Reusable is the new pink!

Last week Whole Foods Market announced that they will stop using plastic grocery bags when the current inventory runs out at each of the company's 270 stores. The company anticipates that it will be plastic-bag free by, appropriately enough, Earth Day, April 22, 2008. Whole Foods will continue to offer paper bags and sell reusable bags, like the bright and cheery one pictured below (which is made out of 80 percent post consumer waste...I really need to learn what exactly that means but I know it's a good thing.)


Can I get a WOO-HOO?!!?!?

I was so excited when the company made the initial announcement that it was phasing out plastic bags at its flagship store in Austin, Texas. But reading about this company-wide initiative nearly knocked me off my feet (or I tripped on something, I am not clear...it all happened really fast). I sincerely hope other stores across the country--and not just grocery stores--follow suit and that you join in the movement by bringing your own bags to the grocery store each time you go. According to the Sierra Club, "In New York City alone, one less grocery bag per person per year would reduce waste by 109 tons and save $11,000 in disposal costs." Just think about that. That's just ONE plastic bag per person. That's amazing!!!

When I spent a semester aboard in Sweden, I was initially shocked that grocery stores charged you per plastic bag used. If you supplied your own bags, there was no charge. I quickly developed a stash of canvas bags that I carried with me to the store. To this day, I continue to do so. I almost always have a reusable bag in my tote bag or backpack in case I stop at the grocery store. My goal is to start carrying this habit out of the grocery and into other stores. Do I really need my book purchases from Barnes or Borders put in a bag? No.

Plus, there are so many cute, reusable grocery bags out there so snazz up your spring wardrobe with this accessory. This line of bags from Envirosax available at Delight.com will match any outfit you put together!!!

My mom sent me this one that she bought at Wal-Mart for one dollar. I love the message on it and I can fit so much stuff in it.

Figuring out how you can "save the environment" is such an overwhelming concept--at least it is for me. We cannot all be Al Gore. We cannot all afford hybrid cars. Some people live in areas where utilizing public transportation is just not a feasible option. But we can each start taking a reusable bag to the grocery store. It is a lifestyle change that will have minimal impact on your life but can have a huge impact on the environment.

Dinner Deliciousness: Quinoa Stuffing with Leeks, Walnuts, and Cherries

Way back at the beginning of the month (seriously, is it just me or has January just...dragged...on...and on...and on), I posted my Goddess-lutions for 2008. One of those Goddess-lutions was to "Try one new "cooking" (not baking) recipe a month." So tonight I held myself to this.

A few weeks ago I came across a recipe for Quinoa Stuffing with Leeks, Walnuts, and Cherries on Culinary in Country which he adapted from a Cooking Light Recipe. I love stuffing so much. There is something about the scent of sage that just makes me feel all warm and Thanksgivingy.

And I also love quinoa. I consider quinoa to be one of my Superfoods! According to the World's Healthiest Foods, "Not only is quinoa high in protein, but the protein it supplies is complete protein, meaning that it includes all nine essential amino acids. Not only is quinoa's amino acid profile well balanced, making it a good choice for vegans concerned about adequate protein intake, but quinoa is especially well-endowed with the amino acid lysine, which is essential for tissue growth and repair. In addition to protein, quinoa features a host of other health-building nutrients. Because quinoa is a very good source of manganese as well as a good source of magnesium, iron, copper and phosphorous, this "grain" may be especially valuable for persons with migraine headaches, diabetes and atherosclerosis."

Don't you just feel healthier reading that??!?!

So I set to work preparing this dish for dinner this evening. I made the qunioa in a low-sodium vegetable broth. You can make quinoa in water but I think the broth adds a kick of flavor. The quinoa cooperated and came out nice and fluffy!



While the quinoa was cooking, I set to work slicing and dicing. Obstacle one was quickly encountered and quickly overcome: I do not know to slice the leek. So I turned to what my Mom calls "the best thing ever" and Googled it. I found a video that demonstrated the cleaning and leek slicing process (and I got really excited because I have the same bowl that they use in the video).



The recipe calls for dried cherries but dried cherries are expensive!!! So I substituted dried apples and cranberries.

The whole dish took just over a half hour to prepare. It was really quite easy...and tasty!!!


Final word: I would totally make it again. If you have ever wanted to bulk up your stuffing with a little protein, this recipe fits the bill.

Fighting the decorating blahs!

So my living room area has been looking a little, well, boring. But that might actually be an insult to the word boring. It is just...blah. Once I finally bought a couch (after eight months of indecisiveness), I was not sure how to decorate around it. So my living room looked like this:

There was nothing on the wall, no real accent items, and I had an extra chair. (Actually, that chair was my "couch" during my eight months of couchlessness, ha. It was such a sad scene!)

But over the past few weeks, I have set out to gather and create items to liven up the room without breaking the bank! First off, the chair was donated to A Wider Circle, a charitable organization that helps to break the cycle of poverty by giving the homeless, the poverty-stricken, and those troubled by substance abuse the tools they need to have the opportunity to live well. Certainly a worthy cause and they are even coming to pick up the chair!

Next up was artwork for the walls. Two things you need to know about me and artwork.

1. I am incredibly picky when it comes to art. I like unique images. I love creative color schemes. I hate buying prints that can be found in every house in America. But I also do not have the disposable income to buy original works. So all outings to buy art usually ends with me buying a canvas, some brushes, and acrylic paint. Which leads to point number 2.
   
2. I have never taken an art class. Well, I took Graphic Arts in high school, but that was mainly yearbook class. And I loved that class. But I know nothing about composition, brushwork, or anything paintyish. What I do--and this is going to make me sound so ditzy--is buy colors that make me happy and paint designs that I come up with on a whim. They are usually geometrical in nature (lots of basic shapes in different arrangements). They are never all that complex. Let's face it: I am no Picasso. Ha. But I love my art because, well, it's mine!
   

So with this in mind, this is the canvas I created for the living room wall:

I LOVE how the colors work together and depending how/when you look at it, a different color seems to "pop." All of the materials cost under $20 and it took me about 2 hours to paint. Right now, this is my favorite painting that I have done.

Next up were a few accent items. I hit the after-Christmas sale at World Market! You should really mark this event on your calendar. They have some AMAZING deals store wide. For under $30, I came away with 4 accents pillows and a cute blanket.

All of these colors work so well together. And again, note my love of Chocolate Brown! The finished product--all done for under $50--is quite lovely (and less cluttered).

Now if I were a celebrity and this were a magazine feature, I would be sprawled on the sofa in an evening gown and my coffee table would stacked with Great Books that I have no intention of reading. I HATE those layouts. I like seeing their houses and I realize that it is just a big PR deal but I would have so much more respect for them if I don't know, there was an odd sock laying on the floor or something. C'mon just give me some indication that you LIVE in the house and it's not a freaking museum. (Yes, I have very strong feelings on this issue! How the candidates stand on this issue may dictate my vote in the primaries.)

For what it's worth, my couch is exactly how it is when I am sitting on it. I have the books I'm reading sitting on it and my planner nearby for any random to-do items that I think of. I did clean up the coffee table but that is one of my Saturday chores anyway.

Magic carpet ride

I have pretty much the best landlord on the planet. I really lucked out. He is constantly updating my condo and will do almost anything to make the place fit my needs. When I needed more storage space, he (well, his fix-it guy) went to work installing shelves. I actually had to put a stop to the shelf installation at one point because there were so many, I was beginning to feel the walls close in on me.

His latest project involved installing hard wood floors in all of the living area. The floors look fantastic! But my condo board has a rule that 80 percent of floor space needs to be covered with a rugs or carpeting. So my landlord loaned me a pretty Persian rug he had and that covers a fair amount of the floor.

However, my office area needed something. (I use the term "office area" very loosely. It is an area no bigger that 15 square feet but it has a great view out to the courtyard of my building.) I did not want my chair to scratch the floors up too much. So I started looking for rug. There were two decorating constraints here. One is that it has to somewhat match my living room decor which is denominated in chocolate browns, oranges, and blues. Second is that it kind of has to match my office chair which my Mom and I found in the clearance section at IKEA over two years ago. It is in no way a pretty chair; its wild print may even be considered tacky. But it is so tacky that I love it.

I was perusing the World Market website and finally came across a rug that I like and sort of fit in with those two constraints. I ordered it and it was delivered within two days.

The rug is made of "natural fibers." I am not sure what kind of fibers this involves but wow, do they have a strong scent. I felt like I was living in the store in the mall that sells the incense and gives me headache. Luckily after about a week, the smell wore off or I just grew immune to it.

And while I am showing off my office area, check out my super cute pencil holder. It's a glass purse!

I can almost hear Debbie Gibson singing in the background.

I was doing a little "winter cleaning" today and came across this gem of a photo! I would be the little first-grade fashionista in the front row rocking the pink outfit and tan Velcro shoes! I have no idea what to call that outfit, so we will just agree to call it fabulous!

Wow, can you say "Late 80s fashion"? And I am pretty sure my sisters, my mom, and my grandma may hate me now. LOL! But this photo is far too fantastic to not share!

Ahhh, it's an oatmeal world in the winter

Brrr, it is sooo cold outside! A quick dash across the street to get a cup of coffee has cemented my decision that I am staying inside today. Sometimes I underestimate how cold D.C. can get. I really have no plans for today (yay for federal holidays!) but I have plenty of projects to keep me busy inside. So I have Putumayo's Hawaiian Playground (Due to my worldly connections, I have an early release of this CD. It's super fun!) playing in the background in hopes of it inspiring tropical thoughts. And I have a cup of Panera's Hazelnut Blend Coffee sitting by my side, and a bowl of warm oatmeal in my lap (and I'm typing...all at the same time, go me!)

Did you know that January is National Oatmeal Month? Confession: We have a calendar of wacky holidays hanging above the printer in my office. Every time I go to pick up a document (or more accurately, wait for the printer to finish "Warming Up" which takes forever!!!), I read the calendar. So if you come across a lot of posts involving weird holidays, well, I probably printed a lot of documents that week.

Anyway, oatmeal is one of my favorite foods! I eat it at least four times a week. I love throwing new ingredients in it like peanut butter, banana, dried fruit....really, I will try anything! I prefer steel-cut oats to rolled oats--the steel cut just have a nuttier flavor. Love it! But steel-cut also require a bit more preparation so sometimes convenience wins out over flavor.

I thought I would share my favorite oatmeal recipe which is what I am eating right now! This recipe, "Irish Oatmeal with Dried Fruit" is adapted from the King Arthur's Whole Grain Baking cookbook. Note: the recipe in the book also includes a recipe for a Maple Cream topping. The thought of putting heavy cream on top of oatmeal scares me so I don't include it. However, if you want the Maple Cream recipe, just let me know!

Irish Oatmeal with Dried Fruit

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup steel-cut oats
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (I never include this)
• 2 tablespoons dried apricots, chopped (I never knew I liked apricots until I tried them in this.)
• 2 tablespoons dried cherries (I often use cranberries instead.)
• 2 tablespoons raisins, dates, or prunes, chopped

Note: You can really use any combination of dried fruit. Whole Foods makes a dried fruit mix that includes raisins, prunes, dates, apricots, apples, and cranberries. I usually just use this.

Directions:
The night before you want to serve the porridge (ha, makes me thinks of Goldilocks and the three bears!), soak the oats in enough water to cover them plus an inch. The next morning, drain the oats and place them in a saucepan with 1 1/2 cups of water and the salt. Bring the oats to a simmer over medium heat and simmer, stirring, until they are tender, about 10 to 12 minutes total cooking time. (Rebecca's note: If you are like me and perpetually forget to soak the oats the night before, you also can just prepare the oats the morning of by following the directions on the package.)

Stir in the dried fruits and let the porridge sit for 5 minutes. I also add a dash of cinnamon.

Scoop into dishes and enjoy! I top mine with a splash of skim milk and a teaspoon of brown sugar!!!

I usually make a large batch of this on Sundays and split in among four Gladware containers and I have my breakfast ready for each day of work. A bowl of this usually keeps me full until lunchtime!

So if you see a penguin, um, be aware?

Happy National Penguin Awareness Day!




What an appropriate holiday for a most frigid day! Here are some ways I came up with to celebrate this Penguinian Holiday!

• Waddle like a penguin for a little while as you go about your day.


• Eat a Black and White cookie.


• Watch Happy Feet or March of the Penguins (And to take the holiday to a deeper level. Ponder why the species hasn't evolved in some way such that it could eliminate the male penguin holding the egg through the brutal winter. My Dad and I were talking about this when I was home for Christmas. There has to be a better way to do this whole egg hatching thing.)


• Wear a tuxedo.


• Watch the penguins at the Motreal Biodome via Webcam. (Or if the temperature is not ridiculously cold where you live, go to the zoo and see the penguins in person!)

However you celebrate, make it the best National Penguin Awareness Day ever! And stay warm!!!!

A note from later in the day: I actually did watch March of the Penguins on the Discovery Channel (and was nearly lulled to sleep by Morgan Freeman's voice, lol). But the thing that struck me about the program was not the actual March of the Penguins--although it was completely fascinating. Rather it was one of the ads that played during a commercial break. Now I have seen ads put out by state Departments of Tourism with beautiful scenes (mainly beaches and golf courses) and a Visit Florida! North Carolina! Maine! tag line. And if you live anywhere near me, you too have it cemented in your brain that West Virginia is "Wild and Wonderful." But last night during the March, an tourism ad came on for, wait for it, NEBRASKA! Can I just say that when I consider vacation locations (especially in the middle of winter), never once has the thought "Hmm, Omaha sounds nice!" crossed my mind. If you live there, please let me know if I am missing something. Maybe Nebraska is like the Las Vegas of Nation's Breadbasket and I have just been missing out!

"I feel like I just found out that my favorite love song was written about a sandwich."

I was thinking about this nearly all day yesterday and I cannot remember the last movie that I went to the theatre to see. I know that I attempted to see Hairspray at the theatre but the filmstrip started on fire so I never actually saw it. This may all be due to the fact that I am pretty picky about movies. I do not like science fiction movies, scary movies, movies with a lot of swearing, movies with any of the actors/actress that are on my "Annoy me to pieces" list....well, there's more but you get the idea. The only genre of movie that I consistently love is the good ol' romantic comedy but there just has not been a good one out lately.

But then I saw the preview for 27 Dresses with Katherine Heigl (Izzy from Grey's Anatomy) and knew that it would be the perfect movie for girls' night out! And it was.

I first met my friends Mel and Dominique at Ella's Pizza (also known to a few of us as the home of the most confusing 50 seconds of conversation EVER, lol) for a yummy dinner. We then headed to the theatre. It was a huge theatre and it was packed...and there were exactly 15 men in the whole place (we counted), so it was absolutely a chick flick!

In the movie, Katherine Heigl plays Jane, a girl who loves wedding and has been a bridesmaid 27 times (hence, the title) but has never been a bride. Enter a crush on her boss, a sister, and a wedding announcement writer, and high jinks ensue. It does follow a typical romantic comedy formula but it is so cute and has a bunch of funny lines/moments (the title of this blog is one of them!)! I will not even attempt to do a movie review as I am no Roger Ebert but I will point out a few things that I noted.

• There is no way that Jane's character can afford that apartment in New York City on an assistant to a magazine publisher's salary. There is just no way.
• I want Jane's wardrobe. So many cute outfits! I definitely received some inspiration for my spring wardrobe overhaul.
• After the movie, you will head home and download Elton John's Bennie and Jetts. Trust me, you will.
• James Marsden, the wedding announcement writer (I don't think I am spoiling anything by saying that...if I did, sorry!), is so hot! I wondered how I have not seen him in anything else so I searched him on IDMB and realized that the only movie that I have ever seen him in is Hairspray (I finally did see it on DVD). He does have a fantastic list of television guest-starring roles though: Blossom, Saved by the Bell: the New Class, Party of Five, and the Nanny--all shows that I admittedly watched a lot of! Well, except for Saved by the Bell: the New Class. There really was no topping the original so why even bother with the disappointment?
• I always worry when characters from a favorite television show (such as Grey's Anatomy) star in a movie that the whole time I will be thinking of them as their television character. It can be super distracting. But I do not know if it is a sign of good acting or a change in hair color, but I never thought of Jane as Izzy.

Final Word: Very, very cute movie! The best movie that I have seen in so long, actually. A perfect movie for girls' night out!

Attack of the 50ft Hostess Cupcake!

Winter has again returned to D.C. where the sidewalks and streets are a slushy disaster and my socks are all wet. Is there a more miserable feeling than wet socks?

But the snowy day provided a Christmasy backdrop for my office's twice-delayed holiday party today. (It was almost a three-time delayed party due to the wintry weather, but some quick thinking led to a Plan B and Metro trip to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch.)

After lunch we headed back to office for several rounds of "Coworker's Fantastic Fact Bingo" (so much fun and a great way to learn random things about the people you spend 40 hours of your week with) and, more importantly, for dessert.

Of course, I jumped at the chance to bring in a dessert and immediately began searching for recipes. I wanted to make something unique so I began perusing my favorite recipe blogs for ideas. While reading the Baking Bites blog, I came across the idea of a Giant Hostess Cupcake. Two things you should know about my office:

1. We have a canister that is perpetually stocked with Oatmeal Creme Pies, and
2. I have a colleague who could probably be crowned the King of all things Little Debbie and Hostess.

So naturally, a Giant Hostess Cupcake seemed like a natural fit!

First, I made 4 8-inch circular devil's food cakes. Confession: These were not made from scratch. The mixes were on sale for one dollar each and I am a bargain shopper above all else!

Then I used a biscuit cutter to cut hole in the middle of two cakes for the creamy white filling. I do not know why I have a biscuit cutter. I have never made biscuits. I do not even like biscuits. I am guessing it was one of those things that I saw at Sur La Table and suddenly had to have because it was going to revolutionize my baking. But, hey, it came in handy for this.

I then stacked the two cakes with the holes on top of one of the cakes without a hole and filled the hole in with a white frosting filling. I used chocolate frosting as my "glue" to hold the layers together.

I then put the remaining cake on top and frosted the entire cake with a chocolate frosting. Then using a pastry bag, I piped the trademark swirl on top. I think it actually looks like one of the Hostess Cupcakes.

But the true test of it Hostess authenticity came when the cake was cut into and I think it passed the test!

This is such a cute and fun dessert to make. (And fairly sturdy too as it survived my Metro commute with ease!) And it was yummy!

P.S. There is an entire website devoted to supersizing snacks. Check it out at Pimp That Snack. A page may come up asking you to donate to one of the website creators' London Marathon run or something. Unless you really want to donate just click on the "Continue to website" link. (That is not what the link is actually called by you get the idea.) Also, the website is based out of the U.K. so some of the snacks were completely foreign to me, (um, NikNaks)?

Bargain of the Year: Candidate 1

I once read that the stylist for Kristin Davis ('Charlotte' on Sex and the City) made her try on over 100 pairs of jeans to find the perfect pair for her. While my attention span and self-esteem could probably not handle trying on that many pairs of jeans, I think there is something to this idea of finding the perfect pair. Once you find the pair that works for you, jean shopping is so simple.

For me, shopping for jeans used to rank right up there with going to the Post Office. Ick, I just dreaded it. But then I found a fit/cut that works perfectly for me: the Urban cut at Banana Republic. I have two pairs of the jeans in different washes/pocket styles. They are my "Casual Thursday because I don't work on Fridays" jeans. By "Rebecca's Rules of Shopping," this means that Banana Republic will probably stop making this cut of jeans as that is just my luck.

For the past two weeks, I have been walking past the giant orange SALE signs at the Banana Republic in my neighborhood but I have resisted going in. On Saturday, I gave in to temptation and wandered in and found a pair of the Urban jeans in a different pocket cut in my size on the sale rack. And then I looked at the price tag: $128 marked down to $23.99!!! Even with sales tax, I saved over $100!!!!

It is so early in the year but I absolutely have to make this purchase a candidate for bargain of the year!

A sad, sad day

I live for the Big Three in award shows: the Emmys, the Golden Globes, the Oscars. Not so much for the awards but for rating the dresses, suffering through the awkward moments on the Red Carpet when Ryan Seacrest/Joan Rivers/whoever asks some celeb some random question and the celeb gets all huffy-puffy, and of course, seeing which dead person gets the most applause during the "in memoriam" portion of the show (oh, c'mon, like you don't listen for the same thing!).

So today feels kind empty. The Golden Globes have been canceled. I believe NBC is announcing the awards during a televised press conference. On the plus side, this will eliminate the ridiculous feature pieces, the uncomfortable musical numbers, and the requisite segment where the accountants from Price Cooper Waterhouse Morgan Stanley Dean Witter are awkwardly introduced on stage.

I think the writer's strike needs to end. It has not bothered my television schedule too much (I do miss The Office though!) but when you start messing with the awards shows, I have to speak up!

I read yesterday that George Clooney is assembling an all-star team to help with the negotiation. This cracks me up. I envision the Mideast Peace Talks with Clooney playing the role of George Bush/Bill Clinton. Instead of Camp David, I wonder where they would meet. Doesn't Clooney have a mansion on Lake Como in Italy?

A day without to-do lists...

One of my Goddess-lutions for 2008 was to "Schedule one 'unscheduled' day off each month." I realized after I wrote my Goddess-lutions that I really did not set the parameters for what 'unscheduled' meant so I have since defined it as "nothing scheduled, no to-do lists written." And yesterday was one such day for me. And it was glorious!

I slept in until 6:50 a.m. (Yes, I lead a weird, weird life where this justifies sleeping in. My parents are the same way. I blame genetics once again. But honestly, I love the early mornings. I find them peaceful.) After a quick dash to Panera for my weekend cup of Hazelnut coffee, I ate breakfast while catching up on the daily news (i.e., the celebrity gossip columns). I then had a long and invigorating workout at the gym where the New Year's Resolution crowd has almost entirely disappeared.

It was an unseasonably lovely day outside. (I know I should be concerned about global warming but any time it is warm and sunny in January in D.C., I really have a hard time jumping on the Al Gore bandwagon.) So I took a walk to the post office and stopped into one of my favorite boutiques in the city (no, not Anthropologie), Catch-Can. I do not know who the merchandise buyers are for the store but they have impeccable taste!!! (p.s., The boring items that they have on the front page of the website are not at all indicative of the great stuff they have in the store. I have no idea why they put those on there.) I just want to buy everything! But instead, I settled for a kid's knitting kit, thinking that it would be a great first step toward knitting a scarf (one of my other Goddess-lutions). When I went to pay for it, the salesperson told me that there is a knitting store next to Catch-Can that offers knitting lessons. This is definitely something that I will look into.

I then returned home where I did a little blogging, ate lunch, put my new bedding on my bed and then took a little refresher nap. I then headed to Borders for a little reading and a latte in the cafe. After a stop at the grocery store for some dinner ingredients, I headed home and cleaned up a little, did laundry, unpacked my new humidifier, and finally hooked up the DVD player that I got for Christmas. I then settled down to eat dinner and watch the movie The Waitress (very, very cute movie!).

And that was my day! As I typed all that, I realized that I did a lot. But since I did not HAVE to do any of it (or live by my to-do list), it didn't feel like a lot. It was actually a nice, relaxing day!

Things I did not do yesterday: Watch the Green Bay Packer game. They tend to lose when I watch, so I took one for the team and did not watch. This was a HUGE sacrifice for myself (note that that last sentence is dripping in sarcasm...my sports attention span hovers around the 17 minute mark.) But they won! My mom emailed me score updates throughout the game and according to her, we want the New York Giants to win today. So go Giants! Having grown up in the area, there is nothing quite like the frenzy around the Green Bay Packer games. If you ever get the chance, the games are fun for even us non-sporty types. I would just suggest going to a game early in the season. Lambeau Field in December/January is like the one place where global warming has no impact...at all...it's freaking cold!

I want to be a Geometrist (Geometrician?) when I grow up!

I love Geometry. I have loved it since I took Geometry during my freshman year of high school. The shapes, the proofs, the formulas, and oooh, the postulates. I just love it; it appeals to my logical side. I am a firm believer that there is (at least) one topic that a person just innately understands; it just clicks. For me, that topic is Geometry. (Topics that I will never innately understand include NASCAR, how the dew point is calculated, and the Iowa Caucuses.) However, unless I missed something on Career Day, the job opportunities in the field of Geometry are few and far between. So I settled for a job off of another branch of the mathematics family tree.

But I try to work with Geometry as much as I can, be it though graphic design or interior design. Most (hmm, actually all) of my artwork is very geometrical.

All of this came together when I was recently in the market for new bedding. My bedding had become quite boring as you can see below. I was even committing a huge faux pas where my sheets did not match my pillow case. Eek! Sadly, I have had that comforter since I moved into this condo two and half years ago. I loved it then but now, I just wanted it to be gone.

So I felt as though a new year merited new bedding and I found a most adorable set at Target. And the price was right. The total, including shipping, was under $50. It is fabulous mix of a striped comforter and polka dot sheets in chocolate brown, pink, and camel. (You will quickly learn that chocolate brown is my favorite color!) I adore the total look, especially how the stripes complement the circles in the canvas artwork I have hanging above my bed.



I just love how changing one thing like bedding can completely "wake up" the look of an entire room.

Breakfast Deliciousness: A Coffee Cake Recipe Review

We had a new employee start work in our office this week. I think starting a new job has to be one of the most intimidating (yet exciting) events in life. But luckily, I work in very fun office so I think we do a great job of welcoming new people. And I am not just saying that because my colleagues are among my most loyal blog readers (hey, everyone!)...seriously, they really are a fun bunch. I am very lucky! So we had a little office "coffee (cake) clutch" on Thursday to celebrate the arrival of our newest staff member. Well, no one actually drank coffee, but I brought in coffee cake.

I have never made coffee cake before so I was a little nervous. I was talking to a friend about it and she gave me a piece of advice that I will now call "Erin's Rule of Coffee Cake." To paraphrase Erin, "If you put enough crumbly good stuff on top, no one will care what the rest tastes like." Truer words regarding coffee cakes have not been uttered.

I searched and found two recipes. The first one, Raspberry Almond Crumb Cake, is from Cooking Light. Cooking Light is one of the many, many magazines that I am addicted to and their online recipe database is a fantastic resource. (Just a note, though, if you use the recipe database, be sure to select "cooking light" in the enhanced search options. Otherwise, you will also get recipes from magazines like Southern Living, and, um, some of those recipes are decidedly NOT light...at all.)

The Raspberry Almond Crumb Cake was super easy to put together. The only thing that I would change in the future would be to use fresh raspberries. Since the berries are not in season, I was not about to fork over $8 for fresh raspberries that looked less than delicious. So I used frozen raspberries and the cake was almost too moist--the middle piece in particular. But everyone seemed to like it!!! I am partial to almond flavored things so I really liked it! And it looks pretty too (and I put lots of crumbly stuff on top...more than the recipe called for!)

I found the next recipe for Blueberry Crumb Cake on one of my favorite recipe blogs: Culinary in the Country. If you ever need a recipe for anything, I highly recommend this site. The authors include pictures of everything they make which I always find SO helpful. I don't know about you but sometimes, when I am baking, I have that moment where I think, "Okay, am I even doing this right? This looks wrong." I guess I am a visual learner when it comes to baking. Ha!

Again, like the raspberry cake, assembling the Blueberry Crumb Cake was super easy. The recipe was adapted from the book Baking From My Home to Yours...a book that I absolutely have in my "Save for later" cart on Amazon. Given the deliciousness on the cover on the book, I am surprised I have not already bought it.

One of the ingredients is whole wheat pastry flour. I am definitely an advocate of using whole grains whenever possible but I sometimes find that when baking with them, the end result can be a little, well, dry. This was not the case for this recipe, thank goodness. It was delicious. This picture does not really show much except for the exorbitant amount of walnut/brown sugar crumble I put on it (and missing square of the cake that I "tested", um quality control, okay?)

Final Word: I can now add coffee cake to my baking resume! These recipes were so easy and delicious!

Best. Yard Sale. Find. Ever.

Is there anything more glorious than the random assortment of treasures found at a yard sale? I think not. My workplace had a yard sale this week with all of the proceeds going to charity. It was technically not a yard sale since it was held in the main corridor of the building. But I guess "Main Corridor Sale" does not have the same marketing appeal as "Yard Sale."

My colleagues and I trekked down to scope out the event. And a random assortment of stuff it absolutely was. A microscope kit, a Nerf ball gun, a decorative ship made out of a wooden shoe (I really should have bought that. It was fantastic.) But then I saw a lady unloading some late arriving items onto the sale table. And there it was. The thing that I do not know how I have lived without. Yes, folks, a princess mallet.

It is the most outstanding conversation piece. And excellent to have around for moments of statistician-related frustration. Also, it squeaks when you hit things.

It is, quite possibly, the best one-dollar purchase I have ever made. Now, if only it said "Goddess" instead of "Princess". That would be perfection.

Three Generations of Goddesses

How glam are my mom, Lady, and I in our Christmas Eve attire?!?!

Okay, I have to say a little about the dress. I am pretty much the queen of the "a-line skirt with a strapless/halter style top" dress. My closet is seriously full of this style of dress. It works for me. But I am trying to step out of my fashion comfort zone. This was my first baby step in that direction. It is also my "2007 Bargain of the Year."

I was shopping at Anthropologie in Georgetown--shocking, I know--when I came across this dress in the Sale Room. It is black silk, knee length with a straightish skirt, and with a red, white, and yellow design around the waist, and slightly puffy (but not horrible bridesmaid dress) sleeves. I fell in love it almost immediately. I fell in love instantly with the price, $59 (marked down from $118). An Anthropologie miracle!!!

I tried it on and it fit perfectly. But I noticed that it was missing a button (but extra buttons came in a little envelope attached to the dress). I knew that I (lol, or more accurately, my Mom) could easily sew that on. The fitting room attendant also noticed this and said to mention it to the cashier and they would almost certainly give me a percentage off.

I excitedly dashed off to pay for it and the manager gave me 15% off. But, it gets better. The dress rang up at 50% off the original price! Even the sales girl said, "Whoa, you just got a great deal! With my 15% off on top of that, I paid around $27...for a $118 dress. I was so excited that I had to call my Mom.

The competition was tough, but I ultimately decided that this was my Bargain of the Year!!!

Christmas Leftovers!!!

In recent years, decorating a gingerbread house on Christmas Eve has become a family tradition. This may tarnish my domestic goddess tiara but we do not make the house from scratch. I have done this once and it is hard to get all of the wall and roof pieces perfect enough to fit together. Suffice to say, I do not have a future as a gingerbread house general contractor. So we use a kit. This year we made a Willy Wonka Gingerbread Cottage!

But you know what gingerbread house decorating means...a showdown with my nemesis...Royal Icing. Knowing my history with the Icing, my mom decided to keep the holidays a nonviolent affair and bought the icing premade at the store. And I have to say, the construction process went smoothly. FYI: Soup cans make an excellent prop for holding the roof in place.

The decorating (or as my mom calls it "how we use up all the candy we have sitting around the house") utilized the candies that came with the kit (Runts, Bottle Tops, and Nerds) and then we used some Christmas marshmallows, M&M's, and some random red, green, and white ball things that no one knew the source of.

One thing that was made from scratch was the Gingerbread Tree. I got this idea from a premade set at Linens and Things. And I uttered that infamous phrase, "I can totally do that!". The tree is made up of gingerbread cutouts of stars in various size. Stacked from largest to smallest, the stars form a tree.

The tree turned out pretty cool!!! It kind of tilted to one side but, oh well, what tree is perfect? The nice thing about the tree (and gingerbread decorating in general) is that any mistake can be covered by icing and you can just call it snow!

And I now present the 2007 Gingerbread Wonderland. This year's model has a skating pond. Last year's had a two-car garage. But the real estate market is a buyer's market at the moment and we needed to upgrade appropriately. The GVHOA (Gingerbread Village Homeowner's Association) recently approved skating ponds as an acceptable amenity.

Things that made me breathe a big sigh of relief today

1. An 8 a.m. pedicure! Given the early hour, I was pretty much the only client at the Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa and it was the most relaxing hour that I have had in a while. And boy, did my poor feet need it. They may take me everywhere I need to go but I do not always return the favor with some much needed pampering. I am certain that my feet are currently screaming "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I think I even ran faster at the gym tonight, LOL! And my toenails are now painted a delicious sparkly chocolate brown. Love it!

2. In a manner with which only I could do it, I totally lost my Metro SmarTrip card which had been recently loaded with my monthly transportation stipend. I had it in its cute little carrying case when I exited through the station turnstile but when I arrived at the top of escalators, it was gone. Naturally, I completely panicked. I looked everywhere in between but found nothing and the station manager was of no help. So I dashed home and called the SmarTrip hotline and in under 2 minutes, the customer service rep had canceled my old card, transferred my balance to a new card, and put the new card in the mail for me. If I could have hugged him over the phone, I would have. Metro, I know you take a lot of flak (and with fares going up substantially on Sunday, you will take more) but in this moment, you were perfection.

Goddess Gadget Review: Williams-Sonoma Cookie Press

Confession: I love kitchen gadget stores...Williams-Sonoma, Sur La Table...um, those are the only two I can think of. Being surrounded by all that stainless steel and copper and random utensils actually makes me think I can cook. Random oval pot thingy? I totally need that! Weird scrapey tool? How have I survived this long without it? And around the holidays, these stores are always baking samples right in the store, so the aroma of pumpkin pie spice (Williams-Sonoma had some seriously good pumpkin pie this year) or peppermint fudge inhibits my ability to shop rationally.

But I was fully rational when I bought the Williams-Sonoma Cookie Press. I have been fascinated by cookie presses ever since I was a kid. I was fascinated by how, with the turn of knob, a perfectly shaped Christmas tree or wreath plopped out (I was pretty easy to entertain as a kid. Well, I still am. LOL!). And for whatever reason, Spritz cookies have a very unique flavor.

I was so excited when I found a cookie press on Williams-Sonoma's website. I am continually impressed by W-S's product quality. After work one evening, I stopped in the store to purchase one. After sampling a peppermint fudge brownie, I happily paid for my cookie press. I was so excited! If I knew how to skip, I totally would have skipped out of the store, swinging my little white Williams-Sonoma bag.

The day before my holiday baking extravaganza, I prepared the dough for Almond Spritz Cookie Recipe that was in the booklet that came with the cookie press. It had six ingredients--butter, sugar, an egg, vanilla and almond extracts, and flour---how simple is that?!?

The next day, I had finished 3 or 4 different cookies before I began work on the Spritz cookies. I took a portion of the dough out of the refrigerator and let it sit for 15 minutes. I then loaded the dough into the cookie press.

Unlike my Mom's cookie press which used a twisting motion to press the dough out, the Williams-Sonoma press has a trigger that is pulled to push the dough out. Following the directions that came with the press, I held the cookie press upright and steady and placed it against ungreased baking sheet and squeezed the handle once through the Christmas tree cookie disk. Allegedly (according to the directions), one click of the trigger produces one cookie. I can assure you that this did not happen. Instead the dough was squeezed through the disk and remained there. It did not plop onto the pan as it should. It just stayed on the disk in a big blob that looked nothing like a Christmas tree. Moreover, each trigger pull made the press "backfire" where the trigger part came off of the barrel.

Thinking that the problem was that the dough was chilled (I have no idea if this matters, but I had no other ideas), I mixed up another batch that was unchilled. The same problems described above occurred when I tried using the unchilled dough in the cookie press.

At this point, my frustration reached a level generally reserved for dealing with Comcast Cable or the U.S. Postal Service. I believe that I uttered the words, "Walk away Rebecca. Just walk away." So I took a break and watched a DVR'd episode of Gossip Girl.

Then I turned to my BFF, Google, and entered the search string "williams sonoma cookie press problems"and discovered that I was not alone in my frustration. Other people had experienced the same exact problem using the exact same recipe.

One person had tried using a different recipe and had some success. So I pulled out my Betty Crocker cookbook and made a batch of the Spritz Cookie recipe from there. This time I had more success. Two clicks of the trigger actually produced a cookie on the sheet! I did a little victory dance in my kitchen. Here are some of the cookies I made using the candy cane and Christmas tree disks.

However, the press did continue to backfire and come apart with almost every click. So annoying!!!! I thought I was doing something wrong so when I went home for the holidays, I brought the cookie press along for my Mom to try. She had the same problem. The only way to control the backfire (somewhat) is to grasp the top of the press (as demonstrated by my lovely Mom in the photo below).

Final word: The very first Williams-Sonoma gadget to disappoint me! I am definitely looking for a different cookie press to use next year.

Goddess-lutions for 2008! (Yep, I made that word up!)

Happy New Year!!!

As promised, I would like to announce my "I Wanna Be A Domestic Goddess" goals for the year. A few things about how I selected them. First, I tried to set attainable goals so for most of them so I gave myself an entire month to achieve them. Let's be serious, there are some weeks when I barely have time to take the garbage out to the trash room down the hall, so setting "each week" goals would just be setting myself up for failure. Second, these are actually goals that I look forward to working on. They all are fun activities that I just need to make time to do!

So without further adieu, here are my Goddess-lutions for 2008!

Read one book a month.
When I was a kid, I was the most voracious reader. I lived for the library's summer reading contest because I could knock out volumes of the Babysitter's Club, Sleepover Friends, and Sweet Valley Twins/High like no one else!!!! I would even read in the car on trips to the grocery store which in my hometown was like a three minute ride (Well, six minutes if there was tractor driving down Main Street.)

But now, all of my "reading" seems to done on the Internet or in magazines (I have an addiction to magazines. At this moment, on my coffee table, there are at least 10 magazines that I want to read). This is not to say that I do not buy books, quite the opposite. I am pretty sure Amazon has me flagged as a high frequency shopper. My bookshelves are full of books waiting to be read.

So I am dedicating myself to reading one book a month. And I will even do a "book report" on this blog!

Try one new "cooking" (not baking) recipe a month.
I will confess that I am not a very good cook. I think that I am pretty good baker, but I just am not really good at cooking. For one, cooking for one is depressing. I either end up with 20 pounds of leftovers--and really, how many days can you handle Moroccan Lentil Stew before you cross Morocco off your places you want to visit list--or it just seems like the recipe is too much work for it to be worth it. Honestly, if it cannot be cooked in 10 minutes of less (or in a crockpot) or be made better with a hummus garnish, then I probably will not take the time to make it.

I love reading about food and recipes. I always find the articles/recipes in Gourmet, Eating Well, Cooking Light (see aforementioned magazine addiction) completely fascinating and I love the descriptions of the food. And I am the owner of no fewer than 25 cookbooks (I just counted). I just bought Alice Waters' The Art of Simple Food (it received a great review in the Washington Post) and I am excited to try some of the recipes!

So I will try to cook one meal a month. This will probably be done on the weekends. Week nights are just too hard. By the time I get home from work and the gym, I really just have time to prepare a quick, small dinner before I go to bed. I will be sure to post the recipe reviews.

Knit one scarf by the end of the year
My mom has given me at least three knitting lessons in the past two years. They usually end with her saying "Focus, Rebecca!!!" when I get distracted by the television/a conversation/a butterfly/etc., but this year, I am going to do it! I have all of the supplies, even a cute little knitting basket. I think it would be a great activity to do while watching television.

All I am aiming for here is one scarf. I can do it!

Schedule one "unscheduled" day off each month.
Okay, this one probably does not make sense but here is what I am getting at. I have one day off from work every week. Any more time off, I get stir crazy. Any less time off, I just go crazy. My dream for the day off is to be able to do whatever I want, whenever I want. Things like spending an afternoon sitting in Borders Cafe reading, or wandering through Georgetown or Old Town, or walking around the monuments, or just vegging out. Sounds good in theory, right? Except that it never happens. I end up "scheduling" so much on my day off, be it errands, appointments, etc., that I never get to enjoy the day off.

The reality is that errands do need to be run and appointments need to be tended to but I think I can set aside one day a month to just do whatever I want. To be able to wake up in the morning with a blank canvas would be such a luxury and one that I can fully indulge in.

So there they are! My Goddess-lutions! I will keep you updated on my progress.

And I do have two new "tools" to help me on my journey to become a domestic goddess, both fab Christmas presents from my Mom. One is How to be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson. It has some fantastic baking recipes in it that I cannot wait to try. And she also gave me a super cute apron. I tend to live in black yoga pants that always end up covered in flour when I bake so I am hoping this apron eliminates this issue.




(P.S., Not sure what is going on with my hair in that picture. It looks like I am wearing/was wearing a hair net which I was not)