Re-arranging. My Clinical Disorder and Obsession.

Since I was a little girl, I have been known to re-arrange anything I could lay my hands on at least once a month. My poor Barbies never knew what was going on, their home moved so much. My parents think I might have a clinical problem, but what can I say, I just like the change.


Since Scott and I got married, I've toned it down quite a bit - we've only re-arranged our apartment three or four times in a year and a half. It's a good thing I'm not a homeowner with any carpentry skills, or I'd probably be knocking out walls every six months (although this sounds suspiciously like my dad...hmm. Apple...tree?)


However, this most recent adventure was not necessarily my idea...fully. For Christmas, we got an Xbox Kinect. Normally I'm not a huge fan of any sort of video game and tend to shun them completely, but this gaming system has rocked my world. Scott and I actually went out to buy a game...FOR ME. Although in my defense it's not a game, it's a fitness "game" where you can do various exercise programs and even yoga. Like a glorified aerobics DVD. But I digress. We played it at our friends' house and had a blast...then brought it home to our apartment, only to realize that we couldn't use it because we didn't have enough space. Thus, the need and intense desire to re-arrange was born in both our minds.


Here are some "Before" pictures. And yes, I'm laying my soul bare to you because you are about to see what my apartment normally looks like - mess and all. Don't judge me.

Please excuse Scott in the photo. I was in a hurry when I snapped
these shots and didn't have the heart to ask him to stop his game.

Because I majored in Interior Design, I'm more than slightly anal, and I grew up with a father that drew floorplans every fifteen seconds (again, apple...tree), this is how Scott and I function whenever we re-arrange. A couple months after we moved in, I took a Saturday and measured our apartment down to the inch and drew a scale model, including our major pieces of furniture. The below diagram is how everything was previously arranged.

We were pretty stumped on how to fix the Kinect game-space dilemma. In fact we pondered on it for several hours. After a while, Scott came up with this as the solution:

In the end, we figured out an arrangement that would work, and it worked well with my recent insane desire to purge. 


We had been toying with the idea of combining our desks and working from one for quite some time, since Scott's schoolwork is mostly clinic-work and less homework now. When he does study, he's usually on the couch with his laptop, and his desk was collecting a bit of dust. So that was our major change. And behold, the fabulous result:

We took the extension off Scott's desk to make it smaller, and moved it
where the dining room table / seldom used reading nook used to be.  

We had originally planned to take down what we fondly refer to as "Ugly Mirror" (my dad hates this mirror), but after we moved the desk I was shocked to discover that I loved having it there. Scott has the far end of the desk with the laptop, and the desktop area is my workspace. Like I said before, Scott is usually on the couch with his laptop and doesn't require much of a workspace anymore.

This is my attempt to keep my paper piles at bay. Most of my clutter falls into these three categories, so I've designated folders for everything to fall into. Plus, my favorite little notepad for grocery lists, etc.

My favorite part of the big change is our art arrangement, and the way the afternoon sun hits it.
Happy sigh.

The base of the lamp is working as a sort of "docking station" for us. The speakers can be plugged into either my computer or Scott's, depending on what's going on. The same goes for the printer, that way we can share. The other part we loved about this arrangement was how close I am to the kitchen. No more traipsing back and forth between cooking dinner and checking e-mails on the opposite side of the apartment. Whoop!

 So, what happened to all our eighteen tons of desk stuff? A lot of it got put into bags destined for Goodwill, or bags destined for the garbage. We were able to condense quite a bit, since we had duplicates of a lot of things. Sharing a desk area allowed us to keep most things in one storage area. (The top of the main storage area you can see peeking up behind my monitor in the above photo.) The rest of it, went to our "library". We came to the conclusion that we didn't really need half the books that we kept here, so we boxed up three boxes (with a few more stacks in the hallway that are waiting for more boxes), and then converted the library into a shared space.

Please excuse the liquor cabinet look on top of the library. I'm not a huge fan, but I was tired of the bottles taking up room in my tiny pantry closet and this also makes it easier to make some quick cocktails when we have friends over.

Easy access to blank notecards, stamps, address books, and notebooks.

But enough with the desk area....what in the world did we do to the living area?

Moving the trunk to underneath the window actually gave us the benefit of significantly more sitting area in our living room without overcrowding. Something we've found pretty difficult to do in this small space. When we are ready to use the Kinect, we just swing the coffee table out of the way. My old desk turned into a media center, which was excellently timed, since our old hodge-podge arrangement was on the verge of collapse.

Look at all that SPACE! I can hardly stand it. 

To finish it off, the dining room table went where Scott's desk used to be, and our little recycling can lives tucked away in the corner. Whenever we have company over, we can easily pull out the table to seat more people.

And for inquiring minds...what happened to all Scott's medical equipment and teeth molds? Neatly boxed up and destined for the front closet. 

We are beyond thrilled with this newest arrangement. It gave us the opportunity to go through and finally get rid of accumulated debris and things we no longer needed. I think it's going to be a really good thing for us, and I'm wrapping up this post so I can go check out the Yoga program on the Kinect. Hope you enjoyed your weekend as much as I did!

New Additions!

Since we're in the middle of destroying our apartment (otherwise known as rearranging with Megs - don't worry, there will be a before and after post coming soon), here's a little post I had been saving up for a snowy day. And oh wait! It's snowing!


Anyone who knows me knows that the way to my heart is through gifts. I realize this makes me sound shallow and materialistic, but unfortunately, it's true. But not just any gifts. It could be a horribly tacky trinket from the dollar store, and if it has a special meaning behind it, I will most likely keep it for the rest of my life. Expense is no factor whatsoever, as long as the intention behind it is meaningful.


This Christmas was an especially wonderful one, as far as the feeding of my love-language went. I wanted to share with you a few of the beautiful things I was blessed to receive, because as far as I'm concerned, they're too beautiful not to share with you.


First up is this woven basket from my mother-in-law. Having heard me raving about how much I loved the southern baskets featured in magazines from the markets in Charleston, South Carolina, she made a point to pick one up for me while on a road trip quite some time ago. I'm already envisioning the items that will be displayed in it. What a great, great thing - functional and pretty.

Next is this exquisite, one-of-a-kind bracelet. Once again, my sweet mother-in-law caught on that I fell in love with this artist's jewelry while we were working at a wine festival. I pretty much haven't taken it off since receiving it, and I'm pretty sure it will become a fixture on my wrist. Sorry other bracelets, this one is just so pretty!

 Last but not least is this piece of artwork from my parents and grandparents, which has quite a story. My grandfather (fondly known as Pop-pop) attended the Parson's School of Design in New York City when he was a young man. He and my grandma were newlyweds, living on in a tiny apartment in the city while he went through school. (Sound familiar? Scott and I are newlyweds, living in the city while he is in school...) This mixed media piece was something my Pop-pop completed in 1952 - almost 60 years ago. My mom and dad had it matted and framed for Scott and I for Christmas, and it's something we'll treasure forever.

Please forgive a bit of glare and reflection in the glass, and the obvious fact
that this photo overlaps my formatting a bit. I wanted it to be big
enough to see!

I hope I haven't come across as braggy or snooty - please know that I just wanted to share these beautiful things with you. Do you have any little items or pieces of art that have a special story? I'd love to hear about them!

FRENCH TOAST!!

To preface this Thursday Dinner Feature post...you must watch this video on YouTube. Immediately. Without delay. Do it now!

Okay, now that we've gotten that out of the way and you know my true feelings about toast.


YEAH TOAST!


(FRENCH TOAST!)


(TEXAS TOAST!)


...ahem. Anyways. Down to business. Because this has been a disgusting, horrible, no good-very-bad week at work, I have been lacking in the cooking zeal department. My habit has been to get home late (making insane noises similar to the ones in that video), throw on some ratty sweat pants and my bathrobe, and crawl into bed for the rest of the evening. I won't deny that we have eaten cereal for dinner at least one night this week. 


So, I happened to have a beautiful, golden loaf of my mom's homemade bread that she sent home with me. And it was calling my name. Know what else was calling my name from the refrigerator?


Bacon.


Ohhh yeah. I'm smelling a recipe for comfort-food goodness right now! And thus, today's Thursday Dinner Feature is.... (drumroll please...)


FRENCH TOAST! (and bacon!)
Now, I'm one of those odd people that doesn't use a recipe when I make French Toast. I've experienced some pretty fantastic French Toast made with recipes - namely the recipe made by my old roommate, Grace, which still holds the all-time record for best French Toast in my book. Maybe if she still loves me she'll send me the recipe. (Nudge, nudge...GRACE?!) 


**Update! I thought you would like to know that Grace sent me her recipe like the wonderous woman she is, and with her permission I might feature it sometime soon! (Or mayyybee, I can convince her to feature it herself. Here's to peer pressure!!)**


However, here are my tried and true ingredients that are almost always in my kitchen.


eggs
milk
vanilla extract
cinnamon
bread


Simple eh? Now, your bread is the key behind this delicious equation. French Toast works best with thick, stale pieces of a firm bread - such as italian bread, challah, or my favorite - mom's homemade white bread. 

So you've got the bread. You'll also need eggs. There is no specific amount or recipe that I use, because it varies depending on the type and size of bread you use. My mom's bread was large and sopped up extra moisture, so I wound up using about 6 eggs...maybe more. However, I usually use two at a time and whisk up more as I need them. 

Whisky whisky....mix'em up! After you whisk the eggs, add milk. Once again I eyeball it to make this lovely baby chick yellow. I'd say it's maybe a couple tablespoons? Don't go overboard. Mix a little bit in at a time until you get the right color and consistency.

Drizzle in just a couple drops of vanilla extract, and sprinkle in some cinnamon, whisk up again.

Time for the dunkin'! Take a slice of your delicious bread and dunk one side, then the next, until the bread is nice and saturated with the mixture.

Drop your bread onto a griddle on medium heat, and grill until golden brown! The trick is to not have your pan too hot. If the outside of your bread browns too fast, you'll wind up with a raw middle. You have to have patience to make some good French Toast.


And wash, rinse and repeat. And repeat. And repeat. Until you have a bountiful oven full of French Toasty goodness. (Remember to whip up as much of the egg mixture as you need.)

Oh wait, let's not forget the bacon!! The big secret behind good bacon is to cook it about ten times slower than you think it takes. I usually arrange mine in the pan on a very low heat setting - usually somewhere around "3" on my knob. And then I forget about it for a while.

You can't rush good bacon.

At a certain point, it becomes an excellent thing to have a splatter guard. You will thank it profusely once you're not wiping bacon grease from every corner of your kitchen and tending to grease burns on your arms. Towards the end of the cook time, be sure to flip the bacon. I usually flip my bacon once the one side starts to brown just slightly, and let it cook only a minute or two longer after it's flipped. 

Once your bacon and your french toast are cooked (I usually keep mine warm in the oven), set up your shmorsgasbord! Some extras aside from syrup that I had were frozen raspberries (thawed), powdered sugar, and a cinnamon sprinkle mixture. Get creative!

Oh sweet sassy molassey. We might be eating French Toast for the rest of the week.

Now go, and indulge in breakfast for dinner. You'll thank yourself later. Happy Thursday!

...Kaboom.

Ever have one of those days?

Comic found through this wonderful website.

The Blizzard of 2010 ... (the 3rd)

Because the East Coast apparently didn't get enough snow during 2010, it decided to squeeze one more big storm in before 2011 rolled in. We were still in Vermont with my family when it hit (thus the intense traffic in New Jersey when we finally headed home), so we got to enjoy the snow rather than worry about going to work in it. Whew!

**Please note the "road" beyond the fence. It had been plowed twice when I took this photo.

It's dark, but yes, you read that last picture right. The morning we left, it was exactly zero degrees outside. We're still attempting to thaw out.

Christmas 2010 Highlights

Now that Scott and I are finally back home for a while, we're getting the photos unloaded from our cameras and I'm reminiscing through the memories of another great Christmas. Here are our highlights from Christmas Day this year. Hope yours was just as wonderful!

Well, this was actually Christmas Eve, but too fun of a picture
to not post. This is my mom and I, about 2 seconds before I managed to fall
off the toboggan. Classic.

Santa brought Scott and my dad pencil torches in their stockings.
Our lives will never be the same.

The world's most beautiful Christmas morning. ...but I might be a little biased.

My sister-in-law bought my brother "grow-in-water" boxers.
It took a bit longer for them to inflate than we thought.
Go ahead, let your imagination run wild. 

They will probably kill me for this, but I love it anyway. My brother and sister-in-law.
Love them.

The kids' teamed up and bought my dad (or should I say my mom)
wireless headphones so he could watch his loud (obnoxious) news shows
without anyone else hearing a sound. With the exception of his hoots and hollers.

Props to Scott's best friend for a hysterical wrapping job. And an AWESOME
Christmas present - tickets to an Anberlin concert later on this month.

This probably has a lot more meaning to members of my family, but my brother
got my Grammie a banana-keeper....for bananas on the go. Hilarious. 

This is the same man that raced us on sleds the day before.
Love my Pop-pop.

Mom and Dad got my brother a gift card for Christmas. But instead of
just putting it in a card or a gift bag, they decided to make it interesting.
By wrapping it in saran wrap, tying a string to it, and burying it
deep in a jar of peanut butter. Which was wrapped like a normal present.
Have I mentioned that I love my family??

It may not look like much, but this is a recipe that has been passed down
for several generations in my family, and has been the source of many
Christmas meal feuds over who gets the last serving. My friends...be introduced
to Spaetzle - a homemade German dumpling/noodle. And sorry, you won't
be getting the recipe from me anytime soon. Or ever. But you are welcome
to someday come share a holiday meal with me and maybe I will share with you.
But only if you bring me a good present. And some chocolate.

I love this picture of my mom. Pretty, but you can just see that mischief
lying under the surface. 

Hilarious game of Blink with some family friends. 

And we'll finish off with this. The photo that will cause me to be excommunicated
from our family. But it's worth it, because it's amazing. Remember mom - you gave birth
to me - you have to love me!