one love for all

around here: january 2014

re-purposing the fondu pot with hot pot dinner // he's not so excited about the packaging of the christmas package // even auto-correct knows the deal // crazy new england winter // frosted doors in my building // still a lions fan // pretty flowers from my fav // even the first experiment of the year reminds me

what does your january look like? leave a comment!

snow day = crazy, ethnic grocery store adventures

our biweekly grocery trip regularly takes us to the other side of boston, where we are the american-born, white, and monolingual minority.  we have no qualms about taking home some of the *non-traditional* things we stumble across here. usually, we're trying to call each others bluff, but no one gives in, and we try it anyway.  that's how we end up eating frog legs, giant canned sardines, and a regular fave, squid stir-fry.

so after a leisurely brunch at the vegan-friendly, super hipster, allston diner, we wandered across the street to the crazy russian grocery store. i had been to this store before, but greg hadn't, and oh boy, did he get excited. 

a lovely selection of eastern european beverages, but this shelf reminded me of my grammy....

so many pickled things.....

and freshly pickled things

even marmite {you know, like vegamite}

back in september, greg was looking for a local place to find some yummy german sausage for oktoberfest. too bad he didn't know about the selection at this place. even sausage shaped like a piggie, with ears and all!

after your pickled and sausaged dinner, treat yourself to some.....

mmmmmm, ice cake! while we were out and about, we figured we'd stop at the asian place just down the street.

chicken feet anyone? even the package says to *spice up your life!*

or maybe fruit flavored pork jerky, if that's more your style.....

don't confuse your peanut oil with your laundry detergent.....

whirlpools of lobster......

peanut soup with milk, anyone? it has a spoon built into the lid, great for on the go!

alas, we came home with some pretty tame stuff. but, of course i had to have chopsticks with ducks on them, who could say no?

and i finally picked up some loose-leaf tea for MR TEA!!!!

we're not gonna talk about how i think he needs a mohawk, or the fact that i keep calling him mr pee-pants...... :/

how's your winter going? leave a comment!

coat closet, shmoat closet...

first, if you look to the right, you'll see new buttons for all of the ways to stalk me 

my social media stuff, so click and creep away! and a new pin it button on my pics!

as part of my new years resolution, this month i decided to tackle the front coat closet. the poor thing has been neglected since we moved in a year and a half ago.  here is what we started with......

i don't think it ever housed things that we actually used on a daily basis.  mostly just greg's hat collection and things to donate.

the closet isn't deep enough for hangers to hang properly, they just get squished sideways. which is annoying. so we installed some more hooks in the back, to hang the coats greg doesn't wear, but won't get rid of.....

even better are the hooks we put on the door.
the center of the closet door was too thin to hang the rack directly on it, so a leftover piece of 1x4 anchored the hooks perfectly.

scarves hang behind the coats, boots reside on the floor comfortably,

and hats and mittens go on the shelf above. along with the car wash stuff.

overall, it looks good and works well.

now to donate all of the stuff i took out.....

how are your goals going this month? leave a comment!

currently: january 2014

 snuggling under multiple blankets

drinking tea with my booze

making dinners in the crockpot

baking everything else in the oven

captivated by downton abby

wearing 3 layers of pants some days

running in shorts and t-shirts others

counting down to mexico in febuary

frustrated with corporate america

butting heads with patience already

what are you doing this month? leave a comment!

the word: 2014

elise turned me on to alie's one little word concept, and i'm ready to jump in with my own.  this year i want to focus on:
along with patience comes:

practice: just because i can do it perfectly in my head, doesn't mean it will happen that way the first time in the real world

being present: i'm always thinking and planning ahead and that distracts me from what's happeningin the here and now

enjoying the moment: all of that thinking and planning stress me out about what i'm currently doing {or what i think i should be doing :/ }

slowing down: when i start planning and planning and planning, i'm like a run-away train with the over-planning, which just leads to unrealistic expectations and stress

ps, what word do you want to focus on this year? leave a comment!

hello january

 

i would call last month's goals mostly a success, but after a few months of not making my off my lazy butt workout goals, i've decided to put those on the back burner for now. otherwise this month:

• the first 2 are part of my new years resolution.....so no need to start slacking yet. UPDATE: check-mark for the coat closet being totally purged and reworked, but so far i've only done half of what i wanted to do with my sweater.  although, with my type-a/everything has to be planned/and measured/and perfect, i consider just cutting into it to have been a major accomplishment.
• i plan on designing our wedding invites and hopefully addressing the envelopes as well, so i should probably learn how to work a calligraphy pen thingy.. UPDATE: this one was completed in the 11th hour. like the evening of january 31st, squished between the day job and a flight to north carolina for a bridal shower.
• ugh, using the lame *stock* twitter, pintrest and instagram buttons, ugh, lame. i know my way around adobe illustrator and html well enough to make something fancier. UPDATE: wooohooo, this one was finished pretty early, AND i added an adventures&nonsense facebook page, go check it out, if you *like* it, ill <3 you forever.....

ps, what are your goals this month? leave a comment!

well hello 2014!

{via} 

first things first, let's not get ahead of ourselves...i know that it will be mid-march until i don't have to think about what year it is....i always consider this as challenge #1 of the new year {it's a good thing i don't have to write checks too often....}. so, i might as well add a few more to keep me busy for the rest of the year. {ha}

ive decided to focus on 3 large-scale things this year: one thing to be productive, one thing for me, and one thing for others{nice and vague, right?!?!?}. i've broken them down into monthly bits so i can keep track.  that will make it more of a monthly challenge, rather than a mid-year surrender {i hope :/ }.

every month i want to:

1. deep clean & organize one thing/space

i'm such a homebody, but the one thing that stresses me out is clutter. even if i'm too lazy to deal with the giant pile of junk mail, it will still drive me nuts from the corner of my eye. and when we move again, i don't want to box up and lug around stuff i don't even need or want anymore.

2. stitch something for me

i have a long list of stuff i want to stitch for myself. some practical {finally hem my jeans} and some frilly {more party dresses!} some easy {iPad case} and some a little longer {up-cycled picnic quilt}. part of this goal is to use up some of my stash. i've been hording pretty fabric for far tooooo long.

3. send fun mail

i'm not a huge fan of talking on the phone, but i do need to do a better job of keeping in touch with my lovies. so for those i don't see or talk to semi-regularly, expect 12 bits of fun this year.  feel free to reply, but don't feel obligated.  and if you want to join in, drop me a note. we all need something besides bills in our mail boxes.

i've got ideas already listed out for my cleaning & stitchin goals, and birthday cards picked out. they may change as the year goes on, but at least i've got somewhere to start.

happy new year!!!!

ps, what are your resolutions for this year? leave a comment!

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