breakfast

#1 on my list is still not a consistent thing, but made infinitely more enjoyable when watching the brilliantly funny VeryMaryKate.

#6 In the last few months, however, I have managed to eat MUCH more protein (thanks in part to my label reading husband who has grudgingly switched over to the "fancy" peanut butter because it has 1 more gram per serving that his beloved Jiff. Sweetheart!) I also actually ordered a side of chicken (instead of Tofu) with my Pad Thai last week. I might not have managed to eat it all, but progress was made!

#2 I have also made myself a really great linen top, that I have proceeded to wear about once a week since then, and have only limited myself to once a week because I don't want people to think I am dirty or anything. ;) Pictures are forthcoming - I think when I tackle that portrait issue...

#29 Just placed an order with a co-worker/Avon rep. Can't wait to get my new goodies and start playing!

A sneak peek...

...at the wedding shower I am in the process of planning.


I'm going for a vintage/romantic feel, with a slight honeymoon theme (per the bride's request), and am really excited with how all the details are shaping up!

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thnxthnxthnx

Gratitude has been on my mind a lot lately - as a remedy for the blahs, as a antidote to selfishness, as a connection to God - and so when I was introduced to this blog today I was immediately smitten.

Leah Dieterich writes little thank you notes to just about everything (garbage trucks, the man who punched a car in Mexico, Facebook's delete status option). At first you think that she's just being humorous, but there are so many lovely little moments of self -realization that keep it extremely personal and very moving.


A few of my favorites:

I've been in a bit of a funk lately. Not sure why. T has been doing everything in his power to cheer me up. (I give gratitude every day for that man - he is the best!)

Today we took an impromptu drive through the Gorge, which was amazing, and did the hike at Multnomah Falls.



I love this time of year - the rain is finally starting to go away!



Saw a couple of kids wearing "Love is my superpower" t-shirts - and now I am sort of wishing I had one of my own!

#24

The beauty of not having posted my 30 till 30 list til just recently is that I can already say quite a few are done! (on a side note, I am not sure why blogger publishes posts on the day the draft was started, rather than on the day you hit publish. Technically I only published that list a few days ago, even though it looks like I did it back in march... not that it matters all that much...I guess I just like to be honest!) So hopefully the next few posts will be devoted to sharing with you all my successes!

Anyway, T and I finally changed our super ugly (and vindictive) brass chandelier in the dining room! (And by dining room I mean dining "area." our house is too small to have a whole room devoted to dining. Which actually suits us perfectly as we don't even sit at the table all that much... see #17) And we put it on a dimmer so that when we finally get around to eating dinner at the table, on date night, we can have a little ambiance!

To a lot of people, changing out a light fixture is no big deal (and the actual demo and installation was indeed no big deal.) But choosing the fixture, and then finally procuring said fixture, was a whole other story...

Poor chandelier. It really never stood a chance - we hated it from the beginning! It was ugly, bulky, to low, too bright, in the wrong spot, and as we quickly learned, it had a mean, mean streak. If we were anywhere in the vicinity of the ugly thing, it would reach out and knock us on the head! We tried lifting it up out of the way, but the thing was constructed in such a way that alterations of any sort were impossible. So we left it, and figured that until we were able to relocate the box, we would just leave it be - and besides, we thought, when we finally got a dining room table we would have that as a reminder to give the evil thing a wide berth.

So off to the garage sales we went, hoping to find a table we would fill with good friends and good food. We searched high and low, falling in love with several beauties - only to eventually realize that our space was too small for any normal sized dining table, and if we wanted to actually have access to our patio, we needed to think small and round. We eventually found the perfect petite table (with a leaf for those times we absolutely needed to squeeze in more hungry friends), and proceeded to paint it bright leaf green! Love!!

But the chandelier... oh the mean mean chandelier... it was determined to be an obstacle. Positioned right smack dab in the middle of the ceiling, anyone walking towards the patio would be knocked upside the head. We got in the habit of yelling "duck" at our guests, (which really only freaked them out, and never actually saved them from getting bumps and bruises) and we constantly joked about issuing hardhats with dinner invitations! We thought constantly about replacing it, but I kept picking out new ones that were way out of our price range, or designing ones that were way out of T's comfort zone; and somehow, the years snuck by.

Finally, a few moths ago a strange occurrence happened. T was out of town and I was alone at Ikea with a few bucks to spend, when I spied a fixture that met all of our requirements. 1)It already existed 2) it was completely affordable 3) it went with the style of the house and I didn't hate it 4)it was in stock 5) it was adjustable and 6) it WAS NOT BRASS! I am sure that I had looked at this same fixture a few times over the years never gave it a second glance, but somehow, this time it spoke to me. So home it came, only to have to go right back to the store (you didn't think it was going to be easy did you?) because it had a flaw. One of the five arms wouldn't screw tight and nobody wants a floppy chandelier arm over their head at a dinner party do they? So back to the store I went, and home came another one... which had the same problem!! what?!?!?!?!

Boy oh boy was I pissed off! I called the 800 number, and they couldn't do anything but offer an exchange - which I would have to do at the store. I called the store, and they couldn't do anything but offer an exchange - which I would have to... well, you get the picture. So back to the big box I went for the third time in as many days. Luckily the gal at returns was extremely kind, and had the lighting manager bring a few boxes for us to open and assemble on the spot. Third and fourth times were NOT the charm, but I think 5 may be my new lucky number!

I raced home and installed the new chandelier and dimmer,(with a quick trip to Salvation Army with the old!), and T came home to a well lit (if a bit frazzled) wife!



* I just spent the last hour or so going through my old photos trying to find a picture of the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad brass chandelier, but I could not find a single one that I had taken! Guess it just goes to show how badly I wanted the thing gone... I couldn't even document it! Luckily T suggested I take a look at the old photos from when he and our Realtor toured the house without me!


Not sure why he used the space as an office, especially since he was a single guy in a two bedroom home. (and how did he not hit his head every time he stood up??)



And another view of how it looks now - well at Christmas - done up for our annual Ugly Sweater/ Dessert party. (Notice how I didn't include the table/chandelier when I took the photo?)

hip hip hooray!

the internet drought is over!

and to celebrate - a little eye candy just in time for spring...



kinda makes you wanna spend all day curled up in bed with someone you love and a fabulous book!

(one of the perils of designing for a living is that I am always falling in love with new things - leaving my rooms always in a state of halfway done. poor T - he would really love to have something in our home "finished")

1)west elm 2)cb2 3)shopterrain 4)infusion 5)amberalexander 6)goodvintage 7)rugcompany 8)anthropologie 9)restorationhardware

30 before 30

I turned 29 back in February, and had a bit of a meltdown. So T suggested I make one of those lists that everyone keeps posting.
i think he's hoping it will ward off an even bigger meltdown next year!



1: become a breakfast person. (as in having a good start to the day, not as in the weekend event that often involves friends and mimosas. i am already really good at that one!)

2: make myself a garment that actually fits, and that i actually wear.

3: create a cleaning schedule, and stick with it!

4: wait, and love more. (one of my favorite lines from a hymn. its a good reminder to be patient with life, other people, and even myself. it is also a good reminder to quite simply, love more. love life, love other poeple, and most importantly love myself. for as we know - love fills all space!)

5: improve my handwriting.

6: eat more protein. (i was raised a vegetarian, but i was also raised by a single mother with four children, this our meals weren't always "well rounded". and now, with the whole meat eating husband angle, my side of the meals get even more neglected!)

7: get pregnant. (this isn't exactly a fair goal to put on myself. but working towards it is!)

8: finally finish reading Les Miserables. (as you know, i am an avid reader, but for some reason i started this book back in high school - yes, way back in the 90's - and still have not made it through!)

9: blog at least once a week.

10: finally put something up for sale in my etsy shop.

11: clean and organize the garage. (this one may be very difficult to accomplish because around here the garage is known as "man town," and T is not so keen of letting me prettify his space.)

12: be more confident - or at least fake it til i make it!

13: start my own design company.

14: visit my sister in santa fe.

15: send more handwritten cards and letters (see number 5).

16: implement date night with T - even if its a stay at home sort of date - we can still make it special!

17: eat dinner at our dining room table at least once a week (yes - we usually eat on the couch - eek!) combine this with #16 and i can knock two things off of my list!

18: make a cushion for our dining room bench - if its more comfortable, we might sit there more frequently!

19: go to the orgeon zoo. (yes, i have lived here for 7 years and still have not gone - this from the girl who went to every zoo and aquarium she came across while abroad)

20: ditto for the newport aquarium.

21: take a current portrait of T and I. (the last time we took a picture together - that i actually like - was about 3 years ago!!)

22: finish decorating the bedroom.

23: start saving money for a kitchen remodel.

24: replace the ugly chandelier in the dining room.

25: install a timer for the bathroom fan. (did you know that you are supposed to let it run for at least half an hour after you shower to prevent mold and mildew?)

26: use my ice cream maker. (it was a wedding present and it is still in the box.)

27: ditto for the pasta maker.

28: start leaving comments on my favorite blogs. (i LOVE when people leave me comments and so i should definitely pay it forward!)

29: experiment more with makeup. specifically lipstick. (wouldn't it be great to have a signature color?)

30: learn how to use iMovie, and make one of those fabulous and quirky videos that everyone keeps posting!

Happy Valentines!

I know I am a little late... but I just had to show you how we spent our Valentines Day.

It started at Christmas with a little bit of painting...



...and continued on with some Valentines day building...











...and now we get to come home to this...



Its sort of wonderful having a "grown-up" bedroom, especially if you remember our "before"!
(except I am already wanting to repaint - while the red is definitely sexy, I am lusting after something a little more subtle - something along the lines of Benjamin Moore's Pebble Creek in fact)

Still no internet access at home... and i am sort of loving it! i am finding myself a little calmer, and less *jealous* (not quite the right word... but i am not sure what the right word really is...) of all the good stuff out there in blog land. i am able to focus a bit more on what i do have and can accomplish.

and with that said... here are some images of things i have been loving lately... and am totally into trying to DIY!








And a few images of where we spent our thanksgiving holiday...

no internet at home...

...so I am sneaking a quick internet break while at work to let you all know that I am alive and well, if just a little out of touch!

lately I have been:

listening - my iPod has been playing nothing but Andre Villoch

playing - have been downloading more iphone photo apps - I am particularly loving ShakeItPhoto and QuadCamera

creating - a knitted blueberry hat for my nephew (I used blue yarn and skipped the "seeds" - its adorable and I will post photos when I am back on my own computer!)

(re) reading - The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (LOVE it)

what have you been up to?

dreaming...

I have always thought my dream home would be an old, charming structure full of nooks, crannies, and built-ins. But then I saw this home, and suddenly new (and sustainable) looks so very very good.









Yes please!

greedy girl

is it bad to want them all?


Woolicious

Happy Anniversary Darling!

I love you T!

Thank you for an amazing four years!!

i'm home alone with a computer and a credit card...

I have been lusting after some original art lately, and finally took the plunge and bought this darling piece on Etsy!



I want to hang it somewhere where I will see it everyday, as a gentle reminder to stop procrastinating! :)

I'll let you know if it works...

(i'm also loving this painting by the same artist)

right now I am...

...relaxing with my second cup of coffee

...plotting my responses to the MeMe I was nominated to do

...absolutely loving the mini photo shoot I did of Eek this morning





I used the ToyPhoto app for my iPhone - it has a random filter generator so you never know what your pictures will end up looking like!

the Julie/Julia project

I just read Russ Parsons NY times article about why Julia Child was not a fan of Julie Powell - and I feel stirred to share my thoughts with someone other than T...

First off, I have to say that I LOVED both books for very different reasons. A few years ago, I picked up the Julie/Julia book on a whim, and immediately connected with Julie Powell. And I do mean immediately - from page one I was hooked!

Like Julie, I am at a point in my life where I am not sure what "it" is all about. I work really hard for not a ton of money. Granted, I really enjoy my work so its not like I dread getting up in the morning, but 6 days a week does take its toll on a person. Also like Julie, I take public transportation to work. (And for all of you who have never had the joy of seeing your tax dollars at work - I will share this little gem from yesterdays commute: a man with special needs sat down next to me, smiled, told me I was pretty, and then relieved himself.) So you can see how at the end of the day, sometimes the last question I want to answer is "whats for dinner."

I love to cook, and I love to try new things (see the previous few posts about my new pickling/canning obsession for proof), unfortunately, my time at home is limited, as are my resources. I do the best I can, but sometimes its so frustrating to have these desires that are not realized.

Now, before you start saying that I am just as "whiny" as Mr Parsons says Julie is - let me say that I know first hand just how much creativity is spurred by limitations. Some of our best meals have come from me just looking through the cupboards and scrapping something together. The same goes for my work life... as an Interior Designer I am constantly being challenged with budget, taste, and time limitations! But that doesn't mean that I don't sometimes wish I could have carte blanch to do whatever it is that I want!

Anyway, back to the books...

My Life in France was an equally pleasurable read, but for very different reasons. I did not connect with Julia Child on a personal level, but rather found myself putting her up on a pedestal of sorts. She was a woman who displayed amazing character and tenacity - and is definitely a woman to emulate. I loved how she not only had a zeal for the good life, but was also wiling to work very hard for her dream - it took her ten years to perfect her masterpiece!

And yet, in the back of my head there is the nagging thought that to her, cooking was something she did in order to occupy her time - she didn't want to be bored while living in France. And yes Mom, I will admit it - I am jealous. I would LOVE to be able to go to work every day and not have my take home pay matter. I would love to be able to walk to the market and have my pick of the freshest produce to turn into a wonderful dinner that will nourish and sustain my family.

Which brings me back to Julie... and so many other women of my generation who have inherited the aftermath of feminism. We are a group of women who are immensely grateful for the freedom and liberties we have been given , yet are still nostalgic for the comforting routine of domesticity.

A co-worker an I have started recounting our domestic accomplishments, and failures, every Monday morning in an effort to encourage each other's quest for domestic bliss. She is on a mission to roast a whole chicken once a week, using all the bits and pieces for various meals throughout the week. I am on a mission to eat more healthful, which means buying fewer processed products, and instead making my own (so far that means pickles, canned tomatoes, and bread).

We are both on a mission to come to the place of finding a sort of Zen in washing the dishes.





And so, here is to two amazing women who lived in very different times, and faced very different challenges.

I raise my glass to their individual accomplishments...

a pickle update - and more on tomatoes!

So the pickles were good.

Really-really, super-duper, and I mean amazingly good!

And I am astounded that it took me so long to discover the super crunchy deliciousness. T and I ended up eating a whole jar for dinner. We had plans of making sandwiches and eating outside in the sun, picnic style. Instead we stood around in the kitchen, marveling at how yummy the pickles were, and before we knew it they were all gone! (We never even got around to making sandwiches). The pickled green tomatoes were also good. Not nearly as good as the pickles themselves, but wonderful in their own less crunchy, more meaty way.

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And now on to a tomato update.

So far the summer has been really wonderful to our little garden. The weather has been cooperating, and as a result we already have joyfully consumed more tomatoes in one week than we had all last year! I think we can also credit the raised bed T made for me out of $10 worth of reclaimed cedar planks we found at the ReBuilding center.





We try to plant our starts by Mothers Day. It is sort of an arbitrary date, but seeing as we both live far away from our mothers we like to do something that celebrates home and family.



This year we planted a Cherry, a Celebrity, a San Marzano, and a Siletz, all from Vicki's Sun Gold Farm here in Oregon.




Look at the difference - 2008 vs 2009! (photos taken mid July)

Buoyed by my pickle success, and my bumper crop, I decided to get a jump on the canning process. After all, I did not want a repeat of last year!

This morning's harvest:

...yielded 5 jars, all before 10 in the morning!

And I still have so many gorgeous green ones...