The holidays FLEW by and now it is the evening of the second day of the year. Yikes. Already?
While the word resolution has always reminded me of smokers trying to quit, here are a few things I would like to accomplish in 2013:
Learn something new.
I've been a little lost the past year without new grad school classes. Odd, I know. I miss learning new things. This year, I'm thinking something fun - like something artsy or outdoorsy.
Make new friends.
Again, with being finished with grad school, I have had more free time on my hands during the past year. I have also come to the realization that my husband doesn't necessarily want to be going, doing, and seeing things every (okay every other) free minute.
Entertain more.
We love cooking for a crowd and have cookware and dishes that sit unused. I think one of the biggest problem in this department is not planning ahead. Maybe being more organized with this is a key factor in making this happen?
Could I be any more ambiguous?
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Friday, December 28, 2012
Lost in magazineland
I saw my cousin's wife over the holidays, and she said, "hey, I haven't read your blog in a while." First, I was surprised and excited that she had read my random ramblings. Then I said, "that's okay, I haven't written anything in a while". Thanks....I'll take that as a hint. :)
I was hoping that I would be able to tackle a few long-awaited organization projects during "winter break", but it is already Friday and all I have managed to do is add to my list. Today's addition is trying to find a way to catalog magazine articles, particularly recipes.
I'll admit that I'm a bit of a magazine junkie; at one point this fall I was getting four food-related magazines. Two I paid for, one came from my boss who mysteriously had a second copy of Bon Appetit showing up at her house, and one was a trial subscription that I had inadvertently signed up for at a meeting planning event. Nice. Apparently my love of magazine is hereditary. My brother-in-law has commented a few times now that there always has to be magazine swapping time when my sister goes home to see my mother. I second that motion. I would be very disappointed if I arrived at my mom's house and didn't have any new magazines to read. This time it was a few back issues of New Jersey monthly and Southern Living. I'm not sure how those two publications can sit in the same magazine rack without a fight breaking out, but it seems to work.
At any rate, I am looking for a way to tag my magazines. Short of scanning entire editions, I guess I can go low tech. One giant word file? I guess. Honestly, I guess it just needs to be searchable. The only decision I guess is how far back to go with my filing. Does anyone else have this problem?
I was hoping that I would be able to tackle a few long-awaited organization projects during "winter break", but it is already Friday and all I have managed to do is add to my list. Today's addition is trying to find a way to catalog magazine articles, particularly recipes.
I'll admit that I'm a bit of a magazine junkie; at one point this fall I was getting four food-related magazines. Two I paid for, one came from my boss who mysteriously had a second copy of Bon Appetit showing up at her house, and one was a trial subscription that I had inadvertently signed up for at a meeting planning event. Nice. Apparently my love of magazine is hereditary. My brother-in-law has commented a few times now that there always has to be magazine swapping time when my sister goes home to see my mother. I second that motion. I would be very disappointed if I arrived at my mom's house and didn't have any new magazines to read. This time it was a few back issues of New Jersey monthly and Southern Living. I'm not sure how those two publications can sit in the same magazine rack without a fight breaking out, but it seems to work.
At any rate, I am looking for a way to tag my magazines. Short of scanning entire editions, I guess I can go low tech. One giant word file? I guess. Honestly, I guess it just needs to be searchable. The only decision I guess is how far back to go with my filing. Does anyone else have this problem?
Monday, May 21, 2012
Shop like a man
As I think I've written before, the previous owners of our house had a 1980s meets Americana thing going on. Worked for them, but not really for me.
Our mailbox had one of those weird wrap/cover things on it; this one looked like a vintage American flag. See, there's the Americana thing again. I took it off at one point but realized that the mailbox underneath was rusty. While the cover wasn't my favorite, it stayed on longer than originally planned since it was serving a functional purpose of oxidation disguise.
As with most purchases I attempt to make, I felt the need to research mailboxes (almost ad nauseam, I might add) before heading out to shop. What I realized during online browsing was that I wasn't quite ready to commit to a crazy, non-standard mailbox resembling a dog, airplane, or other such randomness. Something simple and straightforward was going to do the trick.
I went to our local Ace Hardware in search of a mailbox. (Note to self: Write posting about how Ace Hardware is a wonderful example of a quasi-locally owned business. I am not sure exactly how the franchising for Ace works, so maybe they are working for some giant corporate office after all, but it feels like a local business!) Their staff is great, and within a few minutes of my entering the store, I was offered assistance. I said, "yes, actually, I am looking for a mailbox". The sales guy led me to the correct aisle and pointed out distinguishing features of various mailboxes.
After he finished showing me Ace's mailbox stock, he stood there and waited for me to say something. I thought, "oh, apparently this is where I am supposed to choose one and take it to the register." It was odd. I remembered hearing that when men shop, they go into a store with the intention of walking out with a purchase. This was obviously what the Ace guy was expecting me to do. I wanted to leave, visit 5 other stores, go back to the internet, do more research.....but Ace guy was so helpful...could I really let him down?
So I did it. I bought a black mailbox. (Ace guy was even nice enough to give my mailbox to the cashier to hold while I wandered around the store looking at paint.) 15 minutes, in and out of the store. The next day it rained. But the day after that, I installed my new mailbox. Done.
As an aside, there is a part of our old mailbox remains. It never would have occurred to me that a slide out mailbox caddy would be a so helpful. It looks like this. Ours has found a new home, thanks to the Ace guy.
Our mailbox had one of those weird wrap/cover things on it; this one looked like a vintage American flag. See, there's the Americana thing again. I took it off at one point but realized that the mailbox underneath was rusty. While the cover wasn't my favorite, it stayed on longer than originally planned since it was serving a functional purpose of oxidation disguise.
As with most purchases I attempt to make, I felt the need to research mailboxes (almost ad nauseam, I might add) before heading out to shop. What I realized during online browsing was that I wasn't quite ready to commit to a crazy, non-standard mailbox resembling a dog, airplane, or other such randomness. Something simple and straightforward was going to do the trick.
I went to our local Ace Hardware in search of a mailbox. (Note to self: Write posting about how Ace Hardware is a wonderful example of a quasi-locally owned business. I am not sure exactly how the franchising for Ace works, so maybe they are working for some giant corporate office after all, but it feels like a local business!) Their staff is great, and within a few minutes of my entering the store, I was offered assistance. I said, "yes, actually, I am looking for a mailbox". The sales guy led me to the correct aisle and pointed out distinguishing features of various mailboxes.
After he finished showing me Ace's mailbox stock, he stood there and waited for me to say something. I thought, "oh, apparently this is where I am supposed to choose one and take it to the register." It was odd. I remembered hearing that when men shop, they go into a store with the intention of walking out with a purchase. This was obviously what the Ace guy was expecting me to do. I wanted to leave, visit 5 other stores, go back to the internet, do more research.....but Ace guy was so helpful...could I really let him down?
So I did it. I bought a black mailbox. (Ace guy was even nice enough to give my mailbox to the cashier to hold while I wandered around the store looking at paint.) 15 minutes, in and out of the store. The next day it rained. But the day after that, I installed my new mailbox. Done.
As an aside, there is a part of our old mailbox remains. It never would have occurred to me that a slide out mailbox caddy would be a so helpful. It looks like this. Ours has found a new home, thanks to the Ace guy.
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