Warning: Geek Alert

Disclaimer: this post is SERIOUSLY geeky.

I have spent most of my March Break (yeah, yeah, I know: March Break is one of the reasons people think teachers have an easy job. Whatever. Maybe you're all right.) fixing up my sewing room. Yes, the sewing room about which I have dreamed for YEARS. Having the Best Fella in the World means I also now have my OWN ZONE. A zone in which my sewing machine (newly tuned up!) can live openly, uncloseted, all set up and ready to go. AT A MOMENT'S NOTICE. That means no schlepping all my stuff up to the dining room, setting up on our bizarrely tall dining room table, making a huge mess of said dining room, then cleaning it all up and having to put everything away at the end of every day, only to start over again the next day. Repeat until project is finished. Now, it's all ready and waiting: I just swan on down and START in on whatever I am doing. It's all set up, it's all there. Bliss. Sheer bliss, I tell you. LUXURY!

I started by bullying M into making me a looooooooong storage zone and forcing him to agree to installing shelves above it. (More shelves to come, as the budget permits.) Then, I painted my parents' old dining room table (and some of my hair...) in Ralph Lauren's Lisbon Blue, my current colour obsession. (It is the same colour I painted inside the drawers of M's old dresser and which inspired the vintage glass knobs I ordered online and made K schlep home from Boston- thank you for being my knob mule, K!) I painted my granny's old side table black and then I made panels of ticking to hide all the ugly (but necessary!) crap stored under the countertop.

Inspired, I moved on to using some of my many fabric scraps to make cushion covers for old, unused cushion forms, tied with ribbon scraps. Other bits of ribbon are stored in vintage mason jars from my great aunt.

Pieces de resistance, however, include my delicious French stamps, the ribbon storage/display, the sewing machine cozy and the sweet cupcake garland.

I am so inspired and my soul is so well-fed-- I can't wait to make something else! I wish there were a way to make things and to make a living from doing it! Though maybe it would not be so much fun if I HAD to do it... Still, I can't help but think it would be more interesting than correcting essays....

There is more to be done: some trim to be painted out, a rug and a pad to keep my feet warm and my back healthy, more shelves and some frames for old family photos. All in good time. In the meantime, all I want to do is hang out in my pretty, pretty room!

Thanks, M, for spoiling me rotten!

Healthy AND Yummy?

Today at work we had a series of workshops about being healthy. Don't ask-- it is a long, sad tale. BUT, while I hate being forced to participate in mandatory workshops when I could be getting my work done, today's mandatory workshop ended up being worthwhile. (I cannot tell you how surprised I was!)

The workshop was run by Peggy Kotsopolous and was about making changes to the way we eat in order to be healthier. I hear you: "YAAAAAWWWWN." Not at all, as it turns out: this woman was so enthusiastic and passionate, so into her work and so down-to-earth that she was irresistible.  Her ideas, such as substituting mashed bananas for eggs and white flour in cookie batter, or mashing up an avocado (!) with cocoa powder and agave syrup to make "pudding", are completely reasonable and taste delicious. All the health, without sacrificing yumminess! There is no sense that you are "tricking" yourself into thinking something dry and sprouty and grainy tastes better than it really does. I LOVE IT! Healthy food that tastes as good as junk food!

Now, I am the last person who will EVER tell you to give up butter, wine, sugar, bacon, etc. because I believe that the French have it absolutely right: all things in moderation. But I also think that a treat that is both healthy AND as yummy as its processed, chemical-filled alternative is a no-brainer.  Because giving up treats is NOT an option: life is too short. So, eat!  

Here is the cookie recipe we tried today. I can't wait to try them out at home!

Peggy's Perfect Cookies

There are no quantities here-- just scoop a bunch of stuff together and when it tastes right, you are ready to bake it. Could it be any easier? The "recipe" below is just a suggestion. Try substituting oats for the coconut, dried fruit for the chocolate chips. Or just add both! Experiment-- all the best cooks do! 

-cooked (cooled) quinoa

-ripe banana

-unsweetened dried coconut

-agave syrup (in the health food section of grocery stores)

-chocolate chips

Mix it all up together, mashing the bananas and quinoa together first.  Plonk spoonsful of the batter onto a cookie sheet and bake at 350 F for 8-10 minutes (or until they are browned a bit).

Make some apricot tea and have yourself a cookie!  They are even better when they cool off.

Latest Obsession - Glasvegas!

Check out this band. They are mere pups, but their music sounds like they have been listening to Gen X and Icicle Works, with a bit of Clash thrown in for the punk guitar sound. There is definitely some Oasis and maybe even some Pulp (BMad!) in there, too. BRILLIANT. Plus, their drummer is a girl and I am wondering if it is too late for me to be her when I grow up?

I can't stop listening to Geraldine-- so sad and so catchy, all at the same time. I have spent much of the last two days blasting the album and dancing around the house, singing at the top of my lungs. M says this band appeals to my "inner Morrissey" because their lyrics are dark. I say, "Is that a bad thing?"

I have tried to embed the video, but the band has asked that youtube not enable embedding. So, click on over and take a look and a listen; you won't be sorry, I promise!

(Tip: singing along is a must and should be done in a raging Glaswegian accent for full effect.)