Teacup Succulents

27Jan12

I saw this brilliant idea for putting succulents in teacups. I pinned it on Pinterest. (You can find me here on the site.)

It appealed to me for a few reasons: 1) I am a stacker. If I have a blank surface, I will stack papers and junk mail and you-name-it on it. The top of my entertainment center has this issue and it annoys me. This was my solution. 2) Succulents are hardy. It’s difficult to kill them, and so they might survive my brown thumb. 3) I get sad when I see all the pretty printed china pieces that people no longer like/care about. It makes me feel like an era of life has died.

I bought these tiny succulents at Home Depot for $1.50 each. Add some river pebbles, china from Goodwill and potting soil, and the total cost was about $25. I broke up the succulents into mixed arrangements in my small “pots.”

A little river rock around them and ta-da!

Unfortunately, my brown thumb DID get to most of these succulents. (Verdict: overwatering.) Two have survived and I’m trying to BARELY water them in hopes that they’ll make it. I really did love this project, though, so I’ll have to go back to Home Depot and get more or steal cuttings from my neighbors for a cheaper alternative.

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Tags: Stephanie, succulents, brown thumb

Mama Ruby

23Jan12

“There was a sudden burst of cold air between Ruby and Othella that they both felt on their faces; neither could understand what it meant. Ruby assumed that it was just because she was nervous and uncomfortable. Other than the fact that it was so odd and unexpected, Othella didn’t know what to think about the cold air on such a warm day. Neither one shared her thoughts about it, but they both experienced an ominous feeling because of it.”

Don't bother.

The prose in Mary Monroe’s Mama Ruby unfortunately doesn’t get better than that.

Mama Ruby was available from my library’s Kindle collection, and I like historical fiction, so I thought I’d give it a shot. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. The book is easy to read, but that’s about all it’s got going for it. I honestly am astounded that this book got published in its current state — and that it has such high ratings, with an apparently rabid following.

There are so many problems throughout the book. Each chapter ends with clumsy foreshadowing, and the next repeats that scenario in the first few paragraphs — as if the author is concerned that readers would forget the plot after a page. It’s lascivious, with loving detail lavished on descriptions of bodily fluids and people beating one another. No character ever just says something; in every statement, they declare, they holler, they scream, they mutter threats while rolling their eyes at one another. And the plot is simply unbelievable: Ruby’s a teen who hides her pregnancy and gives up the baby, then is a prostitute, then murders her bootlegging husband, and then she steals a baby.

But the part that made me laugh out loud was when Ruby offers to cook some greens in a Crock-Pot. The setting is WWII. Hint: They were first manufactured in 1970.

But then… It just ends. All the loose ends are just left hanging. Apparently Monroe got tired, or hit a deadline.

All in all, Mama Ruby reads like a half-finished rough draft. At least it still counts toward my goal!

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Tags: 2012 goals, Tasha

Marbling nails

20Jan12

Marbling nails is SO hard! This was at least my seventh attempt at it. I followed a tutorial on YouTube (really, they’re about all the same, so if you want to try it, I’d just pick one of those.)

Lessons I learned: The water in your cup needs to be warm. Room temperature AT LEAST. If it’s colder than than, the color won’t float on top, and this won’t work at all. Not at all.

Be prepared to clean up a lot around your cuticles. It’s going to be messy. Really messy. It won’t look good at all until you remove all the nail polish from the skin around your nail. You can put cuticle oil around your nail to help make this process easier, but make sure you don’t get any on your nail or the polish won’t stick.

Honest, this seemed like more trouble than it was worth. But if you’ve got plenty of free time and don’t mind something that’s taking you FOREVER to be so temporary, do it!

(I only did this one nail and just painted the rest a color. A nail tech who was in the office for a photo shoot commented that I’d chosen my colors poorly, so apparently tan and pinks aren’t her idea of complementary colors.)

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Tags: Stephanie, nails, marbling

Pickled.

19Jan12

I made pickled onions with this recipe. It’s so easy — it takes maybe 10 minutes, including time to find the jars. Chop, dump, stuff in some cilantro, wait a day, and you’ve got a topping for tacos, soup or salad!

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Tags: food, Tasha

The feather nail

18Jan12

(Backstory in case anyone other than Tasha or I read this blog: From July 2010 to December 2011, I worked as an editor at a trade magazine for nail technicians.)

Normally, you need to have acrylic nails or gel nails to be able to have embellishments on your nails. However, I talked to a tech about a technique she was using for adding feathers to straight polished nails for Fashion Week in September 2011.

I bought craft feathers at Michael’s. Just the plain ol’ $3 pack. I bought the dyed, brightly colored ones, but the natural would look good too. I separated the feathers by size. (I ended up making earrings out of the bigger ones… I’ll have to find them and post.)

So, you want to know how to do this?

1. Apply a “sticky” base coat. CND’s Stickey Base Coat is by far the best base I’ve ever used. Right now, I’m using a similarly formulated one from a salon. It’s not bad, either.

2. Two coats of color of your choice, drying between each coat. When I did this nail, I was very into wearing different shades of the same color — the whole ombre trend influence, I guess.

3. Let your nails dry completely. This is really important. Don’t skimp and try to move on.

4. Lay the feather on your nail, and use top coat (I prefer Seche Vite or Orly Polishield 3-in-1) to “glue” it to your nail. Really saturate it. Let that dry completely. Trim any of your feather that’s hanging over the side of your nail with small scissors.

5. Add two to three more layers of top coat to your nails (to make it smooth to the touch when it’s dry).

Tips: You want to stick it down with lots of top coat to prevent air bubbles later. Brush it on from the inside of the feather out to make it have a better feathered look.

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Tags: feather nails, nails, Stephanie

Cloud manicure

17Jan12

Some people hold nail polish bottles in their manicure photos. I hold sugar-free chocolate syrup. What.

 

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Tags: Tasha

Pecans

16Jan12

I have always loved pecans. In salads. In pie. In my face. So when we moved to this apartment, I was really excited about the pecan trees in our yard. Well, technically not in our yard, but hear me out! There’s a pecan tree right at the edge of our lawn, in the neighbor’s driveway. They rent from the same people we do, and the pecans fall into our yard, and I was the only one who cared about them, so… Mine!

Same thing on the other side. There’s a vacant lot next to us, with a single tree. The guy who owns it lives in Chicago now, but it used to be his grandma’s land, so he’s kept it. Apparently he stops by about once a year to sit under the tree in a lawn chair. I like to think that’s the kind of guy who doesn’t mind someone enjoying pecans from his grandmama’s tree.

So, imagined approval from my neighbors in hand, I collected 10 lbs. of pecans this fall. I brought about half with me to Ohio at Christmas, and gave some to my mom, sister and gramma, leaving plenty for my face.

And I learned a surprising amount with this whole process; apparently you can’t just go pick the things off the ground and call it done.

First thing: I don’t need to panic as the pecans start to fall — they’ll continue to do so for about a month, maybe six weeks. The squirrels can have some; each tree is capable of producing about 50 lbs. of nuts!

Second thing: Pecans grow in fleshy green husks, like so.

The husk dries out and turns brown as it dries. It looks sort of flower-like during this process:

The pecan then falls out of the husk, leaving the husk on the tree or elsewhere on the ground. That‘s the time to pick them, it turns out. Because I jumped the gun, I ended up prying the husks off myself. Which is kinda dumb, because — surprise — those pecans are generally not fully formed. Sorry if your pecans suck, family!

After you pick them, the pecans need to be cured in a breathable bag for a couple weeks, at which point you’re supposed to be able to crack them cleanly. These have been waiting for a couple months, but I don’t think they’re quite there yet. These things better be worth it.

…Who am I kidding? I’ll still pick them again next year, even if they don’t work out this time. Hope for pecan pie springs eternal!

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Tags: food, Tasha

Nails!

14Jan12

One of the perks of unemployment is the ability to have crazy nails. Like so:

I may have shown you these, but I still enjoy them. And some galaxy nails:

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Tags: nails, Tasha

Gooooooooooooooooooooooooals!

13Jan12

Tasha set her goals and then pushed me a bit to do the same. I generally have a running list in my head of things I need/want to accomplish at any given time. When Tasha posted her list, I’d be lying if I typed that I didn’t think, “What would be on my list?” That actually made this list not as hard to do. After I finished typing all these things out, I realized that it’s quite a long list. So, maybe I won’t get to them all. But maybe I will. I’m not about self hate, so I’m not going to berate myself if there are some that just don’t happen.

1. Complete five (big) home projects. I’ve got some doozies on my list to finish, like reupholstering a couple of chairs, stenciling my hallway, etc. I really have more than five to complete this year, but five’s good. They don’t even necessarily need to be ones already on my list.
2. Compost. I’ve got a bin. It’s time to set it up and start this. I’d rather not have my vegetable leavings end up in a landfill.
3. Garden. I’m picky about food. I don’t mean “there are foods I won’t eat,” but more “I want to know what’s happened to it before I’m putting it in my mouth.” If I grow it, there aren’t questions. And so, I shall grow it this year. I’m going to plot the garden in an area where there are sprinkles so I don’t have to remember to water it.
4. Read 75 books. The past few years, I’ve set the goal of 100. I’ve really got to push myself to get to 100 (never made it yet). However, left to my own devices, I tend to naturally read around 60 without forcing myself. I decided to dial back on this goal and aim for 75. It’s totally achievable, but much more within reach and in-line with how busy my life has been the past year or so.
5. Lose 10 pounds. Losing 10 pounds would make me 135 pounds. I’ve actually weighed a little less than that most of my adult life, but my metabolism has been slowing and I’m tired of not eating Dean’s French Onion Dip and potato chips when I feel like it.
6. Crochet five projects. I’ve mostly given up on knitting. I’m better at crocheting because I’ve been doing it longer, and I seem to gravitate toward crochet accessories more than knit. (Though there are some knit things I lust after.) I’d like one of these projects to be a hat and one to be a shawl, but obviously I’m open. I also probably have enough yarn to complete these things, so I’m going to try not to buy any until I’ve reached this goal. (Unless I buy it for someone else, like my mom.)
7. Make two new recipes each month. I tend to eat the same things over and over again. But my favorite thing is when I love a new recipe so much that it gets incorporated into the cycle. I want more variety in the food I’m making, so… yup. I think aiming for two new recipes a month isn’t hard (24 in a year!), but it will hopefully spark my cooking creativity a little.
8. Teach Josh to cook. I don’t have lofty goals with this one. He and I have gone from really basic to moderate in our 6.5 years together. I’d like this, our fifth year of marriage, to be the one where I can teach him the standby recipes, so that when there are nights I don’t feel like making dinner, someone’s there to pick up the stack.
9. Stockpile food. I want to make soups and breads and, and EVERYTHING and store it in my freezer, just waiting for me to be lazy and need an easy meal. I’m thinking things I regularly eat: pita bread, english muffins, bagels?, flour tortillas, chili, vegetable soup, tortilla soup, etc.
10. Use my pantry. It seems completely contradictory to the goal above, but I tend to overbuy goods to put in my pantry. Lentils, dried peas, beans, pastas, grains. I want to start cooking more out of this part of my kitchen, perhaps even to the goal of adding to the stockpiling goal. It’s one thing to have a box of quinoa in the cupboard. It’s another thing to have three boxes of quinoa in the cupboard (yes, I’ve been there). These things DO eventually go bad. And so, I must cook them.
11. Organize my clothes. I’m well on my way with this because Josh and I demo’d a vanity that I was basically just using to pile clothes. Replaced with dressers, the area SHOULD  help me get a bit more organized. I’m actually planning on hanging/folding/putting away clothes tonight.
12. Make clothes. New sewing machine, ahoy! Honest, I find it impossible to find clothing I love anymore. There’s just “this is OK, so I’ll buy it.” I have oh so many Burda patterns after getting the magazine for a year, not to mention the patterns I already owned. Add that and refashioning other clothes and that’s my goal. I’d like to spend no more than $20/month on clothes ($240 total). Even typing that, it seems a bit low. Let’s say $500 for the year, or $41.66/month. While I’m going to count second-hand clothes bought to refashion in that total, I’m not going to count fabric bought to make clothes into that total. However, I’m not allowed to buy fabric unless I know what project I’m going to use it for. No “it’s pretty, I’m getting it!”
13. Do one thing each month that will simplify my life. I’m copying this one from Tasha because it’s such a good one. For me, it’ll be things like make a big batch of something, hire a maid, set up more bills to auto-pay, etc.
14. Limit social commitments to two each week. I’m overcommited SO OFTEN, and my well being (sleep, relaxing, cleaning, exercising, etc.) is the sacrifice. This year, I’m only going to do two outings each week. I’m not counting weekly yoga in this mix, but I’m giving myself the option to if I need to.
15. Send birthday cards. This is also similar to one of Tasha’s. I’m terrible at anything having to do with the U.S. mail. Last year, I bought a stockpile of cards: birthday, engagement, new house, new baby, etc., thinking that the ease of signing my name and dropping it in an envelope with a stamp and putting it in my box on the way out the door would be encouraging. Nope. Nope. Nope. So, yes. I would like to remember to send birthday cards across the country to my friends and family well in advance of their special days.

There are other accomplishments I’d like to work toward this year: Get my hair cut regularly, fix my hair color, paint my nails (or at least take care of them!) like I still work at a nail magazine, finish decorating my house, organize things a bit better, shred paper I don’t need.

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Tags: Stephanie, 2012 goals

Cone.

13Jan12

This totally counts as more than one ball of yarn, right?

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Tags: 2012 goals, Tasha