almost $200 on green peep-toe Mary Janes. Oof.

I really love the shape of this Eva Zeisel sauceboat. I'd use it as a catch-all for keys, not for sauce.

A domino magazine rant

There was a mass rant a few weeks ago on Decorno's blog (which I just found and now I'm hooked on) about domino magazine. It used to be so great when it first came out and still is one of the best home decor magazines around, especially for people that aren't 80, but lately it's gotten away from decor and instead has moved toward makeup and fashion and other stuff which most readers can (and do) find in other magazines (that do this much better than domino). So, the editor of domino chimed in on the rant and promised things would be getting better soon. So I was hopeful.

Until the magazine arrived.

I really wish I had a picture to show you. I'm not sure words adequately describe this spread and all its ridiculousness. There is a 3-page spread on organizing your purse. Not just organizing your purse, but "elegantly curating" it so that is "telegraphs both style and put-togetherness." What does this have to do with home decor, you ask? I'm not sure.

Then the article goes on to show "four impossibly chic ways" to organize your purse. Uhhh...okay....but do I care what the inside of my purse looks like? Not really.

Then they named the looks of the different organized-purse-combinations. So your purse can telegraph the image of a "High-End Bohemian," an "Executive Punk" (whaaa?), a "Girl About Town," or an "Art Student." (The introductory image unfortunately doesn't have a name, but the purse and its contents would set you back a mere $4,798, which includes a $3,275 Cartier pen.)

The "Executive Punk" look had me laughing out loud though. The descriptions of the items are particularly great. The makeup bag is "a posh stash for your smokey-eye arsenal--and even black nail polish." And the little pink notebook is "a neon holder for all your subversive musings." Because all the executives I know are super subversive.

I dunno. I just wish they'd move away from this bullshit and get back to what they're good at.

Week Two

We're now finishing up with Week Two of the Apartment Therapy Cure. The tasks this week were to clean the kitchen from top to bottom; create room for an "outbox"--a holding place for things you're thinking about getting rid of; clear one surface in your house and use the outbox; and fix one thing yourself.


Yesterday I took a huge box of books to the used bookstore and got rid of a bunch of foam leftover from my reupholstery project, a bunch of miscellaneous junk, and my old laptop from college.


Since I had the day off yesterday, I sanded and started to repaint the old kitchen cabinet doors, which will be repurposed in the pantry. Hopefully I'll have those done tomorrow so they'll be ready to hang. It's only taken me like two months to get to it.


This process is helping me realize that I'm the Queen of Unfinished Projects. I have a lot of ambition when it comes to my house and I get a lot done. But I get like 99% of a given project done, then feel satisfied enough, and then stop. So as a result, our house has more than its share of materials for these unfinished projects. I'm hoping these 8 weeks will help me get some of those projects done.


Last weekend I was able to finally finish reupholstering my chair. It's not the greatest job in the world, but I think it looks better than before.


Before (it was a yucky green color and the fabric was scratchy):



After (I'd maybe like to play around with the fabric near the arms to see if I can get it a bit tighter):

Our trash collectors are going to hate us

I've decided to participate in this Spring's 8-week Apartment Therapy Cure. (I know we live in a house and not in an apartment, but I don't think they're going to kick us out for that.)

I didn't really think our house was in too much need of help, especially since we've remodeled the master bathroom and the kitchen, but when I took photos of the house? Oh. my. god. We have a lot of stuff. I don't know if it's because we've lived here almost 4 years, or because we have pack-rat tendencies, but we've accumulated a lot. Far more than I ever remember purchasing.

This week's tasks were to:

1. make a complete list of repairs and solutions (see below)
2. vacuum and mop floors (today's project)
3. remove one item from the house and put it outside or donate it (I'm getting rid of my old stereo from high school and college)
4. buy fresh flowers (done)
5. sit for ten minutes in a part of your home that you never sit in for new perspective (done)
6. look into Earth friendly cleaning products (done).

So here's our to-do list. A lot of this is not going to get done in the 8 week cure, but I'm hoping to at least get rid of a lot of junk around the house and fix some things that have been bugging me.

1. Add hook to entry-way closet for scarves
2. Finish reupholstering living room chair
3. Buy a new entertainment center
4. Declutter bookshelf in living room
5. Refinish and install cabinet doors in pantry
6. Sell books to used book store and donate the rest to the library
7. Sell some cds and store the rest
8. Purchase organizer for gift wrap
9. Fix windows in guest room and office so they can be opened.
10. Insulate attic pull-down
11. Install new showerhead in guest bath
12. Install crown molding in guest room and office
13. Hem curtain in master bedroom
14. Install bamboo blind in kitchen
15. Install new screen doors
16. Fix crack in wall in master bedroom
17. Hang full length mirror
18. Get rid of under-the-bed clutter
19. Remove most tools and paint supplies from guest room closet

There is just a LOT of stuff to get rid of: old cell phones, books, scraps of paper, cds, half-used candles, etc. Our trash collector is going to hate me for this.

Can I have a do-over?

Last weekend was glorious. Really, really splendid. It was the first weekend in forever where we didn't have anything that HAD to be done. So hubbykins and I went to the farmers' market on Saturday, cooked great food, and strolled around downtown on Sunday to buy good coffee and sit for a beer.

Veggies from the state farmers' market

Cool sign across the street from the Hibernian (I liked the font)

Guiness

This weekend, however, could not have been more different. I've had the flu and ran out of tissues only to realize we the only toilet paper we had left in the house was single ply, which we still have leftover from a massive Costco-sized mistake. Even though we've since gotten real tissues in the house, I think my nose still might fall off. Fun.

Anyway, despite feeling totally crappy, the light outside our house yesterday evening was spectacular.

Okay, must lay down again. Hope your weekend was better than mine.

Dispelling any notions that I have good taste

I just downloaded the following songs:

• Easy Lover (Phil Collins)
• Man in the Mirror (Michael Jackson)
• Billie Jean (Michael Jackson)
• ...and here comes the kicker...Against All Odds (Phil Collins)

I think it's fair to say I have ZERO street cred.

Deja Vu All Over Again

Source: About.com

So, I keep seeing things on tv and gossip blogs about The Jonas Brothers and I really have no idea who they are (probably because I'm no longer 14). I don't think I've heard them sing before(probably a good thing) and I just feel utterly clueless when I see pictures of them, like they're a joke I just don't get.

Anyway, the one thing that's bugged me about them, aside from being ridiculously over-styled and sensitve-looking, is that I swear I've seen them before. I've put more time into thinking about this than I care to admit.

And then it came to me.

Source: taringa.net

Good luck to you, Jonases.

Sigg Water Bottles

I ordered these water bottles last week for the two of us and aren't they pretty? I ordered them because working out without a water bottle kinda sucks.

They're 100% aluminum, so they're recyclable when/if they ever give up. My only complaint is that the screw top seems like it'll be a pain, but I just ordered sports tops for them. Life can go on now.

I Want Them All

These are the Sugar Stacks rings that Paloma Picasso has designed for Tiffany and I love them all. Too bad the cheapest of the lot is $995. And naturally I think two or three would look best stacked together. File this under "Not Gonna Happen."

My Favorite of All Time

You know where it's from.

Helpful Hints from Lindsey

Should you find yourself ever looking for a job, here are some helpful hints on submitting a resume straight from a person who will have to read that garbage:

1. If you don't have much work experience to go on, listing relevant college courses is fine. "Relevant" means that you probably shouldn't include your A+ in Hip Hop Dance.
2. Being "proficient with Google, Yahoo!, MSN, and Hotmail" does not qualify you for an IT job.
3. Put your name on your resume. It's helpful. Actually, I take that back. If you're dumb enough not to put your name on your resume, then leave it off. That saves me from having to interview you.
4. Don't use Comic Sans and your font of choice. Not for a Communications Director position. Or any position, for that matter. Actually, I take that back. See #3 for details.

I Can Has Backsplash?

This will go down as yet another weekend in which I'm actually relieved to go to work on Monday because it means I get to sit down. (Seriously, this happens all. the. time.)

Chris and I tiled the backsplash this weekend and it was actually a pretty easy. Sooooooo much easier than tiling the bathroom.

Anyway, we did a lot of tiling on Saturday then finally grabbed dinner at Pei Wei and settled down for an evening of watching "Dances With Wolves." Somehow we ended up with the extended director's version. I guess the original is long enough, but did you know that the extended version is about 5 hours long? I didn't. We're halfway done. Good movie, just long. And it's not fast-paced, by any means.

Then today, we got up and started tiling at 8:45 am. I'm not joking. We took a break around noon to eat and then tiled some more and then took another break around 2 to go to the gym. Read that again: we took a break. to go to the gym. Something is wrong with us. Then we tiled some more.

What kind of backsplash did we have prior to the tiled backsplash? None. None at all, unless you count really, really greasy drywall. And I'm pretty sure that doesn't count.

Anyway, to remind you of what this kitchen looked like in October:


Pretty bad, huh?

Here's what it's looking like now (imagine angels start singing here):


Again, before:

After (more singing):

It's still not 100% finished, but it will be this week. Very, very exciting. Then I can have my life back. To celebrate, I made myself a drink: equal parts vodka and pomegranate liquor garnished with some pretty sugar and some pomegranate seeds because I'm feeling extra festive.

Anyway, the drink is gone now and I'm feeling quite buzzed. I was going to write a letter of recommendation for a former coworker this evening, but now I'm thinking that's not such a good idea. Unless he wants to get rejected from the Peace Corps.

I think this is what they call "having issues"

I made Meyer Lemon and Blackberry cupcakes (recipe below). I frosted each cupcake with icing from "The Joy of Cooking"--basically 1 cup of powdered sugar with 1.5 tablespoons of lemon juice--then topped each one with a sliver of lemon peel.

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1⁄2 tsp. baking soda
1⁄2 tsp. baking powder
1⁄2 tsp. salt
1⁄4 cup zest and juice of one Meyer lemon
3⁄4 cup buttermilk (I actually used applesauce instead and it worked just fine)
1⁄2 cup butter, softened
3⁄4 cup orange blossom honey*
2 large eggs
1⁄2 pint blackberries (the original recipe calls for raspberries, but blackberries were just as good)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt and set aside.

Combine lemon zest and juice, and buttermilk/applesauce in a separate bowl and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter until fluffy. Add honey and mix well. Then add eggs, one at a time.

Add half of the reserved dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix on low until just combined.

With mixer running on low, slowly add the lemon mixture. Add remaining dry ingredients until combined. Gently fold in raspberries. Fill paper-lined muffin tins 2⁄3 full. Bake 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack, then ice.

Dude.

I Can Has Cheezburger? cracks my shit up.

27, Yo

It's been a wonderful birthday this year. I took today off work because it's my birthday and because Chris gets MLK day off, so I figured I'd give myself a three-day weekend that we could both enjoy together.

Saturday, we were supposed to have this MONSTER snowstorm. Two to four inches is what they were predicting, and instead we got a slight dusting. Kind of a bummer that we didn't get more, but I'm just happy that we got a little taste of snow this year. Because of the dire weather predictions and knowing that the roads here could be a mess because people can't drive in rain, let alone snow, we decided to stay in most of Saturday. I got a lot of cleaning and decluttering done, and that's just the kind of thing that makes a homebody like me quite happy.

Chris and I got back from the mall, got cleaned up and headed out for dinner. We went to Jibarra and it was one of those things where as soon as we walked in the door, we knew we were in for a good experience. They didn't have a table immediately available for us, so we had some drinks at the bar. I had the Pear-Cilantro Margarita and Chris had the Blood Orange Margarita. Both were awesome.

When we were seated for dinner, we opted to get a bottle of the Moet White Star, which ended up being the perfect compliment to both our meals, despite the fact that our meals couldn't have been more different. I had the Fajita de Arrachera (grilled Premium Angus Beef Skirt Steak served with sautéed bell peppers, onion, and tomato on top of corn tortillas and black onion-ash oil with a cactus paddle salad) and Chris had the Ravioles de Huitlacoche (homemade Huitlacoche [Mexican Truffle] ravioli in a creamy cheese-epazote sauce and pan seared wild-caught scallops). Both dishes were unreal. The steak for my fajitas was tender and the scallops from Chris's dish were like buttah and practically melted in your mouth. So. good.

We wrapped the evening up with dessert. I had the Buñuelos con Cremas (a small tower of crunchy flour sheets served with two fruit pastry creams and fresh fruits finished with piloncillo syrup) and Chris had the Mil Hojas de cajeta y plátano (thousand layer cake of puff pastry with a caramelized goat milk reduction and escabeche plantain ice cream). I wish we had taken pictures of everything.

On today's agenda: gym visit, reading some of "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle," baking a cake or cupcakes, and huge-ass scallops for dinner. I love birthdays.

Amaryllis Transformation

Last weekend:


Today:

What kind of crazy mixed up science stuff is this???

Like Sleeping on a Cloud

Despite the fact that my birthday is still a week away, I opened my first birthday present yesterday. I had put a featherbead on my Amazon wish list and when a huge box labeled DOWN LITE arrived on my doorstep, I figured opening the box wouldn't exactly ruin any surprise.


Oh. My. God. It's like heaven. It's soft and poofy and warm and just lovely. Plus, there's a "Spring/Summer" side and a "Fall/Winter" side made from different materials so that you don't drown in a pool of your own sweat in the summer (which is likely to happen here in North Carolina).


So, thanks mom and daddy! You just made our lives quite a bit better.

Christmas Recap

Christmas 2007 was fantastic. It's a great time of the year anyway, but being surrounded by your favorite people and having a few days off work to hang out with those people, it just doesn't get much better. And to get presents on top of that??? Icing on the cake, buddy.

Chris and I got far too much cool stuff and we've been enjoying all of it. Between coats, and sweaters, and food, and candles, and books (the books! my god there's a lot!), and DVDs and stuff, we've been having a good time.

Chris and I had been wanting a digital SLR, but mainly due to the kitchen remodel, we decided to postpone that for a bit. But when I got a nice bonus at work, I sneakily bought this guy for the two of us from Amazon:

For the price, I'm not sure it gets better than this. It takes great pictures, as evidenced by the fact that my brother Rob uses this camera and his pictures are always phenomenal.

Anyway, I'm still learning how to use this bad boy, but it's allowed me already to take some good photos.

The Definition of "Squeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

I'm pretty sure that "squeeeeeeeeeee!" is the noise that eeked out of my mouth yesterday when I opened the box that contained this beauty.
I've been wanting a red bag forever and this seemed to fit the bill as an early birthday present, especially after it went on sale. I've talked about Hayden-Harnett bags here, here, and here and this bag has the same wonderful hardware, perfect stitching, and quality leather as my other H-H bag. For what you get, I think these bags are a great buy, especially if you can get them on sale.