Treat bags for work besties

 I had some fun last week putting together a couple of treat bags for two work besties.  I combined it with a jaunt to IKEA since I haven't been there in years.

Along with treats for them, I bought some inexpensive watercolor pencils, some spring-y napkins, a bamboo bowl, and other small items. Treats for me, my own Valentine - ha!

When I got home I sewed these bags from scraps.  If you applique the heart on the fabric before you sew the bottom and middle seam, you can more easily line up your design to be front and center.  I used a zig zag stitch on the little calico hearts. Burlap is easy to sew - very forgiving.  {A bunny applique on these bags would be cute for Easter!}

IKEA snacks are fun and different.  One of my besties loves licorice so she's definitely getting some in her treat bag.  But also popcorn, cookies, and a candy bar.  Man, we love our snacks at work!

I hope they like them!

Having a couple of friends at work is a great thing.  You can share laughs, vent, and lean on each other for help with difficult things.  I have made many buddies at jobs over the years - a definite bonus to the  paycheck and one of the things that helps me keep working! 

Gina 

5 thing Friday - feeding myself, sweet potato plant, heart charm, license, BP cuff

Although I am not posting menus, I have settled into a dinner cooking routine of 4 nights out of 7 and having very simple things to eat when I get home from work.  A quesadilla, bowl of cereal, or Chick-fil-A chicken patty with some mac and cheese helps me avoid most kitchen duty on days I work.

If I make a big pan of something, I can portion some of it out for work lunches. Here I fixed cacio e pepe ravioli from TJ with some ground beef, marinara, the rest of a tomato I was trying to use up, and about a cup of frozen peas.  'Twas pretty good and freezes well.

About twice a week for lunch I have one of those chopped salads with cabbage, etc., and some added protein, plus dibs and dabs of other things (pickles, beets, the rest of the 3 bean salad that was lurking in the fridge).  I never thought it particularly hard to feed myself until Mark died. You wouldn't think it should be so difficult to manage.

I'm trying to grow a sweet potato plant here from an actual sweet potato.  Will it work?  I'm not sure, but please notice my use of large paper clips since I didn't have toothpicks.  (Also the recycled pasta jar from the ravioli.) This window is the one that gets morning sun.  Its been so pretty outside that I am ready to bring all of my plants back out of the garage and arrange them on the patio.

Happy Valentine's Day to me.  I added a charm that finishes out my charm bracelet in a very pretty way.  {I had the armadillo removed, as it was heavier than the other charms and made the bracelet feel bulky and slide to one side} A reminder to show myself some kindness and love.  I have been wearing it and enjoying the pretty sound it makes and the good memories it invokes.

I have been missing Mom lately.  While I was working on the photo project I found this old driver's license of hers.  In high school, it used to make me laugh when she pulled it out while writing a check somewhere.  She was in the middle of saying "yes, I'm ready!" when the woman snapped her photo. 

She would say "stop acting the fool!" as I laughed away.

 When she got her new license she sent this to me.  I was in college and we wrote each other letters all of the time. It lives above my desk now and makes me smile.  She looked so young here, and so thin.

The dental hygienist used a wrist BP cuff for me last week that seemed like it was more accurate than the bulky arm one I have.  And easier to use!  So I bought myself one with some HSA $.  I need to pair it with the app and it will sit right here on my desk.  My BP is well-managed, but I want to take charge of recording it and reporting back to my doc, holding myself accountable for taking care of ME.

Happy Valentine's Day tomorrow!

Gina

5 thing Friday - happy hour, weather, Aqua Festival poster, chrysanthemum print, "Japanese Cheesecake"

I took myself to a fun place for happy hour after I bopped around the creative re-use store looking for cheap art supplies. 

A friend recommended this Indian restaurant in downtown Austin.

I enjoyed a couple of adult bevvies and some appetizers.

I love the idea of fusion food - this was curry queso.  Dee-lish.

Mornings have looked like this lately.  Sunny, slightly nippy, super beautiful.  Its a promise of warm days to come.  I am taking my daily walks and soaking up all the sun I can.

And evenings are just right for a quick firepit while supper cooks.  It won't be long before the days lengthen, but Austin normally sees at least one big winter event before spring.  After that, I guess the firepit will get safely stowed away.

Look what I found behind the art in this frame!  Can you imagine? This was a major event in Austin each year, until 1998.  I think we went a couple of times back in the day.  I don't remember ever seeing this framed poster, but maybe Mark had it in his office.  Just like when I found the Leah Schwartz pink poster, it was like a blast from my past.  I wonder what it's worth?

I stored the previous art, cleaned up the frame, left the AAF poster in, and hung my chrysanthemum print.  Pardon the lighting, it was evening when I got around to this project.  OK, I pinky promise to leave this wall DONE and stop moving things around.  Was I sad to see The Girl's middle school art finally get taken down?  A little. But knowing the poster is still in there is kinda fun. 

I thought the Japanese cheesecake thing sounded interesting and I tried it, but shocker, it just tasted like cookies in yogurt.  Mine was slightly sweet vanilla yogurt as I cannot imagine how terrible plain unsweetened yogurt would have tasted.  As it is, this was barely sweet and did not taste like dessert in the least.  Yogurt is not my favorite thing - just give me the cookies.

Gina

Going and doing in 2026

 Looking forward into the year, I am trying to schedule fun things to do and places to go - very much like I did last year. (here's a good reason why) I want to switch it up so that it seems new and fresh.  Plus I want to discover more about where I live, what is out there, and try not to break the bank while I'm at it.  Currently I have two more symphonies, a string quartet, and book clubs on the calendar.  But I want to find the quirky, one-of-a-kind Austin things and find new places to visit.

On Saturday, I went to see KC and The Sunshine Band at ACL Live.  I know I have gone downtown many times, but this time it was so cold out! and I had to navigate by foot to the venue after parking a few blocks away.  I got there in plenty of time and it was fun to people watch as I sipped my wine.

Its such a great place for a concert - seems like every seat is a good one.  There are bars on every level so the lines aren't ridiculous.  Having said that, I usually limit myself to one drink, as I am the driver, at night, and by myself.  Plus, drinks are pricey and take a bite out of your entertainment budget.

Such a great seat - however, I'm going to consider getting a floor seat in the future - its like a party down there, people on their feet the whole time.  This concert was full of my generation, too!  Time to have fun while we still can  (:

KC turned 75 the day of this show - he and Mark share a birthday, 10 years apart.  The band was really good, the music great, KC still out there gettin' it done, engaging and expressing his love for the crowd.  It was awesome.  And it was great for me to get off work early, then come in late on Sunday.  A win all around.  I'm looking forward to continue to get out and about this year!

Gina

5 thing Friday - icy days, reading, chrysanthemum print, simple meals, pastimes

The severe cold weather and ice we had are now over. 

Even safely warm at work, I was stressing over my house, but when I got home on Monday afternoon, all was well.  The house was just fine, I was safely off the roads, a martini was shortly going to be in hand, and I burst into tears after setting my things down and locking the door, grateful to be home - the very best place to be.

I spent a whole day putseying around my house and sleeping well.  Then on Wednesday I shoveled the sheets of snowy ice off my walkway and managed to get to coffee with a friend, groceries bought, bins to curb.  Does it say I am an old lady to need a whole day to recover from the weekend?  It wasn't even overly busy!  I think it was a delayed stress reaction.

I'm looking forward to sitting on my couch and reading, under this soft blanket made for me by The Girl.  Where did she get her mad crochet skillz?  Turns out, You Tube.  It sure has come in handy.

I joined another book club at a local library branch and I think it will be perfect for me.  The list of books is published in advance so you have time to find and read them.  I am a fan of holding an actual book, so I ordered mine used (through Amazon) and stacked them in order right where I will be reading.  The first one is The Mender by Jennifer Marchman.  We will get to meet the author, too!

Last week, when I was moving pictures around, I ordered myself this chrysanthemum poster print for the collage wall in the office.  I can't wait to hang it!  Mostly I have been very good about not using on-line shopping for therapy.  But I did earn some overtime and I have been wanting a print like this for months.  The chrysanthemum represents optimism and that motif is the largest element in my tattoo that says "expect the best". 

I haven't been publishing menus because I am cooking either mostly the same things, or just eating out or doing very simple things like this egg and sausage skillet with roasted Mediterranean veggies.  I am back to learning how to feed just me.  One night this week I did a big pot of soup using the leftover turkey broth and meat from Thanksgiving, the rest of above mentioned veggies, and a can of white beans.  Nothing exciting, just getting myself fed.

I am still plugging along on the photo album project.  All the pages were removed from the albums, then all of the photos removed from the pages, next I will further purge the photos, put all of them in chrono order adding in photos from separate Christmas albums (WHY did we do that), then put them back into new albums (maybe trimming some of them up), then scanning them, then adding them onto flash drives for my peeps. This will take me weeks, 'cause I can only work on it an hour or so at a time.  It is unbelievably hard to trip down memory lane like this.

For stress reduction and meditative time, I have been practicing my cursive handwriting which I had abandoned as a teenager.  Its like starting from scratch!  Writing my whole name, correctly, is very tricky.  For years I have been writing a big lowercase G for my first name.  Its fun to practice your fine motor skills with fancier handwriting.  I think I may like to learn calligraphy some day, who knows.  For now, this is a low cost pastime of putting pencil to paper while I listen to music, and doesn't make me cry like the photo project!

Happy almost end of January,

Gina

Big project: painting and cleaning the front room

How I tackled a big paint job, in a nutshell!

Nowadays, no matter the size of the room, I break it up into stages.

Day one is always prep - pull things off the walls and shelves, patch any extra nail holes, remove outlet and switch covers, vacuum walls and floors, move furniture, gather supplies and set them up in one spot.

 

Day two, I started from the corner of the couch nook and worked my way around. I painted around this long shelf and around the outlets using a pad painter.  You can see where I patched nail holes.  I had taken down the curtains to wash them, and I very carefully painted near the blinds!

It was drying pretty splotchy and for a hot minute, I was worried. But as it dried completely it looked perfect.  Once I got around to the column by the front door, I called painting done for the day, and mopped the floor.

I took the cushion covers off the couch to wash, re-hung the curtains, replaced the outlet and switch covers, and moved the living room furniture and shelf decor back.  Then I took the dining room curtains and wall decor down, pushed the table out of the way, and vacuumed.  I was very tired!

Day three I got up on the ladder high enough to edge out the dining room - then kind of panicked on the ladder.  Switching gears, I did the rollering first.  Gotta keep making progress.  Again, the paint looked blotchy, but I already know I will love it.

I took a break to let the walls dry before I tackled the edging again, and replaced the cushions on the couch.  Years ago when I sewed these, I had just enough fabric, so I had done a simple slip stitch on each one.

I got the edging done, self-talking myself through!, so I cleaned that window, including the shades, re-hung the curtains, set a fan on it for awhile, then hung the decor back on the wall.

I did a quick clean on the light fixture and floor, then pushed all the furniture back.

I went ahead and prepped for the next day - removing switch and outlet covers from the front door around to the hall entry, patching some nail holes, and removing everything from the china cabinet.

Day four I pushed the china cabinet out of the way and vacuumed these walls - loads of webs!

This was the trickiest part - painting not only near the ceiling, but around windows and door.  I spent a lot of time on that ladder, as I cleaned the transom window and light fixture, too.

Once all the edging was done, it was pretty easy to roller out the walls.  Then the outlet covers went back on and the thoroughly cleaned china cabinet was moved back into it's space. This paint dried very quickly, but I had a fan on all the completed sections as I went.

By mid afternoon on Wednesday, I had it all put back together - floors cleaned, all decor back out, supplies put away, dining table and chairs moved back. I absolutely love this wall color, which is called "Ashen" by Glidden.  Its the same color I painted in the master bedroom and I used almost three gallons in total for all areas. 

It was overcast skies much of the time which is why it seems dark in here, but I am so pleased that everything got a thorough clean and refresh.  I took the leaf out of the dining table, polished the top, wiped down the seat cushions, too.  This space may seem impossibly big for one person, but it is neat and deep cleaned now.  First big project of the year is DONE.

Gina

5 thing Friday - Spencer, pin cushion doll, photos, art, Fudge Pie

Happy Birthday to Son #1 who made me a mom 36 years ago!  He is a hardworking man, loves his family, has a wicked sense of humor.  A good guy.

I am blown away by the fact that I have a child this old.  When we started our family, Mark and I surely did not envision all that would pass. I don't know how to parent adults, so I have moved into an advisory role for the best job I ever had. 

A blog post about pin cushions reminded me that this beauty was in a box somewhere with a broken head.  A little E6000 glue surgery later and she was mended.

I would like to make her another skirt.  I don't know why I took the original one off, and the cushion of her body is not great for pins, but she was sewn by my mother and it has great sentimental value.

I set her on a shelf near a recently discovered picture of Mom.

She is pictured here in Morocco, 1990.  Newly married and so happy.  This photo makes me smile, and I do miss her crafty self so much.

I've been moving things around on my walls, making things a little simpler, easier to look at.  I took the kids' teenaged portraits off the wall in my bedroom, and stored them in the family album.  To the empty space above my dresser I put the nude line drawing.  Seemed appropriate for a bedroom more than an office.  I ordered a beautiful Japanese chrysanthemum print from Etsy to add to my collage wall in its place.  I also patched and painted over the holes left by my failed attempt to hang a TV wall mount.  Then I returned the mount to Best Buy, as suggested by a blog reader!

The upcoming ice storm has me all kinds of stressed out.  Time to bake.  I found an oldie but goodie recipe in my files for Fudge Pie.  Crust is optional.

I made two glass dishes of it, wishing I had ice cream to top it off.  It has a very moist brownie-pie feel to it - perfect to scoop with a spoon.

Fudge Pie

*Pre-heat oven to 350.*

1 c. sugar

1 stick butter, melted 

1/2 c. flour

2 eggs, beaten

1 t. vanilla extract (I also added a half teaspoon of instant coffee)

2 oz dark chocolate, melted with the butter

chopped nuts - optional, but about 3/4 c.

Mix all.  Pour into glass dish or pie shell.  Bake for 25 minutes.

Stay warm everybody!

Gina