23 and feels like 11 is an understatement. It is freezing. I am sure wherever you are, except for my friend Christine, who is in Puerto Rico with her fiancé for a cotton convention (yes, a cotton convention), you have turned your heat on. Well, I haven't. And it is not because I'm cheap or trying to save money, my heat is included in my utilities which are covered in my rent. The thing is that 90% of the time the building heat is so hot that I end up cracking my window 24/7. The past few days are not the case. This is the 10% of the time where the building heat isn't sweltering. The problem - the radiator.
The radiator in my apartment is under the window and next to my "kitchen." AND the foot of my bed is up against the radiator. Last winter i never turned it on. So to my knowledge, the radiator has not been used in over 2 years.
Does anyone have any expertise (or common knowledge for that matter) about radiators? Can I turn it on without moving my bed? Will it cause a fire? I really don't want to find out how well my renters insurance is by starting a blaze. And we all know the track record of my apartment building and fires... should I just stick it out? I'm not sick, I don't even have a cough or runny nose, so that isn't a worry. But my ATM card might soon be meeting bed bath & beyond to bring home an extra blanket!
Thoughts? Please share. Until them I'll be in my Mizzou sweatpants, razorback sweatshirt (hood up), smartwool ski socks, UGGs, and a giant cup if green tea.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
busy days
This morning after wrapping up the February issue of Global Finance, I hit the gym then tried to go to the running store to get to insoles for my shoes, but they didn't have any that would work. How is so hard to find insoles with an arch high and hard enough to support a runner with mild over pronation? Needless to say it's much harder than you would suspect. Hopefully the store I try tomorrow will come through.
With no luck on the insoles, I decided i would head from Amsterdam and 76th to York and &75th. To translate this is 2 1/4 miles. And I wasn't taking a fast-paced walk for nothing, I was heading to Camille and Derricks to pick up my coat that I left over there last weekend and some knives that they gave me when they were doing some "winter cleaning."
When I got to the apartment, Derrick was cooking a 5-hour French Onion Soup recipe to have for dinner. It smelled so good that I got a hankering for soup myself.
On my way back I decided to stop at Gristedes grocery store because it is THE ONLY place I have found that sells Claussen's pickles. I know this is silly, but they're the best pickles in the world. While I was picking up pickles I thought about what I would make for dinner.
Chili. It is chili weather, period. With another six inches of snow on its way tonight I figured a big pot of turkey chili would be the perfect thing to tide me over till this cold front blows through. Problem. I've never made chili. And I've never had a good healthy chili --- besides deer chili which I clearly can't do since I have no deer meat, but nonetheless, I googled enough recipes to make my own little mix.
93/7 lean turkey, onion, bell and jalapeno peppers, corn, black beans, garlic powder, oregano, chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper, a little brown sugar (I didn't have white sugar, so I improvised) along with low sodium vegetable broth, and here's the kicker --- salsa.
It's not my mom's chili but it's darn good. It warmed me right up. And I have plenty of leftovers, so come one, come all... let's get snowed in with turkey chili!
Friday, January 14, 2011
maid of honor
This arrived in the mail today. Such a cute way to ask friends to be a part of the wedding party. So now it's official. I'm the Maid of Honor.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
re-post a re-post
Like regurgitating good ideas. One person posts something great, another acknowledges and posts about it and then a third person reads about it there and then posts on their own blog. It's like a slow news day. That's what I tell myself anyways.
This blog is great. With my newly engaged sister, I seem to hear about weddings and marriage a lot more lately. A fabulous fellow designer, Chelsea at Superfine Design posted this via To My Wife. Each day or multiple times a day a husband posts little things to his wife. Here are a few recent posts:
Sunday, January 9, 2011
clearance aisle
Finally. Last Friday, Crate and Barrel launched their clearance Winter sale. Not only did I outfit my bed for under $100, but I FINALLY found a chair. No, not at Crate and Barrel but around the corner at a furniture store. I found a chair and a great modern fabric for upholstery. I won't see the finished product for a few weeks but today, my new bedding arrived. Only two business days after I ordered it. Props to C&B!
As you know I use by bed (currently, that is; until the new chair arrives) as a dining room table, couch, living room, extended office, etc. So after 18 months, a comforter doesn't hold up as well as one would hope. After looking for the past few months for ANY, and I mean ANY brown bedding that is not microsuede, silk or light in color, I found this at C&B.com. I immediately made the bed and put on the new goods.
Yesterday I was looking over my apartment and really wanted to display my artwork instead of tilting up over my desk. Since my bed doesn't have a headboard, I used the side wall to create an entire collage. I'm still tweaking the stencils stickers, but I like the layout of the artwork.
It is more aligned than seen in the picture.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
goals. not resolutions
Our first Wine Wednesday back was a great way to start into the new year. Camille's friend from college was in town for business so she got to join our weekly tradition. Since Derrick is on winter break and is home earlier, he pitched in and cooked us a fabulous healthy dinner. He had bought a whole chicken, cut it up, took the skin off and after seasoning it up, he popped it in the oven. Alongside he made a pan of roasted potatoes and onions as well as steamed asparagus. It was delicious! While Ashley, Camille and I caught up, Camille shared her list of goals for 2011. As she says, "resolutions sound more unattainable than goals." A great list of goals I might add. I was thinking about it I realized that I haven't made my own list of goals.
The past three years:
2008: give up diet coke and soda all together. CHECK
2009: graduate college and move to New York. CHECK CHECK
2010: take the stairs up to my apartment UNLESS I'm carrying many groceries, laundry, or if I have company. 90% CHECK
2011....
- Start and finish seven or more books
- Drink 8 glasses of water everyday
- Continue taking the stairs to my apartment
- Gain a new client each month
- Maintain a consistent work out routine
- Cook more often/eat out less
- Make a bigger effort to stay in touch with friends
- Find a great apartment in my neighborhood that is a little bigger but still in my price range that I can move into by the time my lease goes up August 1.
I think these goals are obtainable and within reason. What are your goals for 2011?
Saturday, January 1, 2011
another year
Another decade begins. What's your ten year plan?
No I wasn't here. I was in the comfort of my bed, asleep as the clock turned 12:00. Twelve hours in and out of airports and planes on New Year's Eve had me wiped out. After dinner with a great friend, I curled up and watched the crowd on TV before falling asleep.
Props to Google's New Year's Day logo. Always a good one. Happy New Year everyone!
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