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Jul 15 2013

Saturday on the Balcony

Saturday was the last of a string of perfect summer days–low 80s, no humidity, sunny skies, gentle breeze…

Naoto and I had grand plans for the day, but we ended up lounging around on the balcony enjoying the weather and soaking up the rare gem of a summer day in Chicago. While Naoto caught up on reading the Japanese news (hence the laptop), I watered the plants, caught up on some letter writing and worked on cleaning my thrift store typewriter. It was a nice feeling of lazy productivity. While we were outside, this was happening inside: After lounging all day, it felt good to put on a dress and walk down to Cafe DeLuca for drinks and dinner. They make the best limoncello martini…a perfect drink for summer.Today, when I walked outside and into the thick-as-pea-soup, heavy and hot air, I decided that we made the right choice on how to spend a summer Saturday.

Tagged cocktails, forest park, garden, home, mail art, snail mail, summer

May 22 2013

3 Comments

gardening, homemaking

Geranium Troubles

Do you remember this geranium from last year? Well, it’s back outside again this spring–it’s the tall, skinny, flowerless one right by the gnome above. Last year, it lived with a couple of annuals and an ivy geranium (which, sadly, did not make it through the winter). This year, I planted a couple of fresh new geraniums with it. It looks nice and colorful in the hanging pot. The trouble is, I have another hanging pot filled completely with last year’s geraniums. It looks sad. See?

It’s just hanging out…not producing any flowers…last year, my old geranium didn’t bloom until August…I don’t want this pot to languish without blooms until then. Is there anything I can do to hurry it along?

It’s too late for this year, but it looks like I should take a different approach to overwintering my growing geranium collection. (I just leave them all in their pots in a north facing window…not much overwintering there!) This article from the Iowa State University Extension Program was informational on the proper way to overwinter geraniums…I’m hoping next year, my plants will be ready for blooming in the spring!

Tagged decorating, garden, gardening, home, home improvement, homemaking

May 15 2013

3 Comments

gardening, homemaking

The Garden Awaits

It has been such a weird spring around here. There have been days where temperatures were creeping towards 90, and then the next day, I’m pulling out my winter coat again. Typically in the Midwest, you can put your tomato plants in the ground by Mother’s Day (Sunday). We had plans to plant our garden on Saturday after the Community Garden meeting, but there was a frost warning on Sunday night, so we put planting on hold. Sure, we could have put our seeds in the ground and then waited to put the tomato and pepper plants in, but we kind of want to do it all at once. Naoto is off from Trader Joe’s the rest of the week, so hopefully we can squeeze in a little garden time one of the evenings this week.

Last weekend with my parents, I chose three tomato plants, one pepper plant and a bunch of seeds for the garden (pictured above along with some from my pen pal Danielle). Everything is pretty straightforward except the vining plants, which will need a little trellis to grow up into. The trellis will need to be a weekend project in the coming weeks. Ahhh…projects like this make me realize how little we know about gardening…but that’s the fun of this project, right? (Right?!) Naoto is very excited for the daikon radishes and I’m most looking forward to our tomato varieties, the golden beets and the lima beans…I love limas!

Today I am working on repotting some flowers I bought yesterday. Now that we are spending more time out there, I want to make sure it’s not a giant mess of outdoor furniture and empty pots (which it is now). Off to work!

Tagged decorating, diy, garden, gardening, home, home improvement, homemaking

May 06 2013

3 Comments

Forest Park, Oak Park, gardening, homemaking, snail mail, what's for dinner

Scenes from the Balcony

Last week spring hit…hard. One could argue that summer hit because we had temperatures in the 80s and I got a little sunburn from enjoying breakfast on the balcony. (I need to be more careful!) For two whole days, I did nothing but sit outside and write letters, read gardening books, eat breakfast, lunch & dinner and enjoy the fresh blooms on the trees. It felt good to soak up some Vitamin D and breathe in the spring air. This week, it’s supposed to be warm and sunny again. But this week, instead of sitting around dreaming about gardening, I will be weeding out the garden plot, finalizing the planting plan. And that sounds just right to me.

Tagged coffee, food, forest park, garden, gardening, home, homemaking, mail art, snail mail, summer

Mar 30 2013

6 Comments

celebrations, gardening, homemaking

Daffodils

Every spring I look forward to picking up a little bunch of daffodils from Trader Joe’s. I know when these bright stems show up in the store, real spring is just around the corner. My first experience with a bouquet of daffodils was years ago when Naoto and I were “just friends”. I wasn’t feeling well–I had a bad spring cold–and he showed up at my door with tea, honey, an orange, some vitamins and a tiny bouquet of yellow cheer.

Last weekend Naoto bought three bouquets for the Fondue Fun Night, but they didn’t bloom until my birthday. Huge explosions of sunshine popped up throughout our apartment, making the sting of the snowfall just a little less painful.

It’s the little things that make me smile…especially as I wait (not-so) patiently for spring.

Tagged celebrations, garden, gardening, home, homemaking, memories

Mar 25 2013

3 Comments

celebrations, cocktails, what's for dinner

Fondue Fun Night

On Saturday, Naoto and I hosted our first ever Fondue Fun Night. We had a fun time planning the party, checking out fondue recipes and dusting off the fondue pot–which was one of my first purchases when I got my own apartment. For some reason, fondue has always sounded like fun to me. The community, the bite sized food, the pretty forks, the cheese… We clearly need to break out the fondue pot more often because it was a great party.

We used a modified version of this recipe. We mixed everything up in our yellow pot, then transferred it to the fondue pot. Once we put the cheese mixture into the fondue pot, disaster struck. The flame under the pot went out and the fondue was just a big hunk of gloppy cheese. Thankfully, Karen & Naoto saved the day with some quick Googling, a little more wine and a little more fire…and once people started eating and stirring the pot, the cheese was just right.

We served apples, pears, broccoli, prosciutto, tiny potatoes, carrots, grape tomatoes, red and yellow peppers, zucchini and of course bites of bread for the fondue. Karen made deviled eggs and I made a grape salad and an orange pineapple Jell-O salad to keep with the 70s theme along with the Brandy Alexanders for dessert. There might have been a mini bourbon tasting in the middle of the party, too. Maybe…

It was a perfect not-a-birthday-party…friends, food and good fun!

P.S. I always wish I had taken more pictures…

Tagged celebrations, cocktails, food, home

Mar 21 2013

5 Comments

home is a 1970s apartment, homemaking

Slow Productivity

We are having a little party on Saturday night (Fondue Fun Night!!!), so naturally I’m busy hanging stuff on the wall, checking out Jell-O molds and planning menus instead of doing what I’m supposed to do (finish cleaning, finish the spare room, finish painting the bathroom door…)

I’ve had the square Ikea frames for almost a year now. I originally had another idea for them (I actually own four), but that didn’t work out. I’m not sure this worked out either. I’m not in love with it. It’s fine, but not great, but I can’t decide if it’s the placement, the papers, the colors or just the whole thing that’s bothering me. (If you’d like a closer look at the papers–you know, without the camera glare– the left one is similar to this Lokta paper, the middle on is this Japanese paper, and the right one is this Lokta paper.) I love the papers…I took the colors from my chevron pillows…I love the gold, I’m just not sure if it all looks a little too matchy matchy..maybe it would look better with only one paper design in all three frames? Maybe I need a new lamp? (I definitely need a new lamp shade!) Also, this whole set-up doesn’t help with that awkward hold between the side table and the television…

In addition to hanging some lame frames, I finally got up the nerve to hang the bathroom mirror yesterday! I was very nerve-wracking, lots of measuring and leveling and math (the math part I can handle…it’s the stress of holding the measuring tape and the level and the drill and the screw that is the hard part! Home improvement is not a solo gig!) So, the mirror isn’t hung perfectly, but it is centered and level, so that’s perfect enough! You should have seen all of the hang-wringing and sweating that was going on in there as I held my breath and prayed for a straight outcome!

Hopefully next week, I can be back with some pictures of the finally finished bathroom. I am still searching for an elusive frame for my artwork (and I have to paint the door still…can’t forget that.)

In the meantime, any ideas for the living room?

Tagged decorating, diy, home, home improvement, homemaking

Mar 12 2013

1 Comment

home is a 1970s apartment, homemaking

Sidetracked: Fondue Forks

I’m in the middle of tidying up the kitchen drawers and the pantry. I’m in the middle of trying to convince Naoto that we need to get rid of our steamer. We’ve only used our steamer once AND we have a steamer function on our rice cooker AND we have a huge pot with a steamer tray…why keep it? (I’m losing this fight. Does anyone need a steamer?) I’m in the middle of replacing our three incomplete sets of measuring spoons with the one complete set from my parents. I’m in the middle of sorting through our pantry and thinking that we buy too much food that we don’t finish. We need to make better choices at the grocery store.

This morning I was sorting through the drawer that has the “infrequently used” things…things like summery serving trays (a gift) and tiny vases (and pretty bottles that I use as vases) and fondue forks. These fondue forks were a re-gift from our coffee-shop friend Madonna. We used to drink coffee with Madonna when our friends owned the bakery near our old apartment. When Madonna learned we had hosted a little fondue party, she brought us these fondue forks. They had been a gift to her in the 70s.

In case the picture is unclear, it says:

Dear Madonna,

Sorry we were late that night. We were looking for a place to buy a liqueur to “warm” your house. As it turns out, maybe you’ll get more and longer enjoyment from these.

Love,

Jessica & Terry

I love the wooden handles and the gold Roman numerals on each fork. I think the handles could use a bit of oil, but it is really such a lovely set. I love that Madonna thought to give them to us–it’s nice to have a little but of her history in our home since she was a big part of our life when we lived in Oak Park.

I think a little fondue party might be in the making!

Tagged food, home, homemaking, memories, vintage

Mar 11 2013

3 Comments

adventures, celebrations, Forest Park, Oak Park, holidays, snail mail

The Everybody Loves a Parade Weekend

I’m a little sad that the weekend is over. Naoto & I both had Saturday and Sunday off…that’s a rarity around here. This weekend was the perfect balance between activities and lazing…and cooking–I made a tasty zucchini and cheese omelet for Saturday’s breakfast and Naoto made a delicious soy-glazed salmon for Sunday supper.

On Saturday we walked a couple of blocks to Madison Street for the Forest Park St. Patrick’s Day Parade. It was our first time seeing this parade and my first parade in a very, very long time. I was glad to see the usual characters like the Shriners, clowns and a guy on stilts (both awesome and creepy…but not as creepy as the clown! I found myself avoiding eye contact so he wouldn’t come talk to us!) The bagpipers were my favorite part…

On Sunday I went to another letter social with the Letter Writers Alliance. It was a fun time as usual, but not a super-productive one for me (I spent more time talking!) since I only finished one and a half letters! The picture at the top is of my letters and supplies hanging out on the table.

Today I am trying to tidy up the kitchen. We have been buying a lot of new food to accommodate Naoto’s diet and all the new food is making me realize that it’s time for a pantry clean-out. And maybe an entire kitchen clean-out. But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves…the spare room is still a mess!

Tagged adventures, celebrations, food, forest park, holidays, home, mail art, rubber stamp, snail mail

Mar 10 2013

3 Comments

homemaking, in my library, what's for dinner

The Original 100 Calorie Snack

I always thought those “100 Calorie Snacks” were new creations, and I guess they are new in their pre-packaged, highly marketed forms. But the church cookbook proves that someone’s been thinking of 100 calorie portions for awhile now. Crazy insane how many rutabagas you can eat for 100 calories.

Tagged food, home, homemaking, memories