Too Much Awesomeness

Happy Holidays!

Tis the season for holiday parties.

5 parties down.  4 to go.  Well, 5 if you count a birthday party.  And 6 if you count a work party.  But I don't count work parties, mainly because I think the word "work" cancels out the word "party".  I prefer my parties in cocktail dresses and heels, surrounded by friends and cocktails. 

With each of the parties we've gone to, I've struggled over outfits.  So many options!  Luckily with all the parties, that means lots of options for dressing up!  That means I don't have to decide - at one party, it's jeans and a sparkly top. The next, it's a cute dress with knee-high boots.  The next, cocktail party with strappy heels.  A different outfit to each (although one night, it did involve changing in the car)

The highlight so far this year:  Doing a Christmas Shot (cinnamon-ly delicious!) with Buffy the Vampire slayer ("Hi, I'm Sarah!"), as her husband and my bf looked on.  Then I wished her a Happy Hannukah. 

I love the holidays in LA!

The Great Mojito Quest

Despite the last few posts, I haven't actually done any wedding planning lately.  I haven't even cracked open my "Wedding Planning for Dummies" book that my sister gave me for Christmas last year.

I have also not cracked open "Gardening for Dummies", given to me by BF.  I am also not going to think about why several people close to me feel compelled to give me "Dummy" books.

Anyway, even without a book, I have managed to grow mint.  I planted my mint plant with the sole purpose of making mojitos.

It's been a bit of a challenge.  The first mojito recipe was too sweet.  The second, the drink tasted kind of boring and was too much work (It involved boiling water, dissolving the sugar and then cooling the sugar water for 2 hours.  As if I can wait 2 hours for my cocktail!)  I think #3 is a charm.  A little sugar, a little tonic water and throw in some home grown mint:

Perhaps I will author Drinking for Dummies.  Or at least write an addendum to Gardening for Dummies to let people know that you don't need to grow a whole garden if you grow enough to make yourself a cocktail.

Dare to Dream. Don't Give Up.

Last night, we went to see The Swell Season at The Wiltern here in Los Angeles.  It was an amazing show.  For those who don’t know, The Swell Season is Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, who won an Oscar a couple of years ago for the music in the amazing movie “Once” (plus some amazing musicians from The Frames).

The show was great.  Both Glen & Marketa seem so wonderful, down-to-earth, and really appreciative of their success.

It got me thinking back to Marketa’s Oscar speech.  Here’s part of what she said.

This is such a big deal, not only for us, but for all other independent musicians and artists that spend most of their time struggling, and this, the fact that we're standing here tonight, the fact that we're able to hold this, it's just to prove no matter how far out your dreams are, it's possible.  And fair play to those who dare to dream and don't give up.

Amazing.  Beautiful.  True.

I will not give up.

(Take that, second draft.  Take that.)

Maybe I Really Will Get Married

Yesterday, I thought I wanted to get married for beautiful pictures.

Today I have realized that I want to get married for another, more important reason.

Twinkly lights.

The balloon lights on the ceiling.  The twinkly lights around the edge.  I'm charmed!  Totally charmed!

A Picture That Inspires Wedding Envy

I've been engaged for over a year now.  I haven't really been very interested in planning a wedding.  It seems like a lot of work, and a lot of money.

But then I see pictures like this and I think:  Maybe I do want to get married.

Is it weird to want to get married for pretty pictures? 

Because it's about the being MARRIED, right?  Not about a dress and dramatic photos?  Right?

A Wedding Bouquet - A Whole New, Wonderful Idea!

I've been engaged for over a year now, and have done little to no wedding planning.  I just have a hard time focusing on the logistics or it all, and then get angry about how expensive it all is.

There are a few things that I've actually found that I care about.  One is wedding cake.  But that's really less about the wedding and more about the cake.  Pretty much I'll care about cake in any situation.

The thought of having a bunch of flowers that will die quickly has always made me kind of sad.  I was considering some sort of succulent for the tables, but still carrying flowers myself.  

Then I saw these - bouquets made of broaches.  They are so beautiful, so charming and so lovely.

 

I want, want, want. 

http://www.fantasyfloraldesigns.com/

Adventures in Skim Coating, Part 2

After a vacation break, we’re back to work on the house.  Specifically, it was time to fix the bathroom ceiling.  The paint was chipping and peeling.  I’d look up at it every time I was washing my hair and think “Why don’t we fix that?”

 

Once we started fixing it, I remembered why we’d put it off for so long.  It’s a lot of work.  First, we had to scrape all off the paint.  All of the paint.

 

It actually fun when we got out the heat gun.

It made me feel like I was on Battlestar Gallactica, ready to zap aliens.  Well, at least, zap aliens who were cold and need some intense heat.  The gun also got the paint to melt off the wall.

 

So we scraped the paint, we sanded, we skim coated, then sanded again, then skim coated again.  It was slow going, and my supervisor wouldn’t let me take a break.  She was also very concerned about safety precautions.

 

That’s the last time I agree to work in exchange for biscuits.

The Tree Gave Me Lemons, and I Made Lemon Tart!

Our lemon tree has been giving us the most beautiful lemons lately, so when we were asked to bring dessert to a BBQ, I knew exactly what I wanted to bring:

Lemon Tart!! (wanna make it?  go here!)

So I picked some lemons and sliced those lemons:

And I put those lemons in the blender and I blended them up:

(Yes, that's lemons & lots & lots & lots of sugar)

And then I baked a tart!

The crust didn't turn out perfectly.  I wonder how to keep the crust from falling in on itself when baked?  But I am in love with my new tart pan - I could just lift the tart right out!

It was delicious.  Yum for tarts made with backyard lemons!

I Made Chicken Noodle Soup! And Soup Muffins!!

I was feeling a bit under the weather last week.

So I did the natural thing – I made chicken noodle soup!  Well, actually, I made chicken stock.  I chopped and diced, and carefully followed the recipe. 

I’d never made chicken stock before, and made the mistake of starting when I was already hungry.  Little did I know that it takes hours of boiling to get the finished product, so I had to snack in the meantime.  But it boiled and simmered and then cooled… and then I used that chicken stock to make some delicious soup!

And as if that wasn’t enough, I froze the rest of the chicken stock so I could use it in recipes that called for chicken broth. 

I froze them in my mini-loaf tray.  Each little mini-loaf is half a cup – perfect for adding to a recipe.  It was a tray of soup muffins!

I felt so Martha Stewart.  I felt so Julia Child.  I felt so very, very housewifely! 

Brooms, Brushes, and Mops! Oh My!

Those 50’s housewives couldn’t get enough of cleaning.  The book has eight pages – 8! - on selection and care of cleaning equipment.  That’s brooms, brushes and mops:

 

 

 

 

I didn't read any of this.  I already own brooms, and mops.  It’s not that I think there isn’t value to comparing broomcorn to fiber brooms.  It’s just that I’m not buying new ones, no matter what it says, so why not skip ahead to another section (I’m still waiting for the “Why Doesn’t Your Husband Just Hire Someone to Do the Cleaning for You” section.  Fingers crossed that’s coming soon!)

 

Sorry, Book, but I’m skipping this part.  I’m also skipping the four pages of vacuum cleaners and carpet sweepers.