bit of a holiday break ....

Just want to pop in and say I'm here, but not currently reading or writing. On holiday hiatus. very busy here ... chasing homework, sending out boxes of presents, knitting like a madwoman, packing for traveling .... and other assorted important odds and ends. The next month exactly will be a whirlwind. Gosh, do I ever nest when I want to? Lol ... maybe when grad school is over. Um, not that I do much there until the last minute. Sewing and guitar playing, where to fit 'em in? Goodness.

Well, anyhow happy christmas to you and yours and I'll do my best to pop in here and there over the next four weeks.

much love,

Karen

tis the season

living room coffee table


this guy *insisted* on loading sideways ... sorry lol :-) soon that sleigh will be filled with a small holiday indulgence, lots of hershey's kisses! my parents have done it that way for years. i painted that sleigh that i once found at a craft store. fun ...


the new 'hood, fall

Hi, dear readers.

It's been so long since I've posted with pictures, but I have plenty that I just loaded onto my computer, so I'll try and illustrate some more :-) ... I guess it was just time for a break from all that, especially with my life in topsy-turvy mode over the last 2 months. All is moved in now, and things are more or less settled (there are a few small piles of junk to sift through...)

I wanted to share this very nice way to do laundry: my best friend got me these amazing soap nuts.




You stick a few of them into one of the 3 small canvas drawstring bags that comes with the nuts, and I like about 4 drops of peppermint essential oil. Your clothes will smell incredible! And it's all very eco-friendly ... no more plastic bottles for detergent. It also helps a second-world country (Brazil in this case, I believe). So I'd rather use these than make my own. The nuts can be reused several times, as well, and they compost, obviously. :-) Thank you, Sarah!!

I've been promising to let you in on my financial plans. Well ... basically, me being the non-type-A person I am .... it's very loosely organized, mainly in my head. And of course, being this horrible hole-in-pocket spender I've always been, I've stupidly plundered away most of my current student loan ... yep, the one I promised myself I'd save ... The good news is, I recently checked my credit score, and it had gone up 40 points!! My first goal is to have it get up 20 more points, then 50 more from there ... and then I'll be in GREAT shape. I'm not debt-free of credit cards at the moment, but that's due to moving and Christmas travel money I had to spend ... and for just a FEW christmas presents. I started an online savings account which has several hundred dollars in it. After the holidays, I'm going to put my holiday money and tax refund into it, too. And, now that I have my dream apartment and don't need any more furniture, paint, etc., I am going to squirrel away a few hundred dollars from each subsequent paycheck until my last one in May. I have this dream of buying a home in a few years ... but with all the current craziness and confusion surrounding homebuying I'm more than content to rent for now and let the nest egg build. Maybe it won't be for a home ... I have a few other lofty ideas, too ;-) ... But here I am, having just turned 30, with the squalor of my twenties behind me. If I don't begin to SERIOUSLY save now, I'm in big trouble even five years down the road.







It's taken me nearly two years to get to this point: living more simply by stockpiling foods in bulk and cooking everything in scratch (I still have the remnants of my bad restaurant-eating habit to deal with ...), learning how to knit and bake (and now, barely, to sew!) to offset the cost of gift-giving times, and being gentler on the earth (which also saves money at gift-giving times, such as using baskets from the goodwill, scrap yarn, and fabric instead of paper, these are just a handful of frugal ideas out of hundreds). I'm coming up on three years vegetarian, and am trying to eat mostly vegan. I'm in a good place, I've arrived where I'm feeling comfortable, now I just need to kick up my feet a bit more and reap the early rewards of this lifestyle.

Another thing I've decided to work on is my night-owl tendency. Mornings have NEVER been fun for me, I wake up 15 minutes before I need to dash from the house. I hate it, but I feel like my mind and body just can't get along when morning comes. Well, I read one guy's blog (he's some kind of lifestyle motivator person) and he suggested going to bed whenever you feel sleepy, whether that's 8 p.m. or 1 a.m. .... but ALWAYS waking up at the same time, no matter what. He adds up the extra time you'll get every day and it equals many many weeks a year ... or something like that. I've dreamed of being a morning person for years. While he says born night owls generally function on autopilot rather than being Mr./Ms. Cheerful as soon as they spring out of bed at 5 a.m., you WILL get used to getting up when the alarm is going off at the same time each day, and you won't just turn it off and go back to sleep. And your going-to-bed times will more or less even out. He suggests practicing getting up as soon as the alarm goes off during your waking hours by simulating your nighttime conditions ... doing this for a few days, twice a day, with 3 to 10 repetitions each so it becomes ingrained into your subconscious. Well, it's worth a try, I guess ....

With these things, finances and self-improvement, so much of it is literally sucking it up, setting your "best intentions" aside, and just finally, finally DOING what you know is going to make your life better. You have to supercede the mind, truly! Mind over matter...? Hm. We shall see where it brings me. I'm hoping a nice nest-egg buildup.

So this mini-break, as they say in Britain, has been absolutely wonderful. I've done much: walking, reading, knitting. Today I've made adzuki bean stew, oatmeal/raisin scones, and a simple dish of tofu, broccoli, and rice. I've seen a play, I've babysat, I've gotten (a little...grr) homework done, I've cleaned house. I've slept 8-9 hours a night. I've put up my Christmas decorations, and started packing to go home to New England in three weeks. It's a very busy, but good, time of year. Just 14more school days until vacation .... and a local performance of the Nutcracker ballet!

Hope you all are enjoying the start to the holiday season and not going too crazy at the shops. I plan on having a nice mix of locally bought presents/handmade, and being done with it. Christmas is about family and friends, and not much more than that, in my opinion.

Happy week, everyone. Here are some pictures of late:


hard at work, local "mighty kindness" festival


friend holly's sprouting demo


new vintage skirt, downtown coffeehouse with art on the walls and live music and specialty beer on tap




school leaf-raking

Peace and light,

Karen

Peaceful posting.

Writing this on the first night of a five-day break from school. Spent most of the day organizing menu plans and my workspace for homework ... and eating (spaghetti with spinach, mushrooms and homemade vegan pesto..erm ... three bowlsful, but i only had lunch, not breakfast...) ... and watching movies and planning christmas presents and knitting.

on monday, celebrated turkey-free thanksgiving with a delicious meal cooked by a vegan chef trained by another chef friend of mine, and shared with like-minded vegetarian and vegan company. Did you know that I'm trying to convert to vegan? It's hard, but only sometimes. Most days I marvel at how much fruit/veg I consume. Your whole energy vibrates differently when you don't eat meat. Your whole outlook changes, your health changes. It's an incredibly powerful thing, and of course it's kind and gentle to both animals and our battered earth.

This year, I am thankful for my family and their health, for beginning a new decade of my life, for the best friends ever, for the ability to purchase and make from scratch delicious, organic, local, healthy food, for the ability to donate both food and money to those less fortunate, for my new AMAZING apartment (yes, there will eventually be pictures...), for my newfound determination to SAVE money for something good in my near future. I'm thankful to live in a vibrant, caring community of people. I'm very thankful for all of you ... your blogs continually inspire me to keep on keeping on with forging a path of voluntary simplicity, despite sometimes feeling like an island of eccentricity in an increasingly consumerist, suburban, cookie-cutter world. I'm thankful for a Democratic president, and health care reform (PLEASE please with a public option...). For an older car that still works beautifully. For yoga. For the higher energies that surround and sustain us. For the sacred feminine.

Have a wonderful, relaxing weekend. Mine will be spent entirely out of the shops. I'll be home, homeworking, knitting christmas gifts, going out to see a play, babysitting, and doing laundry. Perhaps taking a walk or a yoga class or two, we'll see.

Peace to you, and happy thanksgiving.

Karen

i'm here, just been living it.

The moving dust has finally settled.

Recently, I haven't been around blog/camera land much. Hope I'm forgiven. I really needed to get out and really LIVE life for a while (despite the hit my bank account took, even). Something about turning 30, which I've done pretty seamlessly and successfully (and I feel 21!).

Things I've done:

yoga, three or four classes a week.

Monday night salsa dancing

local music shows

birthday/housewarming party (last night!)

new local restaurants/old favorites with friends

food demonstration for vegan pesto for an earthsave group

vegan thanksgiving (this will actually take place on monday)

upcoming: the nutcracker, as performed by the louisville ballet

I've been cooking again, too. Good, warming stuff. Homemade soups, chili, bean stews, yummy bars and bread and scones.

thanksgiving weekend: five-day montessori homework fest. after that, a small amount of christmas shopping and knitting of a couple dishcloths and scarves for said holiday. this year, i'm spending a weekend in chicago and riding the train home to connecticut.

i'm sure you all understand that sometimes, life just needs to be lived, computerland be damned. i love coming back to your blogs, though, and becoming inspired all over again.

promise to have a finances post soon.

love to you,

karen

Regular posting to resume soon ... stay tuned!

::: this is the room that will be the sewing/TV room.


Hello dear readers,

Well, the movers finally arrived yesterday and the furniture has been moved in. I've been blessed with two days off from school plus a weekend, the majority of which has been/will be spent nesting into things here. Organizing, putting away the mess. . Nursing this cold? swine flu? sinus mess? .... reading ... knitting ... planning, always planning. menus, trips home to New England, a weekend in Chicago, train rides. I have to figure homework in there at some point. I really like that I'm looking forward to going to work these days. I am blessed to be working with a wonderful woman who heads the classroom. I am grateful to have a job as a teacher. It makes getting up early easier.

So the home doesn't quite feel like "home" yet .. there is furniture now, but it feels like I'm sleeping in someone else's home.

I've been too tired/overwhelmed/sickish to take or post many pictures, but I assure you I have a ton saved up. I've been making delicious meals lately ... an amazing pear/butternut squash/ginger soup, saag aloo (vegan creamed spinach, an Indian dish), pumpkin/chocolate chip bars, and zucchini chocolate chip bread. Up next: vegan enchiladas and thai-curry pumpkin soup. Soup is best this time of year.

It's looking like washcloths and scarves are the items I'm knitting up for Christmas this year. Easy peasy and not too time-consuming. I also scored a bunch of handcrafted/locally made gifts at the art fair a few weeks ago where I found my new apartment, too!

I realize I promised you a look at my finances/plans regarding that a while ago, but progress on it is slower than expected (but still good!). I am delighted that my credit has somehow vastly improved over the last couple of years, and it's jumped about 40 points ... and it's VERY close to being "good" credit on a scale of poor-fair-good-very good-excellent.

When I had my sewing lesson, I made a drawstring pouch!! I am excited because this is one of the materials I needed to make for my Montessori training materials-making assignment. However the sewing machine needs a repair so no playing around with it for a while. In the meantime, can you all (those of you that sew) enlighten me as to what kind of table/chair would be best for this work? And other basic supplies I'll want to be having around? That would be oh-so-helpful.

I hope you all are doing your best to stay healthy and not stressing too much about the holidays (remember it's not about that!!) and enjoying every moment of gratitude you find in your daily journey. I know I am.

Be well out there (and thanks in advance for any sewing advice you can give me!),

Karen

all goes ....

i now have the Internet set up in the new place ... just about everything is over here in big messy heaps, save the furniture, which will be here next Saturday, Halloweeen. Recovering from the stress of moving and too much takeout ... and a possible VERY mild case of swine flu that involved a yucky cough for 2 weeks. definitely on its way out.

went to a very healing-feeling yoga class this morning. possible sewing class next Friday, and a concert by one of my favorite bands.

things are good here ... sorry for the lack of posts as my life's been relatively upside down and i work to release the anxiety.

hope you all are well. beautiful warmish fall day here, and tons of color in the trees!

peace,

karen

That's right, I'm a fighter.

How's this for a breakfast to combat whatever this nastiness (sore throat, cough) is that I've contracted?

Echinacea tea
smoothie: soy blueberry yogurt, orange juice, agave, flaxseeds, frozen blueberries
two eggs with an avocado
500 mg vitamin c
bilberry extract
garlic extract
2 zinc/elderberry lozenges

I'm stuffed.

tonight: if i'm feeling fine, going to a vegan multicourse dinner cooked by a chef from Connecticut, where I'm from! Can't wait.

for now, moving more stuff into the new apartment. pictures soon.

hope you have an enjoyable weekend.

On meals.

Make the time.


::tonight's dinner, eggs with leftover roasted potatoes and chickpeas, sprinkled with grated Parmesan cheese, and two slices of gluten-free girl's miracle bread with olive oil and salt. That's Throat Comfort tea in the background, as I'm getting something gross ....


I think it's always important to come home to a hot (generally) meal, no matter how tired you are. Having lived by myself for a long while now, I realize that making the time to cook and then plating the meal properly (I'm not talking fine china here, just food on a plate with a fork and napkin), with a pretty presentation, makes the transitions easier: from the work day to being home again, the most natural expression of "me."

Since I cook everything I eat from scratch, I don't have the literal convenience of "convenience foods" when I come home starving. So I do find that without a pretty well-thought-out meal plan, it becomes soooooo easy to just grab something from a local sandwich shop or restaurant on the way home because you are STARVING. The thought of nothing "easy" waiting in the fridge ... is just sad. The solution, especially when you live alone as I do (how often I lament "I WISH I had someone to cook a nice hot meal for me!"), is to HAVE something homemade there, like a large bowl of grain and fruit salad, or a pasta salad, or nuts, or pre-cut fruits and veggies, even if these exist merely to stave off the crazy awful hunger while you cook dinner ... or even to allow you to relax for a bit once you've come home from a long, energy-draining day (I work with preschool age children in a classroom, so I love my job but they do majorly deplete your mental/emotional/physical reserves) before getting down to the business of cooking dinner.

Knowing what will be cooked beforehand alleviates a lot of stress. For a long time, I cooked ALL my meals ahead for the week, simply having to reheat those meals (which I'd pre-portioned, too) on a pan in the stove (I don't own a microwave, that's a personal preference). But some nights ... because I love cooking so much, I think it's okay to save the cooking -- so long as the HUNGER is temporarily satiated -- as a transition to a diffferent, relaxing, element, of your day.

No matter what, I'm coming to firmly believe that sitting down to each meal, whether it's a snack or a big plate o'dinner, is integral to the calming of the mind, to enjoying and being grateful for the food you're eating rather than just sucking it down/inhaling. To slowing down, in general, and focusing, right here, right now, on what's most BASICally important in our lives.


::kitchen sink soup (lentil/vegetable), made for lunches this week

If you live alone, don't eat your dinner as you cook it, don't eat it out of the pan, and at least clean the table you're eating on if you don't yet have the energy to clean the house/kitchen. Light a candle, or keep flowers nearby. This is YOUR time, and you've earned it.


:: roasted Magda squash with homemade tomato sauce "stuffing" topped later with homemade pesto

Menu planning isn't difficult. At some point during the week before you know you'll be doing a food shop, sit down when you feel inspired with a cup of evening tea or hot chocolate. Flip through cookbooks, or browse the Internet to expand ideas you have. Try to eat seasonally, I think it tends to balance you just right when you eat that way. Warms you when you need warm, cools when you need cool. I usually write down a few recipes (some can be simple, veggie stir fry with rice), and sometimes decide what I'm having for lunch and dinner out of that pool for each specific day. Presto, all the thinking taken out of it. A time-and stress-saver. So that after-work time can be spent actually relaxing (and yes, I do think cooking is relaxing, but not running around to the shops mid-week for ingredients or trying to plan when you're starving and tired, oh NO ... trust me, doesn't work, and you'll waste tons of good, hard-earned money on too much restaurant eating, or you'll end up eating crappy PB sandwiches, not that I don't love my PBs and honey on occasion but let's face it that's more of a SNACK....), doing hobbies you enjoy, getting enough sleep, taking a long walk or going to a yoga class.

I said write down lunch and dinner because weekday breakfasts for those who work tend to be simpler/of less variety. And because I'm horrible at waking up to make it. (Again where i fail and get a bagel at the end of my street, grrr) But of course you could make a breakfast menu plan, too. I find that breakfast is hard to pre-make, unless you have baked goods and fruit. I'm actually starting to think that for weekdays, this is a better option for me -- non-breakfast foods -- because I don't like to eat when I've just woken up and I need to be at the school by 7 a.m. and need something portable I can eat at 7:30-45 and not need to reheat. If you have some ideas let me know them, please. Simple is just fine.

Be well out there.

p.s.

:: my homemade basil-walnut pesto came out AMAZING!!!!

p.p.s.

::I'm going to miss this place. I don't have the new place's keys yet, but went over and put my little gnome-man welcome mat out on the porch over there. The first carload of stuff is ready to go, hopefully tomorrow. Hopefully it stops raining. Pouring here.

I almost never post complete pictures of the kids I work with/babysit, because I just feel strange/squeamish about it for many reasons, but I have a feeling I'd be forgiven for this one, and I just couldn't resist the cuteness: enjoy the rarity.



Peace,

Karen

oh ... yeah! here's that gluten-free bread recipe, which I believe come's from Shauna's blog (I am lazy to link here, just go to my gluten-free girl link). I'm not GF, but was looking for a bread that would stay SOFT, and this one delivers! I suggest a teaspoon or so of vanilla or almond extract, and baking for only 30 minutes, but here is the recipe as I found it:



GLUTEN-FREE MULTIGRAIN MIRACLE BREAD

1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup amaranth flour
1/4 cup tapioca starch
1/4 cup cornstarch or arrowroot starch
1/4 cup flax seed meal (ground flax seeds)
3 teaspoons xanthan gum
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 additional egg whites
1 cup water, room temperature
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

Preheat the oven to 200F.

Sift the flours, yeast and all other dry ingredients together into a medium bowl. Stir in flax meal and combine.

Combine the wet ingredients in a separate large bowl using a hand-mixer on low or medium speed. When fully combined, slowly add dry ingredient mixture and mix until fully blended, with no lumps. Scrape the sides regularly.

Grease a 9x5" bread pan, and pour the dough into the pan. Turn off the oven and immediately place the pan in it. Do not open the door again, if possible. Allow the dough to rise for 90 minutes. It should rise to the very top of the pan.

Increase heat to 350F and bake for approximately 40 minutes. The crust should be golden-brown. Allow to cool slightly before removing it from the pan to finish cooling. Do not slice until the bread is no longer hot.

This loaf does not need to be frozen, but if there are leftovers after a few days, place slices in airtight bags and freeze.

Moving.

I got the apartment!! (yes, the kitchen was lovely, huge and tons of storage space if a little mismatched cabinets to floor etc, and the bathroom was fine though an ugly yellow and brown tile floor, otherwise it's perfect, perfect, hardwood floors... and TWO closets full of shelves and a stained glass window in what will be the sewing room) ....

...I move in (gasp, what is this whim?!) in two and a half weeks. The movers are reserved for two Saturdays from this coming one, and I have not a thing packed.

More to come .... have I done the right thing? My heart says yes; my head hasn't even had time to comprehend, let alone catch up. Sorry, head.

Sometimes you just move where the energy takes you. Bend with the wind. Here we go again!

Another Simple Sunday.

:: Loca in a patch of morning sunlight


::last waterfront wednesday music festival of the season : (

Although I'm sitting here thinking about how much better I'll feel once my apartment is vacuumed and tidied, I must say that this weekend is going nicely. I'm trying to have a reclaimed "simple sunday" as frugal trenches does. she's really on to something. I've done this for several weeks now, spending 90 percent (or all) of my day at home, not doing anything too taxing, cooking, knitting, reading, hanging out with my cats. In fact, this morning I woke, washed dishes, swept the floor, cleaned cat litter, threw away some old stuff in the fridge, and made coffee.

There is a community yoga class at noon today at my studio, but I think I'm going to save the yoga for tomorrow morning, and spend the day here slowing my mind, and of course ... cooking! Stuffed squash of some sort that I haven't decided upon yet (shall scour Internet for recipes) and pesto to freeze in small half-pint jars. Apparently I missed the last spinach of the season at the farmer's market by a week or two. Oh, well. Shows you what growing knowledge I have ... lol. I was told I could use chard, so I bought a bunch from the usual stand, but ... well, I have my doubts. My other ingredients are parmesan, basil grown at the school where I work, olive oil, sea salt, pepper, and walnuts.

We are lucky in Louisville to have a large handful of responsible local bakeries. Yesterday I enjoyed a cherry danish and a date-walnut scone ... must do baking again. I'm having problems when I bake bread. It never stays soft enough and is no fun to eat after just a day, so I'm going to give a gluten-free recipe a try (figure that's better for me, anyway, no? less sludge.) ... those who have used it swear by the taste and soft texture of the loaf. I'll let you know how that works out.

Oh, I have a question. Can anyone answer it? How do you store a block of cheese when you take it out of the plastic it comes in in the store?

So ... what else? Well, yesterday was the much-anticipated annual St. James Court art fair. Many Christmas presents purchased -- some from local artisans (potters, crafters, painters, etc.), some from other independent artists from around the country. Junk food had: portobello mushroom sandwich with field greens and gorgonzola, and french fries. cool, breezy weather and sunshine enjoyed.


:: painted by local schoolchildren to benefit a local children's hospital. of course i bought one!


:: now that's what I'm talking about!!

and ....


:: note art fair tents on "street" (not an actual road..there's a green and sidewalk in between the two rows of houses)

i fell in love. with THIS. let's say: pedestrian-only street of historic homes. screened-in front porch with adjacent outdoor patio. hardwood floors. working fireplace. built-in bookshelf in living room. radiator heat! tiny back porch. sewing room. dining room. space for growing veggies and plants. backyard patio. washer and dryer in the basement. sure it doesn't have a parking space ... but that's a detail. i have an appointment to see it tomorrow (i am off from school for the next two days).


:: note ceiling fan inside porch ... and to the right of porch is the entryway to the apt, which opens into a tiny cube of hallway space and what looks like -- french doors! -- that go into the rest of the apartment. To the right of the entry door is a window from the living room that looks out onto the "street" ...




:: note the for rent sign. the deck is not mine, i'd be on the first floor.


it's funny, i've been considering when to move into a bigger place for some time now, and keep saying wait, wait for "the one." i'm pretty sure this is the one (will know for definite tomorrow). it's in a neighborhood i never would have expected it to be in, a neighborhood that doesn't have nearly as much as my current one in the name of restaurants, little shops, etc. But it's still a 10-15 minute drive to it. And less than a mile more to work. You know when you just have that "go with it no matter what" feeling? this is a place i'm almost positive would be *perfect* to live in for the next four years I'll definitely be in Louisville.





Would you do it? Even if it was kind of not what you expected? Part of me is so attached to the little tiny space I've created for myself here, but I do feel on top of myself sometimes. I even made a list of pros for both places, and the new place was quite a bit longer than the old. .... I've told myself if it doesn't work out, I can always come back to the old neighborhood again. But something just clicked with me and this place. Like, seriously, a primal feeling that hasn't gone away since I've slept on it (as I'd half-hoped it would, as it usually does when things like this get stuck in my head).




:: a little peek at the surrounding neighborhood

I'll keep you posted on what happens after I see the whole place tomorrow.

For now: cooking, a walk, knitting, lounging. Reclaiming Simple Sundays. Thank goodness for one day a week, at least, all to ourselves.

oh, and here's how the banana/raisin bread turned out:: perfecto!!





it's finally fall here.