tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90536993742176015402024-03-13T20:18:42.278-07:00Simple Down NowReared in the opulence of America in the 1990's, I am an anything-is-possible-at-any-time dreamer who is learning to balance needs and wants, family and career, God's plan and mine.Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02374762423346958678noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053699374217601540.post-15443333142211661142012-10-01T08:14:00.000-07:002012-10-01T08:14:00.283-07:00Maybe a Bigger Job Than I ImaginedLast year I made one measly jar of apple sauce from a $12-ish bag of organic apples from Whole Foods. I canned the dumb thing, then opened it the next day. It was incredibly delicious, but a lot of work (and a lot of money) for such a small harvest.<br />
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Determined to one-up my applesauce performance, from last year, I made tentative plans to head to an apple farm outside of town and pick a bushel of my very own. My tentative plans were thrust into reality when a friend invited us to join her in a day of apple picking. Awesome! The fact that the apples were a) in town and b) free, made it all the more appealing. <br />
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But, I didn't exactly realize what I was getting myself into. <br />
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And what was I getting myself into, you ask?<br />
<br />Apples.<br />
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UP. TO. MY. ARMPITS.<br />
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Before we could address the cooking and preparation of said apples, we had to pick them. The trees live in the front yard of a woman who works full time and hasn't the time or inclination to deal with ten gazillion pounds of apples. We were doing her a favor, as she was, us. <br />
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I'll admit that I had brain-pictures of a darling scene: me, basket in hand, casually reaching up, placing apples delicately into said basket. I reach to a grocery-store quality apple at shoulder height, I look at it, I smile. I gaze at my children, as they happily fill their baskets. We smile. We are grateful. Our lives, complete. <br />
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In reality, it was a ton of hard work. We picked by hand, picked with a telescoping picker, climbed the ladder to pick, shook the tree, gathered, and each of us were beaned in the head at least once. Then we gathered, cleaned and raked and gathered some more.<br />
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It was a long morning of work, but we came home with at least 100 pounds of free fruit! A blessing, and a lesson, and a day of hard work, all in one.<br />
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Stay tuned for recipes, canning shenanigans, et al.Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02374762423346958678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053699374217601540.post-83195415368037109362012-09-28T08:14:00.000-07:002012-09-28T08:14:00.308-07:00Online, All DayI think most of us have written a list of things we'd like to accomplish in our lives.<br />
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Back in 2003, my first list was inspired by the website <a href="http://www.2dobeforeidie.com.7/">www.2dobeforeidie.com.</a> 2007 brought us the term "Bucket list" and one of my favorite bloggers <a href="http://mightygirl.com/mighty-life-list/" target="_blank">Mighty Girl</a> calls hers a Life List.<br />
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My list has seen many incarnations. Today's lives on Pinterest, you can probably hunt it down there if you'd like to have a look. It is silly (Tie John Elway's shoes), sentimental (Write letters, like I used to), over ambitious (Kiss an elephant) and everything in between.<br />
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I've had my sites set on accomplishing a few of my list items this summer and one of my most simple list items was a pleasure to tackle:<br />
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<strong>Hang my clothes on the line.</strong> <br />
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Why did I want to hang my clothes on the line? Clothes on the line are so beautiful. The practice of hanging clothes relaxes me and reminds me of my grandma. And using electricity to dry clothes when I have a breeze outside that will make them smell amazing and dry them for FREE, is maybe a little wasteful.<br />
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So one day this June, the children and I got into our sneakers and walked to our neighborhood supermarket. At the market we procured the supplies to create our very own clothesline. Simple clothesline specific rope and wooden clothes pins. The line strung up between the fence and tree as soon as we arrived back home. <br />
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Then, underpants and all, we clipped it to the line. <br />
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Our double line can accommodate a single load of laundry perfectly. Summer warmth and breezes dry a load in about 45 minutes in our dry climate. A perfectly peaceful pace. Easy enough to wash a load or two per day, fold and put away before you even have time to let it pile up again.<br />
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But, I'll admit, it didn't last long. The heat came, and brought with it my laziness, and swimming days, and worrying about the automatic sprinklers. Suddenly the dryer didn't seem so silly after all. I haven't hung a load out in quite some time, I'm ashamed to admit. I do a better job of over-complicating my life than I do of simplifying it. That's the whole truth.<br />
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But writing this post has inspired me. How about a fresh start? There are plenty of warm days left this month and next. I commit to myself that I'll hang at least another load or two before the winter comes. This is me, simplifying, then de-simplifying, then re-simplifying. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.<br />
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Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02374762423346958678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053699374217601540.post-74041769465075247642012-09-25T08:26:00.000-07:002012-09-26T23:20:28.271-07:00To Vacation SimplyThe other day my husband and I had this talk about how we seem to have lived our vacations in reverse. We started our marriage with a stupid-expensive 4 day honeymoon to the Bahamas. It was only in the last year that I realized we could have stayed stateside, for twice as long and half the price. <br />
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It was lovely, we wouldn't change it and all that, but my goodness!<br />
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We've secreted away our tax refund each year and taken ourselves on a vacation. Most of those years we spent every last penny on an all-too-brief visit to Disneyland. <br />
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Here we are so many years later, after having stepped our goals into our new reality and all we ever want to do is go camping. Our National-Park-to-visit list is growing and we have become insatiable in the matters of national park camping. Read on, I'll share the financials of the two options below.<br />
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I love Disneyland and I'm confident I'll visit it again someday, but when we first set our eyes on Zion National Park, far off in the distance, after a full day of driving, we were forever changed.<br />
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and the view just keeps getting better.</div>
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I really hadn't even looked at pictures of Zion before we went. I honestly had no idea what to expect. I booked it because a book I'd bought many years ago about the Grand Canyon included a small section on Zion. I'd always thought that whenever we decided to go to the Grand Canyon, we'd go to Zion as well. When we arrived and set up camp none of us could believe what we were seeing. </div>
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Best trip anecdote? How about how I forgot my camera battery charger at home? Luckily, my family was just behind us and was able to go into our house and get it for us. My camera was only dead for half a day. We don't have the number of Zion photos we'd like, but the photos don't do it justice either way.</div>
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermilion_Cliffs" target="_blank">Vermilion Cliffs</a> - We didn't make the side trip to actually see Vermilion Cliffs, because I didn't even know it existed until this moment. So amazingly beautiful.</div>
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Our first glimpse of the Grand Canyon. We came in at sunset and stopped for a moment, before we went to our campground.</div>
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Our second glimpse of the Grand Canyon.</div>
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wait for it . . . </div>
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The fog came in and out all day and it was beautiful.</div>
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Bean burritos over the fire = our family's favorite dinner in all of recorded history. So smoky and delicious!</div>
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Moments before I took this photo a woman with a European accent stopped and photographed us sitting by the fire. She smiled, gave me a thumbs up and said, "very good." The novelty of our tent and fire pleased her in the motor home laden campground, I think.</div>
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<br />
<br />
So here's the math:<br />
<br />
We camped for a total of 4 nights at $18 per night.<br />
<br />
We had to purchase a new tent, which when divided over the number of nights we've camped in it so far cost about $8 per night. The rest of our gear we already had or borrowed. I'm not calculating the cost of food because whether you're traveling or home, you have to eat. Camping food is simple and cheap. (I think I spent about $120 at the grocery store including tons of ice, sodas, chips and other luxury items. Add that number to my total at the bottom, if you wish.)<br />
<br />
Our trip ran a loop of over 2000 miles (we went to my cousin's wedding afterward), but for the sake of this exercise, I'm just including the camping portion of the trip. That is 1558 miles of driving at 22 miles per gallon which is $283 in gasoline.<br />
<br />
Cost of admission to our national parks varies from park to park. We purchased an annual family pass for $85. We were able to use it at least three more times before it expired. I'll add the whole cost of it to this trip report.<br />
<br />
Each of our children chose a souvenir at Zion for a total of $30. I also sent quite a number of post cards which cost about $15.<br />
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We ate out twice while camping (once because of an extreme, sudden downpour), two meals while in Vegas and fast food on the road home as well. Total cost of those meals: $129<br />
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We also stayed in a hotel in Las Vegas on our way home, which was a mere $24 for the one night we stayed.<br />
<br />
Everything else we did was entirely free. Hiking, whittling, et al.<br />
<br />
So for our 5 day family vacation, full of fun and memories we spent $662. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Now, I'll calculate the cost of a similar amount of time on a Disneyland vacation. We'll consider two travel days and three in-park days, an off-site hotel . . . here goes:<br />
<br />
Round trip from my house - $178 in Gasoline<br />
<br />
3 day tickets for four: (Disney considers age 10 and up to be adult, so I have to pay adult price on all four tickets now. Just for the sake of argument, I'm using the cost of two kids tickets and two adult tickets. I'm also only going to count the price of the 1 park per day tickets, which saves us $120 over park-hopper tickets. There are sometimes sales or discounts if you buy your tickets at Costco or some other Southern California retailers, so that could save you a bit more) $850<br />
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Food: Assume you packed a cooler for the drive both to and from. Assume you also ate all breakfasts at the hotel and had no extra drinks or snacks. For the three in-park days you'd spend at least $300 for lunches and dinners.<br />
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Souvenirs: That's up to you, you can go crazy or not buy anything. Assume we didn't buy anything for this trip.<br />
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Hotel: Super 8, mid-week, shoulder season, 4 nights at $68 per night<br />
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Grand total: $1600<br />
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This is what Disneyland would look like on a budget, obviously, you could spend much more than this as well. <br />
<br />
<br />
I think both vacation options have their merits.<br />
<br />
BUT COME ON! $662 for a 5 night family trip? Seriously, that's a screamin' deal! Try it. You won't regret it!Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02374762423346958678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053699374217601540.post-51933976677882936452012-09-23T13:00:00.000-07:002012-09-23T13:00:00.643-07:00Boho TweenIt was time for a major clean out of my daughter's boho meets hippie chic bedroom. She's 10, she's crafty and she likes to hang on to a lot of stuff. <br />
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We carried out 6 laundry baskets of clothes, toys and various flotsam and jetsam. We brought back only what would fit into the 3 small baskets, one IKEA closet stacker and bookshelf we already had.<br />
<br />
She's mostly replaced the daily usage of toys with nail polish and vogue magazine. But the stuffed animals and American Girl remain. She's on the cusp of learning to build her own life, still cataloging the remnants of the one I built for her. So while the deep clean needed to be done and wasn't an act chosen out of sentimentality of any kind, I found my sentimental self within it.<br />
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Here is her room, refreshed and lovely. Frosted in signs of a girl on the edge of being a grown-up.<br />
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Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02374762423346958678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053699374217601540.post-53729656922746330022012-09-22T12:32:00.003-07:002012-09-22T12:33:35.209-07:00ApplesIt's apple season. <br />
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Today I commemorated the occasion with web-surfing related to a theoretical apple picking excursion. How 21st century of me! Imagine my elation when free apples were offered by two different people - and the opportunity to pick them on the very day I had planned to make into apple picking day. I'll call this a small miracle, and be wide-eyed and thankful for it.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Photo courtesy of flickr user msr</span><br />
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<br />
I haven't posted in months. I was on such a roll there for awhile, but everything sort of got set aside. My parent's separation and ultimate divorce was the cause. It was (and in many ways, remains) a brutally sad time in our lives. <br />
<br />
But it's time for me to move forward. Building up our lives from where we left them. It's the first day of autumn and I'm going to start my building with apples.Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02374762423346958678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053699374217601540.post-15324543024761032962012-04-28T16:51:00.000-07:002012-04-28T17:03:11.506-07:00I'm back . . .It's been a super crazy few months. I think I am finally shaking off the ick of the past few months and I'm ready to get back to my normal/strange self.<br />
<br />
I have a little random, minimally planned, overly ambitious, craftiness to share. It is my hope that this post will refresh me! I plan to get back in the groove, and move forward with all my household projects, which have all been sadly neglected since February or so.<br />
<br />
So here it is: When we first moved into this house, I immediately had a plan on how I would be decorating the entry way. I wanted it to be eye catching and interesting and fun. My plan involved repurposing some ledge shelves from our previous home, framed photos and Fiestaware. It would have been great.<br />
<br />
But then, a friend and I (during a night of home decor, via text message) came up with a different idea. <br />
<br />
We found <a href="http://www.grahambrown.com/us/product/52050/Frames+%3A+Black+%26+White+Wallpaper">this</a> wallpaper online and admired it, heartily. I thought it over. $45 a roll, plus install. Not too bad. It's not that large of an area. But something else struck me pretty quickly, "What if I just drew it on the wall with a sharpie?" Yes! That's what I'll do. Since, you know, that's how sharpies are meant to be used. <br />
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And that is what I did.<br />
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I started with a fresh coat of white paint and then went to town with a medium point sharpie. I started out using various sizes of books as templates, but eventually threw that plan out the window and freehanded it. It's intentionally imperfect, because perfection is outside of my realm. <br />
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I didn't take any photos during the process, so I'll just share the finished product with you. <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6976650104/" title="Entry 1 by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Entry 1" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7123/6976650104_09e6064c04.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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All the decor and accessories are things I already owned, and for the most part it's the same stuff that was here before I redid the wall. I am considering replacing the books and bookends with a vase and single large flower. We'll see.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6976649634/" title="Front by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Front" height="500" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8166/6976649634_d39480bba2.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
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<br />
I decided not to fill the entire wall in, yet. I might go back and finish it someday, sometime. But for now I like it a little asymmetrical and unfinished.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/7122730899/" title="From living room by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="From living room" height="333" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8024/7122730899_cedde475e5.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/7122731371/" title="Looking back by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Looking back" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7083/7122731371_55d271836a.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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That's it.<br />
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I used a little over a half gallon of off-the-shelf white paint from Lowes, and one medium point sharpie. My calculations say this was about a $10-ish project.<br />
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There you have it! A short and sweet little something. I'm here, just plugging away. I bought a cool chair for $7 at the SPCA thrift store yesterday. Maybe it will be the material for my next post!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdpYdozQ6tOpA2cjL-23eOnTzZoEU8zifU0E8cvV0BCAScTgDsku0VN6J_s-NJ5ojt0pWvL_c8gVLEvx4R2JTWLOChzwwUm1UM2NfWb5MfcZQv05fJgaY0f9LlrBNvs-EvzrTVxxwX_p4/s1600/wide2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdpYdozQ6tOpA2cjL-23eOnTzZoEU8zifU0E8cvV0BCAScTgDsku0VN6J_s-NJ5ojt0pWvL_c8gVLEvx4R2JTWLOChzwwUm1UM2NfWb5MfcZQv05fJgaY0f9LlrBNvs-EvzrTVxxwX_p4/s320/wide2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02374762423346958678noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053699374217601540.post-47046670646489784482012-01-17T17:40:00.000-08:002012-01-17T17:40:39.784-08:00re: SundanceSomeday I'll get to go to the Sundance Film Festival, and actually be able to discuss new documentaries with those in the know.<br />
<br />
For now, I'll watch shorts and previews, online. I will also discover that some movies at Sundance are just beyond my personal comfort level. But we can talk about that another time.<br />
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Quite possibly the most wacky and maybe bizarre short film, ever:<br />
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/9C_HReR_McQ?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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SO SO SO amazingly beautiful:<br />
<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/33991882?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" width="400" height="225" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/33991882">The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom Trailer</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/tsunamiblossom">Tsunami Blossom</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02374762423346958678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053699374217601540.post-28966879166223713122012-01-13T11:20:00.000-08:002012-01-13T11:20:16.555-08:00Re: My dining chairsAs a creative person who often acts on whims I sometimes experience a feeling we're going to call "Crafter's Remorse." <br />
<br />
You know, spray painting those candle holders chartreuse sounded brilliant, but now that I look at them . . . <br />
<br />
and so on.<br />
<br />
And I guess I wouldn't have been able to believe it if I hadn't felt a tiny sense of regret over my table refinishing project. I never regretted refinishing the table, itself. It needed to be done either way, the table was a wreck. But when the table and chairs were back in the same room the whole thing felt a little Furniture Store to me. <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6643216581/" title="Home again! by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Home again!" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7168/6643216581_f9ec6979f1.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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More Matchy-Matchy than Michael Kors and I prefer for things to be. <br />
<br />
And maybe pushing toward cottage-y, shabby chic.<br />
<br />
Which isn't really where I'm headed. <br />
<br />
I'm headed more kind of international country meets modern eclectic. Or something.<br />
<br />
So I toyed around with a couple dozen ideas.<br />
<br />
Paint the chairs?<br />
Stain the chairs?<br />
Get rid of the chairs entirely?<br />
and so on.<br />
<br />
But the chairs are the only quality furniture we own, and I just got done with a biiiiig refinishing project. So I went to look at fabric, for the 3 chairs with cushions.<br />
<br />
I knew I wanted something colorful. Something that kind of reminds you of hand painted <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/52072939411071809/">Mexican pottery</a> or <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/52072939411074200/">tile</a>. <br />
<br />
I found this almost immediately.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6690895501/" title="a by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="a" height="375" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7174/6690895501_3eed79ae95.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
And I loved it.<br />
<br />
BUT it was $45 a yard. Unsure if 1 yard would cover 3 cushions, I hemmed and hawed. I thought it over. I lamented. <br />
<br />
Ultimately I decided that it was not in my budget.<br />
<br />
And then went to the clearance racks, where I found a whole lot of garbage but then, buried and alone in the bottom of a pile, I found this<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6690921307/" title="Ahhh! by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Ahhh!" height="375" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7030/6690921307_ed7c7b2ceb.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
and for only $6 a yard. <br />
<br />
Perfect. <br />
<br />
And even more perfect when I got to the cutting table and the employee told me there was an additional 50% off the clearance racks right now!<br />
<br />
So I bought all that was left on the bolt, about 2 1/2 yards, for $7 and change. Yaaaaaay!<br />
<br />
Then I brought it home and did this:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6690864875/" title="I do love this fabric, but it had to go :( by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="I do love this fabric, but it had to go :(" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7001/6690864875_df7466576f.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6690862739/" title="Goodbye beautiful green corduroy by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Goodbye beautiful green corduroy" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7141/6690862739_fee1133454.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
I still love you green cushions! You just don't work in my room anymore!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6690868595/" title="Let's get crackin' by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Let's get crackin'" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7029/6690868595_e01a621c0a.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6690956931/" title="Unscrew by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Unscrew" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7164/6690956931_f1d929b47d.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6690989513/" title="And we're off! by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="And we're off!" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7154/6690989513_c3be7dace7.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6690910061/" title="Cut out the new stuff by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Cut out the new stuff" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7025/6690910061_1da7e72428.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6690885245/" title="Wrap it up! by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Wrap it up!" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7170/6690885245_5c206517f5.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6690911971/" title="Staple Gun! by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Staple Gun!" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7153/6690911971_28ee7c7161.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
I bought the staple gun at the fabric store. It was about $20.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6690883373/" title="Put it back together. by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Put it back together." height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7030/6690883373_020fe50782.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
A little boy is the perfect helper when reattaching the seats.<br />
<br />
<br />
And just like that! They're all done.<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6690859973/" title="LOVES IT! by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="LOVES IT!" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7001/6690859973_f1071d5387.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6690905219/" title="In the sunlight by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="In the sunlight" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7143/6690905219_3daf5cc2fe.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6690903625/" title="Ahhh! Much better! by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Ahhh! Much better!" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7031/6690903625_1b67418988.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
<br />
All told the project took me about 5 hours to complete. Mostly because I removed the green fabric from the first chair I covered and that took FOREVER. So I decided to just cover over it for the other two. <br />
<br />
I love the new cushions! What do you think?Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02374762423346958678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053699374217601540.post-5374003796100535502012-01-11T22:15:00.000-08:002012-01-11T22:16:33.845-08:00BargainyLook up there! I've made up a word! A word that means "sometimes you can make wonderful things for much cheaper than you can buy them!" <br />
<br />
I experimented in the BARGAINY creation of granola yesterday, after electing not to spend $3.50 for about 12 ounces of super plain granola. Since I have a tree nut allergy it's difficult for me to find granola I can eat, anyway, and making my own seemed like a logical leap. <br />
<br />
So I purchased some ingredients, and decided I'd wing it.<br />
<br />
I got:<br />
1 large container of regular oats ($2.47)<br />
Flake coconut ($1.72)<br />
Wheat germ ($3.50)<br />
<br />
and from the bulk bins:<br />
Salted, roasted sunflower kernels (.84 lb for $1.60)<br />
Soy nuts (.33 lb for $0.43)<br />
Sesame seeds (.20 lb for $0.57)<br />
Dried cranberries (.73 lb for $2.74)<br />
<br />
And I already had on hand:<br />
olive oil<br />
brown sugar<br />
maple syrup<br />
honey<br />
<br />
I'll calculate the actual cost of the granola a little later, since I didn't use all of each of the ingredients.<br />
<br />
I did consult a few recipes before I jumped in, but I didn't follow any recipe to the letter.<br />
<br />
First, I mixed up the dry ingredients. In my case it was oats, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, soy nuts, coconut, and wheat germ. <br />
<br />
What I deduced here is that ingredients, and even proportions here don't really matter. Add things you think you'd like to eat. Make it sweeter or less sweet depending on your preference. It's fun! :)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6681138659/" title="All the dry ingredients by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="All the dry ingredients" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7151/6681138659_92d7c8cc4b.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
Nice and Mixy!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6681139555/" title="Mix well by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Mix well" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7035/6681139555_e9d96a0692.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
Now for the wet part. Or as my mom would call it "something to stick it together". Every meal needs to stick together. Didn't you know this? Well my mom knows it and utilizes this method!<br />
<br />
In the sticky department I've used about 1/4-ish cup of olive oil, 1/2-ish cup of brown sugar and 1/4-ish cup of real maple syrup. I threw about a 1/2 teaspoon of salt in this step, too. <br />
<br />
Again, I don't think that what you use here matters that much. You can skip the syrup if you don't have it or don't like it. You could use any kind of oil and any kind of sugar. Or no sugar if you're a lumberjack or something.<br />
<br />
I mixed those up in a little bowl, kind of like I would do for a salad dressing.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6681140771/" title="The something-to-stick-it-together by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="The something-to-stick-it-together" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7008/6681140771_1a76d84345.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
See? Looks like dressing, right? Well, sort of.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6681141655/" title="Kind of reminded me of a vinaigrette by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Kind of reminded me of a vinaigrette" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7022/6681141655_9104d48684.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
Then, I drizzled the wet mixture over the dry mixture, thusly:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6681142283/" title="Coat dry mixture with sugar/butter/oil/syrup mixture by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Coat dry mixture with sugar/butter/oil/syrup mixture" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7163/6681142283_b359ecdc8b.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
It covered the top pretty much completely.<br />
<br />
Then just a little stirring and I came out with a concoction that kind of stuck to my spoon. The spoon sticking told me that my wet-to-dry ratio was working. If it seems to dry you can always drizzle a little more of something on there to get it where you want it.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6681143527/" title="When it's somewhat sticky-togethery, you'll know it's ready by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="When it's somewhat sticky-togethery, you'll know it's ready" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7032/6681143527_000bdeaaa7.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
Then I spread it out on a cookie sheet, or in my case, two cookie sheets. I made a mistake here, that I wouldn't fully understand until I was finished with the whole batch. See if you can figure it out before I tell you.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6681145089/" title="Spread on a cookie sheet by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Spread on a cookie sheet" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7001/6681145089_f105f53b1b.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
<br />
A little drizzle over the top of each pan with some honey<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6681145949/" title="Honey drizzle by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Honey drizzle" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7147/6681145949_f0cd2f8f5a.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
<br />
and then into the oven the pans went. The temp was set to 250 degrees.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6681146495/" title="Into the oven at 250 for 1 hour and 15 minutes by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Into the oven at 250 for 1 hour and 15 minutes" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7146/6681146495_24ef7e1e29.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
(The two pans, that are not the same, and also are different)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6681147187/" title="Stir every 15 minutes by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Stir every 15 minutes" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7001/6681147187_a7e50bff06.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
I set the timer for 15 minutes, every 15 minutes. When the timer beeped I stirred the granola and reset the timer. It was like a little dance I did. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/granola-recipe/index.html">Alton Brown's granola recipe</a> recommended 1 hour and 15 minutes of baking, stirring every 15 minutes, so that's what I did.<br />
<br />
When it was about ready, I took the two pans out and saw something I didn't see when they were in the funny colored oven light.<br />
<br />
Looks like the darker pan I used cooked the granola a weence faster. One pan was a bit . . . shall we say . . . caramelized.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6681148367/" title="One of these things is not like the other by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="One of these things is not like the other" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7015/6681148367_f05c9ac9da.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
When we burn things in this family it takes a quorum of family members to decide what to do. So, as if there was nothing else to be done, the four of us stood around the stove top nibbling semi-burnt granola. We mostly agreed it still tasted ok. But we had to taste it some more.<br />
<br />
And yeah, we definitely agreed, it's edible.<br />
<br />
So I went ahead and mixed the two pans together, along with the dried cranberries I bought, and ta da! We have a finished product!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6681150003/" title="Mixed together with dried cranberries added by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Mixed together with dried cranberries added" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7010/6681150003_82f77f21b5.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
And just to be completely sure, my son and I decided we'd make a bowl with some milk, for a REAL taste test. It is quite tasty. Not too sweet, and the combination of soy nuts, sesame seeds and sunflower seeds almost tastes peanut buttery. Kind of yummy. Actually it might be really tasty with a few chocolate chips thrown in.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6681151681/" title="Taste Test by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Taste Test" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7008/6681151681_30e9aecc67.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
Ok, math time.<br />
The tiny 12 ounce bag of granola I was going to purchase was $3.50. If you divide that out you get a per ounce price of about 29 cents.<br />
<br />
So, was the home made cheaper?<br />
<br />
Calculating approximate amounts of the ingredients I used, as well as approximate costs for the ingredients I already had on hand (about 1/4 of the oatmeal, all of the cranberries, just a couple tablespoons of wheat germ, and so on)<br />
<br />
I've come up with a total price of $8.57 for my granola. <br />
<br />
When it was all finished and bagged up, the bag weighed in at about 3 pounds. <br />
<br />
My fancy math machine (calculator) tells me that's about 18 cents per ounce of granola.<br />
<br />
But we should discuss something else.<br />
<br />
The granola I was going to buy was the most basic of basic granolas. Simple oats and raisins, no nuts or added tasty bits at all. My granola is full of hearty goodness. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
I most certainly could have made this cheaper as well, by narrowing the ingredients down a bit. I could have chosen coconut OR cranberries, for example.<br />
<br />
And since I had such success making granola, I spent the whole day today canning my own beans. Sounds totally exciting, right?Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02374762423346958678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053699374217601540.post-85941388420847930532012-01-05T13:10:00.000-08:002012-01-05T13:10:58.028-08:00Chapter 3, wherein we conclude the adventures of a 6 year old table that wished it was 100!Or something . . .<br />
I'm working on the titles.<br />
<br />
Remember how<a href="http://simpledownnow.blogspot.com/2012/01/making-oldish-things-newish-part-1.html" target="_blank"> I sanded</a> the table? And then I did <a href="http://simpledownnow.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-to-make-your-not-old-table-look-not.html" target="_blank">a lot of other stuff</a> to it?<br />
<br />
Well, after that, my dad (the boss of all wood involved projects) offered to spray the finish on my table for me. <br />
<br />
Who am I to turn down an offer like that?<br />
<br />
I want to stress, though, that I certainly would have simply finished it on my own, if he hadn't offered. While the fact that the finish was, in the end, sprayed on the table did make the process much easier and faster, but it certainly would have been doable without the help.<br />
<br />
After assisting with loading the table into my dad's truck, riding along as he drove it to his house, and assisting in the unloading of the table, my work was pretty straightforward and simple from there on out.<br />
<br />
Watch my dad do one final sanding with his sander that works significantly faster and better than mine.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6643103779/" title="Dad's fancy sander by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Dad's fancy sander" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7145/6643103779_3a24885e60.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
I had intended to do this myself, but it literally took him four minutes to do one final finish sanding. I love how the wood shows through just a bit. Perfect!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6643102961/" title="After sanding by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="After sanding" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7157/6643102961_90f6622fb8.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
While he did wood-guy things in the garage I used his pretty awesome wood-guy's scraper to distress the legs and edges of the table top. I ended up liking just the scraper and never did end up doing any distressing with the sander. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6643102653/" title="scraper by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="scraper" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7158/6643102653_946062ab84.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
After the legs, table edges and base were distressed<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6643106237/" title="edges by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="edges" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7014/6643106237_8ddc29435d.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6643107929/" title="base by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="base" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7024/6643107929_4ab9a487cc.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6643108741/" title="Distressed legs by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Distressed legs" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7029/6643108741_6cc7cc7aa7.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
<br />
the two of us got a little creative!<br />
<br />
Dad mixed some chartreuse-ish paint tints with paint thinner. (He says paint in the color you like and whatever the packaging says to use to thin it would work the same. The tints were just used because he already had them on hand.) Then, just dabbing the edge of a rag in the tint, and blotting it thoroughly, he ever-so-gently wiped the color on to the table top in places. He also wiped a little of it around the white rim. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6643110075/" title="A little color by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="A little color" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7018/6643110075_eceed88382.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
I ended up absolutely loving this effect because it makes the green on the legs really sing. You'd have to see it in person, but I feel like the green in the distressing is so much more noticible because of the tint on the table top. <br />
<br />
After a little more drying time, cleaning all the dust away, and putting the table up on cinder blocks in the driveway he sprayed the first of three coats of finish on the table. <br />
<br />
We used Minwax brand finish in "natural", applied with an automotive spray gun. Of course this could have been done with a brush. But if you know someone who has the ability to spray something for you, I highly recommend it. It was a snap to finish. Each coat took about 5 minutes to apply. Additional coats can be applied once the finish is mostly dry, unlike staining with a brush, where you have to wait until each coat is totally dry before reapplying.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6643111399/" title="Spraying on the finish by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Spraying on the finish" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7141/6643111399_4af9ccbbd5.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
We let it dry about 1-2 hours after the first coat, and 20 minutes between the other two.<br />
<br />
And that was it. <br />
<br />
It was left to dry overnight, in the heated garage. The next day he brought it back to me, looking all pretty and stuff.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6643216581/" title="Home again! by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Home again!" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7168/6643216581_f9ec6979f1.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6643217837/" title="Closer look by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Closer look" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7033/6643217837_e72787cde9.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6633140259/" title="All Done by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="All Done" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7174/6633140259_34fa68eca7.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
<br />
And that's it . . . for now.<br />
<br />
My confession is that I have already done a little something else to this room, because after the table was redone I felt a little too shabby chic and not enough ecclectic chic.<br />
<br />
I'll share that project soon.Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02374762423346958678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053699374217601540.post-65507315238484924452012-01-04T22:07:00.000-08:002012-01-04T22:07:45.107-08:00How to make your not-old table look not-new. (part 2)Ok, so when <a href="http://simpledownnow.blogspot.com/2012/01/making-oldish-things-newish-part-1.html">last I wrote</a> we were discussing how to make a dining table that looks like this:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6632826029/" title="My table, in it's early days by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="My table, in it's early days" height="323" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7009/6632826029_d1ab74fe3b.jpg" width="485" /></a><br />
<br />
look like this:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6633140259/" title="All Done by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="All Done" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7174/6633140259_34fa68eca7.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
<br />
We talked about all the many years of sanding in the last post. Which, after I posted, I thought "Sheesh, Emily. You probably could have dealt with that in a couple sentences!"<br />
<br />
But the good news is, I was thorough.<br />
<br />
So after I had completely rid the table of it's painted top, I took some help from the family and gave it a little bit of a beating. <br />
<br />
We made little x shaped divots in patches here and there by placing the point of a phillips head screwdriver on the table top and tapping it once or twice with a hammer. Don't let your husband, or any adult male tap the hammer twice or you will get the largest x shaped divot ever. Men are not subtle when it comes to hammers. We also created lots and lots and lots of crescent moon shaped hammer head marks, everywhere.<br />
<br />
Children like to beat furniture, they'll do it for you with no complaint at all. Husbands will get a little carried away and possibly need to be told to slow down. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6639420309/" title="divots by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="divots" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7021/6639420309_0b4bd5c4a9.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
The hammer marks were difficult to see before the finish process highlighted them. I'll post another photo of that below.<br />
<br />
After the abuse, I cleaned the table top off with a dry towel (canned air would be perfect for this) and applied two coats of polyurethane with a sponge brush.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6633096929/" title="Step 1 by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Step 1" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7027/6633096929_abb692718f.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
<br />
Since I knew that I wanted the wood to show through the paint, I elected to use this particular product to deepen the wood color, before I started painting. I never would have thought to do this if it weren't for <a href="http://theletteredcottage.net/dining-room-table-transformation-part-two/" target="_blank">this post</a> from The Lettered Cottage. So Layla gets all the credit on that one. <br />
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I did two coats of poly, allowing it to dry a couple of hours between each coat. <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6639434255/" title="divots with poly by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="divots with poly" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7165/6639434255_8107c81eef.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
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The distressing was a little more visible after the poly went on.<br />
<br />
You can also see a spot there where the veneer was totally gone, as well as a fresh hammer mark or two that we added after we did the poly. We just felt like it needed a few more. (Don't forget how husbands like to hit tables with hammers, he couldn't help himself.)<br />
<br />
After two coats of polyurethane the table looked like this:<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6633096953/" title="after poly by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="after poly" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7010/6633096953_395409b40e.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
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You can see in the above photo that I attempted to sand the edges of the table down, only to discover that the edges of the table were terrible and awful and apparently made of paper, or possibly cow patties and straw. I don't actually know what they're made of, but while sanding the material kind of just crumbled off. The legs were also made of this material. <br />
<br />
After some thought and semi-careful planning I decided I would go ahead and paint the edge of the table white, just as I planned to do with the base. All I did to prep the legs was a super light rough-up with the sander, just so the paint would stick.<br />
<br />
I think I did about 3 coats of white paint, alternating with the 2 coats of poly I did on the table top, thereby reducing my down time. As it worked out I ended up working outside on the table for pretty much the entire day.<br />
<br />
After a couple coats of white, most of the black was covered and the edge was looking much nicer.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6633096963/" title="painted base by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="painted base" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7169/6633096963_f6bd0d57a4.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
See the brush marks on the legs?<br />
<br />
I wasn't particularly worried about those. I had plans for the legs, that involved making them look much worse (which is also better, right?) than a few brush strokes made them look.<br />
<br />
When most of the black was covered I pulled out my secret weapon.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6633096981/" title="now for fun! by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="now for fun!" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7148/6633096981_efb2310565.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
A tiny little tester pot of Japanese Fern by Behr. I purchased this several moths ago as a tester for my bathroom linen closet door, but since I've yet to test anything, it's just been sitting around the house waiting to be used. I definitely hadn't planned to use this particular paint on this particular table, but when the idea hit me I was excited, so I went to town.<br />
<br />
I painted the green in patches all over the edges and base of the table. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6639381601/" title="With green by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="With green" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7009/6639381601_a3bb630b8a.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
After I let the green patches dry I painted another good full-coverage coat of white over that. All of this was done, of course, with the intention for it to show through later when I distressed the legs and base of the table. You can't see it in the after photo I've posted, but I have detail photos I'll share later.<br />
<br />
For my final step of the day I applied the white wash to the top of the table. I used off the shelf white from Home Depot, that I already had on hand. Mixing about half water and half paint in a mason jar, I made approximately 16 times more white wash than I needed. Just so you know. <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6639449183/" title="jar of paint by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="jar of paint" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7161/6639449183_fc6b378b61.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
<br />
Since the very wet water and paint mixture goes on super wet, I decided I would actually drizzle wet paint on the table in sections. Then I used a pretty gnarly looking, cheapo, dry paint brush to smear it around on the table top, thereby leaving streaks in the top and allowing the wood to show through. I brushed the paint in the direction of the grain making sure to leave sections of thick paint and sections of thin paint.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6639468869/" title="after whitewash by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="after whitewash" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7007/6639468869_151f34deee.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
The process of covering the table top went very fast and before I knew it was covered.<br />
When I put the table up for the night, it looked like this:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6639469851/" title="done for the night by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="done for the night" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7167/6639469851_c224538d26.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Tomorrow, I'll post the conclusion of this project! And for now I'll tell you that I just totally love my new table a whole lot. I'm so thrilled to have been able to actually do this!Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02374762423346958678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053699374217601540.post-14453948075349522572012-01-03T22:39:00.000-08:002012-01-03T22:39:06.583-08:00Making Old(ish) Things New(ish) (Part 1)About 6 years ago I purchased a damaged black table at the Ashley Furniture tent sale for $60. It had a huge crack in the finish that I had, at one time, intended to repair. The crack ended up being largely ignorable, though. No one looks that close at your table anyway, right? <br />
<br />
I chose it because I wanted a black table. No other reason. It doesn't have a lot of character, it's clean and simple and well . . . plain. <br />
<br />
Here it is in another time and place.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6632826029/" title="My table, in it's early days by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="My table, in it's early days" height="323" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7009/6632826029_d1ab74fe3b.jpg" width="485" /></a><br />
<br />
I'm actually shocked to see it in this condition, in this photo, right now. So shiny and clean and pretty looking. It wasn't looking too pretty the other day when I finally decided to<em> give it everything I had in the once over department</em> (name that movie!). <br />
<br />
The wood is soft, which means that the table had suffered some serious dings over the years. <br />
<br />
I wanted to take a stab at making it look like a farm house table, with the intention of bringing my home decor a little closer to the eclectic vibe I crave.<br />
<br />
I thought it over and figured that reading about what I did to my table, without any idea of how the table came out at all, might feel a little odd. So I've decided I'll tease with one photo of the finished product . . .<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6633140259/" title="All Done by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="All Done" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7174/6633140259_34fa68eca7.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
<br />
Farmhousey as all get out, if you ask me. Plus the table itself is quite modern so it all kind of works. Inside my mind, anyway. <br />
<br />
But back to the story!<br />
<br />
The weather has been unseasonably warm lately. And I'm not talking "Wow, it's warm for January." It's actually warm. High 60's and low 70's. Logical deduction (and weather.com) tells me that winter won't arrive for several weeks, which means it will likely last into July, which means I'd better do any warm-weather-dependent crafts now, while the weather lasts.<br />
<br />
So my sister helped me drag this beast out to the front walk, where we took turns sanding and sanding and sanding it.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6632871703/" title="Sanding by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Sanding" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7161/6632871703_5d3779d60a.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
Goodbye black paint.<br />
<br />
We used a handheld sander purchased at Home Depot for about $30, with 60 grit sand paper. The paper is sold pre-cut to fit the specific sander. Make sure you get the right kind because the wrong ones don't really fit. But don't distress! (Ha! Get it? Sand paper? Distress? I'm hilarious.) You can make the wrong paper work, in most circumstances. I know this from experience.<br />
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The first step is pretty straight forward. Just a lot of sanding, for a long time.<br />
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Here's how it looked as the paint started to come off.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6632871945/" title="You know how we do by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="You know how we do" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7145/6632871945_0e6f3d8e9c.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
In the above photo you can also see the crack in the finish, as it slowly disappeared under the sander's ripping grains. Under that crack we discovered that the veneer was totally gone. The wood underneath was an MDF type board that has no grain to it. Even though my original plan involved repainting and distressing it, I knew for sure, when I saw that the veneer was gone in places that simply staining it was not an option. <br />
<br />
And here it is after a couple hours of work and the decision to call it a night.<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6632872155/" title="Partially Complete by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Partially Complete" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7145/6632872155_6aa0eccfa3.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
<br />
I made the decision to leave the leaf in the table throughout the refinish process, in an effort to make the new finish match well, across the whole table. I don't keep the leaf in the table on a day-to-day basis anymore, as you've seen above. <br />
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Here's a closer image. <br />
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The upper part of this photo shows what the finish looked like after one quick go-round with the sander.<br />
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The lower part shows what it looked like after several go-rounds.<br />
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I did another couple or so to remove all the finish, before I moved on to refinishing it.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6632872363/" title="before/middle - kind of by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="before/middle - kind of" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7025/6632872363_c5e54222d0.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
<br />
This table had a rather thick finish on it. After the fact I thought that I might have been smarter to use a chemical stripper first, but maybe not. Sanding it wasn't particularly difficult, but it did take some time.<br />
<br />
The next morning I set to work and after a couple more hours working with the sander, it looked like this:<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6633096905/" title="all sanded by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="all sanded" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7032/6633096905_8ec09e364f.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
I'm gonna call it a night! Tomorrow I'll post more! I'm sure you're very excited.Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02374762423346958678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053699374217601540.post-16671794798890023912012-01-01T16:09:00.000-08:002012-01-01T16:09:20.480-08:00Happiest of New Years!The other day we were eating in a restaurant and my daughter saw a belgian waffle on the menu. She burst out laughing. "Mom, look! BELGIAN WAFFLE! Bwahahahaha!"<br />
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I laughed along.<br />
<br />
I still haven't figured out why that was so funny. Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02374762423346958678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053699374217601540.post-9751800665411299512011-12-30T20:41:00.000-08:002011-12-30T20:58:54.646-08:00File this under: I AM NOT A SHORT ORDER COOKIt was a wise woman who once said, "Oh no, little child! YOU WILL EAT WHAT I MAKE OR YOU WILL NOT EAT AT ALL!"<br />
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This wise woman held her ground. She taught her children to eat everything on their plates, and they never complained, and they never cried, and they never, ever, ever had even a little twinkle of complaint about anything. It was said, throughout the land, that the wise woman's children were THE BEST children of all. OF. ALL. <br />
<br />
Or wait . . . <br />
<br />
Maybe it wasn't quite like that.<br />
<br />
This is the story of how I found myself cooking two separate dinners.<br />
<br />
Let's go back to July of this year. My darling 9 year old girl, who loves animals and wants to be a veterinarian, was reading <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Vet-Emergencies-24-Don-Curry/dp/0696239795/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325298402&sr=8-1" target="_blank">her favorite book</a>. (HIGHLY RECOMMEND!) When, almost as if she'd had a sudden epiphany, said to me, "Mom, I was just thinking. If I want to be a veterinarian, I probably shouldn't eat animals. Vets don't hurt animals, they help them."<br />
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Well . . . um . . . but, you see . . .<br />
<br />
I had to think for a second. I reminded her that I buy almost all of our meat organic and talked to her about how organic animals are raised in a more humane way. I told her that God tells us in the bible that animals were given to us for food. I told her that I am always careful to choose foods that are farmed in a way that causes the least amount of environmental burden, as well as a better life for the animals. And then I blabbed some more . . . <br />
<br />
Then she stopped me, "Mom, it's not that I think eating meat is wrong, it's that I think that I just don't want to do it."<br />
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Faced with a sudden dilemma of choosing between explaining myself unnecessarily further (with the overtly obvious intention to push my child toward my way of thinking) and embracing my daughter's uniqueness I just said, "That's fine if you don't want to eat meat, but you still have to eat healthy."<br />
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So over the next couple of days, as she dabbled in vegetarianism, we talked about protein and what foods contain it and how much of it she needs. And I set down a few ground rules.<br />
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1. If you're going to be a vegetarian, you cannot also be a picky eater. This means you must eat beans, brown rice, Greek yogurt, quinoa and lots of veggies. You won't subsist on a diet of nothing but cheese pizza and veggie burgers. (as fun as that sounds!)<br />
<br />
2. If you're going to be a vegetarian you cannot pout and complain when you go out and there's nothing vegetarian for you to eat. You have to be flexible. You might attend a party that provides very few vegetarian options. When this happens, you can not stomp around and behave as if you are entitled to special food. Carrot sticks are your friend. If you're not sure what will be available, you can always pack a sandwich. (If you have to resort to your packed sandwich, eat it discreetly. Don't stand in front of everyone and bark about how you don't eat meat.)<br />
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3. If I am going to be buying specialty foods for you, you're going to eat them. Greek yogurts cost nearly $1 a piece. I don't want to be throwing these things away because you took two bites and decided you didn't like it. <br />
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4. The specialty foods I buy are not for your exclusive use. They are for our family. You don't decide who eats them or when they are eaten. I remember a church camp out once with a young boy who was diabetic and would have an incredibly awful tantrum any time any person drank a diet soda. It's not cute when someone acts like a diva, no matter the reason.<br />
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After a few days of dabbling, she made the call. She wanted to be a vegetarian for sure. <br />
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And here I am 5 months later, still cooking a vegetarian dinner - or a dinner and it's vegetarian cousin - every single night. All in all, it has been a surprisingly simple adventure. It's saved us some money (meat is pricy!) and it's probably pushed us toward a few healthier choices. The lovely lady is very confirmed in her decision. She hasn't wavered, in the slightest. She didn't even cheat for salami and cream cheese, or bacon, or bbq'd steaks.<br />
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Here's a meal that became a favorite of our family over the past few months.<br />
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If you want to make it you'll need:<br />
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A package of chicken drumsticks (organic)<br />
Salt, Pepper, Garlic, Cumin, Chili Powder, Paprika, White Pepper and Chipotle Chili Powder<br />
Naan (I got mine at Trader Joes)<br />
Falafel (ours came frozen, also from Trader Joes, you can make it from a box mix or <a href="http://humus101.com/EN/2007/03/13/an-easy-falafel-recipe/">from scratch</a>, if you're ambitious)<br />
Your favorite lettuce<br />
Shelled sunflower seeds<br />
balsamic vinegar<br />
olive oil<br />
<br />
and a BBQ grill<br />
<br />
I started with a package of <b>chicken</b> drumsticks. About two per meat-eater is perfect for our family.<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6604456133/" title="1 by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="1" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7141/6604456133_442fd2eecb.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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I sprinkle one side of the meat with salt, pepper, garlic and each of these spices. You can adjust the proportions of spicy spices, to not-spicy spices to make it how you like it. <br />
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I like to do one side only, so that it doesn't get too spicy.<br />
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Now, throw the chicken on a hot grill. I do spice side up, first. My theory was that the spices would soak into the meat while the other side cooks. <br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6604456419/" title="2 by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="2" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7162/6604456419_8591091cd3.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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Turn it over when a little bit of blood starts to run out. They will take longer than you think they should, if you're not used to cooking chicken on the bone, on the grill. These probably took about a half hour, total. (<a href="http://allrecipes.com/howto/grilling-times-for-chicken-and-poultry/">allrecipes.com says 10-15 minutes per side, too</a>) (prep the other food while it cooks!)<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6604456619/" title="3 by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="3" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7025/6604456619_c981bab20c.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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When the chicken was nearly done, I moved it off the grill <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6604456935/" title="4 by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="4" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7173/6604456935_458b3f4d85.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
and put the <b>naan</b> on the hot grill. Naan is from heaven.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6604457123/" title="5 by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="5" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7029/6604457123_a086e943df.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
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You'll know it is finished when it has amazingly delicious grill marks:<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6604457471/" title="6 by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="6" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7157/6604457471_8525a79392.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
Keep it warm by placing it in the oven while you finish everything else up. If you time it correctly, it should come off right when you are ready to sit and eat.<br />
The <b>brown rice</b> I am serving here is from Trader Joe's and is the easiest thing ever. It comes frozen, and just needs to be microwaved for 3 minutes. Of course, you can make your own. <br />
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The <b>falafel</b> is similar. Trader Joes, Microwave. You know the drill. <br />
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The<strong> salad</strong> is the best trick of all. No one will believe how simple it was!<br />
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Wash, dry and tear your lettuce into bite sized pieces. Put the lettuce in a large salad bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and toss. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and toss again. Now sprinkle some granulated garlic, a little pepper and a healthy handful of the sunflower seeds. And toss again.<br />
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It's good. The sunflower seed crunch is magic.<br />
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This salad is extra good with cucumber, tomato and avocado, too.<br />
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So there it is.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6604376949/" title="twodinners by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="twodinners" height="375" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7013/6604376949_3c25e154dd.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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Two different, but the same plates.Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02374762423346958678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053699374217601540.post-66325696894050209392011-12-26T20:43:00.000-08:002011-12-26T20:50:42.754-08:00Pie Redux + Random things I totally loveYou may recall that wonderful looking<a href="http://simpledownnow.blogspot.com/2011/12/i-have-made-pie.html" target="_blank"> Caramel Apple Pear Bourbon Pie</a> I made the other night. I say wonderful looking, because it had yet to be tasted, when last I posted. <br />
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Now it is all gone - and I wish that it wasn't. It was wonderful and delicious. And that's what you need to know. <br />
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I had some concerns that the pie would be too wet and that maybe the crust would be soggy, but it wasn't. The excess liquid thickened perfectly. I highly recommend trying something like this. Take my idea and play with it or make up your own pie recipe. Take a restaurant dessert you love and turn it into something you can make at home. It will most likely be delicious! Worst case? You'll learn a little something about cooking!<br />
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<em>If you're in to wonderful food</em><br />
Another amazing dessert we experienced this Christmas came courtesy of my sister who *heart*s <a href="http://pinterest.com/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a> as much as the rest of us. She made incredibly wonderful, totally delicious, and mind bogglingly simple Dulce de Leche sauce, ALL BY HERSELF, in the crock pot. It was exciting to be present when she opened it up and we all saw that a couple cans of sweetened condensed milk, and a crock pot can come together to make magic. Delicious, wonderful magic. You can find the recipe <a href="http://taylortakesataste.com/dulce-de-leche-so-easy-to-make-and-so-many-useses/" target="_blank">HERE</a>, if you're inclined to try it.<br />
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<em>Break Time</em><br />
Now that Christmas is over, the kids and I have a goal. For our Christmas break we're going to be reading <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Invention-Hugo-Cabret-Brian-Selznick/dp/0439813786/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324954694&sr=8-1" target="_blank">The Invention of Hugo Cabret</a> together. When my kids discovered this book in our very most favorite independent book store EVER, <a href="http://www.sundancebookstore.com/" target="_blank">Sundance Books</a>, they brought it to me immediately. I had seen Martin Scorsese on The Daily Show a couple days before that and he'd commented about how wonderful the book was, and how his kids' love for it led him to direct the movie Hugo. So I was excited to read the book, right off the bat.<br />
<br />
Then I opened it.<br />
<br />
And then I cried.<br />
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I wish I was exaggerating, but I'm not. My eyes totally welled up at the extreme level of loveliness that oozes from this book. You NEED it. You need it right now.<br />
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As soon as we're all done reading it, we'll be going to see <a href="http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/paramount/hugo/" target="_blank">Hugo</a> in the theaters! Hopefully this whole plan will come together nicely by the end of this week. Can not wait!<br />
<br />
<em>Speaking of movie trailers</em><br />
I have a thing for documentaries. I watch a lot of them and I can't stop watching them and I can't stop talking about them. The other day I caught up on new doc trailers. I am now officially excited to see <a href="http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/shutuplittleman/" target="_blank">this movie</a> (kind of seems to be akin to <a href="http://winnebagoman.com/" target="_blank">Winebago Man</a>) and the feel-warm-and-squishy-all-over trailer makes me excited to see <a href="http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/beingelmo/" target="_blank">this one</a>, too. Both have already been released, but since I don't live in a big city, I have to wait until Netflix has them for me to see.<br />
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Some day I'll open an art house cinema and you can all come to my place to watch documentaries every Friday night. I'll make tamales and we'll have Perrier and pretend to be fancy. <br />
<br />
<em>If you want to watch a documentary</em><br />
I recently watched <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1424432/" target="_blank">Senna</a>, which was wonderful. It is a nearly narration-free, super real, look into the life of Formula One driver Ayrton Senna. It is available on Netflix live streaming.<br />
<br />
The kids and I also watched the 1996 film<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117040/" target="_blank"> Microcosmos</a>. The entire film is shot in extreme close-up, with tiny cameras and tons of time-lapse footage of bugs of all kinds, going about their daily business. It has very little narration and the kids and I loved it. (Fair warning, you will see a pair of slugs and a pair of ladybugs getting a little personal at some point in this film.)<br />
<br />
<em>Also</em><br />
The kids put their Grandma money together to purchase a Kinect (we already had the xbox) and we spent our Christmas Eve dancing up a storm. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9196hi1IvY&list=UUkDaGUBVFCMcy8XEqOTL3HA&index=1&feature=plcp" target="_blank">Just Dance</a> is quite possibly, the most fun game ever.<br />
<br />
I hope you all had an amazing Christmas!Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02374762423346958678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053699374217601540.post-14096346111376650052011-12-24T01:21:00.000-08:002011-12-24T01:29:30.768-08:00I have made pieFirst, I found some cough drops which offered me some much needed relief. <br />
<br />
Then I made quick and easy bean burritos for dinner.<br />
<br />
<br />
Then, I set out to make an incredible pie.<br />
<br />
Oh, it definitely went down.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6563203807/" title="Fruity by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Fruity" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7007/6563203807_e8b69cb171.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
4 apples and 4 pears. I had them on hand. The fruit decided what kind of pie I should make.<br />
<br />
I let fruit make lots of decisions for me.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6563204125/" title="One down, 7 million to go by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="One down, 7 million to go" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7141/6563204125_49e7d1f355.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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I peeled them one at a time, and let them rest in a bowl of water, with a quarter of a lemon squeezed into the water. <br />
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One by one, I peeled them.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6563204865/" title="Peeled by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Peeled" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7035/6563204865_c6f51ec631.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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Then, I cored them and sliced them, thinly. Just as typical pie recipes instructed me to do.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6563204267/" title="Cored by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Cored" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7149/6563204267_949fe17809.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6563204441/" title="Slices by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Slices" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7003/6563204441_ac1a730f8e.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
and back in the water they go.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6563204619/" title="Sliced, resting in water with lemon by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Sliced, resting in water with lemon" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7161/6563204619_8515d45a81.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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After they were all sliced I put them in a colander over the sink and let them sit and drip until I was ready to use them again.<br />
<br />
Then things got a little crazy.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6563203965/" title="Candy and Liquor - best pie ingredients ever by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Candy and Liquor - best pie ingredients ever" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7032/6563203965_936d81e878.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
<br />
Well, not too crazy, don't get excited or anything.<br />
<br />
I unwrapped about 18 caramels and melted them in a sauce pan with about a tablespoon of milk. This step is undocumented because I was distracted by the molten piece of caramel that jumped out of the pan and landed on my right index finger. That didn't feel nice. But I had to get my weekly burn out of the way, so, there's that.<br />
<br />
Once the caramel was melted, I removed it from the heat and stirred in about a tablespoon of the whiskey. <br />
<br />
I put the now somewhat dry apples into a large mixing bowl and added about 2-3 tablespoons of flour, 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, 1/2 cup-ish of sugar, a 1/2 teaspoon of salt and the caramel mixture. I tossed it all together using two large spoons, and let it sit for a second while I prepared the pie crust.<br />
<br />
Now, I'll be honest with you. I did cheat here. I used store bought crust. Which is in no way shape or form anywhere close to home made, but I'm sick. Cut me some slack.<br />
<br />
The bottom crust goes into the pie tin, first (captain obvious, to the rescue!)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6563204723/" title="Bottom crust by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Bottom crust" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7033/6563204723_ca3e91bc34.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
and the top crust I cut into 1" wide strips<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6563205143/" title="strips by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="strips" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7167/6563205143_b001f167c8.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
Using a fork, poke some holes in the bottom of the bottom crust, then add your caramel-y, apple-y, delicious-y mixture. Mine was a bit wet, I left about a tablespoon or so of liquid behind in the bowl, but the majority of it went into the pie.<br />
<br />
Now, take the 1" wide strips and select about four of them to go across the pie in one direction, like this<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6563205323/" title="Pinch here, lay flat by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Pinch here, lay flat" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7150/6563205323_e3a2bf70ee.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
Pinch them against the bottom crust to make them stay in place. <br />
<br />
Then, pinch the rest of the strips against the other side of the crust, like this<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6563205001/" title="First lattice by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="First lattice" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7160/6563205001_814650e70d.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
Then, using your skills in the folding and unfolding of dough, you're going to make a lattice design.<br />
<br />
Start on one edge and work your way across the pie. Fold the strip farthest to the edge back and lay a perpendicular strip across, underneath. Then lay the folded back strip flat again, and lay a perpendicular strip over it. And on and on until the whole pie is latticed. It's easy to mess up, but also not hard to do. I actually kind of messed mine up when I was photographing it. But it's easily unfolded and refolded until you get it right.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6563205529/" title="fold and unfold by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="fold and unfold" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7142/6563205529_1045d4c3c9.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6563205719/" title="Pinch, pinch by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Pinch, pinch" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7153/6563205719_bc65b70739.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
Pinch the dough strip on the far side when you're all done folding and unfolding that strip.<br />
<br />
When it's all done, trim the excess dough off the edges and press it all together with the tines of a fork.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6563205875/" title="Ready for bakey by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Ready for bakey" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7155/6563205875_4bd5af4a48.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
TA DA!<br />
<br />
You can bake the little pastry scraps, for a tasty snack, too! I tossed mine in a little cinnamon and sugar and put them on a cookie sheet right in the oven with the pie. They take about 10 minutes or so to bake and they're yummy. Call the kids quickly, before you eat all of them yourself.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6563206039/" title="Just like momma used to make by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Just like momma used to make" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7164/6563206039_da996d6895.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
Now, bake at 400 degrees for about 45-ish minutes. When the crust was reasonably golden brown I gently inserted a fork between the lattice and tested the fruit for done-ness. It was done. And out it came!<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6563206189/" title="I have made pie by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="I have made pie" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7027/6563206189_16c09838fa.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
It sure does LOOK tasty, but I won't know for sure until tomorrow when the family joins us for Christmas Eve dinner. Mine is happily resting in the fridge now, I'll reheat it before dessert time, tomorrow! Serve with ice cream!Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02374762423346958678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053699374217601540.post-77666222442718010472011-12-23T15:18:00.000-08:002011-12-23T15:19:49.317-08:00SICK SICK SICKAnd not in a good way. <br />
<br />
I've been coughing (to a degree of severity that I'd prefer not to discuss right now, but if you're female, over the age of 25 and/or have given birth to a child at some point, you probably know exactly what I'm talking about) all day, every day, for at least week. It's a terrible, awful problem and I wish it would go away. I wish I didn't have to <em>do things</em> and be sick. I wish that I could hide or disappear for a couple days. I wish I KNEW HOW TO MAKE IT GO AWAY.<br />
<br />
But I don't. So I'll rest and think about what it feels like to not be sick. But not too much, because late at night, when the coughing won't stop, daydreaming about feeling better only makes you feel worse. I know from experience.<br />
<br />
Instead of doing anything else, I'm going to sit at the computer and make a Company is Coming on Christmas Eve and I'd Better Start Baking, plan. I'll draw a graph and everything. Well, maybe I won't draw a graph. <br />
<br />
My wonderful husband ran to the store on my behalf last night, and procured the supplies I need to make two pies. I've got 4 apples and 4 pears on hand and my plan is to create a pie of my own design. I'm thinking Caramel Apple Pear Pie. Good idea? Yes, yes I think so. <br />
<br />
I've googled and have referenced <a href="http://jbugskitchenantics.typepad.com/jbugs-kitchen-antics/2011/09/cinnamon-caramel-apple-pear-pie.html" target="_blank">existing</a> <a href="http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Caramel-Pear-Pie" target="_blank">recipes</a>. I could make my own caramel, but I have a bag of caramel candies on hand, so I think I'll use those. I'll document my journey. I'm not making any official promises, but I think this might be kind of awesome.Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02374762423346958678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053699374217601540.post-76277937721578555602011-12-16T21:55:00.000-08:002011-12-16T21:55:18.793-08:00DIY QuickieThis is a story of how an 8-year-old-child's charming white toy box, turned into a very-grown-up-9-yea-old's ecclectic, bohemian toy box.<br />
<br />
First of all we have to talk about HGTV and how it pollutes the mind with IDEAS. Ideas that just don't seem to go away. Especially not when a very-grown-up-9-year-old's head is the head full of them.<br />
<br />
This particular idea, inspired by an episode of Home by Novogratz, went something like this: Cover something, ANYTHING, with duct tape. PRONTO. After saying "No, we cannot cover the coffee table in duct tape" 6 to 8 times daily for several weeks, I gave the go ahead. We could cover an item of furniture in her room with duct tape.<br />
<br />
The chosen item was this toy chest:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6524059577/" title="BEFORE by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="BEFORE" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7021/6524059577_76ef2af74c.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
Our first task was to remove the charming, but pesky wood trim around the lid. I suppose the purpose of the wood trim was to make the toy chest look a little bit like a bench. The problem with the trim was that when one opened the chest's lid, the trim dug deep into the wall behind the chest. The wood was loose and the wall behind the chest was stripped all the way down to bare, crumbling drywall. To keep this problem from expanding further, the toy chest had to be slid about 5 inches away from the wall. The perfect distance for all your falling-over-in-the-dark needs.<br />
<br />
In short - the trim HAD TO GO:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6524059757/" title="No more trim by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="No more trim" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7170/6524059757_9cc201cd35.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
Next, we selected the tape to be used:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6524059951/" title="Duct Tape by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Duct Tape" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7030/6524059951_619c3b067b.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
<br />
The choice belonged to the young lady, and I think she chose quite well! We purchased the tape at a craft store, but I have seen it just about everywhere.<br />
<br />
We decided we would alternate stripes of the existing white wood, and alternating patterns of tape. Working together we held long pieces of tape taught, and lowered them down onto the chest carefully, smoothing from the middle to the edges. (After the fact I thought a basket weave pattern might have been really neat - but, a day late and a dollar short . . .)<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6524060135/" title="Lay them straight by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Lay them straight" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7011/6524060135_79d33861cc.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
<br />
The tape's edges on the back of the chest don't show, and don't need to be perfectly straight. Little Miss trimmed them all by herself:<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6524060385/" title="Symmetrical by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Symmetrical" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7166/6524060385_5429789f0c.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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The edges on the front and sides, though, needed to be cut a little more precisely. We elected to use a pocket knife to cut the tape. A box cutter would have worked well, too.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6524060593/" title="Trim straight! by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Trim straight!" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7029/6524060593_eb1da91435.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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Finally, we decided we would put an initial on the front of the chest. I made the initial carefully, while the edges of the tape were lightly adhered to the edge of my dining room table. I just trimmed everything up neatly and stuck the letter A right in the middle. <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6524060929/" title="All Finished! by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="All Finished!" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7164/6524060929_3e94ac130b.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
Ta Da!<br />
<br />
All done. <br />
<br />
The three rolls of duct tape cost us about $12, but there was plenty left for other projects, like <a href="http://thepioneerwoman.com/homeschooling/2011/09/duct-tape-flower-pencils/" target="_blank">these adorable flower pencils!</a>Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02374762423346958678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053699374217601540.post-51092216694093987002011-12-12T15:33:00.000-08:002011-12-16T21:56:51.849-08:00Christmas Christmas TimeEvery year I seem to be on the hunt for something I can make A LOT of for cheap, so that I have simple gifts on hands for aunties and Grandmas and wonderful friends. Last year I made a million homemade bath bombs (which is wicked fun and I highly recommend!). Of course goodies are always an option and there's the old home made cocoa mix or bean soup in a jar ideas, too.<br />
But this year, thanks to everyone's new favorite website <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/">pinterest</a> I had a bazillion ideas. I ultimately settled on something a little more practical than Christmas normally calls for. Laundry Soap.<br />
<br />
Yes, it's true. I made them laundry soap. <br />
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I found the recipe<a href="http://beingcreativetokeepmysanity.blogspot.com/2010/11/homemade-laundry-soap.html" target="_blank"> here</a>, via pinterest.<br />
I personally think it's just lovely: <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6501994375/" title="Home made laundry soap by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Home made laundry soap" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7145/6501994375_819a800f69.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
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If you'd like to make some of your own, here's how you do it:<br />
<br />
You'll need<br />
1 box of Borax (4lb 12oz)<br />
1 box of Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda (550z) (Google told me that washing soda is baking soda that has been heated to make it more alkaline)<br />
1 large box of Arm and Hammer baking soda (4lb)<br />
3 bars of Fels-Naptha soap<br />
2 containers of oxyclean (optional)<br />
<br />
All of these ingredients are merchandised together in the laundry aisle of my local Wal Mart. I haven't checked other stores but my guess is that you can get them anywhere. <br />
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The prep on this is really simple. Just grate the soap on a cheese grater. I found that the larger holes on my grater worked best. Then, just bring all the ingredients together in a kitchen sized garbage bag, inside of a garbage can or bucket or hamper. Mix it together nicely with your hands, breaking up any clumps as you go. Be careful not to accidentally squeeze a handful of laundry soap gratings like I did, they'll clump up tightly and need to be broken up again. And that's it! You have laundry soap. <br />
<br />
During my research about this soap I have discovered MANY other homemade laundry soap recipes that use essentially the same ingredients. Some even use Ivory soap. One commenter on a soap recipe said that she uses mini hotel soaps that her husband brings back from his business travel. Not a bad idea if you're feeling super broke.<br />
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You only need to use 1 Tablespoon per load. I've been using this soap for about 2 weeks now (without the oxyclean) and one tablespoon seems to work perfectly. Other recipes I've seen online call for 2 or 3 tablespoons, but as far as I can see that's not at all necessary.<br />
<br />
7 jars this size cost me about $14 to make (not including the jars themselves, which were $3 each, if you're curious). The jars as shown hold approximately 60 loads worth of soap which works out to about 3-ish cents per load. The recipe makes 420 loads of soap in total, for about 14 dollars. I'd say that's like A LOT cheaper than any other soap out there.<br />
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Lastly I wanted to ad that I have been using it in an HE washing machine and it hasn't foamed up too much or caused me any problems consistent with non-HE detergent. It melts just fine in cold water AND it is comparable to Free and Clear detergent in terms of gentleness on skin. It hasn't bothered me at all.<br />
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In other crafty exploits:<br />
<br />
I recently found <a href="http://dottieangel.blogspot.com/2010/04/challenge-and-hangy-me-jig.html">this adorable mobile</a> on Pinterest, which inspired me to create a cute DIY Christmas Card display. I made it completely out of supplies I had on hand, including 3-4 spools of ribbon, a little hot glue, a lamp shade frame and some tiny little clear clips (designed to clip string lights to a tree) that I purchased on clearance at Target at the end of summer.<br />
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See: <br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6501723667/" title="Something Crafty by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Something Crafty" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7017/6501723667_93836d3ff1.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
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Christmasy colors would have been more Christmasy, of course, but this way I can use the mobile year round. Plus, I already had this ribbon on hand. <br />
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Now, hopefully someone will send me some Christmas cards! :)Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02374762423346958678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053699374217601540.post-47341074692707612672011-11-13T10:47:00.000-08:002011-11-15T12:46:20.488-08:00Making Life RichI've undertaken a project this week. A week-long photographic documentation of our lives, that will be put together in scrapbook form, sometime in the near future. I was inspired by the very inspiring <a href="http://aliedwards.com/2010/01/week-in-the-life.html">Ali Edwards</a>, and in this case I've taken her idea and tweaked it a bit. My book will be 100% digital. I find the process of creating a digital book to be more streamlined and simple for me. It's also significantly less expensive than traditional scrapbooking. Instead of bits of daily ephemera I've decided to supplement my good-camera photos with camera phone snaps, and photos that the kids took with our old point and shoot camera to give the finished product a more homey, eclectic feel.<br />
<br />
So that's what I'm doing, and since it's my last day of full-time camera toting, and tomorrow I'll be icing my sore wrist (that thing is heavy!) I've been reminiscing. Through this week I've had a chance to observe myself and learn about how I live now - and how I can live in the future. This opportunity to learn came partially because full-time life documentation causes you to kick bad habits to the curb, stop sweating the small stuff, and just make life a little more interesting. In this case it started because this week will be permanently remembered in a book - but it ended up shining a light on things for me. <br />
<br />
I realized: I CAN LIVE LIKE THIS ALL THE TIME!<br />
<br />
We can go to the children's museum for an hour, before running harried afternoon errands. <br />
We can bake cookies after dinner and eat them while they're still warm. <br />
I can let the kids assemble their own pizzas, rather than doing it my way. <br />
We can rent a 99cent movie and have more fun together watching it than we would have had at the movie theater. <br />
We can have tea together and let the day's noise just fade into the background.<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6333963674/" title="Monday - Favorite Mug by Emianne, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6051/6333963674_23e0334ca4.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Monday - Favorite Mug"></a>Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02374762423346958678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053699374217601540.post-13907177300448302412011-11-03T21:33:00.000-07:002011-11-03T21:33:03.129-07:00How did things get so bad?The kids are playing chess, we've just returned from an evening grocery run on a cold, but cozy night. It's times like this that I am able to look at our life and feel grateful for what we have. Blankets for miles, more board games than logic would typically permit, a sweet puppy dog, and lots of other great things. It's times like this that I feel like ME. The mom, wife and woman I'm meant to be. <br />
<br />
I started out as a rougher version of this woman, too. When my husband and I were first married I was a lot like I am now, with more knee-jerk reactions and less patience. I would have liked to have kept all the good and gotten rid of the bad, but instead I had to get far away from this place so that I could see how great it really is. I had to walk to the edge of reason to understand my own longing for a simpler life. I have often wondered how I went from a creative, crafty, memory-keeping, let's-do-something-fun kind of girl; to a busy, tired, burdened, unavailable woman. I think that one benefit of sharing my story in a public format like this is the chance to figure that out. WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?<br />
<br />
My husband and I were married when we were ridiculously young, we were lovestruck teenagers with flowery-at-best ideas about what kind of life was in store for us. When I became pregnant within mere days of our wedding, we suddenly had to get serious about life. <br />
<br />
In those first years, we tried to do it all. We planned to stay in college, and keep working, and raise our kids (yes, we had another barely more than a year after the first one was born!) It was too much for our young marriage, though. After a few failed experiments in partial downsizing, my husband ultimately quit both school and his small children's ministry job at our church to focus solely on his budding career. He had a full scholarship and endless possibilities, but ultimately we had to prioritize our marriage and young babies. It wasn't what we planned, but even then we knew that there wasn't much to be done to save our plans. All this left me home alone, day in and day out, with two babies. We even sold our second car to pay our co-pay for my daughter's birth. <br />
<br />
My plan to pitch in was simple, while staying home with the kids full-time I'd make money in any simple way I could. I sold my handicrafts and many of our belongings on eBay. I eventually got a part-time job near my husband's, scheduling my shifts so we'd need as little babysitting as possible, and carpooling to work.<br />
<br />
Along the way I grew my childhood hobby of photography into a passion, and by 2004 I was prepared to leave my part-time job and start my own business. It wasn't scary, because in my mind, it all seemed so simple. And in the early days, it was. I started out being elated at every phone call. I felt such immense pride every time I was paid for my work. I literally could not believe I was driving home with a check in my hand, with my name on it. The sense of accomplishment I felt was overwhelming.<br />
<br />
Over time my photographic work ballooned into something I never could have envisioned for myself. I was working every single day, taking business related phone calls while we were on vacation, and working at the computer until 3am on a regular basis. Of course, all this hard work did open up some amazing opportunities and for a time it all seemed like the sacrifices were justifying the rewards.<br />
<br />
But I was struggling. My patience with my husband, children and people in general, was fading. I was sacrificing months-upon-months of my year to complete busyness, then when the slow season came again, I was depressed because my entire sense of self-worth was wrapped up in being busy all the time. When I thought about taking a step back and giving myself a break, I talked myself out of it. Instead I hired consultants who pushed me to work more, do more, <em>be</em> more. And so I dove deeper.<br />
<br />
Of course, throughout this time, much of the money I earned was spent on conveniences that made it possible for me to work constantly. Things like restaurant meals, help with office tasks, and lots of I'm-working-too-hard-and-I-deserve-a-new-thing purchases, were bought before I even noticed how much there really was to spend.<br />
<br />
It wasn't until I was sitting at the computer one night, considering how much more work I should take on, so I could afford a full-time nanny for my kids that <br />
<br />
it hit me. <br />
<br />
WHAT AM I DOING TO OUR LIFE?<br />
<br />
I was going to work MORE! So I could spend MORE money? So I could pay someone to care for my kids?<br />
<br />
It didn't make sense. It didn't make sense for me and for our family. It hit me that I'll never be able to go anywhere, I'll never be able to relax, I'll never be able to enjoy my life, while I'm working this way. <br />
<br />
I applaud women who can work full-time or run their own businesses and still find time to love their life, but as it turned out, I just wasn't one of those people. Maybe I could have made it work through more self-discipline and better strategies. In fact, I'm sure I could have. But when I laid out the pros and cons it just didn't make sense anymore.<br />
<br />
Of course the time between realizing that things had gotten out of hand, and actually changing the way things were, wasn't so easy. I had wrapped so much of my identity up in being a business owner, I had given my entire sense of personal worth over to it, and it wasn't (still isn't!) easy to give up. I still have days where I start making a little mental plan on how to relaunch my business. <br />
<br />
But I truly feel that this is where God has me. This is what my kids, my husband and I needed. We needed a simple life. Today, I am more grateful than I can even say for the change in our day-to-day routine, and I hope to open myself up to more opportunities to grow, each day. Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02374762423346958678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053699374217601540.post-56396502465989387502011-10-21T20:25:00.000-07:002011-12-23T15:43:01.669-08:00Step 2: Keep it InterestingIt's easy to talk about cooking dinner more often. Not so much easy to do, especially when you're a restaurant addict like me. My solution to the whole "I'm sick of cooking dinner" problem was to stop skimping on groceries. I was raised by an amazingly thrifty mother who taught me the ins and outs of saving on groceries. I know how to pay attention to prices and stock up. I can cook cheap meals and make things last. But I just can't keep on doing it, you know? Halfway through week two and I'm signing my name to a $50 dinner out. <br />
Nowadays, I try to only buy good food (Diet pepsi and kraft mac and cheese, notwithstanding!) Organic produce is a great place to start, and of course we already talked about my adoration for wonderful bread. When we eat meat, it's usually chicken, usually that chicken is organic, and in drumstick form. (Much cheaper than organic chicken breast!) Having lovely ingredients in the house keeps me inspired, and keeps me feeling kind of restaurant-y. There is a fine line between improving your grocery selections and pressuring yourself to have The World's Best Cart at Whole Foods. I've done it to myself too many times, and I don't recommend it. Use what you have. Organic is better for our planet and health, but if you can't afford it or don't have access to it, just let it go, and use what you have. <br />
<br />
So with all this in mind, we have tonight's dinner. Something that I've never made before, but it came out great and was liked by all!<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Pasta Primavera!</span></strong><br />
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You'll need:<br />
1 - 1lb box of pasta, I used bowties<br />
Fresh veggies, whatever kind you like. I used<br />
1 red pepper<br />
1 package of mini zucchini (Trader Joe's) Probably equivalent to 2 regular sized zucchini<br />
1 package mushrooms, sliced<br />
1/2 an onion<br />
1 scallion<br />
Garlic<br />
Salt<br />
Pepper<br />
Butter<br />
Olive Oil<br />
Chicken or Veggie stock<br />
Milk (Cream if you're fancy)<br />
<br />
Fill a large stock pot with water and put it over high heat to boil. While it heats up, start prepping your veggies. I diced my peppers into 1cm square-ish pieces, finely chopped the onion, sliced the mushrooms and cut the zucchini into 1" chunks (I'd do large slices on an angle with regular zucchini)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6267490873/" title="Lovely pasta primavera veggies by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Lovely pasta primavera veggies" height="427" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6175/6267490873_cbb37c9c18_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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Start a large skillet with a pat of butter and a tablespoon of olive oil, over medium heat. Once it is hot, throw in the onion and pepper. I personally prefer my onions and peppers well cooked and without too much crunch left in them, if you like yours crunchier you might consider waiting until later to start your vegetables. Sprinkle the whole party lightly with salt and black pepper, and add a little garlic, too. <br />
<br />
Keep an eye on your water and put the pasta in once it is rapidly boiling. Stir, stir, stir. Oh, and salt the water, too. Lower the burner under the water to medium.<br />
<br />
After the peppers and onions are soft and bubbling in some of their own juices, add the zucchini. Zucchini looks yummiest when it has some caramelization on it's fleshy parts, so it's best to add it to the pan, give the pan a little shake, and then leave the darn thing alone for a couple minutes. Too much stirring too early on will mess it up. Watch the heat, though, you don't want to burn it. Adjust the heat as needed.<br />
<br />
Once the zucchini has a little color, add the mushrooms and scallions. When I added the mushrooms I added another couple tablespoons of oil as well. The pan will now be sufficiently crowded and your house will smell like amazing.<br />
<br />
(Your noodles might be done. Consider checking them now. Your veggies can sit and simmer while you deal with the pasta. If they aren't done, they probably will be soon. Take thepasta off as soon as it's al dente. The veggie part of this recipe is VERY forgiving and can sit on the stove for a minute just about any time during the cooking process.)<br />
<br />
Once the mushrooms are looking mostly cooked, add your stock. I used about 3/4 cup of homemade chicken stock. I cannot recommend home made stock enough. It will change your life. But I also understand that there isn't always time or inclination to make it yourself, in which case, store bought works well, too. <br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6267490763/" title="Game Changer by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Game Changer" height="640" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6102/6267490763_74d298d166_z.jpg" width="427" /></a><br />
<br />
Once the stock is hot and bubbly, add about 3/4 cup of milk or cream. I used 2% milk. Cream would make the meal a lot richer and probably quite delicious. Milk was perfectly adequate, though. Stir the whole situation together and taste the sauce. You'll probably need a little more salt, pepper and garlic now. <br />
<br />
Leave it to simmer for a few more minutes. <br />
<br />
While the veggies simmer and the noodles hang out, open a can of refrigerator biscuits. (Old habits die hard, I'm sure there's some less processed alternative, but this is what I had on hand)<br />
<br />
Spray 6 cups in a muffin tin with nonstick spray.<br />
Rip or cut each dough round in half<br />
Drop 2 dough halves in each cup<br />
Drizzle (ever so lightly) each cup with a teensy bit of olive oil<br />
Sprinkle each cup with fresh parmesan, garlic powder, salt and pepper<br />
Place the rest of the dough pieces on top of the parmesan sprinkled dough - you might have an odd number in which case you can rip the remainders into quarters to make each dough/cheese conglomeration roughly even in size.<br />
<br />
Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes (when you put your bread in, put the pasta and veggie mixture together and stir it all together. Add a little parmesan and taste again. You might want a little more salt and pepper)<br />
<br />
I didn't time this, to be honest, so I recommend maybe ignoring my time suggestion and just watching these yourself. When you smell them, check on them. If they're still totally white on top, but kinda brown on bottom you can switch on your broiler and let the tops brown. Once again, be careful with the broiler. It goes from lovely browning tool to evil dream crusher in about a half second. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6267490601/" title="Garlic Parmesan Biscuits by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Garlic Parmesan Biscuits" height="427" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6108/6267490601_89c1811cc4_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
Now it's time to call the little ones to the table. Make them pour the drinks and get the silverware! :)<br />
<br />
Enjoy!<br />
<br />
I need better food styling here, this makes it look like it wasn't very veggie heavy, but it was. It was actually a perfect balance of veggies and noodles.<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6267490679/" title="90/365 - Pasta Primavera by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="90/365 - Pasta Primavera" height="427" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6049/6267490679_8e8b95fc5a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02374762423346958678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053699374217601540.post-85889525581797514322011-10-17T21:33:00.000-07:002011-10-17T21:39:47.122-07:00Step 1: Cooking DinnerLong before I ever entertained the idea of giving up my business, the first step I took toward getting back to the mom and wife I wanted to be, was making a plan to cook dinner more often.<br />
<br />
I have always loved to cook, but I REALLY love to eat out. Probably more than I should even admit. Even today, eating out is my largest vice, and I imagine it probably always will be. <br />
<br />
Because of his work schedule, my husband is only home at dinner time once or twice a week, so I had always figured cooking dinner didn't matter. The kids and I would eat out, or grab something easy, and he could get himself food when he was hungry. Our method kept us all happy for a time, until he finally told me that he wished I would cook dinner more often. <br />
<br />
I think I replied with something along the lines of, "What do you care? You're never here at dinner time." <br />
<br />
You know, because I have a <em>wonderful</em> way with words. <br />
<br />
But he said he didn't care. He'd warm it up when he got home, but he just loved the idea of coming home to a plate of food. <br />
<br />
And I guess I couldn't argue with that. It made sense after all, that something I made with my hands, would make my family feel a little bit more loved. I guess the fringe benefit is that I feel loved, and needed, and useful, too. <br />
<br />
So, with all this in mind, how about a recipe?<br />
<br />
I love to make up my own recipes, which I have learned is a bit much in the pressure department. (My new job is to figure out how to stop putting so much pressure on myself!) But, I finally have a good repertoire of recipes that are simple and healthy and delicious.<br />
<br />
Cast your gaze upon the wonderfully delicious White Lasagna with marinara and AMAZING bread:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6256383088/" title="89/365 - White lasagne with red sauce and ridiculously good bread by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="89/365 - White lasagne with red sauce and ridiculously good bread" height="427" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6166/6256383088_249beb6135_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
The prep on this was really simple, and you can modify it to fit your needs.<br />
<br />
Ingredients:<br />
-1 box of oven-ready lasagna noodles (but it never hurts to have a second box on hand, just in case)<br />
-1 15oz container ricotta<br />
-Mozzarella - I use fresh wherever possible. I usually buy one container of perlini (pearl-sized mozzarella balls) for ease of prep. Of course, you can buy a bag of already grated mozzarella or grate your own, or slice the larger balls of fresh mozzarella, too.<br />
-Parmesan cheese (any kind works, but I like fresh best!)<br />
-Minced or granulated garlic, as well as salt and pepper.<br />
-Fresh spinach leaves washed and ready to go<br />
-Marinara sauce - whatever kind you like - if you have homemade, you rock and I want you to teach me how to make it. <br />
-2 cups of fresh White Sauce<br />
<br />
Don't know how to make White Sauce?<br />
My quick instructions are as follows: <br />
Make a roux by melting a couple tablespoons of butter in a pan, and adding an equal amount of flour to the melted butter. Let the roux bubble for a couple minutes, whisk it well so you don't have any lumps. Pour a bit of milk in. In this case I used about 2 cups. Whisk some more. Add whatever you'd like to add to make it taste yummy. Your options include garlic, salt, pepper, Parmesan cheese (or any kind of cheese, for that matter). Taste it and make sure it's good. A truly delicious white sauce will be perfectly salted, and usually it takes a little more salt than you think it will. Bland white sauce is, well, bland. The roux you made at the beginning will thicken the sauce. If it gets too thick, add a little more milk. You will use this recipe a lot, so it's a good one to know and use and practice often. Make this before you start the rest of your lasagna prep and set it aside so it is ready when you need it. <br />
<br />
Instructions:<br />
Spray a 9x12 baking dish with nonstick spray. Start by placing one layer of the oven-ready lasagna noodles in the pan. Pour about 1/3 of the white sauce over the noodles. Next, put a layer of spinach leaves down. Do this to your taste, some people like more, some like less. I do two good-sized handfuls. This is your first layer.<br />
<br />
The second layer will be a cheese layer. Start with another layer of pasta, then add the ricotta. It can be somewhat challenging to spread the ricotta evenly, but there are a few tricks. I usually scoop out about 4-5 large dollops and drop them, evenly spaced, onto the pasta and then spread them out with a silicone spatula. You can also add a couple tablespoons of milk (or marinara sauce when making traditional lasagna) to the ricotta and stir it in, to thin it and make it easier to spread. Once the ricotta is spread, spread the mozzarella, then sprinkle Parmesan. I usually sprinkle granulated, or fresh minced garlic on every other layer, pepper on every other layer and salt only once during prep. Now is a good time to add some garlic and pepper. This is your second layer.<br />
<br />
The third layer will be a repeat of your first: pasta/white sauce/spinach <br />
(make sure you save some white sauce for the top layer!)<br />
<br />
The fourth later will be a repeat of the second: pasta/ricotta/mozzarella/Parmesan/<br />
(It is very important that you reserve some mozzarella and Parmesan for the top layer!)<br />
<br />
On this particular day I had the perfect amount of ingredients to do a perfect four layer lasagna. This does not always happen. You can wing it when you start to realize your ingredient balance isn't working out, that's why it never hurts to have a second box of lasagna noodles on hand.<br />
<br />
To finish your lasagna, add the final layer of pasta to the top of the pan, pour the remaining white sauce over the pasta and sprinkle the reserved mozzarella and Parmesan and lightly salt, pepper and garlic the top.<br />
<br />
Cover the pan tightly with foil. This is important because the trapped steam is what will ultimately cook your noodles. Bake at 350 degrees f for about 40 minutes. Check it by piercing with a fork or butter knife. If it feels tender, I usually cut a small bite from the edge and taste it. The cook time on this is pretty flexible and can vary based on the kind of pasta you use. If it isn't tender when you check it, throw the foil back on and cook it for another 10 minutes, then check again.<br />
<br />
When the pasta is tender remove the foil and allow the top to brown for 5-10 minutes. It will get bubbly and golden and lovely. <br />
<br />
<br />
While your lasagna bakes, warm the marinara on the stove top and prep your AMAZING bread.<br />
<br />
For the AMAZING bread, you'll need:<br />
-1 loaf of delicious bread. I like Pugliese or Ciabatta or really anything yummy looking in your grocery store's bakery department. <br />
-Olive oil<br />
-Salt/pepper/garlic<br />
<br />
Instructions:<br />
Slice the bread about 1 1/2" thick. This makes for a great crunchy-to-soft ratio. Lay them out on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Do this a little while in advance so the oil can soak in really good. Sprinkle each slice with a tiny bit of salt, fresh black pepper and garlic (right now I'm using up a giant container of granulated garlic from Costco, but you can use fresh garlic, too!) I make this same bread without garlic sometimes, too, which is also delicious.<br />
<br />
Just let the bread sit there while your lasagna is baking, and when you take the lasagna out, change the oven to broil, and put the bread in.<br />
<br />
Now: watch. While you cut servings of lasagna, keep an eye on the bread. Don't burn it or you will cry. Believe me, I have cried over burnt bread more than once in my life. It will probably take about 6 minutes or so to get nice and golden. There is a VERY fine line between done and burnt. Once it looks a little bit golden, start watching it like a hawk.<br />
<br />
Here is another photo of my plate, with a better view of the aforementioned AMAZING bread:<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emianne/6256546648/" title="Another photo, with a better view of the AMAZING bread you've heard so much about by Emianne, on Flickr"><img alt="Another photo, with a better view of the AMAZING bread you've heard so much about" height="640" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6240/6256546648_5b9bcb5cae_z.jpg" width="427" /></a><br />
<br />
Serve the lasagna with the marinara drizzled over the top of it. Use meat sauce if you prefer a non-vegetarian dinner. Have a piece of your AMAZING bread on the side. Green salad is an excellent accompaniment to this meal, as well.<br />
<br />
Enjoy! Everyone in our family loved this meal. One 9x12 pan fed the four of us for two meals. My kids eat adult-sized portions now, so it might even feed your family for more than two meals.<br />
<br />
The bread, of course, is gone in one meal. No one can keep their fingers off of it.Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02374762423346958678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053699374217601540.post-36640241704592996102011-10-17T17:28:00.000-07:002011-10-17T17:28:04.340-07:00Hello!Hi there. My name is Emily, and I'd like to document the journey that our family has begun, toward a healthier, happier, simpler life. A life that is lovely and comfortable not because of the money we spend to make it that way, but because of the work we do, the time we take and the love we share.<br />
<br />
For some years I worked feverishly, convinced that earning more money would somehow free me. Not because I was obsessed with money, but because I thought that a lot of money would free me to go the places I wanted and do the things I wanted. It would give my children experiences, and make my home beautiful, it would put delicious food on our plates and amazing photographs in our family albums. I thought that a great life just wasn't cheap, and I was prepared to work to earn the money to create that great life for our family.<br />
<br />
I saw it as a healthy pursuit.<br />
<br />
But as years passed and I found my tears pooling on my desk almost nightly, I finally realized that none of this was working. I was tired, I was overwhelmed and I was missing out on the joy that life can hold. <br />
<br />
When my son turned 9 years old I flippantly said, "Well, I'm halfway done." And the sound of those words shocked me. I'M HALFWAY DONE. Halfway done raising my only son. <br />
<br />
Those words pushed me toward a change. I knew that pushing myself to the farthest reaches of my own capabilities wasn't working. I knew that my<em> idea</em> of my priorities, and my <em>actual</em> priorities were not aligning. It's easy to say that family is number one, it's another thing to realize that your business (and clients, and meetings, and deliveries) are really number one.<br />
<br />
Of course there are many more layers to our story, and I look forward to sharing all of them, as time passes. The journey that began as an idea, when my son turned 9, is now my daily pursuit. A daily pursuit that I work toward in positive directions sometimes, and I leap far away from, other times. <br />
<br />
Today that 9 year old boy is an 11 year old young man, his sister is 9-going-on-10, and the great downsizing of our life has truly come to fruition. No really. It has. Folks, this past weekend, I started a COMPOST bin. <br />
<br />
But welcome, to a little place where I hope to share the little things I've learned since I moved on from a life as an overworked mom, to a life where I have the time and energy to pursue simple abundances every day.Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02374762423346958678noreply@blogger.com0