My dream kitchen

I ran across this fantastic blog a few weeks ago called Apartment Therapy. They have all sorts of wonderful tips, decorating ideas, and online resources that I can highly recommend. They also have a sister blog called The Kitch*n.

This month has been focused on all things entertaining, and I have definitely gotten dragged into the fantasy of a spectacular holiday dinner party. (Would that I had that kind of space!) Some of the tips which resonated with me - keep a stack of glass cocktail/dessert plates on hand, cocktail cloth napkins, and enough wine glasses for a really good time - got me thinking about how I would want to design and stock my eventual dream kitchen.

I can't complain about my current cooking environment much. Although it's pretty cozy, it is very functional and we have all the tools that we really like or need to use. But what we don't have is room for extra dishes/napkins/wine glasses. Maybe if I completely redesigned our space to maximize storage EVERYWHERE, we might fit these sort of things in, but we are moving in less than a year, and don't have seating for more than 8 people in our living/dining room anyway, so it's almost a moot point.

But...here are some ideas that are on that list for when we move to a real house. someday...

Daylight Savings Time (and other excuses)

So last week was a little haphazard in the blog posting arena. I would like to just clarify that it wasn't for lack of thinking about it, or even having writing materials. I was just really discombobulated.

This comes from our almost-fanatic commitment to our dog and her dog park time. With DST last week also came pitch black darkness by 6:30pm, about the time we had been getting home in recent weeks. Obviously, before DST it wasn't dark, so Em got her playtime in before dinner just fine. However, now that was going to be an issue. So we decided to be radical. In to work by 7am (or earlier), home by 4pm, with plenty of time to get her to the park, fix dinner, and be in bed by 11pm to start the cycle all over again. But this meant changing our alarms too.

We had been enjoying the flex schedule of a grad student. Wake up by 8:30, leisurely prep time and be at our desks by 10am. Not bad, really, but then you arrive at the same time as everyone else, which also means we are all starting lab work at the same time and that can be hectic. So the earlier wake-up call really is a blessing in many ways. We can be productive in the first 3 hours of the day when no one else is in lab, we leave before traffic gets too bad, and still have some daylight to enjoy as well. But 5:30am is not easy. Even with DST making it feel like 6:30, it still came as a bodily shock to be up while it was dark out. But this morning I felt good waking up, bounding out of bed to make breakfast and walk the dog. I'm even feeling super productive instead of lagging like last week. Keep tuned for more regular posting!

Dreams, Fears, and other motivations

two nights ago
this is more stream of consciousness rather than inspiration, but here goes...

Yes, I will admit here in black and white that I - like almost every other single (as in "not engaged", don't get worried y'all!) gal out there - fantasizes about her future wedding. Ideas will come and go, plus add the inspirations from all the random wedding-oriented shows on tv now and you've got yourself some serious subconscious wedding dreaming.

So what was so weird about this dream was that it was definitely my wedding, but it was SO Not my wedding either. We were in this adorable Craftsman house, with warm honey-colored wood floors and a brick fireplace. Then it panned to a back bedroom with my mom - hair in curlers (really?!) - helping me into my "dress". But it wasn't a dress. It was a floor-length black taffeta ball gown skirt. Maybe there was some sort of creamy white shirt on top, but that detail got lost. And my hair was flat and terrible. Somehow it wasn't quite what I pictured it being like...

I was definitely disconcerted when I woke up. It was the weirdest snap shot of what I instinctively knew was The Big Day (in my dream). Plus, I hadn't been really thinking about weddings much recently either, so just weird. In general.

I never knew ....

...that bedazzling your shoes had an official name: strassing.

Recently I have been feeling the need for more femininity, mainly in the form of fashion. One chick's blog I came across had this wonderful pair of sparkly pink Louboutins. Except they weren't originally sparkly - sorry, I meant "strassed".

Quite honestly, having never had a pair of Louboutins on my feet, I can't imagine why you would spend hundreds of dollars on a pair of plain-looking shoes (but I hope they feel way better than the more affordable ones that grace my phalanges). Maybe not the point.

Anyway, she bought these Barbie pink peep toe shoes, and then started to grace them with hundreds of tiny, hot pink Swarovski crystals. The result is pretty fantastic.


I kind of want to do it myself - just not to Louboutins. Maybe these though (on Zappos, if you are interested):


Stay tuned!

The Power of ...

I have found my commitment to calorie counting and diet restriction fleeting at best when I don't have my partner in crime on board. It's easy enough to not buy something when you live alone, but if there is someone else around, it gets complicated. Sometimes the temptation of chocolate is just too much!

Luckily, I have finally convinced him to join me in a return to our Lent diet of the past two years. We gave up refined sugar and refined flours for 40 days, which leads to about 5lbs easy weight loss in that time. Just not filling your body with as many wasted calories, and substituting useful stuff, like yogurt, berries, celery, and almonds, really makes a difference.

Gearing up for the start of the diet did lead to some last-minute sugar binges on both our parts. However, my inherent sweet tooth probably took the cake. I grabbed a big bag of sour gummy worms from Target, some leftover Halloween gummies (not so great - I ended up tossing half of them), and a box of cherry cordials (delicious, even considering the super sugar headache afterward!). During this weekend's sugar fiasco, however, I realized something: I physically can't handle such intense sugar anymore. Mentally, though, the battle still rages.

When we were kids, candy was associated with reward. Once every so often, my mom would let us go to Walgreen's to get a selection of our favorite goodies. (Quick Aside: Walgreen's still has the best selection of candy in my opinion, at least here in Atlanta) So, the expected good feelings from eating candy now - that reward center of the brain - really fall short with the reviling sugar crash that comes with it. It just doesn't do it for me anymore. But I still mentally crave that reward.

So the goal - until I reach my goal weight especially - is to focus on retraining my mental habits. Disassociating the "reward" from the pleasure center will take some serious effort, but in the long run I know it will all be worth it.

Finding my drama...

...tic color. I was given a copy of David Zyla's new book "The color of style" by a dear friend of mine, and once I picked it up, I couldn't set it down. David has been a fashion stylist and adviser for lots of famous shows, but I won't bore you with his resume. The point is, based on his experience he has come up with a way to analyze your own personal colors - finding the colors that will absolutely be the best shades for you to wear - and more importantly, describing how those colors function in your life.

For example, one of your colors is your "essence" color. This is your skin tone, your best foundation makeup color. This is a very open, vulnerable color to wear, which is why this is a bad choice to wear in a job interview or any place where you should exert energy and authority. But it's great if you want to meditate or share deeper emotions with a friend.

Right now I am on the search to find my perfect "dramatic" color. According to the book, this color is found in your veins, so look at your wrist and find the deepest color as your inspiration. For me, it's a midtone clear blue with turquoise undertones. Given that I love jewel tones, this fits right in with my instinctual color style, but somewhat uncharacteristically, I am really doubting that I have really found that perfect color. However, here are some fashion thoughts that have started to inspire me:

Order-disorder and other random Friday thoughts

My personality (as described in my previous post) loves order. I am very structured about how I keep most of my things, and it will drive me to distraction when certain things are out of place. Not quite OCD but I'm sure there are tendencies there.

Recently I have noticed that some of my labmates like to take pipette tips at random rather than following a set order of removing tips. This is a small detail to some, but when you stare at tip boxes all day, it becomes a thing. So, usually I will keep my own tip boxes orderly but look the other way when I see a more "modern art" approach.

In the spirit of self-improvement and development that I have recently been embracing, I decided this week to embrace the disorder. It is a small step, but it's almost naughty fun being haphazard about my tip selection. Yes, maybe I have been in lab too long when this is fun...it comes with the territory. :-)