Making Our List and Checking It Twice

In less than 48 hours we will be boarding a plane bound for Guatemala (via Dallas). I can’t tell you how excited we both are for this trip. Even if it rains, which it might, it will still be warm.

Micah and I have decided to pack light and only take backpacks with us. We’ll be moving around a lot, so we’ll need luggage that’s easy to move on the cobblestone or dirt streets of the towns we’ll be in. You know what backpacks mean right? Limited space for souvenirs. Many trips ago, Micah and I came up with a souvenir buying plan. We decided that we only buy Christmas ornaments and food/drink stuff. The Christmas ornament thing works really well, particularly when we travel domestically. On the whole, WE (note the we) come home with just spices, an ornament and the occasional cookbook. Of course, Italy was a whole other thing, but technically, we only brought home our previously agreed upon items. It was my sister who brought home all the dishes (which we use and LOVE).

Remember the WE above? Well, I said we because I don’t always follow the rule when I travel alone. During my last trip to Tanzania I brought home fabric, a few paintings, spices (which are allowed), scarves (for presents) and the hanging wooden monkeys. Bad Catherine. 

Last week I was sure that we could follow the ornament/food rule pretty well on the trip. There isn’t much room in out bags for too much stuff anyway. Of course, that was last week. On Monday I told my co-worker that I’d be gone next week because I was headed to Guatemala for a vacation. Turns out my co-worker lived there for 2 years and had plenty to suggest. One of his suggestions was an extra duffle bag for souvenirs. I told him about our souvenir plan and he laughed. He told me the textiles and crafts as so amazing (and cheap) in Guatemala that it would be silly to come back with just a bags of coffee and a few small things. Normally I would brush this comment off but it came from someone who travels 10 times as much as I do (and has seen the gamut of souvenirs) and because he is a straight man that HATES shopping. We’ve had discussions about his dislike of shopping before. If my co-worker says shopping must be done, then I believe him.

One of the items on our to see list is a visit to the Sunday market in Chichicastenango. I knew it was one of the largest markets in the country but didn’t know what that really meant until I googled it. We are going to be in souvenir buying trouble.

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It’s a good thing I’m not really a big knitter.  Look at that yarn!  I could see the tapestries being a problem though. 

To give our shopping purpose, I decided to make a list of ALL the people we’ll need to buy presents for throughout the year. I’m one of the those annoying people who has my Christmas shopping done by Thanksgiving. I actually think I’m about a fourth of the way done right now because of the Tanzania trip. I feel like a list, in addition to bringing a smallish extra bag, is a good solution to what could be a shopping problem. In general, I like to buy stuff (I may not need) when I travel because I think it’s a great way to give to communities in need without giving. Giving to people forced to beg can get really tricky and can get dangerous. Check out this clip from the Haiti No Reservations episode to see what I mean. There was a recent New York Times article about this very issue.

So, a shopping we will go. I’m kind of excited but can already anticipate being overwhelmed. Hopefully the list shopping list will help with that.

Do have a shopping plan for when you travel?  Also, if you are someone we’d normally give a gift to, let us know if there is something in particular you’d like to receive when the time comes.

This Is Spring?

Well, spring sprung in Seattle a few weeks ago and it looks like it recoiled fast.  Today looks like this here:

Rainy, cold and windy.  Sounds like Spring right?  Luckily for us, while it looks like winter outside, it’s definitely spring inside.  We have so many beautiful things sprouting

Beans, tomatoes, melons, broccoli and brussel sprouts.

The beans look really healthy!

Cress!  I think I’m having cress and butter tea sandwiches for lunch today.  I feel like a 5 years old running around the house daily checking up on all my sprouts.  I can wait to get some of these in the ground in a few weeks.

I hope it warms up and starts to look like spring soon.  Does it looks like spring where you are?

With and Without Recipes

We’ve been trying new recipes and exploring new cookbooks here at 4024.  We were getting tired of our routine dishes and wanted to branch out.  I’ve watched Everyday Italian with Giada di Laurentiis for years and have always thought the food looked good but for some reason never thought about trying one of her recipes out.  I picked up her book (with the same name) and discovered it was full of yummy sounding recipes that seemed pretty simple.  On one of Micah’s days to cook, he decided to try out one of her delicious looking sauceless dishes, Orecchiette with Spicy Sausage and Broccoli Rabe.

This was seriously really good, cost us $8 in ingredients (from whole foods!) and was put together in 20 or so minutes.  We’re adding this to our list of regular recipes.

Orecchiette with Spicy Sausage and Broccoli Rabe (from Everyday Italian by Giada Di Laurentiis)

Ingredients:

• Salt
• 2 bunches of broccoli rabe, stalks trimmed and quartered crosswise
• 12 ounces of dried orecchiette pasta
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound spicy sausage, casings removed
• 3 garlic cloves
• Pinch of dried crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add the broccoli rabe and cook until crisp-tender, about 1 minute.  Strain the broccoli rabe, reserving all the cooking liquid.  Set the broccoli rabe aside.  Cook the orecchiette in the same pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes.  Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.

Meanwhile, in a large, heavy skillet, heat the oil over a medium flame.  Add the sausage and cook, breaking up with a spoon, until the sausage is brown and juices form, about 8 minutes.  Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add the broccoli rabe and toss to coat.  Add the pasta and enough reserved cooking liquid, 1/4 cup at a time, to moisten.  Stir the Parmesan cheese, salt to taste, and pepper into the pasta mixture.  Transfer to pasta bowl and serve.

We halved the recipes since there was just two of us.  We have enough with half the recipe to have seconds.  The recipe is suppose to serve 4 but I’d say 5 or 6.  I’m hungry just thinking about this recipe.

On Monday night I threw together a saucy Asian inspired dish without a recipe and was pleasantly surprised by how it turned out.

Shrimp with Tri-Colored Peppers in Oyster Sauce

• 1/2 pound shrimp, deveined and cleaned
• 1 red, yellow and green bell pepper sliced into strips
• 1/2 a medium red onion, chopped into large pieces
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon of ginger, minced
• 2-3 tablespoons of oyster sauce
• 1-2 tablespoons of cooking oil (your choice)
• 1/8 cup of water
• Pepper to taste

Heat the oil in saute pan over medium heat.  Add garlic and ginger and let if cook for a minute, just enough to really smell it.  Add the onions and bell peppers and cook for about 2 minutes.  Add oyster sauce and coat the all the veggies.  Add the shrimp, water and pepper, cook until shrimp starts to go pink.  Turn off heat and let the shrimp cook through with remaining heat in the pan.  Serve over rice.

Again, this was better than I thought it would be.  I didn’t need salt because oyster sauce is pretty salty.  Actually, I could have had this without the actual shrimp, though I think the shrimp flavoring to the sauce is important.  I think we’ll be having this again too.

I excited that we’ve these were successful dished.  I can wait to have either again.  Do you cook without recipes?

Advice for Landlords

Micah and I are going into the Landlord business.  If you follow us on Facebook or Twitter, then you know we’ve been helping my parents rent out 5 townhouse/condos.  My parents have had the land for about 20 or so years.  There used to be a triplex they rented on it which was in need of some MAJOR repairs.  Eventually they decided to demolish the triplex and put up two building which would amount to 5 units total.

When they started building, Dadtractor asked me if we would manage the property for them.  He said he wasn’t very good at selecting tenants (which he wasn’t) and he knew most tenants like to communicate via email (which he doesn’t).  He offered me a VERY small fee for taking on the project as he knew it would require a lot of work at first then a couple of hours every month.  I agreed.  I knew Dadtractor managing the property would make Momager crazy, plus the extra cash helps.  Anyone else notice food prices increasing lately?

Anyway, I’ve been showing the apartment for a week and have 3 of the 5 units rented.  I have 1 unit sort of spoken for (I haven’t seen an application) and 1 unit completely available.  Not too bad for a rookie.

Being on the other side of the renting relationship is interesting.  Renters are kind of crazy.  One person asked me if we were willing to install wood floors in the bedroom (we already have the carpets) but keep the rent the same.  Um, hello?  The cost is over $1000 more for materials PLUS the labor?  Are you smoking something?  I also like the people who tell me they are looking for a place in August and would like to put an apartment on hold.  The apartment is available on April 1.  I asked them if they were going to pay for April-July (of course they weren’t but they made the first silly request) and they said no but they could guarantee they would sign a 1 year lease.  That’s OK, I’ll pass. 

Some requests are reasonable though.  Can a gate be installed so the dog doesn’t run away?  Sure.  Can you guarantee there wouldn’t be a rent increase next year? Well, no BUT I can guarantee it won’t be more than $25 more a month.  Can I have the bigger 2 bedroom for $50 less.  Sorry.  We do have a smaller 2 bedroom for $100 less though.  All fare requests.

Now I’m putting together the contract and adding a few extra clauses like the temporary shared use of the backyard.  There is a backyard that we think everyone can share.  We’re giving the arrangement until the end of the summer.  If we get too many complaints, we’ll revise the use of it.  We’re also saying dogs HAVE to be supervised at all times and picked up after.

We’re hoping to be really good landlords.  We don’t expect too much and are pretty flexible.  I’m trying to think about all the really good landlords we’ve had and what made them great.  All I can come up with was that they NEVER raised the rent, they we’re reasonably responsive to requests to fix things and they were understanding when we forgot to pay the rent.  Rent was due the day we got married and I completely forgot until we were in Australia 3 days later.  We scrambled to get our parents to call our landlord and get a check to him.  He was totally great and told not to worry about the rent until we got back.  So awesome.

So, for all you current and pervious renters, what advice would you give new landlords?  We’re all ears.

Spring Gardening

One of the things I wanted to do last weekend was get the garden ready for spring.  Since we’re pretty sure we’ll be around for most of the summer (just short local trips), I’m super excited about gardening. 

Our friend Paul gave me a huge bag full of seeds a couple months ago when he and his wife were downsizing for a big move.  I looked through his seeds and pulled out all the ones that we’d want to plant and that required planting indoors first.  I had a container of my own that we went though too.

I decided to go with one of those starter trays with peat pellets.  I did it a couple years ago and had a very successful garden.  We had 5 or 6 varieties of tomatoes, squash, arugula and bunch of other things.  Last year I planted in biodegradable pots.  My plants weren’t as strong for some reason.  I also found they took up a lot of room indoors. 

I labeled the rows so I could easily note what I had planted which includes the following:

• Tomatoes: Arkansas Heirloom, Sarah Schwarze, Brandywine Heirloom, Black Cherry, San Marzano and Roma Paste.
• Beans/Peas: Sweet, Sugar Snap, Bush and Cherokee Trail of Tears
• Greens: Giant Red Celery, Rubine Brussels Sprouts and Melissa Savoy Cabbage
• Vines: Petit Gris de Rennes Heirloom Melon, Patty Pan Squash
• Others: Flat of Italy Onion, English Lavender, Habanero, Mary Washington Asparagus and Ashwork Heirloom Corn

We also have some seeds that need to go straight into the ground like French breakfast radishes, arugula (Rocket), onions (I forget what kind) and endive.  I want to add a lettuce like butterhead speckles or little gem romaine.

It’s a lot, I know but it’s likely not all will sprout and as usual, Momager and some friends will probably get a bunch of starts.

In addition to things we can eat, I also planted a bunch of flowers.  I decided to take my old veggie patch and turn it into a flower patch.  I noticed the cats have made their way into in over the winter and turned it into their own personal honeybucket.  Seriously, it was super gross.  I decided I couldn’t grow things we’d eat there so I planted a bunch of flower seeds.

It took an hour of clearing and scooping cat poop to get it to look like this.  I also readied our strawberry pot for planting.

The branches are to keep the cats out of it.  I found another pot outside they decided to do their business in.  You have to take every precaution in our garden.  I purchased some strawberry plants and a few climbing rose starts we intend to plant this weekend.  I realized AFTER I put the soil in the strawberry pot that I had intended to paint it.  Not sure that will happen now.

Besides outdoor gardening, I did a little indoor gardening.  I started some herbs (rosemary, sage, cilantro, dill), replanted our existing basil plant and also planted some cress.

I’m kind of excited about the cress because it’s already sprouting.  I used Ikea drink stirrers/olive forks as plant markers.  We had a ton of plastic ones we don’t really need since we were gifted cool reusable ones a couple years back.

I’m excited for our garden (again, but it will be better than last year) and all of the things house plants we’re growing (curry and Peruvian purple pepper).  We have all sorts of plants for the garden including a retaining wall inspired by this:

apartment therapy

I’ve been in LOVE with this planter since I saw it last year and we’re finally going to do something about it this summer!

Anyone else started their spring gardens?  Anyone want to share starts?

Framing Success!

The framing set we ordered for the elephant painting came last week and I was DYING to put it together.  We went super fancy and got the linen insert to go with the frame.  Of course I forgot to take pictures of the process. 

The linen insert was fairly easy to put together.  The instructions said I needed a drill but I managed to screw everything in without one.  The hardest part was waiting for the wood glue to dry and not getting the white linen dirty.

We went with the floating metal frame.  Again, it was really easy to put together and all I needed was a screwdriver.  The instructions were easy to follow and package came with everything I needed except the hanging wire.

The frame was an antique black with hints of red on the dots that complement the red in the painting. 

I highly recommend American Frames.  The site is easy to navigate, you can email customer service and get an answer within a day and the product is easy to put together.  I found the prices to be SO much better than Michael’s (at least 1/4 of the price even after the 40% off coupon) and the quality of the product better. 

I plan to pick up some picture frame wire today and hopefully this beauty will be up before I go to bed tonight. 

I can wait to see this on the wall.

Happy Framing!

Weekend To Dos

We have a VERY full weekend at 4020.  Our frame kit from American Frame arrived and needs some assembly.  We’ve got an open house we’re running for some condos we’re renting for my parents on Saturday plus breakfast with friends, snowshoeing on Sunday morning and all the rest of the usual weekend errands and cleaning. 

I’m hoping it will stay dry and we can make a little progress in the garden.  Plus, I have a few house plants that have outgrown their new homes.  Maybe something like this is in order:

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Of course we have to make time for all the March Madness.  Our UW Huskies are playing tonight, so I doubt we’ll get much done today!  Go Dawgs!

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Who are you cheering for this weekend?  We hope everyone has a wonderful and madness filled weekend! 

Lenten Sacrifices

For lent I gave up a couple things.  I do this every year and am 99% successful.  There was the year I gave up meat only to realize that I had bacon pieces in a salad 3 days into lent.  This year one of things I gave up was shopping online.  I do most of my shopping online because it’s convenient and 9 times out of 10 I can get a better deal.  It was a hard decision to make but I knew

So far it’s going OK.  There have been a few moments of temptation but nothing too bad. It helps to NOT read any of the emails featuring discounts or special sales.  Over the weekend I won a $50 CSN gift code from Linda at Silly Little Mischief.  It was good until a few days after Easter but I knew if we didn’t use it right away, we’d forget about it.  Of course I couldn’t use it but WE could.

I told Micah we had a $50 to spend at CSN and that he should use it for something we could use for the house.  I gave him a few hints (throw pillows, gardening tools, floor lamp) and of course he ignored them all and purchased these:

Beer Can Chicken Roaster anyone?

OK, I’ll admit that we need some help in the garage.  Gardening season is upon us and our tools need a place to live.  I’m still not sold on the beer can chicken griller thing.  Every time we grill something, we always throw a chicken on after to take advantage of the already hot coals.  On more than one occasion, the chicken has gone up in flames for one reason or another.  I like a good grilled chicken but I’m not sure this would help.

Oh well.  It was free money.  What would you have purchased with the gift code?

First Quarter Tripping

I feel like we’ve been away so much the first 3 months of the year.  OK, maybe I was just away a lot.  I was gone almost all of January spending the first few weeks in Tanzania and Zanzibar then coming home for less than 48 hours before jumping back on a plane headed for Tucson.  I had promised to visit my sister for her birthday.

We didn’t do too much in Tucson since she lives a few hours from there.  We did spend a day in the super cute mining town of Bisbee which may have been my favorite day and place we checked out.

We started the day with shopping.  Fee (above) and I really wanted a turquoise necklace so we tried on every.single.one we could afford.

After shopping for necklaces, we of course had to shop for Christmas ornaments.  I stumbled upon the nicest couple in one of the indoor shopping areas who were selling the handcrafted ornaments above for $5 (!!) each.  I ended up with one of the pueblo dwellings and the white ball with the chilies down the front.  She even cut me a deal and gave them both to me for $7. 

After all the shopping, we headed to lunch.  We found the cutest place with some of the best Mexican food I’ve had in a while.  I had the citrus marinated pork tacos with roasted corn off the cob and THE BEST black beans ever.

I really like that the food wasn’t smothered in swiss or cheddar cheese.  I could do with a taco now.  After tacos we headed to the Queen Mine Tour (also in Bisbee).  As far as mine tours go, it was fun.  I think the best part was the train we rode into the mine and the outfits we had to wear.

On our last day of the trip we went on a walking tour of Tucson.  My sister and Fee were in search of the perfect cactus to pose in front of.  It took a little while but we finally found it!

The visit to see my sister was fun.  Lots to eat, lots of sun and great company!

In February, Micah, Izzy and I headed to Mt. Rainier to go snowshoeing with our friend D.  We didn’t get a ton of snowshoeing in because most of the trails were on avalanche alert but we did get a good session in.

It was a total whiteout.  Everything looked like it was glowing.

D went to check out a potential train but came up empty handed.  The snow was too deep.

I forgot my hat so Micah graciously let me use his.  I know he was cold but put on a brave face and yellow sunglasses to mask his discomfort.

We wished we had more time there but were happy with what we got.  We hope to get a few more snowshoeing trips in before the season is over.

So of course our last trip of the quarter was to Santa Barbara for a long weekend.  Micah’s brother and sister-in-law were going to be there with the kids over Spring Break visiting Micah’s parents.  We decided to head down because we haven’t seen them since Christmas 2009.

We spent first day hanging out and getting the boys settled.  On Sunday we started with the Botanic Gardens followed by lunch on the water.  After lunch the boys had a nap while the adults did a little wine tasting and went to the courthouse to check out the views. 

For dinner we headed to Micah’s Uncle and Aunt’s house.  Micah’s Uncle and Aunt don’t have green thumbs, they have green arms.  Check out their backyard garden.

Our pictures don’t do this garden justice.  I don’t know if you can see it but on the left in the picture above is a chicken house that puts most people’s tree houses to shame. Everything they grow is organic. We want to be just like them when we grow up.

On the last day we headed to the beach with the boys.  It was the first time either of them had seen the ocean.

It was kind of cloudy in the morning but the sun came out eventually.

All in all a great weekend and a great first quarter of travel.  We’ve got Guatemala coming up in a few weeks followed by London in May for me.  We have plans for Whistler in the summer and were offered Micah’s parents’ condo and car in July.  If we can swing it (financially) we may be headed back to Santa Barbara. 

Anyone else do any traveling since the start of the year?

Back to Reality

We had a lovely long weekend in Santa Barbara filled with family, sun, food and little beach time.

We were sad to leave everyone, particularly the little guys, but are happy to be sleeping in our own beds and to see Izzy.

Despite being away, we couldn’t escape the events of Japan.  We hope everyone who can give will give a little to the amazing aid organizations helping out in Japan. 

One great (and pretty) way to give is to pick up this poster from W + K Studios.  All the profits will go towards relief in the area.  Since I have given up online shopping, we’ll be donating the old fashion way with a check to the Red Cross. 

We have more Santa Barbara pictures to share tomorrow along with a few other trips we’ve taken in the last 3 months.

Santa Barbara Bound

Happy Friday Everyone!  We’re excited for the weekend because we’re headed to sunny (hopefully) Santa Barbara. Micah spent much of his youth up and down the California coast but this will be my first time to the city.  When I think of Santa Barbara, I think of watching reruns to the soap opera (of the same name) poorly dubbed into Russian.  Hopefully this trip will change that.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Lounging in the Family Room

I think I promised to post pictures of the progress we’ve made in the TV/Family room 6 months ago.  Every time I cleaned it up, it got messy.  Then I couldn’t find the camera.  Then I forgot about the pictures.  Anywho, here is the progress we’ve made.

The room gets great light, even when it’s gloomy out.

One thing we need to do is get more pillows made.  The couch is a little saggy but it’s super comfy. 

We picked up the ABC poster at Ikea.  Micah LOVED it as soon as he saw it.  We got the red curtains on Overstock.com. 

Izzy is normally scared of this chair but braved it yesterday.  She lasted about 15 seconds before she freaked out and ran away. 

We got the rug at CB2 for less than $100.  I didn’t think I’d like it but I love the way it gives the room a little pop but also ties the room together.

On our list of things to do are pillows, new casters for the fake Eames chair, a way to hide the Surround Sound wires and sort out the entry table.

The Great Closet Purge

I mentioned on Monday that I had this sudden need to purge.  I’ve been thinking about it for weeks.  I don’t know if it’s the new year or what.  On Saturday Micah and I went shopping because he was in need of some new dress shirts.  He has a TON but they are wearing out and all at the same time.  Don’t you hate when that happens?  He only found one shirt but I, of course, found a few t-shirts for spring/summer.  I came home and couldn’t find anywhere to put my new clothes.  All my drawers were stuffed, there were clothes laying on top of the clothes hanging in the closet.  I also had clothes on the chair in our room.  It was all too much!

The Befores:

Clothes everywhere!  I randomly decided I would ONLY keep 150 pieces of clothing at a time not including socks and other under garments.  Every time I buy something, I have to get rid of something.  I slowly put together a list that included: 5 pairs of work pants, 10 t-shirts, 2 bathing suits (one for exercise, one for sunning), 5 summer miscellaneous items (linen pants), etc.  I didn’t think I could get down to 150 but I got to 130 and didn’t have more to add.  I decided to add things like 5 gift items to the list and event specific items like clothes I only wear when I travel or snow pants.  I might even add coats and winter items (hats and gloves). 

After 3 hours of trying stuff on and sorting through piles of clothes, I was now left with this:

Look at all the room!  I eventually filled two huge garbage bags full of clothes that I never wear, weren’t flattering or didn’t fit me.  TWO BAGS!  Why did I have so much?  I also filled 1/2 a bag with clothes that fit (but I couldn’t breath in) or almost fit.  I decided that I would try them on every after 30, 60 and 90 days.  I’ve been working out more and decided if they didn’t fit me in 90 days, out they go. 

Through this process, I learned a little about myself. 

1.  I like pink and grey t-shirts

2.  I prefer cardigans to pullover sweaters

3.  All my summer lightweight tops are navy or white.

4.  I buy clothes even when they don’t fit at the time of purchase (which will stop!)

5.  I have more dresses with teal than any normal person should have.

6.  There are some staples I just don’t have.

My next task is to go though my under garments and throw out things that need to be replaced.   After that, maybe shoes?  That’s going to be hard though.

So, do you think you could limit yourself to 150 pieces of clothing?  What about 100?