A faithful friend is the medicine of life.
Ecclesiasticus
Hello there! I thought I would show you our lovely reincarnated chairs. I had some before pictures, but deleted them, so there is no dramatic reveal, I’m afraid. Though you could say, Ty Pennington style, to “Move that cat!” As you can see, Milo has set up camp on the yellow chairs. As a matter of fact, he doesn’t quite know what to do when we actually take a turn on them. The other night, we were sitting and happily chatting away, when he started to pace between us. At first, we thought nothing of it, but then realized that we were on HIS chairs, and he didn’t know what to do about it. We laughed and enjoyed a bit more pacing before Gregory moved. Milo was on his vacated chair in an instant. What can I say? He really loves the fabric!
Unfortunately, he is loving the fabric on the grey chair too (which is in the bedroom), only in a rather destructive fashion while we are trying to sleep. This however, does not serve him very well, as the consequence for that is spending the rest of the night in the chilly basement. I wish he was capable of learning this. Oh well.
So, here they are. I am proud to have a successful reupholstering story. Also, I forgot to mention that there is a little history here. We bought the yellow chairs (formerly green) from a place called Old PDX Furniture on Hawthorne probably eight years ago. The business wasn’t there for long, but, as it happens, the same woman who sold them to us is the one who just reupholstered them, and in a top notch fashion, I might add. She’s done right at least twice!
If you’d like to have Erin work on your furniture, with eco-friendly fabric, she’d be happy to do it. Her shop is called Acanthus. We made our appointment before she made the change to eco-friendly fabrics, having purchased ours a while back, so I can’t say how expensive the fabrics are. Her prices for the upholstering are right in line with others I was quoted around town and a whole lot less than buying brand new chairs. She and her business partner are just plain nice, too.
Did you know that if you want your kid to be some sort of sports superstar that you should make sure his or her birthday is on the day or just after the deadline for youth sports groups? Well, and that the kid is talented and dedicated and all that, too. But the birthday really helps and in a big way.
I learned this and many other gems from Malcolm Gladwell, one of my favorite writers. This in itself is a bit of a revelation for me, as I didn’t really think that I had any favorites. I don’t tend to read more than one or two works from a single writer before moving on to different, sometimes more verdant, sometimes just vacant, pastures. Him, I like. I’ve got all three of his books: The Tipping Point, blink, and Outliers.
Each explores small details of life in a somewhat loose but rather engaging fashion. I like that the books aren’t terribly academic, either. Don’t get me wrong, I think he is very intelligent, but he isn’t out to prove it in his books. He’s exploring what makes people successful, what makes a certain type of shoe sell, and why our first instincts really do matter, among other topics. The fact that he does it in a way that is often humorous and always interesting is what makes me like him so much.
I won’t give any more away because that would spoil the fun of the books, but I will say, if you are curious about patterns and some of the reasons why things happen to be the way they are, I highly recommend his work. They come from a charming man who is really interested in life, people, and asking questions that get answers.
Tags: Books
When we lived in Denver, there was a great breakfast place, since gone, like so much of our past, where we would enjoy these simple, but utterly delicious breakfast bowls. We walked from our apartment on 11th to Cherry Creek and enjoyed every bite without guilt because we exercised too! They had a more glamorous name, but I don’t remember it because we always called them the bowls. I made them this past weekend and thought I’d share the recipe with you. This makes two, but it is easily adapted.
Breakfast Bowls
2 English muffins, sliced and toasted
1 small can green chiles (you might not use all of them)
4 slices bacon, crumbled, or equivalent in breakfast sausage
grated monterey jack or cheddar cheese – to your liking
3 eggs, poached or or cooked to your liking – make sure they are a little under-done.
4 tablespoons heavy cream
salsa
Preheat your oven to 375. Cut the toasted English muffin into cubes. Also, if you can find Australian toaster biscuits, use them instead. They’re great. We haven’t seen them around here in a long time – like the restaurant where we first got these, they may be gone. In an ovenproof bowl, layer the muffin, cheese, green chiles, and bacon or sausage, repeating several times. Top with the egg (I use two for the G-Man). Put a final sprinkling of cheese over the top. Drizzle a couple of tablespoons of heavy cream over all.
Bake for about five minutes – until the cheese is a little bubbly. This is why you want your egg underdone. It will cook a bit more in the oven. Remove from the oven, top with a little salsa, if you like, and eat carefully. The bowl is hot to trot!
If you’ve toasted your muffin well, the texture will be slightly crusty and creamy. So yummy!
Tags: Cooking and Baking, Recipes
I know, so cheesy for a title, but I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. I used to believe that once I made it over a hurdle that was it. I was done. Then when I’d see that I was approaching that same hurdle for possibly the millionth time, I would get so bitchy, especially at myself, thinking I had grown beyond it, even though I hadn’t.
Now, with a hefty dose of forgiveness for not being the perfect being I would like and a lot of humor mixed in, I know that there are always going to be more hurdles. More writing, creating, destroying, befriending, letting go, more yoga sessions, more people I don’t like encroaching into my space.
The cool part, however, is that I now mostly accept that I am an ever-evolving human (this is a hurdle, too!). I can change my mind, my habits, and my jean size. If I approach life with an open heart and mind, it is all good, sweet, and wonderful, too. I don’t need to lament, lambast, or whine, but will when required. I can keep on keepin’ on. It’s such a good feeling!
