Broke-O in the kitchen

As you know, I have set myself some high goals while on maternity leave... One was to work on this blog, and the other was to work in the kitchen. Wait, that second one is a lie. I have never aspired to improve my cooking skills. And by skills I mean I have never learned to cook. For some reason, I just can't prioritize that arena of life or room in the house. In fact, Gavin was about a month old before I really ever took him in the kitchen. He seriously looked around like he was thinking, "What is this strange new place? And why is my mom in it?" When Carrie said she stored her sweaters in the oven on Sex and the City, I literally thought to myself, "That is a genius idea!" Unfortunately, I live with someone who actually uses the oven for its practical purposes, so my sweaters are banished to the bedroom closet. Actually, it is rather fortunate, because if it wasn't for that someone, I probably wouldn't eat! The only thing I make in the oven is cookies and cupcakes. I have prided myself on becoming a pretty good baker... cook - no, chef - absolutely not, but baker - I think you would agree that I can make a mean chocolate chip cookie. And any bozo can make funfetti cupcakes from the betty crocker box. However, my baking skills have evolved in the last decade. 

It was a mandatory phase in high school to bake for the boys - birthdays, football games, etc. As a cheerleader, we always had an athlete who we made treats for the game. Thinking back, I realize this was never reciprocated... definitely not a 2 way street with those guys! Anyways, cheering for 3 years helped improve my baking skills. Some team always needed something, or sometimes a decent baked good helped a mediocre class presentation as well. These tasty treats were normally created in a short time frame, squeezed in between a gazillion extracurricular activities. (I seriously don't understand how any of us made it through high school; I think we're busy now, but do you remember those days? How did we have the energy and why did we wake up at 5am to curl our hair? Ok, maybe that was just me...) Anyways, one time my bestie, E, and I decided to make cookies from a recipe we saw on Oprah. We were loyal Oprah fans. When I was in college, I achieved my lifelong dream of attending a taping of the Oprah Winfrey show with my mom. Unfortunately, the topic of the show was... debt. Of course I missed the day Tom Cruise jumped on the couch! Instead, we received a free book about... saving money. Greaaaat. It didn't matter though; it was still a monumental experience and though we learned nothing, we. were. on. oprah. Enough said. 

So, there we were, a few years prior, attempting these "healthy" (totally fell for it) banana chocolate chip cookies. We had just scooped them onto the cookie sheets and slid them into the oven when we remembered we forgot the baking soda. Or baking powder? See, I still don't understand what the big deal was! One of those two important ingredients with the word "baking" was left out, and we felt this was a significant problem. Thinking fast, we pulled the half-baked cookies out of the oven. They were definitely partially cooked, so there was no putting them back in the bowl to start over. As an alternative solution, we thought maybe we could sprinkle the baking whatever on top of each cookie. A few minutes later, we pulled out puddles of cookies that looked like they were covered in cocaine. We even went so far as to take toothpicks to try and swirl the white powder IN to the cookies... another fail. You can imagine that no team or class had treats the next day after this disaster. 

I assure you that my baking techniques are much improved! I do still however do a serious ingredient check before anything goes in the oven. And, I stay away from all other food groups. And, I thank the husband for his excellent skills in the kitchen. For some reason, we have been assigned to bring the mashed potatoes to Thanksgiving. This is a major step up, because we usually are told to bring rolls or wine. (Clearly, my family knows I can't be trusted.) So, with this major responsibility, I obviously started planning ahead and asked the husband if we should make the potatoes at home and transport them, make them there, etc. "So, we could peel and cut the potatoes and take them over and mash them up?" The (smarty pants) husband replied, "What about boiling them?" Oh. "I forgot that step." 

We'll see how well these turn out!

PS - You know I am a firm believer that presentation is key. Bad baker? Not a chef either? No problem! Look at these cute things you can distract yourself with in the kitchen: 

Apron from Anthropologie (see more here)

Polka Dot potholder set from Anthropologie (great gift idea!)

How hilarious would you be if you showed up to a
cookie exchange with this funny set of cosmetic
goodies from Philosophy? Available at Nordstrom.

I especially enjoy holiday serving platters;
these are from Crate & Barrel and I love the different sizes.

Deal alert! This darling set of 4 appetizer plates is just $9.96
at Target! Who cares what you put on them? They are too
cute to even notice what you're eating. Buy them here.

M stands for Mudroom

I know... I'm a terrible blogger! I've left you out of nearly two years of my oh-so-fascinating life and let me tell you - a lot has happened. New job, new car, obviously new clothes, shoes and handbags, but who's counting those? My fellow fashionistas, of course! Don't worry - photos of my favorites to come in future posts. (I can't wait to introduce you to some new delicious friends named Gucci, Fendi and Prada...) I will point out I do have the same husband, and we have recently worked on his wardrobe as well, so that's a win-win for everybody (alleluia that he is not so chummy with my friends mentioned above, or else we would really be in trouble).

But I'm back (for now) and am going to try harder to "commit" this time. If you're still here, thanks for reading and thanks for waiting for me. Sometimes sticking to something is hard to do... Like when remodeling the smallest room in your house turns into something much bigger. Bigger project, bigger budget, bigger marital dispute, or just all of the above!  Mini Mudroom definitely turned into major endeavor.

Yes, this near-clinical type A person recently allowed a DIY home improvement project to take place in her home. Actually, "DIY" is the wrong term; the husband is a general contractor, so this was hardly a little craft project from the Real Simple magazine I pretend to read each month. We took the tiny room off our kitchen door and frankly, made it a (teensy) masterpiece! But not without a pretty price (from both my checkbook and my sanity). I'll share my findings during this super special time in our marriage.

Here's what I learned:

• deadlines are my obsession. They are not, however, a friend of the husband's. Actually, I think until he married me, he maybe did had never heard the word.
• one more difference between us: I always thought "1 weekend" meant 2-3 days; he apparently interprets it as 4+ weeks. Is this kind of like a fortnight where no one really knows what that means?
• painting is way harder than it looks and makes my arms tired.
• if you paint while drinking wine, it just gets harder and looks worse. Dang.
• men should never select paint alone. This creates a mean(er) wife and multiple trips to home depot.
• I am always right. (Funny how this seems to be a recurring lesson in our marriage.) What color did we paint the tiniest room in the world? Creme brûlée. EXACTLY what I said from the beginning. Spotted it amongst a million little paint samples and it matched the kitchen perfectly.
• just because the room is literally 3x3 does not mean the mess can't spread across multiple floors and multiple rooms. This is simply torture for someone who can't sleep unless the house is dusted almost daily.

Take all of the above plus 5 weeks of my gentle "reminders" (aka psychotic ranting and nagging), and wa-lah! There is a darling little room that I come and go through every day. Yesterday, I learned how much the whole thing cost, and if there is such thing as "designer" mudrooms, I've got one! It's functional, and of course it's fashionable...

This handy set of hooks holds my my aprons (that I have never worn, but they look adorable, don't they?). They're  both from Anthropologie - check out the darling new ones here . (I must say - they are great gifts for brides-to-be who have aspirations to be great housewives - like I once did!)

The white hooks (steal of a deal at Target) also house my reusable totes. Yep, I am "green" now! (Don't even get me started on the annoying bag ban in Seattle though.) This is my favorite shopping bag, so I keep it on display and stuff the others inside. I found this one and a few others with fun prints at TJ Maxx - only $3 each and they hold a ton! (Just remember to tell your bag boy at Safeway not to FILL the bag - holy smokes - you could throw your back out when the bozo packs it full of bottled water.) It is so much more fun to be green when you can look good doing it (obvi). 

Last but not least - here is a great shot of the Creme Brûlée shade of paint! Isn't sweet? My vintage milk sign and bottles are from Cost Plus World Market (LOVE that place!), but I feel like they definitely look like an antique store find. I'm sharing my secret with you though, so you too can have cute accent pieces without spending your weekends trolling dusty, overpriced antique warehouses (that can be fun, but who has the time? Especially when World Market is right by the mall).