In My Head

Ever since I started this blog I've noticed my inner monologue has gotten much louder. Every time I do something or think about something I can do that would make a good post I start writing sentences in my head. In my car, in the shower, at work, eating dinner, when I get in bed and can't fall asleep. Really anything I can do in auto pilot turns into blog brainstorm time. I keep rewriting and repeating the sentences in my head until I get a chance to write them down. Sadly, some of these ideas never make it to paper or computer screen with such verbal perfection as I had originally thought them before my train of thought became interrupted, but that's life. I'm sure it's a good thing that I have ideas flowing in, but why is it that when I have plenty of time set aside for a latte and a good brainstorm I can't think of anything?

As much as I could get away with in high school and consistently through college I wrote as many essays and papers at the last minute as possible. It sounds like torture, but I really got the best work done this way. At my desk, because I used to have a desktop of course, staring down the words on the screen demanding that they start making better sense and stylishly, at that. Put my hair up, pull my hair down, scratch my head. Get more water. Clean my room. Ah, that's better; a full page of writing would come to me then. Sometimes I would even ask my roommate, who took some of the same classes, if I could help her with her paper so I could clear my head. Conclusions were always written in the morning after what little time I had set aside for myself to sleep had passed. I don't know if I really slept so much as I wrote conclusions with my eyes closed. Then I would rush my hot-off-the-printer paper to my class glamorously clad in pajama pants and a sweatshirt. But even for the panic attacks and near missed deadlines, I was almost always happy with the final product.

While writing this blog has caused some hair pulling and room cleaning, the pressure is different. I have always wanted to look at something one more time, make it better, think of one last thing before I commit to the finished product. And the problem with blogging is, I can. I can hold off as much as I want. I don't have a due date to put my posts in the hands of an expecting teacher. But I can't help but feel the passing of days without posts as missed assignments, missed opportunities. So, alas, I will push publish on this post, my first without pictures as I could not think of a way to visually emote this feeling in a natural way. Trust me, you don't want a visual of what goes on in my head, anyways.

Always Finish What You...

Since moving into my apartment I have started lots of projects. Problem is, I haven't finished lots of those projects and they are cast about wherever they can go without being a direct threat to my tendency to trip and face plant. These projects include furniture and other items I acquired with the intention of making them over-- as in they are currently ugly (I'm looking at you craigslist nightstands).

Below is a great example. This is a table-lamp that I found at Goodwill and painted. Well, I painted one coat anyways...in November. It still has painters tape waiting for a second coat application. Behind said table to the right, you see a stack of frames I painted white to hang as a cluster. They are now in a box. And to the left in a bag next to my sewing machine is fabric that is now half a pillow and part of a pot holder.

The other day I realized other people do not share my vision when looking at all the random things I accumulate. I look at them and only see what I hope to make them look like one day. A few weeks ago I looked up from violently scrubbing away at an old chest that I found (almost three years ago now!) on the sidewalk in front of my townhouse near SFSU and saw Stephen staring at me blankly. I looked down at the chest and back at him. And then it hit me, "You have no idea why I've held on to this, do you?" Nope. He made one of those painful looking "I don't know what to say without making you mad" smiles.

A couple weekends ago after some rearranging in the living room some of my odds and ends made it into the hallway and that's when I realized I really need to get my problem under control-- I later took out my large watercolor paper pad and started another project. I've been wanting a large piece of art to go over my (soon-to-be) couch on our big brown wood wall (I know, the 70's live on) and decided I just needed to start sketching something.

Story. of. my. life.

I'll show you the finished product, if I still have a blog then.

On Painting Rugs

Yes, I painted a rug. It all started one day at Ikea... Moral of the story, don't take decorating advice from your sister if she has plain different taste.

Okay, I'll back up. I went to Ikea to get this rug, which I had been thinking of ever since a trip to purchase a shelf a few months back. But somebody thought it was waaaaay too busy. It's geometric, not exactly an acid trip in my opinion. Her suggestion: an oriental style rug. Um, contradiction much? So I end up with this, which actually looks very close to that color in the store under florescent lighting, but in my apartment was a very very sad gray-beige. Greige. Gross. However, in her defense, I did like the other rug she helped me pick out for our bedroom. Thanks, sister.

As soon as I saw the rug inside our apartment I knew I hated it. But I put it under our kitchen table/my desk, anyways, to see if I could like it. Nope. But the thought of going back to Ikea to return something seemed far too daunting. Ikea is the biggest time suck. It's like Target on crack. You know it's going to be crowded and a pain and you are going to see way too many things you like and have to fight with yourself to not put them into your cart, which by the way, just kind of floats around lackadaisically unlike other normal shopping carts (what's up with that Ikea?). And then you go outside and it's dark and you realize you were in there for 4 days; you have neglected your life and your children and your dog and probably lost your job--wait, did I say days? I meant hours, I just feels like days. So I was contemplating the impact of this great inconvenience (I've been known to exaggerate from time to time) when I came across this post on The House of Smiths. "I can do that!" I thought.

Let me tell you, Shelly made this look way too easy. She did not even tape down the stripes and hers came out perfect. Mine...well, let's just say it has character. When I don't look directly at it it looks great! However, to give myself a little credit, the rug she used is about half the size of the one I had.

Bottom line: I have a very affordable custom rug for our dinette, which helped me justify going back for the other one (alone).

Would I recommend this project? Yes, if you are very patient.
I am glad I did it? Does it count if I'm glad it's done? Then, yes.
Difficulty? I would say use a smaller rug than I did and consider using painter's tape. Even though it's a pain in the rear, you probably won't regret it. Unless you are going for more of a spontaneous chevron pattern, like mine. I think I'll use "spontaneous" to describe it from now on, it sounds more exiting and less accidental than reality.

Strawberry Cream Pie and Blueberry Buckle

I don't know about you, but I have not been able to keep track of what day it is all week. I don't know how one extra weekend day has thrown me off so much, but it has. I had three realizations that it was not Monday on Tuesday. Seriously.

I meant to post the photo reveals of the recipes I made for the Fourth of July this morning but I was so tired last night after two hours of playing soccer--keep in mind that I am not in soccer shape and treadmill running has done me no favors--that it took all my energy to ice my re-injured ankle, shovel some soup in my mouth and get in bed. Excuses, I know. Anyways, here they are! Thank you Natalie for your help and your company!

 First up was a Strawberry Cream Pie via Sweet Fine Day. I came across it on my blog reader one day and pinned it for safe keeping. This would be a great dish for a potluck or something to prepare ahead of time; it was pretty easy and has lasted well, I still have a slice in the fridge. Plus it looks so delicious. Buttery graham cracker crumble crust, glistening strawberries and a whopping layer of billowy whipped cream. I think that last piece is about to disappear.

 The only thing I would change if I make this again is I would make more of the graham cracker mixture for the crust, perhaps 1.5 times what the recipe calls for, as I really had to work it around and would have liked to have more around the outside.

Next up, a Blueberry Buckle recipe from Alton Brown via Brooklyn Limestone. I loved all the blueberries in this recipe and I really like the crusty, buttery clusters that formed on top. And it was moist, which is crucial for baked foods in my book.

 I didn't have a square glass baking pan so I used a glass pie pan instead. I've never cooked with cake flour before but after reading up a little (the side panel of the box, anyways) I think that is what made it come out so fluffy.

 Notice the crusty bits around the edges too, yum.

Happy Friday and I hope you have a good weekend too!

Red, White & Blueberry

 Hello! I hope you had a great Fourth of July. I just wanted to share a sneak peak of the recipes I mentioned on Saturday. They turned out to be a great success! I was debating between a few, including a double chocolate cake, but decided to go patriotic with these two. So I guess I will have to wait for the next occasion to make the chocolate cake; or just make one up. Festivus anybody?

Sweet Sunshine

The torrential downpours this past week were so crazy and completely out of character for us here in good old California. If I wanted unpredictable rain during the summer I would move to the East Coast! Which I couldn't. And not because I'm a hater but because I can't handle real weather and I really really like Mexican food. Like a lot. I don't know what I would do with myself all snowed in and burrito-hungry. Disaster!

Oh, wait, I know what I would do. I would move back here and go straight for the carne asada.

Anyways, I'm so glad the weather has changed for the better and we are expecting sunny times on this long Fourth of July weekend! Speaking of sun, here are some pictures from a sunny winter day Stephen and I spent in Sonoma shooting Tannis and his wife Sarah. They were so great! We drove up without a set place in mind and they spent the whole day with us and brought their vintage truck to boot! Are you supposed to call trucks vintage? Cause I just did.

 We both took this one, my arms aren't quite long enough.

And these are some of my favorite photos that Stephen took.

 

Hope you have a great Fourth of July! I have some patriotic recipes in the plans so I will have yumminess to share next week.

Cityscape

Some days I like to take the last couple blocks of my drive home down 43rd really slowly to look at the houses in all their pastel-painted, 70's architecture glory. I pause at the stop signs to look for oncoming traffic and to catch a glimpse of the glittery ocean on my left. There are always people walking, biking or just getting home, like me. Or a train rumbling down Taraval bell ringing noisily, a warning to get out of the way, fast. I notice the phone lines connecting all the houses and how they bend and sway.

This is the view from my driveway. Some people might look at this and think: Isn't there a more aesthetically pleasing way to keep everybody connected? And, I'll admit, I do wonder that too. But I also find it oddly charming. I like watching the angles of the lines relative to each other change from view to view as I roll up and down the hilly street. And I also find it ironic that people in my neighborhood tend to keep to themselves yet all the houses are tied together in such a bold way. Perhaps the lines keep them as connected as they want.

And to those of you that scoffed at the mention that I can actually see the ocean in the Sunset, an area known for its dense and depression-inducing fog [insert Sunset's most over-used line: "It's funny that they call it the Sunset, when you can never actually see the sun set."], I will have you know that most days I can see the ocean on my way home. We moved here in August and winter was pretty mild and mostly clear during the day, so far so good. I do know from my time at SF State, however, that from June until that one groundbreaking week in August where this side of the city turns around and decides to be gorgeous, that my prospects are pretty grim. I will still look over in the hopes that I can sneak a peek of the water through a hole in the fog, anyways.