And said “You ARE painting this right?” so I chuckled and said “well of COURSE!  We can’t sell it looking like this!” thinking I was being funny.  Without even looking at me, she responded “Ok good.  What color are you painting it?” I believe my exact words were:  *blink*

Now, I really would be repainting the kitchen and I realized I had no idea what color would work.  WHAT TO DO!?

ooh right, ask for help.  Crazy idea!

So I asked Nancy for suggestions, and do you know what her brilliant idea was?  You will NEVER GUESS:

Nancy:  Just paint it the same color as your living room
Me:  The light tan color? (as I peek around the corner to make sure I had that right)
Nancy:  Sure, it’s neutral and will make the white pop
Me:  *blink* never thought of that

So we painted.  I can’t even pretend it was really all that hard since it’s a rather small (and ok OLD kitchen) but it was a hell of a lot more fun when my neighbor Catherine came over to help!

I never knew I would like tan in my white kitchen with green counter tops… the consistency with the living room is fantastic.  Yet it still looks different and fresh and new in the kitchen.  All I had to do was ask!  Frankly, I wish I had asked Nancy about 5 years ago.

Funny how sometimes in life that nagging question about  what should you do next is just the same thing you have done before, applied to a different part of the room, situation, you.  Light shines differently on the old thing re-applied to the new space, now it looks like something new and exciting with the added comfort of familiarity.  I’m pondering this nugget of wisdom as we decide what to do after we sell.

What are your next steps?

No, we are not helicopter parents.  Maybe.  Ok not in this case.  This time, we were just both as excited to go visit the National Museum of Natural History as the kids were!  Of course, they have no idea what it is, but figure it’s something exciting.  I haven’t been there since I was a little kid myself.  Which is kinda sad considering I have lived around DC for the last oooh 10+ years.  (ok REALLY sad)

The museum is HUGE so we only did a few parts, mostly extinct creatures and bugs.  It is amazing how crowded this place is for a random Tuesday morning in August.  I cannot even imagine over the weekend.  I am not sure I want to find out, which is probably why I haven’t been there in a few (a lot of) years.  We did have a really nice picnic lunch outside under the shade trees – and the kids literally ran around and around and around and sometimes in a figure eight and sometimes chasing pigeons staying juuuuust out of reach.

The really fun part was riding the school bus with short seats and no leg room through AM rush hour traffic.  And then on the way home, add exhausted kids to that, the bus driver honking at crazy drivers (seriously, who cuts off a school bus in traffic?) and keeping your eyes open.  Once we got back, kids were crying and it was general chaos as they were supposed to have a nap and finish out the day.

My husband and I, however, had grand plans to head home to work on the house.  We have a list of about 25 items that need to be done before we can list the house for sale.  The plan was to tackle at least 2 or 3 of them before it was time to pick up the 4 year old.  Unfortunately, once we got home and had a nice long drink of water (did I mention it was 100 degrees that day?) we made the fatal mistake of sitting on the couch “for just a minute” and promptly fell asleep for an hour and a half.

Why YES!  It WAS refreshing!  And no, not so productive.  But there were boxes!  And packing material!  Which are still strewn about the dining and living room.  This weekend… oh this weekend there will be progress made!  And possibly before and after pictures as motivation to keep on going when I want to just give up.

That’s right – we are selling our cute little house in VA and then… what?  We aren’t really sure yet but have a few ideas.  Ideas that we will explore further once we sell the house and are free to move full steam ahead in whatever direction we choose.  There is a freedom in not owning a home.

Today I figured out that there are more changes going on than just selling our house.  We are embarking on a new adventure!  A new chapter in our lives!  And it is oh so exciting!  And a little bit terrifying.

So what does selling my house have to do with Twitter and Blogging?  Because normally, I have so many things I could write about that I get overwhelmed with possibilities and just stare at the screen, blinking.  After a few minutes of that fun, I check Twitter and Facebook and then HEY! It’s bed time!  Rinse.  Repeat.

Today, my Twitter procrastination propelled me into action when DannyBrown post this tweet:

And as I was falling out of my chair, stammering “EEK my blog is so out of date!  I need to write something!  He has followers who might click on that link!” I responded to Danny’s tweet by re-twetting and pretending I was all calm, cool, and collected:

And then reality hit:  I just promised the twitterverse that I would be updating my blog more regularly.

Now instead of just blinking, I will actually write & publish posts. Or, you know, let down all you twitter people who *might* click on a link.  (it could happen! Maybe.)

This is eerily similar to talking about fixing this or painting that in the house and getting overwhelmed so never actually doing it.  Once we told people (ok my realtor, Nancy Pav) we were going to sell – suddenly, I am painting the kitchen cabinets at 10pm and cleaning out the food pantry on a Sunday afternoon.  AND IT’S FUN!  (Ok and kind of gross, that can of peaches was hiding back there and expired in 2007.  ew.)  So for now, I have a topic and we will see where it goes… adventure!

Thanks a lot DannyBrown, for inspiring my blogging focus, I blame thank you

What do you do on a random Earth Day Thursday in the nation’s capital?  You ask twitter and facebook for ideas.  And then you listen to the sound of… crickets.  Apparently everyone was jealous that I was going to enjoy the day while they worked!

Turns out I didn’t need those ideas anyway, because my BRILLIANT aunt had the best idea ever.  But first, we had to hit Starbucks for some sustenance.  Who am I kidding?  Really it was for the kiddo, because at nearly 4 years old he already has a standard order.  What?  He likes the chocolate milk and the ‘spicy coffee cake’!  I am sure this is totally normal and has nothing to do with my daily habit while I was pregnant.

As I was saying, my Aunt won the idea contest by suggesting we hop on the Metro and head to National Airport.  What is more exciting to an almost 4 year old than AIRPLANES!?  And *gasp* riding on a train!!!  It’s no surprise she understands the young male mind, considering her son is older than me (and always will be!  Favorite oldest cousin!) but she also spends time with her nephews who are my son’s age.  Are you following along there?  Don’t worry, that part isn’t on the test.

Not only was there MUCH excitement over the Metro trains, we needed to change trains so that meant TWO trains, each way!  But also, the giant windows at National let you see the planes landing, taking off, and ‘parking’!

So, yes, we celebrated Earth Day by using public transportation!  Never mind the part about going to watch airplanes guzzle lots of gas, we didn’t add to it by not actually flying anywhere.

Ooh the obsession with motorized vehicles starts so young… maybe soon it will be solar powered motorized vehicles?  You know, for the Earth!

Start planning NOW for your next random day off adventure… you never know what unassuming fun place will turn up!

What do you do when one of your favorite people lives 10 HOURS AWAY and you just don’t want to fly?  Well you find someplace in the middle and meet up of course!

Even better when that person is your husband’s sister and just awesome to hang out with!  I forget sometimes that they are related.  It’s great though, because she is the only person who can possibly make him uncomfortable with conversation!  And she backs me up when he is not quite seeing the light

So we decided we would go on a girls trip by our selves, for some sister-in-law bonding.  Since it was her birthday, she got to choose the location.  Asheville, NC to see the Biltmore House!

I must say, I was all geared up for a cute little town in the Blue Ridge mountains… I did not expect a huge art community and adorable (and tasty!) coffee shops and restaurants.

In the middle of the town was a huge outdoor amphitheater.  apparently all summer local folks just setup there with their drums and everyone else just comes down and dances!  It is truly surreal.  We stumbled there after dinner and I tried to get a photo…

and then the skies opened up!  WOOSH!  RAIN!  I forgot I was in NC until no less than 3 cars stopped and asked us if we needed a ride to get out of the rain.  WOW!  Luckily we were only about 3 blocks from the hotel but we were pretty much DRENCHED by the time we walked into their swanky lobby.  Not sure if it was the squish of our shoes or the giggles and laughter that had people staring at us – either way – we didn’t care!  We were on vacation and having a great time!

The next day we headed to the Biltmore.  This house, it’s not so big, I could totally live there.  Well, as long as I also had the original amount of staff that ran the place.  WOW was it impressive!!  Still, you could see how folks could easily live there – it just had a homey feel in spite of the grandeur.   We did a couple of the extra tours which were completely worth it!  And even had lunch in the old stable, now a bustling restaurant with fantastic food.

We spent all day there and only toured the HOUSE!  I think perhaps another trip is in order to check out all the other places to tour… the gardens, winery, other restaurants, and gift shops!

I don’t know why it never occurred to me to make it when we went home.  It wasn’t until years later and after I was married that I wised up and asked for the recipe.  And even then, I only made it for the first time about 2 weeks ago!

Of course, then I just had to change it up!  It will never match the pumpkin bread made in my grandmother’s kitchen, so I am excited to experiment a little and create a version that suites me and my family.

SO – instead of a loaf  (or two) I made them into muffins, added some cranberries, and used whole wheat flour – and man are they tasty!!  The list of ingredients looks long, this is likely part of why I put making this off for so long… but really, it’s EASY!  I promise!  it’s just a lot of spices, but you dump it all into one bowl and use your mixer.

mmmmmm, muffins…

Pumpkin Muffins with Cranberries and Walnuts

Makes 12 muffins (plus a little extra)

2 Cups of Whole Wheat Flour
1 1/2 Cups of Sugar
1 tsp Baking Soda
3/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Allspice
1/4 tsp Cloves
1/8 tsp Ginger
1/4 Cup of Vegetable Oil
1 Can (or 15oz) of Pumpkin Puree
1/3 cup Water
2 Eggs
1/2 Cup of chopped walnuts
1/2 dried cranberries
Sparkling Sugar (aka decorator sugar, completely optional but PRETTY and adds crunch)

Preheat Oven to 350F

1. Sift together the first 10 ingredients into the mixing bowl
2. Make a well and add gthe vegetable oil, pumpkin, and cold water
3. Blend on medium until incorporated
4. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each
5. Fold in walnuts and cranberries

Let batter rest while you prepare the muffin pan!  (This allows the baking powder/soda to work it’s magic!)

• Start by lining the pans with muffin papers sprayed lightly with cooking spray.  Or you can skip the papers and just spray with cooking spray and coat each of the muffin cups with cinnamon sugar!  YUM!
• Fill the muffin cups to nearly the top of the paper/edge.
• Bake for 30-35 minutes, turning half way through baking time. Muffins are done when a tooth pick in the middle comes out clean or with a few crumbs.  Remove from the oven and transfer to a cooking rack as soon as you can possibly handle them!

I used a mini muffin pan for my left over batter and made minis!  they cooked up in about 20 minutes – gotta watch them closely because the bottoms tend to burn.  let’s just say they are good to taste so you can save the big muffins for sharing!

I was reminded of this when we went to my mom’s for a little vacation.  When we were growing up, my sister, my best friend, and I would all sit around the table with my mom and talk and laugh and paint little ceramic or wood things.  Random things my mother would pick up on sale at craft stores (haha past tense, like she doesn’t still do this!  She SO does).  Once in a while we would *gasp* make our own plaster creatures using molds.  But the fun was more in the painting and chatting!!  Bonus – mom was up on allll the latest high school gossip!  (or bonus was we got to do crafts?  win/win either way!)

Honestly, I kind of forgot how much fun that was until we were at my mom’s last week.  8:30pm two days before we were set to leave and she breaks out the CUTEST little guys to paint.  I should have gotten a picture of the huge box of paints.  Let’s just say the 4 colors that comes with the set are not sufficient (and not enough paint!) to make cute critters!

AAhh ok guess which one my artist husband painted and which ones I painted?  I admit it, I was intimidated when he sat down to join us.  He has actual talent, not to mention training!

The best part?  It soooo doesn’t matter!  We had a great time just painting and chatting

(ok ok!  in the picture of the four, he painted the 3rd one and I painted the rest!  My mom was too chicken to send me a picture of the ones she did.  *ahem*)

I cleaned a little bit this morning – just enough to be presentable, but not as much as I would have liked.  I suffer from the-more-I-clean-the-more-I-need-to-clean syndrome and knew I had someone coming over at 8:30 9:30 this morning.

Once here, Catherine and I spent the rest of the morning making the changes to her site with my guidance.  It’s a work in progress, of course, and she got some nagging items checked off her to do list along with more knowledge of how to make changes on her own.  She is such an energetic and inspiring person!  I always learn something and am more energized after our meetings.

Finally, I checked something off my list – I bought a sofa!  Ok, technically it’s a love seat because our living room is tiny.  We have been without one for months now while I have been researching (‘research’ is code for ‘picky’).  I am looking forward to sitting next to my son and maybe my husband.  (ok , I am really excited to rearrange all the furniture in the living room multiple times.  This is normal, right?)

The rest of the day was spent with technology – caught up with neglected facebook friends, chatted away on IM and twitter all while browsing the random links!  Guilt free!  I’m technically on vacation!  (all about the technical)

I acknowledge that I didn’t necessarily accomplish my task list of de-cluttering and reorganizing my house.  But I DID help a friend, make a major household purchase, and reconnect with the people in the computer.  That’s more important to me anyway.

I prefer people to dust bunnies.

So, YES – today was very productive and worth every bit of the 8 hours of vacation time!

What would you do on a guilt free day off? 

I started with a recipe from my very favorite, King Arthur Flour, for Lemon Squares.

Since I didn’t actually have any lemons, I decided the sensible solutions was to use the limes.  And then blueberries.  Fruit is good for you!  This should count for a fruit serving, don’t you think?

Lime and Blueberry Squares (adapted from KAF)

Crust
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup All-Purpose Flour
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
zest of 1 lime (or two, or lemon!)

Topping
4eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
4 tablespoons lemon juice (approximate, I used the juice of 2 limes)
4 tablespoons All-Purpose Flour
a pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350°F

Make the crust!

Cut the butter into the flour and confectioners’ sugar and press into a 9-inch square pan. Bake 25 minutes or until light brown.

Make the yummy topping!

While the crust is baking, combine all the topping ingredients into a bowl and mix well.  When the crust comes out of the oven and is still hot, pour the topping over it and put it back in the oven to bake for about 30-35 minutes.

Let it cool and then cut into squares, dust with confectioners sugar and devour!

I am a total sucker for gadgets and technology.  This crosses over into my  my love of cooking.  Ok mostly I love baking, but occasionally I actually cook something.  This leads to my passion for local and organic produce, eco-friendly, and green technologies.  (Full circle with the technology!).

I am also married to an artist.  While I have always appreciated good design and art, I never really understood WHY until we met.  He has encouraged me to pursue my creative side, hence my random craft projects, photography, and paintings!  It’s ok to laugh, and I hope it inspires you to just try something for the fun of it!

All of this comes together (haha) with social media!  I find my self devouring lots of social media information and then turning it around to help people when they get stuck in their small businesses and collegues in larger corporations who aren’t using this stuff every day and are then asked to ‘make it work’ (easier said than done, for sure!)

So if any of this is remotely interesting to you – go click on that ‘subscribe’ button over there and comment often!