just a friday night at home

tonight i got to play with some new "toys" and indulge in some cooking of amazing indian food.











i did laundry, cleaned house a bit, cooked, now sitting here with a bowl of kiwi, blueberries, and pineapple. gonna watch a movie before bed.



i am thinking that i could use some sewing tips for the beginner, but maybe i should wait until i have a table. any ideas on the best type of table to use? how about the chair? i don't want anything too modern/officey but i do want functional ...

the recipe i made is from the ayurvedic cookbook pictured here.



Quick and Easy Red Masoor Dal








YUM
1 cup dried red lentils (no soaking required)
3 cups water
1 tsp sea salt
pinch of hing (aka asofetida)
3 slices fresh ginger
1 fresh green chili, slit at end (i used a red one, it was all i could find)
1/2 cup tomatoes, diced
1 tsp tomato puree (optional ... um yeah what's THIS? i omitted it)
1/2 cup onions, minced
1/4 tsp turmeric
juice of 1/2 a lemon (that's 1 tbsp of lemon juice from a jar)
1/2 tsp gur or maple syrup
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves (for garnish ... left this out)

In a large pot, combine all ingredients except turmeric, lemon juice, gur/syrup, and cilantro. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer. Skim off froth with a slotted spoon. Add turmeric, stir, and cook until done, about 20 minutes. You may add more water if dal seems too dry. Add lemon juice and gur/syrup, and stir to dissolve. Garnish with cilantro.

I served this with jasmine rice that had fenugreek seeds and curry powder mixed in. it was deeeeelish! :-)



one of the best sights ever ... look at those blue flames! :-)

hope you all have a nice weekend, filled with warmth, love ... and, in my case, SNOW!


credit card extra $$ jar

here's the view from my two bedroom dressers: (sorry heather it needs a frame!!)

saving, penny by penny.

i am thinking of my future children today, and how i'd just *so* much like to be home with them, watching them grow, letting them explore, helping them learn. i'm starting to want nothing more for my future than to build a peaceful, frugal, beautiful, handmade (to borrow a soulemama phrase lol) home.

i felt terrible after my trip to whole foods today, where i spent $90 AFTER putting this and that and the third can of such and such away. but then i realized i haven't shopped there in weeks, opting instead to eat from my stockpile and hit the local markets. and that i probably won't need to go back there until next payday a month from now. i really do try to stay away .. .it is expensive, and it's a bit of a drive from everything else. but i got in a trip to joann's for some knitting stuff in the same journey ... and it was, i realized, basic stuff that added up the bill: tahini, olive oil, henna (sorry i just can't do grays yet at the ripe age of 30! and henna lasts FOREVER once you do it). i will get two recipes out of my purchases from my new ayurvedic cookbook, a lentil dal and a lentil soup. i'm sure some of that will be frozen for lunches. i love having hot, homemade food at school. lunch is my biggest, most filling, most important meal of my day so i have to do it *just* right.

then i went to get lightbulbs, thank you cards, and a birthday card at target. while there, i overheard one woman ran into another she knew, and said, "i come here to grocery shop and end up buying all this other stuff! haha!" i realized that i used to say this, too. and in that same instant i realized that laugh-off/denial of purchasing for mere basic necessity is what's so very wrong with us. i didn't judge her, but i let her comment sink a little further into my soul than it ever had before.

in the past week, i've turned down my brain's lovely ideas for a quick sandwich, an extra can of pineapple, etc. etc. i did go out to dinner last night... a lovely vegan meal at a local mediterranean restaurant. i was starving after two yoga classes and still 25 minutes from home. i had packed already from home breakfast, lunch, and afterschool snack. enough's enough. ... okay. i also spent $2 on mini loaves at a local bakery because i need to bake again. haven't gotten back into that swing yet. considered saving the equivalent of what i spent on these things. i might, but i also took into consideration there was good reason for me to spend this money. it wasn't a frivolous night out.

we are supposed to get some snow tomrorow night, so i thought renting a movie might be nice. so i got ONE instead of the three or four i usually get. much cheaper, and it will keep me away from the blue screen and into a book, or some knitting. nothing wrong with that.

it's fun to have this new mantra -- I AM a saver -- almost powerful-feeling, in a very empowering kind of way. it's not part of me yet, but i'm liking the territory, the question that comes more naturally all the time, "how can i save here?" it's working, albeit slowly. just today, $200 went into the ING automatic from my checking account. i'm hoping it will do so each successive payday until summer when i am unpaid. it won't be much, but it will be the most i've ever saved .... well, EVER. hello, thirties. hello future. hello security blanket, however small.


recent raw foods lunch on my trip to chicago ... let me say that almond pate was where it's AT!! :-)

"the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

hoping for a snow day tomorrow. to stay home ALL the delicious day. sounds good, doesn't it? but if not ... well ... it'll be laundry at the 'mat followed by a movie and just hangin' out in the p.j.'s. ahhhhhhhh.

home.

dinners have been simple lately .... I AM a saver!!! ... but all the same, simply delicious. tonight's fare: whole wheat spaghetti noodles, cooked al dente with seared sesame-crusted tofu, steamed edamame and stir-fried button and baby bella mushrooms topped with a nice generous tahini drizzle. some tamari was mixed in with the mushrooms. filling, healthy, and delicious (and easy) on a winter's day.

winter is wearing on me. i need sunshine, and spring, and hours on my outdoor porch. for now, i'll hunker down with montessori homework and playing around on my sewing machine. i haven't done any of this yet ... i've been brooding over certain things and pondering over others and spending lots of time on the yoga mat. can't complain about the yoga mat time ... it's transforming my life continually.


my cousin, wearing (and LOVING, yay!!) the farrow rib scarf i knit him for Christmas



i seem to be in an anti-reading phase lately. i hate it. free cable/the internet are ridiculous distractions. i hate that i'm sucked in too much by them.

i just uploaded 666 (cryptic lol) pictures onto my computer, so i'm stocked up for a while. still, i need to take it easy.

i'm sorry my blogs don't seem to have a point lately. my focuses are kind of all over the place. they seemed so unified on jan. 1. rhythm is a hard song to play in my life right now with all this school/teaching requirements/travel/emotional upheaval (guy stuff....oy....). type b's aren't built for it. i need an entire winter of nesting. maybe next one?

we are supposed to get snow here at the end of the week. i'm seriously praying for some QT snowed in, a snow day or a snow day and a half off from school.

sense a theme here? yeah there is one:: home. where my heart truly is right now. I need inward focus. I need one-on-ones with good friends.

have been taking some long walks in my favorite park again when the weather permits. thank goodness, my how i've missed my walking. i want to factor some local easy day hikes in there, too. i can't wait to smell the spring mud and feel more rejuvenated again. the seasons have certainly had their way with me this winter thus far.

now, for that cuppa and book ...... so desperately needed.

stay warm out there, cold clime friends. the days ARE getting longer, by a minute or more each day.

can't wait to learn to grow something edible, and keep it alive. i watch my compost pile but it doesn't seem to rot much, just stink. i don't stir it. i have faith it will do its thing all on its own, just will take more time. i'm okay with that. i know all about needing more time.

sending as much peace as my energies can currently muster .... your way. be well out there. keep inspiring me. I AM a saver!!!

a sort-of simple sunday.

drinking my morning brew (coffee lol) and talking to you ....

It's so nice to find the right moment to come back here and chat a little bit. It's really been too long, but we all need bloggie breaks. I'd like to say I have a goal of posting once a week, but I'm just not sure I can hold to that right now. It's a busy time ... I'm nearing the end of my Montessori training, and possibly the beginning (well, next year) of yoga teacher training. The latter means I have lots more things to accomplish before my exams in June, and preparing a classroom for the fall. I'm excited about it, inspired, but also have been feeling overwhelmed with everything that all involves. My plan is to "keep it simple" buy not bogging myself down in too many commitments outside the home. I have this dual-personality that likes both to immerse myself in the community around me AND be a homebody. But right now I need to turn the focus inward ... hence I have been inviting people to me! Just tonight I've planned a vegetarian/vegan potluck supper for anyone interested. Just a few hours of conversation and good food before bed.

I'm feeling pretty positive about the year ahead. I don't have expectations for it, just want to flow with the moment as much as possible rather than be carried away by the tide. I'm settled (finally) into a great apartment. I would like to slowly begin setting up a sewing room. Going to keep my eyes open for a great table ... paint some door panels (turquoise! inspired by all those great craft rooms out there i see in this color) ... and, of course, actually PLAY with the sewing machine. Any sewers out there have advice on how to begin actually making things? Do I just look up simple patterns and go from there? About all I know is how to thread the bobbin and play with the different types of stitches ....

I need to keep myself away from blue screens as much as possible. I find that it drains my vital energies and keeps me away from more constructive, meditative pursuits such as reading and knitting. I don't like having free cable because TV is so easy to suck you in. ... and I'm on Facebook a bit too much. So this is a work in progress.

Last night i made some delicious vegan jelly coconut bars from the kripalu cookbook. it was good to bake again. i was having some sadness about lots of things yesterday, the product i think of an overactive mind and too many days of rain. there was some pretty thunderstorming last night, though, and a cozy night on my screened-in porch ... imagine, a rare 60 degree day in January! I also had a bad headache, so I did my legs up the wall pose (chased by one advil), which virtually eliminated it.

I'd like to eliminate dairy completely from my diet. It will make me feel cleaner through and through ... i don't necessarily need this "vegan" label ... it's a difficult standard to hold oneself to ... i just want to eat as cleanly and as close to the earth as possible. It's cheese I'm talking about, of course. I haven't had eggs in a long time (i know this isn't dairy) either, and I'm really not missing them ....

Thanks for reading through my random thoughts and musings. I promise to get better about pictures .... my blog will probably be much simpler in coming months than the picturefest it has been, but i'm hoping it will also be richer, full of life's good busy-ness and creativity. maybe I'll spotlight one thing each week that I've been up to. .. a glimpse, a snapshot, if you will.

oh, the money thing. i've switched my mindset over about 90 percent. I AM A SAVER NOW. this is a new mantra i tell myself frequently. one look at my student loan statement and one BIG thought about my future ... kids, homeschooling, etc.... and I realize how very important it is to plant the seeds for frugal living now. I walk through my spacious apartment and realize how very much more I can give away, how very much more I just *don't need.* I think about the earthquake victims in Haiti and it puts my life in a much different perspective than the "race" we all sometimes find ourselves caught up in. It makes me want to learn how to mend those holes in my socks, without just tossing them and buying new ones at Target. It makes me want to learn how to knit my own socks. To turn that pair of jeans with the hole in a bad place into a denim skirt.

so, back to the money ... well, i now have an online ING account that I've set up to automatically receive a certain (fairly large) amount on my payday each month. ALL of my babysitting money is going into it, too. ALL of my tax refund (less money for a sewing machine table...) is going into it.

I'm having thoughts about working for Educators without Borders. It's comprised of Montessori teachers who bring Dr. Montessori's methods to places that don't have "classrooms" per se. Some days, I think I'd like nothing more than to live with vitually no possessions and provide for the poorest of the poor children of the world. How very fulfilling ... challenging ... growth-inducing ... that would be. It's just something I toss around in my mind.

So is mama-hood. I feel it on the horizon. It excites me. It inspires me in those money goals. oh, also speaking of, I'm taking Rhonda's (and Dave Ramsey's apparently) advice on snowball-effect paying down my credit card debt. I have a small Mason jar on my dresser that all my spare dollar bills and change goes into for my lowest balance card, plus the minimum payment. Most of my debt is from recent traveling and some Christmas spending/donations. When I pay this debt off I want to remain debt-free ....

... When I have enough in my savings account, I want to earmark some of it for an emergency fund. I have never done this. I like the feeling of security I get just thinking about it.

I am blessed to have: healthy parents and grandparents, five amazing best friends, a creative fire that i can share with others when i craft things, a beautiful home, gorgeous sweaters from the goodwill (i can't stand buying new because when i think about where/how they're made, and the effect that that production has on people/children....), a job i love, an amazing yoga practice, healthy, organic, plant-based food, three sweet cats. That's just some of what makes me so fortunate.

Today my plans include: a short walk, cooking for my potluck tonight, calling my best friend, and a few necessary errands.

I hope you've been having a beautiful weekend. My only plans for the coming week: doing as much yoga as possible, playing with the sewing machine, knitting, writing a letter to my friend in Afghanistan, doing laundry, attending a friend's housewarming party, oh, and mayyyyybe a day hike depending on weather (which is supposed to turn cold again, boo) .....

sending you peace,

karen

a quick one

Still here ... just back to Kentucky but a couple of days ago. Good to be home. Settling in. Sorry for the prolonged conspicuous absence....all is well, just not the time I'd like for a real update, introspective and full of new year's intentions and all. a bit more traveling left to do yet, for school. hoping for a happy march of nesting .....

for now,

cooking tons of vegetables, including spaghetti squash

knitting a small pile of hats

practicing the different types of seams on the sewing machine

getting on the yoga mat very regularly

planning near-future cozy dinners at home and at sweet small places in town

Also I have come on to ask that you please help the victims of the Haitian earthquake. Most of us can afford $10 for this devastating catastrophe ... no? Remember how much you have and how little they do, now. Some people can be poor and happy, but can anyone not have basic needs at a time like this? Open your hearts and give or do what you can to help. I recommend Save the Children ......

i hope you are entering the new year with peace and light in your hearts.

blessings,

karen

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