(I lined the drawers by decoupage with patterned amy butler paper)
(during the registry process I thought a popcorn machine was an unsightly, unused, space wasting machine - but we use it a few times a week! yummy!)Tuesday, July 14, 2009
everyone loves a good before and after
Our apartment is lovely, and just the right amount of space for us at the moment, but living organized in a small space is tough. Our kitchen was seriously lacking in storage and we'd been on the Craig's List hunt for weeks when we found this amazing vintage drawer cabinet. It's a little smaller than we originally wanted, but has tons of character and will be useful in the future.
(I lined the drawers by decoupage with patterned amy butler paper)
(during the registry process I thought a popcorn machine was an unsightly, unused, space wasting machine - but we use it a few times a week! yummy!)
(I lined the drawers by decoupage with patterned amy butler paper)(during the registry process I thought a popcorn machine was an unsightly, unused, space wasting machine - but we use it a few times a week! yummy!)
Saturday, July 11, 2009
collecting
(via myspinningwheels)So, who would be willing to send old dress shirts my way? Any men's shirt that is headed for the trash can - please send it to me so I can reuse it! I have future plans for a men's shirting quilt.
taking time to breathe
Finally... we have nights and weekends to relax. Room to breathe. No 150 person menu planning, no favors. Time to enjoy each other, to enjoy our friends, our family, and even ourselves.
I love post wedding life. I love being married and settling in to the days, slowly making our home ours. Everyone said that I wouldn't know what to do with my time after the wedding planning had finally come to an end - but I seem to be filling it just fine. So fine, actually, that I'm already juggling projects.
Here are a few peeks of what I've been up to for the past two months...
I have several before and after projects under way - watch out for my new kitchen cabinet in a few days and our new patio furniture next week!
I love post wedding life. I love being married and settling in to the days, slowly making our home ours. Everyone said that I wouldn't know what to do with my time after the wedding planning had finally come to an end - but I seem to be filling it just fine. So fine, actually, that I'm already juggling projects.
Here are a few peeks of what I've been up to for the past two months...
I have several before and after projects under way - watch out for my new kitchen cabinet in a few days and our new patio furniture next week!
Saturday, February 7, 2009
adventures of the gluten free sort...
Recently I've noticed that I am far more sensitive to gluten. When I was first diagnosed with a wheat intolerance I found that little amounts (the breading on a chicken nugget, the crust on a cheesecake, etc) didn't seem to bother me. I cut out things like bread and pasta, but clung to everything else. In the back of my mind I've wondered if this was ok... the disease that killed my father has been known to begin with undiagnosed celiac disease. My grandmother was also intolerant of wheat. Did I need to cut it out completely? That would be far too difficult... I counted myself lucky that I didn't have to read every label and worry about where and how things were manufactured.
I've been reading a book called Gluten Free Girl. I've learned more about gluten free living, celiac disease and wheat intolerance in the past couple months than I did in the last 8 years. So many of the symptoms that Shauna, the author, experienced are eerily familiar to me. Armed with new knowledge of how gluten attacks someone with my kind of intolerance and old knowledge of isolating foods to find out what is negatively affecting you, I was ready when I started feeling poorly the last couple months. After a week of stomach ache and headache, I cut out the only things I could think of that had been changed in my regular diet. When I reintroduced those things in the following weeks I found the symptoms returning.
Trying to eat completely gluten free is like learning of my intolerance all over again, but this time I have an amazing support system (you know, that boy I'll be marrying in 97 days?) urging me to try new things and cheering me on as I begin to make things from scratch using ingredients I'm only just learning to understand.
The last week has brought:
Chicken Pot Pie with a Gluten Free Crust & gluten free flours to thicken the gravy
Chicken Noodle Soup with rice noodles
Onion, Swiss & Turkey Bacon Quiche with that same Gluten Free Crust
More of the Banana Bread I've mentioned before
Impromptu Apple Pie for two (yes, the very same pie crust)
I've been reading a book called Gluten Free Girl. I've learned more about gluten free living, celiac disease and wheat intolerance in the past couple months than I did in the last 8 years. So many of the symptoms that Shauna, the author, experienced are eerily familiar to me. Armed with new knowledge of how gluten attacks someone with my kind of intolerance and old knowledge of isolating foods to find out what is negatively affecting you, I was ready when I started feeling poorly the last couple months. After a week of stomach ache and headache, I cut out the only things I could think of that had been changed in my regular diet. When I reintroduced those things in the following weeks I found the symptoms returning.
Trying to eat completely gluten free is like learning of my intolerance all over again, but this time I have an amazing support system (you know, that boy I'll be marrying in 97 days?) urging me to try new things and cheering me on as I begin to make things from scratch using ingredients I'm only just learning to understand.
The last week has brought:
Chicken Pot Pie with a Gluten Free Crust & gluten free flours to thicken the gravy
Chicken Noodle Soup with rice noodles
Onion, Swiss & Turkey Bacon Quiche with that same Gluten Free Crust
More of the Banana Bread I've mentioned before
Impromptu Apple Pie for two (yes, the very same pie crust)
A peek at the quiche (which luckily passed the test from my fiance the quiche lover!)
Thursday, February 5, 2009
New Organization
in two forms...
1. I am now gainfully employed! Wednesday and Thursday of last week I interviewed with a small privately owned company which make, refurbish, and repair MRIs and CT Scans. I start my job as "junior accountant" this coming wednesday. Yippee! This means I have one week to truly relax (sitting at home spending 5 hours on career builder wasn't exactly relaxing...). I have one week to work on wedding and home projects before things get busy. What shall I start with??? Oh yes, addressing envelopes. Then perhaps I can recover the living-room table/ottoman (I can justify spending the $15 for the fabric now that I have a job!).
2. We're now the proud owners of a new (to us) ikea expedit shelf! We've been watching out for this shelf/entertainment unit for our living room. With one small modification (which required me to hand saw a shelf until I couldn't feel my arms) it is a perfect fit. Ample storage for records, books, and whatever else needed its own place. I love to organize... its true... and this shelf has made me a very happy girl!
Ok, on to enjoying my week!
1. I am now gainfully employed! Wednesday and Thursday of last week I interviewed with a small privately owned company which make, refurbish, and repair MRIs and CT Scans. I start my job as "junior accountant" this coming wednesday. Yippee! This means I have one week to truly relax (sitting at home spending 5 hours on career builder wasn't exactly relaxing...). I have one week to work on wedding and home projects before things get busy. What shall I start with??? Oh yes, addressing envelopes. Then perhaps I can recover the living-room table/ottoman (I can justify spending the $15 for the fabric now that I have a job!).
2. We're now the proud owners of a new (to us) ikea expedit shelf! We've been watching out for this shelf/entertainment unit for our living room. With one small modification (which required me to hand saw a shelf until I couldn't feel my arms) it is a perfect fit. Ample storage for records, books, and whatever else needed its own place. I love to organize... its true... and this shelf has made me a very happy girl!
Ok, on to enjoying my week!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
crafty updates...
My very first quilt (small thought it was) is finished! This is the very first project I started with my lovely new sewing machine and was finished just in time to mail off for Erin's baby shower! More pictures to come when my camera cord makes its way through the snow to me...
My favorite part of the quilt was hand sewing the binding. It was surprisingly relaxing and satisfying... each stitch bringing me closer to an actual quilt, not just pieces of fabric pinned together. Each stitch, just like the women who've quilted before me. I know this will be something I enjoy for the rest of my days. I can fill my home, my children's home, my grandchildren's home with lovely quilts I hope.
Fabric for the wedding-table-squares came last week also! I've done quite a few... the tally:
To do: 13
Done: 12
The bottom two fabrics I am unsure of. The white pattern I adore, but I realize it may not stand out enough on the ivory table cloths. And the last, the green stripe, is much more neon green than I had supposed. I'll keep these in mind but may keep an open eye for other patterns that would be better in their place.
Updates of other natures...
My second job interview was today and went well! I truly think I would be a good fit and would love the job and the company. I hope it works out... I should be hearing this week sometime.
My favorite part of the quilt was hand sewing the binding. It was surprisingly relaxing and satisfying... each stitch bringing me closer to an actual quilt, not just pieces of fabric pinned together. Each stitch, just like the women who've quilted before me. I know this will be something I enjoy for the rest of my days. I can fill my home, my children's home, my grandchildren's home with lovely quilts I hope.
Fabric for the wedding-table-squares came last week also! I've done quite a few... the tally:
To do: 13
Done: 12
The bottom two fabrics I am unsure of. The white pattern I adore, but I realize it may not stand out enough on the ivory table cloths. And the last, the green stripe, is much more neon green than I had supposed. I'll keep these in mind but may keep an open eye for other patterns that would be better in their place.
Updates of other natures...
My second job interview was today and went well! I truly think I would be a good fit and would love the job and the company. I hope it works out... I should be hearing this week sometime.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Hoverson Love
The library here is quite wonderful... I can request books online and they'll have them ready & waiting... I can request books they don't have, & they'll purchase them! Which is exactly what I did a couple weeks ago.
There are a few books I've been wishing would come into my ownership... so in the mean time I requested them from the Library to be sure that they were as useful and likable as I've imagined. One of those books is Patchwork & Quilted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson (the owner of Purl Soho, one of my favorite places to look for fabric). This book is fantastic (even sans patterns... which for some reason the library took out) and I will definitely want it to be a permanent addition to my crafty library.
While browsing this lovely book, I enjoyed my third batch of gluten free banana bread (from gluten free girl), which is my favorite so far. I've tweaked the recipe a bit and this time added ground flax seed and left out the cocoa powder... all it needs is a thin layer of light cream cheese (add that to the mental grocery list).
Itching to make something & having finished my big secret project (photos coming soon... can't risk the recipient mother-to-be catching a glimpse) I wanted to sew! I fell in love with this adorable pin cushion from the aforementioned book but was without those pattern pieces. I gave it my best guess and dug through my scrap pile... definitely cut the pieces too wide, but hey, its still cute! Is it strange that I color coded my pins without much thought? Thats the OCD accountant type shining through in my crafts I suppose...
Now I'm simply hoping that my wedding-reception-table-square fabric comes tomorrow so I have an excuse to sew all day!
My big interview has again been rescheduled, now to Tuesday morning at 9am (silly CEOs who are always flying here and there!). In the process of rescheduling I did deduce something quite nice... I believe I am one of two candidates in the final interview process. The CFO emailed the agency asking if the collective interviews could be changed to 9 & 10am on Tuesday morning. Sounds like two interviews yes? Well the 9am is me. Down to the wire... what shirt should I wear with my suit (must make a visual impact so they remember me)?
There are a few books I've been wishing would come into my ownership... so in the mean time I requested them from the Library to be sure that they were as useful and likable as I've imagined. One of those books is Patchwork & Quilted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson (the owner of Purl Soho, one of my favorite places to look for fabric). This book is fantastic (even sans patterns... which for some reason the library took out) and I will definitely want it to be a permanent addition to my crafty library.
While browsing this lovely book, I enjoyed my third batch of gluten free banana bread (from gluten free girl), which is my favorite so far. I've tweaked the recipe a bit and this time added ground flax seed and left out the cocoa powder... all it needs is a thin layer of light cream cheese (add that to the mental grocery list).
Itching to make something & having finished my big secret project (photos coming soon... can't risk the recipient mother-to-be catching a glimpse) I wanted to sew! I fell in love with this adorable pin cushion from the aforementioned book but was without those pattern pieces. I gave it my best guess and dug through my scrap pile... definitely cut the pieces too wide, but hey, its still cute! Is it strange that I color coded my pins without much thought? Thats the OCD accountant type shining through in my crafts I suppose...
Now I'm simply hoping that my wedding-reception-table-square fabric comes tomorrow so I have an excuse to sew all day!
My big interview has again been rescheduled, now to Tuesday morning at 9am (silly CEOs who are always flying here and there!). In the process of rescheduling I did deduce something quite nice... I believe I am one of two candidates in the final interview process. The CFO emailed the agency asking if the collective interviews could be changed to 9 & 10am on Tuesday morning. Sounds like two interviews yes? Well the 9am is me. Down to the wire... what shirt should I wear with my suit (must make a visual impact so they remember me)?
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