Red Lipstick

So recently I've been thinking that my style is pretty stale - often fluctuating between a adolescent girl from the 90's and a frumpy middle aged woman.  Post-baby my old clothes aren't too big or too tight they just fit different, so maybe I need to spend some time going through old clothes, chucking what doesn't work anymore and investing in some new clothes I actually like and didn't just buy because they were on sale.  In addition to working on my clothes situation, I'd think I'd like to try wearing lipstick, some red lipstick, I just want to look like me, but with pretty red lips.

Do you wear lipstick?  I don't, well at least not daily, maybe for a date with Esposo but it's really light and I usually lean more towards a stain or a lipgloss.  When I put on lipstick I usually wind up feeling like a clown or waaay overdressed for daily life.  For my wedding my good friend who's far more fashionable than I kept insisting that I put on more lipstick and I thought she was crazy but I listened to her anyway and when I look back at the pictures I don't look like a clown, I just look like me with pretty red lips.

Unplugged

The TV is on.  I'm not watching it.  I like the noise.  I won't let chickadee watch TV, not that she really tries, but I won't even turn it on when she's awake.  When she goes to bed.  I cook.  We eat dinner, chicken tikka marsala.  We plug in.  TV.  Computer.  Phones.  Baby monitor.  The room glows.  I turn the TV off.  It's too much.  I turn off my phone.  I write.

My brain is overloaded.  My legs are tired.  I ran today.  I've been running more or at least I'm trying to.  Esposo is washing the dishes.  I hardly ever do all the dishes.  I leave the silverware until the end.  And then don't wash them because I forget, or I don't want to because dirty silverware is gross, all those little bits of food stuck in there, yuck.  I wait for someone else to wash them.  Someone else being my husband.  In the meantime I just keep washing the same fork and spoon over and over again.  That's also kind of gross.  So yes I ran.  My skin is salty, covered in dried sweat, I have crazy hair and my legs, they're tired, but that good kind of tired.  The I-worked-hard-and-used-my-body kind of tired.  The blanket my grandma knitted for me it wrapped around me.  She made a red foot pocket in it just for me.  Foot pockets are genius.  I highly recommend them besides grandma blankets make everything better.  They make me feel cozy and loved and relaxed and good tired.  Tired and ready to crawl into bed between Esposo and Chickadee and sleep. 

And she wakes up. 
 

This is my sixth post for Just Write. You can see my other posts, here, here, here, here and here.

Floating Mediation Room

Way back when I lived in the city I use to mediate daily, it centered me in a way that nothing else ever really has.  Most days I would just meditate on my bed for 20 minutes in the morning first thing after I woke up, but twice a week after work I would go the zendo.  It was on a side street close to union square where I would sit in silence with a community of strangers, the stillness only occasionally broken by the sound of the traffic rushing below.  Each time I left the zendo I would feel a sense of calmness and rejuvenation.  After leaving the city I tried going to several meditation centers but none really felt right, I don't really know what felt wrong, but they just didn't work for me.  I would try to do longer sits by myself, but it didn't feel the same, the physical space just didn't feel right, too small, too closed, too cluttered.  Recently I've been thinking more and more about starting to practice mediation again, whether that be at a center or setting aside some space in my home that truly feels clutterless and open, I think my mind needs some space to breathe.  Today I came across this Floating Tea House, can you imagine having this type of space in your backyard?  It looks like the most amazing space to meditate, no distractions, calm, inviting and open.

(photos via Arch Daily)

Oh really it's Wednesday?

I'm late. I have a tendency to be late. To procrastinate. I put things off. I have a long list things I have put off- wedding presents unsent, emails from dear friends that I haven't returned, DIY projects that just wait, a resume that desperately needs updating. I would like to blame this on being a new mom but I know that isn't really me being honest with myself. The reality is that I've always been this way. I remember not being able to go a pizza party in the 5th grade which had been a reward for kids who read 6 or more books during the school year, the sad part is I was total book nerd and read way more than 6 books but I didn't have my parents sign the form for each book I read and I don't know why. Laziness? Lack of motivation? Apathy? I was this way throughout high school and college. I've always been the person up all night, last minute type person. Ugh! This needs to change. It will change. But for now I'm being present. It's Wednesday not Tuesday.
Deep breath.
Wednesday....
A long walk.
A short run.
Thrifting.
Library.
Bank.
A bagel with salmon cream cheese.
Coffee.
Extensive peek-a-boo.
Dinner.
Bath.
TV.

Boo-boos, hugs, first time eating chicken sausage, practice walking, giggles, books, cuddles, kisses.

An ordinary day.

A happy day.

A Wednesday, not Tuesday.


Linked up with Just Write.

DIY Dresser turned Kitchen Island

Have you ever seen a DIY dresser turned kitchen island? I certainly hadn't until I started looking for a island to help create some much needed work/storage space and I quickly found out that kitchen islands aren't cheap. That's when I knew I had to think creatively and after some googling I found some lovely examples of dressers converted into kitchen islands.

Wrong Turn

I took a wrong turn today. She fell asleep when I was about to turn into my parent's driveway, so drove past and continued on.

Drove past my childhood friend's home, past the dam I used to run to, past horse barns, past a place where they sell maple syrup.

The weather is perfect, crisp, sunny. Chickadee is asleep in the back. Florence and the Machine coming through the speakers.

I take a left on a gravel road, I recognize the name of the road and I wonder if I know where I am or how to get back.

The road is rocky, there are no houses, no signs. I keep driving.

A creek runs down the middle of the road, she's still asleep and there is no way to turn around. There is no one around to ask directions.

I keep driving, knowing that even if I don't know exactly where I am at this very moment, I've already picked a direction and if I keep going I'll find myself exactly where I need to be.

And I did.

And I will.


This is my fourth post for Just Write. You can see my other posts, here, here and here.

Oh Sunday....

Sunday always comes too soon especially after one of the most relaxing and rejuvenating weekends I've had in a long time.  Two of my closest friends came to visit - we chatted, played with Lucia, drank tea, walked, cooked, ate, drank wine and overall had such lovely weekend.  It makes me wish they lived so much closer but I am so grateful to have them as friends.

I was also so happy to have some time to cook.  Cooking is something I've loved since I was little when I used to spend time in the kitchen with my mother stirring pancake batter, kneading dough and making special dinners like dumplings or homemade pasta.  In college the margins of my notebooks were often filled with ingredient lists and dinner ideas (yes in college I actually cooked dinner for myself and my then boyfriend about 6 nights a week often following Bon Appetite recipes - fortunately he did the dishes).  After college and in grad school I loved nothing more than inviting friends over for dinner and spending the week prior lost in thought on my hour long subway rides into work, mulling over recipes and menus.  Unfortunately I feel like since my pregnancy (I was nauseous and exhausted for a loooong time) and then the busy-ness (yes I know that's not a word, but I'm using it anyways damn-it) that accompanied the arrival of my darling chickdee made leisurely cooking dinner with a glass of wine in hand become an absolute luxury.  This weekend was the first time in many months when I was able to do that and it made me oh so happy. 

So what did I cook?  Since I was cooking for a veggie and a meat lover (ie Esposo) plus a baby and knowing it would be the first true fall weekend (crisp weather in the 60s) I wanted to make comfort type foods with in-season veggies that would use the oven and warm up the house.  Here's what's I went with.

Saturday Lunch:
I had to try the Roasted Tomato Soup with Broiled Cheddar by Smitten Kitchen that has been making the rounds on the blogs.  Seriously you have to make it, it was the perfect choice for a rainy fall day.


(via Smitten Kitchen)

Saturday Dinner:

- Pan-Fried Pork Chops = easy, made the meat lovers happy

- Sauteed Rainbow Swiss Chard.  There is no denying it I have a love for Swiss Chard, the beautiful colors the bitter, earthy flavor.   My favorite way to make it is to saute it with butter then when it starts to wilt add some garlic, a dash of salt, cover it to keep the juices in and then finish it with a squeeze of lemon.

- Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto which was a variation of Ina Garten's Saffron Risotto with Butternut Squash.  I eliminated the pancetta and substituted vegetable stock for the chicken stock for my veggie friend and didn't use saffron because I didn't have any.  Risotto is truly a perfect food to make when close friends visit, we chat, drink wine, they help by stirring and adding the stock.    The bonus was that Lucia absolutely loved the risotto, she ate every last bite.  A future foodie perhaps?


(via Food Network)

- Tomato and Beet Salad with Feta and Mint.  This is a really lovely summery salad.   I had initally planned on making a Beet Au Gratin but then while I was at the co-op I stumbled upon these perfect local, organic multicolored cherry tomatoes.  They were too lovely to pass up plus just looking at them I knew that they are only still available due to our unseasonably warm September so I knew that this would be my last chance for the taste of summer tomatoes.  The tomatoes made for such a beautiful colorful salad.  The salad is very simple, roast the beets, let them cool, then cut them into bite sized pieces, halve the tomatoes, throw in a bunch of chopped mint, a heavy amount of crumbled feta, season with salt, pepper and a drizzle of olive oil, toss gently.  See... super easy and super delish.

Saturday Dessert:

- Pear Galette with vanilla ice cream.  So I didn't go for the "Snickers Bars", I wanted something less complicated and more seasonal.  I made it easy on myself and used puff pastry instead of making my own crust, I know, I know making your own is so worth it and I usually do but I took the easy way out.  Either way I basically used this recipe.  It was soooo good.  It tasted like fall and it was Lucia's first time ever having dessert, she was a happy little chickadee. 


(via Food Network)

Sunday Breakfast:
- Basic breakfast sandwiches.  Good sourdough bread, thick-cut bacon (except for the veggie and the baby), an egg over-easy, spinach, butter and black pepper.  The perfect breakfast sandwich if you ask me. 

So that's it - that was my weekend.  Friends and food, what could be better?  How was your weekend?  Cook anything yummy?