Category Archives: Musings

Meant to Be

After the insanity of the cooking class on Friday, I awoke on Saturday just shy of 11am out of a dead sleep. As much as I love the occasional trip, gallivanting around Chicago and going to concerts or art shows or the movies, my ideal Saturday is spent chilling out. Recovering from the week.

It’s how Saturdays were always meant to be.

I started out with an amarula-spiked cup of coffee, and a devotional by the window.

In order not to feel like a total slob, I like to be the teensiest bit productive. That justifies the movie-watching, cookies, and pile of afghans that tend to occur later in the evening.

So in the afternoon I took a trip to the grocery store. Then I ambled home and worked on my scrapbook for a couple hours in the 2nd bedrooom while my husband graded papers for the Philosphy of Religion class he’s T.A.-ing for. It was quiet and peaceful.

I made it all the way to the end of last August–you can tell because those shots are from Family Vacay 2010. Ah, the colorful kayaks . . . ah, the quiet and sunny dock . . .

And there’s the picture I’ve been using for a header on this blog!

I came across some papers from the game of Chinese Telegraph we played during our summer vacation. They were so much fun to look at!

If you haven’t played this game, it’s a must for large groups, as long as you don’t mind getting a stitch in your side from all the laughing.

I love these two pictures of my husband’s guitar–I’m thinking of blowing them up and hanging them on a wall somewhere. There’s just something about the deep turquoise color that calls to me.

Then we did laundry . . . massive amounts of laundry. At the laundromat, where as the fates would have it, we were serenaded to the tune of “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” by the plastic lion. We brought books to entertain ourselves but ended up just talking about this and that, in that comfortable way that denotes we’ve known each other for almost 10 years. 10 years–when the heck did that happen!?

We walked back as the sun was starting to go down and the air getting chilly. Back home, we festooned our living room with the drying clothes.

Then the desire to bake hit me–it’s a new impulse that I have yet to learn how to control. The result: these Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars (recipe coming next week). We mixed them up while listening to Prairie Home Companion–Garrison Keillor’s voice puts me into a lull of well-being.

Then there was some dinner–leftover brussel sprouts over rice. Yum.

When they first come out of the fridge, they stink to high heaven (just like cold cabbage), but as we reheated them with extra bacon, they became delicious-smelling once again.

Finally, we put on some music and relaxed into some fun reads.

That’s Time magazine for the man of my life . . .

(If he looks slightly frightened/surprised it’s because he was. See, I shouted really loud a millisecond before snapping this; I thought it would result in a more natural look. Sorry I scared you, honey bunches. Though it’s probably good exercise for your heart or something.)

. . . and Bon Appetit for moi.

Shock of shocks–there’s a recipe for Peanut Butter and Jelly bars!

Hey! What?? I had just made them, like 2 hours ago. I think I might have a psychic connection with their editorial staff–there’s no other way to explain it.

See that pillow?

That’s where my head was moment earlier, and was about to be again. Is there anything as comforting as the lap of a loved one? Especially when you get head and shoulder scritchies tossed in there too?

I want a thousand more Saturdays just like this one.

P.S. I think I’m a homebody.

P.P.S. Tomorrow, back to a subject of greater general interest: food! The second cooking class recipe will be up, which boasts the very long title of Roasted Red Pepper Soup with Lime Cilantro Sour Cream and Roasted Corn. But I like to simply call it “More, please.”

The spirit of 111 lives on!

So last month I wrote four posts about the 111 things in 1/11 project, initiated by my friend Jenny, that involved a weekly purging throughout the whole first month of the year. Many things were thrown away, or put in bags to give away. I had 4 pretty heavy bags of stuff to bring to a Goodwill or Salvation Army–but not having a car, and not being close to either of those fine establishments, the stuff sat in a closet for a while.

I could sense the stuff lurking in the shadows of our coat closet, just waiting to somehow infiltrate our house again with its clutter–I had to find a way to get it out of there before it outsmarted me.

I soon realized that I had to enlist the help of a friend with a vehicle. So about a week ago, my friend Carrie offered up the trunk of her car, and we drove my purged stuff and her purged stuff out to a Salvation Army. Of course, a thrifting expedition ensued in which we also shopped at Salvation Army. And Plato’s Closet. It was inevitable–the call of Thrifting is powerful, and no one tied me to the mast to prevent it.

Since Salvation Army didn’t have a dressing room, we ended up in front of a mirror in the corner (curiously the place where the highest traffic was occurring), throwing clothes on and peeling them off again under a hideous set of fluorescent lights, jostled by passerbys, employees and children, all while trying to keep an eye on our purses, which were in a heap on the floor. There was a strange smell in the air that clung to all the clothing, but when a shirt costs $1.56, who’s complaining? What smell? We’re all friends here!

And the trip to Plato’s was a smash hit–how I love that store. Definitely pricier than Salvation Army, but I’m willing to pay a little more for the comfort of a dressing room and the quality of the clothing. Every other dress on the 3 + racks was calling my name.

Anyway, I came home with some adorable dresses and three cute tops. And a multicolored scarf that looks either funky/cool, or like a crocheted afghan your granny knitted. As I rifled through my purchases with the satisfaction of having found great deals, it suddenly ocurred to me that I couldn’t just welcome these new items into my closet with open arms.

There were going to be strings attached. Conditions. Terms. A notarized agreement between us.

The terms: I determined to get rid of 1 clothing item for each new clothing item coming into the rotation. I couldn’t in good conscience participate in the 111 challenge and then just buy 111 more things! Then, my existence would have proven meaningless and void of purpose. I would be discovered and called out as a fraud. My friends and family would shun me, and I would have to go live in a cellar on bread and water, with the rats of Chicago as my only allies.

Having just gone through my closet and purged the undesirable items contained therein for the 111 challenge, this wasn’t the easiest of tasks. But I did it! And here’s the pile:

I also realized that my style is becoming much less edgy these days. I used to thrive on wearing shocking combinations: a hippy skirt over jeans, scarves wrapped around my head; layers of sheer fabric under regular shirts. Weird transparent black things over other things. But this lacy number seemed a little too emo for me. Goodbye, wild days of my youth!

And welcome, adorable yellow vintage-type dress.

Welcome, filmy blue hippy-Grecian-classic light and airy summer number!

I love the brown detailing along the neckline:

And hello, little racerback dress with the flounces!

I plan on wearing you over jeans with a little cardigan tossed on top. I love the texture of the silk and lace layers.

I’m going to challenge myself to keep this up this year–when an item comes in, an item must go out. On one hand, this will keep tabs on my shopping, because unless I truly love an item I won’t want to sacrifice another for it. And it will keep the bounty in my closet to a dull roar.

It’s a plan.

Happy Tuesday, friends!