I Hate Moving!!!!!

Moving is almost done, and if it's possible for every bone, ligament, cartilage and piece of flesh in your body to hurt, mine does.  (Add the skin in there too..) I cannot believe that after moving from a house, giving away tons of stuff, including furniture, clearing out an entire garage and basement, and STILL filling up two storage lockers, I'm at it again.  I had to get three!  In a two-bedroom apartment?  How did this happen?

It took two men four hours to move me, at $75 an hour. Granted, I am on the third floor and didn't want to ask anyone to help me move, so I got the pros and paid pro money.  Moving is tiring and expensive, and once I get settled, I will not be doing this again unless I am packing up nothing but myself and moving someplace warm and furnished.  I even hated moving back and forth to college and I didn't have much then but clothes.  Just not for everyone and definitely not for me.

Now I have a full night of cleaning to look forward to, and I'm hoping and praying that the things I kept to give away are picked up as planned.  I have a kitchen table, a bed and a bench that have been promised---if the beneficiaries of my generosity don't show up, I'll be making a few trips to Goodwill.  PLEASE COME!!!!!

Thanks for the nice break but I gotta get back at it.  Love you guys!

I was trying to figure out why I'm so sleepy.  I had decided to just give up and skip writing, but I've pretty much used my last excused absence.  So I logged back on then remembered...I chugged some NyQuil about 40 minutes ago.  NyQuil is the best sleep buddy around.

In the middle of moving, and I've made very little progress.  The mover cancelled.  There's tons of stuff to be packed.  But I'm not stressing because I know that I WILL get it done, even if it means an all-nighter Wednesday night.

Honestly, I can't even think straight, which means I need to log off, because there's no telling what I might say.  To play it safe, and protect my reputation, I'm letting it go.  I can barely hold my head uppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp....see, that's what happens!

Making Lemonade

So I made an observation today.  I was at McD's, using up the free Wi-Fi, as usual.  I don't have "My-Fi" as of yet, and unless my kids are around, I don't know anything about that syncing thing you do with your cellphone.  Not that it would matter at this point, since I lost my dumb smartphone, and am back to my tried-and-true Razr.  That's right, I pulled it out of the drawer, charged it up, and it works!  Don't you judge me.  I've known my Razr longer than I've known most of you.  Oh, so back to my epiphany.  I was trying to find the best seat...one that wasn't near the door because it's freezing in Chicago today, and preferably one that wasn't within close proximity to anyone who could read over my shoulder.  Paranoid, I know, but I just wasn't in the mood for identity theft today.  I finally picked a table near a window, and there was a guy behind me, but he didn't have a computer so I figured I was safe.  I don't know why that would be.

What I realized was that I pretty much obliterate the computer screen.  I have a smaller laptop (in my defense) and the simple act of putting myself in front of it blocks any and all intruders, snoops and voyeurs.  See, if I was as slim as I thought I wanted to be, I would have been all nervous, leaning into the screen, sitting crooked, trying to put the laptop on my lap---hey, wait a minute...oh never mind.  This extra weight is an unexpected gift.  Who Knew????  Along with the ability to warm myself on a cold day (or an already excruciatingly hot one) with one quick power surge, I also have a built in privacy shield (or force field, as it were).

Just when I thought life was handing me too many lemons!

Go ahead skinny girl!  Put all your business out there!

It Takes Two!  But I still got that password!

Nah-anh!  Not today!  I can eat my streudel, surf and still block you!

Is it just me, or am I just too funny today?  My friend Sherida calls me "The Black Erma Bombeck".  I like it!

                       

I'm Baaaack!

It's been awhile since I posted!  I was super busy trying to get ready for the Vintage Garage Chicago last Sunday and decided to give myself a break.  Things didn't turn out well.  I usually drive a van with the seats out, which gives me a ton of space.  Not so this time!  I had to make it with my car and my sister's car.  Deciding what not to take was the hardest.  Of course I took all the wrong things, and left out those items that I'm SURE would have sold!  Not to worry, I didn't lose my shirt and I met a ton of great people, potential customers, and best of all, great vendors who continue to teach me a lot.  Finding my niche...

I'm officially packing.  I've been struggling with the "townhouse vs. house" and I think the townhouse has won.  Having the upkeep taken care of is pretty enticing.  I haven't necessarily enjoyed being connected to my neighbors this past year, but I think having a neighbor beside me, rather than under me will make a difference in the amount of noise I hear, as well as the amount of noise I can make.  I took out my guitar yesterday and did about 10 minutes of Billy Swan's "I Can Help".  Well, about 7 minutes of trying to remember the chords, and 3 minutes of actually playing and singing.  Man, I forgot how much I love to play the guitar!  It's just a little strumming and my repertoire of about 15 chords, but that allows me to play a LOT of songs.  I just need to remember which ones for which song.  It's been a few years since I played but it's coming back pretty easily.  Maybe I'll post a video one of these days ;) now that I can be my true noisy self again. The home prices are really attractive however, but I think in this case, I'll give myself another break and leave the worries to someone else, namely the homeowners' association.  I hope they don't fine me for too much singing.

Leaves, pumpkins, candles--I spent some time today decorating my church for it's 98th Anniversary!  That's a pretty old church, and it looks it, but I love the old stuff, as you know.  Old houses, old clothes, old churches...old charm, old style, old class.  Some people get it, some don't. Ah well...the things that make the world go 'round.

It is officially cold, and although I really hate cold weather, I had a feeling I might just welcome it this time.  I have to say that it's great to not find myself sweating 24 hours a day, but I did something really dumb a few months ago.  I gave away most of my coats and I knew that I would regret it, but I had just had enough of them.  I was sick of being cold and bundled up and itchy and uncomfortable.  Luckily I have a leather jacket, which will have to do until I get out to buy a real winter coat.  I thought I had another month to worry about it.  Why I thought that, I'll never know.  I've lived in Chicago my whole life so I know that nothing is etched in stone as far as the weather's concerned.  Being allergic to wool, my options are limited.  Last year I spent most of the winter in layers of sweaters and shawls.  I looked like a bag lady, but at least I could peel something off when needed.  When it dipped below zero, I had to reach for the coat, but I hated every minute of it.  That's when I decided that I was going to California as soon as my son graduates from high school.  For starters, I got rid of my coats as a strangely symbolic gesture of my commitment to leaving winter behind.  I begged for the spring to come.  I dreaded the summer, but I thought I could handle it.  I did not expect such an onslaught of my own personal summer to add itself to the already rising external temperatures.  If you read my blog on a regular basis, you already know that I melted down, quite literally, on a regular basis.  As of today, cold trumps hot.  I may change my mind in another few weeks.

Well, it's time for my favorite show, "Criminal Minds".  It's a tradition that my son and I watch it together every Wednesday that we're at home.  It's that time...I can hear him calling me.  It's good to be back.  Check in with you guys tomorrow!

The End of Summer...:(

I just checked the weather report to see when it's going to warm up again.  I hadn't imagined that this would be it, but it's not looking good for us to see anything beyond the 50's.  Last year, it reached 60 degrees on Thanksgiving, maybe a little warmer.  It was fantastic, unseasonable and scary--something big had to be brewing, right?  I don't remember getting slammed, but I do know that was an isolated incident. Is it really downhill from here, or are we going to get another round of Indian Summer?  I wonder whether that's okay to say...I don't know what else to call it.  And then there is that apple juice brand, which I'm pretty sure is still in the stores, so I guess it's okay.  Whew!

This got me thinking about a famous cartoon, which used to appear every year in the Chicago Tribune.  I just realized that I haven't seen it lately, and there's a good reason.  It was discontinued due to it's insensitivity to Native Americans.  Still, "Injun Summer" was a tradition that lasted over 70 years, and I started reading it when I was a teen.  I kept it up for years, just for myself.  I never read it to my children.  It was my own little tradition.  Somewhere between life and more life, I forgot about it.  Until today.  Here's the link:
http://www.tkinter.smig.net/Chicago/InjunSummer/






I also still collect leaves.  They dry out and I throw them away, but it's just something that I do.  If I see a great tree, I'll get out of the car if possible and grab a few.  Remember the wax paper, leaf and crayon shaving craft in school?  I thought my teacher was a greatest when she let me melt those crayons.That stands out as one of my all-time favorites and when I was teaching, I did it every year with my class.

I spent three hours in Chicago traffic today, on a trip that should have taken 45 minutes, tops.  The traffic is as unpredictable as the weather is.  This morning, I gave myself over two hours to get there, and arrived an hour and 15 minutes early.  Traffic was a breeze, but whatever time I saved on the inbound trip, I lost it again on the way home.  I was calculating how far I could have gone if I'd actually been driving south all that time (rather than sitting in traffic) and figured that I would have been close to St. Louis.  Something to think about if you don't like driving long distances. You CAN do it! Personally, I love it, and I'm looking forward to a long fall drive sometime next week.

 Have Groupon, will take road trip:

  


Fantastic thrift haul today...Photo shoot tomorrow!

Eating My Carrots, Day One.

As promised, I ate carrots today.  I must say, they were delicious!  I took out the foolproof blue speckled roaster and threw in the following:

Chicken thighs (the juiciest piece!)
Cabbage
Carrots
One huge potato, skin on
Onions
Tomatilloes
Sea Salt
Black Pepper
Herbs d'Provence
Parsley (tons of it)
Green tea

Baked at 350, covered, I could let it go for two hours.  I turned it off and let it sit for another hour.  

It was SO good.  We all had thirds.  The pot is clean.  

The artificial light does nothing for the picture, but trust me on this one...it was great and will probably be back on the menu before the week is out.  I have tons of carrots as we all know.  I keep onions.  I have more tomatilloes (first time buying these cute and yummy little green monsters), more chicken, more potatoes...but no more cabbage.  Not sure if that will be a deal breaker.  Stay tuned!

I entered my daughter on the "Thrift Store Runway", wearing this outfit, which cost less than $30 total, including the gorgeous red jacket, shoes and that laptop bag!  What do you think?  Is this a winner?

This dreary day did nothing for my mood, and the cold dampness did nothing for my respiratory system.  Here it comes!  Time for the flu shot.  All I can say is, at least it's not hot, and it won't last.  I mean, not forever.  I figure in another six months, I'll be complaining about being too hot again.

The Little Things.

I visited the library today...twice.  I spent some time waiting for my daughter while she made some business-related stops at two Chicago libraries.  Not the big, downtown library, or the branches in any of the "better" neighborhoods, but inner city, Southside libraries.  If you don't get to the library often, it is really easy to forget how amazing, enjoyable, peaceful and exciting it is to be surrounded by books.  I remarked to my daughter that some people, people who know nothing about Chicago except the violence reported in the media, might be surprised at how busy these neighborhood libraries were in the middle of a Monday afternoon.  Everyone seemed so happy in their own little worlds, and I enjoyed taking all of it in as much as I enjoyed the book I was reading.

I don't like carrots, but is any color happier than orange?  Someone shared a bunch of carrots with me, not realizing that I don't eat them.  They will be dipped in hummus, shredded into a carrot cake and cooked with green peas before the week is out.  Imma make it do what it do!

I got my daughter to indulge me in another photo shoot.  I found this amazing 1940's fringe dress and ostrich-trimmed coat at an estate sale this summer.  Fun!

My lucite bar cart has been a labor of love.  Okay, that's a bit dramatic, but it did take a while to get it cleaned up.  I found it in a sorry state.  Now, I want to keep it, but I don't live a bar cart lifestyle.  Maybe one day I'll lead the glamorous life.  I certainly know where to find the good stuff!

The Birthday Continues...

So...my daughter brought me this bag full of pears.  Lovely--tiny, but lovely.  I ate a few, then I had to figure out what to do with the rest.  Unfortunately, I think the pictures are stuck in my phone, which I lost three days ago, so we'll have to skip the build-up.  AFTER I realized I couldn't eat all of them, I decided to cook what was left.  I boiled the pears, skin on, for about 30 minutes, then left them in the hot water for another 45 minutes or so.  Honestly, it was probably much longer, because I pretty much forgot about them.  They were still hot when I finally got back to them, and the skin peeled off easily.  I cut the skin a little thick, so all I had was tender, sweet pear flesh.

 I had no idea what to do with them, but I decided on a puree.  It took just a minute in the blender to get it silky smooth.  I still don't know what to do with it, but I do know that one day I'll come across a recipe which asks for pear puree, and I will have a container full of it in the freezer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 My daughter and I both just celebrated birthdays, three days apart.  On Saturday, we went to the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.  I left my camera in the car and it was raining.  Not going back...bummer.  The phone pics actually turned out alright.

 This trio of yellow "butter" guys was intriguing.  I'm guessing they stand about nine feet tall.  My daughter said they "creeped her out".

Cool repurposing of old furniture into a ping-pong table and paddle holder.  There was a fun exhibit that encouraged everyone to play.  Ping-pong on a glass topped table.  Note to self:  Pin This!

Guess where my old basement carpeting ended up?  Part of a pricey art exhibit...I have to admit to not getting this at all.  Even with a written explanation, I'm still apparently not "deep" enough to understand. That's my daughter posing in front of what looks exactly like the carpet she grew up pitching her Little Mermaid tent on.  

Random pic I found of my daughter as the flower girl in my niece's wedding.  The maid of honor told her to kiss the petals, and she obliged.  EVERY SINGLE ONE...She's all grown up now, and I'm happy to report that she still loves celebrating our birthdays together.

We continued our birthday celebration with dinner at Benihana.  Tip: Register online and get a birthday certificate for $30.  We each had one, so our $60 meal was free, including soft drinks and ice cream!  And two very badly sung birthday songs.  Note to the cheapskates out there:  you WILL need to tip at least 18%.  Best deal I've gotten in a long time.  I still need to collect birthday freebies from Starbucks and Baskin Robbins.  Guess where I'll be this weekend?

Tomorrow night is party night! She's going out with a bunch of girls for dinner and Salsa. I won't be joining in on that one, but I do get to pick the outfit!  As you know, few things make me happier than picking out clothes.  Decorate a room, decorate a garden, decorate a daughter.  It's all the same to me.

Things I Never Wear.

I jokingly put this post on my Facebook page, after I did a "selfie" photo shoot today.  I really hate the fact that I can't wear what I want to wear, and I hate it even more when I see people blogging about fashion, and looking fabulous in it.  I decided to play "dress-up" this morning, then play with the photo software on my computer.  I was fairly pleased.  

I bought this pink coat at Savers, about a year ago for twelve bucks.  It's a Ralph Lauren, and it's plus size.  In fact, it's too big, which seems unlikely, but it really is.  The dress, from Walmart.  I've never worn it, because it's too short and too tight.  In the fashion world, this is called a "bodycon" dress.  Tight, stretchy, not for me. If this is bodycon, then I'm body "self-con".  Still, I sucked it up (literally) and put it on.  I like the pictures, but if I ever went out in this, the coat would never come off. I think I got the shoes at St. Vincent's, for four dollars.  

Next up, shorts.  I do not wear shorts. I inherited this pair from one of my niece's closet purges.  I get a lot of my clothes this way.  I love the fact that she's a shopaholic, she's a fashionista, she's fickle, and she's my size.  Win-Win-Win for me!  The top?  Another Walmart special, that I've had for a year and never worn.  I don't know why, because I do like it a lot.  Same shoes, and the bag is from a really dirty dig that I went to waded through. No pain, no gain.  I gained a ton of shoes, bags and vintage dresses.

Next up?  Jeans!  I own two pairs.  I wear one, and not often.  Lately, I've been seeing my friends rocking the sequins and I am officially jealous.  Hey wait...I have two sequinned tops.  I should wear them. This one is from--I don't even know, but it was an estate sale or thrift store, of that I'm sure.  It fits great, but it's heavy and scratchy, and when you are used to wearing t-shirts and yoga pants, which you know I am, getting dressed up is hard!  The slingback pumps are from St. Vincent's, $4.  

So maybe these will become things I do wear.  Maybe.  Now I just need someplace to go...

The double frame on the pictures is an effect called "thinify".  It doesn't work.  It just squeezes in the borders of the pic, which means everything stays proportionally the same, in relation to everything else.  I guess what I really need is Photoshop.  That's what they use to literally carve chunks out of your body.  I'm not that conscientious, so I won't be doing any curve carving anytime soon.  The belly is what it is.  

You will never hear me say a dirty word.  I hate swearing.  But just this once, I will have to use the "R" word.  Oh I can feel my guts bubbling up at the thought of it.  R, R-r, R-r-r-r...oh I just can't!  Go for it, you say?  Okay, here's goes: RETAIL!  I can't believe that word just came out of my mouth.  Where's that bar of soap?  In all fairness (to me) it's a Really Cheap Retail 

from Ross.  It's a nice, weighty polyester blend that has a soft, cashmere-ish feel, and faux-leather trim.  I just found it on Macy's, even though I bought mine a year ago, for $79. I paid under $30. 

Show some love to the 3R's!

Cooking post tomorrow!

What's Beer Got To Do With It?

Growing up, beer (and other alcoholic drinks) and cigarette commercials were the best.  We don't see cigarette commercials anymore, but I have a wealth of memories of Virginia Slims, Doral and Marlboro ads that I will never forget.  The Hamms' bear (it's okay if you have no idea what I'm talking about here...) and the Blatz jingle are ingrained in my memory.  I'm pretty sure that the producers of "Laverne and Shirley" were thinking Blatz...Schlitz...oh yeah...let's call it Schotz!  My parents never smoked or drank, but my Dad had a penchant for exclaiming "Good Gordon's Gin!" instead of "Wow!" and "Man oh Manischewitz!" rather than "Amazing!"  I picked up these expressions from him and use them to this day.  I still use "sure thing", "neato" and "groovy" too, on occasion.  I baked from scratch today (a rarity) and only one of my favorite sayings would do. 

It all started with canned plums.  Someone gave me canned plums.  I've never even seen canned plums and I didn't get the best feeling about them, but I do like plums...and prunes...so I was game.  

                                          Insert bad cellphone picture HERE...

Being heavy into research, as you know, I consulted the experts.  Dug out the old cookbooks.  Called Le Cordon Bleu.  Tapped into the wisdom and experience of the elders.  Then I came to my senses and posted a question on Facebook--"What in the world do I do with canned plums?"  I got a few suggestions, like plum tart, plum pudding, and this cobbler (which was actually labeled "plum pudding", but is decidedly "cobbleresque").  It was easy and "Man-o-Manischewitz!"  It is good.  I'll try to type and eat, but chances are, the eating will win and you'll be getting this post well after I've had a second helping.  First of all, here's the recipe:

http://www.cooks.com/recipe/g47mr9qn/aunt-jennys-favorite-cake.html

As simple as this recipe is, I ran into a few snags.  First of all, it calls for shortening.  I had some shortening once.  I discovered it when I was moving and it was about five years old.  It was brown.  I didn't think that was a good thing, plus it smelled weird, so I tossed it.  Shortening is something I use only when a recipe calls for it.  I use a spread, like Smart Balance, or olive oil.  Since I don't bake from scratch very often I have no need for it, so I had to run out for some.  I actually had flour, and I know it has to be from last Christmas, but stored airtight, it was fine.  The sugar?  Well, I did manage to eek out the 3/4 cup that I needed, but the rest was like this:

That is sugar in case you don't recognize it.  I don't use it very often.  

So I finally got the batter together. 

Then for those plums.  I am so glad that I decided to taste one, because I totally forgot about the pits.  Eating this first one saved me a lot of trouble. 

Yummy!  Now to just put this baby together and bake!  I probably shouldn't admit this, but I will--After about 30 minutes in the oven, I couldn't figure out why it wasn't done.  Uh-oh...the oven is on 275 instead of 375.  I've decided that this cake is foolproof, because after all that time, I turned it up and baked another 20 minutes and voila~ it was perfectly cooked, albeit a little darker than I would have preferred.  But delicious, nonetheless.

Good Gordon's Gin!

The cake to fruit ratio is off, but I really didn't expect it to rise like this!  It is a fantastic cake recipe and I will  be using it again.  My sweet dreams have already begun...