While you're away

Check out this recipe I found on BigOven! http://www.bigoven.com/recipe/167275/Chili-In-Slow-Cooker

I love the little headlines websites attach to their links. So clever.

Neither Chris not myself adores chili, but I've been trying to make life easier on myself lately by doing some slow cooker recipes and having a cook a thon on Sunday afternoons. I failed miserably this week, buy I'm blaming that on an underconstruction kitchen with no dishwasher until Monday.

This was very tasty though and easily adjustable: I don't generally easy pork or beef, but recognize its place in the recipe. So, rather than 1lb of each, I used 1lb of ground turkey and s half pound of each beef and pork. I then reduced the beans by a third.

Even after modifications, it still yielded 6-7 very generous adult portions.

I'll skip over the part wherein I admit to forgetting to turn on the crockpot before leaving for work, but goll darn it was easy once I did so.

Happy Weekend!

Kilim

With gorgeousness!

See what I just did there? I made a decorating pun.

Like I'm killin em but kilim. Get it? I've been sitting on that one all morning.

All of this SOPA blackout business.. Tough stuff, man. I get it, free speech and all of that, I hear you! Now give me back my coupon app and WordPress!

As a fan of  freedom to publish, I rather fancy the internet. Got it is this lovely intraweb which allotted me to piss away endless hours of previous life and countless flats of hard earned income.

Enter: kilim!! The fabulously patterned and colorful Turkish tradition holds a special place in my heart. Its not quite Navajo and it is certainly not your grandmothers paisley. Its bright, playful, and in my eyes, it should practically be considered a neutral.

I picked up a fab area rug for the kitchen at a favorite local antiques gem last  weekend and negotiated my way to a sweet steal at $68. Now I find myself craving more. Pillows. Runners.

Saddlebags!!

The real stuff is super pricey and let's be real, kind of scratchy. Paying two hundo for a throw pillow makes about as much sense as a penguin on a bicycle, but that doesn't stop me from wanting.

More kilim, please!

Deconstruct, Reconstruct

As an aside, I'm writing from my phone today. Which was annoying from Go anyhow, and now I'm seeing, quite clearly mind you, my complexion in the screen protector cover.

 

 

Can we say frown lines and brow furrow wrinkles?

 

 

Another tally on the CON side for you, 2011, another tally on the con side indeed.

 

 

Anywhoozle. The bees have been buzzing at Casa Plumage lately and most of the work has involved undoing the work of the prior owners.

 

 

Enter: Demolition.

 

 

When we moved in, it was a well known fact that the kitchen would need a little botox now and eventually, an entire facelift and boob job. Probably a tummy tick got good measure, too. 1973 was probably a great year for the old Plumage Kitchen. Hell, even the back of our BEAST of a GE frig boasts of "1979 Energy Standard" compliance. Oh yeah baby, that's it, that's the stuff of every energy bill paying homeowner's fantasies.

Behold:

The kitchen reno began a couple weeks ago when the living room painting failed on an epic level. Rather than sort out the frustrating choice of color in there, we wandered next door to the kitchen. You know, the bigger, more complicated, wayfrickenmore expensive project.

Ah, old appliances, crappy boob light fixtures and faux brick. Where to even begin the fun!

We soon found out from an electrician that one of the stove's burners wasn't working because the previous owner had jerryrigged some sort of home made circuit board beneath it. We then found illegal wiring and flammable insulation shoved over an electrical outlet all within a 12" space.

This is why you don't open Pandora's box, kids. Leave well enough alone and live gleefully in the bliss of ignorance.

So we figured what the frack and went on ahead and took the saw to the cabinets, the sledgehammer to the gingerbreading and schmeared it all with the most heavy handed layer of luscious navy blue paint you ever did imagine.

It will all be encrusted in a shiny coat of brand new stainless this weekend. I had jokingly told Chris that I would accept a new kitchen in place of an engagement ring, but I did that thinking a reno was more of a 2020 -something project.


There's that foot in my mouth again!

 

 

But I guess when a professional cries Fire Hazard, things expedite a bit.  The new frig is too tall for the previous opening, thus the jigsawing apart of the upper cabinets. We look forward-slash-dread the day that we decide what to do with the current 40" range and hood opening. And we most certainly look forward to taking the washer and dryer OUT of the kitchen and jamming it back DOWN in the basement where it belongs. I have beautiful, seed-glass-front dreams of a built in sideboard for my Grandma's Blue Meisen, all of my serving pieces, and of course a wine cooler.



Who knew that The House Before the House had the potential to potentially become The House.

Paint yourself silly

Who else remembers childhood birthday parties at shops filled to the brim with pointless plaster figurines and ceramic dishes perfect for Mothers Day?

Well, we've been up to the adult version lately. Of the 11 rooms Chris and I have painted together, only once have we not hit the nail on the painted hammerhead when it comes to color selection. But that was then and this is now and I'll be danged, this old house and its plaster walls are a totally different design puzzle. The living/dining room space is fantastic, but it is also totally lacking in lighting.

We currently have no less than eight colors on the wall; none of which remotely resemble the swatch and none of which remotely resemble one another from wall to wall.

I'm hearing Lil Jon singing "from the window to the waaaall" with each new color I put up. Our walls look like a slice of swiss cheese run through a Rainbow Bright carwash. Surely there is humor in the ridiculousness, but mostly, it has simply become frustrating.

The first the were too cool- not fat like phat, but cool like icy cold in tone.  And I have had enough contemporary design to last me till Kingdom come! So once I was done pleading my case for a more traditional direction, and once I was climbed down from my Modern is A Time Period, Contemporary is a Style pulpit, up went several more colors.

Its a real dilemma, alright. The front runner is Elemental from Benjamin Moore. The only problem with it? Its sage green.

The only thing I hate more than sage green is butter yellow. Which, ironically, bore its ugly face in the kitchen during another Reno fiasco. That's a whole nutha mutha if you know what I'm sayin though.

The sampling continues.

Meanwhile, you're all getting Benjamin Moore Natura samples in a sparkling Eggshell finish for Christmas next year. Get excited!

Cleaning Up My Act

I'm a tree hugger. An organic food eating, No VOC paint using, sprinkles flax seeds in my cereal tree hugger.

I live with both asthma and environmental allergies. If you're not an asthmatic, you don't get it. But if you are, you know. Going through life with something that impairs your simple ability to breathe makes a girl quickly realize the value of having toxin-free surroundings.

While I have transformed many aspects of our home to reflect a cleaner, greener life, the household cleaners have yet to give in to the movement. I have tried many: most fail to perform well enough to convince me to convert.

When I began my new job a few weeks ago, I was pleased to learn that the Mrs. is also earthy. And extremely particular about her home. In her cupboards were rows of cleaning products from Melaleuca. Much to my surprise, they all smell lovely and keep things looking sparkling clean.

I'm partial to Tough & Tender and LemonBrite. The entire product line is affordable and, if you drink the company's Kool Aid, then it's also fair to believe that over time, it will actually save you money compared to more conventional cleaning products. Be scared, Johnson & Johnson, be scared!

A second Scary Chemicals Source I have long avoided: DRYCLEANING! Aka, burns my eyes when I walk into the door, rots my liver and poisons our water with carcinogens cleaning. While you'd have to be a Minneapolis-Metro-Local to sign up for my particular favorite- Skylark in Chanhassen- you can find a more earth-friendly service in your area here.

Skylark picks up and delivers for no additional fee on a regular schedule or with an on-demand service. Green, convenient, and gentle on my favorite sweaters: I'M SOLD!

Rearview Mirror

WELL HELLO THERE! I bet you're all a little shocked to see me here, eh?

I know, I know! Life has been ridiculous, what can I say?

As usual, I am kicking off the New Year with absolute resolve to not make false resolutions. It only sets us all up to fall short or fail entirely anyway. This year, as I laid in the bathtub with my hangover and my gratitude this afternoon, I decided I'd compile a Peaks & Pits reflection of 2011.
2011 was sort of a brutal year. Those sentiments were echoed by many of my friends as we celebrated New Year's Eve last night. It must be the impending implosion of the Universe that allowed for the past twelve months to take a giant dump on top of many of us.

Chris and I both had to say goodbye to a grandfather last year. We experienced-- and addressed-- the tumble of the housing market during the sale of Chris' PRE-Megan House. The stress of selling a house and also buying our first house together soaked up much of our summer. Our dog decided to throw in a sassy kick early last winter by having a great big corneal ulcer while we had the nerve to go away on a mini ski vacation. After years of being used, abused, and taken advantage of, I finally told my previous employers to take their nanny position and shove it: I fell in love with a new family but was caught off guard at Thanksgiving-time when they announced that they would be relocating to Florida. Two job changes in 11 months was trying if not exhaustive. During the job search, we also learned that a previous employer had been bad mouthing me around town with some pretty lofty lies. I bid adieu to a few friendships that I long ago had outgrown and finally had the guts to cleanse myself of. And there was, of course, the everyday Life is Tough squabbles with one another and with family; the everyday Life is Tough stresses that we all deal with in our own unique circumstances.

It took a few minutes to mull over the list of That Sucked 2011 moments and I found myself choked up thinking of how taxing it has been not only for myself and Chris, but thinking of all the tough stuff our friends and families have also endured.

That being said, the solemn moment passed quickly and gave way to a very long list of things for which I am infinitely grateful and proud of.

When Chris and I met, I was midway through a summer in which I completed three triathlons, one long-distance bike race, and a duathon. My life consisted of working and working out. Then came Chris and workouts took a backseat to nights eating ice cream on the kitchen counter and enjoying a new relationship. This summer, the fallout of that came to a head and I had to stare down the Holy @)%&!(, Whose Body Is THIS barrel. While I haven't come full circle back to where I was, I did shave off a chunk of the weight I gained and, more importantly, grabbed fitness by the (Kettle)balls and put myself back on track for racing this summer.

The real estate transactions of 2011 have been complicated, extensive, and frustrating. While I must respect Chris' requests for privacy on the matter, what I can say is this.... All of those headlines about the housing market crashing and people losing their homes and people whose mortgages are totally underwater became very personal for us this year. There were some very dark moments but we stuck it out together and found a way to get to the finish line.

At Thanksgiving, when I was delivered the SURPRISE, YOU DON'T HAVE A JOB news, it was quickly followed up with an invitation to move with the family. Previously, I have done just that; packed up my crap and followed my work. Previously, my work had been my entire life. I can't even count the number of times I sobbed to my Mom that I was sick of taking care of someone else's house/kids/life and so badly longed for my own. Chris was so supportive-- even finding an in company transfer in Florida. But ultimately and without hesitation, I declined to go. Because finally, after what felt like an eternity, I have my own house/family/life. It was hard-earned, long-deserved and OH SO WORTH THE WAIT.

This year, in spite of two job changes, I managed to slide by without having to tap into savings or spend more than a couple of days between jobs without work. In a time in which so many don't have a job, I'm proud of the fact that I am good enough at what I do that there was always a new offer hot on the heels of a departure.

It is safe to say that neither Chris nor myself even flirts with the idea of perfection. We are flawed and human. This year, while dealing with this massive downpour of Tough Stuff, we learned not only about ourselves as individuals, but we learned about how our individual selves behave (and misbehave) within the context of our relationship. We have squabbled. Often in some cases. But that's what happenes in life, isn't it? We sometimes lash out at those closest to us for LIFE stress that frequently has nothing to do with who it is we're barking at. What we have learned is how to identify what the real source of tension is, to discuss the problem and not attack the person, and to work together towards a solution. It is easier in concept than in practice and I am quick to confess to that. But we have done it and for all of the grief, his is still the hand I wish to hold when I'm sad or mad or happy or in distress. 2011 has brought me a greater appreciation, understanding, and far deeper connection to Chris than ever before.
I'm thankful for the friendships that have proven themselves to be healthy and strong-- for the friends that listened to me cry and vent a hundred billion times over the past year. It's great to get older and recognize true friends and the value of their role in life. I'm thankful for parents who celebrated a 35th wedding anniversary this December and have taught us all that you can want to kick the crap out of each other but no matter the fight or the frustrations, family sticks together.

It was a trying kind of year. A real mother fucker, you could say.

Yet here we are all-- we made it. We survived and now we must move forward and not let it all have been in vain. 2012 is going to be epic. I just know it.