Chills

Watch this...

P.S. I found these videos while checking out this blog.

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary, How Does your Garden Grow?

My friend Marianne's curbside garden behind her picturesque apartment.

I was over there the other day, sewing in her immaculate craft room and she gave me some fresh herbs from her garden. Not one to say no to any gift or opportunity, I took her up on her offer and she presented me with a huge bundle of sage.
"Thanks!" I thought, "but what in the heck am I going to do with all of these herbs?"

After I googled some recipes and found a winner, I prepared for a celebratory feast, only to discover she had included some fresh basil too! Hoo-ray!


Insalata Capres con pane

Bocconcini (bite size) with cherry tomatoes and fresh mozzarella balls. It's very important that one uses mozzarella packed in water.

So, what did I make with the sage? After cooking some chicken with sage for C's dog, I used what was leftover in a Maple Cinnamon Sage Brown Butter, recipe courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis on FoodNetwork.com, Click here for the full recipe inlcuding an easy how to for Sweet Potato Gnocchi. I skipped the gnocchi due to time, deadlines, and the fact that I had packages of butternut squash tortellini and ravioli already in the freezer. 

And the result?

Fantastico! Molto buono!
(new Italian words I learned last night.)

It was so good in fact, I forgot to take a pic before we dug in. The best part was sopping up the sauce on cut pieces of fresh challah. Mmmmmmmmm!

"Let us be grateful for those who give us happiness; they are the charming gardeners who make our soul bloom."

~Marcel Proust

Grazie amico, thank you Marianne!

What does L Mean?

I wrote it on my hand in Sharpie, so it must be something very important, right?

I was just thinking on the way over to C’s house, that I need to categorize my life in the events and activities, as well as locations that I do them. The first place that I thought of was my car: my beloved 2004 Volkswagen Jetta that will be paid off this August! Yay!
It needs to be:
Cleaned, washed & vacuumed
Detailed, the grey colored fabric upholstery is dismal. It is so dirty, but I have no idea how to make it look pristine. I fear that the water damage from bottles and bouquets, as well as many coffee stains may have affected the interior permanently.

Then there is the car clutter situation. That is pretty much under control this week, with a little attention this past weekend. I removed many shoes, clothes, papers etc. Now all that is in my trunk is my bike rack, yoga mat, Mexican blanket – for spontaneous picnics and rolls in the grass, and a few things that I need to return to different stores. Areas in my car that need more attention are the glove box (What should go in my glove box anyway? Gloves? Seriously?) and the two side pockets that are crammed with CDs.

Which brings me to another place that needs my attention: my beloved MacBook Pro. The hard drive is beginning to get cluttered with pictures, writings, music etc. This situation is not going to change over night, but I have begun to organize my bookmarked pages, and have at least put all of my photos and odd PDFs into many, many folders. That’s a start. It looks clean on my desktop, and that’s a good feeling - but there is still work to do.


In an effort to edit and organize my life, I’ve been reading Apartment Therapy: The Eight-Step Home Cure by Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan. He is the founder of the inspiring blog Apartment Therapy. He also was an elementary school teacher for many years. That gives him street cred in my book. 

I’m only on page 58 (I'm taking it slow), Week One of Part Two: The Cure, but already I have learned so much. For instance, I am a warm person, meaning that I am the kind of person that has lots of STUFF around them. Every space on the wall may have something and every corner has a piece of furniture. Warm people need to weed stuff out of their lives and environments – which is where I’m at right now. This book was only $14 – way less than what it’s worth if you ask me.

Life is changing right now. I could get all mopey about it and worry about it, but I really feel that everything is going to be just fine. It’s just a matter of how things will turn out. I have some control over it all, but I also surrender to the uncertainty. That way, it’s more of a surprise gift. I’m excited about the future.

U P D A T E:  I just remembered what L is for!
I'll fill you in on that and TOPT later, as well as what I've been up to when the mood and time is right. I'm sorry I haven't kept up with the blog, but I have documentation. It just needs to be...
O R G A N I Z E D !

May 1st, again...

Two years later since I started Skirt Project. I've stalled on the blog, but life has been moving right along. I just uploaded 200 pics of events and projects that I have documented. I hope to still share them.

I did start somethings today...

Here's to new ventures!

And another May 1st.