VeryThorough's Profile

It's great to have a post like this! I'd like to add one of my favorites:

Sunprints cost no more than the spray paint and paper, look better, and don't require you to deal with aerated chemicals and paint dust. Plus, buying them supports Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of Science.

Also, btw, the Canadian House and Home link appears to be broken.

I hate sidetracking posts with copyediting comments, but I just couldn't resist getting my two cents in. For me, I find myself extra sensitive to errors like this one because they've just become so common in web publishing. AT is not the worst offender (try reading Ain't It Cool News--ugh!), and it's not the most "respected" site to have this problem, either. (I've found errors on NYT online, for example.)

The problem is somewhat like Emily the Cat describes--humans will make typos (and I grant that this was not necessarily an "error of ignorance"--my fingers have mistyped "they're" for "their" before, when I know very well the difference between the two). Because humans make mistakes, there needs to be a checking system in place (besides spell check!) to catch these things before they are professionally published. It's just part of being professional.

Now, speaking of "errors of ignorance," Emily the Cat, I must point out your own (then again, maybe it's a typo). "...made you feel badly" should be "made you fell bad." I can't say I expect commenters to hire copy editors, but if you're going to start throwing stones...

I know people love to say everything IKEA makes has to be thrown away in a few years, but that has not been my experience. Thinking the other day about my oldest item of furniture, I realized it was my IKEA dining table and chairs. I bought their classic, unfinished solid pine set and finished it myself, and 13 years later, they're still in great shape.

I have several other sturdy pieces that I like, which I bought, not for the price, but for the fact that I simply couldn't find just the thing I was looking for, at any price, anywhere else.

Haha, I have yards of burlap sitting next to my sewing machine right now, waiting to be turned into curtains.

Another fabric I like to use is unbleached muslin. Some of it (like that you'll find at Jo-Ann) can be really blah, but if you find a good source (I like Hart's Fabrics), it can be a really nice, nubby light beige fabric that looks like expensive linen, but costs 90-95% less!

I had a comment on the media fast part. I work from home, so have more flexibility than most, but I find it's best for me to put my media-free time at the beginning of the day, rather than the end. I have a hard time getting off the computer once I'm on (always "very thoroughly" researching one thing or another), so I find I have an easier time controlling when I start. I've set a new rule for myself that I can't use the computer before noon, and before I do, I must do something active, preferably outside.

I also have terrible willpower, so I can't say I've been perfect at maintaining this, but I think it has helped.

As for how I'm doing with the cure, as usual, I've been over-ambitious, but I am making progress. I have lots of previous weeks' tasks to complete (like mopping--ugh!), but like ninakk, I've been doing things from coming weeks as well (like organizing my bedroom closet, because it's time to bring out the spring clothes).

I think another thing to consider is the arrangement of the space. We recently moved from a 1000sf place to about 750sf, and we actually feel like we have more room. Partly, it's because of purging we did in the move, but a lot of it has to do with the efficiency of our new place. In our old place, a lot of the square footage was wasted on hallways and inconvenient nooks. Or new place is more open, without sacrificing closet space, and it just feels so much better.

So... "raw" denim just means unwashed (before selling)? Isn't that exactly what Levi's has been doing for over 150 years? It used to be these types of jeans were just called "shrink to fit" (and still are, actually, when you're paying less than $50 for them).

http://www.amazon.com/Levis%C2%AE-Strauss-Button-Original-Shrink/dp/B000NPO13O

When I was a kid, my parents bought a live tree one year, kept it in the pot, and used it again the next year. It was a blue spruce, about 6-7 ft tall including the pot. After the second year, we planted it in the front yard, where it now stands over 20 feet tall.

It was the only time we did that--in other years, we bought cut ones, followed later by an artificial, followed now by a tiny tabletop artificial. Still, I always smile when I see the tree in my parents' front yard, reminding me of Christmases past.

Waaait. So, if I read that article right and look closely at the picture, I think that their largest cabinet (the one on the left) is filled with champagne!?! Maybe that's why they're so happy living there!

That, and the fact that they've only been there 3 months so far....