kimberly ah

Mar 06 2013

celebrations, crafty adventures, holidays, snail mail

A Little (Christmas) Day Trip

This little gift is going to make its way out into the world tomorrow when I go to the little post office in the little town where I grew up. It’s heading out to a friend, but there will be other gifts in the back seat, too. Tomorrow Naoto & I are making the two hour drive down to see my parents and celebrate Christmas. Yes, Christmas…it’s downright embarrassing that we haven’t seen each other since Thanksgiving–December, January and February are somewhat of a blur.

It will be nice to see them.

It will be nicer to get these stale Christmas presents out of my house.

(Just kidding, Mom!)

Mar 05 2013

3 Comments

home is a 1970s apartment, homemaking

Another SNOW Post

It’s SNOWING again! And it’s a downright snow day for many people–schools are closed, church BINGOs are cancelled, people are going home from work early (or not going at all)…I, on the other hand, will be heading out to work later. But until then, I’m happy to curl up on the couch and watch the snowfall.

Yesterday I spent a good part of my day digging around in the guest room. It’s gotten to the point where I need to take another trip to drop off a carload of donations (yay!) and I really need to get rid of a chair and three desks before I consider things DONE, but as far as getting the stuff organized, I’m almost there.

I also have this little plan going on in the living room. I have three handmade papers all ready to go in frames on the wall.

Yay for progress…no matter how slow it is!

Tagged decorating, home, home improvement, homemaking

Mar 04 2013

2 Comments

cocktails, homemaking

Cocktail Perfected: Brandy Alexander

Naoto has been spoiling me by filling our liquor cabinet with bottles of booze that have been on my wishlist for a long time. Last weekend it was Chartreuse, this weekend it was dark creme de cacao (among others which shall be shared soon). I’ve been talking about making a Brandy Alexander for a long time and this weekend I finally did.

Do you ever enjoy after-dinner drinks? When I was little, I remember my grandma ordering a Grasshopper after a family dinner at the Duck Inn. It was so green and pretty that I couldn’t wait to grow up and try one. When I was in my twenties, I ordered one at a restaurant and the bartender had to look it up in a book before he could make it…I had no idea it was so old-school! In spite of being a grasshopper-making novice, he managed to make a deliciously minty-rich cocktail.

On Saturday, after a quick trip to Michaels to pick out more frames for the rest of the artwork floating around here, I invited the neighbor ladies over to try a Brandy Alexander with me.

Brandy Alexander

1 1/2oz brandy

1oz dark creme de cacao

1oz half-and-half

1/4t nutmeg

In a shaker filled with ice, add brandy, creme de cacao and half-and-half. Shake until chilled and pour into cocktail glass. Garnish with nutmeg. Enjoy with your neighbors on a chilly winter night.

The Brandy Alexander was a hit, but we could only drink one–it’s rich and dessert-like…so Naoto opened up a bottle of wine and made up this fancy snack for us to enjoy. (Sorry for the weird angle of the cell phone picture!) The green cheese is a pesto gouda from Trader Joe’s–perfect for St. Patrick’s Day and so tasty!

This week, I am going to finish off the spare room and hopefully get the rest of the frames off of the floor. It’s supposed to snow six more inches tomorrow, so I have a good excuse to stay home and tackle my March to-do list. Maybe I’ll have some progress to share soon!

Tagged cocktails, food, homemaking, Trader Joe's

Mar 01 2013

1 Comment

homemaking

March-ing On

Usually February drags on slowly for me. The brutal cold, the dirty snow that won’t melt away, holidays a distant memory, the fresh start of the new year wearing off…February might only be 28 days, but usually it feels like two months rolled into one.

Not this year. February flew! I think it had something to do with the Week of Indulgence, Naoto’s surgery and the fact that it hasn’t been overly cold or snowy this winter (so far!) The charm of the chill and the snow hasn’t worn off quite yet. (But take note, Spring…I’d love to see you soon!) Whatever the reason, I cannot believe March is already here!

In March, I’d like to…

…get back into our gym routine (We broke our habit while Naoto was recovering–I have no excuse–and now we need to work back into a good routine.)

…try out some new recipes (since every stand-by in our repertoire is off-limits until Naoto heals completely)

…finish an embroidery project (because it’s been too long)

…finish the bathroom & share it here on the blog (again, it’s been too long)

…finish clearing out the guest room (oh, how this project has dragged!)

…finish my framing & hanging projects (are you sensing a theme here?)

…plan a little birthday celebration (that includes something sparkly, like champagne!)

How about you…any plans for March?

Calendars: Rifle, Heather Lins Home and K is for Calligraphy

Tagged celebrations, decorating, home, home improvement, homemaking

Feb 28 2013

3 Comments

crafty adventures, Letter Month, snail mail

So Long, Letter Month…

Today is the end of February, which means the end of the Month of Letters.

The sad news is I missed one day–the day Naoto had his surgery, February 19th. I wrote a letter that day at the hospital, but I was unorganized and didn’t bring my stamp and envelope and didn’t get it sent out in time…I am super-bummed about not having a perfect record, but I’m going to try to let it go because I sent a total of 41 letters!! I’m pretty excited about that number and I hope it means I will keep on keeping on with my mail habit.

At one point in the middle of the month, my mailbox had been empty for a few days. I started panicking that I wouldn’t have someone to write to during my daily writing time. It also didn’t help that my life was particularly unexciting this month, aside from Naoto’s surgery. During the mail drought, I took time to write notes to my grandparents and to a couple of friends who are going through difficult times. Any other month, I probably would have put off sending these notes because I didn’t know what to say, or didn’t have the perfect card, or just because I let it slip my mind. This month, since letter writing was at the forefront of my mind, I made the time and I made the effort. In the end, hearing from me was more important than perfection… It was a good reminder: Don’t let perfect be the enemy of the good!

One thing that kept me ahead of the game was Valentine’s Day. It helped that this sweet little holiday gave me an excuse to churn out a few easy notes (along with buntings and decorated envelopes!) I felt so good on the days when more than one letter was going out the door…most days (19 of them to be exact) it was just one letter. Some days, I wasn’t into decorating the envelope, but other days I was really into it. During Valentine week, I was really into it. I was able to use up some papers and bits that have been hanging out in my stash for a long time (like those pink “Be Heart Smart” hearts on the envelopes above that have been around since, oh, maybe second grade…)

I got some really amazing mail from my always-reliable pen friends throughout the month, too. I returned every letter I received this month (except for one I received yesterday which I plan to devote some time to tomorrow night). I also gained three new pen pals–yay for more merry mail making!

I am so glad I participated again this year, and that I beat my goal of sending 28 pieces…it’s not often I beat a goal (ahem…guest room clean-out). It’s really thanks to my regular pen friends that I was able to send out more mail…because even my grandparents (among other non-letter writers) didn’t reply to my letters or Valentines…(cue the violins!) A huge postman-sized hug for those of you who filled my mailbox this month!

I’m ready to move onto another project (after the spare room is done!) Today I’m going to put my red and pink mail things away, tidy up my desk and bring out some fresh supplies for March. Because the mail making doesn’t end with Letter Month, but there’s room for something new, too!

These were some of my favorite envelopes this month. To see the rest, you can take a peek here on Instagram.

Tagged crafts, holidays, mail art, rubber stamp, snail mail, washi tape

Feb 27 2013

A Thankful Update

One week post-surgery and Naoto is feeling ready to go back to work. He had a follow-up appointment with his surgeon today and he gave Naoto the go-ahead to return to his office job and to Trader Joe’s (which makes me nervous because “light duty” means nothing to Naoto!) While he’s been home, Naoto has been showered with love on Facebook and Twitter, through phone calls and texts, in the mailbox and in soups from our neighbor friends and my book club friend, Peggy. We are truly so thankful to have so many kind friends and coworkers (seriously, Naoto works with the nicest people!).

Naoto has really embraced this liquid diet like a champ–getting excited about microwaving another bowl of pureed soup and spooning into a new flavor of Jello (my specialty) cannot be as easy as he makes it look! Next week, if all goes well, his diet expands like crazy–we can even add fish, pasta, rice and (meatless) casseroles! What a huge difference that will make!

In other news, it snowed again yesterday…this picture is from my walk home from work last night. It’s the kind of wet, heavy snow that leaves everything a mess. There are deep puddles at every street corner, which have pushed the “waterproof” standards of my cheap snow boots! It’s still snowing tonight, so I’m lucky I can stay home tomorrow and Friday to FOCUS on finishing the guest room…yes…I’m still working on the guest room. Actually, I stopped working on the guest room because I felt it was a lost cause, but now I’m ready to be DONE with the guest room, so I am going to work until it’s done. I’ve already donated ten bags of things (both from the guest room and our clothes closets) and there is plenty more that needs to go. It will be nice to begin March with a nice clean guest room so I can focus on other things around here…like framing more things…and making more Jello.

Tagged decorating, food, home, home improvement, homemaking, snail mail, Trader Joe's

Feb 26 2013

4 Comments

cocktails

Cocktail Perfected: The Last Word

Chartreuse has been on my must-try list since last year when I started seeing it in so many classic cocktail recipes (cocktail recipe research has become a part of my bedtime reading routine). The problem is, a bottle of Chartreuse is big and pricey…we didn’t want to risk buying it and then hating it. And, the bars we frequent don’t serve such sophistication. But when we were at Fitzgerald’s, Naoto surprised me with a cocktail–The Last Word. It was a pretty shade of green, very herbal, tart and delicious…needless to say, I’ve been talking about making one at home ever since.

I figured Naoto would buy me a bottle of Chartreuse for my birthday, but instead he brought a bottle home on Sunday (along with Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur). He doesn’t like the taste of Chartreuse (crazy man!) so he encouraged me to mix one up for myself in spite of the fact that he cannot drink for awhile.

The Last Word is easy to remember…equal parts of four tasty ingredients, shake and pour…

The Last Word

3/4oz gin (I just used a basic gin, but I’m interested to try this out with one of our more juniper-y gins.)

3/4oz Chartreuse

3/4oz Maraschino Liqueur

3/4oz freshly squeezed lime juice

Fill cocktail shaker with ice, add ingredients, shake until your hand freezes off, strain into a cocktail glass and enjoy on a cold Monday night (while your husband drinks a cup of soup).

Tagged cocktails

Feb 25 2013

1 Comment

home is a 1970s apartment, homemaking

Another Procrastination Project

The spare room is still a disaster. The bathroom still has no mirror or towel hooks. The floors need to be swept. Am I taking care of those things? No. I’m hanging up kitchen art.

I spent Saturday framing a bunch of old family pictures. My plan (eventually) is to make a family photo wall on the open wall in the dining room. (You can see a bit of the wall in this post.) I would have hung everything up on Saturday (I’m feeling very hammer happy these days.) except I realized I have zero pictures of myself. Grandparents, parents, and a young Naoto, yes…but no young Kimberly. I’m going to have to see if I can come up with some good choices (hint, hint, Mom!) before I start making holes. I’d love to do something like this by Young House Love, mixing my photographs with other sentimental things but, let’s be honest…at the rate I’m going it would take a lifetime to fill our wall!

Since I couldn’t hang up the stuff I’d framed (and the bathroom details are on hold until Naoto can help me lift things), I decided to finally hang two more doughnut pictures in the kitchen. The top one is a letterpressed greeting card that I found while cleaning and the bottom one is the picture (the sprinkles are police officers) that has been sitting on my kitchen counter for a long while. It took two minutes–no templates, no measuring, no level…I just eyeballed it this time. It’s a small improvement, but it feels good to get two more things on the wall (instead of on the floor!)

And while we are talking about the kitchen…when the weather got colder, we brought in our wicker loveseat from the balcony. It just happened to fit on the little wall in the kitchen. (We kept Presley’s food and water bowls along this wall, but she moves them around so much that pretty much the whole kitchen floor is her food and water bowl.) It turns out that the loveseat has been a useful little addition to the kitchen. We hang out there when we’re cooking and Presley takes naps on it every day. It’s kind of the perfect place for her. She can get her snooze on and be aware of what is coming out of the refrigerator. She can hear the sound of the cheese drawer opening and yogurt containers opening from anywhere in the apartment…being close gives her the advantage of seeing if the food choice is worth the effort of getting up to beg for it.

So, that’s what’s going on around here in the recovery house. Naoto is probably going back to his day job soon…Presley and I are going to miss him as we’ve gotten quite used to him hanging around with us during the day!

Tagged decorating, home, home improvement, homemaking, letterpress

Feb 22 2013

5 Comments

coffee talk, thoughts, Week of Indulgence

Liquids

Whew…the surgery is done. It was a success (as far as we know at this point in time) and the patient is doing well (although he is getting a little stir crazy, just as I predicted…I will be doling out chores this afternoon). The Week of Indulgence seems like a lifetime ago…

Our neighbor-friend Brett came down with some pureed potato and leek soup for Naoto. (They are pictured above…and yes, Naoto is wearing his Trader Joe’s sweatshirt–complete with name tag.) Between the soup, broth, jello, yogurt, pudding, Italian ice and water, Naoto has been eating like a soft foods king. And best of all–he can have coffee! When the nurse told us this, we both had a little celebration dance in the hospital room.

He’s starting out slowly, with a tiny cup, but it made him ridiculously happy…it is the little things that make life great, isn’t it?

We got a few inches of snow last night, so I think this afternoon we will make time for a walk…it will feel good for both of us to keep the cabin fever at bay and breathe in some snowy air (and maybe stop for a coffee on the way home!)

Thanks, everyone, for your thoughts and good wishes! Naoto & I are very appreciative!

Tagged coffee, food, Trader Joe's

Feb 18 2013

1 Comment

adventures, Week of Indulgence, what's for dinner

#WeekofIndulgence: Gaetano’s

Gaetano’s is a little Italian restaurant here in Forest Park. If no one had told us about it, we would have never noticed it because it is so removed from the other restaurants on Madison Street. To say it’s Italian probably conjures up images of meatballs and red sauce, but Gaetano doesn’t do Italian like that…his cooking is full of interesting combinations, fresh flavors and gorgeous presentation. The next time we go, I want to get the risotto because it comes out in a foil swan! This article explains it better than I can (and for the record, those chorizo-stuffed dates in coconut tomato sauce…incredible!)

Naoto decided this was the perfect place for his last indulgence. We shared the tuna carpaccio, Naoto enjoyed a seafood pasta (pictured above with the cheerful indulger) and I had butternut squash gnocchi with mushrooms and beef short ribs. Of course, I couldn’t finish my dish, so Naoto willingly ate the rest.

We finished with coffee and dessert, Creme Brule Napoleon con le Peche–“carmelized phyllo dough layered with custard and peaches with caramel sauce*”. Just like the pie at the Little Goat, I’ve been thinking about this dessert since the first bite. I’m kind of hoping Naoto will take me here while he’s on his soft foods diet…he can have the custard and caramel sauce, while I “take one for the team” and eat the peaches and phyllo!

After dinner, we headed back to FitzGerald’s to meet up with our neighbor friend for a cocktail and a little bit of music before we headed home for the night. I can’t think of a more perfect end to the #WeekofIndulgence than that!

Now that we are rolling into the “restricted diet zone”, our focus has moved to “fun pureed food” research and party planning for April when Naoto can join the living again and eat and drink with the rest of us! It’s always good to have something to look forward to–even if it’s something as simple as a beer and a Spam musubi!

*from Gaetano’s menu

Tagged adventures, food, forest park