Apartment Therapy Week 2 – Clearing a Path
Yesterday was the start of week two of the spring cure. The first week was super simple compared to this week! So here’s the insane list for this week… and I do believe it will require making lists about lists — which just happens to be one of my hobbies. ;)
Week 2 To Do List:
- Fix one thing in your apartment – this will be filling in the nail/screw holes from hanging curtains.
- Clean kitchen from top to bottom – requires its own list…
- Water filter
- pretend your apartment is a whale – oh hai whale!
- Designate an Outbox area – my storage closet is already an “outbox” of sorts
- Clear one area using the Outbox – Use it? Love it? Need it?
- Buy flowers
- Determine your style
- Find a new recipe and cook one meal at home – I already try to cook/eat at home at least 3 nights a week
- Choose a date for your housewarming – in eight weeks you say?
Less blogging, more kitchen cleaning… I think I need to create a Ramones/Rancid station on Pandora first. Ciao!
Apartment Therapy Week 1 – Creating Your Vision
All successful journeys begin with a positive vision.
This post is part of my Apartment Therapy Spring Cure 2010, so if you’re not keen to follow along then come back in 8 weeks. ;)
Now, for some honesty… I didn’t actually do anything cure-ish this week, but perhaps that’s because I already have a “vision” for my apartment and I did the cure a few years ago. Anyway, I did re-read chapter 1 and I suppose this next week will be a little more work, since it focuses on the kitchen. :] Join the cult.
Week 1 To Do List:
- List of repairs – drywall mud to fill all the little holes I made while hanging curtains :P
- Vacuum/mop floors
- Remove one item from your apartment and put it outside – does my kitteh count?
- Buy fresh flowers – purple tulips from the farmers market :)
- Sit for 10 minutes in a part of your home that you never sit in - in <600 sq ft there isn’t really part of my home that I “never sit in”, unless you count the floor directly in front of my balcony, which I did spend some time napping in the sunshine over the weekend. :P
- Look into earth-friendly cleaning products – I use Method.
On to week 2 and the kitchen! Oh and an update on my Liberty of London obsession… I now have: a storage bin, file box, 2 mugs, tray, gardening gloves, sundress, piggy bank… and. that. is. all. I’ve decided on several occasions not to buy anything else… but I would probably tackle someone if I spotted one of the teapots in-store… and I wouldn’t mind the bicycle either…
Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes
otherwise known by the long — and culturally sensitive — name: Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes with Irish Whiskey Chocolate Ganache and Baileys Cream Cheese Frosting
I spotted a link to some Irish car bomb cupcakes last week that looked a little too similar to a Smitten Kitchen recipe that I’ve been meaning to try for ages! So I’m not going to copy her recipe, if you actually want to make these lovely cupcakes go check out Smitten Kitchen’s recipe. The only change I made was making a cream cheese frosting instead of a butter cream frosting. I thought it would have a smoother texture and go with the Baileys, whiskey, Guinness combo better.
Baileys Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
- 8 oz of cream cheese (room temperature)
- 3/4 cup – 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 3-4 TB of Baileys (usually you would add vanilla, but it isn’t needed with the Baileys)
1. Mix the cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar together with an electric mixer
2. Add in the Baileys (you might need a little more sugar at this point).
3. Nom, nom, nom
This was my first time making a chocolate ganache filling, so it was fun to learn something new. I also improvised a little on the filling instructions. I don’t have a 1″ cutter or piping supplies, so I used one of my new insanely sharp knives and then a butter knife to pop the round out. And then to fill them, I just used a plastic bag with the corner cut.
So I love these cupcakes, although I think they’re quite possibly the most unhealthy cupcakes of all time. :) They’re a brilliant concept though, and they go so nicely with Liberty of London trays. :P What next… maybe mojito cupcakes, or pastis cupcakes, or pink gin fizz cupcakes…
What would make an awesome drink cupcake?
Apartment Therapy Cure: Spring
A reminder to my home decor pals that the Apartment Therapy Spring Cure starts tomorrow (Monday, March 15, 2010)! It’s been about 3 years since I did the cure, so it should be fun to give it another go… although it really shouldn’t be too much work this time around, as I’ve been pretty sparing with the items that I kept/repurchased after my travels. :)
How to:
Get the book (or check it out at the library)
Sign-up for the weekly cure emails
Start reading the book, and participate as much as you want with the discussions, flickr pool etc
The Plan: (March 15th through May 10th)
Week 1: Creating Your Vision
Week 2: Clearing a Path
Week 3: The Landing Strip
Week 4: Retail Therapy
Week 5: The Thick of It
Week 6: Light Therapy
Week 7: Sacred Space
Week 8: Throwing a Party
Week 9: Graduation
Should be fun, and I may just have an excuse to pick up some new home goods — Liberty of London for Target is calling my name at the moment. Anyone else a little obsessed with this line right now? The LoL (heh) line is like a “few of my favorite things” roundup: gardening stuff, bicycles, flipflops, piggy banks, dresses, tea pots, and all in the sweetest patterns. <3
Who else is doing the Spring Cure?
#69: Eat at Every Restaurant in My Neighborhood
Well this one was pretty easy — I had a little help since some restaurants went out of business last year. :| There were a couple of restaurants that I’d been meaning to try just because they’re close, but I’m disappointed to report that I wasn’t missing much and I won’t be back. However, there are two restaurants in my neighborhood that I really love — so I guess it evens out.
Maybe next time I’ll add “Eat at every restaurant in my work neighborhood” to the list. Oh, and I defined my neighborhood as 1/2 mile from my place using the Yelp map. (photo by yoppy)
10 Things That Make Me Happy {About Spring?}
I’m officially declaring it spring in the Pacific Northwest and here are 10 things that make me happy right now…
1. vitamin d - how amazing is our early spring in Portland? Pretty frickin’ amazing. This 60 degree (sorry non-Americans) weather in February is stellar — skirt and flip flop weather — inconceivable! free the sun photo by notsogoodphotography
2. opi over the taupe nail polish – I prefer to call this color Kalamata Olive, as taupe is such a boring color. I’m not a big nail polish fan, as documented by #84: take care of my nails, but I really like the mix of purple/dark. And who knew painting your nails was so easy? For some reason I remember it being extremely difficult to stay in the lines… I may have missed my calling. ;) $7 opi
3. blue birdie lariat necklace – I finally spent my Groupon coupon for Relish — well most of it anyway (I’m waiting for all the new spring items to finish my shopping). Anyway, Relish is such a lovely shop and they stock Marimekko fabric, that was begging me to start a sewing project, but I really don’t need anything at the moment. Regardless… <3 $52 relish
4. my kitteh – My cat is taking over my blog! She should have her own category, yes? So 2 weeks in, I’m well on my way to becoming one of those cat ladies. I’ve also been cleaning my apartment like a hypochondriac because the thought of having a “cat smell” apartment scares me. Thankfully, Mr Essa Selleck is quite the tidy cat. $85 oregon humane society
5. ristretto roasters – I’ve started a bad habit of going here for an afternoon or lunchtime wander. Superb coffee (ok, ok and an occasional ridiculously cheap donut) $1 ristretto roasters
6. tulips – my favorite flower of all time. I bought a tulip plant at the grocery store for $3, (cheaper than flowers!) and then it promptly died a week later, but it was still worth it. $3 safeway photo by smpte101
7. chalkdots – these are so cool! I got a set of three chalkboard paint wall stickers last month. Apparently they’re for children or some such nonsense. I’m using one as a menu board in my kitchen… now what to do with the other two… $15 gilt groupe (invitation)
8. mini flat iron – whoa, nail polish and a flat iron all in the same list? I’m on the road to high-maintenance… but my excuse for the straightener was that it was on sale at Rue La La & it wouldn’t hurt to add it to my travel packing list… and I do what I want. $25 linea pro
9. the guinea pig diaries: my life as an experiment – AJ Jacobs’ third book did not disappoint. And I apologize for being that person giggling on the bus all week. $10.20 amazon
10. zipcar – I still kind of want a car again, but Zipcar is pretty cool… except for when I misplaced it the other night at the gym… that never happened when I had my own car. :P $6.30+ zipcar
What’s on your list?
#37: Get a Recycling Organizer System
I finally got my recycling in order (watch out, most interesting blog post of all time)! So it really just involved a quick trip to IKEA. Previously, I stacked all my recycling items beside the garbage can, but there was an occasional avalanche of cans and bottles, so the RATIONELL bins from IKEA have fixed that. I also got one of those plastic bag storage things — in bright pink!
Kitteh update: I’ve been calling my cat “Essa” (for Essaouira, Morocco) more often than Selleck, so I suppose that’s her name now, and thanks for all the votes :) I also decided that pet supplies are insanely over-priced. I was looking for a cat food and water dish and finally decided on mini Le Creuset dishes from Home Goods — way cheaper and cuter than regular pet supplies. Julia Child would totally approve of Essa the gourmet cooking cat. Although, maybe I should have gotten her mini tagines instead.
#86: Get a Wax
Potentially awkward blog posts — saved by haiku (via yes and yes)!
not bad, but not fun
my budget doesn’t thank me
swimsuit season, please?
On that note, for Portland waxing salons, Urban Waxx is seriously awesome — great staff, wine for a little liquid courage :P and 15% off your first visit/referral.
#35: Get A Cat
Oh hai! Well after three trips to the Humane Society — and several “OMG, why am I getting a cat, how will I travel, what if it’s stupid, what if it’s too much commitment, what if I don’t like it, maybe I should get a dog, what if it never dies” panics — I finally got a kitteh.
It’s a girl cat, but I think she looks like a boy, so I may just refer to her as a he? Is that bad? Anyway, now she he needs a name! She he has a mustache, which is quite hilarious so I was thinking of naming her after a dictator — Stalin, Lenin, Franco? Twitter pals suggested Selleck, Burt Reynolds, and Mario. I was also thinking of places that I’ve traveled… like Sofia (Bulgaria), Essaouira (Morocco, and then I could call her Essa), or Zooey (Salinger book, Franny & Zooey)… So dear Internets, help me name my kitteh!
And now I must go to IKEA, for my cat requests cat-sized Swedish furniture and dinnerware. :)
#59: Watch All 5 Best Picture Nominees Before the Oscars 2010
Oscar 2010 time! So I almost completed #59 (Watch all 5 10 Best Picture Nominees before the Oscars) in 2008, and then last year around this time I was in Costa Rica, so 2010 it is!
I’m starting with 2 for 10 this year, but seriously why are there ten Best Picture nominations? Usually there are only five. I need more time! At least the plan is logistically possible this year, but there are two movies on the list that I don’t think I can bring myself to watch (how are Sandra Bullock and Mariah Carey in Oscar nominated movies anyway?).
2010 Best Picture Nominations:
- Avatar (James Cameron and Jon Landau) – in theaters
- The Blind Side – in theaters
- District 9 (Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham – DVD
- An Education (Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey) – in theaters (DVD in March)
- The Hurt Locker – DVD
- Inglourious Basterds (Lawrence Bender) – DVD
- Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire (Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness) – in theaters (DVD in March)
- A Serious Man (Joel Coen and Ethan Coen) DVD on February 9
- Up (Jonas Rivera) – DVD
- Up in the Air (Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman) – in theaters
What movie gets your vote?
Things I ♥: travel, food (I'm a pescatarian), the Pacific Northwest, bikes (I ride an orange mixte), beer (IPAs), summer, coffee, lists, and kittehs. Travel enthusiast, dabbler, and product manager at BootsnAll Travel Network.
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