Thursday, May 31, 2012

Yearly Challenge List

It's been a hot minute since I've blogged, but man oh man--time is flying. With Reese's first birthday party (which doubled as my mom's surprise 50th), and various other crazy things, I have had very little time to even wash my hair. Anyway, I've been reading Brendon Burchard's The Charge and getting uber-excited about life (most of the time, anyway). If you need something to pump you up, get your engines charged, and inspire you to be kind, productive, and just generally better, this book is IT. This is one of the exercises Brendon suggests, and I had fun with it because I have a perpetual case of what I call List Lust (although now Reese is crying from her crib, and I guess my night of reflection is suddenly severed. Teething! Ugh!)

I hope that posting this will hold me to it, since I'm the queen of letting life get in the way.

Here's my list:


A YEAR Of CHALLENGES 



June: Learn to sew. (Take a sewing class. Get a sewing machine. Learn to hand-stitch. Practice with journals and crafts. Blog about new projects. )

July: Finish revising my rough draft. (Be DONE. Love it how it is. Be open to suggestion. Pray. Find an editor/editors to work their magic on it. DO NOT allow fear of rejection to hold you back from believing in the power of this little story.)

August: Learn about small business. (Read books. Make appointments. Read message boards. Follow through. LEARN. Knowledge is confidence. Make lists of questions and ask the right people. Continue making things. Create a vision board.)

September: Make things. (Scout for vintage fabric. Learn new techniques. Blog about it. Make those journals. Sell those journals! Start out small, and get into a groove. Little changes now equal big changes later. Be creative. Network. Ask.)

October: Write short stories. (Really focus. Continue crafting, but carve out time—before baby’s arrival!—to really get some good writing in. My favorite month! Be prolific. Write in an orchard. Be alone. Reflect. Use those journals!)

November: Be a mom (again). (Maternity leave. Enjoy it. Take pictures. Exercise. Eat well. Love. Spend family time. Meditate (I’ll need it!). Make & sell journals. Write & send stories to lit mags.)

December: Find an agent. (Focus extra time—aside from family & workouts & crafting & day to day miscellany—on actively pursuing publication. Send, send, beg. And enjoy the holidays.)

January: Focus on health. (Get a bangin’ body back. Train HARD. Eat like an athlete. Pick up a new workout. Take a class. Teach my daughter about exercise & nutrition. Be an example. Make new habits and lifestyle changes. Blog about it.)

February: Carve out time for reflection. (I’m turning 28! Do everything I love: exercise, write, craft, spend time with people I adore. Focus on abundance. Write down what I’ve learned and what I’m grateful for. Take photos. Read Buddhist books. Smile more.)

March: Make special time for special people. (Plan something lovely for each person who means so much to me: a phone call, a date, a trip, a card.)

April: Read. (Studying to be a good writer means reading good books. Pick 2 novels, and habitually read short stories and poems. Get inspired. Be a student.)

May: Tie up loose ends. (If I haven’t spoken to someone in a while, I will call them. If I haven’t done enough with my book, I’ll do it NOW. If I haven’t published enough stories or poems, I’ll send more. If I haven’t created a business to my fullest ability, I’ll focus my efforts on it. And I’ll make my new Challenge list, and get even better next time around.)



Friday, May 11, 2012

Paper Flower Mother's Day Cards


There are a million things I want to do, and might do, to change these before Sunday (add ribbon? paint? change handwritten tag to typewritten tag--maybe on chipboard?), but I love how my flowers turned out. They're simple and fun to make, and perfect for adorning cards. The top one is for my mom, the bottom for my mother-in-law.

lindsey.

Pregnancy: Weeks 13-15

I'm praising God that this pregnancy is at least a gazillion times easier than my last, since I've got a busy 11 month old sucking the life force from me. Actually, I think part of the reason I find it easier this time around is that I'm too occupied to feel sorry for myself and my headaches (this time I have a prescription instead of physical therapy) and my widening hips (I'm doing a little better weight-wise than I did with Reese) and my limited social life (I'm used to it by now).




(There's little Reese! The best reason for being a busy bee.)




(13 weeks.)----------------------------------------------->


It's an ideal time of year to be pregnant. Hello, sundresses and a sunkissed glow!

I think I felt the baby move twice yesterday and once today. I think it's a he. We'll see. I'm a little more patient than last time about finding out. I'm too busy to spend hours daydreaming about baby stuff; plus, I've already GOT a baby. (Never in a million years did I think we would have two kids so close together, but sometimes there are problems with prescription coverage and sometimes there are romantic vacations and sometimes there are sexy posh hotel rooms in downtown Cleveland and sometimes there are too many room-serviced Knob Creek & Diets, and...well.)

(14.5 weeks)--------------------->




<--(15 weeks. At right, Little Honey standing dangerously in her high chair.  You can see the sunkissed Pebbles-style pony. )

Craving-wise, I'm super hungry during the day and not so much at night--but not for really bad stuff. I could survive on avocados and olive oil and blueberries, but today I DID have a hankering for an Oreo McFlurry and I DID let myself have it, and I was glad the girl at McDonald's really skimped on the amount of ice cream in the cup because I DIDN'T need it. I am usually really good at preparing my meals and snacks in advance and bringing them pre-portioned to work. I don't always get to leave at the same time for lunch, or sometimes even at all, and even in my not-pregnant life I'm an eat-every-three-hours kinda girl, so I've found this works best for me. Once my blood sugar drops, I'm eyeing the fundraiser candy bars on the front counter; to combat this, I MUST have a complex carb/lean protein combo in the right calorie ratio for the time of day. I told myself I'd stick with this lifestyle during pregnancy, but to be honest it's just not as easy as it normally is. I turn my nose up at foods I usually love (like wheat berries and chickpeas), and crave things I normally can take or leave, and am hungry at different times of the day, etc. So I'm just trying to be patient with myself and do the best I can.




 I did P90X2 and Turbo Fire Advanced during my first trimester and only gained two pounds, but the last couple of weeks I've been much more fatigued (total reversal of my pregnancy with Reese!) and have settled for a long walk with Reese most days, plus a short strength training workout when I can muster it, which usually is 3-4 days a week. I WANT to do more, and I'm struggling with the sudden pregnant belly emerging from what two months ago were the solid abs of HARD work after giving birth last June. But I have to "listen to my body," as they say. I'm not giving myself license to be a pig or to sit around and bemoan my fat knocked-up ass, but I do need to occasionally honor the need for a catnap...or an ice cream cone.



(15 weeks, with my 11 month old baby girl! Am I crazy or what?)


lindsey.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

My Office

MY FACEBOOK STATUS TONIGHT: "cleaning my office=mild torture. i want so badly to be a super-organized person, but it always ends up with a roomful of boxes of half-torn scrapbook paper, a million random pens, an array of photos i have no clue why i printed, things clipped from magazines i'll never use, books and books and more books, a few tossed-off sweaters, a gazillion notebooks with useless lists like "Losing 15 pounds by St. Patrick's Day" and "Burn These Songs to CD", snipped Forever 21 tags, forgotten-about costume jewelry, birthday cards too sweet to pitch, overnight bags still filled with whatever i took overnight a million nights ago, etc. spliththththhththththhtttt."


Tonight, I cleaned my office. It's not perfect but it's relatively organized. I believe your work space is a good example of what's going on in your brain, and it's safe to say my brain is overloaded and usually a big fat mess...but it's full of pretty things! 

Our house, in general, represents who we are. It's a 1910 Victorian full of wood and bullseye trim and a million heavy doors and a spoon-dug cellar. We've been renovating it for years, and have years upon years to go. My husband loves projects, and I just like putting on the finishing touches. The day-to-day of living in a restoration project is daunting and frustrating, especially with small children running underfoot. But the reward of finishing a room exactly to our (vintage, Victorian-gothic, dark & warm) taste is unparalleled. Patience, I've heard, is a virtue. 

My office is full of things I love, but it was also full of shit. Two big bags of store tags and papers and scraps later...







lindsey.



Monday, May 7, 2012

Truffled Three Cheese Cauliflower



































This is just SO good! My husband and I have this pipe dream of opening our own brewpub one day, and sometimes when we make food, it passes the brewpub test. This one definitely belongs on the menu. Ben, ever the critic, wholeheartedly agrees. It's got just the right amount of richness, and is full of smoky truffle flavor.

Truffled Three Cheese Cauliflower


Ingredients:
one head of cauliflower, chopped into florets
1 tbsp. garlic salt, or 1 minced garlic clove
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 c. grated gruyere cheese
1/4 cup grated fontina cheese
handful grated or shaved parmesan, plus more for garnishing
2 tbsp. or so truffle oil, to your taste

Directions:
Boil cauliflower florets in large pot until slightly tender. Drain most of the water; leave a cup or so. Using an immersion blender, puree cauliflower. Add spices and oil; continue to puree. (I leave it slightly chunky.) Add cheeses and stir. Serve piping hot, garnished with parmesan.

As I've mentioned, I LOVE cheese, and so does Ben. Gruyere is in my top five. (Number one, for the record, is a perfect Irish gouda aged five years in whiskey, from The Boulevard Market in Tecumseh, Michigan.) Gruyere is a sort of dry Swiss. Like wine, I prefer my cheese dry. Fontina is not my favorite; it's sweet and chewy. However, as when making a grilled cheese, the most delightful melted cheese combination  is a hard with a soft. Fontina melts beautifully. Parmesan just goes well with anything, especially as a final garnish. It provides just the right amount of salt and bite.

I've tried a couple of variations of this sort of recipe. I have a bottle of white truffle oil I'm trying to use up because I've heard the flavor wanes the longer the bottle's been open. It's been a culinary adventure. Every day I'm trufflin.' (I couldn't resist, OKAY?)  It makes for a decadent, grown-up mac&cheese, and an elegant addition to popcorn.

Any truffle oil recipes of your own? Leave a comment or a link! I'd love to try them.

lindsey.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Workout Playlist

the current sweat mix that makes me run faster and work out longer-

Metric (mstrkrft remix): Monster Hospital
Jason Derulo: Watcha Say dupstep remix
Kreayshawn: Gucci Gucci
Kreayshawn: Bumpin Bumpin
Far East Movement: I Party
Timbaland/Timberlake: Carryout
Timbaland: The Way I Are
Nelly Furtado: Do It
Flo Rida: Move Shake Drop
The Perfects: Girls That Dance
Justin Timberlake (Tiesto remix): Lovestoned
Paula Deanda: Easy
T.I.: Whatever You Like
Rank 1: LED Let There Be Light
Deadmau5: Ghosts N Stuff
Tiesto ft. Emily Haines: Knock You Out
Britney Spears: Til The World Ends
Janet Jackson: The Pleasure Principle
Nadia Ali (Andretta remix): Silver Lining
Nadia Ali (Morgan Page remix): Fantasy
Sultan & Ned Shepard ft. Nadia Ali: Call My Name
David Guetta, Lil Wayne & Madonna: Revolver
Run DMC: It's Like That
Lana Del Rey (Penguin Prison remix): Blue Jeans
Jay Z & Kanye: N-ggas in Paris
Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Heads Will Roll (dubstep)




Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Felt Rose Ideas

...on a homemade envelope or gift tag.

...on a bulletin or pin board.

...as a hair clip. (Reese is my guinea pig.)

Make a wreath. Adorn a candle holder. Attach wire stems. Fill a vase. Glue on a wrapped present. Sew onto a throw pillow. Make a garland. 
And, please, give me your ideas! I'm in major lust with these things ;)
lindsey.



Simple Felt Rose Tutorial

Who doesn't love a pretty little felt rose? There's just so freakin' much you can DO with them, I can't keep myself away! Of course, there are tutorials all over the Internet, but I thought I'd add my own to the mix.

One reason I love them is that they create a kind of busywork that allows me to mentally drift but still accomplish something. You can make them while watching a movie, sitting outside on a nice day, walking on a treadmill (if you're that coordinated, which I'm not), or--my favorite--listening to music and unwinding after a long day. I've tried many times to meditate to no avail; I need to be DOING something. Crafting is the closest I'll ever get to the meditative state. My hands like to be busy.

Without further ado, felt roses!

1. Start with a square of felt approximately the size of your palm.

2. Round off the corners with scissors. (I really need to get a pair of real scissors, and ditch the kitchen shears.)

3. Cut in a spiral from the bottom right corner. You can cut smooth edges or wavy, depending on what you want the end result to be. Wavy edges look a bit more realistic, but the smooth edges give a clean and cute result. 

4. Start rolling from the outside, using dabs of glue every so often. I used to use hot glue but my flowers were falling apart. (Perhaps the $4 glue gun was the issue.) Now I'm using craft bond glue, which you're supposed to be able to even put through the washing machine without the fabric coming apart, so we'll see. WARNING: The flower will not look perfect as you roll but it DOES NOT need to. Just wait until the you assess the end result before you get frustrated. 

5. At the end, you'll notice you have a dangly little circular piece. Put a dab of glue on the bottom of the rose, and press that little circle right on. This is the bottom of your flower. 

6. Ta da! 


Here's how I like to do it:

Cut out spirals all at the same time:

Then, on another night, roll and glue. (Yes, there are some pom pom thingamajigs in the photo too, but it's a good illustration of the different ways you can make flowers from felt.)

Finally, figure out what to use them for! They look fab as adornments on frames or bulletin boards or envelopes, glued to headbands and alligator clips, as brooches or purse pins, etc. 

happy felt rosing!
lindsey.