NTOTD No. 21: Commuting

I start my new job on Monday. It's like the first day of school. I'm excited and nervous, but mostly just ready to start something new! My office is kind-of-inconveniently on the other side of Arlington, so I'm doing a few trial runs this week to figure out the best means of public transportation. This morning, I rode part of the way on the bus with Drew, then hopped on the Metro for the rest of it. Unfortunately, by eight o'clock I was still one stop away from work - and everything was running on time - so I don't think that route will work unless we catch an earlier bus. Likely? No. ;)

Plan B is actually cheaper and more direct - not counting the mile-ish hike over some of A-ton's finest mountains (Time to invest in some good flats!) - but it would've been nice to commute part of the way with the huz. :-*

Oh well. Four more days till show time!

Happy Memorial Day!

Drew had to work from home most of the weekend (Boo to Post-Memorial Day Tuesday morning meetings!) but I did manage to steal him away for a little while today. The Beltway has been making me claustrophobic as of late, so we decided to drive out past Manassas for a little day hike. I found the trails of the Wildcat Mountain Natural Area on this hiking website. They gave it a 6 on the "solitude" scale - the highest rating available - which sounded perfect for an afternoon of running away. And they were right - we had the trail all to ourselves! It was so nice to be out in the woods again. :)

What about you? Any fun Memorial Day doings? :)

Craft No. 13: Haircuts

In college, before I knew Drew, I knew Drew’s hair. It is amazing. It has a life of its own. It is the reason I married him. Honestly, what girl could say no to this mop?

Our first date ever. I lured him to my apartment with the promise of brownies. ;)

That said, now that we are old and respectable and have jobs with dress codes, sometimes I have to say something. And oddly enough, when I turned to him the other night and said, “You’re starting to look like the super villain from a cartoon, but I can’t remember his name,” he knew exactly who I meant. This guy.

And that is when you know you need a haircut. When the Syndrome comparisons start. ;)

We have a cheap salon within walking distance of our apartment, but Drew’s been so busy this week that he never had time to get over there. Coincidentally, when I saw this post on DIY haircuts on Young House Love – one of my favorite house blogs! - I thought, “I could do that!” And despite a disastrous DIY haircut in college from one of his buddies, Drew was game/brave enough to let me take a whack at it, provided we wait until this weekend so he would have time to go to the salon “if need be.” The lack of faith in my (untested) abilities aside, he had himself a deal!

I picked up a $20 kit from CVS, which included a razor, all the numbered guards, and a pair of terrible scissors that I immediately threw out. Still, I thought it was pretty reasonable considering it would (hopefully) pay for itself in one haircut. (The cashier was all excited. “Oh! You know how to cut hair!” “I’m going to learn,” I said. ;)

I whipped out the kit's tiny barber cape and set up shop in our tinier kitchen. Drew was a little nervous.

Syndrome? Yes? Can you see it? :)

But once he started up an episode of Top Gear on his iPad, I think he forgot I was there. Which was good, because I was nervous too! ;)

In defense of whoever cut his hair last, he has a crazy cowlick on the lower left. It really wasn't as uneven as it looks.

I have never cut anyone’s hair before – other than chopping my own bangs too short – so I started off slow. He usually gets a #4 cut on the back and sides, but I started off with a #6. Just in case. ;) Once I felt confident with the razor, I switched to a #4 blade and had at it. Then I cut the top with scissors – a sharper pair from my craft drawer – and tried to blend the best I could. (The YHL post has a video that explains it really well. I definitely recommend watching it.)

I was still clipping when Top Gear ended an hour later, and I had to speed up because, without the dulcet tones of Jeremy Clarkson ringing in his ears, my client started to fall asleep. (“It’s like getting a head massage.”) When I let him look at himself in the mirror, I think he was pleasantly surprised! I had to clean up his neck a little bit this morning, but other than that, I think my career as a stylist is off to a roaring start.

Not too shabby for a first try! I need to invest in some good scissors and a broom, but I think we (and by that I mean he ;) have many more home hair cuts in our future! :)

Have you ever cut someone else's hair? Or let someone other than a stylist touch your own? (I'm too scared to try! ;)

Cleaning No. 2: Mama V.

You know you have a keeper when (among other quirky design decisions) your husband’s cool with you hanging two pictures of his mother-in-law in the dining room. Honestly, I’ve probably had more push back from the ever-humble Mama V. about the whole thing. (Does it give off a “my mother is dead” vibe? I don’t think so.) But that is one of the few benefits of living 363 miles apart. (Yes, I googled it.) I don’t have to listen to her. Or maybe that's a detriment of growing up? Hmmm…whatev. I think my mom's gorgeous. She'll just have to deal.

I had both pictures of Mama V. on the wall in NEPA as well, so Mr. C. and the Momster have both had more than enough time to adjust. This large pastel is a caricature she had done when we lived in Albany, about 16 years ago now. She can’t remember where or why, but judging by the date, it was probably a Veteran’s Day shindig of some sort. (Mama V. was a certified child-wrangler back in the day, so she usually worked Mondays.) I never saw it until she tried to throw it out during one of her ‘stuff purges,’ which forced me to stage a “What are you doing?! That is awesome!” intervention. She hesitated at the time, but now that it’s all framed and cleaned up, I think she secretly likes it too. ;)

I came across the second picture the same way – on it’s way to the garbage can. After high school, Mama V. worked at a crossword puzzle publisher for a year. (No joke. I didn’t believe it at first either.) Her boss liked to paint and did this watercolor of her. If I was 19 and my 50+ boss wanted to paint me, I’d think it was a little creepy, but she says it wasn’t like that. And she's a hot babe, so I guess I can't really blame the guy. Ah, the 70s. Such an age of innocence…

I never saw the painting growing up because Mama V. never put it on the wall. (Again, the Mama V. modesty. ;) So as you can imagine, after being stored in garages and basements and boxes for almost forty years, it needed a little love. I’m starting a new job on June 4^th –whole ‘nother story! – so I’m trying to finish up all my little projects before then. And this was Numero Uno.

The watercolor itself was in decent shape, but the frame needed some help. It's made out of really nice, dark wood, but it hadn’t been cleaned in ummm…forever, there was no glass, and I had accidently sucked away part of the ‘decorative paper border’ during a particularly vigorous vacuuming session. Whoops. (Gotta watch out for those Dysons, yo.) So I bought a sheet of replacement glass at Michael’s, assembled my cleaning supplies, and got to work!

I started by tearing off the rest of the paper striping. Even if it wasn’t ripped, it was still ugly. Rubbing alcohol works great for removing all sorts of ‘goo.’ (Better even than the commercial stuff and without the awful smell and danger of burning your fingers off!) This adhesive was really tough and had a forty year head start, so it took five or six passes with a combination of paper towels and cotton balls, but eventually I got it to the point where I could just rub it off like an old sun burn. (Gross, I know, but you totally know what I mean.)

After that, I wiped the rest of the frame down with my “I’m trying so hard to be green” Method cleaner, popped the glass in, and viola! Better than new! (And smelling faintly of French lavender. :) This painting's been sitting on the floor since we moved in - hence the run in with the vacuum - but now she's finally on the wall with her other self. Beautiful. I love that feeling when a long-procrastinated project is finally done!

What about you? Any overdue projects in the works for the long weekend?

Cancer No. 8: Check-ups

Remember this girl?

This is me with two thyroids - and super-long hair! - mere minutes before I put on that enormous, grape-colored hospital gown in my right hand, but many hours - they were running late, which is not very nice when they won't let you eat - before the anesthesiologist actually asked me to count down from ten.

I made it to seven. Staunch Stuff, right here. ;)

I haven't posted anything about my thyroid in over a year because, well, there hasn't been anything to say. (And thyroidectomies are not sexy, no matter how fun you try and make them sound.) My neck healed seamlessly except for one small spot over my neck muscle, and if you don't know it's a scar, you'd probably just think it's a zit or something. (The only people who've ever made comments to me are people who've had the same surgery and recognize the mark. We always compare "I got this in a bar fight" stories. ;)

Anyway, this is just a quick update to say that, one year later, 'Rightie the Mighty' is still knockin' out enough TSH and T4 for all of us. (Which is an awesome thing to brag about when Mr. C and I go running. "Boy, you have two thyroids. I only have one. You can run faster than that!") I got my blood levels checked today for the first time since last summer and everything is still normal. (I also found out I have aMAzing cholesterol. I am old enough to need that checked now? *shiver*) I am so grateful for normal check-ups again. :)

(Miss the whole gory story? You can check it out here.)

Cleaning No. 1: Bathtub Drain ***Update***

If this blog was a legitimate news source, this is what you would refer to as a "No News Day." Hence the update on my eco-war against our shower drain. How are things going?

Well, one pound of baking soda, one quart of vinegar, and several gallons of boiling water later, I gave up, went to Target, and bought a bottle of Drano. And now our shower is draining beautifully. :)

But in the defense of natural cleaning products, there are very few products - natural or otherwise - that can win the battle against my hair. (In fact, I really can't think of any outside of a legion of bobby pins and a can of Aqua Net.) I think the 'white gold' solution may work better as a maintenance tool rather than a last ditch effort. In the long run, I think I'll be better off investing in a drain guard. You know, to like, avoid the whole situation all together. What a novel idea! :)

Have you had better luck? Any tips?

Happy Mother's Day!

I know I'm a few days late, but Mama and Papa V. were actually in town, so I think that's a legitimate excuse for belated tidings. :) We spent the past few days running around Old Town and thinking of rain-induced Plan Bs - the Smithsonian's Udvar-Hazy Center adjacent to Dulles is a wonderfully dry alternative to slogging it out at the Air and Space Museum downtown - but it was fun to have my parents for the weekend, regardless of the weather. At least Mother's Day itself was gorgeous!

In case you've never met Mama V., I just want to tell you that she is pretty much the coolest mama around. Hands down. Easy peasy. And that makes me the luckiest daughter in the world.

Love you, Mom. Thanks for making the trek down this weekend. (And for the French Toast. ;) XO.

Cleaning No. 1: The Bathtub Drain

Despite Mr. C's luscious locks of hair, Nora and I are usually the front runners in our household "who can shed the most" competition. Sometimes, like in the case of the vacuum cleaner, we even work together for maximum clogginess, but unfortunately the bathtub drain is all my doing. (Nibbles has not taken a bath since the "Super Fleas of 2011" incident.) Sister V. trained me at a young age to always clean the drain post-shower - former roomies, you can all thank her - but our new shower has this nice cover that hides all unpleasantness. So I forget about it until 'the problem' starts.

A few weeks ago, I solved the problem by pulling the drain cover off and removing something akin to Swamp Thing. (No joke. Even I was revolted and it was my hair.) But this week the problem is back and there's no visible fix. Which means Swamp Thing had a twin and it's gone to ground. Joy. (Nora loves when this happens because it means she can play "Watering Hole" after every shower. I keep thinking she will get more normal with age, but I swear that cat is just becoming more neurotic.)

In the past, this is when I go out and buy Drano, but I thought I'd try something different this time. Inspired by Pinterest and my lack of cleaning supply storage space, I've slowly been switching over to less and healthier cleaning products. (Right now this equates to buying Method multi-purpose cleaner which smells divine and buying fragrance-free detergent, but you know, I'm working on it...) Mommy bloggers seem to swear by baking soda and vinegar for clogs - although calling it "white gold" seems a bit much ;) - so I thought I'd give it a shot. White Gold vs. Swamp Thing. At the very least, I figured I'd have an interesting science project.

Recipes vary, but I settled on 1/2 cup of baking soda, followed by 1 cup of vinegar. It was a little hard to cram the baking soda down the drain, but once the vinegar hit it, it dissolved pretty quickly. I let it sit for 15 minutes, than flushed it down with a kettle of boiling water. Result? A little better (maybe?) but the drain still seemed a bit slow. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. On to Round 2.

With the same lukewarm results.

I stopped there, before I ended up dumping the entire bottle of vinegar down the drain, and decided to see how it handles during tomorrow's round of showers. Mr. C's pretty honest about these things. He'll let me know if it's better or not. I'll keep you posted.

Have you ever tried using baking soda and vinegar on clogs before? Did it work for you?

NTOTD No. 20: Talking to Street Activists

It happened today. One of them caught me.

Regardless of the cause (and even if I agree with it), I will do pretty much anything to avoid street activists, including, but not limited to: crossing the street, ducking into a store until they prey on some other unsuspecting soul, or carrying on a serious conversation with my they-don't-know-the-battery-is-dead cellphone. But the one thing I can't do is be rude, so if eye contact is made, I'm dead in the water. Sure, you excitable college student, you. Tell me all about your good cause.

I do respect their general enthusiasm - and am somewhat envious of it, in my own introverted way - but I am like the street activist's worst nightmare: the faster you talk, the more I disbelieve you. Sorry, Dave. You crammed too much into one minute. Blame the bus schedule. (I did.) I had to go.

(Also, calling me "rainforest girl" was not endearing, as was asking for my money before asking for my contact information. Would you ask a girl to buy you a drink before you got her digits? Come on. Better luck with the tourists, my friend. #donthasslemeimlocal.)

I am also, apparently, a grumpy old man. ;)

Craft No. 12: Postcard Wall Art

The other day I was FaceTiming Mama V. when I had to prop up the phone mid-chat for 'clean up Nora's vomit' duty. (In our family, we don't hang up for those things. ;) Children - even well-behaved ones that don't do anything to her - make Nora extremely anxious, so after our friends and their munchkins left on Sunday, the poor thing crawled out from two days under the bed and let it all out. Multiple times. And amazingly, all on the hard wood! (Never despise the day of small beginnings. Usually she heads for the carpet.)

Regardless, I digress. This post is not about Nora's acid reflux. This post is about my new art wall that Mama V. noticed when I propped her up on the dining room table. Our kitchen is pretty small and doesn't have a whole lot of wall space, but it does face a large swath of our otherwise-too-narrow-to-hang-anything-and-see-it hallway. I thought it would be pretty to create a display that mirrors the dimensions of the kitchen opening, so I set to work scouring prints, photos, and frames from around the apartment. And here's what I came up with:

I'm not quite done yet - I still have that really narrow empty spot on the right side and the couple of feet to the floor - but I used what we had and I'm happy with the progress. Don't let those design blogs fool you: it is really hard to "match" mismatching frames! I had these laid out on the living room floor for a couple of days before I finally whipped out the ol' Command Strips.

My dream kitchen is a mix of white, turquoise, and red - conveniently also our wedding colors - so I ignored the beige colored wall (It's not so noticeable when you're standing in our pale yellow kitchen.) and went to town. Here's a quick rundown:

I love my Fisher Price people print, but I bought it almost five years ago and I can't remember the seller's name anymore. I know she's on Etsy. Does it look familiar to anyone? And I can't take or give credit for the Dickens quote poster either. (I know. I'm batting .000) It wasn't my idea and the source has disappeared from my Google Reader. Someone was giving these away for free (+shipping) last year, and when I missed the cut, I went out and made my own. Does anyone remember who that was? (When Drew walks by it, he always starts singing Chumbawamba's Tubthumping. So wrong. ;)

But at least I know where these two came from! The morning of our wedding, Drew sent me (via one of his groomsmen ;) our invitation suite in a beautiful custom matt and frame. That was actually the first thing to go on the wall. Everything else had to work around it. (Including the obligatory smoochy wedding photo!)

The Catherine Holm-y print is from Etsy seller handz. I'd had my eye on it for a long time, but was too cheap to shell out for shipping from the Czech Republic. I put it on my Christmas list instead and it showed up sometime around my birthday. 'Cause that's how my family rolls - celebrating holidays on their actual dates is so Hallmark. We spread it out all year long. (Or at least until mid-summer when Mama V. has most likely discovered all the forgotten Christmas presents in the back of her closet. ;)

And last but not least - it is, in fact, the reason for this very long post - is this little vintage postcard triptych you may remember from a Tuesday Thrifting post back in February. It was the perfect size for the wall, so I moved it from it's previous spot in the living room, but - alas! - it was the only piece on the wall not living up to the "red and blue" theme. (The blue sky and American flag above the White House notwithstanding. The colors don't pop inside all the black frames.) So I set to work.

I wanted to print a quote about D.C. over the three postcards in red, so I poked around for a good saying and found the perfect one by - who else? - Charles Dickens. During his visit in 1842, he called it "the city of magnificent intentions." He was referring to streets that led to nowhere, sporadic and random buildings, and a general lack of population, but I think the same could be said for it now, both earnestly and sarcastically. Irony: I love it.

I am not a typography expert by any means, so I fiddled around with each card before deciding on the font. The layout was a bit more random than I wanted - printers do not like when I tell them to do weird things - but it turned out to be a happy accident. I especially like how "THE" and "OF" printed off the edge. :) 

Other than fidgeting with the printer, this was probably the easiest craft ever. I was a bit worried the printer ink would overpower the faded colors on the cards, but I forgot to take into account the paper's gloss. It didn't want to let the ink sink in and for once that was a good thing. The type looks stamped instead of printed, which is a nice, subtle effect.

Ahhh...much better. Now to finish the rest of the wall! What about you? Any fun crafts lately? I've been slacking off since my sewing machine broke, but I think this got the juices flowing again! :)

Top 100 Signs I Married the Right Man No. 77

77. He can unclog toilets with one, magical flush.

...

And that's all I'm going to say about that: pure, pure magic.

Cooking No. 14: Sarah's Lucky Strike Chili

What is this, you ask?

Let me tell you (just in case my photography does not make it obvious ;). This is the most delicious chili you will ever eat. And I made it. Which means I should run out this instant and buy a lotto ticket because this is never going to happen again. Lightning has struck because my chili, as a rule, is bland, soupy, and terrible. I’m not sure what went wrong with this batch.

It came about innocently enough. The grocery budget is shot-to-bits at the moment, so I’m trying to use up everything in the house. I ripped this recipe for slow-cooker beef chili out of Everyday Food ages ago and, lo and behold, actually had a pound of Angus stew meat hanging around in the freezer. (Much to Drew’s chagrin, we don’t eat a whole lot of red meat. I tell him chicken’s healthier, but really it’s just cheaper. ;) Per the norm, I didn’t have all the ingredients in the recipe, but I improvised and somehow created a keeper. They’ll be no going back to ground beef chili after this!

Sarah’s Lucky Strike Chili (Yes, I renamed it. Because I am just that proud. ;)

adapted from Everyday Food's Slow-Cooker Beef and Black-Bean Chili

1# stew beef chunks, cut into ¾ chunks

12 oz.  tomato sauce (I just used half a jar of Ragu. Nothin’ fancy.)

1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can of kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 Vidalia onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 T. chili powder (Don’t be scared! This much chili powder made me nervous too!)

2 t. salt

¼ t. pepper

1 c. water

1 c. Coke (Classic. No Diet or Zero, please. You’ll throw off my recipe. ;)

Put everything in a crock pot and mix together. Cook on high for six hours or low for eight hours. Viola! Martha suggests serving it with sour cream, but I just made some brown rice to ‘carb it up’ a bit. Amaaazing. I should not follow directions more often. ;)

Do you make chili? How do you do it?

Culture No. 42: The Library of Congress

Have you ever been to the Library of Congress? I haven't, but I've heard it's a lot more exciting than it sounds. (Apologies to all my library-working friends, but you have to understand: I was the kid who always got the Dewey Decimal System confused with Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Libraries frighten me.) Did you know you can search their digital collection online? Seems like a no-brainer, but I didn't realize it until yesterday when I got sucked into hours of looking at WPA posters, New England paraphernalia, and photos from the CCC. It's like Pinterest for smart people!

Here are some of my favorites, but make sure you give it a try!

Top 100 Signs I Married the Right Man: No. 78

78. He can smell honeysuckle a mile away and always stops to break off a few blossoms for the nectar, even though every spring he has to re-teach me how to drink it. (One of us is obviously not Southern. :)

Secretly, I think he has a poet's heart. XOXO.

Culture No. 41: Pentagon Memorial

I've had the same ol' point-and-shoot camera for nigh on forever, so whenever I edit photos for my blog, it's less to look "bloggy" and more to hide the fact that my photo quality just isn't there. (This is why I run most of my photos through the 1960s filter in Picasa. Because it's really not that far off from reality. :P) Yes, this is DSLR envy, rearing its ugly head.

My camera is especially problematic at night, which was unfortunate when we ventured over to the Pentagon Memorial this weekend with some friends from out of town. My photos don't do it justice. The memorial has been on my list of things to see since it opened in 2008 and I was excited when our guests were up for it as well. It's a little off the beaten track - i.e. not on the Mall - and a little awkward to get to - if you drive, you have to walk a half mile under 395 from your car - but it is SO WORTH IT.

The two acre memorial is immediately adjacent to the face of the Pentagon hit on September 11. Obviously, the Pentagon has long since been long repaired, but it's looming and overwhelming on a good day. At the memorial, with flights from Reagan taking off and landing in the background, it's ominous. It is impossible to forget that it wasn't that long ago.

The gravel field contains 184 uplit, steel benches - one for each victim in the building or on the plane - arranged by age, from 3 to 71. A concrete wall, rising from a purposeful three to 71 inches, encircles the memorial on one side. The benches of those who died in the building face the Pentagon; on the plane, the sky. (Or Route 27, but whatev. It's a subtle, but I think meaningful, demarcation.)

We went around 8:30 on Friday, the night before the supermoon, and the place was straight up eerie. Each bench cantilevers over a small running pool that reflects the light with a green glow, which makes it feel like you're walking through both a garden and a cemetery - an odd juxtaposition. In some ways, it reminded me of the Vietnam Memorial or the Korean War Veterans Memorial - more sobering at night, when the contrast of light and dark is so much stronger. I think much of the effect would be lost during the day, when traffic is louder and you can see how overwhelmingly grey the place is. (Yes, they've planted some nice trees, but there's only so much you can do to two acres of gravel, concrete, and steel.)

Our friends have three kids. Their oldest is almost six. It was a bit strange for me to realize that a whole generation of kids who can't remember is already growing up. (Was I in high school that long ago?!) Their little girl asked some questions, but I think the memorial and what it stood for scared her more than anything. (I'm sorry, A. Good luck getting her on a plane now!) Soon after she discovered one of the benches was for a girl scarcely older than her little brother, she announced that it was "time for us to go."

I read some architectural criticisms of the memorial after the fact (*nerd*, I know) and one of them pointed out that the memorial seems almost "nihilistic" in a way, that there is no resolution, there is no understanding of what happened. And unfortunately, I would have to agree. The memorial is unsettling enough to provoke you to remembrance, peaceful enough to provide a sense of calm acceptance, but - reflective of the current state of affairs - there is no meaning, solution, or end to the problem. This is doubly apparent as you exit past the enormous road block and heavily tinted guard station. Where do we go from here?

Ironically, in our case, it was back to the Pentagon City Mall across the street, one of only two places you can park for the Memorial. So ridiculously American it hurts... Regardless, the memorial is impressive. I think it is probably one of my favorite ones.

Have you been to the Pentagon Memorial? What did you think? What about the 9/11 Memorial in New York? I'd love to go there as well.

NTOTD No. 19: Bree's Sweet Treats

Bree's Sweet Treats is a bakery somewhere up north in the wilds of Maryland where I dare not venture for fear of crabs and other deadly Marylandish fauna, but for my birthday my friend Emily bought me a Groupon good for two dozen cookies and half a dozen brownies delivered straight to my safe-in-Virginia door. Freshly baked goods I barely have to roll out of bed for, never mind not-bake myself? It is good to have friends who know you well. ;)

It is also good to be alone all day with three boxes of sweets. Thankfully, I recently bought another Groupon for a one month gym membership, so my two brownies and two cookies are already canceled out for today. Tomorrow? That's another story. ;)

Any plans for this weekend? Tonight we are going to Cafe Rio with some friends - They swear by it. I guess it's a West Coast thing? - followed by a visit to the 9/11 Memorial at the Pentagon. I'm a little nervous about the Memorial, but in a good way. (You know what I mean. Who can forget that feeling in the pit of your stomach? The one we all had for weeks...)

Whatever you're up to, have a great weekend! :)