Soup Weather

While yesterday's sunshine made me want to get out and ride my bike, today's cold and grey weather makes me want to hibernate -- a task that is not hard to do when you don't have a real job. My job "hiatus" so far has been interrupted briefly by work inquiries and some proposal writing, but nothing consistent. I looked at the calendar yesterday and realized that it's probably about time for me to get a temp job. Frankly, I suck at motivating myself to do laundry regardless of whether I'm working 40 hours a week, or 4 minutes a week. I spent most of this morning looking at temp agency websites and trying to convert my really awesome Architectural Historian resume into a document that proves that I can answer a phone, type at 45 wpm with no mistakes, and organize files. It's hard.

However, getting used to eating lunch with Jesse every day is not hard at all. One productive thing that has come out of my time off from work is a fridge full of leftovers. I was relieved when Jesse walked into my office (bedroom) and announced that he was heating up lunch. Today's menu featured homemade tortilla soup and veggie sandwiches. Something about chicken soup motivates the soul...I may do a few loads of laundry after all.

Last night we made dessert from the apples purchased on our ballot drop-off bike trip. Initially, I thought that we'd make a crumble or rustic tart, but I found a recipe for spice cake with caramelized apples that sounded divine. And it was. It tasted like fall. We enjoyed our cake with a Kriek beer (a tart, Belgian beer made with fermented cherries). It was a nice ending to the day. Too bad I can't get paid to eat apple cake and drink dessert beer. That would be an even nicer ending to the day.

Patriots and Pie

Today I felt mostly back to normal after my epic cold, so J and I decided to ride our bikes downtown for our near-weekly trip to the library. J has been burning through music books lately and I have decided to counter the daily inundation of election coverage by reading a few biographies/critiques on our founding fathers. Sure, the reading is a bit dry at times, but after feeling constant disappointment with current political climate, it's refreshing to get back to the basics. Rather than jumping right into a full biography, I decided to whet my appetite with Christopher Hitchens' Thomas Paine's Rights of Man: A Biography. I enjoyed it so much that I'm requiring J to read it so that we can discuss. Things I have learned so far? Thomas Paine was pretty awesome. He was a Quaker -- a recurring theme I have noticed in the history of progressive historical figures. Oh, and it kind of sounds like John Adams was an ass (but I'll have to verify that later through additional reading).

Since we were out on bikes, we decided to drop off our ballots instead of putting them in the mail. To make a long story short, I thought the drop box was on Morrison Street in SW Portland, but it was, in fact, on Morrison Street in SE Portland. Our bike ride turned out to be longer than expected and I realized that I am not feeling 100% better from my cold. I kept checking the rear wheel to make sure that somehow I hadn't acquired a couple of lead bricks on the way. I'm sure J wanted to die from my slowness. However, we did it. We voted. Thank god the election will be over in less than a week!

Since we were already out, I decided that our bike ride would not be nearly dramatic enough unless we made a third stop at the grocery store. We picked up apples (to celebrate fall with a pie or crumble), three boxes of tissues, cold medicine (since my ears are still stopped up), some veggies, and a Coke (for the caffeine/sugar boost that I needed to make it home). I took full advantage of the three boxes of tissues and was able to breathe on our way home. By the time we parked our bikes in the basement, I was feeling refreshed and actually was glad that we took the dreaded bike ride. I think I needed a little fresh air.

The Circumstances that Ate Last Week

It's Monday again. How did that happen? I spent much of last week walking around in a fog.

Ben's fiancee, Daphne, flew in to visit as well for a long weekend on Wednesday night. By that point both Jesse and I were already two days into a pretty nasty cold. Jesse was mostly better by Thursday, but mine continued to get worse, ending in a tragic hacking cough that peaked on Friday. In spite of my cold, we still went out and saw the city in bits and pieces, but I declined to go on a hike to Multnomah falls Saturday morning -- still feeling short of breath. I'm sad that I missed a beautiful day. However, I'm glad that I stayed home and rested because the weather was gorgeous again yesterday and we took a walk to Washington Park to see the International Rose Test Garden and Portland Japanese Garden.

While the roses were mostly past their peak, it was wonderful to see all of the fall colors in the Japanese Garden. The trees looked like they were on fire. It was a great fall day here in Portland. We followed our day in the park with a delicious dinner and a round of Trivial Pursuit. Jesse and I lost, but it was lots of fun!

Ben and Daphne are heading home today. It was wonderful having them here to visit.

Weekend Update

I picked up a new iron (pretty much the same model) on Friday and was determined to finish and hang the curtains. After hemming and ironing, I decided that they draped like burlap sacks and needed to be washed to remove some of the sizing. That little voice in my head started screaming "No no no no! You'll just have to iron them again later!" But I did it anyway (according to the washing instructions on the tag) and the damn things shrunk almost 10 inches. I'm sure my Mom is rolling her eyeballs at the moment, knowing very well that she always taught me to wash the fabric before you start the project, but the damage was done. Thankfully, I hadn't cut the curtains and had some length to let out. Saturday was spent unhemming, ironing, and hemming again and finally they're up. And growing on me. I don't think I'll ever love them, they wrinkle even if you look at them the wrong way. However, they do make that blank wall a lot more inviting.

Our friend Ben made really good time driving from Sacramento and arrived a few hours earlier than we expected on Saturday. While we had planned on having our own little Oktoberfest celebration before he arrived, it was great to have dinner with him and chat before he totally crashed from the 10-hour drive. The Oktoberfest meal is on temporary hold (it's totally not vegetarian) until tomorrow afternoon when we will feast at lunchtime. Yesterday, we had a nice lazy morning with pastries from Ken's Artisan Bakery and scrambled eggs (prepared by Jesse). After breakfast we decided to take a walk, which turned out to be more epic than expected. It was nice to get out in the cool air and we saw several trees that are starting to turn colors for the fall.

We arrived home a little after lunch and stuffed our faces because we were all starving. Jesse crashed for a few minutes and took a nap, but woke up rejuvenated. Around 4pm he and Ben went out for a run and I had the place all to myself. Ben is here in Portland taking a week-long class, so he had reading and homework to do in preparation for his first day. That wasn't a problem at all, since Jesse needed to prepare for an interview today and I was reading the nearly 300-page voter guide for Oregon elections. We have fourteen different measures to vote for/against this election. I'm pretty glad that Oregon votes entirely by mail so I don't have to memorize my answers for each one!

Scenes of Destruction

Jesse is working out of the house today, so that means I have the whole apartment to myself. Yesterday, he was pretty busy at work so my efforts to do lots of industrious things were slightly thwarted. I woke up at 8:30am this morning excited to do some major cleaning and things like hanging curtains and finally doing laundry. I was incredibly productive until about 20 minutes ago. I did a major round of dishes, threw in two loads of laundry, and started work on hemming my curtains. Then, Jesse came home for lunch and I nuked my iron.

Let me be clear, this is not the first iron that has been decimated under my watch. I've seen all kinds of crazy iron tricks, like broken face plates, cracked handles, and exploding water vapors. It's merely a fact of life. Hardwood floors kill irons and I'm clumsy (and sometimes bullish with annoying ironing boards). This time though, I was simply moving it slightly to prevent my curtains from getting stuck on our box of artwork. The tragic event happened in slow motion with the teetering iron sent to it's death by the blasted shaky ironing board. As I yelled in slow motion, "Nooooooooooo!" the iron hit the floor in such a way that it severed the cord. Completely. Yes, it also left a black scorch mark. Thank god I didn't blow out the entire apartment circuit. Jesse nearly shot chicken and stuffing out of his nose when he saw my face.

And now, I have a gimpy iron with it's cord swinging in the breeze -- taunting me. After staring at the dead appliance on the floor (muttering choice phrases under my breath), I gulped my iced coffee, took a deep breath, and finished up the curtain hem before the iron had time to go cold. The effort was pretty useless though, because I still have another one to hem. Jesse was full of helpful suggestions like, "don't worry, I'm sure we can replace the cord," and "maybe you could just do it old school and heat it up on the stove." Luckily his lunch hour was nearing an end because I don't think I would have been very nice explaining that you don't replace a cord on a $12 iron.

I think I'll put away the curtains for now and see if I can pick up another iron when I run errands this afternoon. Or, I could just throw the curtains in a pile and leave the curtain rod up there naked to mourn the death of my little Sunbeam iron. I think I like the latter.

Penance

We tried out the collard greens last night with a roasted chicken and stuffing. Yum! The greens were even better today than yesterday. Doesn't Jesse set a nice table? We made a recipe that I had tried before, a butterflied chicken roasted over the stuffing and it cooked perfectly. I don't think I can say enough how much I love my new oven. Anyway, after dinner (which was a lot later than usual) Jesse had a few things to finish up for work so I went back into the bedroom and watched a BBC miniseries on Netflix's Watch Instantly.

As BBC television shows usually go, it wasn't earth shattering, but I was sucked in immediately. I stayed up until midnight waiting to find out if Dorothea's weirdo husband would finally succumb to his "heart illness." Even after my watching spree, I still have three more episodes to go. I have promised myself that I won't even think about finishing Middlemarch until I have done penance for last night's indulgence.

Jesse's good friend, Ben, is coming to visit on Saturday and there are still quite a few things that need to be accomplished in the apartment. I have been lax in doing things that are unappealing to me lately, like hanging that shelf in the kitchen and organizing a pile of stuff in our bedroom. There is also a mound of laundry that keeps staring at me and more paperwork that needs filing.

It's a lot to take on in just one day (just the laundry alone might kill me), but I am determined to check off several tasks on my to-do list!!

Four Pounds of Greens

Yesterday, I spent the better part of the late morning and early afternoon attempting to stain my chair. I quickly learned that staining isn't easy and filled with smiles like those damn refinishing books claim. It's hard and messy. As you can see, about half-way through I decided I hated the color (and quite frankly, my application). I cracked open my refinishing books and found a little disclaimer -- "whatever you do, never, ever, follow the directions on the back of the stain can" (or something to that effect). Great. Minwax is full of shit, and I have a chair that I hate. Apparently, in order to get a nice finish, you are supposed to apply the stain to the wood while the wood conditioner is still wet (the exact opposite action of the directions on the can). So, today I am off to the store to buy more 80 grit sandpaper and will be sanding away my mistakes this week. Yay.

Feeling completely deflated, I decided that I needed to be successful at something. I enlisted Jesse to come with me to the grocery store to plan an elaborate dinner. We ended up with a trunk full of bags containing enough groceries to make dinners for an entire week. Last night though, I was focused on one thing -- making a successful batch of collard greens, Oohhs and Aahh's style (even though their version is vegetarian, mine is not). I had never made collards before, even though they rank pretty high on one of my favorite dishes ever. My mom hated the smell of them cooking when I was growing up, so I only ever ate them at restaurants as a kid. As a result, I never learned to make them either. It's difficult not having a family recipe to fall back on, like my Mom's gumbo or jambalaya.

After reading through a few recipes, I found one that sounded about right -- 4 pounds of greens, 3 onions, 1/2 pound bacon, some vinegar, broth, and red pepper flakes. Simple and delicious. I found out that it is not easy to fit 4 pounds of greens in one dutch oven (and this is a pretty huge one). As you can see, I had to mush the greens on top and fold over the hot liquid on the bottom to make them submit. It took a few minutes, but they eventually loosened up and settled in the bottom.

The greens cook for about an hour and turn out nice and tender, but not mushy. Jesse and I couldn't wait to eat them as a side dish, so we each sampled a little bowl before bed. I declare them a success! They will be the perfect accompaniment to the chicken and stuffing I am going to make this evening.

Umami Saturday

After last night's Szechuan carrot soup, I had noodles on the brain. I didn't just want any type of noodles, I wanted udon noodles with a very specific type of sauce containing mushrooms and greens. In D.C. this wouldn't have been a problem. We would have bopped on down to Raku or Nooshi and I would have been a happy lady. However, since we don't know Portland very well we decided our best solution would be to make them ourselves.

I researched recipes on several of my go-to cooking sites/books and narrowed the choices to the perfect noodle dish. We rode our bikes down to Safeway for ingredients, but they didn't have shiitake mushrooms or udon noodles. Lame. So, with backpacks full of other stuff, we stopped by Fred Meyer and Trader Joe's for the remaining key components. While at Fred Meyer, we picked out the perfect beer for the evening -- Sapporo, our choice beverage for Nooshi (and homemade) happy hours.

The noodles hit the spot. I made a few notations to adjust the recipe, which will involve more mushrooms, greens (perhaps some carrots) and more of that delicious sauce. Otherwise it was delish and we're going to make it again really soon. As we ate our noodles in the awesome bowls that Jesse's parent's gave us for our wedding, with the chopsticks we purchased in San Francisco, I felt that we were very authentic as well.

We were all about the umami taste buds tonight. I'm pretty sure savory is my favorite because I could eat these noodles all night and not think twice about tasty sweets hanging out in our kitchen. Jesse's weakness is definitely the sweet, which is why I have to hide the remaining 5 carrot cupcakes, otherwise I won't get any. Perhaps, with more scientific research and voluntary testing, one day we'll discover beer taste buds. I'm pretty sure I have a very well-developed set.

Friday Date Night with a Special Guest, Carrots

For some reason, the last time I went to the grocery store I decided it would be a good idea to buy five pounds of carrots. Hey, it was a cold day and I had soup on the brain. When I made chicken noodle soup and saw that my carrot use barely made a dent in the gigantic bag, I knew something had to be done.

So, last night instead of leftovers, I decided to browse Epicurious.com to see if I could find a creative use for carrots. That's when I stumbled on the Szechwan Carrot Soup. It sounded interesting, but a little scary. The soup contained lots of carrots and very little of anything else. Jesse was even a bit skeptical when I told him what would be served for dinner. Basically, you brown onions celery, and garlic, drop in a boat-load of carrots and a little fresh ginger, some red pepper flakes, and then cook the carrot concoction in chicken or veggie broth until everything is nice and tender. I blended it with my handy immersion blender and then stirred in the final key ingredients -- a little peanut butter, sesame oil, soy sauce, and a touch of cream. I have to say, it was quite tasty. We sprinkled on some cut scallions and toasted almonds. Yum!

I rounded out the evening with a batch of carrot cake cupcakes. I found out that I didn't have cupcake liners way after it was too late, but they popped right out anyway. Look how evenly they baked and how beautifully uniform they are! Usually one half is flat and the other is burnt. Oh how I love you new giant electric oven!

But enough about my oven, what does the true critic think?

Hands down, carrots rock.

Lazy Day

The past couple of days have been mostly grey with sporadic rain and patches of sun. I have to say, the clouds have been a welcome relief from the heat we experienced in early September and somehow the rain seems cleansing. We have continued to organize and rearrange the apartment and are thoroughly enjoying our living room area.

On Tuesday, Jesse and I both had job interviews. Mine was more of a meet and greet over lunch and Jesse's was an interview for a job that doesn't exist yet, but might someday. Oddly enough, we were making contact with people from the same company. I had a really nice lunch with two people from an environmental company here in Portland. It was nice to meet professionals who are immersed in things that I enjoy and have lived in the city for quite a while. They were both very helpful on the job front, even though they don't have full time positions to offer right now, as well as sites to visit and things to do in the city. It is likely that they will throw some consulting work my way in the next few months (if I'm not already gainfully employed).

Last night we went to a Ron Sexsmith concert at Doug Fir and got home way past our bedtime (after 1am)! The concert was awesome and I have to now get the motivation to write a review on Quickcrit. The sun came up way too early for both of us this morning and I have to say that both Jesse and I have been dragging around most of the day.

I did, however, manage manage to spend an inordinate amount of time applying for an internship (of all things) with the city of Portland in their planning department. The position was forwarded to me by the senior associate at the architecture firm that I will be working as a contractor for later on this month. The internship work is not earth shattering, which means I'll probably rock at it, but I see it as a way to potentially make more contacts in the preservation community and possibly talk to some of the planning offices about how Oregon's (and Portland's) preservation policies suck. The more I read, the more I realize that there is very little regulation or oversight when it comes to historic resources -- their last comprehensive survey of the city was conducted in 1980!

Oh and tonight I made a killer eggplant parmesan with a recipe from The New Best Recipe from Cook's Illustrated. This cookbook never lets me down. Both Jesse and I were totally blown away by the deliciousness of the dish (accompanied by an arugula salad with almonds and dried cranberries). Of course, I forgot to take a photo so you'll just have trust me. I'm so excited for leftovers tomorrow!

Furniture Game - Final Update

As Nightrain reminded me yesterday, I have been evading the question of whether I am succeeding at the "Furniture Game" or have failed miserably. As of my last entry, I had spent $295 of my allotted $609 set aside for furniture purchases. Shortly after I started the Furniture Game, my parents contributed $100 in the way of a housewarming gift, bringing my overall budget up to $709. As stipulated in the original rules, I have not included any purchases that were made for Jesse's home office. I have also not included things that we obtained for free (with gift cards left over from our wedding) or small items like hooks, kitchen gadgets, etc.

I have obtained the following "furniture" items since my first Furniture Game post (including a recap of initial blogged purchases):

Kitchen Cart from Ikea: $56

The cart has been a lifesaver not only for providing extra counter space, but also for the storage racks. It's a great help during dinner prep because it means that one person can chop and stir completely out of the way of the person at the stove. After looking at this photo, I realized that I have only oiled a portion of the lower racks. I'll just add it to the list of things to do tomorrow. Or the next day.

Metal Kitchen Shelf, Courtesy of Craigslist: $25

Like the kitchen cart, this shelf has also been worth every dollar spent. I like that all of the pots and pans that I use on a regular basis (particularly in the fall and winter for soups and stews) are easily accessible. The pots and appliances also add a splash of color to an otherwise very white kitchen.

Bed Frame, courtesy of Craigslist: $125

This was another necessary purchase to make our apartment feel more like home. It has been moved and shifted several times over the course of our first month and has caused numerous bruises on my knees and shins. Luckily, we solved the clothes disaster under the bed -- it has now been shoved in a closet, out of sight.

My Orange Chair: $89

Even though it made me sweat in the 98 degree weather in early September, I have used this chair constantly since it was purchased. It has now moved from a corner of the apartment to our new living room area. Eventually, once we get a worthy shade for our tiki lamp (courtesy of Larson), it will make for a perfect chair for reading or working on my quilting projects.

Fairly Honest Bill's Chair & Supplies: $65 for the chair, $67 for refinishing items (new foam cushions, fabric, notions, wood stain)

This $65 chair has turned into quite the project, but well worth the time in my opinion. I have seen similar chairs with fully restored wood finishes and new cushions going for upwards of $400 in higher end consignment shops. Of course, mine isn't a high-end chair, but it does a nice job of looking the part.

Poang Chair from Ikea As-is Room: $99

Finding this chair was a total fluke. I had just stopped in at Ikea for some kitchen hooks and happened to browse through the As-is section. My first choice for a frame would have been a slightly lighter wood, but the cushion was the perfect chocolate brown to offset the other colorful chairs in the living room. The bookshelf pictured is one that we brought with us from D.C.

Billy Bookcases: 2 @ $59.98
We purchased the two tall Billy bookcases this past weekend to hold most of our books. The three smaller bookcases in the middle were brought with us from D.C. It's amazing how much stuff these bookcases hold. I'm also really excited that they blend in enough with the walls to mimic the awesome built-ins that we have throughout the apartment.

End Table, courtesy of Craigslist: $15
I know, you probably think I'm lying, but I really only paid $15 for this awesome end table. As I was driving to the lady's house, it crossed my mind that this might have been a ploy to lure me to a dark alley and take all of my belongings. That thought couldn't have been further from the truth. She was really nice and told me that it was her parent's (they bought it on their honeymoon) and she just wanted to give it to someone who would appreciate it.

Crate and Barrel Wool Area Rug: $149
Totally lame photo, I know, but it's back ordered. Hopefully it will come in the next few days. Unlike the photo, the rug is a nice brown color. The actual cost was $249, but we had a gift card from our wedding.

Step Stool/Office Chair/Kitchen Chair: $24.99
Jesse and I have had a philosophical disagreement on whether I should include our step stool into the equation. He argues that since I have been using it as a chair for nearly 4 weeks, that it is, in fact, a piece of furniture. So fine. I'll include it, but under duress.

So, that brings the total to $835.95 (or $126.95 over budget). So, technically I haven't won the Furniture Game. However, I am not completely devastated since most of you naysayers speculated that I would fail miserably by going at least $200 over budget. Also, the point of the game was to dip as little as possible into our meager income these first couple of months in Portland. I think it's a pretty huge feat to furnish our one bedroom apartment (almost) from scratch for under $1000 -- and to have only $127 in out of pocket costs.

Now that I have a paycheck on the horizon, I won't feel bad about shopping Craigslist for a cute breakfast table and chairs to replace the empty spot left by my my new office desk.

Ahh Home

Saturday's push to unpack and organize felt really good. We made so much progress on the books that we were even able to pull out some of our art. I think in D.C. we took for granted the fact that our books add so much color to our living space -- something we only realized once they were no longer there. Of course, we're still pushing boxes of stuff from one corner to another, but I think one more week and we'll be in pretty good shape.

Sunday's focus was to get the bedroom in some sort of order. So far it has been our go-to spot for piling random mounds of things that have no place. Also, last week I had a revelation that if I am going to start doing contract work, there is no way that both Jesse and I can accomplish anything in the same room. I decided that we needed to set up some kind of work station in the bedroom so I could have a door to close and a space of my own. It's still very primitive, but nothing that a little art and an actual chair can't fix.

And what of the breakfast nook you ask? Well, it's officially become the furniture refinishing station -- that is until we find another kitchen table and chairs. The old kitchen table was a little big for the space, and well, I hadn't yet found chairs. Now it's much more suitable as a desk/project table. Also, I only have to find one chair to match instead of four -- that is a much easier task to tackle on Craigslist.

I'm getting much closer to finishing the sanding on my consignment store chair (I found some 100 grit sandpaper that has been useful in removing those tough spots of varnish). I'll be staining and this weekend for sure.

Organizing Streak

Yesterday I decided that I couldn't stand the chaos anymore and started stomping around the apartment looking for hiding places for all the stuff that has consumed our living room for the past month. In the same way that a dog can destroy a flower bed in a matter of minutes when digging a hole for its most precious bone, I too made space in our closet. Crawling in on all fours, I started chucking things over my head -- shoes, bags, clothes, cleaning supplies -- all over the floor. Jesse stared bewildered by his desk, no doubt dodging a stray shoe or belt, and then decided to go on a run. It wasn't the most rational way of organizing, but the closet is looking a lot better.

When he came back from his run, we had dinner and set out a plan for fixing the mess and making our apartment feel like home. The first task was to either hide or eliminate the boxes full of books and cd's. Since most of our hiding places have been filled, the only option was to figure out where to put the contents held within the wall of boxes. We both knew what the next step would be: Billy bookcases. Stat!

As much as I have talked about having as little Ikea furniture in our apartment as possible, I am continually drawn there to seek out ideas and options for organization. So, we arrived at Ikea this morning at 9:30 sharp and marveled at the empty parking lot. The store didn't open until 10am, but we decided that the $1.99 breakfast would help fuel us through the trip. It was a relatively short visit. We found the Billy bookcase aisle and were in the checkout line by 10:30.

The bookcases are quite tall, so we had to fold down the front passenger seat to accommodate the boxes. As a result, I had to ride home in the backseat of our car. It felt totally weird, so we both pretend he was my chauffeur on the way home -- I would make outrageous demands and he would reply "as you wish." The rest of the afternoon was spent assembling the bookcases and unpacking books. Sunday will likely revolve around more organizing and shifting furniture.

Jesse said today that unpacking the books felt like being reacquainted with old friends. It's true. Having our books and things around is already making it feel more like home.

Good Deal Day

For the past few days I have been trolling Craigslist for kitchen chairs and some sort of table to help bring together our makeshift living room. Thursday was a success. I had hoped to share all of the details and even update you on my running total of dollars spent on furniture to date. Unfortunately, I wasted precious blogging time watching the blasted VP debates last night. In the spirit of politics, I'll give you the "straight talk" version of my Furniture Game progress, which will be rife with large shiny photos, gibberish, and absolutely no relevant figures to back up my statements -- a la Governor Palin. (Sorry. That was tacky. It was just too easy.)

The end table was the first purchase of the day from a very nice lady on Craigslist. Not only was she nice, but she also gave me a good deal. The table cost more than a package of 26 coat hangers from Target, but less than our can opener. Don't be fooled, we have a killer can opener. Anyone who guesses the price will win a wink and a smile from moi.

The second purchase of the day was this Poang chair for Jesse. I stopped at Ikea on my way back from "Craigslist Lady's" house to purchase a few kitchen hooks. I ended up with a chair as well. It was not an impulse purchase. In fact, Jesse and I had actually settled to get one this weekend anyway. However, this one was in the "As-is" room and had a considerably slashed price because the cushion is missing its headrest. Luckily, Jesse is a big dude and his head extends well beyond the head rest area -- negating the need for the extra cushion. For the chair, I paid less than our bed frame but more than a tank of gas. Again, any guesses will get a shout out from Portland and maybe even extra credit.

Those were the only two purchases for the day, but they made a significant dent in the list of pending furniture for the apartment. Jesse used his brute strength to help me with an initial round of sanding on my project chair. It's starting to look a lot better. I think I'll be able to finish up with a finer grit sandpaper this weekend and maybe even start staining!

Tiny Kitchen, Giant Oven

The kitchen in our apartment won't win any contests for size (it certainly has an "efficient" work triangle) and has a woeful lack of counter space. However, it more than makes up for its shortcomings with ample storage space and full-sized fully functioning appliances. In D.C., I struggled to work with our teeny tiny stove, which killed my soul on a daily basis. It was hard to clean because of the old scratched enamel top, the burners could never get low enough to simmer, and the oven never ever held a constant temperature. I suppose anything slightly better would have been an improvement, but our current stove is brand-spanking-new. It had a burning smell the first time we turned it on. I nearly cried.

The fact that it's electric is less than ideal. Eventually, I imagine that I will learn to control the heat well enough to prevent the near disasters at dinner time that have occurred this week. However, I still see the electric burners as a fair trade for a full capacity oven that is calibrated and will hold the same temperature for hours! HOURS! Equipped with an oven thermometer and a pantry full of baking items (thanks to my massive shopping trip last week), I decided to give my new oven a test drive. Brownies are probably the hardest desserts to mess up, so I decided that would be a good first try at baking in my (actually) new oven.

I usually make the "one bowl brownies" on the back of the unsweetened Baker's chocolate box, but for some reason they decided to switch it up and print "soft and chewy chocolate drops." I read through the ingredients and quickly realized that they were essentially brownie cookies and charged ahead. The oven preheated while I stirred and kept it's temperature throughout the whole process! A miracle!

The cookies were delicious, but more importantly the oven passed the initial test. Now I can move on to more complicated things like pies and tarts and maybe even a turkey. Oh man, it feels like Christmas!