The Daily System

We went to our friend's house for dinner earlier this week and had a great time eating yummy food and talking about the joys of marriage. Surprisingly, we had very similar experiences so it was such a relief to know that we weren't alone in our neurosis. We just felt a lot better sharing laughs as well as serious talks ranging from budgeting all the way to organic eggs from the farmer's market. One of the things we noticed at their house was their super cute and organized daily calendar with menus written on a small whiteboard in the hallway. For them, it helps them stick to their grocery budget. I also liked how every two days was a "leftovers" day. I dislike leftovers so having a set "leftover" day will make me stop making more stuff.

We both left that night thinking that a weekly menu/calendar was just what we needed to keep our schedules in synch. I don't really like the smell of dry erase boards so I went on the hunt for chalkboard. While I was at it, I wanted something to hold mail that comes in because right now, it just gets tossed onto the kitchen counter. Lastly, hubby has a habit of tossing his wallet and keys in any nook or cranny that is immediately available to him. It'd be better for all purposes if we had a designated place for his keys too.

Armed with those requirements, I set out browsing Pottery Barn for inspiration and it did not disappoint:


Here is a close up. It's cute, it holds mail, keys, and I can mix in a chalkboard panel instead of the magazine files if I wanted to, but at $118, I think I will look elsewhere.


Since I'm looking for something to contain errant mail, stray keys, and love notes, What about the Container Store?


Or this modern one:


This one is too cute!


At a low starting price of $12.99, these were truly great budget buys to contain mail and keys, but I wasn't sure how the chalkboard/calendar thing would fit.

Then it hit me, IKEA might have something available. A quick search yielded (almost) exactly what I was looking for:


Chalkboard? check. Mail slot? check. Key hangers: done. done. and done.

The only thing I don't like about it is that the square design is a little elementary skool looking. I'll probably distress it and repaint it a streaky blue/green. Seriously. Or white. But distressed blue has a bit more character to it.

Another idea is to ikeahack this frame:


and turn it into something like this!



I am loving the ornate look but that begs the question of what to do with mail & keys all over again. O options, my never ending temptress!

Simple Things in Life

Baking bread is one of the most satisfying and simplest pleasures in life but I used to be so scared to try it. I don't know why I boldly venture into quiches, tarts, and even home made puff pastry without a second thought but the idea of baking bread has me cowering in a corner. Once, when I was in middle school, I baked bread from a recipe on the back of a flour packet. It was under baked, a little dense, but otherwise decent. Still...it would be over over ten years later before I dared try it again.

A while ago, I read an article on "no knead bread" from the New York Times. It was suppose to be virtually fool proof but it required high quality bakeware that I didn't own at the time. Now, thanks to a dear friend who blessed us with a Le Creuset dutch oven, I have the requisite vessel. Two weeks ago, I anxiously proofed the dough overnight and hovered around it as it baked. To my great joy and delight, it was a beautiful round of rustic artisanal bread! It was crusty, chewy, with nice hole structure. I used just a few ingredients: a mix of whole wheat and unbleached all purpose flour, some yeast, water, and love. Supermarket bread, in contrast, have dozens of ingredients. Even high end bread (not Wonder bread) have chemicals in it to keep it fresh. Homemade bread is so much fresher and healthier for you. The whole process of baking something as fundamental as bread is soothing and appealing. It's like I'm transported to a simpler time and place.

Emboldened by my rustic loaf, I tried a classic sandwich loaf from King Arthur flours. I didn't have milk but I did have buttermilk leftover from a red velvet cake so I used that instead. I think I underbaked this one and it was more cakey and muffin-like in texture than springy, chewy, bread. Taste wise, it was good but I will try this recipe next time.



What I have realized is that good bread making requires very good equipment. The bread above was baked in Chicago Metallic Commercial loaf pans. About $11/ea at Bed Bath and Beyond. Next time I get a 20% coupon in the mail, 2 of these beauties will be mine. Yes, two, because bread freezes well and I'm afraid to tamper with the recipe to make it yield fewer servings. Baking is a science and I am but a poor Humanities graduate.

Below are next on my to buy list!

Pullman pan with lid for perfectly squared edges. You know, like bread from Asian bakeries.


Baking stone, for better heat distribution and retention.


Good bulk yeast-cheaper than supermarket packets and guaranteed to rise.


Bench scraper- to remove dough without tearing gluten.


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Console-ation

*Edit*

A few months after this post-hubby and I settled on this beauty! It wasn't quite what we were looking for and it is a little "matchy/matchy" but at least it flows well and it isn't black. Best of all--it came in under $400 :)



*End Edit


When my parents bought our first house, they bought all the furniture in one fell swoop. I loved our first house. I remembered thinking it was the prettiest house in the whole wide world and I could not believe that it was ours! It was a sweet little ranch house, painted a pretty shade of pink. Out front was a low magnolia tree with crooked branches that our little hands and feet could reach for a "climb". My sister and I shared a room back then. We squabbled a lot but we'd talk about how we were going to paint our room pink (on her side) and lavender (my side). We thought it was the best idea ever but alas, it never reached fruition for she, at the mature age of 13, declared her independence from me and moved into a bedroom in our renovated basement. My brother and I had a lot of fun there too. We used to run around and play hide & seek. I used to hide inside the hall closet, wrap our Dad's big trench overcoat around me, and put my feet inside bags so I would be hidden IN the closet too!

We had a lot of great memories in that old house. Now that we have our first house, I feel almost the same giddy sense of wonderment. It is different and even more special because we get to do whatever we want to our house! We've done a lot but we are still missing a media stand for our television. Although most people wall mount flat screens, we didn't want random cords and cables dripping down the wall nor did we want to drill a hole to hide them. Plus, hanging it above the fireplace is too high to view the TV comfortably when sitting and armoires are just plain random. Rather than trying to hide the TV, we're just looking for a pretty piece of furniture to rest it on. No hiding. No shame.

Originally, I was hoping for a vintage sidebar or buffet to repurpose as the media stand. I would distress it and paint it in a beigey-champagne with light French blue peeking underneath. I actually love woodworking (did it in high school). There is something really comforting about sanding down rough wood into a satiny-soft surface. But alas! vintage is now suddenly haute and very expensive. We've since moved to online searches with the following requirements:

1. Glass windows (so one can use a remote to power different players without needing opening the doors.)
2. Pretty, intricate details (nothing too sleek).
3. Solid hardwood (hubby's requirement but I also agree).
4. Prefer painted in creamy beige, white, deep brown. No black. Black is a big no because our TV is black. It'd just be way too much black against one wall. It'd be the black wall of nothing. Can't do black.
5. Minimum 60 inches wide.

First Choice.



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Pro: Slightly higher than the others...just enough to make it multi-functional: entry table, dining room sideboard, media stand, sofa table etc; eco-harvested hardwood-even the back is hardwood, gorgeous detailing; pre-assembled; easy return to C&B retail store.
Con: $$$. $809.00 after 10% discount.


Second Choice:

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Pro: Price. About $345 after coupon codes; some hardwood, pretty feet detail.
Con: Assembly is a PITA, return is very annoying, not sure of quality, REALLY don't want black.
Comment: If we get this, I would distress it but I'm not sure I'm up to the task of sanding and priming hardwood veneer.

Third Choice:


Wrong color but another view to get an idea of how it'd look in use:


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Pro: Already distressed! Beautiful solid hardwood, really love the creamy vintage white color and the cute feet.
Cons: Price. $838 shipped. Returns will be a hassle since there is no retail store in this state. Vintage is a passing phase so it's not the best idea to spend nearly $1k on a trend.


I'm leaning towards the second one because of the economical price. It is just a TV stand. Just something to hold the TV and store all the loose wires/remote to keep the area tidy. We also have a Target giftcard left from our wedding so we would only need to spend $245 out of pocket for it.

But...hubby and I have a penchant for nice things. The fact that the first choice is can be repurposed into many different things helps assuage the guilt we feel for considering it. One of these days, we're going to check it out in person at the C&B store because it is in stock. We may look at big box furniture stores for other options. I guess after 9 months, we're not in a hurry to find something anyway.

Plan for Health

I do this every once in a while when my weight goes past my "Warning!" zone. My "Warning!" zone is a number I set for myself--that if I ever reach it, it's a warning to buckle down, work-out/eat less until it is safely below again. I used to work out every day and weigh myself daily so it was very easy to keep myself on track. I even weighed myself each day on my home scale and measured my waist with professional seamstress tape. Over the years, I moved, got married, schedules changed and I stopped doing all those things I used to do to care for my body. My body settled into a number that is comfortable but I'm on a mission to get my 23 year old figure back!

First things first: portion control. That is the most effective way for me to lose weight. Even if I ate 1/3 of what the hubby eats, that is still more than what is necessary for me. I used to eat just until the hunger feeling goes away. That was the right about for me to sustain my weight loss. It is harder to do when eating out or eating with someone who eats more/longer but I need to do that again.

Second: cut out all sweets. Oh, that's going to hurt! I love sweets but I know that is another thing that needs to go.

That is pretty much it. Portion control + no sweets. Sounds simple but obviously it is harder than it looks.

I worked out today--2nd time in 3 days. It feels good! I'm slowly on my way :)

Peacock-boo

In my quest to find more information about upholstery and reupholstery in the (sad) event that we do not keep the lovely raspberry fabric on our chairs, I came across The Whole 9 Yards. I've passed by this building several times but I have never ventured in. This store will most likely charge more than Fabric Depot (yay for 30% off coupons!) but I think this store will have more unusual prints. Just look at this beautiful Vienna print!



It is rather expensive at $27.99/yard. To cover an accent chair, I will probably need 5 yards of fabric so it will cost $140 just for the material. This doesn't include the cost of labor either. I found this lovely peacock chair on their website using a mix of the Vienna and other fabrics & trims. I admit, this chair is not for the faint of heart! It teeters on a precarious ledge between full-blown awesomeness and scary tackiness. Truly, it tips the scale. It's the type of piece that will incite immediate and irrevocable love or aversion. It cannot be helped! That is particularly why I like it. This chair cost $550 for the upholstery job & fabric, I would presume.



It is too bad that custom upholstery is so expensive! But it truly is an art form, a true trade of a craftsman. Considering the hours one probably spends on this, I can understand the cost but it will be a while (if ever) we actually end up going this route. Still, I think I will stop by and take a look around for further inspiration.

The Whole 9 Yards
1820 E. Burnside
Portland, OR 97214

Unexpected

I read in House Beautiful that when you come across something that looks "unexpected", it usually means that it doesn't work. Hubby brought home a beautiful pair of chairs in the loveliest raspberry color with platinum nailhead trim. He knew that I would like them even though he thinks they are too vibrant for our home. We both agree that the design, look, and style of the chairs are perfect. The only problem is that the raspberry may overwhelm our more neutral palette of creams, champagne, sea greens, and pale blues. Though we have more pale green and less blue, is similar to what we have right now:



I am considering the addition of more pinks. Husband prefers to keep the living room peaceful and soothing. I like that too, but I think some color would really liven up the space. Right now, despite our blue accents, it seems almost too monotonous. Splashes of raspberry, fuchsia, and pink works really well with our color scheme as seen the following pictures.









However, the vast majority of the pictures use pink and raspberry as accents. Would it be overboard to have two raspberry accent chairs? Imagine that shade of raspberry upholstery on the white chair.



If I added in some gently patterned pillows to our ivory couches and tossed a smaller patterned pillow on a chair, would it work? Or would the bright raspberry chairs still be "unexpected"?

(Unless otherwise specified, source for all pictures)

Toast to Toxic-Free Living

I've always been rather health conscious but it wasn't until after I went to college that I became more aware of the environment around me. I rarely eat junk food/fast food or drink soda or juices and that has helped some, but that is only part of it. I also started using more organic products such as shampoos and skin care but usually return to mainstream brands because they do work better. It's been years since but now many mainstream brands are much better at using lower toxic ingredients. It is still sad because while the products are less toxic, the vast majority of them still have carcinogenic compounds that can cause everything from cancer to reproductive abnormalities. I've been using Cosmetic Database for several years now to check on the danger levels of my most commonly used products. It has made me change my ways. For instance, my beloved Nars blush registered a toxicity level NINE. This is something that I use daily and I love it, but after this runs out, I will switch to a healthier brand, like Tarte. I should probably dump it right now but I'm nearly out anyway.

Another thing I have done to improve the environment around me is to add toxin-filtering houseplants to our home. NASA conducted an air quality test with various plants and found that major improvements can be found just by keeping a plant or two in each room! Since we got married, we have purchased new furniture, carpeting, and have done multiple home improvement projects that sadly added loads of toxins into our air. For instance, most furniture has formaldehyde in it while new carpeting is loaded with Benzene. Even though we purchased a more expensive fabric that isn't sprayed, it is still full of chemicals. Our newly painted rooms don't really help with the air quality either.

Over the weekend, we went to the mecca of gardening centers, "Al's Gardening Center" in Sherwood and stocked up on several plants. The sales person there was very knowledgeable and we were careful to buy hardy plants that propagate well. Although I initially wanted a boston fern, she advised against it because it sheds considerably. We have since spent a considerable sum adding plants into our home...the heftiest being a 6 ft tall ficus tree. My favorite purchase so far is the "snake plant" aka "mother-in-law's tongue" because it is so hardy and propagates easily. From one $10 plant, I can reproduce it multiple times. Other plants I am propagating include: spider plants, golden pathos, and aloe vera. Hopefully, from the investments I made, I can fill our home with plants.


Below are some of the NASA recommended houseplants.

1 Areca palm
2 Lady palm
3 Bamboo palm
4 Rubber plant F
5 Dracaena “Janet Craig”
6 English ivy
7 Dwarf date palm
8 Ficus Alii
9 Boston fern
10 Peace lily
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