When I moved in to my current place about 3 1/2 years ago, I looked at the color in the front entry and went "ugh." Since then, I've gotten a lot of compliments on the paint color, but I usually just say "the past owners painted it that color" - I had actually been thinking of repainting it but it's just so. much. work.
But then a few days ago I made a disturbing discovery, when opening the door and getting home. The color on my walls is actually pretty much the same as my new nail color. So it looks like I've come around to it after all.
See for yourself.
Also, now you can see the bear paw hands that Piano Teacher Wicky has to deal with. They're not the most graceful in the land, but they get the job done.
Today is a bit of a strange anniversary, of sorts, for me. I realized as I was cooking my dinner that it's been 8 months since I broke up with my long-time boyfriend. I've heard people say before that it's important to be single for a while and I wholeheartedly agree. In the time that I've been single, I've learned a lot about myself, mainly: what I want to do, eat, watch on tv, etc., when I don't have to think about whether someone else will agree with me. While this has resulted in some pretty bad tv and netflix choices (I will admit, but not mention actual titles!) it's also given me a chance to be extremely productive, like with all the cross-stitch Christmas gifts I did last fall, and a lot of schoolwork that I otherwise might not have made time for.
But time alone also makes you realize a few things you miss about being in a couple. Tonight, that thing was eating lasagne. Lasagne was one of my ex's favorite dinners, and there are a lot of reasons why I like to make it too. It's a whole meal, really, in one dish (I put lots of veggies in). I love baking my dinner - and being able to get all the dishes clean before you actually eat your food. It's a real comfort food. And finally, it makes excellent leftovers.
A few years ago I bought a Le Creuset dutch oven and was almost convinced to buy one of the cutest dishes ever: their Pate Terrine, 1 1/2 quart, which the saleslady told me is perfect for "lasagne for 2." Well, these days I'm more in the market for lasagne for 1, I guess, although I still want those amazing leftovers.
So tonight, I made 1/2 recipe of my favorite lasagne, with ground turkey and I minced some zucchini to add in with my usual spinach. I used my favorite pyrex brownie pan and Barilla no-bake lasagne noodles (a shortcut worth taking). Here is my single-lady lasagne, in all its glory, both before, and after, baking.
And, while it was in the oven, I got to play piano. These days, Mendelssohn has been my preference. Here's one of my favorite Song Without Words, played (a little better than I do) by Daniel Barenboim.
The things they're teaching kids these days (other than piano, that is)
alternate effect: his piano teacher loves him and rewards him with many stickers . . .
Thanks to it being a not-very-sunny Sunday, I woke up this morning and didn't feel like getting out of bed at all. Instead, I stayed in bed reading for a while and finished the first few chapters of my next book club book, Jeffrey Steingarten's The Man Who Ate Everything. The first chapter was all about figuring out the perfect bread recipe, and as the morning wore on I found myself craving some fresh-baked carbohydrates.
Luckily I have all the necessary bread-baking ingredients on hand at all times, so I was able to whip up a few loaves without much effort (thanks to my kitchen-aid mixer) and in no time (minus the few hours it had to rise - see above) I was snacking on my hot, whole wheat bread (see right). For dinner, I will supplement it with some chicken soup that I made on Tuesday (sans recipe - for the first time).
I also had plenty of time to work on my quilt this afternoon. I spent a few hours piecing together another 1/3 of it (see my cabin-fever post from the blizzard a few weeks ago). I have 2 baby showers coming up in March and for about 5 minutes I thought I might put some baby quilts together, so I was trying to clear off the quilt wall so that I could lay them out, but I have decided that would probably be crazy of me (although that hasn't always stopped me in the past). Instead, I just slowed down and enjoyed my sewing for the afternoon, even though I broke a sewing needle half-way through. Anyway, it's really coming together.
In honor of pitchers and catchers reporting for training this week (and Kerry Wood being in Cubs jersey again!), my ex-boyfriend (yes, I'll give him the credit) posted this video on facebook. (Sorry, embedding is disabled, so you have to go to youtube.com, but it's worth it!) I have fond memories of when it was first put on by Conan, but, better than that, it combines many of my favorite things: baseball, historical happenings, and red-headed mustachioed men. Enjoy.
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