Tag: home

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Around the House

What have you been up to around the house?

We have all been at home for a long time now. Have you been doing quarantine-inspired stuff around the house? You know what I’m talking about:

  • Make banana bread (check)
  • Make bread (check)
  • Make that fluffy coffee (I haven’t tried this yet; I worry that it might be too delicious and take over my life)
  • Clean your closets (at this point, I only need the clothes in my sweatpants drawer, but I might regret getting rid of everything else, so I’m holding off)
  • Take an online class (check)
  • Crafts (check) *more about this later
  • Gardening (check)
  • Marie Kondo your whole house and garage (Ay caramba! No way!)
  • Williams-Sonoma Rosemary, Lemon Dutch Oven Bread
  • soon, there will be veggies

The list of possibilities is endless really. I’m sure that I’ve missed some good ones.

I haven’t done anything major, but I have done a few little things here and there that have really made a big difference in how I feel about my home. For me, when I finally break down and do something that I’ve been avoiding, I know that it was worth it because I feel taller when I’m finished.  I know, it’s a little strange, but there is no other way to describe it.

For me, sticking to little, bite-sized projects is key. When I think of a big project that I’ve been wanting to magically take care of itself (like reorganizing the kitchen), I get a feeling of dread that quickly leads to anxiety and avoidance. So, I have been thinking about my kitchen reorg as a bunch of small projects. Sometimes I do one a week … or less, but it’s not so overwhelming. In that spirit, reorganizing the kitchen became:

  • Clean the refrigerator (like where you take the shelves out and wash everything)
  • Move the coffee maker
  • Find a place to store the ice cream maker (even though we use it a lot, it doesn’t need to live on the counter)
  • Clean the cupboard under the sink
  • Find a new home for that silver tray that has been living on the counter for the past XX years
  • A bunch of other stuff that I haven’t started thinking about yet

Even cleaning the refrigerator was tackled one shelf at a time. It doesn’t matter that I did it slowly, I still felt taller when I was finished.

I’ve also made some progress with consolidating/organizing/purging some of my other clutter catchers. Sometimes, just moving whatever doesn’t belong out of a particular location is enough to jump start some sort of resolution to the issue, like when I collected the various piles of books from the various locations around the house into one, big pile in the middle of the living room. I may have had to stare at it for a week, but one day, motivation took over and I organized the whole mess (including re-homing many).

book stack
some of the books that were re-homed

Anyway, I was feeling relatively productive and accomplished about staying home until I saw this story about an artist who is painting flowers ALL OVER her home. It is so whimsical and happy. I mean, look at those doors!

I don’t think that I’m going to start painting flowers everywhere, but I do think that I will keep trying to find little ways to make the most of my home. How about you?  Have you tackled any around-the-house projects?  Did you feel taller when you finished or is that just me?

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Happy National Unicorn Day!

If I’m the first person to wish you a Happy National Unicorn Day today, I hope that I won’t be the last.  And I hope that you will take some time out of your day to commemorate the occasion.

Always be yourself
Unless you can be a unicorn
Then always be a unicorn

– t-shirt wisdom

National Unicorn Day is celebrated on April 9 every year to commemorate the popular, mythical creature with a horn growing out of its forehead.

Written accounts of unicorns are found in ancient Greek natural history, but not in Greek mythology.  At that time, they were believed to reside in India. These ancient unicorns were described as fierce, powerful, fleet animals.

During the middle ages, unicorns became a symbol of purity and grace in European folklore; wild, woodland, white horse-like or goat-like animals that could only be captured and tamed by virgin maidens.

WLA metmuseum 1495 Unicorn captivity

Modern unicorns, while still mythical, tend to be portrayed in a more cartoonish manner. Many common representations portray the unicorn with a rainbow mane and/or tail. In modern business lingo, a person might be described as a unicorn if they possess a unique and desired combination of skills or talents.

One of my favorite books when I was a little girl was the story of Morgan and Me, about a beautiful princess who lived in the Land of Later. She was supposed to clean her room but decided that she would … just a little later.  When she comes across a unicorn named Morgan, whose horn got caught and is stuck, she promises to help him … just a little later.  But when she falls in the pond and gets stranded on a lily pad, she learns her lesson about later and vows to her new unicorn friend to never put off what should be done now for later.  Aww, cute.

Some Unicorn fun facts:

  • The unicorn is the national animal of Scotland.
  • Unicorns are mentioned six times in the King James bible.
  • Unicorns cannot fly.
  • According to the Jewish legend, a unicorn can easily kill an elephant.
  • The Unicorn is thought to hold the power to divine truth and will pierce the heart of a liar with its horn.
  • A US patent was granted for a surgical procedure to create Unicorns in 1980.

How to celebrate National Unicorn Day?

Unfortunately, due to the national hermitage movement, this is not the year to throw a unicorn party, but I’m sure that we can all find some ways to celebrate while staying #SafeAtHome.  Why not:

  • Use food coloring to make any boring, white food colorful – rainbow swirl mashed potatoes maybe? Or if you’re feeling industrious, bake some rainbow-colored cookies and decorate them with sprinkles.
  • Draw a picture of a unicorn. Hang it in your front window to brighten your neighbor’s day.
  • Do something fancy with your mane today.  Maybe braid some ribbons in your ponytail or don a flower crown.
  • Find some other ways to bring magic and happiness into your house today: maybe shed the sweatpants and toss on a party dress, light some nice smelling candles, or take a bubble bath.

I hope that you will join me in celebrating National Unicorn Day a la distance!  Have a magical, mystical day my friends.

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Kitchen Adventures – Cat Cookie Edition

My friend, S, gave me a set of cat-shaped cookie cutters for Christmas.  When giving them to me, she mentioned that she had seen something on Instagram about tie-dyed cookie decorating and thought that we could make tie-dyed cat cookies.

Well, you can’t just hang a statement like that out there.  I made her pick a date and commit to coming over for cat cookie making.

Now, I’m going to let you in on a little secret: I am not much of a cookie decorating kind of gal. I’m okay with the baking part, but I just don’t have whatever it is that you need to rock at cookie decorating (I’m pretty sure that whatever is a bunch of special equipment). However, I am also good at not letting being bad at something ruin my fun. So, I was not about to let an opportunity to play cat cookie bakers with my friend pass me by.

I made the cookie dough the day before. It never hurts to have well-rested overnight in the refrigerator cookie dough to work with.

I love Nigella Lawson’s Butter Cut-Out Cookies recipe from the How to be a Domestic Goddess cookbook. Whatever they wind up looking like, the cookies are just sweet-enough, just buttery-enough, just dry-enough, and a little salty. I like to substitute almond extract for the vanilla, but other than that, I wouldn’t change a thing.

I waited for S to come over to start baking because I find that whole rolling out dough, cookie cutter, transfer to the baking sheet business to be very tedious.  I was so glad that I did because it was almost fun since I had another person there to talk to.

Once we managed to get all the cookies baked, we threw that round of dishes in the sink and rested up with some snacks while the cookies cooled.  Once we were sufficiently snacked and rested, it was time for adventures in tie-dye cookie icing.

We made up a big bowlful of icing (aka wet powdered sugar) and then divided it into bowls.  S was in charge of the food coloring and she did a great job.  We had tangerine sunset, teal, and raspberry sherbet, to play with.

According to the YouTube video she had watched, you start with a base of white icing, drizzle the colors on top, rake through it with a toothpick, then plop the cookie, twisting as you lift.

Our results were somewhat lackluster.

We experimented with all sorts of things. It was all a mess. Finally, we decided to go for the drizzle technique.  First everyone on the tray got a white icing base coat. Then S drizzled tangerine sunset in one direction to make stripes.  I followed up with raspberry sherbet in another direction.  We decided to leave well-enough alone and not use the teal.

The end result was sort of a pseudo-preppy, abstract madras. More importantly we were done. Most importantly we came away with a newfound appreciation for those $7 sugar cookies you see in the bakery and without any delusions of wanting to go into the cookie decorating business.

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Rainy Day Kitchen Adventures

It was a cold and rainy day. I decided to combat the gloominess with some kitchen adventures.

First up was scones.  I had never made scones before (they seemed complicated for some reason), but I discovered a Martha Stewart recipe that seemed pretty straightforward and I was feeling ready to try it.  The recipe called for some sort of dried fruit (cranberries!) that I didn’t have, but I did have just a bit of candied ginger in the cupboard that seemed ready to meet its destiny.

I discovered the great things about making scones: 1) you don’t wind up with a huge batch of something (at least not with this recipe); and 2) there isn’t a bunch of rolling out, cookie cutter nonsense, you just flatten the dough into a round-ish blob and cut it into wedges.

I’m going to guess that the thing that makes scones so scrumptious is that they are made with half-and-half. Probably most important is brushing the tops with half-and-half and sprinkling them with sugar before baking.

After I had munched a warm scone (or two), I was ready to move on to something a bit more savory.  Of course, cold and rainy day kitchen adventures wouldn’t be complete without soup!

Mr. Man had made chicken tacos the night before and there was enough leftover chicken for a week’s worth of tacos. Or … chicken tortilla soup!

For the soup, I strictly adhered to the just throw a bunch of stuff in the crockpot and let it cook for as long as possible technique.

First, I chopped an onion, some celery, and carrots.  Those went in the crockpot with the box of chicken broth and can of diced green chilis.

After a couple of hours, I went to check on my veggies and started to get nervous.  I started to question why I wouldn’t have sautéed them up in a pan before throwing them in the crockpot?  What was I going to do now?  Those onions did not look like they were anywhere near melting into the broth the way that I wanted them to.  Oh well, at least I had another solid 5-6 hours for this to hang out in the crockpot.  Better keep it on high. 

I did go ahead and throw the chicken in at this point as if the pre-cooked chicken would set an example for the vegetables of what they should inspire to be. Because the chicken was already very seasoned, I didn’t really worry about adding any spices.

A few hours later I checked on it again.  Maybe it was starting to try to come together?  The carrots weren’t crunchy anymore so that must be progress.  At this point I tore up about six corn tortillas and added them to the crock to dissolve.

I just love the way that a few corn tortillas can add so much body to a really simple soup. They not only thicken the broth but add a dimension of flavor and subtle sweetness. Its one of those great uses for stale bread kind of kitchen tricks.

Not much to look at, I know. At least it tasted yummy!

After all day, we had soup!  I served it with some homemade taco chips (oven-baked of course) a sprinkle of cheese, a bit of diced avocado, and a squeeze of fresh lime juice.  Mr. Man approved.

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Improving My Workspace

I’ve been taking baby steps to improve my workspace. It started a few months ago when I decided to stop storing my sewing machine on the corner of my desk.  It’s not like I can even sew here if I want to. Sewing is a dining table activity.

After making the bold move to allow myself to use my entire desk for my workspace (I know, right!) my bad habit of making piles started to take over. I’m still working on getting the tickler file situation situated (because that is where these piles should go to hang out) but in the meantime, I’ve gone from five piles to one (and not because I made it taller).  I feel that is a substantial improvement.

It feels very luxurious to me to spend time or effort taking care of my workspace. When I was working, I never felt like it was a legitimate use of my time to tidy up my office, which is sad because I certainly can tell that I am more focused and productive when my surroundings are in order.

I have great admiration for those minimalist-workspace people. Nothing is left sitting around on their desk, everything is in the drawer in clearly labeled files. For me, out-of-sight means out-of-mind; if I put paperwork for things that are in-process away, I can completely forget that they exist!  Suddenly I don’t have anything to worry about working on and I can just head out to the beach.  I am working on building a more tidy workflow process one baby step at a time.

This past week I decided to splurge on a little acrylic drawer-thingy to wrangle my paperclips and post-it notes and such.  It also created a great spot for my fancy, flamingo glitter globe to come to work with me. So far having her near has been a great help, a little bit of swirling glitter sure can produce a lot of inspiration.

Now the flamingo gets to hang out with the solar-powered lucky cats, my magic rocks and other lucky charms (a rock from my nephews, a shell from Mr. Man, head’s up pennies from my walks), and the positive vibes scented candle that my sister sent me for my birthday (note the cat-safe candle container).

On the other side of the desk, resting on the ledge is my “emergence tiara” – another gift from my nephews (I have a suspicion that their mom might have been more involved with creating this treasure than they are giving her credit for).

Emergency tiara and fun card from Mom.

As you can see, my workspace is bright and tidy and pleasant.  Anabel thinks so too.  She thinks that it should be her workspace now.  It might have something to do with the cushion that I’m trying out on my chair.  At any rate, Anabel has now decided that this is her favorite daytime sleeping spot.  Apparently, I have made my workplace too pleasant.

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Watermelon

Ah summer, I love it so much.  One thing that I love about summer is watermelon.  I don’t think about it for the rest of the year, but when it is hot enough, it is one thing that is always on the crave list. I love to just eat it plain, but there are so many other, easy, fun things to do with it.

These days the powers that be have engineered watermelons to a manageable size (and the seedless part sure is nice too).  But what are you going to do when you ask your husband to pick up a very small watermelon and he comes home with a basketball?

Watermelon and cucumber salad

  • Watermelon (cubed)
  • Cucumber (try to get it roughly the same size as the watermelon)
  • Lime juice
  • Fresh mint
  • Feta

Toss together and serve.

Watermelon water

You can buy bottles of delicious watermelon water at the store if you’re thirsty RIGHT NOW.  But if you have enough time to chop up a watermelon, you can make your own at home.  Just fill your blender with watermelon bits (no need to worry about nicely chopping it) and blend it up.  Yum!

Watermelon margaritas

Since you already have a blender-full of watermelon water, why not put it to good use and make up a batch of margaritas?

  • Blended watermelon water
  • Trader Joe’s Jalapeño Limeade
  • Tequila (I like silver)

Give it another whirl in the blender and serve over ice.

*note: I may have been testing this recipe before writing this post, hence the lack of measurements (just use your own best judgement, it will be fine!).

One thing that I haven’t tried yet, but it is on the list is:

Watermelon Sorbet

  • Watermelon
  • Sweetened condensed milk

Blend. Pour concoction into the ice cream maker.

When I was growing up, I used to make watermelon sorbet with watermelon and I think simple syrup in the ice cream maker.  It was so delicious served with a sprig of fresh mint on top!

What do you like to do with watermelon?

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Trophy Wife Manifesto

trophy wife toes in yellow shoes

Many years ago my mom was visiting and we went to get our nails done. I picked this pretty metallic teal/turquoise color.  As I was clutching the square, little Essie bottle while I waited for my pedicure, I noticed the name, Trophy Wife.

Yes, I thought, I want to be a trophy wife!

I had never considered myself trophy wife material and I wondered what it was about the idea that was suddenly so appealing to me.  Was I enamored of the concept just because I really liked the color?  What did being a trophy wife mean to me?

I decided to define what being a trophy wife meant to me.  Here is my Trophy Wife Manifesto:

#1 A Trophy Wife Takes Care of Herself

This means that a trophy wife makes time to look after her physical and psychological well-being.  Making a point of taking time for working out, self-care, reading, meditating, creating art, whatever it is that makes her feel centered and confident.  A trophy wife knows that these things are not frivolous, they are critical for living her best life.

#2 A Trophy Wife Prioritizes Her Relationships

This means that a trophy wife makes a point of being available and fully present to spend time with not just her husband, but with those people who are important to her.  She’s not too tired for date night; she doesn’t miss her loved ones’ important occasions because she is too busy.

#3 A Trophy Wife Doesn’t Work Because She Has To, She Works Because She Wants To

A trophy wife enjoys what she does for work.  She has made a choice that if she is going to take time away from looking after her relationships and herself, that it is going to be because she has a passion for what she does.

Even if she doesn’t have the luxury of not working, and/or doesn’t have her dream job, she finds something every day about her work that she appreciates and makes the most of her situation.  She isn’t trapped in a job that she hates because every day she knows that she has made a choice to be there and by doing so she has committed to herself to find something meaningful in what she is doing.  She might not be curing cancer, she might just be making a point of being nice to the receptionist.  That matters too.

If you’re thinking that this must have been the beginning of my trying to crawl out of my cave of workaholism, you would be right.

I bought my own bottle of Essie Trophy Wife nail polish.  It was my nearly constant toenail color and a touchstone for me, for a long time.

This last time that I went to get my nails done, took my little, old bottle of Trophy Wife with me and we were able to make it work.  I was reminded about how beautiful the color is and I feel very inspired and empowered when I look at my toes.  Who knew that nail polish could be so powerful?

Do you have anything that serves as a touchstone for you?  What is it and what are you trying to remind yourself of?  Would you want to be a trophy wife?  What would that mean to you?

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Fried Chicken and Champagne

My favorite neighborhood wine store, the Wine Country, holds regular wine tasting events.  One recurring tasting that I have always been intrigued about is fried chicken and champagne.  I’ve never actually been, but the idea really caught my attention, and I’ve been dying to hold a fried chicken and champagne dinner.

I enlisted some friends who were intrepid enough to sign on even though I hadn’t bothered to explain the concept.  Which I realized when we were sitting down to eat, as there were questions about what this fried chicken and champagne thing was all about.  Naturally, my response was, “guys, it’s a THING.”  Then we took a moment to get all official about it, took bites of our fried chicken, then a sipped our sparkling wine.  It was delightful!

There is something great about fried chicken in the summertime.  Especially if you pick it up from Stater Brothers.  Seriously, it is very good.  I am sure that some people make incredible fried chicken at home, but I’m only southern on my husband’s mother’s side, so I feel that is something that I can get away with not doing.  I also have a “no frying at home” rule.  Well, “rule” is a strong word, but I have yet to come across something that I wanted to make enough to be up for frying it myself.

One of my friends picked up the chicken and made these amazing cheesy biscuits.  I enlisted another friend, who always makes the most decadent things, to bring the carb course.  She made the most incredible macaroni and cheese!  I think she said it was a Barefoot Contessa recipe (I think this is the right link).  It looks like you basically, start with four cups of Gruyere, then add more cheese. I’m drooling just thinking about it, this is the kind of macaroni and cheese that makes your life better.

photo credit: El Jimenez

So, what about the champagne you ask?  Ah, yes!  We didn’t get through all of the options, but the one that was a great pairing was J California Cuvee that another of my intrepid friends brought (what did I do?  I did the delegating, alright!).

The final member of our intrepid group brought yummy fruit and a good dose of flair to the table.  With the fruit and the citrus herb coleslaw we felt that there was a least a semblance of healthiness on the table that night.

By far, the healthiest part of the evening was getting to spend time with great friends, sharing a meal and laughing about life.

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Citrus Herb Coleslaw

I pretty much like any slaw: KFC coleslaw, ramen slaw, fancy Asian-style slaw with Napa cabbage, mango and jicama slaw from Trader Joes, the list goes on.  It’s the sort of thing that is easy to make at home too. So, last night I made a Citrus Herb Coleslaw.  Yum, right?  Ok, maybe not your thing, but this combines three things that I really like: lemon, parsley, and slaw. 

I had a little bit of some-timers when I was getting ready to make this.  I have made it before, but it’s been a good, long while.  I remembered the gist of it, but when I went to find the recipe in my Pinterest recipe hoard, it wasn’t there.  I think the last time that I made this was before I started hoarding all of my recipes in Pinterest!  Yikes!

Ok, let’s google that thing up.  Hmmmm…

I found something close, but it wasn’t quite what I wanted.  Good thing that I don’t care that much about following recipes.  I made up my own version and I’m going to post the recipe here for two reasons:

  1. In case you want to try it (it’s super healthy and delicious).
  2. So that I can find it the next time I want to make it again!

Cynthia’s Citrus Herb Coleslaw

Ingredients:

  • Non-fat, plain yogurt (Greek or other)
  • One lemon
  • One bunch of parsley
  • One bag of already shredded cabbage
  • Sugar
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Apple Cider Vinegar

First make the dressing. 

Combine:

  • 4(ish) tablespoons yogurt
  • Zest of the lemon
  • Juice of the lemon
  • ¼ teaspoon salt (or 2 pinches if you don’t feel like measuring)
  • Good bunch of grinds of black pepper (less than the salt
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1-2 tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar

Wisk it together.

Assemble the slaw:

  • Add 2(ish) tablespoons of snipped chives (optional)
  • Add 1 bunch parsley leaves, roughly chopped (I like curly parsley, I know it’s not fashionable, do what you want).
  • Add bag of shredded cabbage
  • Combine thoroughly
  • Cover and refrigerate for at least a little while

Enjoy!

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Fairy House Craft Day

Somehow, I tricked my friend S into coming over for craft day this past weekend.  I’m still surprised that she let me talk her into it.  But in spite of how much of a poorly conceived idea it was or how much craftprehension we started out with, we managed to have a great time and created a couple of delightful fairy houses.

The great thing about building fairy houses, or any fairy garden furnishings is that fairies are magic, so whatever you make for them doesn’t actually have to be functional.  As long as the intent is there, the fairies can do the rest.

I have been wanting to make a fairy house out of wine corks with a beer bottle cap roof.  Because Pinterest.  I’ve been collecting supplies for a while (tough work, I know).  S brought her collection of Veuve Clicquot corks and seashells because she is fancy like that.

Of course, in my house the single greatest barrier to crafting (and productivity in general) are furry little somethings named Anabel and Sally.  Hot glue and fluffy kittens are a bad combo.  So craft day had to happen al fresco. 

Mr. Man was a helpful enabler.  He set up the easy-up canopy and a table in the driveway.  He also ran an extension cord and power strip for us and loaned me some handy tools (I have got to get my own needle nose pliers, they are SO useful).

We gathered our supplies, poured a couple of mimosas and got to work. Our warm-up craft was making champagne cage miniature chairs (it is important to warm up for all sorts of activities, not just working out).

Then it was time for our experiments in magical architecture.  While S got started on her Veuve Clicquot sea-fairy temple, I sorted through my wine cork collection and realized that I had enough Stoplman Vineyards corks to make a single brand fairy house too.  We used Ikea cork trivets as our bases. 

After enough mimosas and only a few glue burns, our masterpieces were complete!  Now the only problem is where to put these houses to let the magic get in.

Craft day was a success! Fortunately (or unfortunately) we have a load of supplies left over.  I hope we can do it again soon.