Posts Tagged ‘Domestically Inept’

See I can do it all on my own!

Friday, February 26th, 2010

Dear Pottery Barn,

I really love you. Really. You are the one catalog I cannot bear to cancel because whenever I see you in the mail, my mind does an adorable little heel kick out of excitement. I settle onto the couch and get ready for a case of the wants. Some hardcore wants.

Like when I saw these adorable jewelry frames adorning your pages. Really what more could a girl desire? Well, maybe to use that $50 a pop on something more productive. Like shoes.

So I did what all my fabulously crafty friends would do: I decided to make my own!

I headed over to Big Lots and purchased some incredibly cheap 8 x 10 wooden frames. The next stop was Walmart for some metallic spray paint. Then rummaged through my storage closet for a little picture hanging kit I’d purchased from Target a while back. Armed with a TV remote programmed to Bridget Jones (because chick flicks are also part of the supply list of any DIY project), I got busy.

Supplies are ready!

Assembling the earring holders

And getting the necklace hooks in place before a thorough coating of spray paint

A finished project and a nice, useful display for in our closet

A close-up of some dangly earrings

It’s always a sign of a project well done when your husband tells you how nice it looks! So in between late work nights and busy weekends, even I was able to squeeze in a little time for me. Now I just need to find time to give myself a much needed manicure and pedicure. Yikes!

The weekend my husband threatened the blogosphere

Monday, August 10th, 2009

Can I tell you how much I love blogs? Because I do. There are adorable household crafts, jewelry making challenges, and there are tons of cute and adorable people with cute and adorable houses making delicious food that motivate me to dress well, craft often (okay more often than not), cook more, and redecorate my home a little bit.

Perfectly harmless right? Well this weekend, my husband was about ready to ban me from the blogging world. All because of a few innocent little curtain rods that needed .5 billion screws. Should I start from the beginning?

Kerri posted her curtains on flickr. Not that I’m blaming her at all. Her beautiful new dining room just reminded me of all our plain windows. It was like Kerri had these pretty frosted cupcakes, and I was sitting there with this muffin. A muffin is delicious, don’t get me wrong. But a cupcake with pretty frosting (funfetti perhaps?) is always better.

So I discussed my plans with Cale; we’ll rearrange the bedroom, which is something we’d been talking about doing for months now. Then we would hang curtains on our windows, centering one big set of curtains behind the bed. He thought it would be a great idea, so off I went skipping to Target, where I cursed Target for being remarkably un-cute. I ultimately found my super adorable curtains at World Market (as if I wasn’t copying Kerri enough!). I came home feeling inspired and charged with this decorative electricity. There was no stopping me. I rearranged the entire room just in time for Cale to come home for his job: the curtain rods. Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve hung many a curtain rod in my day. I’m all for feminine empowerment, but did you just read that last sentence? I rearranged the entire room, which included vacuuming under the bed, reorganizing under the bed, moving the freakin’ bed. I was tired.

Let’s just cut this short and say: Cale did not appreciate hanging the curtain rods and has requested that any future blogger projects not include screws, unless you plan on buying him a drill.

Are we understood blogging world? Because I love you too much, and I believe somewhere in my contract that I signed for Cale to hang the curtains included a clause that requires me to disclose that information. No more screws. Got it?

the new bedroom. Please ignore Cale’s messy nightstand, it’s now clean.

new bedroom #2

As with any furniture rearrangement, we’re convinced that it’s so much bigger now, etc. etc. But I really believe it compared to the old bedroom. So yay for successful attempts at maximizing the space in our itty bitty one bedroom cottage.

Our bathroom also got a little sprucing up.

How about a new curtain made out of World Market napkins

And yay for finding a great painting under your bed while you’re cleaning it out!

In a very desperate attempt to get my husband to forgive me after the curtain rod debacle, I made hand squeezed orange juice and french toast the next morning.

A feat easier said than done

French toast a la Alton Brown with a few modifications: super hearty whole wheat bread, substituted soy milk, and added some cinnamon

Okay he’s pretty darn cute. Whatever. As long as he doesn’t get cat hair anywhere near my french toast, he’s safe.

So our weekend started out insanely uneventful, but really was pretty sweet. How was yours? What aspects of the blogging world have permeated your life, and even, maybe, your marriage?

Pale Ale and Ritz Chips

Monday, April 27th, 2009

It’s just another Monday night. Cale is out at his LSAT review course in Berkeley until eleven tonight, and I am living it up. I’ve got a “chick’n” patty in the oven, a Mighty Arrow Pale Ale on my desk, and a bag of Ritz Chips with my name on it. Of course Friends in on the TV. It’s so nice to be home early enough to catch the Friends reruns on TV. For a Monday, it’s been fairly delightful. It’s nice and windy outside, which is the perfect time for cuddling under a blanket and reflecting.

My life has been pretty crazy as of late, but this weekend I had plenty of time to relax. This was done by re-watching multiple episodes of Weeds, watching French Kiss, and hanging out with the hubby. This is my favorite way to spend a weekend. In a state of hibernation during the majority of it, so that Sunday night you say No! Where did it all go?, but that next Monday morning is when I feel the most refreshed.

But to assure myself that the weekend did not go completely to waste, there were a few triumphs:

I ordered some spice racks from The Container Store. You would have thought there was gold inside that UPS package by the way I ripped it open with glee. I’m so glad to finally be able to utilize our ironing board cabinet for storage. In our tiny little house, no space can go to waste.

I trimmed my own bangs, and oh thank goodness they turned out well. Skydiving? No thanks I trimmed my bangs this weekend. I’ve had my adrenaline high for the year. By the way, if you’re looking at this picture thinking that I totally messed them up, it’s the end of the day, they’re not uneven, just tired.

We went to the grocery store. Which you can always tell because I come home with flowers of some form. It’s my way of rewarding myself for going. Because if I could, I think I could live off of macaroni and cheese for a year if it meant I could avoid going to the store.

That was pretty much my weekend. You can throw some intermittent “I’m so excited for Vegas!” exclamations here and there, and you get the picture. Today Southwest airlines made me very very happy by putting all flights to and from the Bay Area on sale for 50% off. Not only did I book my flight to Vegas for June, but Cale and I decided to utilize the discount as well by moving our anniversary trip up a few weeks. Now I will be heading to Vegas for two weekends in a row. The first to celebrate with my husband by seeing The Beatles Cirque show “Love” and enjoying ourselves. The second weekend to meet up with some lovely bloggers. Look at me! The jet-setter. This is a big deal for me because normally on airplanes you would see me holding back tears during take-off. The flights I’ve taken for national trainings through my work have really broken me in though. I’m almost a pro!

Well I’m off to finish watching Friends and to try to psych myself for a little Jillian Michaels paired with yoga. Have you been shredding? I have a few times and even made it to the gym for a run! Got some motivation to share?

Quinoa? Can we just use birdseed?

Monday, February 9th, 2009

I cooked last Sunday night out of my Veganomicon cook book. And I’m just now blogging about it. Please forgive me. I’m great at thinking of things to blog about, but not so great at the execution.

The Bad:

  1. Safeway does not carry Quinoa. The main part of my recipe.
  2. The bitchy checkout clerk who reassured me many many times that I grabbed watercress and not mint. Okay I get it! It was labeled wrong and I don’t know my herbs. Stop lecturing me!
  3. Our knives are dull.
  4. Knocking an open bottle of soy sauce into your silverware drawer makes a mess.
  5. I cannot cook without drinking a beer to calm my nerves. This is a fact.

The Good:

  1. Luckily Trader Joes was nearby to save the day with their Organic Quinoa.
  2. Trader Joes’s mint was clearly labeled. Saving the day again.
  3. Dull knives may be the only reason why I still have fingertips right now.
  4. Our silverware holder is now clean thanks to my husband who cleaned out the soy sauce.
  5. I had a nice buzz going on by the time the food was ready.

But you know what.. it turned out good! Like WOW good. Like this actually has flavor, and I would eat this again good. I’ll definitely have to try more things out of the cookbook. Especially since my stomach has decided it no longer would like me to eat cheese. Last night’s grilled cheese from In N Out about killed me. Why?? Why Stomach Why??!

Do any of you have amazing Vegan recipes you are hiding from me?

Sidenote: Umm a thousand thanks for the compliments in my last post. I think I will have to have that post in my favorites and any time I feel in a poopy mood, just reread all your lovely comments. You guys are the sweetest. times a billion.